I've followed K-pop long enough - six years in full immersion, nine years in total - to be able to say that I've seen the best, and worst, of fan behavior.

Yes, it doesn't just happen in K-pop, but for some reason it's more intense when it comes to those acts. I mean, have you seen, say, One Direction fans rent billboards to celebrate, say, Liam Payne's birthday? (And maybe beg that he return to the group and fulfill that reunion pipe dream?) Well, maybe they have, and I just don't know.

But you get the idea. K-pop fans can be really intense. The moment you step into the fray you're asked - demanded? - to choose your side, and defend it to the hilt. Sure, you can choose not to do so - I find that following everyone helps, and even then it doesn't always work - but the noise will be so loud, and the need to belong be so overwhelming, that you end up doing so anyway.

The idea is to act like your honor is on the line. I mean, it explains why fans get so passionate whenever something is said about their chosen ones. It feels like the choice you made the first time defines who you are now, and will define who you are in the future, regardless of circumstance or nuance. That one decision can haunt you.

So you stick with it. If you decide to go deeper and take part in the whole stanning thing, there are things you have to do at a bare minimum. You play them up every chance you get. I've done this - I had a blog which I pretty much used to enthuse about Mamamoo. You get people to sample, and maybe you can turn them into fans. I can tell you it works.

But there is the risk of you becoming that annoying guy who talks about nothing else but Mamamoo. But, you know, your honor is at stake. So you go one step further. You talk about your chosen ones every chance you get, yes - even for the smallest of things, for as long as it makes them look good. And if they look good, you look good too, because you're "stanning the right people" and are "not sleeping on talent". So you keep an eye on social media, ready to retweet the tiniest mention, even if it doesn't really make an impact in the grand scheme of things, for as long as it paints them in the best light.

If there's a scandal, you act as if it doesn't exist. You choose what people should know - and if they ask you about whatever controversy is out there, well, you are either misinformed or a hater. Either you just don't know what makes your chosen ones (and you, by extension) awesome, and just need a good waking up, or you hate them passionately and must be decimated and made to learn your lesson at all costs. What? They just don't care? That's unacceptable. They're racists and homophobes and whatever other big adjective you can think of!

And so, in the pursuit of defending your honor - I mean, your chosen ones' honors - your social media feeds are filled with nothing but screen captures and memes and disembodied hashtags. You relate everything in the perspective of your preferred group. Is this something Solar has eaten in her mukbang videos? Would Wheein give this cat treat to Ggomo? Is this the exact type of latex Hwasa wore in some stage of hers from last year? You're noisy, but you don't care. It's a battle you are now part of, intrinsically part of, and there's no way you'll just drop it all and do, I don't know, something else. And why would you? You think it's because the world has to know about how great your chosen ones are, but it's really because the world has to know about how great your tastes are. It's your preferences at stake here. It's your reputation. You have to look good, no matter what the costs.

All right, I may be exaggerating, and I may be cynical about this. I mean, nine years, or six. I've gone through the wringer and have surrendered my MooMoo card. I'm not even that excited for Wheein's new solo album - or heard it in full, the same way I haven't heard the last few Mamamoo releases in full. (That said, my passions for some other things on this front are still strong enough. Which reminds me: fuck you, Hybe.) But that's pretty much how being a K-pop stan is, especially if you're still new to this and have the urge to talk about nothing but, I don't know, BTS, I guess.

Now, imagine all of what I've just written, only applied to Philippine politics. The rabid boosterism, the cherry-picking, the latching on to anything vaguely positive (or negative, if you're confrontational), the perception that it all boils down to just two people when there are so many more out there... but maybe I am just exaggerating, and maybe I am just being cynical.