what was your first impression of beomgyu?

I have a secret name for each of the TXT members (okay, they're not THAT secret, I've posted them on Twitter before). They were first impression names that I gave each of the boys when I saw CROWN for the first time. Beomgyu's was, "You Look LIke A Model From Abercrombie & Fitch." There's something about his first look in the CROWN MV -- the lightened hair with a curled texture, the jean jacket and the white T-shirt -- that matches the Abercrombie aesthetic from the LFO days. Side note: the kids need to look up that song, it's SO stupid but it was EVERYWHERE. And every time I looked at Beomgyu, I was like, "when I met you I said my name was Rich, you looked like a girl from Abercrombie & Fitch." He definitely had that white boy preppy look to him and it stood out in a good way.

what is your impression now of beomgyu?

I think I assumed that Beomgyu was going to be more "brash" than he let on in the first video. He is, but he's not. He's often seen yelling about something or another in a fun video, running around in circles, but in the same video he will be trying to bribe TO DO staff into giving him something or going along with a game to learn how it works so he can win. (This typically does not work.) Beomgyu could also be seen as the most introverted member of the band, but I think this is mostly because he's seen as the composer and the one who plays guitar. I really feel like Beomgyu is an enigma that a lot of us truly don't know yet, but that's okay too. He doesn't have to fit in a particular archetype to be loved.

how do you write beomgyu?

Beomgyu is interesting in that a side-project has formed in the AsteRealm with him: in most of my AUs, he's the lead singer, lead guitarist, and overall leader of a three piece punk band called Waeng. This plays to Beomgyu's strengths as a songwriter and will continue to be used in future stories. Nowhere is Waeng more pervasive than in NeoNara, where Beomgyu's dedication to his music shines through while still being part of a bigger friend group:

Beomgyu huffs and steps out of the RV. Soobin recognizes Beomgyu's shirt as that one Bohemian-inspired one he bought at Trash and Vaudeville, combined with khaki shorts and the same boots Soobin is wearing. The flower crown is a surprise, though -- Beomgyu and Kai have matching ones. "Shelly make your crowns?"

"Angel did. The girls went to the store to get more booze." Angel is Shelly's long-term girlfriend. Beomgyu claps Soobin on the back in a bro hug. "Glad to see Amtrak didn't kill you."

"Gee, thanks. 'Gyu, this is Terry, literally just ran into him."

Beomgyu shakes Terry's hand. "I apologize for my friend. It seems I can't take him anywhere."

"Well, I accept your apology. I've only known him for fifteen minutes and he is rather clueless." Both Terry and Beomgyu grin at Soobin, and Soobin wonders if he's created a monster by introducing the two of them to each other.

When he performs on stage, Beomgyu is a man of few words, preferring his music to speak for himself:

"'Sup," Beomgyu says into the mic, and it echoes out over the crowd. "We are Waeng. Fresh from Brooklyn, all three of us eggs. That's the lineup. Born and raised in Yonkers, they call me Beomgyu, but you can call me Gyu," he announces like he always does. "Gyuuuuuuu. It rhymes with 'eeeeeeewwww.' Can you say 'eeeeeeeeeewwwww?"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwww," the crowd echoes back, then laughs.

The only other real place I've written Beomgyu so far has been in Dream On, Cinderella, where he ends up playing one of the "wicked stepbrothers" to Yoongi's Cinderella. But it's here that Beomgyu has musical aspirations as well, just always squashed by his mother, the villain of the story:

(...)Beomgyu trusted himself to talk to Taehyun about his mother. He had watched Yeonjun's first love be crushed under her feet. Soobin had once kept baby bunnies when they had lived overseas, but she had starved them. And Beomgyu wanted to learn how to play the lute, even saving up his allowance money and purchasing one from the Arts District. When his mother had discovered it, she had smashed it.

"That's horrible," Taehyun whispered. "It's not just Yoongi. He gets the worst of it, I'm sure, but you're all having to play your part. You seem really sincere about this."

"I am." Beomgyu was in tears. He had really wanted to play the lute.

I want to continue to write Beomgyu as someone who's dedicated to his art, even as I learn more about him as a person.

what would you like to say to beomgyu on his birthday?

Whoever you end up becoming, whether it's the moodmaker of the group like you've said before, or as someone new that we don't know yet -- I know we as MOA will love you regardless. So take all of the time you need. And know that you are loved, eternally.