#kim kia

[the-uncanny-dag]

So irresistible & so fucking orange

[scarlettundrhett]

[roseband]

you are the center of my universe

[kiaramendelsohn-km-kpask]

Welcome to Kiara "Kia" Mendelsohn-KM-KPAsk

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Kia Mendelsohn of Main Protagonists

Rob Hoover of Main Protagonists/Deuteragonist and Partners/Sidekicks of Kia Mendelsohn KM

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African American Man Tech Expert of Protagonists/Tritagonist going to help Kia and Rob go on Missions and Save the World/Save the Day

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For @laurasanchez36

All belongs to my new KP ocs sonas

[prettyhennytea]

The LSU Tigers recently clinched the 2022-23 women's college basketball title, but their journey has encountered some unexpected hurdles. During Friday night's game, the team was without their star player, Angel Reese, leaving fans and reporters curious about her absence. Coach Kim Mulkey remained tightlipped when questioned about it, expressing hope for Reese's return without providing further details. This development followed Reese being benched during a previous game against Kent State. Adding to the team's challenges are off-court tensions between Reese's mother and fellow LSU star Flau'jae Johnson's mother that have spilled onto social media.

In a post-game interview after LSU's 73-50 victory over Southeastern Louisiana, Coach Kim Mulkey addressed Angel Reese's absence from the lineup. She confirmed that Reese was not in uniform but emphasized her importance as part of the basketball team and expressed optimism for her return in due course. However, Mulkey refrained from elaborating further on the matter.

Reese's recent absence follows her being benched during LSU's 109-79 win over Kent State earlier in the week. The decision to keep her out of play for the second half raised eyebrows among spectators and sparked speculation about potential issue within the team or coaching decisions.

In another setback for the Tigers, they suffered their first loss of the season just 11 days ago when they were defeated by Colorado Buffaloes with a score of 92-78 on November 6th. As if that wasn't enough to contend with, tensions have arisen between Angel Reese's mother (Angel Webb Reese) and Flau'jae Johnson's mother (Kia Brooks), which have spilled over onto social media platforms.

Angel Webb Reese took to her Instagram stories to express her frustration with a lengthy message she received. She criticized the message for containing numerous grammatical errors that made it difficult for her to comprehend its intended meaning. While she did not explicitly mention who sent the message, it became apparent when Kia Brooks, Flau'jae Johnson's mother, responded on Instagram with a post of her own. Brooks urged Reese and her mother to stop being petty, fake, and hateful while also suggesting they take responsibility for their actions. The response from Brooks emphasized the importance of humility and remembering one's roots. 

The LSU Tigers' triumph in secuing the women's college basketball title has been accompanied by challenges both on and off the court. With Angel Reese's absence from recent games, including being benched during one match, questions arise about potential underlying issues within the team or coaching decisions. Additionally, tensions between Reese's mother and Flau'jae Johnson's mother have added another layer of complexity to navigate. As fans eagerly await further updates regarding Angel Reese's status and resolution of any internal conflicts within the team dynamics, it remains clear that success in sports often comes hand-in-hand with unforeseen obstacles that require careful management both on social media platforms and behind closed doors.

[jungkookiexxx]

230601 - RM's Instagram story

[lurkingshan]

Love in the Big City Drama: Episodes 1-2 Book Club Discussion

I'm so happy to be back here with all you friends discussing this excellent show and the novel that inspired it. It has surpassed my wildest dreams in terms of both quality and authenticity to the tone and spirit of the novel, and I am so excited to talk about it!

As a reminder, these are the questions we originally discussed for Part 1 of the novel, and this is the meta round up, where you can see all the brilliant things you initially wrote about it. Here are your official discussion questions for episodes 1 and 2 of Love in the Big City, courtesy of @bengiyo:

With the move to the screen, more of Go Yeong's relationships are featured in Part 1. How does this change your impression of how Mi Ae fits into his life, compared to how you originally read his relationship with Jaehee?

What new insights did you gain from the adaptation's expansion of K3 (Kia) Guy from a few background lines into a fully realized character in Kim Nam Gyu?

