All things chrome

Last nights episode was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. But what it did expose is that Ty is in fact the clown 🤡 and needs to go. Him trying to intimidate Kuzie and Hope is one thing but that act he put on when he told old girl he was leaving and telling her not to cry, all of that was a sad attempt at manipulation and that scene alone made me vomit in my mouth. The fact that he told the whole house he was leaving and then came back like a coward with his tail between his legs was just so shameful, lol I can’t wait to see him go home next!

I've been having difficulty with fubo help center. First off the phone number on google for customer support is incorrect. The only number that gets through to a representative is the number shown when your card information isn't approved.
Second, when speaking to a rep all they can do is the same thing we can do and thats it. They are unable to access accounts at a higher level. All they said is they will submit a ticket to look into the issue.
Trying to get to customer service is terrible, you have to click through a bunch of prompts on the phone. They are trying to mitigate any person to person contact. Fubo customer service is terrible.

I want to hear it all! Did it help, make things worse, or do nothing?
I essentially have the opportunity to get prp done for free because my family member is a practitioner. I would definitely like to take advantage giving that she is very thoughtful to offer.
I heard there’s a difference between prp and prp with growth factors? Not sure if that’s true. But I would like to be prepared with questions to ask her so I can make sure it’s worth the time and pain. Thank you!

repost cus i don’t wanna get doxxed 💀
Demographics

• Gender: F
• Race/Ethnicity: Chinese
• Residence: Northeast
• Income Bracket: 60k
• Type of School: IB school
• Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): First-Gen

Intended Major(s): Cultural Anthropology
Academics

• GPA (UW/W): School doesn’t do GPA (but probably around a 3.8-3.9)
• Rank (or percentile): N/A
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 7 IB courses (3 HL, 4 SL)

Standardized Testing List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.

• SAT I: 1460 (720 RW, 740 M)

Extracurriculars/Activities List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

1. Family Responsibilities
2. Charity organization
3. Charity organization tutoring program
4. Community centecanvassing
5. Leadership summer program
6. Yearbook club
7. Art club
8. Free tutoring services for elementary students
9. Art commissions
10. School newspaper

Awards/Honors List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

1. PVSA bronze
2. Posse semi finalist

Letters of Recommendation (Briefly describe relationships with your recommenders and estimated rating.)
Counselor- 6/10; I don’t really have a relationship with him, so I think it might’ve a pretty generic recommendation.
Teacher 1 (Art teacher)- 8/10; I was a pretty good student in her class and I genuinely enjoyed art, so I think it was a pretty good recommendation.
Teacher 2 (History teacher)- 7/10; Unsure about this one because while I participated in his class often and talked to him outside of class, I handed in work pretty late…
Teacher 3 (Math teacher)- 7/10; Unsure about this one either. I was a decent student, but sometimes I slept in class lol
(just to preface the teacher reccs were carried over from my Questbridge application and I was told by my teachers that the application asked them targeted questions, so I think the reccs might’ve been more in-depth than typical reccs)
Interviews
(Briefly reflect on interview experiences, if applicable.)
Yale- 6/10; My first and only interview. I definitely fumbled. My interviewer was super sweet, but I was noticeably very nervous and started rambling. I sent him a thank you note after so maybe that might’ve cleared things up???
Essays (Briefly reflect on the quality of your writing, time spent, and topic of main personal statement.)
Personal statement- 7/10 this stressed me out SO much. By the last week of December, I still had no essay done (no applications done either). I made two versions — one was about being Chinese American (real original), the other one was about my desk and talked about how the objects on it represented me. I sent the desk one to Yale, Brown, and Tufts and the cultural one to the other schools I applied to. I’m assuming they weren’t that bad considering my acceptances.
Yale Supps- 8/10 I enjoyed writing them — esp the 35 word ones! They were a bit cringe, but I thought I responded to them well!
Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)
Acceptances: * Williams College RD (probably will commit!) * Tufts University RD * Stony Brook University RD * Binghamton University RD * Queens College RD * Hunter College RD
Waitlists: * NYU CAS RD * Yale College RD (HOW EVEN?!?! I THOUGHT I WAS GNA BE AN INSTA REJECT)
Rejections: * Brown University RD
Additional Information: I genuinely don’t know how I managed to make it out of this decision season alive. I’ve been a long time lurker and after reading many rejection posts (from people with way better than stats than me), I was a bit worried coming into this cycle. I previously applied for Questbridge (twice in fact — CPS and NCM) and was rejected both times, so that certainly did not help. I was also going through some personal issues at the time, causing me to miss ED deadlines and having to rush ALL my applications the week before January 1st (0/10 experience; would not do again). Getting my first reach acceptance from Williams felt like a fluke — still does! I’m insanely grateful for the acceptance!
For incoming seniors, I want to emphasize how important essays are. I don’t think my stats were anything T-20 worthy. However, my essays definitely showed my voice and the person I am (even if they were a bit cringe…). Also PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE start your essays early. Rushing everything the week before was genuinely horrible and I submitted essays that were kinda unpolished.
Unless my Yale waitlist works out (doubt), I will be attending Williams College! Go Ephs!

