Mini-Review: Genshin Impact 2.1

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one disappointed in this. 

I'm disappointed that Baal is not completely responsible for the Vision Hunt. Can they make it just like the sword hunt in our world where the shogun is completely responsible? In their effort to make Baal sympathetic, she still turned out to be a completely unsympathetic dictator with the status quo intact. Like she doesn't care she's killing people. 

However, she still isn’t fully realized as in the end, it’s just moe than real development. It’s just feel wasted since there is no true development of complexity hinted at in the trailer. It’s just not developed enough. Baal is a waifu first than a character who wasn't able to fulfill their potential. Then again, it's what said about the female characters in Genshin that are basically waifus first then characters second. Their so-called complexity barely played a part in their quests. We got a hint of the Qixing but those are mostly flavor text and afterthought than actual development where the player is watching their development. 

That can be said about Inazuma really. Poorly developed plot and characters despite having great ideas and visuals. Great gameplay too. The Sakura Cleansing Ritual quest seemed to be the most better written of the whole of Inazuma. 

Seriously, the only saving grace so far of Izanuma is Yae and Kazuha to some extent. While Izanuma has great visuals but poor execution when it comes to the story, there are a few things that make me excited for the next land we're gonna be seeing. Very few of the leaks about Scaramouche and Childe to be true when the latter's death is far too early just like Signora, I'm gonna quit the story so fast that not even Zhongli can entice me. 

Speaking of Kazuha, while I am glad he survived via true love through gay powers, his story has not been expanded upon that much. It felt like he fulfilled his purpose on this arc even if it wasn’t depicted much and at least this one felt nice even if everything else is heavily weighted by its cons. Out of all the character designs thus far in Inazuma, the best character designs came from Kazuha, Tomo, and Itto. The rest, especially Baal, was just okay, nothing particularly interesting. 

Mainly because it's through info dumps just like Signora and Scaramouche. That's Mihoyo's weakness with dropping lore into info dumps when they should've made cutscenes that are invaluable to the story at hand. Make this lore into cutscenes and put it into quests or the main story while you're at it, not info dumps. Even Childe's lore about the Abyss is left in the basement! Like, seeing the Qixing more in the main story. Just so many things are left in the basement that it isn't utilized to any extent in the main story or even the quests. 

Scaramouche could've been used to his potential or some of his potential due to his connection to Inazuma. Instead of letting his story be told in info dumps, tell it in the main story where we see Scaramouche take his revenge against Baal. 

Say, he and the rest of the Fatui team up with the resistance there. They defeat Baal, take the gnosis, and the status quo is upended. We see Ayato shaking hands with the Fatui and the resistance while Baal is taken into prison for her crimes against Inazuma, mobs gathering outside her prison. Scaramouche revealed himself to the public and Fatui has a better diplomatic relationship there at Inazuma. Ayato is the new Shogun this time, no Archon because Inazuma has enough with their own Archon and wants to rule with their own power and open up the borders again. 

As for his confrontation with Baal, we can witness Scaramouche and Baal have that backstory-laden thing drama while the traveler acts as a third wheel to the drama and probably want no place in this drama. They're just here for the resistance and while a grudging alliance with the Fatui, they do not want all this clone mess when they're here for their twin. They'll help fight Baal with Scaramouche while Scaramouche relished in his revenge. 

And that's just one idea! 

In fact, what about Baal's army's side with Kujou Sara where we actually see her question her loyalty to someone who doesn't even care that much about her? You could do so much with Kujou Sara and Yae and ugh, I can't list anyone else on Baal's side right now but their development is nonexistent just like the resistance's side. Instead, we got telling through voice-lines and the bulletin boards conversations to even make sense of their story when they don't impact the story in any meaningful way. I haven't seen the changed opinions that Keqing did regarding Rex Lapis and Kujou Sara had all that potential about Baal that she made her question her loyalty, the foil to Keqing! 

As for the resistance, only we got one death, characters who were introduced only to have several lines, and not much done with them. It’s just there with the status quo still in place. I feel no connection when Teppei died. He just looks so much like Jun Kun that I'm just disgruntled that his death feels pointless just like Signora. How about adding Kokomi and her strategies into the mix? We could've seen Kokomi go all Lelouch on the Kujou army and destroy them! 

If I want to feel more for Teppei's death, then I must learn more rather than having a Mauve Shirt because of Traveler's reaction to it. I certainly don't feel something about Teppei's death unlike how I would Kazuha or even Tomo because at least we got something about Tomo we can actually empathize with instead of a Mauve Shirt. Tomo got that bishounen design that he has going for him alongside what little we know about him. Tomo got that but not Teppei! Teppei is a Mauve Shirt, not a Red Shirt because of his impact on Traveler but no way his death has an impact on me, not when his design is not that unique! Tomo is dead but elicits more emotion out of me because of what we know and saw about him. Not to mention, he's hot as fuck. 

Signora. Her death is utterly wasted and has no emotional payoff of any kind. Personally, I thought Signora would survive until Celestia at best, given her backstory revealed in info dumps. Personally, killing her or even her committing suicide in front of Venti - just any Venti interactions since it seems she has a personal grudge that showcases it more - would do better for her own story than what we got. All her lore is utterly wasted for a death that is for shock value. From a narrative and a moneymaking point of view, Signora's death is pointless and for shock value. Isn't it better if she's playable and has an important part in the main story in later arcs? Because it seemed that way the story was going with Act 1 and 2. 

I do not mind her backstory as long as Signora fulfills her potential and Signora didn't fulfill her potential at all. Heck, I don't mind she isn't as evil as I wanted her to be - she's still evil just with a sympathetic backstory -, not when her story potential is wasted. I'm prioritizing story potential so much because it's better to fulfill a story than to leave it wasted. 

On top of that, Signora didn't even fit into Inazuma at all. Yes, she played a part in the other two areas but in the end course. Come on, Childe was able to fit in the entirety of Liyue. Why not Scaramouche can handle Inazuma himself without Signora breathing down his neck? Signora could just be watching the events from a safe distance, amused by Scaramouche. It's what Signora did while she was watching Liyue. 

The entire act feels like it's happening all at once but at the same time, everything is irrelevant. It's messy and fumbled that I'm pretty sure we're gonna see rewrites of this arc in fanfics and fan ideas thrown around. 

Maybe I have high expectations which is why this update just left me disappointed. Regardless, if the next area has enough writing issues just like Inazuma, then I wonder why I would even be here if Childe is going to get killed off early?

Listen, Childe has death flags. His name, his weapons, etc are indications he's not long for this world. It's similar to Euphie's death flags in R1. These two pick up death flags like a kid at a candy store. 

However, I wish for Childe to fulfill his potential first before getting killed off. For example, Princess Euphemia from Code Geass has her potential fulfilled before getting killed off because her death was foreshadowed. CG R1 is better written and stitched together than R2. Because we see Euphie grow and definitely have the potential to be a great queen had it not been for her flaws as a ruler which is why we see her get Geassed and have to be killed. 

Right now, Childe's potential is still there with his connections to the Tsaritsa, Zhongli, Skirk, and the Abyss. If he gets killed off before Snezhnaya at least and Celestia at best, then I will go read fix-its to ease my pain of seeing wasted potential. Like I would like to meet his family before he gets killed. 

Ruin the direction of Childe's character and you will see spite reading fix-its and rewrites. I'm already reading Chili fics so it's the more the merrier. If you try to harm Childe in any way before Snezhnaya to the point of death, I will not be happy.

Seriously, he's one of the three well-realized characters in the dang game. Killing him now is not good for the story and the money. If you can pander with pairing Childe and Zhongli together in merch and promo, then you cannot kill Childe now. 

If this is the rate the main story for Genshin is going, then you can count on me reading fanfiction because that's what I've been doing to VLD where I prefer to see the fix-its and rewrites over canon compliance fics. 

It's a good thing Kazuha's death was only a rumor since he survived so far. Turned out the canon death was Signora and boy what a pointless death that was. Kazuha's death seems like a treasure and more important than Signora would ever be now. I mean we got to see the gay powers of Kazuha and his best friend and at least we got to understand Kazuha and what his friend means to him. That seems more gravitating than what Signora's death ended up being. 

Admittedly, I'm still stuck on 1.1 Liyue. If that is where their writing peaked, then I am wary about future acts. If Childe is gonna get killed early without fulfilling his potential, then you can count me out. 

Genshin Impact is gonna end up on the pile VLD, Miraculous Ladybug, and RWBY are in right now about wasted potential with so, so bad resolutions or execution. Good ideas but bad execution or didn't make it work or fail to fulfill the potential that it has. 

The only things Genshin hasn't failed were the visuals and the music. While writing is on its ups and downs, the only thing keeping me on board are Childe and Zhongli. With the writing on the female characters having been left to gather dust when it comes to the main story, the stories from their more compelling characters are there. Even if those stories are being left in the basement because we won't be seeing Zhongli and Childe for a long-ass time from now. 

The problems with Inazuma might be the new censorship issues MHY has to deal with. Even if we do have to deal with new writers due to previous ones leaving for one thing or another, the last act is just so disastrous as if they were forced to complete it. I still think making waifu Baal was still a thing set in stone since every single female character in Genshin is a waifu first. However, the writing for everything else must have been forced and have to move onto Sumeru when it hopefully won't be blocked by the CCP. I can understand the writing issues due to switching to new writers who haven't left me with much hope but when the fundamental problems became more prominent because of the new writers... I know censorship will be an uphill battle regarding Inazauma's storyline but they could have at least done something. Anything about the political atmosphere or character development or anything at all because it just seems like waifu Baal was forgiven for all her atrocities when her Vision Decree killed her own citizens that she has already shown disdain for. I don't think Kazuha would ever forgive her for killing Tomo at all. 

Regardless of what we got with Inazuma is what we have to deal with. Knowing the censorship issues and behind-the-scenes mess during Inazuma's writing, still won't fix Inazuma's writing issues. Again, waifu Baal was gonna be a thing whether people like it or not. 

If every female archon including Tsaritsa - all my nightmares about waifu Tsaritsa are frightening - gonna become waifus, that's unfortunate. Really unfortunate. 

Waifu writing for the female characters and lore splashing on a background including artifacts - probably the worst kind of lore writing since that's flavor, not actual textual meaning to the main story - was gonna be a thing from the start so I have to pick my battles with it. I would prefer to have the quests for the female characters the same way we have Venti, Zhongli, and Childe's quests where we actually see the lore that was stated beforehand get into the mix and actually impact them as characters moving forward, developing them and all that. That is what I want, not to have every female character fawn at the Traveler who they just met. Inazuma was just the worst offender. 

Listen, if there's a malewife Thoma and waifu Tsaritsa as a choice, I will choose malewife Thoma any day. 

To wipe away the sour taste Inazuma leaves me and likely Sumeru - this one being the skin tones which doesn't bode well at all - too, I'm gonna go read Chili fanfics and fanart. On an aside note, could we have a dendro vision user as a playable character since Baizhu isn't going to be one? Is our dendro vision user being the archon the one we're gonna use as our very first playable dendro user?

From what I heard, the new world quest Tsurumi Island is better received than the Inazama archon quest. Even Kokomi's quest and Thoma's hangout were better written than the Inazuma archon quest apparently. I don't know about the new labyrinth quest overall story and details yet but I heard tentative good things about the start. I haven't heard much about the new Dragonspine quest but it's tentative good things when people are complaining it should've been the main story exclusive quest, not an event quest. 

I would like to imagine a Chili wedding with a combo of Chinese and Russian traditions. It does help that some traditions are similar like the Chinese door games and the Russian buy-out games. The only recent wedding I've been to was my oldest cousin's so I'm imagining the trajectory of the wedding day similar to theirs with the tea ceremony in the morning with an afternoon official ceremony with a night reception. The Chinese traditions are far easier to know which goes where on the timeline of the one-day-only wedding day. It's just where do these two would have their tea ceremony, official ceremony, and reception. I know Xiangling would be the head chef of the catering since Zhongli strongly recommended her cooking in his video. I'm sure Childe's mom and sisters want him to throw the bouquet for the single people while Venti would be either in the groom's party or even the live musician who would definitely play something during the bouquet throwing. It seems to be his type while Childe gets ready to throw the bouquet into the crowds of people. I'm sure Childe's family delights in the wedding door games that are basically the Russian buy-out games for the groom. Combining them should be easy for them since they could add the Chinese door games that are applicable to the couple like making Zhongli eat octopus and composing a poem. I know for sure my cousins found it fun making up the games for the door games since they were in charge of it. 

On a side note, I have seen some Pokemon AUs for Genshin. Often, I see Water and sometimes Electric types for Childe and Rock types for Zhongli with the occasional Ground types. While those are fitting especially when these guys would be trainers, well Zhongli trainer-turned-professor kind of like how he mellowed out over time. I mean I see Gokudera going into the Pokemon Research field. I always see a Wailmer/lord with Childe and it's unsurprising considering Childe is both a whale and a narwhal. I want to see Dragon types for Zhongli since Drampa fits his old man vibes if you want to go there and it's a Chinese dragon too and a Shiny Drampa is right there! I have seen Rock and even Ground types for Zhongli but never Dragon types even though Dragon types fit him just as well. He seems like a burgeoning Pokemon researcher when a Trainer but gets his license as a Professor studying Pokemon archaeology while Childe will become a Pokemon Champion. He could be like Steven from Champion but still a Steel enthusiastic and we do see Steven go about studying so... Zhongli could be the Steven counterpart in terms of like that. We know the Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champions do have hobbies such as Cynthia and Steven going on looking at archaeological dig sites. Because Champions have a lot of influence, they could do loads of stuff and have money to spare. 

Love at First/True Sight

 

He got one detail wrong. There is evidence Cinderella from the original didn't know that he was the prince and only got the confirmation when her stepfamily heard the proclamation about the slipper. There's a scene explicitly confirming this.

Love at first sight has been scathed at a lot. Many people thought there is no chance of getting that love just because you saw this person once and decided you would pursue this person. 

The only person I know that has this was my English teacher in sophomore year high school, telling us her story about her and her husband, saying that this happened to her. They met on a cruise I think it was some kind of boat or was it a party and according to her, her husband fell for her, and shortly after that they began dating. 

I do think this is rare and not impossible. Just because it didn't happen to many people doesn't make it stupid. There are crazy love stories after all. 

What I do want to point out is to see the red flags. If you see these red flags as flags, then well that's bad obviously. 

Understandably, even when people like to say love at first sight is not realistic, they do certainly like the romance of it. Even dating for some time after knowing them for a bit is still romantic in some cases. This is why I found it hilarious for all of Frozen's decrying of tropes - lampshading is not the same as actively examining and Frozen failed at self-reflection a lot - Kristoff and Anna still got married after not too long, given they looked like they barely aged. 