In the novel, we see everything through Young's rather biting and cynical internal monologue, while in the drama we see other characters through a broader lens. With this different perspective, how does Mi Ae's outing of Go Yeong and the fallout change compared to the novel?

In order to make the show more cohesive and manage screen time, Sang Young Park has moved some elements of the story around, and in this first part he withheld the health scare for Go Yeong and also brought his friends, the T-aras, forward. How do these changes and the inclusion of the wider cast in Part 1 shift your perception of Go Yeong's college years?

As a reminder, you are welcome to use any or all of these as a jumping off point for your own posts, ignore them and post your own thing, or just participate by sharing and commenting on other people's posts. Please create new posts with the questions if you want to use them rather than adding on responses to this post--it will be easier to capture everyone's content if it's all in separate posts in the tag. I will be tracking everything posted in the [#litbc book club] tag and posting the weekly round up--look for that to go up next Monday ahead of the next set of discussion questions. Feel free to also directly tag me to make sure I don't miss your posts! I have tagged the regular book club participants below the cut, but anyone is welcome to join the discussion!

@becomingabeing @belladonna-and-the-sweetpeas @blalltheway @elimstillnotgarak

@colourme-feral @doyou000me @dramacraycray @dylogpenchester @fiction-is-queer

@hyeoni-comb @littleragondin @literally-a-five-headed-dragon @loveable-sea-lemon @my-rose-tinted-glasses

@neuroticbookworm @poetry-protest-pornography @profiterole-reads @serfergs @starryalpacasstuff

@stuffnonsenseandotherthings @thewayofsubtext @troubled-mind @twig-tea @wen-kexing-apologist

[dongsonglodang]

Những trích dẫn mình khá thích từ cuốn "Sáng hoan ca, chiều thưởng rượu" của Quan Đông Dã Khách:

Cái gọi là tình cảm đẹp, chính là yêu mến có người ngầm hiểu, tâm sự có người lắng nghe, nhung nhớ có người đáp lại.

Người khác đều nói tính tôi chậm chạp, thực ra tôi cũng có thể nhanh như tên lửa, nếu như phía trước có người đợi tôi.

Khi một người rời xa bạn, đừng hỏi người đó những lý do mà bạn thầm đoán, bởi vì bạn đoán gì cũng đúng cả.

Trong tương lai, kẻ không hiểu được tình yêu sẽ hiểu được. Kẻ hiểu được tình yêu sẽ không dám yêu nữa.

Khả năng diễn xuất của bạn rất tốt, tốt đến mức dù cho bạn đau khổ cỡ nào cũng không ai biết được.

Hãy luôn nhớ rằng nếu bạn đã có thể một mình vượt qua những tháng ngày khó khăn, vậy thì với tất cả những khó khăn của năm tháng sau này, bạn đều có thể vượt qua được. Đừng mong đợi sẽ có người xuất hiện và cứu giúp bạn, nếu bạn cần phải được cứu giúp, người duy nhất có thể làm điều đó, mãi mãi chỉ là bản thân bạn mà thôi.

Thích một người ư, có lẽ giống như gió mát, tựa như sương mai, như tim đập liên hồi, như hồng trần cuồn cuộn, không còn chỗ cho một ai khác nữa.

Rồi sẽ có ngày tâm bạn bình lặng như nước, nhìn lại câu chuyện của chính mình như một người ngoài cuộc. Sau đó mỉm cười lắc đầu.

Có những người giống như mây sẽ theo gió bay đi mất, nhưng dù thế nào trời vẫn sáng. Lúc này chính là thời khắc đẹp nhất của nhân gian.

Bạn sẽ sống hạnh phúc cả đời dẫu cho không có người kia bên cạnh, bởi đây vốn dĩ là kết thúc mà bạn xứng đáng nhận được

Mối quan hệ giữa người với người vốn dĩ rất lạ kỳ. Có một số người, dành hết tâm tư chưa chắc đã có thể ở bên nhau, thế nhưng chỉ cần lơ là một chút là sẽ mất đi mãi mãi.