Does anyone else feel like they’re last on the list for their Q? I often feel like he doesn’t even love me and isn’t in love with me or interested in me most of the time.
He makes plans with everyone else and is super social and outgoing when it comes to friends (pretty much anyone he can drink around actually) When I want to go on a hike it’s “I worked all week, I just want to sit at home and relax” he will often even complain about going to the grocery store with me. Then he will make dinner plans, hiking plans, all kinds of things with his cousin or whoever else.
I’ve been told by recovering alcoholics that they do this because there is less (or no) shame in their friendships and it’s easier to commit to spending time with those people.

Hi,
​
To preface, this was told to me as second-hand information from my roommate and our downstairs neighbour. I live in a 4 unit apartment and the building includes a shared laundry room in Alberta.
I was told by my roommate that one of the tenants in the building installed a personal security camera (I'm not sure if it was an actual security camera or a personal consumer camera) in the laundry room because he was under the suspicion that other tenant's were moving their clothes around. Now, this is probably true as when I've needed to put laundry in and someone else's clothes are done in the wash, I'll move them over to the dryer. Anyways, apparently our downstairs neighbour had found a camera set up by the other tenant (our across the hall neighbour) and called the police, who told him to remove it. Our downstairs neighbour has also spoken about it to our landlord.
My roommate was pretty shaken up by the whole thing as it's quite violating. I'm just wondering what recourse we all have against this tenant, as both my roommate and I, as well as the other tenants, have gone and used the laundry machines in our underweasemi-nude. Does this fall under the legal definition of voyeurism, as laundry rooms in apartment buildings are generally considered spaces where one can expect a level of privacy.
Thank you for any help!

My response in an email chain from the email list reposted here with some edits... This post was written by speech to text software and so there are some errors..
Of course no one person is going to bring cryonics to the mainstream.. who would even think that? I am talking to adults here right?
Larry King could have made some headway, if he had done it properly.. but he didn't have the knowledge to do that and maybe he did not have the inclination...
Cryos think that science will bring the proof necessary to bring the scientific establishment On board. That is of course delusional.. such proof is many decades away maybe even a century or two centuries away.. but then again we can't really blame cryos for being delusional because human beings are evolved to be delusional concerning many aspects of life..
Back in the 1990s the cryo leaders, our cryo deities if you will, promise that by now there would be major breakthroughs in science. Even some cryo leaders prophesied revivals by the 2020s.. it's very sad that the cryo hoi polloi has failed to note this failure of leadership.. it's all about denial with them... They continue to say that growth is exponential, but in reality there is zero interest or almost zero interest in cryo..
Here is my plan.. because there is no foreseeable chance in the next few decades that science will be able to bring the proof of cryo to the masses, I recommend that we engage upon a long-term project of cultural change.. we have to become social vectors. But before we can do that we have to find out how to generate interest in cryo among the masses.. remember the well known sales model AIDA.. attention.. interest.. decision.. action.. cryo fails at the interest point of Aida.. cryo fails to generate interest among the general public when it comes to mature adults..
As people age they become interested in spiritual things because the reality of death impinges more and more on their mind.. but new ideas and themes in the culture are introduced when young people mature and bring them into the cultural mainstream.. these ideas are ideas that were implanted in the brains of young people before maturity, in their teens.... generally teens because that is the age at which humans are evolved to explore new ideas..
We cryos need become social vectors bringing the idea of cryo to teenagers... But in order to sell them on the idea we need to know what interests teenagers and how teenagers adopt new ideas.. almost certainly it will it will be males that adopt cryo first and find the idea of cryo interesting .... Sadly I am still the only person in the world to speak at length to teenagers about cryo and find out what they think about it and then write down what they think about it and tell the world what they thought about it.. I did that back in the mid-90s on cryonet...
Young teen males are far more receptive to the idea of cryo than any other segment of society and that is by far and away true ...no other segment of society expresses any enthusiasm in particular about cryo...
Teen males are interested in exploration, in danger, in rebellion, in testing their manhood, they're interested in finding ways to become an adult male through challenges and travails that will shape the man they are to become.. conflict is often a central aspect of this transformation.. thus young males are often attracted to war, violence, novelty..
I documented my results here and other places over the years.. no other cryos care much about what people think about Cryo because most likely cryos are generally a***c or s**d or at least their personalities lean that way.... That's fine. I am willing to be the only social vector to spread cryo to teenage males...
you may now return to your robotic posting of news stories about cryo