Okay, so I'm just gonna give ya a scenario that has no names so you can see this either coupling you want. This is all fiction. 

A person relished on being single and worked in an industry known for falsity, jading them to actually meet someone true. In fact, the person and their friends knew just how much they liked their freedom. 

One day, they met someone serendipitously on what was a normal day out of work. Yet this person doesn't seem to be like the other people you met on the job daily. Instead, they are natural and the most beautiful person you ever met. On that day, you helped them win a game that your friends on the scene took a brief note with. You couldn't keep glancing at them and when they made a gesture, it made an impact on how you perceived flirting. 

However, the meeting was too short and you barely interact and the person only has a number given to them by a friend of theirs, amused by your questions about getting their number. Meeting them again in the same industry would be slim.  

However, a year later, you met again and this time, you won't let this chance escape. You swooped in and finally took the opportunity.

And it's all worth it. You found the most caring and wonderful person you ever met, the love of your life, someone willing to supports and trust you, someone who admires you just as you admires, trusts, and supports them. Someone who shares the same humor as you do, someone who is willing to learn from you just as you are willing to learn from them. 

And it was it. You knew this was love. You knew now you never recovered from the lightning strike when you met them the first time and now they're here, loving you as much as you love them. You knew this was love at first sight. 

I took liberties with this since I'm trying not to give too many details. It may or may not happen. It could be an entertainment or wedding industry because I mention an industry being stale and lack trueness while being somewhat big. 

This is partly an example of good love at first sight and that it could happen. 

As I said in other posts before this, you

• must know who you are as a person 
• what you want in a person
• sheer connection, be it humor, ideals, philosophy, etc. 

You might even have all the inner similarities despite outside appearances and no overlapping hobbies. 

This is the point of love. The realness of the person, their flaws, and beauties are what you like about them. 

Just liking the same thing does not make it love. All you have in common is something you like say weird tastes in music. Seriously, join a club and if somehow you met the person you truly love there, then that's all the better. The point of clubs is to bring together people with similar interests so to say that's a start for any romantic relationship is dumb. It's just one commonality that could start a friendship at first. 

Do you know this person? Do you try to know this person? 

There are many different love stories in this world. Some people met by going to parties or bars, some by their friends introducing each other, some by happenstance. There are so many different stories with their own experiences together. 

Hell, in one compelling love story in Galavant, the two most murderous villains actually fall in love. They actually fell for each other because they actually got to know each other. The guy saw her in her most vulnerable state and heard her story of Jenny yet he saw her do stuff like ordering executions and willing to begin a war for him, even planning to go vaca together, ziplining. He sees her as simply Madalena while she herself learned how to grapple with her emotions she never tried to grasp. It's seriously romantic when he bought her a pair of earrings with her tormentors' ears still attached. That fits them well since Madalena absolutely loves the Bonnie and Clyde angle and the extra helpings of murder and torture. 

That would not be romantic elsewhere but since this is the murderous couple. Many fans actually liked this couple out of the entire canon couples simply for just how compelling it is. 

Then there are the crazier love stories. People find love in reality tv, a genre people trashed as unrealistic and producer-driven drama. 

The more successful couples from Bachelor Nation met during the filming and have to explicitly tell skeptics their love is real. Successful couples have to deal with a lot of flack just because they fell in love in a reality show, a reality show that doesn't have the best results for long-lasting relationships. Just because Trista Rehn managed to find love on her second shot in the Bachelor as the first Bachelorette does not mean the next Bachelorette managed to find it. Just because Sean Lowe managed to find love does not mean his other Bachelors did. Really, I think a cast full of people looking for love and mature in what kind of partner they want is the way to go for the best Bachelor combination. This is why Sean Lowe and Rachel Lindsay's seasons are hailed as one of the best as the audience does get to see the real love story from real people who get on the show for love and did find it. 

The only thing I have against Bachelor Nation is that as a reality TV, they have to have producer-driven things and they will edit people into archetypes that aren't them. Right now, the editing is making Clare out to be a villain and Dale doesn't get many edits beyond being the Spouse Material; I don't even think Clare was in charge of the strip dodgeball when in other dates we see in Bachelorette, we do see the men play sports in jerseys. Bachelor Nation is known for the lust and sex but for the love of Godoka, not even the editing and the production team makes the people show differently from how they are in real life except when their actions kept pointing in a bad direction like Juan Pablo's lack of reaction to women who point out rightly he doesn't seem to know them, promise the moon the day before and break it the day after. While I do find the alpha men fighting hilarious since it does seem so silly, true love stories like Rachel and Bryan, Sean and Catherine, Desiree and Chris, Trista and Ryan fall to the wayside. It's fascinating to see couples fall in love in relatively real-time. Even when their more private stuff was offscreen, we can see their love growing. 

Lauren and Cameron from LiB show that the experiment does work but only if they are willing to make it work as a couple. Like Bachelor couples, it is possible to find love in the weirdest of circumstances. Especially when people really chose to do reality shows just to find love. And usually, that does bring good romance especially on reality tv where two real people fall in love, connect, and chose to make it work. That's the reason why Bachelor Nation success stories captivate so much and often referred to as the best seasons. While reality tv is frequently trashed and viewed as guilty pleasures, the true love stories in reality tv can really stave off the reality tv tropes. 

Love at first sight is rare but doesn't make it impossible. Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black's story was this apparently, not that I don't believe them, but because it's their testimony. 

Then there are how long a relationship had been and age gaps. Again, Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black have a twenty or so year difference. I actually think Sehun and his lover have a similar age gap. Compared to something like Wang Yibo and Xiao Zhan, they only have a basic six-year difference. Okay, I'm a clown on that last one but the point still stands, there is an age difference. 

But how power dynamics will depend on them and how they will seek it out. Power deferential is still a thing but one must realize not all relationships can be generalized into this category. Anyone would want a relationship of equals and the treatment of such. 

Besides, I worry more about the flags. Seeing red flags as just flags is obviously a bad thing. So one must not be rose-colored about love when things like jealousy that can be a breaking point for a lot of people - I know people who broke up precisely because of jealousy. So really things must be taken into consideration and how it could be resolved. 

Short relationships with sudden marriage proposals can happen. Ned Fulmer and his wife Ariel had dated for a mere nine months before proposing and everyone knows how well this couple turned out, considering Ned is still in his 'my wife and kids' phase even if he doesn't mention it often as he used to. Even to his friends, he's known as the married one and they couldn't see him as anything else other than a husband. Fans joked he came out of the womb as a husband. 

Ned insists it's a love at first sight story when his wife argues the opposite that he went talking to her friend instead for several hours and only chatted her up a little while after. She thought he was a weird guy at first, coming to a party with a half bottle of tequila. It's pretty funny, actually, for all of how sweet and relationship goals Ned and Ariel are, their first meeting and impression don't quite match up as what Ned kept on saying it is. Because life isn't a romcom. By the way, I am certain that he already planned grand things for her on special days. 

But not every whirlwind romance will end up happily like Ned and Ariel from many factors. 

And everybody knows what a failed relationship looks like from its various incarnations from its benevolent to the malevolent. Again, seeing red flags as simply flags is bad. 

Love is something beautiful and I like hearing real love stories. There aren't epics or have drawn-out miscommunications but real stories with people not knowing if their crush likes them or not, trying to interpret signs, testing each other, getting to know each other. 

And really that makes things like seeing the more CQL BTS released, the more we get the picture of how BJYXSZD and their love story occurred. 

I do think fate pushed them together but CQL auditions were the last straw for Web to finally establish a romantic connection. 

I don't hate romcoms or romance stories. I love Pride and Prejudice and the better seasons of Bachelor and Bachelorette that ended in a happy ending. Why else do you think I cheered mentally when I see the couples are still together till this day, fighting the odds? 

I like the idea of fate. BJYX kept me up at night because it has to be fate and lots of things coincides for them. 

In the same manner, BTS is basically lightning in a bottle. If my hunch about Taekook is correct, then it’s even more fateful. There are odd coincidences with the number 7, either intentionally invoked or eerie. Considering BTS had the DNA song, they must really believe in fate at least to some extent. Suga is prone to making predictions that even jokes would come true. 

I’m sure there are other fateful encounters in the world like the Japanese line of Twice becoming best friends and in the same group after Momo was eliminated but bought back because JYP and the board knew she’s best for the group. Besides, it’s JYP making the final decisions so if Momo is going, she’s going. 

I’m not going all philosophical since I’m not quite read on the topic. It could just be coincidences but at the same time too eerie. But still maybe fate does exist, just know where to look for it. 

Mini-Review: Cinderella

 

Because of my fairytale-loving heart, I will be watching this movie. 

Admittedly, I'm only watching it because it's a Cinderella movie. I have no interest in Camilla Cabello primarily due to her behavior; every time I see her, I feel like someone should pay for my damages. 

I'm not anticipating a masterpiece and I have a feeling the movie will land on the mediocre piles of Cinderella movies I would only recommend having as background noise. Please, I have seen a better Cinderella movie than this. 

Even the movie trailer alone is just so cynical. Instead of playing into the magic of the setting, it lampshaded things like 'going to the ball of rich people to make yourself happy' is not going to make me a happy camper at all. I have a feeling the writers for this movie do not understand what Cinderella and its morals are as well as just how universal the story of Cinderella is since I read the Chinese, Egyptian, and Vietnamese versions and that's just one of the few at the top of my head. 

There is a difference between lampshading and actually examining it. I have a feeling that this movie won't examine shit, only lampshading because lampshade is the only way self-aware writing apparently be. I prefer Snow White and the Red Shoes' self-aware writing over Frozen and this Cinderella's self-aware writing. Like they hit you over the head with it repeatedly, but at least Red Shoes is not trying that hard, considering the names and general air of fun around it while Frozen is mediocre and glorified for past films had done better and sure as hell not the Disney Princess equivalent of the Lion King. Frozen was trying too hard with all those self-awareness but no examining or trying to make characters important beyond the archetype that fulfills either the fairy tale or Disney one. 

Compared to the obvious colorblind casting of Toni Braxton's Cinderella though I do like the energy the actors gave in there, this one doesn't feel particularly happy on the outset the trailer is trying way too hard on the current political climate instead of just having fun. Although Cinderella 2015 has its own set of problems with colorblind casting but at least having fun, this one is trying way too hard. I'm willing to excuse the Disney live-action only if the cast and crew are having fun. Aladdin 2019 is excused while the BATB is not excused. While Lion King 2019 is not excused, Beyonce's project Black is King is too great and therefore better than TLK 2019. I will praise Black is King over Lion King 2019 any time. 

It's trying too hard because I can see its problems immediately from what the trailer is trying to push instead of pushing the magic of Cinderella. Even one of my fave retellings, Ella Enchanted (book, not movie) has a better thing because it's not trying too hard.  

Why not let me have my fun? The lampshading meant nothing in the grand scale of things since this Cinderella is just so bland on the outset based on the trailer alone. Not even the costumes are grand enough for me to get my attention because at least costuming is a saving grace in dull fairy tale series but this is just...too modern instead of leaning into the fantastical setting. Glitter is nothing to me if it's not used wisely when it comes to costuming. Look, I'm all about PRESENTATION if you could do something that is unique; why else am I so harsh when it comes to performances? I'm not impressed with people standing still in one place unless they have the dynamo charisma to back it up like they are meant to be on that stage and pulling it off. 

You can do the realistic thing but if you're adapting a fairytale into a modern-ish setting, please make sure the fairytale aspect of it is still there. It's a fairytale; just give the airiness floating feeling that it's a mythical world. You got a fucking fairy god-whatever in there, you can get that airy feeling of romance and adventure. 

Like Belle's dress in the BATB Disney live-action is just too bland and it's not as grand as it should've been. From what I have seen from the ball, Cindy's dress is not spectacular when it should be because Cinderella is supposed to be the belle of the ball. Again too modern unlike the fairytale-ness of Danielle's winged dress or Ella's glamorous blue ballgown or how about Ella Enchanted's three gowns or Toni Braxton's pretty blue gown. Make it magical, not make it too modern unless that modernity plays a part because Giselle certainly looks beautiful standing out among the fairytale design of the ball in Enchanted. If there is still a fairy god whatever that is not Leonardo DaVinci or someone who is definitely modern like Rhonda in modern times, then it's pointless if the dress isn't spectacular. 

From what I gather, it's trying to be a musical with Cinderella and the Stepmother getting solo numbers because this is Idina Menzel for Godoka's sake. I like musicals but something tells me that this won't be Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella or Disney Cinderella. It probably would be homages to these guys at best since these are well-known musicals. 

Trying to make Cinderella proactive with her love for fashion or seamstressing business is not going to make me happy the same way Danielle and Ella did with their own brains. Maybe it's the fact the movie seemed to push its cynicism into my face with those lines that don't understand shit about Cinderella is getting in my way. I don't care if Cinderella is a feminine tomboy or even she is a resourceful young woman. All I want out of this Cinderella is to not be cynical to even lash out against hope or even realistic hope. I don't know, the feeling I'm getting from this Cindy is trying too hard. 

I have no faith in this film. The entire thing I got from the trailer alone is trying too hard and not fun. 

And my feelings are right. It was a film that tried too hard to be progressive only to end up being just sad because of its attempts. 

It's just trying too hard. The ending with the sister going to become queen with Prince and Cindy going off to travel the world with Cindy's business in mind is just trying way too hard. 

There's not a speck of fun, even in the costuming. It's not going ham on anything though they certainly try like Idina and the one playing the fairy god-whatever. It's just so plain. 

Instead of running away and leaving the shoe, this Cindy threw it to run away. It's definitely not Into the Woods where we see Cindy's cleverness to lead the prince to her. I don't see cleverness or resourcefulness. All I see is trying too hard. Camilla Cabello does not have the breathy loveliness of Lily James or the wisdom of Drew Barrymore or the teenage of Hilary Duff or the quiet dignity of Disney Cinderella. 

This Cindy is not clever. This Cindy is stupid as a doorknob. This Cindy is terribly written with all her I'm-not-like-other-girls mentality and so-called progressive when she isn't. She's horribly entitled and condescending to others including strangers when one of Cindy's strengths is her kindness and gentleness. If they just realize that seamstressing in the past is a suitable job for a gal, then Cindy as a (terrible) dressmaker should just be there. And she has terrible fashion sense. I'm not letting the fact that this Cindy has terrible fashion sense go because she is supposed to be a dressmaker and her designs are not innovative at all! 

The fairy godmother's costume is great yet they're just the 'gay best friend' instead of actual development on said queer character though just like past movies had been the narrator. Not helped they're the only queer character in the entire movie. Just wow. Could make the Princess gay or something. Definitely a sign of thinking about what diversity means aka tokenism instead of actual change and actual diversity. 