Tuổi trẻ của mỗi người không ai có thể thoát khỏi chuyện yêu đương nhưng không phải ai cũng thích hợp cùng bạn già đi.

Cõ lẽ thành phố này chính là như vậy, mỗi người đều có một mặt tối của bản thân. Chúng ta bày mặt tốt đẹp của mình ra cho mọi người xung quanh chiêm ngưỡng, rồi lại tự mình chống đỡ những đau khổ mà cuộc sống trút xuống chúng ta.

Người trong bóng tối, cũng đã từng là người đứng dưới ánh mặt trời, chẳng qua là vì bị thương rồi nên muốn nghỉ ngơi một chút mà thôi.

Anh ấy sẽ yêu đương, sẽ kết hôn, sẽ có con, sẽ già đi sau đó chết đi bình thản. Mà tôi, đã định sẵn là cả đời cô độc đến già, đối với người mình thích, có lời, nhưng không thể nói.

Yêu người nhiều năm đến thế, đổi lại được một lần tỉnh mộng, như hóc xương ở cổ, như kim châm vào xương.

Sợ anh ấy biết, lại sợ anh không ấy không biết, sợ anh ấy biết lại vờ như không biết, hóa ra chuyện gì anh ấy cũng biết, chỉ có mình tôi không biết.

Thành phố, bởi vì sự tồn tại của một người, mà trở nên có ý nghĩa. Hoàng hôn mùa hè, buổi chiều mùa thu, tàn dư của ánh tà dương, ánh đèn neon giữa đêm khuya, tất cả đều rực rỡ lộng lẫy. Đường đời khúc khuỷu, biển người mênh mông, chỉ cần người ở bên cạnh tôi thì dù sống giữa núi non hoang dã tôi cũng vui lòng, nguyện cùng người ngắm nhìn thế gian trăm lần thay đổi.

Một người không thể quên được người kia thông thường chỉ có hai khả năng: Hoặc anh ta không có được người này hoặc anh ta đã đánh mất người này.

Trong quá trình vết thương lành lại, làm sao tránh khỏi việc ngứa ngáy khó chịu, nhưng chỉ cần nhẫn nhịn một chút, mọi sự đều sẽ trôi qua. Người mà ta không thể quên được, cũng giống như vết thương chờ lành.

[iambep]

Tính mình thích những người sống thật, yêu ghét thẳng thắn. Không lòng vòng, nước đôi quanh co. Có thể những người ấy họ phạm rất nhiều lỗi trong quá trình "thẳng, thật" của mình, đôi khi thiếu chút kiềm chế nhưng họ rõ ràng, không hai mang. Họ hổng chỗ nào, người muốn giúp biết ngay nơi cần vá.

Có rất nhiều người sẽ góp ý với họ phải để �� thế nọ thế kia, d��y họ cách khéo léo, "co giãn", nhưng khổ nỗi là cái bên trong nó thế rồi, làm cách nào mà ngày một ngày hai đòi bạt núi rời sông. Cái cây phải ươm chăm từ bé, đâu có thể lớn mà bẻ theo thế được. Đây cũng ko phải là lời bao biện cho những người như thế mà chỉ nói là: lúc nào cũng có những con người hiểu và cảm mến những người như vậy tồn tại.

Năm nay gần 40, nhìn thấy quá nhiều đạo mạo và giả dối, nước đôi trên đời, lờ nhờ không rõ ràng. Những người chưa gặp thì nghĩ hay ho, gặp rồi chán nản hẳn. Tại bên trong và bên ngoài có khác biệt quá lớn, gần như không phải cùng một người. Họ bảo lớn rồi trong đen có trắng, trong trắng có đen, nhiều khi là vùng xám, nhưng mình thì thấy cóc hợp. Bởi yêu ghét đã không dám rõ ràng, cần nói không dám nói, nhận lỗi không dám nhận thì vẫn là loại mình xếp vào cuối bảng xếp hạng để quan hệ.

