*NO HATE*

My experience as a former K-Pop stan is NOT cool- let me explain:

So, during my elementary years I found out about K-Pop. Apparently, K-Pop was a rising new genre of music and pretty much everybody was bopping to it. I wasn't interested until I accidentally tapped on EXO's 'Wolf' in a music app's feed- I liked the song! It's catchy and pretty rad. I told a friend the following day and she was like, "OOOHHH THAT ONE-" and proceeds to recommend some of their other songs for me. I listened, and I enjoyed them.

Now, I'm not a "celebrity obsessive" type of person. I mainly listen to music my friends recommend, but I NEVER do that myself. I only learnt the existence of new music via recent MMDs and fan animations- or MVs that I'm genuinely interested in. If I like the song, then I'll save it to my playlist. If not, I'll ignore it while appreciating it anyways.

Uhm... anyways, I looked up EXO and read their wiki- they're cool... and just that- I never do any further research of them. But, what scared young (and current) me was- apparently, when most stans like a certain group or celebrity, they look them up constantly, like, for latest news about them- as if it's STALKING. I've stumbled upon some (mostly Chinese) news, with titles like "OOH~ looks like they're together~" "WAOW- she seems pregnant???" "They broke up?!? Geez-" and young me almost went nuts- let them have some privacy sometimes! Some even fight over their biases, obsessively defending them, and some ask compare certain groups or celebrities- and I don't understand why. C'mon- they all have what's great and unique about them in their own way. Tolerance and understanding isn't that hard??? Let them like what they like and you do you???

So, my friend then proceeds to name every member of the group, their positions, what they like, what they don't, their current status, their latest songs, what they recently did... like she's an undercover spy or sth. She also asks me if I know this, know that... and that I SHOULD know this, and that... One friend even gave me her EXO file cuz she "doesn't really like than anymore and she started liking another group and since I 'like them so much' I could have it". I still keep it and use it till today, for the memories she and I had together- and it's still in quite a good shape.

Unsurprisingly, I quit stanning any group or celebrity since then- mainly cuz I do not know how it works, and I want to give them some privacy. But, NO, I do NOT hate K-Pop for this. It's creative and pleasing to the ears. It's just- for every group or celebrity- some of their fans are... kinda scary. Of course, not all of them are. There are lots of friendly and understanding fans out there who support each other, and I salute them.

Thank you for reading my story ><