The writing is just bad. All telling but not showing. The only semblance of showing it even has is the prince and the queen. Everyone else is just talking up whatever prejudice they're dealing with or making worse aka modern issues ongoing from the past. 

Except it failed from every single angle of meshing past and present. Even Ella Enchanted the movie does better on this end even though it's inferior to the book. I'm just crying because it's a failure in everything you can think of. If you think the movie can save anything, the costuming is nothing even though that usually saves a mediocre fairy tale adaptation. And this one is awful as shit. 

And it can't save anything outside of some semblance of characterization of the prince and queen. And the Fairy Godmother's costume. Everything else is just terrible. It's terrible, but not campy. 

And that's not enough for me to get through this movie. Whereas other Cinderella adaptations have anything that could make it through, this Cinderella adaptation only has it in pieces. It's not even campy; where's the camp? At least have fun or something since campy can save something if done just well enough. Hey, I can enjoy Code Geass R2 just based on that alone when the writing became terrible. 

And the writing should've all the potential in there. Even the camp. 

Just look at this, okay: Cindy wants to be a dressmaker, okay? However, because of her class status, she doesn't have any material except buying but when her stepfamily squandering her parents' fortune and not having a dress shop or it could be the dress shop her parents own. However, Cindy has innovative fashion-forward ideas - not the terrible fashion sense because even I can see it's terrible - but can only implement them on paper. However, since her stepfamily put them in debt, she worked day in and day out in the dress shop trying to make due yet can't make her own dresses due to time constraints. As a result, she was overworked on top of chores and just want her dresses to be made and sold. She doesn't care if the general public dislikes them, she just wants them to be sold and make people happy because designing those dresses makes her happy and she remembered showing these designs to little girls and her peers who clearly appreciate them but are disappointed she doesn't sell them.

While casually designing a dress waiting for customers, a disguised Princess - no Prince except maybe a very young one who was set to inherit the throne when that boy doesn't want the throne, being forced to learn whatever at a young age when all he wants is to explore and have fun or even a Prince twin or something. Like you could add the Prince as a bait-and-switch and make them the Godmother himself - came to her dress shop and just looked around. She escaped from the palace for a breather and want to see the whole city as she had been taking trips then and there. Noticing the dress design on the sketchpad, she asked to see it.

From there, Friends to Lovers. Maybe Cindy was slowly clued in that this is the Princess as she helped the princess tour around. Allowing the princess to know what changes to make, the true systematic change this country needs and the princess' desire to become queen even more as she's becoming of age. Examine the patriarchy, systematic racism, systematic -isms that had been perpetuated through the ruler's belief that what ain't broken and unwillingness to admit fault, and all that sort. 

The princess felt she was hiding too many secrets and plan to tell them at the ball she invited Cindy. However, Cindy figured her out and found her time with the princess as one of the precious freedom and have no desire to meet the prince as the ball was supposed to be the prince's ball to find someone to marry. Or even the princess or even the prince's birthday party or something! 

Cindy couldn't go to the ball since she had nothing on hand yet she did update her mom's gown. However, the stepmother ripped it up when she found it. Now she couldn't meet her friend or even just have fun in her overworked abusive environment.  

Until her fairy godmother figure be it the prince or someone else like a friend or even an actual fairy godmother arrived and let her everything, using her designs.

Then Cindy was the belle of the ball. However, just when the other guests thought she'll go up to the prince, she walked up to the princess and they left the ballroom to the gardens outside, leaving everyone speechless. 

There, the princess and Cinderella asked each other for dance and shared a dance and talk till midnight. Cindy left the glass slipper as she knows the princess is clever and would go up to her hopefully. 

The princess is clever. She didn't make the proclamation of marriage but she did make the proclamation of whoever fits the slipper is to be her dressmaker. That was all Cindy needed when she heard the proclamation, especially when the princess arrived at the dress shop in full regalia.

The two married and worked together as queens to rework this country's systematic issues. 

That wasn't even in-depth to be honest, just the bare bones but even that's more interesting than whatever we got. And it's just one idea you can get. There are so many paths you could take this story but yeah, here we got, a mediocre terribad Cinderella adaptation. 

If this is the acting debut of Camilla Cabello, then she isn't really doing it, not when she just feels dull - like not Troy Megaforce wooden robot - and not enough emotion and heart. It's just okay. She's an okay Cinderella, nothing spectacular. Heck, even Max is a better Cinderella than she is and that's because he puts energy with Keke Palmer. Then again, the terrible writing overall and its telling over show is what makes it terrible coupled with its lack of understanding of true changes the people actually want. 

The music is just okay. Nothing too spectacular. At least, Schmigadoon has some great numbers as it accomplished the task of bringing the talent of the Broadway actors while still having fun. Despite lampshading the musical world and all that stuff, it still has the heart of a musical and shows the love of one. The camerawork is especially evident of this as they showcase the ensemble's dance work so well when modern musicals go in and out that in the end just showjumping around instead of showing the entire routine from the bird's eye. The point of a theatre means sitting in one place and if it's a musical with a dance routine, we see it. 

It's a jukebox musical but it's not good at all. It's just so bland that it wouldn't stick out among the Cinderella musicals we got. Perhaps it was because the songs are typical picks (Somebody to Love and Material Girl, yeah, I seen better and Rhythm Nation, was it? Again, I seen better) and the stage was built around them instead of constructing a story with these songs in mind. Even Cinderella 2015 has a better turnout on music than this. There's just no love in that music from either the actors or even the staging. Schmigadoon plays up so much Broadway and musical stuff that it's evident that regardless of negative reviews about the story, they can't put down the way the TV show homage and give tribute to the musicals that gave it life. 

This one doesn't show the love of either musicals and fairytales. It's just mediocre. It doesn't look like that much effort is put into it to showcase a fairytale. It looks just so plain that it belongs to a community theater but at least a community theater has fun with its small budget. 

Not even the costuming department took advantage of the fairytale aspect at all. The clothes are just too damn modern especially the ball scene. They tried with the somewhat pseudo-historical but it's just too bland. The prince's outfits showcase this magnificently as less fabulous than the ball outfit was the biggest offender. Just black, decor, and white and that's it. 

The ball was the biggest offender in failing to deliver the magical ball aspect. The dress Cindy wore was just white and looked less like it belonged on the most beautiful gal in the ball and looked more like a prom dress at worst. It looks like a prom dress! Not a magnificent wedding dress-esque or something magical about it. It's just sad. 

I'm not getting over the sad state of the ball. It just looks so sad and not as grand as it is supposed to be. At least, the BATB live-action, for all Belle's ballgown isn't as fantastic as it should've been, at least has good costuming for some parts of it. The only ones that do stick out were the ones who performed that number but even then, the entire ballgown designs lack cohesion. Then again, the entire movie lack cohesion. 

The ball should have good costuming the most, the one where you can spend the money outside of the stepfamily. However, when the costumes just mesh together that you can't tell which from which instead of showcasing stylistic dresses that will be upstaged by Cindy's dress. Cindy's dress is not being upstaged here, in fact, it's being out-staged. I fear I will cry every time I see that dress because it's awful and does not stand out. Even with my limited knowledge of fashion, I can see that Cindy is not the belle of the ball. 

I'm not getting over the costuming because it's horrendous. Outside of Fairy Godmother's dress which I do admit is great, everyone else's especially Cindy's own creations are horrendous. Cindy's dresses are awful and even I can see that because it just looks hideous. I would not buy her dresses, no way, I have better fashion sense than her. The only dress I remotely like from her was that pink dress she intended to wear to the ball. 

I'm sorry if the complaints about the costuming seem more plentiful. I wasn't expecting much from this movie and even then this movie was disappointing from all angles. The costuming should've been the saving grace at the very least and that's so horrendous that I took note of it. I'm never ever getting over Cindy being a terrible dressmaker and designer with her terrible fashion sense. I would wear Edna Mode's fashion line than hers. 

The entire movie is just sad overall. Trying too hard but at the same time, it's not even trying because of all the problems I listed before. It didn't even try to make do with the story they want to tell except bluntly spell out fairy tale tropes because lampshading works but not actually examining it. Frozen thinks it's examining when it's not, really not. 

Usually, fairy tales and their retellings are my go-to comfort movies and books. This Cinderella is not going on that list. It does not hold a finger to my worn copy of Ella Enchanted book. 

First Impressions: My Next Life as a Villainess S2

 

This is mainly just a fun thing. 

Harems usually don't interest me since either it's too ecchi for my tastes and I read hentai with a stone face or it's just too boring for me. My brother used to be quite a harem anime fan. 

I can read hentai, to be clear on that front. I'm just stone-faced reading it that seeing real-life sex/porn is just so off-putting. That's why I don't watch porn that often. Ecchi definitely isn't my favorite genre as despite knowing there are sex scenes that pushed the story forward as I experienced that before, it's just not my kinda thing. I'm not looking to get off usually unless I am looking forward to it. I won't mind since I read sex not that often but a decent amount. 

Seriously, for a harem to interest me, do me good with a good story like in the case of Re:Zero or just plain going down to a love triangle like Ouran. You must do really good on the writing to even interest me on a slim case of a harem. 

So imagine my surprise when I came across this bi harem animanga. As a bi gal, this hits everything I would love in a harem. 

Now, this is what I kind of know about the series from the second season. 

The trailer got the kidnapping plot down as well as the confessions from Keith and Geordo. I haven't read too far since I was a bit distracted in another fandom but that's all I know so far relating to the light novel. I read a little tad of the manga too so I know just what is to come, just a little nugget though. 

My trailer reading for how the story would play out has been based on what I have seen of this Bachelor Fantake guy did. I began applying that to trailers I watch, especially if I know just a tad of the story. If you know the story of Hamefura, then you could guess what the story is gonna handle like the kiss Keith was obviously going to plant on Katarina right on the opening and I know for sure that Keith professed his love. 

I do have a question about the whole Sirius Dieke/Raphael Walt angle of the harem. I don't know much about the light novel but I read the manga. From what I have seen, the SD/RW side was never explored beyond being a secret route and Catarina seemingly helping the guy by being a confidante. Yet that didn't translate to romantic scenes at all. If anything, the guy bore witness and even help Maria in the festival. Like, even in the official anime stuff, the guy wasn't even seen in the harem or barely in harem official art or even would be part of the harem as we see one of the older princes try to kiss Catarina. Yes, I see him on the official part but the way everything is written seems like Sirius isn't even taken seriously as a love interest. I don't know if he even backed off or not since he seemed willing to help and perhaps entertained the suitors are trying so hard for Catarina's hand that it's better for his sanity that he doesn't pursue. 

Like, I know Nicol didn't bother to pursue as Sophia is on the main offensive. If Nicol did pursue, we would see more of his ends but mostly what Sophia did is to leave them alone or make wild things just so they could have more romantic moments. The recent play is all about pushing Nicol and Katarina. 

Hey, compared to Geordo and Keith, Nicol has romantic moments via Sophia while Alan got those romantic moments because he's on the same dense idiot wavelength as her. 

Keith got moments via using his brotherly connection while Geordo tried his best to use his fiance card for her and even then he imagined romantic stuff than having romantic stuff. From what I remembered, I know he confessed because the kidnapping incident combined with the hickey thing made him want to take her as his wife now before anyone can take her. 

Again, I know Geordo and Keith confessed to Katarina but Katarina didn't know how to take it and just ignored it willfully or it made a break into the dense brain but she didn't quite take it well. I know Alan discovered his feelings during the kidnapping incident. 

On a brief note, I can instantly recognize Yuki Kajiura and Yuki Hayashi anywhere now. It was pretty easy to identify their styles. I can recognize Shoji Meguro just as much as I can recognize Ryuichi Sakamoto. It's the same with John Powell since I can recognize his style since HTTYD. 

Like, I'm neutral about Demon Slayer since it's isn't a fave shounen of mine but I know Yuki Kajiura anywhere. 

I didn't exactly know Yuki Hayashi was behind the music of My Hero Aca but due to my previous exposure to Haikyuu, the style was too familiar for me to not say this sounds familiar. 

I skimmed info about the upcoming anime adaptation of Vanitas no Carte and saw Yuki Kajiura. I would have to be dumb to not recognize Yuki Kajiura's musical touch. I adore the Tsubasa track so much I have those songs in one of my BTS playlists. Seriously, you would see me giving streams to Japanese songs because I'm going to raise those streams. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about competition or even giving streams to competition in the USA. I would really like to pick my own songs rather than see artists I don't want to listen to when I hear them on the radio. If it was up to me, I would call radio stations to play Japanese songs but I know they really won't not when BTS is the clear example of this, only playing the English songs and even then they don't play it as frequently as the others do. That's why requesting playing the English songs is still crucial. 

Did you know I was quite surprised to see a meme referencing the Magiranger scene? Because while I am out of the loop regarding memes but I got through osmosis considering I do keep up with fandoms, I was surprised to see that. I saw it through an ARMYweeb account I was following so imagine my surprise to see that popped up. I recognized that scene so I was shocked how this meme even happened. 

It was funny the first time I saw Magiranger so it's not a surprise people do find it funny too. 

Still to see it at all after so many years was something I never thought I'll see. I don't know how long this meme will last since memes rarely ever last for a long time. It's just wild to see and I know these guys memeing it haven't even watched Magiranger unlike myself who watched way back in 2009.

Tastes In Music and It's All Fine

 

Just to get this out of the way, you know what music preferences are. 

I'm a rock and jazz - might as well throw in soul too but rock and jazz are resolute faves of mine - gal. Electric guitar and sax are like mermaid sirens for me to instantly get attached. I like experimental music too such as adding classical instruments to other genres of music. I'm really attached to Sound Horizon. More often than not, Jpop is more to my tastes than the pop here in the US. I can listen to them just fine, it's just eh. 

I can listen to music that isn't at the top of my list like ballads and rap. I can listen to them just fine better than say music that isn't my tastes. Rap still has a better chance to get me to listen since ballads are almost a constant skip for me. 

For the life of me, ballads just aren't my thing. The soft and slow ballads I like tend to be on the slight upbeat end or have something that set them apart. For example, Shoji Meguro's My Testimony and Memories of You are far more my alley than One Hand, One Heartbeat. 

Typically, my taste leans towards OST, particularly video game and anime OST, and wild experimental music. Indie music isn't music I would usually listen to since nowadays here in the US, it just sounds the same when I just want experimental and new. 

I just want experimental, something wild and out there. 

And that's based on sound. In terms of lyrics, I'm drawn a lot to dark lyrics or at the very least complex lyrics. Now, it doesn't have to be that complex with all those symbolism and themes anime theme music is known to be doing for the most part. I can still have fun lyrics. 