Lắm ông cứ hình hài, chưng biển, tỏ vẻ đạo mạo khuyên răn, vào việc thì rối như mớ tóc góc bồn tắm, vì làm quái gì có cái lúc thẳng thật để nhìn và đối diện con người hay vấn đề đâu. Sách vở cũng ít thôi, cái cần là luôn tìm thời gian đối diện với bản thân, nhìn vào đó, thấy những cái bỉ ổi xấu xa của mình, hiểu rõ tại sao mình yêu, vì sao mình ghét loại ấy, đối chiếu, kiểm chứng phản biện đi rồi vỡ vạc ra nó mới đáng tiền.

Còn dăm ba con chữ, mớ lý thuyết ở bển hay chôm vội trong mấy quyển sách nó ko bằng một phát đấm thẳng mặt khi gặp việc, ăn một quả lừa to khi nhìn cái quái gì lấp lánh cũng nghĩ là kim cương và vàng khối đâu. Đây là bài học mở mắt đó.

Cuối cùng, đến một tuổi người ta khó tính, cẩn thận trong việc chọn người, và ko còn nhu cầu kết bạn, kết giao chi nữa. Mối quan hệ chỉ dừng lại ở việc hợp tác, trao đổi công việc còn thân thiết như ae tay chân nó rút về chỉ còn một nhúm nhỏ cùng chia sẻ cách sống, tam quan toát ra cái vibe hợp nhau, hoặc đã đi qua trăm lần bể dâu rồi để có cái ngày vẫn cùng nhau cạn một chén, hỏi nhau vài câu rồi lại tiếp tục con đường nhưng lúc nào cũng hồ hởi vì bạn quý.

Thế thôi. From BeP

[i-ephong]

Tôi tỉnh dậy sau cơn mê chiều, bốn bức tường vẫn còn ám lại âm thanh những giây cuối cùng bản Nocturne Op.9 No.1, tôi từng đọc đâu đó rằng "nếu bạn không còn thấy điều gì đẹp đẽ trên thế giới này thì hãy nghe giai điệu của Chopin".

Và, nếu trái tim bạn không được lành lặn thì hãy nghe Chopin với tần số 432Hz. Ngoại trừ tiếng suối chảy, tiếng cây cối xào xạc va vào nhau nhau giữa rừng, tiếng Om, tiếng chuông nhà thờ, thì 432Hz là tần số chữa lành, cho những tâm hồn thiếu nguồn năng lượng chữa lành của những người yêu nhau.

Chỉ là, giai điệu của Chopin đẹp đẽ như vậy, và người ta nói vậy, chứ trong mắt tôi, thế giới này luôn tồn tại những điều đẹp đẽ, chỉ là... tôi chưa được gặp hết mà thôi.

Bầy nhạn vừa bay, vừa kêu ngoài cửa sổ, như bản giao hưởng về chiều báo hiệu một ngày kết thúc, tất cả đều bình yên, vậy mà cứ như có tiếng bước chân đi tìm những vụn vỡ mở cửa đón màn đêm tràn vào.

Những chấm đèn đỏ từ phía sân thượng toà chung cư gần đó, bầu trời đen ngòm và những đốm trắng ngà nhấp nháy trên cao, dường như thời gian trong căn phòng này luôn chậm hơn thế giới bên ngoài kia vài nhịp. Có bình yên, có tranh, có kim tự tháp, có đàn, và thoảng chút hương từ những túi oải hương khô treo các góc tường.

Thiếu một chút hơi lạnh, thiếu tiếng lộp bộp gõ trên mái nhà cạnh bên, để nuốt chửng dòng mồ hôi dọc sống lưng và át đi những bước chân mệt nhoài. Thiếu mỗi thứ một chút, chỉ cần thêm một chút là mọi thứ hoàn hảo rồi.

Hình như, dạo gần đây tôi lại thấy thế giới này đẹp hơn một chút nữa.

Vì một lý do nào đó, tôi cũng đã bắt đầu biết yêu thành phố này rồi.

| IEphong |

[scarlettundrhett]

[roseband]

sammy once again showing why the thirst tweets were too tame for them

[jmdbjk]

BTS Military enlistment thoughts...

