🔹 And are there any meme coins right now that actually look promising beyond the hype? Or is it all noise before the real Bitcoin breakout?
I don't think meme coins have anything to do with Bitcoin, right? I also don't think there's ever really a meme coin that looks promising. There are just certain coins that get bought up on hype and dreams before everyone runs for the exits. What the meme coin space really needs is a coin that actually has some sort of value. It is so rare... I've only seen wrapped coins like USD, BTC, EUR and even those are missing things like Gold or Yuan that people would like to be able to trade. I think you should focus on real value and not memes.
I will take the advice, but once you look around every corner for BTC, someone is always talking about meme coins. its like the spleen in our body, i guess - no use but u have it.

but haven't some brands of meme like Pepe and Doge... made some name for themselves.. how was it possible.. were they too dramatic? authentic? or just in the news for the wrong reasons?
Those Meme you think have made name for themselves is probably because of the people that have invested in it. Maybe a notable public figure has a stake in it. But is it what will bring a sustainable value to that coin? You don't just invest in a coin because it has made a name. The name it made how come about it? Was it because of it's products that has real life application? You invest in a coin because of the use cases and have a real life challenges it aims to solve. Lots of investors are in Doge because Elon Musk. Any day he decides to pull out imagine how bad it will be for Doge coin.
Don't take because someone else is talking about meme coins and go into it. Those people might be more experienced than you and when they will pull out you won't know. Besides they are talking about it doesn't mean they invested in it. It's one thing to talk about something and another thing to invest in it. Stay away from meme coins, it will mess you up when you least expected.