I don't give a fuck about your music preferences regarding PTD. PTD is on the same level as MIR for me, a cute and lovely song but not to my tastes. I preferred the Lauv remix because the original is just so Ed Sheeran-y - the touch of BTS is the only thing that could make me listen to it on repeat - and Ed Sheeran songs except a few aren't my thing. There are some parts of the songs I do like though and the songs may or may not have been growing on me. Jamais Vu did grow on me after all and that's not my fave track for MOTS. I understand the sentimentality behind them and what they are for. 

Now that's out of the way, go buy and stream Butter and PTD!

First Impressions: Why Women Kill Season 2

I have a minor interest in crime stories though true crime stories would keep up at night. Seriously, I lost more sleep over that alongside horror stories. You won't catch me watching a horror movie or series alone. 

This is an anthology series since that's been very popular, especially in the wake of the pandemic. 

Each season has stories of women committing crimes, mostly murder. Whether they get away or not is up to their plan. 

In this story, Alma Filcott dreamed of being part of the local rich ladies' garden club, motivated by her lust for the finer things in life and desire for friends. 

Another story told the story of Rita Castillo, a former prostitute who became rich due to her marriage to an elderly millionaire. She wants his riches so she wants to get rid of him and now his daughter too. 

While I don't think she will commit murder despite her love for crime stories, Dee was having an affair with Scooter, the guy who is also having an affair with Rita. Dee's story seemed to revolve around not settling for scraps no more and deciding to pursue someone who treats her well, the private detective Vern. 

This is a fun series. I enjoyed the first series. Despite its flaws, it has things going for it such as the ending scene with the husbands' murders. 

So far, the series is fun. For my first impressions mini review, I’m settling up to the last Thursday episode in June. 

There are POC cast members such as Lucy Liu and Jordane Christie but not much is focus on their color. I really don't want racism to be part of their stories either but the color of the skin and the history attached to it could be part of their backstories such as Simone Grove building herself up as an affluent businesswoman or Jordane Christie being part of America's WW2 black troops or a black policeman who build up himself up from the floor after he left the force. Or we could've left it as blind casting which is a no-go in this society anymore. As much as we do want to see the true histories and see how BIPOC were and are treated, their stories don't end only in racism. The recent Underground Railroad is a different story since it's not through a white guilt lens but through a black lens so it's a much different story. 

Going by what I have seen in the trailer and what happened so far in the new releases, things are going to go crazy. In the trailer, though it tried to pass off the entry into the garden club as murder when scandal is the last thing the club wants, shows a lady with all those jewels holding a gun. We don't know who will shoot and who is the perp. 

In the third ep, Rita broke up with Scooter but given the trailer, it shows she got back with him. Probably as soon as she saw him seducing Catherine. Dee is shown slapping someone later on in the trailer and given the white door, it can only be Rita. 

From what I can imagine, Rita is gonna kill Carlo and succeed with it. Probably recruit the help of local serial killer Bertram Filcott. There was a scene where we see Bertram pull out the euthanasia syringe in a dark room and we know he promised his wife he wouldn't kill any more people. When I went to see that scene and compare it to what little we saw of Carlo's bedroom, the window is pretty similar though that window has a blue pattern on the side so I don't know. 

We are shown policemen at the door. Now, given the rims of the doors, it's blackish. The light was pouring in so it's hard to discern who would be it be when both Rita and Filcott's doors are dark. So I have to see its gated way and the person's long hair so I think it's the Castillo's mansion. We don't know what but many police are at her door for who knows why. 

From what little sex scenes there are in the trailer, we see Bertram and Alma, Vern and Dee, and Scooter and Rita. 

With Vern and Dee, that's a no-brainer where the story is going. We do see Dee confronting a lady in red. Dee is very likely to pull Scooter behind her and go pursue Vern and might even bring him to her parents. Her parents are covering up a crime and are likely to get caught.

However, the itch by Vern's side, his last client is aiming to kill him. So...very likely to be arrested for attempted murder. Either way, his story is not going to end well or even his attempts of murder will be as important as the two main leads while Vern and Dee's story will end well albeit bittersweetly as Dee will be forced to learn her parents are psychos. 

Vern has a friend on the force who is now on the Mrs. Yost case so Vern with his more in-depth knowledge of 

With the mistakes the Filcott couple made such as meeting and choosing to have lunch with Tom in a crowded room full of witnesses and digging such a shallow grave - what about decomposition? Though we later see Bertram dumping one bagful of fresh soil on the spot the body would be and Rocko behind him... We do see a closeup of Rocko barking though in that context it was Rocko barking up at Bertram trying to cover up the body when Rocko dug up the arm and Bertram trying to leash Rocko and Rocko fighting back. We do see the transformation of the garden with roses and all with Alma gloating over Mrs. Yost's burial. Yeah, that garden will be destroyed when Alma and Bertram are caught red-handed. 

The garden that was clearly the product of the garden club Alma is now a part of and a perfect symbolism all considering. The plain simple garden full of daisies and poppies transformed into a garden full of roses and ornamental hedges. I even saw white pots there too. Then it will be destroyed when all the lies will come crumbling down due to Alma's own mistakes and fatal flaws. 

No, cut that thought. This is the new Alma after Rita destroyed her precious garden. Seeing the new garden full of roses and ornamental hedges show the new Alma that might fall after defeating Rita who likely tattled on them for Bertram being a serial killer. It would likely be destroyed again when the Mrs. Yost case will turn that trail back to them because Tom was at the scene! Or close to because he’s a witness!

It’s unlikely Alma will join the club at this rate but she is now full of vindictive vengeance to make Rita’s life a living hell just like Rita want to make the Filcotts. 

I think Alma and Bertram will get caught due to those sloppy mistakes. We know the car got pulled up from the river and policemen were at Rita's door. We know they went to the damn restaurant and have lunch with a roomful of witnesses and the most important of all are Tom and that waitress who will undoubtedly know that isn't an old lady but a middle-aged woman wearing a blue dress. Tom is the most important as he will identify the woman, not as Mrs. Yost but as an old flame Mrs. Alma Filcott. There might be a possibility that a phone call the trailer puts in and the way it was shot that might be important; could be a friend or a relative who could be a potential witness. 

Having lunch with Tom is probably the worst mistake Alma has ever done as she could've bought the sandwiches quickly and leave. There were plenty of sloppy mistakes but that's the one that will get her caught especially if detectives cross-referenced the witness testimonies with Mrs. Wong and Tom. 

Will Alma commit murders? There is a scene where we know Alma is the one who pulled out that butcher knife (earlier in the first scene where we see after she came home and began to chop up the steak, she pulled it out), and then there's the meat pie scene where we see a vicious stabbing in the center rather than y'know making a slice to cut and share. The ominous scene of the butcher knife with minimal lights gotta be bad since it's a freaking scene with a knife in a crime story. Do you think there'll be a murder and then a dismemberment by Alma later? Murder dismemberment cases are horrific and gruesome. 

If there are more murders Alma could commit, it could be Tom. Going to the shop and tracking down every customer and the waitress just to kill them isn't going to be worth the blood. 

Or even Rita. Rita seems like a target now and both women are now full of bloodlust. 

There's also a split second of a euthanasia needle into someone's wrist. We know it can't be Maisie - and that's already spoiled in the trailer itself - since the blankets around them are green and have a beady pattern to them. There's a possibility that's Bertram's first murder. And yeah, it was Bertram’s first assisted suicide of his mom. And it turned out the only person he told was a personal family friend and continue to tell the murders after too since the poor guy is essentially his therapist now. Would Bertram kill Martha now that he let out everything that happened since then? 

We did see Alma with a needle or a rod of sorts that she was analyzing. I don't know what it is since she was wearing black. Then again when the garden club visited, Bertram learned of an auntie's suffering so... 

Themes such as selfishness and insecurities are rampant. 

Alma is deeply insecure and desired to have things Rita has, all those riches. Yet she is loved. Her family loves her to the point her husband is willing to do anything like putting away all the happy memories they have. 

Rita is the opposite. She's miserable in her rich life, indulging in it yet she longed to be loved. Her insecurities that a stout woman can actually catch a handsome guy she was seeing on the side can push her to make regretful decisions. Given she finally knew the name of the woman who humiliated her, Rita is going to try to do something to Dee, probably make her lose her job. 

However, since that guy who was aiming to kill Vern is still on the loose, maybe Rita will strike up a conversation and a partnership. Maybe, kill Vern to make Dee miserable or kill them both. 

From what I gleaned about future spoilers from the showrunner, Rita and Alma will become enemies. Probably because of Dee with the way that's going. Though it might be teeth-clenched teamwork when committing crimes though. Seriously, Rita might complain about her suffering husband who can't speak to Bertram within the vicinity and he would want to get into the case ASAP. 

Though the way that’s going, Rita and Alma as enemies and likely want to kill each other or blackmail at the slightest possibility. Since Rita doesn’t know of Dee’s wedlock baby yet, we know Rita want to ruin Dee further. This might be why the police is at Rita’s door because she might really lost everything due to her own nasty nature.

Both will be committing crimes. Since kill is in the title of the series, murder will be involved somehow, or at least some form of killing from the ladies somehow. The last series has one murder, one self-defense killing, and euthanasia that is from a victim's request. Given that it's a whole series instead of ending in murder as it did last time, we might actually get to see murders and other forms of kills throughout the season. 

And I'm not talking about Bertram's murders since Alex's kills didn't count last time too. I'm talking about Alma and Rita's kills. I don't know if Dee would kill but it's pretty unlikely. Dee is unaware of Mrs. Yost's death and her parents' involvement. Things point to a happier life for her after all things go down. As happy as her parents going down in infamy. 

After all, we saw a handgun with a clearly bejeweled hand ready to shoot and Alma getting out that butcher knife and examining something. We already knew Mrs. Yost will die in the beginning due to the trailer so more killings to come I guess. Carlo is a definitely confirmed kill. 

Alma is committing the crimes of covering up a death, obstructing justice, and theft. Seriously, if there's a red flag for police officers, the theft of items from a missing person the day after she went missing and nobody knows at the time she was going to go missing is one damn red blaring flag. At least Bertram is only going along with it to make her happy when evidence to the contrary is gonna send them in the sus zone. Again, I don't know if she's gonna commit murder in the future but she's committing a lot of crimes now. 

Rita is gonna commit the crime of killing her husband indirectly and steal all the money from Catherine's hands. Given how Scooter is actually going his way out to seduce her, he might actually go back to Rita's arms. In that trailer, we saw Scooter's apartment and it has to be since I recognize that doorway. And it was. 

As we see Catherine kissing a half-naked Scooter on the love seat and what have to be Catherine pulling Scooter into the mansion in the dead of night, I don't know enough of the plan to see if it will fall through. We know Scooter got back Rita and that apartment. But if Scooter is not going to play it right, he will lose everything again unless Rita makes Catherine a murder target rather than a blackmail target. Unless Scooter would actually choose Catherine over Rita lest Rita got caught or something. Definitely, Alma got caught due to those many mistakes. 

Though since Scooter quickly got back together with Rita who expects her plan to go breezily, Carlo, a confirmed kill target, recognizes the plan in an instant because he saw Scooter when he was by the window which Rita forgot about. Unless he got out of his situation by sheer will at this point, he will die or he just refused to give Rita anything in that will thereon as he knows the plan. 

From the way Rita wants to make Dee suffer for the humiliation, I don't know if she can take it if Scooter actually falls for Catherine. 

Actually, notice the difference we actually witness Scooter's interactions with Dee, Rita, and Catherine. With Rita, most of their talks consist of evil plans and sex which is not helpful if she truly wants love. As for Dee and Catherine, we actually see some kind of connection that could indicate friendship at the very least. Dee only sees Scooter as a friend, especially in need when he was left in the streets until Rita came back. 

And Rita did make damn sure Dee suffers humiliation alongside her mother.

As for Alma getting caught, well the first episode said she'll go from inconsequential to infamous so... We only know about Alma but Rita’s fate? None whatsoever except the police at the door even though she isn’t suspected of relating to Mrs. Yost. Why is the police is at the door?

To contrast, all of this is Dee and Vern. Dee is perhaps one of the kindest people in the show and confident in herself. 

Okay, so, Dee is pregnant out of wedlock. It has to be Scooter’s since she just has sex with Vern the night before, the same night her mom went to confront Rita. Yeah, we know Dee is never getting back together with Scooter so she'll marry Vern.

Because her pregnancy is now a ticking clock to the end of the story perhaps since she’s going to know the case really well as well as getting insider knowledge on how her mom work. While she doesn’t know the truth why her mom is suddenly this calculating and vindictive in her own right, she will know likely soon. 

Then again, it was a kinda one pregnancy story too for April last season but in the makeup cancer story for Beth Ann from last season too. Instead, Beth Ann decided to get rid of him quickly within a day of her planning, refusing to let things wait out. But it's still a time frame in which the events will take place. I doubt the baby will be born during the show when everything is happening and Dee is going to be horrified to know what is going on. April didn't give birth during the show either, only we see the little girl in the finale when we see Beth Ann hand the keys to Simone. 

The series might be a dark comedy but when it's dark, it knows to be dark. The last season shows the final scenes of the husbands' deaths nicely as dark and emotional nights. 

On a brief note, that Castillo mansion is definitely the last season's mansion set which had gone through 3 changes alone. I'm not surprised they did it again this time for a forties setting. 

First Impressions: A Series of Unfortunate Events Netflix Series

I grew up reading A Series of Unfortunate Events. The books were interesting but depressing. 

I remember vividly watching the movie over and over again. It’s not a great movie or a good adaptation. For what it’s worth, it has a beautiful set design and OST. Those are what will hold over the Netflix series for sure. 

The Netflix series is too bright. If it was to juxtapose the depressing nature of the series, it’s more uncanny. Yes, the books work on dark humor but it’s just uncanny. Not bad, just uncanny or meant to evoke that sense of unease. Is it meant to be uneasy? Because the brightness does that yet something about the execution felt off as if it misses the mark. The set design is okay yet it just doesn’t fit. It’s just doesn’t fit. 

The soundtrack is okay. I don’t understand the inclusion of the musical numbers but alright. I still don’t think they set the mood right. I never thought the book series would want depressing musical numbers. The most I got out of it is just eh. 

Probably one of the worst aspects was the lack of mystery as it spelled it out to you clues. Instead of being hidden and allowing the audience to piece together the clues, VFD is out and open to the audience. It’s as if to appeal to the book fans without considering the audience who have no clue the books are a mystery series. Most of the time, I sigh because of the lack of providing clues. I know the humor of the books yet when translating that to a show where it shows, don’t tell. Don’t do that to the actual mysteries of the show. 

It’s as if One Piece doesn’t hide the foreshadowing and just spell it out. Like, hey, see this, name-drop Haki everywhere instead of calling it Mantra or leaving it open via demonstrations of animal taming or knocking people out with a wave of energy! Or calling Sanji prince everywhere and every time instead of dropping it once! That’s what it feels like with the VFD clues. Instead of discovering VFD is on their journey, aside from me knowing about VFD due to my knowledge of the books, I don’t feel like I am going to uncover with the Baudelaires about the VTD. It’s like the audience is there to not uncover VFD for themselves with the clues and foreshadowing provided. It’s in your face that it’s annoying. 