I’m a beginner filmmaker making a film about addiction. As an addict myself I have a lot of inspiration to take from. But it’s been hard explaining why it’s such a battle to quit. Do you have things you’d like people to know or understand? Or any other thing, feel free to share.
I myself am still struggeling, luckily in a better place tho:) All i can say is keep fighting and best of luck to you all!

I unlocked most of the achievements in the Epic Games version of HZD. Since I'm kind of an achievement wh*re, and Epic does a terrible job with reviewing achievements, I bought the game on Steam, but continued to use my saved game.
I started an NG+ on Steam based on my Level 59 save, and some achievements previously earned on Epic did eventually pop on Steam, for example, all the "Reached Level #" achievements popped when I hit Level 60. I'm fine working through the story again to earn other things like "First Core".
Problem is: I had already unlocked all the base and DLC skills. The "All Skills Learned" achievement did not pop upon starting NG+ on Steam, but it did appear when I re-earned the "Conquered the Mountain" achievement. However, the "All Frozen Wilds Skills" did not pop at the same time, nor has it popped after doing several things in the Frozen Wilds. Maybe it will pop after doing everything else up there.
Seems like a bug to me, admittedly in an unusual edge case. Is there a way to report it? The GG web site's "contact us" page doesn't work, and they hand you off to the Playstation site to report an issue.
BTW I suspect "Tore off 10 components" and "Tore off 5 heavy weapons" are also broken, as I'm sure I've done both in the NG+ on Steam.
Also, "Followed Rost's teachings" did not automatically pop when I started NG+, presumably because the whole young Aloy part is skipped. I earned it by starting a plain NG and running through the young Aloy part until it popped.

If you are planning to create a website or launch an online business, one of the first things you need to do is to check if your desired domain name is available. A domain name is your website's address, and it is essential to have a unique and memorable one to attract visitors and build a strong online presence.
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A domain registrar is a company that manages the registration of domain names. There are many domain registrars available, such as GoDaddy, Namecheap, and Google Domains. Choose a registrar that suits your needs and budget.
Step 2: Use the Registrar's Domain Search Tool
Once you have chosen a registrar, go to their website and use their domain search tool. Enter your desired domain name in the search box and click on the search button. The tool will show you if the domain name is available or not. If the domain name is taken, the tool will suggest alternative domain names.
Step 3: Check the Domain Name's Availability on Different TLDs
TLDs (Top-Level Domains) are the suffixes that come after the domain name, such as .com, .net, .org, .edu, etc. If your desired domain name is not available with your preferred TLD, try checking it with other TLDs. This will increase your chances of finding an available domain name that suits your needs.
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Once you have found an available domain name, it's a good idea to check if it's available on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Having the same username on social media platforms as your domain name can help you build brand recognition and make it easier for people to find you online.
In conclusion, checking if a domain name is available is an essential step in creating a website or launching an online business. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can find an available domain name that suits your needs and build a strong online presence. For more information on domain registration and web hosting, visit Raksmart at https://www.raksmart.com. Raksmart provides reliable and affordable web hosting solutions for businesses of all sizes.