These are my thoughts and opinions. Information is out there if you seek it yourself. Nothing has been confirmed by any of the members or the company.

News media says Korean male citizens Kim Namjoon, Kim Taehyung, Park Jimin and Jeon Jungkook will be enlisting soon: Dec. 11 for the first two and Dec. 12 for the latter pair.

And that Jimin and Jungkook seem to have chosen the companion enlistment option. Yes, "option" because they could have chosen to go in separately.

Koreans who are familiar with how this all works, have tried to explain the process. From what I understand, the companion option allows them to serve their entire enlistment together.

They weren't forced and this wasn't their only option for enlistment. They chose this themselves for a reason, for personal reasons, that none of us can know because we aren't them.

Many speculate but NO ONE KNOWS their reasons!

According to various sources, they will be at the same training center as Jin. There are many groups doing ongoing training there. But I don't believe they will be in the same company that Jin serves as assistant trainer. Credible sources say that Jin's unit at the training center is not accepting recruits on Dec. 12 which is the supposed date that Jimin and Jungkook will enter the military but we don't know for sure. But being at the same training center would allow them to see each other when they have time.

This reunion:

We won't know for sure until it actually happens.

Many are throwing around wild speculation regarding the fact Jimin and Jungkook are the only two with tattoos and therefore had fewer options. But they aren't. All the members have tattoos now. The Korean military needs all the manpower they can get, they aren't excluding men with tattoos, they are just limiting the situations they can serve.

The options are limited (and only slightly) for them because very visible tattoos, especially on the arms and hands, would allow them to be identified too easily. This is a consideration and criteria that is regulated in militaries and law enforcement around the world and is not isolated to Korea. Criminals are identified by their tattoos. Military personnel can also be identified by visible tattoos. In a situation where it is imperative that enlisted remain anonymous, hand tattoos would be a dead giveaway for identification. I'm sure there are other reasons for no tattoos allowed in certain assignments.

The application process began months ago and is the same process all Korean male citizens would go through to be approved for the companion program.

No one is really discussing Tae and Namjoon, everyone is going batshit crazy over Jimin and Jungkook. Let them do their service in the manner they wish. None of you have any say-so in it so shut up.

No one is capable of or even wants to step back and consider the big picture which is more telling.

Regarding Tae and Namjoon, I would venture to say that after basic training, its possible Namjoon will serve in some capacity with the Defense Ministry's Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification which he was named ambassador for earlier this year. That office is located in Seoul I believe. The fact he is well-known publicly and he can speak English would enhance his success in an assignment of this sort. This agency recovers those who lost their lives in action during the Korean War in which American soldiers also perished.

Recovering those KIA happens near or in the DMZ.

IF the hearsay about where Jimin and Jungkook might be assigned after training has any truth, they are supposedly headed to this area as they also perform minesweeping when searching for KIA remains. Again, none of this is confirmed, I am just employing critical thinking...

Tae supposedly has chosen the Special Task Force of the Army's Capital Defense Command. That seems like it implies he'll remain within Seoul during his enlistment.

It's all speculation, but I think these men carefully considered their options and the ramifications. None of this was done on a whim, from Namjoon's ambassadorship and the possibilities of it, to Jimin and Jungkook's companion enlistment and why they chose that option, NONE OF IT WAS DONE WITHOUT CAREFUL CONSIDERATION. They had to apply MONTHS ago for the options they were allowed to choose. They are not the only men in Korea enlisting this year, there are tens of thousands of others.

No one is considering, IF Namjoon is in Seoul during his enlistment, he would have something in common with Tae. And Yoongi. And Jin will be discharged in June, Hobi will be discharged in October... the implications, the connections... their target is 2025. Nothing is a coincidence. They can't be working while enlisted, however reuniting briefly with friends over dinner and drinks is allowed... what they talk about during their get togethers is none of our business.