Actually, I’m amused that while the author was unsatisfied with the film, the Netflix series took inspiration from them such as the spyglass and a giant magnifying glass to start fires. I know the spyglass detail wasn’t in the books yet the motif was striking enough it actually overtook the books on that aspect. 

If only that could be said about the set design and soundtrack. The movie did those better than the series. 

The series isn't perfect so far but it's watchable. 

Baby ARMY Guide

 

I hate going on Twitter so I'm mainly on Tumblr. Social media are hellsites. I would not recommend going into the fandom for clout only, just do it for BTS and their music. The other content is a bonus. It's the music that is the foundation of the fanbase and that the fandom celebrate. 

To prevent misinformation and any of that bad stuff, here is the Baby ARMY guide where I tried to explain and give ya links. It could easily serve as a guide for outsiders who want to know more about BTS but aren't fans. 

Just a heads up, do not get into solo and mantis' narrative. Do not get sucked into those nasty narratives like line distributions - that one BTS made clear that it's their choice and what sounds good for their music. For the life of me, I never recall Boyz II Men or any band ever have that line distribution thing ever. I have never seen this trouble with Maroon 5 or One Ok Rock or Arashi. - that makes no sense because they don't know these people at all. I saw a few saying that BH didn't let Tae accept his trophy for Sweet Night even for a video acceptance but in actuality, we shouldn't have such assumptions in the first place. I personally do not care. 

As invested ARMYs are, ARMYs know there is a boundary and you must support what they say. Don’t buy into ‘stupid BH’ when the boys have full control of their music. You don't have to agree but they know what they are doing. 

As for Kpop group positions, don't lean into that. Not only that it leans into the Kpop outdated stereotypes, but it also throws BTS into a box that both BTS and BH do not want. For further evidence, look at TXT where the only position familiar is the leader and that's it. Just don't believe InternetsNathan because it's clear he didn't know or look at the positions hard enough to know BH does not follow industry trends. Seriously, the parent company explicitly said they want to be a tech company and was laughed at, and now look at them now. BH does not follow industry trends. Just look at the announcement for BTS's Butter which is an hour-long ASMR video on a weekday. Nobody was expecting them to drop something like that. That's BH, dropping stuff out of nowhere and running off to the sunset laughing. 

To prevent anything bad happening to any side of fandom issues on whatever social media, it's best to get acquainted with the history and the music. 

BTS's site also has the official accounts to follow up on if you wish to follow any of those. 

A quick word about the 'SNS idols' thing, when BTS rose up to global stardom, it was thought believed BTS rose because of SNS. It's part of the reason but not totally. BTS used social media to connect with fans. Concurrent to followers on any of the social media accounts, there is a rise in streams and sales. There is no one over the other when it comes to BTS. BTS rose because they were interesting and captured people's attention to the point they blew up in the US and just continue to rise. 

A good overview could be the TVTropes page for BTS. Here's the lexicon. 

YouTube is free so you can check out BangtanTV for their content (behind the scenes which are fascinating to me as I adore those stuff and other content) and the renamed Hybe Labels for their music teasers/videos. Check out their docuseries and movies as well as simply concert movies. Travel shows such as Bon Voyage and In the Soop are also available. There's also stuff like Season's Greetings, Memories of insert year, and Summer/Winter Packages. Sometimes that stuff is kinda traveling stuff, especially since the 2019 Winter Package BTS went to Finland, I think. It was the place where Jimin bought his hat that he wore in the 2020 Winter Package. 

Here's a reliable archived list (you have to have an account for this one to see the full list because if you don't register, you'll only see a few videos you can actually watch) for now that you can watch. 

For members talking to fans directly, check out vlive, Weverse, and recently the YouTube streaming. Now for all of those, you can also check out the Eng subs that are available by ARMYs. Pre-debut BTS and a following after that, check out the logs. There are individual projects like Hobi's Hope on the Street, Jin's mukbang series EatJin, Jungkook's Golden Closet, and Suga's radio show KKUL/Honey FM. 

If you wanna check out activities outside of concerts, there are interviews, Korean music shows, press conferences, award shows, and commercials/endorsements. As an appetizer, you can start with Carpool Karaoke. 

That's all on YouTube. For free. Right by your fingertips. 

At the same time, completely ignore everything else like fan-made compilations outside of music AMVs and music fan-edits. Just ignore that until you get the whole story of BTS. Watch the official things first before going into the fanon. 

There is a lot of free content. For example, even for concept books that aren't free and really expensive in actuality, BH and BTS often do give free pics online. It’s both an appetizer and a small free gift for those who couldn’t afford it. BTS and BH offered a lot of free stuff - just look at the backlog I am showing you! - and it works since they’re not that greedy. If they’re greedy, we would see them with loot boxes in their games. 

Well, you have to search for some of it but if you are willing to pay or go watch it. There is a paywall if you are willing to shell out for the DVDs or videos. 

I haven't mentioned the Festa and Musters. Festa is a celebratory anniversary monthly for the debut that has free songs released and special pics with the finale being a special concert, all of it free. Musters are a cross of a fanmeet and a festival that has special performances and VCRs but this one is only with those who have Weverse membership I think? Hey, Musters got DVDs so there's that if you couldn't make it. 

And here's for a better organization of a massive array of content: Here, here, here, here, here, here. 

ARMYs are detail-oriented so they make sure to know every little detail there is, be it theories or business details. 

As for specific fanbases, please make sure it's reliable and transparent. Here's the US one. For ARMYs, please don't go for All For ARMY as I later learn it's unreliable and questionable. 

Then there are the games like BTS World and the BU game. 

In BTS World, you're basically playing a manager in an abridged retelling of the BTS story. For example, the group came together in two years, not a week. While there is stuff that is true like the bus with Jin, it's not at all accurate to the story. What would be accurate to BTS's story would be a biopic or a docudrama or a documentary. Because the story of BTS comes right out of a movie. Because when they got the Kpop industry against them, especially LSM, breathing down their necks. 

For BU, in particular, there are books, webcomic, mobile game, and music videos (please make sure it says BU in the description to be accurate). I have yet to dive into it because I've been jumping around the discography for now based on my mood. Please be aware BU has a lot of triggers and mature stuff. 

Here's a timeline of the events because I'm still clueless beyond knowing it involves seven boys who broke apart due to tragedy and other issues yet one is trying so hard to save with time-traveling because of a deal with the devil with a cat? It's more mind screw with all the symbolism - that use of symbolism and metaphors are crucial in BTS’s discography as a whole - because the themes are more evident than the plot points. Only the webcomic makes sense of it all with its linear storytelling. Just know that BU runs parallel to the discography yet it’s a separate story with all that trans-media storytelling. The personal songs still ring true to BTS and their stories so the BU description in certain music videos may or may not be double meanings. 

Again, BTS are telling their personal stories as you expect out of hip-hop and this love for storytelling has a lot of ambition and drive to it. 

For the BU drama Youth, please be assured BH is a part of the team and would know best to do with it. Honestly, just ignore the show when even BH is not acknowledging the disaster. Don’t watch it because it’s not worth a thing or even a single dollar.

There also BTS adjacent stuff like Rhythm Hive, the rhythm game that had BTS songs added to it. 

As for the variety shows BTS does, there's BTS Run and during their rookie days, Rookie King and American Hustle Life. Yes, they've been in more Korean variety shows as of late but that's because it's their choice to appear in it. The K-variety shows are doing what they can to scoop BTS up and given how the You Quiz PD showed off in another variety show. This is especially ironic considering BTS started those variety shows to move away from the variety shows they were cut from and/or mistreated by. Just as a note, there are shows like Running Man that treats them right. I can't remember the others who treated them right now but I know I have seen them.  

Yeah, BTS has a backlog on just variety shows alone. Good luck with this. You have all the time of the world when they go to the military too while BH will happily release stuff during the hiatus. 

As for checking out their discography, go at it at your own pace. I know this for sure since I'm more of a mood listener and my preference tended to lean toward soundtracks and J-music. J-music is the hardest to get and I just can't get that J-music I want. You can explore their music how you wish at your pace through Spotify, YouTube audio, and all those streaming platforms. If you wish, you can ask ARMYs for specific playlists like (the link there is incomplete since it didn't add BE) genres or based on the mood. 

And that's not getting into music that isn't officially released or properly advertised like commercial songs and the BTS World Soundtrack. Their Soundcloud is also just as big as their own discography so also go at it at your own pace. 

To understand what BTS is doing with solo side-projects and gift songs, let me explain: It's about the freedom to create music and how they choose to release it. They don't want the messy censorship or anything sanitizing the work they want to create. It's all about freedom and the love of music. It's just great for them to have Soundcloud in the first place because it's just more freedom from the governmental censorship and just music that they could just release as a gift and more. Listen, BTS already has full control of their music but in their Soundcloud mixtapes, it's what they wanted to explore more about themselves without bending to government censorship. BTS had been at the end of censorship before. You can look that up. Please, I don't see Daechwita being played in a music show in my life and I laugh at that thought. 

Also, a brief note, certain songs that were meant to be on the mixtapes could be on the official BTS albums. And the mixtapes will be referenced too or provide some continuation. Look at Hobi's Airplane and LY's Airplane Pt.2. Look at Tae's Blue and Gray, Jk's Your Eyes Tell and Stay that made it onto the albums. Just look at Yoongi's D-2's that are confident in their self-referential nature. Just know that this is still BTS and the individual members' pursuits in music. They are self-referential so best to know the context. It doesn't make these solo mixtapes any less BTS. These are free mixtapes with few ways to buy them but no physicals because the mixtapes are a form of music expression away from the industry’s rules. 

For the solos in the actual BTS albums, not the solo mixtapes and gift songs, it’s supposed to be the themes coming together. What BTS is doing is unusual even among Kpop groups as I know for a fact Exo, BigBang, and all those Big 3 don’t do solos in their group albums. The solos in BTS albums are still BTS even when sung by one member. Just to be clear, I don't know if TXT is planning solos down the road since BTS took a while to get solos in the albums themselves down the line too. BH doesn't follow industry trends so let's see what happens to other BH groups. 

Essentially, think of BTS as a rock band, not a typical boy band. The way they function is more of a rock band. Actually, I think all boybands moving forward should function as a rock bands. The Jones Brothers are taking cues from BTS seeing one of them went to see BTS at the Rose Bowl and was in awe that they could perform solos and still come back together as a group. 

BTS's music has a lot of nuances and context that a normal person won't get. BTS's history is aligned with their music as their music does tackle their rise to fame and their then-rookie in-your-face prove-themselves. Everything about BTS from music to music videos (this one is in conjunction with what the message is, not an alternative because of barriers) to choreography (this case tells their own stories with individual dance styles and charm. At first, they used to be all synchronization - lately, this aspect of dancing just seems so streamlined in Kpop that it's just not exciting unless you don't have the presence and charm to back it up. It might be cool once but it loses flavor quickly if not done correctly. - as based on technique and precision but grew out of it as they began to use individuality and focus on storytelling) to everything else (for example, self-referential to their body of work including solo mixtapes and free gift songs and the themes they build-up since debut) really is big in its nuances and context. The context is really important to their story as to where they once stood as underdogs with achievements buried due to the media play of YG and SM and their connections with K-media, their stories from when they were trainees to global stars, their relationship with the KHH scene, and being idol rappers from underground, as a Hip-Hop/idol group and how was that dealt with only their rookie image changed to a more idol image while still maintaining the hip-hop culture in their music but not in the aesthetics, their relationship with haters and fans, their relationship with their inner selves and path in their ever-growing fame... Not to mention, the symbolism and metaphors that allow a variety of interpretations; for example, you would think the relationship break-ups songs would apply to romance but it could mean friends, workplace, etc because the songwriting broadness of BTS means more than just a simple break-up song. Just look at Seesaw as an example. The context is a lot but it’s necessary to understand the bigger picture that is BTS. 

Also a brief note, the Kpop concepts don't make sense around BTS and TXT. I read somewhere that puts what they are going for: The concepts are based on the guys and the messages and/or themes they are going for. So, visual stans, shoo! BTS and TXT have full control of their music and how they want to go about it. BTS are shareholders in the parent company too, ya know!

Like, on one hand, I would understand about the BU, since that story is unfinished, but when it's the visuals where BTS are known to be a minimalistic message/theme-driven with heavy symbolism - BE showed this really well, even Dynamite with their disco style has all those inspirations. Look at the MOTS series where we see minimalistic - PJs, corsets, white/black suits with feathers, colorful suits, simple yet symbolic in terms of where they are going with it. BWL also showcased this with bright colors and jeans juxtaposed with suits and feather boas for charisma on the latter while the former is fun. -, it's all BTS.

Core artistry = minimalistic yet big on symbolism.

Live performances = bold and luxurious. 

It's better for new ARMYs to know and understand the history of BTS and ARMYs so please do the research such as the links I provided above. 

For the second half of 2020, I spent my time understanding BTS and ARMY. I wasn't even a Dynamite ARMY. To be more accurate, I liked them since 2015 but I really didn't connect the dots in any way until 2020. I guess you can call me a Dope ARMY but I have not connected the dots by then. Due to my mild interest in Kpop way back when I heard about BigBang and all those groups (just to be clear, I heard about Boa and Younha all the way back from Inuyasha and Bleach. I even heard a tad about TVXQ through the anime grapevine because I'm an anime fan well before I even heard about Kpop), I researched enough so I know BTS's story as I know full well about the Big 3 privilege due to their connections. So new ARMYs, please go through that process like I did, because it's easy. With all the links I showed you, it should be easy.

It's okay to be a casual listener, but if you wish to dive deeper, go to the music at your own pace. Sometimes, you just need a step back and just do it slowly. Nobody expects you to understand the long discography in days. Just understand the history of BTS that should be quick and easy with the links I gave ya. There are ARMYs out there not knowing certain stuff like remixes like Dope Jazz remix or RM changing the lyrics to 2nd Grade as time passed. Personally, I will vibe with a song first and then I will look up the lyrics after a few days at most. That's how I am with my J-music and still doing with BTS. I'm used to listening to Vietnamese music that is my process with music in another language. 

Reliable translators of BTS content including the lyrics that you have to know about if you want to call yourself an ARMY: here, here, here, here, here, here. Though I would think Wisha/douyouBangtan is debatable considering it seems this lady is more of a multi who defended a freaking Pitchfork article about BTS that says they are manufactured while going hard for Kpop's saying they aren't manufactured as a whole, not an ARMY if she was willing to throw BTS under the bus for an entire industry. ARMY Salon is also great. There are other translators too. 