Hey Everyone!
Woke up this morning and in my email there were a couple emails saying my EMAIL and PASSWORD were removed/changed. Since my emails removed (Philippine Hacker) I can't do the recovery thing and I cant find a way to get in contact with Facebook at all. I have my credit card saved to my FB account through the VR store I think so it extra freaks me out.

Hello reddit, So I had been dealing with mental healt from adolescence till now 26m, I been target of some rummors( not true at all) in a small town and it affected me a lot, others opinion about me affect me a lot, now a days not that much. I been in therapy for almost two years now, I isolated my sefl from everybody but now I want to reconnect to some old friend, I had loose much of my confidence and self esteem this is the main thing Im working on. I had build an awasome life but Im tired of feel tretend and that people look at me like in a condescending way, like if Im ill or something. How can I regain confidence and meet again with some people I want to leave isolation and not being trigerred by things, also I been diagnosed with ADHD since I been looking for help. I want to let go and let that situation behind of me, Im tired really but happy with my life. I have accomplished a lot of things.
I used to be very popular in high school but then I lost it and being bullied so I started being a people pleaser, I think that can also be the root of the problem.
I wanto to become confident and not triggered by somone else.
Thanks for reading.

What does this mean? All I kind find is it being related to things that are extremely emotional. Could I call an emotive poem about, say, death, 'rhapsodic'? When is this word appropriate?