ALL THAT BEING SAID... Hybe did a tremendous job this past summer with the 10th anniversary Festa celebration, involving various municipality governments, procuring large corporate sponsors and communicating to news media in the almost month long series of events. They elevated the general public's awareness of BTS's impact and therefore instilled value and pride for their continued success.

No military commander would want anything to happen to the members while under their watch.

NOTHING IS A COINCIDENCE.

P.S.: The idiots sending in emails to the Defense Ministry are hurting EVERYONE. The level of lunacy knows no bounds with certain people. They suffer from a pathological psychosis. Don't engage, don't acknowledge.

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

I have been trying to write something about these episodes since I watched them and I can't. I mean, I can, but not very coherently and it would be mostly personal, so not really on point, and so I'll make use of a couple of questions in this post and try my best to write some thoughts down.

First of all, I will not be taking about Mi Ae. Because of my own personal story, and from reading the book, I hated her on sight. This is my own failing, not the show's. I can't seem to separate myself this time so I just won't speak about it. It would be unfair to the show.

What new insights did you gain from the adaptation's expansion of K3 (Kia) Guy from a few background lines into a fully realized character in Kim Nam Gyu?

Kim Nam Gyu. Poor guy. I really felt for him here, much more than in the book. Like he wasn't a bad dude, they just were a really bad match. The locket scene made me cringe so much, I could barely watch it.

The scene at night on the street was so different from the book that I had to go back to it again and read it. I think in the book Nam Gyu read more angry and bitter and here he's just kinda sad and pathetic. I even feel bad calling him that. He was heart broken and he didn't have friends, so he focused all his attention on Young to the point of making Young feel suffocated. So I understand where Young was coming from. But still, poor guy...

I was happy they got to have one last conversation here, and Young got to leave things better before Nam Gyu died. Although he still romanticized the relationship after the fact, which can only truly happen because he was no longer there.

In order to make the show more cohesive and manage screen time, Sang Young Park has moved some elements of the story around, and in this first part he withheld the health scare for Go Yeong and also brought his friends, the T-aras, forward. How do these changes and the inclusion of the wider cast in Part 1 shift your perception of Go Yeong's college years?

I think in some ways, it shows that Young has a fuller life than it appears in the book, but it also highlights how those relationships were different than his primary one. I mean he was closeted at uni and found himself isolated for defending Mi Ae so I don't think those friendships ran all that deep. And because the T-aras have a bigger role here, he seems to be less isolated, but it also made it clear to me that those relationships were more superficial. Even with the T-aras being more present I felt that also highlighted how different Mi Ae was for him.

Because although he can be surrounded by friends, and hooking up with a random guy every night, these were distractions, a way to pass the time. He called Kim Nam Gyu that night because as he said 'I didn't know who to call'. So, sure, he has people around him. But with them there was a mask. And the only person who got to see the real him, the person with whom he could completely be himself, was Mi Ae.

About the health scare change. I have no idea what to make of this or even if it means anything at all, but both Young's health scare in the book, and absent here, and the Kim Nam Gyu scene in the street had homophobic remarks in them, but not here. So, yeah, just a thought I had.

That's it for now.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Love in the Big City, Ep 1 and 2

Okay honestly, shout out to the book club people for consistently posting discussion questions, because I have not had the brain space in the last few months to come up with things to write about on my own (nor have most of the shows I’ve watched warranted hefty analysis) BUT THAT ENDS TODAY BECAUSE LOVE IN THE BIG CITY IS FINALLY OUT AND IT IS ALREADY DESTROYING ME. 

With the move to the screen, more of Go Yeong's relationships are featured in Part 1. How does this change your impression of how Mi Ae fits into his life, compared to how you originally read his relationship with Jaehee?

It was really interesting experiencing the beginning of this show because similarly to how we don’t always know exactly where in time we are during the book, we don’t know exactly where in the show until we get about fifteen minutes in to episode one and see Mi Ae clocking Go Young outside of the club. It is only at that point that we realize that we are in the prologue of Go Young’s story, experiencing the pieces of his life that were fairly influential in the person he is and the focus he has on the people around him in Part One of the book. 