Here's a documentary series if you want a visual rep though it didn't add some stuff just yet that is crucial. BH does need an official documentary and/or biopic at this point when people have so many misconceptions and BH has a lot of material just to tell that story outright; put it on, HBO Max! That documentary that is not fan-made but official is better off! BTS is the underdog the west is waiting for but people just don't see enough of it! 

Okay, just let me explain the plot of this underdog story since I feel like I'm telling fables: Seven boys, over the course of two years, gathered under a burgeoning company that hasn't quite provided hits through GLAM seemed to be heading for some moderate success, just not a worldwide success, the latter of which is destined for. However, this group of boys is forced to be sidelined when the entire industry seemed out to get them either out of the way by buying them when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy - SM because this is his tactic with potential rivals. Just look at Infinite. - and drowning their achievements. However, this group are grateful for their fans and don't care as long as they can make a sustainable living as a musician. There's not much you can do when the Big 3 is breathing down your necks. As if on a twist of fate, this group's overseas fans became a catalyst for them to explode. That group is suddenly in the world's limelight yet the very same entertainment industry that controlled the music industry behind the scenes hates it and drowns their achievements once again. It wasn't until the Big 3's karma began to fall back against themselves and they were forced to admit the group's dominance and power. Yet this group, who made serious moves against the biggest western stars toe-to-toe, still faced gatekeeping and racism overseas. Classism in their home country and now a mix of gatekeeping and racism is blocking them from getting what they deserve. But this group and their fans don't care as long as they're facing it together. And that's not even getting into how the boys met each other or even how they got recruited into becoming trainees! 

BTS was essentially a monster lying in wait even though BTS and BH do not know that. 

Go get that dang documentary and/or biopic made! I don't want to wait 20 years for it! The way people have so many misconceptions about their origin story so it's best to get those done! These dudes are living legends and you can leave the ending open-ended! Clear the misconceptions because I feel like I'm aging every time someone has a misconception about BTS and it's all because of LSM! 

BTS knows that their music is not for everybody and doesn't particularly care. 

Don't bother looking at any American music critics who don't know how BTS works outside of a few that are reliable like Rob Sheffield, Brian Cantor (I don't know much about this one but throw this guy into the maybe), and Bryan Rolli. Don't bother looking at music reviews, YouTube or otherwise, unless they know what BTS is. Do not look at The Needle Drop for a reliable BTS review since it's clear he has no clear context or nuance for what BTS is doing. 

Hell, don't look at Kpop-only YouTubers like Asian Theory, Kpop Junkee, and InternetsNathan who don't know ARMY history that much. Look at bbygang who is far more reliable. While DKDKTV might look reliable with their music history including explaining BTS’s cultural lyricism and Korean internet culture videos, I would not recommend watching their daily news or tea videos; those videos reveal just how much contempt these guys held for BTS and ARMY. Finding reliable ARMY YouTube channels is like finding needles in a haystack. You have to be smart about picking who's actually ARMY and who's chasing the ARMY clout. Thankfully, some ARMYs have been migrating to YouTube and I have a better time finding them alongside the usual people in the ARMY fandom. 

Don't look at YouTube reactions videos. That's not helpful. Don't bother looking at vocal coaches/musicians/producers' videos unless you pick out the clout chasers from the genuine ones. Just look at the covers more than those when you can.  

This also goes with lyric videos. Avoid Jaeguchi, Lemoring, and Zaty Fahrani at all costs; these guys take views and money away from them. If you want lyric videos, make it clear when clicking on the description and scrolling down to see the music credits that it is deservingly credited. The music videos also have subtitles so just go there. 

Checking out BTS ARMY-approved books like Kim Youngdae's BTS the Review, Jeeheng Lee's BTS and ARMY Culture, Jiyong Lee's BTS Art Revolution. These are the only books I know that are ARMY approved and aren't written by Kpop academics. 

What is helpful is looking at the Korean award shows performances by BTS. Like boy, BTS love to foreshadow future concepts and ARMYs have a tendency to miss the obvious one. 

You could look up these award shows MAMA, MMA, GDA, AAA, Fact, Soribada, and SMA. Please note that these are idol-centric with a sprinkling of soloists then and those soloists that barely got their dues that their own fans don’t even care since they know these award shows are for idols only because the Big 3 got much of it on it since 2nd generation and these companies still got a grip to show they are ‘global stars’ as a show-off. The idol companies of old are still trying to show they have power when BH is what they wanted to be; ironically, because of their ostracizing BTS, BH has to innovate to survive. These award shows are local with the occasional western star award that I usually don’t see get focus on. So to save you the trouble, watch the performances, acceptance speeches, and the fancams only. The other end-of-the-year performances are gayos and song festivals from the major channels though be real careful with MBC's gayos because they're just an SM fest and it's clear SM used them to showcase the power. Also, in case you’re curious, you can check out other groups lip-syncing while BTS and TXT sing live. 

Note that these Korean award shows include American award shows like BBMAs, AMAs, iHeart, and others. To get in hands with K-award shows, get the apps Mubeat, Idol Champ, Fanplus, Fannstar, Whosfan, Choeadal, and Starplay. Do not worry about the Fanplus mini polls that are utter nonsense in the grand scheme of things; stuff like 'who is the biggest dancer while singing' is nonsense and BTS won't lose sleep over it, especially when their name and photos are plastered everywhere in Korea and the world over know their name. Those Fanplus polls are just farming money through ads by using fan engagement so skip those little polls and focus on award shows voting only. For the award shows and/or weekly music show awards, collect tickets or whatever needed. 

On a side note, about BBMAs Top Social Artist award, I have to talk about a little piece of history. At this point in time, ARMYs were voting like mad while the other Kpop fandoms worked hard against ARMYS via voting for Justin Bieber. After BTS won, the same fandoms said it was just a paper award until they saw what the 'paper award' turned out to be for BTS, a turning point in their career and cementing their rising status in the US mainstream. After that, the fandoms will do everything in their power to get that TSA award for their groups. 

So, award shows, particularly the local ones, don't bother much with the racist institutions. We take what we get but at the same time, don't be defeatist. Don't bother with fearmongering either. When ARMYs can stand up to Exols, then ARMYs can stand up to other voting monsters. It's fine to feel mad about the rigged nature but don't bend to it either. Seriously, I never bothered with award shows before and after BTS. You should've seen my reactions when Brave and all those Pixar films kept winning over incredible works when those are subpar. Frozen's win was bad and it doesn't help what came out after it with the non-watchers who only chose it because of their kids and/or because it's Disney. It's frustrating as an animation fan to see animation being relegated just for kids when it's a medium! 

So, if there are fan-voting categories, just vote! Vote for BTS! Don't bother with the other groups, do this for BTS who deserve it! 

Just watch the concert footage and/or year-end performances at award shows. It's also a great way to be introduced to their stage presence and love of music. Because my first BTS performance-wise was MMA 2018 Idol; I remember, in 2018, I have a brief stint listening to BTS, but never got deep enough. As far as concert footage I got so far, I saw the Dionysus and Mikrokosmos stage at Wembley. 

Here are ARMY sites listed that could be just as helpful: here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here. Recently, the ARMY academic sect had been called into question so while their stuff is organized with reasonable stuff, for now, that sector had shaken the trust of ARMYs because ARMYs are fans and are not lab rats. It's a learning curve like with ARMY journalists. 

Other helpful communities in ARMY Space, if you want to explore there: Law, Medical Union, Tutoring, Book Club, Kitchens, Bakers, Florists, Charities - One in an ARMY!, Theorists, Radio Callers to get the songs played even in a shitty hour, and more. 

Think ARMY as a town with BTS being the beloved park in the center. Personally, ARMY is less a family - in some cases since they do fight against each other but not in an in-fighting that could lead to destruction, think of it as siblings fighting for the most part - but more of a town community. That’s how I would discuss a fandom usually. I hear the Genshin Impact community, the video games community, etc. A fandom is usually a town community basically. Just look at the conventions alone.

As for funding fanbases, I have no clue when that started but if you can’t afford them, please forward them as long as they are transparent and an actual ARMY, not a solo stan. Let it be known that ARMYs survive long before funding bases and will continue to thrive. These bases can be burnt out easily so it's best to not put too much stress on them. The admins may not be running them anymore but they're still buying the music themselves. 

Now for Tinytan and BT21, those are just the cherry on top of a great sundae. BT21 has its own story and characters crafted from BTS themselves or have input from the beginning. Let's just say BT21 released in 2017 is so influential. They are made specifically so BTS aren't forced to do every little thing. It's effective since BT21 alone sells. 

BT21 and TinyTan have reached so yeah. 

Though it's not that accessible outside of the US, SK, and JP. The Weverse shipping cost is too much or it doesn't ship there. So while BT21 and Tinytan might seem more accessible, it's not to a lot of the portion of the world. 

Please don't complain about having too many options right now or at all really when touring is usually how musicians earn their money most of the time outside of royalties if they got it. Merchandise has always been there but in the current times of the pandemic, it's almost a necessity until tours can happen for musicians, particularly BTS and BH. 

As for celebs, please make sure they mean what they said about BTS and acknowledge BTS's contributions and efforts in their own music such as MAX, Halsey, and John Cena. If a celeb says they like BTS, fine and that's it. Just do not bother listening to Melanie Fontana and her husband in any way shape or form. Just don't listen to any white musicians unless their words are sure to credit BTS in any music production process. Don't ever let white people take over POC struggles and take credit when they do succeed. Avoid Eshy at all costs as he has that white mentality of guiding POC artists when BTS and BH are fine before he came into the picture. Thank the gods they dropped him but the other Kpop companies that rushed to scoop him up are doing terribly. 

This is the same goes for radio DJs. A lot of them are clout chasers, saying they'll play when they won't, especially knowing the radio is moved by labels. These guys don't decide despite what they say. Playola here, folks. Just look at their plays of Dynamite and LGO. LGO's radio plays are a joke. Radio was and still is terrible to BTS with their lack of respect for their Korean music. The best we could do is to request as much as we can after release. Again, if we do get a spin of a Korean track in a shitty hour, we would still celebrate. The radio part of the music industry is entirely motivated by greed and money so really this obsolete model of providing music is a dying industry that is only kept alive by the western industry. Just know there are very few radio stations who are willing to play the Korean tracks but even then you must request. The best ARMYs can do is to request the Korean tracks. The radio DJs won’t help exactly as they are still puppets 

It’s bittersweet the English tracks are played repeatedly over the Korean and Japanese tracks. The radio is dying and only kept alive by an industry driven by the whites’ greed and power. 

As for brand accounts, sometimes the ones behind them know way too much about BTS and ARMY to not be ARMY. It's scary to see them know things ARMY knows. I understand it's a symbiotic relationship with interactions and all that. It's just that the ones behind them know way too much to not be ARMY. ARMYs get free promo either way because it helps BTS. There is no loyalty on both sides since ARMYS is only using them for promo while the brands are using BTS and ARMY for engagement and promo. 

As for articles, do not interact when the article is clearly racist and sexist and stereotypes the Korean music industry as just Kpop and all those 'the dark side of Kpop' stories that are just regurgitated xenophobia and hypocrisy with the western music industry's troubles. This also goes for music critics who don't have a lick of sense of what BTS is doing. This also goes for Kpop sites like Soompi, Koreaboo (this one outright steals ARMYs Twitter threads), and so forth. Do not trust that Hugh guy from Forbes nor Crystal Bell nor Jeff Benjamin nor Tamar nor Kati Halliwell. Just don't trust white Kpop journalists. Do not trust Kpop academics either in the west. These people have no love for BTS but do everything in their elitist academic power to spread everything racist and sexist about BH and BTS. 

For journalists that are ARMY, look at Lenika Cruz, Jenna Guillaume, Fatima Farha. BTSPressData looks through articles worthy enough of ARMYs' approval. Bryan Rolli seemed to have approval. 

Articles that got ARMYs' approval are Esquire, Paper Magazine, Headline Planet (maybe), and Rolling Stones India, and only the Brian Hiatt BTS Rolling Stones articles. Those are the only ones I know so far outside the ARMY-run Medium articles. Rob Sheffield also got approval too. Weverse Magazine is basically a no-brainer since it can be trusted to do the necessary research. WSJ used to have a good reputation among ARMYs but soured after a recent article written by that sexist and racist dude; WSJ, you could've had it all had you actually done the basic human decency of respect and not been a sexist and racist stupidity that you allowed. ARMYs are already cautious. If you can look over at Esquire or Paper Magazine or Rolling Stones India, you can see you can keep up the respect. Brian Hiatt and Dave Holmes are good here. 

At the same time, don't trust the media and the media people blindly. Outside of Weverse Mags and the ARMY journalists maybe, the media is a corrupted source aimed with an agenda to misrepresent ARMY and BTS. 

Just because someone is like a reporter to an influencer to anyone coming into ARMY space is an actual ARMY. Their intentions would be revealed as weird clout and/or money for their career and they will bite the hand that feeds eventually. 

Baby ARMYs, these are tenets and/or advice that are invaluable for ARMYs.

• Teamwork Makes the Dream Work. This one is self-explanatory. Not only it's about BTS, but it's BTS working with not just BH but also ARMY. It's a symbiotic relationship that has a lot of things below coming together. Trust BTS to do what they needed and want to do. As much as fans are the missionaries of BTS, fans don't actually know BTS personally. What ARMYs are to be OT7 as a group and as individuals. BTS and ARMY are on a journey together. 
• Just trust BTS and BH, no matter how much you disagree with them, but at the same time, don't infantilize them or treat them as a sideshow. Love BTS and their music and knowing what their music means. That's the very core of what an ARMY is. Do not worry about their promotional activities, that's up to them, don't call for them to get payola and playola. That's not who BTS and BH are. 
• TRUST BTS AND BH. If they want to release an English song, let them do it! This is their decision! They could sing in Viet and I would still listen to it! BTS has done well before Dynamite and scored hits before, just look at BWL and Mic Drop and DNA that is hugely popular in the US and the world over! Not played over the radio yet still got attention. FYI, BTS released English tracks before Dynamite like Change, Champion, Tokyo, Sweet Night, Winter Bear, and Waste it on Me. Not to mention the English covers. Even the Blue and Gray demo is in English! All promo would be up to them and according to each social media platform like IG's primarily photos and Twitter's tweets that allowed photos and videos and so forth. 
• Buddy, Dynamite scored big in Korea and Japan, the latter of which is the second-largest music market. Seriously, Dynamite is waiting for her sister Butter to come to join her alongside BWL and DNA in those markets. Like, Dynamite, BWL, and DNA alongside the Japanese releases are doing really good in Japanese charts. Queen Spring Day is waiting for her sister Butter to come to join her on Melon with Princess BWL. English songs tended to not do well in Korea and Japan; like they do chart, but not high enough to battle against the digimons and sales monsters over there. I laugh at the thought of Justin Bieber winning against Yoasobi and Kenshi Yonezu. Dynamite, as a whole, is still charting worldwide and waiting for her sister Butter to come to join. Justin Bieber's Peaches is doing well in the K-charts for now but I don't know if it's gonna be part of the longest-charting songs with Lauv, Anne-Marie, and Sam Smith. Yeah, those guys are part of the longest-charting songs' singers list with IU, Paul Kim, and of course BTS. 
• TRUST IN BTS AND BH. Again, English songs are fine and can be used to expand to get more attention and audience for their artistry. Not only they release English songs before Dynamite and Butter, just see how English songs are approved and nominated showing just how xenophobic the western industry and media are. Besides, after Dynamite and LGO, the BB100 no.1 is the one target ARMY and BTS are gunning for, regardless of language. 
• Enjoy BTS's music. Read the lyrics and understand the context of their story in conjunction with it. I already explained this above. This is all ARMYs ask for, be here for BTS, their music, and their artistry. Just do that simple thing. Regardless of achievements, remember to have fun and enjoy BTS's music. Have fun and accidentally break records on top of it. 
• There is also nothing wrong with a happy song, just a happy song. I enjoy the silly YOI songs paired with the deeper songs. I jam to Eve and Yoasobi's music, music about death. 
  