This post is about a male and female who entered into a situationship after meeting at a club. Both people are professionals who work from home and live about a 5 minutes drive from each other.
I [32M] got dumped by my long term girlfriend for another person about 6 months ago.
At about the 3 month mark of being out of the breakup, I ran into this wild beautiful girl [35F] at a club.
I got her number and within a week we are having sex. The rush was amazing. We had a such a strong connection straight away. She was unlike any other girl I had been with before. Bi-sexual, open with her sexuality and could do things in the bedroom I’d only seen in porn…wild.
Anyway after our first time sleeping together we would see each other at least 3-4 times a week. I actually think in the first week we spent the whole week together.
Anyway after 3 weeks or so, she tells me she didn’t want a relationship. I was pretty cool with that “to a point” but was gaining hard core feelings for her. She actually kind of pushed me away and I said let’s take it slow and see how it goes… she agreed and we continued on.
At about the 6 week mark she told me she loves me. I didn’t know what to say because I thought it was a bit soon. She was drunk. But it was stated to me with some conviction as she said “I think I actually do love you” several times. Whilst shocked I really liked the gesture as she had said she didn’t want a relationship with me and it gave me the warm fuzzies.
Anyway this similar thing happened several times over the future weeks of our thing we were doing and I would say it back. The next day I would raise it with her when we had sobered up and she would make me feel like an asshole for not respecting her non relationship request. Her words were “I shouldn’t have to repeat myself all of the time”.
Anyway as we went on she started messaging me that she misses me and really likes me whether I was out with friends or she was out with friends… times when we weren’t together. She was also introducing me to her close friends. But once again when I raised the conversation about saying the loving things (more from a very appreciative aspect) and what activities we were doing, I was made to feel like an asshole. By this point I had said miss you, love you, like you etc several times and she would not say it back. This was all because she had said it first. But it was all good on her terms to say it. One time she made me tell her that I love her but then wouldn’t say it back… super head fuck.
Anyway my head was getting more fucked up by the day. Every time we caught up we would still have sex. We were still seeing each other about 2-3 times a week at this point and I was prioritising my life around catching up with her. She was still playing this game where she can say loving things and I can’t because I’m not respecting her boundaries.
At about the last 2-3 weeks of the situationship I was ready to end it. But I couldn’t because I liked her a lot. On the particular week when it started to go downhill, we had seen each other on a Monday and Tuesday night and was very couply, the weekend come along and she pretty much ghosted me which made me feel very anxious after I thought the girl loved me. It was harder because she put photos up on facebook looking really pretty. I did message her and told her she looked pretty and she gave me nothing.
Anyway common sense said the mixed messages mean you probably should end it. Anyway I didn’t end it and she hadn’t talked to me by the time monday had came round. Normally there was a miss you message when these weekends happened. Not this time.
On that Monday I liked one of her facebook posts and within minutes she messaged me. I was like so I have to give her validation online for her to want me? Anyway we spent Monday and Tuesday night together. On the Tuesday night she told me really likes me and how she can see many reasons why the relationship wouldn’t work, but it seemed like it was implying she sees a relationship potential there. We also introduced our dogs on this Tuesday. Which seemed like a good thing for moving forward. Anyway she left Wednesday morning and I thought to myself I’m done with these mixed messages so I decided to not really give her much attention to see how she would react to that.
I didn’t hear from her for the week. I accidentally butt dialled her and I thought that was a good time to send her a message saying that was enough and I’ve had enough of the mixed messages, it’s not very nice to do those things and that I feel that it’s a little toxic. Anyway she reacted by telling me that I read into her lovey messages too much and that she had told me many times she didn’t want a relationship, told me I was catty (obviously for calling her out) and then deleted me on facebook. Bam over in less than 24 hours.
Anyway I feel like she used the “loves you and miss you’s” as a form to control me because as we were not in a relationship and she didn’t want one, so I could technically go out and hook up with other people. As one night when I was out with friends and didn’t get back to her she accused me of this.
One common thread over the many many nights of her saying loving things is she was also drinking. And what I got to notice more was that she drank a lot every time we hungout …. and also a lot when we didn’t hang out. I don’t think she ever had a night off drinking the entire 3 months of us seeing each other.
She worked from home and had quite a well paying job. I had seen her several times start drinking at 10am on a work day. I think she was drowning her emotion out with alcohol and then when she was drunk enough she would say the loving things. Once sober she would go back to not wanting a relationship. I think she had an alcohol abuse problem.
Another red flag with her drinking that was helping with my decision to end it, was that I was doing it with her as well. On work nights we would sit up drinking to 3am in the morning. Well to be honest she would drink a whole bottle of wine whilst I would have 2 glasses. It was a lot for me to handle especially on a work night.
I couldn’t perform in the mornings at work so this was taking its toll on me. She unfortunately convinced me to drink drive whilst we were hanging out. Which I’m not proud of.
I guess the biggest red flag was that she was on a 2 year DUI for rolling a car whilst drunk a year ago. So currently didn’t have a license.
I know it’s a good thing I walked away before it got anymore toxic. But I really did like her and it hurts for her to cut me off for calling her out but I wanted to stand up for myself and my self respect. I think it hurts because I was venerable after a 6 year relationship ending and found someone who “cared” about me.
How does one get over this fake toxic relationship? I feel like I was played to satisfy her needs and then spat out once she was done.
How do I avoid this happening again?

Out of all the things that this sub has spoiled for me how was none of them the fact that Hagenezuka looks like this?? He’s hot?? Out of all the things this sub likes to talk about how was this not even mentioned, was no one else surprised?
This sub made me read the manga because I kept getting things spoiled and I’m not mad about it (I’m at #15 so don’t spoil anything after that please!)

So this just happened yesterday and I’m still red in the face…I HATE doing things like this.
So last night at about 7:30 I got off work and got a text from my wife who works at Walmart in north end of the city, sending me a link to a pair of Beats headphones normally costing $250 but we’re on clearance down to $59
So I leave from my work to south side in a hurry in case this kinda deal would obviously dry up before end of day, and when I get to the south side Walmart’s tech center, the woman there tells me she has already told two people already that the deal is online only and will not price match, that in person the 6 in stock will still be 250 and online they will be 59 and I would have to wait like everybody else. I HATE confrontation so I am nervously about to end it here when my wife on her break texts me saying please ask their manager…great. I know this is an amazing deal but come on I am not talkative let alone ask this kind of question…
I nervously ask for the manager and she tells me to go to the customer service desk. I see not one but two managers there, I explain the entire situation including the fact my wife works at the North side Walmart and told me to come here. Both of them give me this annoyed and “done with this” look.
M1: “I don’t know why they sent you down here, we never price match, Walmart doesn’t do that” M2: “They sent you here with false information. The item is clearly marked as clearance and we will not price match such an item” M1: “Sorry you drove an hour for nothing, but it’s not any policy we have ever followed.”
I am so red in the face and near crying I quickly apologize and rush out to my car where I explain everything to my wife, calm down, and begin my hour drive back to home just melting in embarrassment…
I make fun of people like this inwardly, I hate bothering service workers just doing their job, I hate “can I see your manager?” And I HAAAATE any form of confrontation, damn near PTSD levels for me…it’s almost painful. Now I have done all of the above and I hate myself for it…
My wife apologized for having put me through this, but she said the Walmart policy that her North side manager and west side Walmart manager confirmed is to price match Walmart website, that it’s Canada wide policy and that her manager will be looking into this next day (today), as he is furious on our behalf.
This slightly makes me feel better that maybe it was some misunderstanding but regardless I am still ungodly embarrassed, and typing this out here kind of made me feel slightly better but it’s still…just…it’s a lot. A full grown adult just turning into a blubbering mess at the slightest confrontation I hate it.