Thinking about how strong/importance of a presence Jaehee was in Go Young’s life, and how heavily Part One of the book focused on his relationship between Jaehee and Go Young, Young truly sets up this feeling that it is just him and Jaehee against the world. And it is easy to believe that in the book because we don’t really see him with anyone else. We only experience Young and Jaehee’s life, their struggles, where they do and do not succeed in supporting each other through life challenges. 

But that feeling that they truly only have each other does, for me, still translate through in the show, even though we know about his college friends and the T-ara’s wayyyy earlier in the timeline. Why? Because Mi Ae and Go Young are only able to be themselves with each other, no one else. The relationship Young has to his college friends is shattered the second they start talking shit about Mi Ae and slut shaming her, because Go Young is a closeted gay man in a crowd of heterosexuals, which is in and of itself lonely. And despite knowing the T-ara’s exist, it is clear to me that their relationship is, compared to Jaehee, superficial. They hang out together at clubs, and they’ll go to karaoke together, and they have their moments of genuine joy and connections, but their conversations have focused primarily around who they are fucking, who they want to fuck, forcing Nam Gyu to do karaoke only to make fun of him, etc. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that they aren’t friends, but I do understand why Go Young feels that he is a loner despite having this group. 

I think the book does not bring the existence of other friends in to the picture because of how heavily it is about the breakup between Jaehee and Young, and how much, how deeply, and how long it hurts Young to have lost that person. And I think we can see that from the way the show structures it too, even with more people around Go Young. Because in this instance we have comparison points between Go Young’s relationship to Mi Ae, and Go Young’s relationship to everyone else. And we can still see the breakup with Mi Ae as a tragedy in so many little ways, for both of them, and it is especially heartbreaking seeing the singular minute of Mi Ae’s wedding where she gets to be entirely herself. 

Jaehee was something true to Young, and Mi Ae is something true to Go Young. That at least is, for me, is not lost. 

What new insights did you gain from the adaptation's expansion of K3 (Kia) Guy from a few background lines into a fully realized character in Kim Nam Gyu?

I was talking about this with friends already, but it has been an interesting thing for me to think about the merits of written media versus visual media. The thing with books is we get a lot more detailed descriptions of what is happening, we can afford a handful of throw away lines about Kia guy in the book because there is a lot more content to get through. But in a visual medium time moves faster, what might be a page of detail in a book can be consumed in a matter of seconds on a TV show. So I think there is some more time to fill, which lends itself well to expanding the role of minor minor minor characters like Kia guy in to fully realized side characters like Kim Nam Gyu. 

I feel like Nam Gyu was extremely well utilized in these first two episodes, especially as he relates to showing the audience who Go Young is. Nam Gyu is kind, considerate, quick to love, and a hopeless romantic aligning himself with heterosexual romantic ideals. He is not a big drinker, not a big clubber, he lives his life slowly, and safely. He is everything Go Young is not. Go Young is a club gay, he does not subscribe to heterosexual romantic ideals, he takes more risks. But Nam Gyu feels deeply, and expresses those feelings in ways that Go Young is as of yet not capable of doing. 

I think as we continue and we see the other relationships that Go Young gets in to it is good to have examples of the kinds of people, the kinds of relationships that do not work for Go Young. It is good to see where Go Young’s personality does and does not mesh with the person he is dating, and how easily or not he gives away his love and affection. I think it was a devastating little detail to have Go Young learn that Nam Gyu died from a speeding related accident, because it was Go Young that bullied him about driving slow, and it was for Go Young that Nam Gyu was trying to change, and it got him killed. Thinking about where this story is going, thinking about the lessons that Go Young still has to learn, I think it is a vital piece of the story to show the audience the various states of permanency and loss. 

Mi Ae is lost to the lies she told to hide her true self, and Go Young will lose his most important friendship to that. Nam Gyu is lost to the way he forced himself to change for Go Young and Go Young will have no chance to correct his mistakes because Nam Gyu is dead. Go Young will lose and lose and lose, and he will learn, and change, and grow from all of it, but it is almost always too late. 