• The goals set by ARMYs are only a motivational tool, not a set-in-stone threshold we must reach, or else we don't appreciate them enough. Yes, these goals can be great gifts to BTS but these are simply a motivation. Just have fun with the music and accidentally break records with it. I'm a total vibemy with the love of the theories ARMYs toss around as I love reading up theories. 
• We wait for the actual music to come out on the actual release date. No leaks! NO LEAKS! If you have a social media account that managed to find the leak, don't leak it to the wider fanbase! Keep in group chats and delete if possible. Leaks are a no-no because the respect for BTS's art is high and valued. 
• Buy: This is necessary. If you consider yourself an ARMY and not a casual listener, you must buy. Technically, you can buy while also being a casual listener, but ARMYs are always buying. ARMYs have a tendency to outrage buy out of spite whenever a shitty thing happens to BTS. Just look at PCAs 2019 and Grammys 2021. At the same time, when ARMYs are bored, they can pull together to give iTunes no.1s, be it albums and singles. After a significant event, you will see ARMYs buying up the discography such as after BangBangCon. At the end of the day, it’s support and appreciation for the boys. If for now, you can buy the digitals, it's okay if you weren't able to buy the physical albums. The point is to buy the music in whatever means to support the boys and their music, be it physicals or digitals. You might not even have enough money for the physical albums just yet. I'm, for now, settling with the digitals on iTunes for now before going for the physical albums. If you want to buy to count for tracking for charts, know the country requisites for charting. Don't do VPN sales! And don’t buy more than 4 per transactions! 
• As for merch, you are not obligated to buy. The music is a yes to buy. You don’t need to say you’re a fan just by having high-end merch. If you want, the most affordable is BT21 and TinyTan. The other brand deals are just a cherry on top if you want the median like phones and cars. The ARMY bomb is not a requirement but it’s a must. I adore the fun fan decorations on the light sticks so I’m just on the fence about getting it. When I’m doing my best with my want for manga and the figures display, yeah, I need space. 
• As for the concert movies, docuseries, and travel shows, use that link I showed above. If you can afford them and do want to buy them, buy them to support the boys. In ARMY fandom, money = support for BTS. Don't go for streamers who stream paid content for free, don't do that, qdeoks don't do that. After all, that account streamed the Grammys 2021 for all ARMYs illegally. If you can't buy them, then stream via qdeoks. There's Dailymotion if ya don't want the stress though veteran ARMYs commented that they used to dive into Dailymotion and Vimeo for concerts and other content. 
• Focus on your country's charts for chart success! Know the requirements to score! If you want to know other countries' chart requirements, it wouldn't hurt but focus on your own country's charts if you have any and its rules. Just do what it takes to chart the song. If you are going to buy from Weverse from the USA shop, only the USA/PR ARMYs can. If you aren't from there, buy from Weverse Global.
• Also if you are to buy from the D2 store, make sure to download it immediately so it counts as a sale! This is for the US/PR ARMYs only. 
• Only buy when you can afford it. Don't get into the bad mentality of 'the boys are millionaires therefore I don't have to buy' when that's stupid when we're doing this to support BTS and the staff. You don't have to be a company stan to see this. Only buy when you can afford it such as music/albums/tickets to support BTS and the staff. 
• Stream: If you have a streaming platform to use, use it, particularly if it's a paid one, and don't use VPN. Make playlists of your own and don't loop. If there are other streaming accounts, use them but on a different device. This is for longevity, stream! 
• Understand BTS and ARMY history. Why they are so connected and devoted to each other despite the other not knowing each other personally, but remain appreciative of each other, and why they support each other. See why ARMY is so protective of BTS. 
• There are parts of ARMY and BTS history that are nebulous like the supposedly SBS cutting from BTS from a broadcast with Psy being the last performer at said event. There are ARMYs that argued otherwise so take that event with a grain of salt. Another thing to not take a grain of salt about is the constant BTS got from disrespect and dehumanization because people don't see them as humans just because they're celebrities or even Asian. 
• Know that BTS was never a flop in the first place. They scored rookie of the year awards but no grand slam like their juniors TXT. BTS was never lucky to win a music weekly award show win or a daesang a year in. That took years to build up. It’s just Kmedia drowning their achievements until they couldn’t when they grew so big. All ARMY wanted to show was BTS was a threat and growing despite the horrible shit piled onto them. I mean it took BTS years to score their first no.1 (2015) in the second largest music market. 
• Know ARMY and other Kpop fandoms don’t get along well. Even with the subset of loud toxic fans, ARMYs are painted as toxic yet expected to solve the world’s ills. Just know due to the history, ARMYs don’t get along with Kpop fandoms who bullied them in the past and successfully helped gaslight the vision of ARMY as the evilest fandom ever. Though that’s not saying much since LSM was the main cause for Kpop’s negative perception. ARMY is a female-dominated fandom whose loyalty is for Asian men in an industry painted as so bad it’s the cause of everything bad to the idol. When if you research just enough, that image is xenophobic and sexist. Still, hate LSM because he’s the devil. 
• Learn about the radio spins and how BTS is an independent artist. They have a distribution deal but no record label deal. They have no industry support basically. On makes, it looks like a winning time after time it's almost a complete shut-out because except for a few and requests are done, On and LGO were only played a few times. ARMYs are still working hard to get those spins. They don't care if it's one shitty spin in the dead of night, it's still a spin and something to celebrate. I don't think the Kpop stans get that as they celebrate when their groups get on the listing for US Radio Songs but did not work it. 
• Just know Dynamite and now Butter as an English song got privileges that LGO never got. Just know that because surpassing Dynamite records will be hard. Unless it's in English. 
• Despite BTS making everything look easy, it's not. ARMY and BTS worked hard for it. Seriously, it took years for BTS to be seriously nominated at the Grammys, and look where that ended up. BTS is an independent artist while it is ARMY who worked hard to do everything to help them chart and pursue longevity on the charts. The so-called paper award, while did end up launching off BTS into the stratosphere, was only a part of it as well as demand and BH being smart about it. 
• On a more comical note, there are in-jokes such as JTBC break-in incident. 
• Make BTS untouchable. This is because of the history, ARMYs made a vow to make this come true that no one would come close to even touching BTS's legacy. Be proud that BTS, the once underdog, keeps winning for they deserve it. Don’t Stan them for the poverty porn of the POC artist. Please don’t do that. Celebrate their big wins including brand deals with the most luxurious brand. The point was to make BTS untouchable and make their name known everywhere as a household name. Though at the same time as being proud of BTS's success, there's also the thing about concert tickets... It's a double-edged sword with ARMYs regarding concert tickets, knowing the general public is involved. Proud of BTS's success but have to fight for their lives for concert tickets. 
• Give the boys their privacy. Don't spread any of their families' photos, especially private affairs like weddings. These boys are public figures but not their families. 
• Don’t let anyone profit off BTS. Clout chasers and money-hungry fools want to profit off BTS and are willing to use the ARMY name for it. Outsiders like Esquire must build a good relationship with ARMY in order to actually sell. Cryptocurrency scams and mags that write bad reports with poor research shows just how bad it is. Radio DJs who promised yet do nothing for their Korean tracks are also here too. 
• This also goes to professional ARMYs. BTS and ARMY as a culture can be seen as so useful as a stepping stone to career progression when all ARMY want out of these professional ARMYs is to put BTS and ARMY first. BTS and ARMY must be put first before this job you are getting from being an ARMY. And it's not to say that the job is bad in itself, just that job when being an ARMY is really fragile when all BTS and ARMY ask for is just unconditional support and love for BTS, no making money off them. Just because you might’ve access to them does not mean BTS and BH would want to reach out or agree. BH’s hands are on the pulse of ARMY social media so they see what makes them move. 
• ARMYs have trust issues rightfully as BTS and ARMY have been wronged so many times and taken advantage of. BTS knows they were and still is taken advantage of for their fans’ mighty power. The Grammys 2020 displayed more overtly and according to fans, it’s not even sitting atop the most hurtful things done to them. Yes, ARMYs remain tranquil rage at the RA but it’s not the worst thing done to them. Trust can be earned but easily broken. And ARMYs’ trust is a bridge that can be easily burned. 
• Spread BTS’s message. Know what they are trying to do as they go by example. For example, their donations are usually discreet and do put the money where the mouth is. They aren’t world leaders but musicians with a strong moral core. The LY series isn't therapy or a guide but rather an exploration of love and all that entails. Most of their most explicit mental struggles are reserved primarily for Soundcloud. They still sing about their mental health but the LY series isn't meant to be therapy but rather an exploration of love and self-love and do talk about their mental health with political songs thrown in because artists can talk about it in their art. Why are antis so gung-ho about it when artists sing about their mental health when they want to?
• Promote BTS. Put up posters, flyers, post-it notes, ease anyone in carefully with their discography, no fancams. If you know the person’s taste, drop them a playlist with the genre in mind since BTS explores a lot of them. I'm planning to convert my cousins first through vibing so genre first except I don't know their music taste. My cousins know I love Japanese music because I was seen listening to it more than any other language when they get here outside of OSTs. I did this successfully with a cousin of mine! Hope she will listen to them more moving forward.
• Research. If it helps BTS and ARMY, research and corroborate information with each other to make sure everything is knowable and open. Because the Internet is free with misinformation and true information alike, best to keep its facts and make sure it’s actual facts. For example, focus on your country's charts so there is charting success. Don't focus on iTunes no.1s unless iTunes does count for the charts in your country and done rightfully. Understand the contexts, please. 
• If you want to know about K and J-charts, just know they are mainly general public. There is a difference between a digimon who is famous among the general public and an indie artist who would find it difficult to chart. There is a difference between IU and Eaeon. Not to mention that the general public wouldn't exactly know the release unless you follow BTS and their solo pursuits closely. Eaeon's new album was a lowkey drop with little fanfare. 
• Save and bring receipts. Save evidence from those who spread misinformation and/or spread hate (for example, the Blinks, Exols, Kpop stans, and 2nd gen stans spread this like wildfire in the past and still in the present because they hate BTS). If they say the opposite of what they said in the past, yeah... This is the best way to deal with haters. A saying is karma is an army so these guys will be forced to shut up when faced with their own words. 
• Do not bully the other groups except to point out to their fans that it's clear those groups can never reach BTS. When other groups are clearly plagiarizing BTS, crack jokes and move on. When BTS was accused of plagiarism in the past and don't go after those that they know copied them and they know, it's best to move on with life when BTS and ARMY didn't make a fuss. Not to mention, for these Kpop stans, their version of promoting their groups is to fake achievements, have fancams to the point locals get sick of it, and talk about their hate for BTS than their love for their own groups. I said groups because Kpop stans tended to like multiple groups and not enough attention to streaming and buying. 
• Please do bully solos (solos stan one person only and have that victimized alternate timeline in their heads about the person they're favoring. They're the main perps for scaring off those who work with BTS of social media platforms. They want to control and treat BTS as an abstract than a real person.), diet solos (solos who constantly talk about one member while supposedly supporting the rest of the members on occasions), sheep (mindless 'fans' who believe and follow the shit out of something nonsensical instead of using their brains to figure it out), and mantis (manager antis who think they can decide what BTS want when BTS are adults. Again, control over an abstract than realize they're humans). They do not have the group nor the actual individual in mind. Do not fall for their narrative and cut them out ASAP. Solos and mantis may be less in numbers but cutting off any means of support they have is better so something like the BE European charting and 2020 December (I have no idea what happened here) though there are other circumstances too apparently like I know Europe’s pricing for BTS’s albums are hell a lot expensive and considering BE is really expensive on its own and it’s released during a busy time of the year. 
• Don’t ever be a sasaeng. There’s a difference between that and a dedicated fan. A sasaeng stalks so avoid them at all costs. BH got a list of blacklisted ones. 
• Don't ever seek validation or cheap clout from ex-ARMY, Kpop stans, western stans, and multis that are willing to throw BTS under the bus just for some pixel clout or just want to defend the industry at the cost of BTS, and locals who give backhanded compliments. Those are BTS antis and don't you ever seek their approval when you can just vibe with the BTS music. ARMYmultis are on thin ice if they are willing to throw BTS under the bus just for cheap validation from followers. ARMYweebs are far more welcomed primarily because how weebs will just cry about bishies and will win because BTS enjoys anime. Then again, Kpop TWT and AniTWT are the same despite being deep enemies, something pointed out by ARMYs. The ex-ARMY thing is stupidity incarnate. For somebody supposedly leaving the fandom for toxicity, you sure are obsessed with BTS and ARMY. The fact they said they unstanned and didn’t move on, announcing it to the world like that, putting BTS and ARMY in an even worse light. Like, I stanned nobody in the past and I never made a fuss about it because I moved on. It's pretty clear they're listening to BTS alongside antis who supposedly hate them but only hate them online for cheap clout and validation. As for the locals, they have misconceptions that are dealt with by the Kpop and boyband stereotypes so deal with them civilly since being civil drives them insane because it doesn't fit in with their worldview about Kpop and boybands. Antis have the weird take about fandom being big as a drag that I seriously worry about their brain capacity. Having a big fandom is not a drag you think it is. Musicians in the west would kill to have the loyalty of Asian fan culture even though they have never seen it before except for BTS. Seriously, antis saying 'mass buying' and more recently 'VPN sales' when BTS sold-out stadiums and Wembley is not to be trusted. 
• Don't treat J and K-ARMYs are monoliths. Just because they didn't chart solo releases aka collabs or OSTs does not mean they don't support. The way some ARMYs treated how the two country's fanbases on how they don't chart certain songs from the rapline or a vocal line member like V's Sweet Night is awful and has been debunked. Do not treat J and K-ARMYs like a monolith. 
• Don’t listen to people trying to guilt ARMY out of buying music. Don’t listen to their hot takes, just buy. These people want ARMY to buy for their faves because they’re too lazy to do it themselves. Do it for something you love instead of these lazy people. This also goes for 'why not give the money to charities' when those questions are inaccurate and stupid. ARMYs can raise funds for buying music as well as donate to charities. Don't give a crap about those stans in our space when it's clear they're jealous and performative. Especially when these guys said afterward that ARMY is only doing these charities to brag. 
• Be Petty when others try to guilt-trip you. Channel the anger into productiveness such as buying. Look at the PCAs 2019 incident for example. Anti's comments during comeback season are also this. 
• Do not be homophobic, sexist, racist, fatphobic, and transphobic/TERF. Never be anti-black. That is not what BTS and ARMY stand for. If any of the guys are queer, accept it. ARMYs themselves are subjected to sexism and racism because of the hysterical teen fangirl narrative and that the fans of BTS can’t be POC, just white or Asian girls’ fantasy. The latter is so darn problematic with the fetishization of Asians, not the least the emasculation of Asian men, and the homophobia and toxic masculinity and sexism. Teen girls shouldn’t be bad nor shamed for loving BTS nor should the older women too nor POC who are fans nor WOC. BTS loves ARMY and is appreciative of them. ARMYs started with the teen SK girls as the backbone. There is nothing wrong with a female-dominated fanbase. As much as BTS is a non-stereotypical boyband, much less a Kpop one - acts more like a rockband with the way they function with solo mixtapes and side-projects -, they are still a music group that appreciates their wider female fanbase. 
• A note: If any two members of BTS are dating each other, BH will hide it so much that it's a miracle anyone looked back on it if they ever chose to come out. For shippers, don't fetishize queer people and bully queer people. That's all I'm saying on the RPF shippers' end. 
• Do not bother with trolls and haters with both BTS and ARMY. Those people are bitter and/or clueless about what BTS is and has assumptions based on them with underlying sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and a general lack of knowledge of what BTS and ARMY are. Any fanwars these people start, just get out the popcorn and walk away. Just save receipts and bring them up later. After all, karma is an army. ARMY never forgets to. 
• This is a different matter when it comes to the western music industry and a little bit of the Korean music industry who didn't account for BTS being this successful. On suffered from this as thousands upon thousands of streams wasn't counted for and robbed On of a Top 3 debut. What makes this worse was that nobody but ARMYs made noise about it and sometime later BB does it for a white artist that people actually commented on! Just know that the western music industry really does not like BTS and their success that they have no part in making as usually, they make the calls for who is successful and who isn't. The recent mess with Spotify taking away half of Butter's streams for three days as of currently isn't making this better as Spotify has already been under criticism. Just take western industry hate towards BTS and turned into pettiness and rage to make BTS succeed. Stream and buy! 
• Be humble. Never be complacent. Complacency and being spoiled are bad mentality. Remember where ARMY and BTS came from and stay on that path. Yes, you can cheer and brag about achievements but remain humble in spite of the attention from everywhere. The 'big fandom therefore I won't vote' mentality got to go. We need all hands on deck for voting. The sales and streams projections are also not to be trusted. Just keep streaming and/or buy when possible.
• Understand that while ARMY is a beast unseen before in modern music history, ARMY is in no way the strongest geopolitical world leader or anything like that. ARMYs are fans of BTS that have significant clout and power due to their massive power to spend money, raise for charity, and stream all because they love BTS's music and act as missionaries for BTS's message. Yes, they are significant in showing what it means to embrace female fans and femininity, especially teenage girls. However, BTS and ARMYs aren't world leaders, just each other's motivation to do good. ARMYs are demonized in the same breath they are expected to solve every world problem. 
• Curate your ARMY experience. Are you going to be on social media? Make sure that you block or ignore problematic people in said fandom. I'm mainly a Tumblr girl so I stick close to it there. Heck, you don't even need to have a social media account. Note that not all the little 7 on Twitter accounts are to be reliable but at the same time ignore the extinction of the little 7s crap at the same time because that's nonsense. That little 7 is harmless on paper but there are ARMY Twitter accounts who are reliable and don't use the little 7 but that doesn't make them any less an ARMY. What makes an ARMY is to be a fan of the group. This also goes also with BTS known iconography such as the purple heart, whale, and recently a little plant. Just make sure they support the whole group with biases but no solo stan. Remember, no ARMY is perfect on social media. I don't have a Twitter but I use the Bangtan Subs Tumblr account more mainly it's a better place to discuss than the threads. On Twitter, it feels like a repeated attack on the brain with the stupid takes and it helps that most Americans don't use it anyway. I know for certain my family doesn't have a Twitter account. Again, you don't have to be a Twitter ARMY. My preference lies in Tumblr and that's okay. 
• For Twitter social media accounts, just keep up with BTSChartData, BTSPressData, and BTSAnalytics alongside the actual accounts of BTS and BH, and you're set, complete with translators. You don't need to follow ARMYs except to see the comeback goals and maybe throw in the theorists too if you want. Follow qdeoks for the streaming who is actually reliable. On a side note, qdeoks and BTSChartData need to pay for all the music industry and BH stole from them. 
• You are an ARMY but you don't speak for all ARMYs who span over many. ARMYs don't like to be misrepresented. You are a person with opinions who just happen to be an ARMY. However, ARMY is still a reflection - not an extension - of BTS so be reasonable.
• ARMYs do fight amongst themselves. Not in-fighting that could lead to destruction, just impassioned disagreements. I hesitate to call it a family but more of a town with BTS being the beloved park. At the same time, no matter how ARMYs disagree, they do fight for each other if an outsider that has no knowledge of how ARMY work or an anti invades the space and plays into stereotypes that ARMY hates.  
• There's ARMY clout yet ARMYs are largely hated, especially on social media where GIFT is involved on the internet. So yeah, it's up to you if you want a social media account. Just know if you identify yourself as an ARMY, make clear you are here for BTS and their music as well as ARMY as a whole. Unfortunately, people have a tendency to twist a small loud group of problematics from a larger fandom into the actions of the whole fandom. Like I said, the smaller sect is mistaken for the larger fandom's opinions unless otherwise stated. I mean look at the difference between the GOT finale to a relatively controversial game like TLOU. 
  