Im just trying to find out if I can figure out what country my dads side came from. I don’t know any of my dads family and my dad has passed away. His skin town was darker, as is mine and one of my brothers.
I found out I must be a carrier of the abnormal hemoglobin N. Baltimore because, when my son was born 21 years ago his newborn screen originally said he could have sickle cell, but it turned out it was just N. Baltimore. I then had a child with a different father 10 years ago and she has it also, so I know I am the one passing it down.
This is where the skin tone comes into play. What research I have done says it comes from either, someone far back in my family tree being from the Mediterranean (is that even a thing?) or that someone way back in my family tree could be from Africa. My skin tone is not as dark as my dads and has an olive color to it. My 10 year old just asked me if I was “mixed” lol, because she said I look like one of her friends that is. I’m not at all trying to say I’m “mixed” if it does mean there was someone from Africa way back in my family tree. Can you be Mediterranean? Someone once told me that wasn’t a thing, that it was just an ocean.
Now I’m just more curious to find out my family’s background. I honestly just want to know if I can assume I’m from the “Mediterranean” just from the N. Baltimore gene or if anyone has anymore knowledge about where that gene originated?
My ancestry spit thing did come back with places around the Mediterranean, but also said 1% African if that helps or means anything.
TLDR: can I find out my family’s background from knowing I have the N. Baltimore gene?

Hello friends, recently, im trying to create a post-apocalypse rpg game, im new to all things involving rpg and i looking for tips about how create a urban post-apocalypse map, what software can i use to make the map, im accepting any tip about the rpg and how to make it Thanks all

I have an invisible disability that makes it difficult for me to use my arms and legs (peripheral neuropathy). I've been trying to be social and play board games with other people but I feel like my disability is getting in the way, which feels really frustrating because I started to try playing board games since this seems like one of the few things I can actually do without my disability getting in the way.
It hurts to use my hands so if we're taking turns shuffling I'll usually ask someone else to shuffle and deal for me. Usually people will do it and not even ask why but it feels like some people do not understand why I can't do it. In particular there's one guy who I've tried explaining my disability to multiple times who still doesn't understand why I can't just shuffle cards and makes it sound like I don't want to shuffle cards.
There is a different board gaming group I go to that has you have to answer "ice breaker questions" before being able to sign up for events. One of the event questions was something about what we look like dancing and I just answered "why are these required" and the organizer messaged me that it's all for fun and I should play along. I get that, but I don't like being reminded of stuff that I physically can't do or is really painful for me to do. I don't wanna look like an asshole but I don't wanna bring up my disability all the time either (I don't think I've ever mentioned my specific disability to this guy before so he wouldn't know but it feels like I'm always bringing it up and I don't want to be defined by it). This particular group also meets in a public space where we often have to move chairs around, and idk what to do because picking up chairs hurts a lot but I also don't wanna make everyone do everything for me.