In the novel, we see everything through Young's rather biting and cynical internal monologue, while in the drama we see other characters through a broader lens. With this different perspective, how does Mi Ae's outing of Go Yeong and the fallout change compared to the novel?

I like having the ability to experience the perspectives of other people. I loved the scene in the car that shows us the moments leading up to Mi Ae outing Go Young, because you can see exactly where and how she has been backed into a corner. In some regards you can understand the logic, the reasons why Mi Ae out Go Young to her fiance. And it is extremely clear that she is not happy about it, that she knows she’s fucked up, and that she broke Go Young’s trust. You can understand how she got to this point, but you can’t say she made the right decision because it is incredibly likely that she would not have ended up in this position if she hadn’t lied about every part of her life to her fiance from the beginning. 

But that of course begs the question of who she expected her fiance to be when she first started dating him. Because in the book, we learn that Young and Jaehee had an agreement to pretend to be the opposite sex in order to prevent guys from coming over to their apartment. So like, did Mi Ae start this relationship with her fiance as a casual hookup and then decide it was just the point in her life where she should get married or did she know this was the guys she was going to commit to when she started to date him? 

Either way there comes a time when you have to stop lying about your female roommate, and that time comes far before you have agreed to marry someone. 

In that moment in the car Mi Ae dooms herself to live her lie, she chooses her fiance over Go Young, and she knows it. And Go Young knows it, because the first thing Go Young ever says to Mi Ae, and the first thing he says to her multiple times after that, is “you won’t tell people, right?” (or whatever the actual wording is, point being that it is extremely important to him that Mi Ae does not out him). 

But again, the visual medium is great for me because while I don’t remember exactly how Young portrayed the confession scene in the book, I will remember how deeply ashamed and guilty Mi Ae looked when she came to tell Go Young that she had outed him. 

In order to make the show more cohesive and manage screen time, Sang Young Park has moved some elements of the story around, and in this first part he withheld the health scare for Go Yeong and also brought his friends, the T-aras, forward. How do these changes and the inclusion of the wider cast in Part 1 shift your perception of Go Yeong's college years?

I actually don’t think the more cohesive timeline has shifted my perception of Go Yeong’s college years because of how Sang Young Park has moved some elements of the story around. As I said earlier, I think the T-aras being there from the beginning is effectively utilized to demonstrate  how deep his connection to Mi Ae is. One of my most favorite parts of the book is how the existence of Kylie re-contextualizes a lot of what we’ve seen from Go Young in parts one and two. In the book, if I remember correctly, we get more of an offhanded references to his health scare. 

“...up until the incident that earned me a medical discharge.”

“the results weren’t some dramatic STD, just my urethra infected by germs, and inflammation resulting from it.” 

What I do think is interesting is that we got no information about Go Young’s military service whatsoever, and I’m curious if and how that will show up. Because in the book Jaehee acts as Young’s girlfriend while he is in the military so that he is not outed. (“Jaehee served as my loyal girlfriend throughout my six months of military service, up until the incident that earned me a medical discharge.”)  I feel like the Mi Ae story is over at this point so I am curious if they will get to Young’s military service later on in order to keep the actress around, or if removing the health scare here is why they cut the military service part from Episodes 1-2. 

Anyway, all of that to say that in Part One, Young way downplays his health stuff, focusing more on the way he experiences delays in his emotional response, only realizing that he should have been angry about the homophobia he experienced at the urologist when someone else gets mad after he relays the story. I think if they had done the health scare here it would have 1) interrupted the flow of the story and 2) tipped people off too soon to the existence of Kylie because I think it would be far more obvious if we were to see an STI screening for him at that point. I am excited to see where and how they place the health scare and the Kylie reveal because I do think it will do the same thing it did in the book to recontextualize all of Young’s behavior that came before it. 

__

That’s all from me right now, I have actually re-checked out the book, because I needed to refresh my memory and will likely post some more thoughts about changes from the book to the show if I have the time or energy.

[jungkookiexxx]

RM is a new ambassador for South Korea MND Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification (Media)