• Especially during comeback season, ignore antis who try to provoke and concentrate on BTS only. Actually, for your health, just focus on BTS just like in other fandoms just focus on the thing you’re watching or reading and wash away all the negativity. 
• If you made a mistake in the fandom and ARMYs call you out, listen to them and admit your responsibility to your mistakes. Misinformation, manti behavior, etc are huge mistakes that can not be remade into new bridges if you don’t apologize. 
• Be wary of the media interviewing or asking for one. Not everyone can be reliable as Weverse Mags who clearly supported fan activities and listen and study them. The media will twist words to make ARMY and BTS look awful. Be careful when asked. At the same time, be wary of letting the situation be black and white as ARMYs being interviewed can and say bad things and still be wronged. Though a special case since this girl was the one who never misquoted, Emily Wang and 19 friends thing showed that this small group of people still think negatively of the merchandise and BTS deserve to make money off their brand after so long of mistreatment and overlooked. Those words of addicted/dread/stressed/greediness of the things are still Emily and the 19 friends’ words and they are wrong as fuck as fans pointed out it was their problem, not BTS. ARMY may be a unique fandom in modern music history but the fandom specifically the scholarly sect still got a lot to learn. Then again we still got ARMYs who don’t even care about the article - it's just regurgitated xenophobic sexist nonsense aimed to misrepresent ARMY and BTS, typical shit from media - and will still sell out merch without a problem. Emily and the 19 friends will still be a joke. 
• When comeback season comes around, focus on BTS and ARMY and no one else. Get rid of negativity, focus on streaming correctly and stream from multiple devices if you can, buying correctly to count towards charts, and have fun! No looping, stay hydrated and eat, no lyric videos, just the music video! No YouTube playlists but playlists for the other streaming platforms are a yes! Manage and familiarise yourself with streaming accounts so you can stream! Focus on all platforms and don't put the competitors' music on your playlists! All platforms are important, just use them on multiple devices. If you don't have that, use what is accessible. A note about YT, yes, there are troubles with deletion of views and hours calculated or even view records, however, YT is still counted towards BB and will trend no.1 regardless. We are not abandoning YT. Yes, BTS did not react to the YT records but even list their achievements and they will express awe just like they did in You Quiz. Also, for YT tabs, don't do that when streaming YT, put it on one tab and on another device. During comeback season, it's an all-out war against everyone else in the industry and their fans and BTS's antis. Seriously, ignore sales projections since the people behind them may have an agenda like Talk of the Charts. Don't guilt-trip and be negative to other ARMYs during the comeback season! Longevity is key here; it's a marathon, not a sprint. Remember to be calm, ignore negativity, and focus on BTS and their happiness. Just buy and stream. The best way to enjoy is to enjoy positively without allowing one bad thought enter, just keep cool and maintain peace.
  

A lot of the fandom troubles are traced back to Lee Sooman. The Big 3 was the reason for Kpop’s dark side certainly (just to be clear, Goo Hara and Sulli’s issues are unrelated to the industry as well as Junghyun’s. This goes with the female-dominated fandoms that have clear xenophobic and misogynistic hatred but it took a while for anime to be accepted too with the otaku hate with the west putting it down with something Hayao Miyazaki never said. That guy may be cynical but he didn’t say that about anime.). but LSM is the devil. Between the blood and DNA necklace and plane seats and that’s just a few examples, LSM is an amoral money-hungry tax-evading dehumanizing-employees (idols are employees if you’re reading this, Kpop stans!) monster that has too many powerful connections. Why else does he manages to get pardoned by the president to get out of Interpol? Then again, he’s doing blood magic. He had to have made a deal with the devil at this point, especially how obsessed he is with BTS. Thank you Godoka that BTS is divinely protected. LSM should be thrown in jail but he’s too powerful unless things are catching up to him and he loses everything in public humiliatingly. At this point, public humiliation is all I want if he’s not gonna go to jail. He has his legacy and he’s clinging onto it as BTS and BH spit on his past, present, and future as an idol company founder. Public humiliation and then hiding from everyone as his world crashes and burns. 

I'm just thankful that LSM never got his hands on BTS and BH. I know that when BH was on the verge of bankruptcy LSM tried to buy them. Had it were not for Bang PD's faith in them, BTS might have ended up like Infinite. Infinite definitely lost steam and couldn't pull the numbers they used to because SM is like EA. LSM would've put the fire out of BTS and BH and stifled the passion. BTS and BH didn't bend to compliance when they won their first daesang but instead took that as a catapult to bigger things. 

When his supergroup is failing terribly both locally and globally with the Dynamite rip-off, it’s bad. Seriously, it didn’t even chart in the first full week it was released on a freaking Friday for the BB100. The streams only clocked in 93k and didn’t increase even with ARMY curious streams. That song has been promoted through that nasty mental health publicity stunt when SM doesn’t even care about their idols or their employees. In comparison, BTS charted a Japanese OST the world over, an unpromoted on top of that. LSM, stupid man, ARMYs want the free songs only available on SoundCloud including the commercial songs on streaming platforms, and to buy and you know as well as I do that ARMYs would accidentally break a record just streaming it alone. Seriously, LSM is committing sabotage on his idols in broad daylight and nobody can stop him. Not when he’s desperate for that BTS pie. He’s losing money and he’s in the negative red with that free concert that is bad (Godoka, the Man of the Beginning, the media play to bash BH for it during a pandemic when BH is doing it to pay everyone! Including people outside indirectly like food deliveries from restaurants! Restaurants need help in a pandemic!) when he’s paying his employees less than what is needed. I remembered reading somewhere if BTS has the power of love, then the Big 3, particularly SM, has the power of connections. 

And this is the same industry that pushed back their artists' comebacks so it wouldn't go near BTS in the month they are releasing their comeback. Just look at Q4 last year for the Kpop industry where the entire industry piled on TXT just to avoid BTS where BTS alone dominated November. TXT put up a good fight, pulling great numbers, and selling more than the other groups even though they didn't survive for that long. It's funny and not funny to see that these companies pushed back, knowing that BTS songs will spend a year on local charts including Oricon while it will garner great noise in the West. I sometimes wonder if these artists including the 2nd generation know that the industry will never allow them to release in the same week. BTS will absolutely Omnislash the 2nd generation and Exo in one strike and the industry will never allow that. On one hand, it just seems a little disrespectful and showed little faith in them that the companies just won't take the L and dive in. BTS was released during IU's comebacks in 2018 and look at FL's PAKs. BTS tends to release music during the most competitive week too, especially overseas. On the other, it's like the companies want an empty house to get that number one. 

If ya planning to get tickets, it’s gonna be a bloodbath. It’s every man for himself. Throw in scalpers and it’s even more bloody. Sometimes, ARMYs have no choice but to take their chances with scalpers if the worst comes to the worst. I really wonder about the scalpers if they were truly waiting to wait that long for one ticket. 

I don’t know if ARMYs will approve of all this but I am trying to keep things in one place. 

Things will be edited and added in the future if I remember more stuff necessary. I’m putting this up before the next comeback because so help me this will be helpful. 

While this is a guide for Baby ARMYs, it’s also a good spot for outsiders to know more about BTS and ARMY. It has a lot of fan-generated guides to help. Yet it’s easy to pick through when it’s this organized. 

PS: Turned out my cousin in Pennsylvania is an ARMY and attended the Citi Field one since my brother mentioned she went to NY for a concert and I know Citi Field was the only location there. She was introduced via AMAs. 

On a little note, I came across ARMYs discussing BTS's self-referential work and BU and TXT's Star Seekers with Bang PD can be read like a shounen. As an anime/manga lover, I'm all for it. Going from each trial like an arc, we've been in the western music industry arc for four to five years now. That's alright. I've been through long arcs that lasted years before. WCI and Alabasta arcs lasted three years. This is perfectly fine. HxH will never end at this rate. 

Now I really want a manga/anime that detailed the Tannies' shounen story because their story can be read like one. Come on, BH, get an animated team like Studio Mir to get that shounen story down. You got an animated team for WABE and TXT Star Seekers. If you can get that, you can reach out to that while asking for anime studios to help like IG or Bones or Toei because you want that weeb energy into it. I know ya watch Haikyuu and One Piece! Go, go! Just ask them to do genga for ya or something! Anime has been innovative just as much with Beastars and Sk8 showing the growth in technology. I still need to catch up on JJK and DS. 

I've been getting back into anime and manga so catch ya later! New and old series, here I come!