As a very handsome group of shiny boys once said, "oh I'm curious, yeah", so let's get into it.
In the beginning there was BTS.
Not in the "paved the way" type of way, though they definitely paved the way. The first Kpop group that I ever stanned studied was BTS. You see, I was a big fan of Saturday Night Live, you might know it as SNL. It's a popular late night show airing in the United States, consisting of sketch comedy, satire, celebrity hosts, and musical guests. One weekend in April 2019, 7 charming lads from South Korea were the musical guests. It was, you guessed it, popular boy group BTS, otherwise known as Beyond the Scene.
I immediately decided that this was a group that I needed to study, for educational purposes. Kpop stans may have a reputation for being delusional, hysterical fan girls. But not me, I am a scholar. I only pursue the most sophisticated, erudite subjects.
I began my scholarly journey like most scholars do - with crack edits on YouTube. Who was the amazing dancer with the pink hair? Who was the guy with smoldering visuals and blue hair? I would come to know these people as Jimin Park, from Busan, the 2nd largest city in South Korean known for its beaches, mountains and temples, and Taehyung Kim, born in Daegu, a city with rich and ancient culture, and also the birthplace of Yoongi Min. Jimin is known as someone who struggles with chairs, and Taehyung is known as someone who doesn't like to wear shoes.
At that point, my journey into Kpop scholarship was well underway. I then moved on to my biggest obstacle yet, learning the rest of their names. Jungkook Jeon and Seokjin Kim were the hardest, despite being the youngest and the oldest members. I could not tell them apart. For a month, at least. It might have been longer. Then there was the rap line, which was significantly easier. Hoseok Jung looks like the sun and will blind you if you look too long. If you need to find Namjoon Kim, look for the tall one who exudes daddy leader energy. Yoongi Min was the easiest, it's always easy to spot a cat amongst a group of dudes.
With their names out of the way, it was time to consume content. Unlike the rest of you uncultured wannabe scholars, I really committed myself to my work. I left no stone unturned, there was not one "BTS clips to watch when your left toenail is falling off" compilation that I didn't watch, even though I still have all of my left toenails.
Wait, what was that? A prolonged glance between dancer Jimin Park and maknae Jungkook Jeon? These boys sure like to hug each other. Could there be...? NO, pull it together u/omgthenerve, you are a SCHOLAR not a shipper.
Back to the main subject and that's the music! Beyond the Scene's music resonated with me because I, too, was 2 cool 4 skool. I also had wings at one point, but that's another story for another day. I also love beautiful moments in life. And myself.
The first song I ever heard by BTS was the modern classic, "Boy with Luv", featuring American popstar Ashley Frangipane. In this song, oldest hyung Seokjin Kim playfully invites us to "come be my teacher". Which is really considerate of him, because I consider myself a scholar and there are indeed many things that I could teach Seokjin Kim. Beyond the Scene then claims that "love is nothing stronger than a boy with luv". I would argue that's wrong, I think love is nothing stronger than between a Kpop scholar and the group they study. But it's okay, even geniuses are wrong sometimes, and that includes Melanie Joy Fontana.
Next we'll move on to "Black Swan", from their studio album Map of the Soul 7. The song begins with maknae and renowned painter Jungkook Jeon saying, "do your thang with me now", and I'm not sure if that's an invitation or a demand. In the music video, Jimin Park transforms into a literal black swan. Given that the group already has a cat in the form of basketball phenom Yoongi Min, another animal feels like overkill. But okay I guess.
Next I'll move on to "Butter" which has always been my favorite condiment, though I would argue that it's anything but smooth when it's cold and you're trying to spread it on bread, then the bread tears, and you have to get a new piece of bread. You all know what I'm talking about. In this music video, Jungkook Jeon paves the way by wearing a fake eyebrow ring, which was then copied by a bunch of other wannabe badasses. Joke's on them, Jungkook is the original badass. Shoe hater Taehyung proclaims in this song, "I owe it all to my mother", which was nice of him. He also shouts out rhythm and blues singer Usher Raymond, which was also nice of him.
I'll end my deep dive into BTS's discography there. I'm sure you all learned a lot, whether it was how considerate Seokjin Kim is, the difference between an invitation and a demand, or my personal views on butter.
In short, through years of rigorous academic study and hard work, I have officially joined the ranks of Kpop scholars. But this is just the first part of my journey. BTS may have been the first group I studied, but they were not the last. Not when "I've been walking with the cheese that's the queso" was heard playing in the distance, and I was lured into the storied land of Neo Culture Technology. But that essay will need to wait for another day.