u/Electronic_Way_7616

Critics repeatedly derided the 2026 Kia Sportage as “just a mid-cycle refresh,” but the changes compared to the beginning of this cycle are, in fact, significant and meaningful. I recently traded my 2023 Kia Sportage SX-Prestige hybrid for the 2026 Sportage SX-Prestige hybrid. Both are the fully-loaded premium models, so this is an apples-to-apples comparison.

While critics focused on things like wireless CarPlay, auto-folding mirrors, the shape of the headlights, or the fact that the Sportage still lacks a sunglasses holder (more on those later), I was immediately struck by the improved acceleration, handling, and ride. Kia slightly retuned the 1.6L Turbo Hybrid system to eke out four more horsepower (231, up from 227). While appreciated, the more significant change is how that power is delivered.

The 2023 Sportage was notorious for a “dead spot.” If you were in a tight situation and needed to “floor it” to move quickly, the 2023 Sportage would do … nothing. It sat there while the battery and the gas engine bickered over which would move the vehicle, and once the committee took a vote, the car would start slowly and gradually build up speed. That was dangerous, frightening, and unacceptable.

For 2026, Kia updated the TMED (Transmission Mounted Electric Device) logic. The electric motor now provides a more aggressive "torque fill" the moment you touch the pedal, masking the time it takes for the turbo to spool up. The result is an immediate responsiveness that provides a sense of safety and security that the 2023 Sportage lacked.

Kia also gave the suspension re-valved dampers to make the car feel more planted on the ground. The result is a smoother, more “solid” ride where you feel completely in control. That’s particularly appreciated in my hometown of pot-hole riddled New Orleans, where settling down faster and more smoothly after hitting a bump is a noticeable improvement. Combined with the punchier throttle response, the result is a car that feels safer, more refined, more agile, and more expensive, even … German.

On the tech side, the older Gen5W system has been replaced by Kia’s new electronic architecture, ccNC. 2023’s Gen5W model was a fragmented system where the engine, safety sensors, and infotainment lived in separate "rooms.” In contrast, ccNC (Connected Car Navigation Cockpit) is a centralized architecture that combines data from various areas and processes it faster.

That’s important because of the 2026 model’s added safety sensors. In particular, Kia added sensors along the sides. Processing that data with data from the front and rear sensors gives you a 360-degree “bubble,” which I consider outstanding.  When I’m maneuvering in tight New Orleans parking spots, our narrow streets, or my house’s typical New Orleans tight one-car garage that was originally built for a Model-T, my car now alerts me if I’m about to scrape a side-bollard or a high curb—something the 2023 was "blind" to.

There is a sensor problem, however, that I consider serious. If you are parked at a tight city intersection and a pedestrian crosses directly in front of your bumper, the car often won’t notice them until they are almost past you. Because the front sensors are tuned for distance to avoid front-end collisions, a pedestrian stepping off a tight curb can slip under the active tracking cone. If you’re watching traffic in one direction and a pedestrian crosses in front of you from the other, do not rely on the vehicle to warn you.

Among other new features, critics complained that the Heads Up Display was too small, but I’ve found it useful and effective. The 2023 model’s tail lights were relatively small and nondescript. Critics dismissed the 2026’s tail lights as just “a sleeker look,” but they are actually dramatically brighter and illuminate a wider edge-to-edge area of the tailgate, giving me a greater sense of security; and, at long last, the Sportage has auto-folding side mirrors.

Auto-folding side mirrors may seem a minor luxury, but long gone are the days when a chipped mirror meant a $45 replacement from a local parts store you could install yourself. Kia's 2026 side mirrors are high-density, over-engineered sensory arrays that could probably track a MiG-21. A slight bump on a narrow street could easily mean a $1,500 bill for a replacement and installation, making that auto-fold button a financial lifesaver.

Lastly, critics went gaga over wireless phone projection (Apple CarPlay or Android Auto). What they failed to mention is that wireless phone projection can suffer from lower transfer speeds, spotty connections, and is extremely taxing on your phone’s processors, thereby slowing your phone and producing massive internal heat. Wireless phone projection is so demanding the a standard flat Qi charging pad can barely keep up with the battery drain. The inductive charging pad produces significant heat of its own, and when combined with wireless phone projection, it can create a "heat sandwich" that causes your phone to thermally shut down.

I therefore still use a high-quality cable to connect my phone to the Sportage data port. It gives me a guaranteed, lightening-fast connection, keeps my phone perfectly cool, and assures me that I’ll have a fully-charged phone battery when I arrive at my destination.

That leaves an empty wireless phone charging cubby. What to use it for?

Sunglasses holder.

The original Only Friends was a big step forward for BL with its rich, complicated, interwoven story about unique, flawed characters in conflict. In contrast, Dream On just exploits that brand value while delivering a thin story with low-energy couples you mostly don’t care about.

Where the original offered three interlocking stories, Dream On’s three couples barely relate to each other. I mainly watched to see if JossGawin could replicate the magnetic sexual energy they displayed in My Golden Blood. They didn’t, but their weak story didn’t give them the room to show what they could do. The same was true for EarthMix’s storyline; though underserved by the script, Mix’s outstanding acting at least provided the show with some heart.

Ultimately, only AouBoom brought genuine energy, charm, and sexiness to the screen. Repeatedly cast as second bananas, they have become experts at making the most out of smaller parts, and they easily carry the show here. When are they going to be given their own series as leads?

Overall, Dream On replaces the grit and complexity of the original with weak characters and a shallow plot. A major disappointment.

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Today, the set of “A Tale of a Thousand Stars” is a pilgrimage site. Fans take selfies  in front of the teacher’s house, local businesses give ATOTS tours, and a luxury resort outside of Chiang Rai has a gourmet restaurant and, for rooms, glass geodesic domes where you can lie in bed, look up through the transparent ceiling at the night sky, and count your own thousand stars.

It’s understandable that “A Tale of a Thousand Stars” continues to resonate with fans around the world. A series of firsts, it was one of GMMTV’s first “prestige” dramas, one of the first to showcase Aof’s ability to treat BL as an art form, and the first pairing of EarthMix.

It was also the first acting project of Mix Sahaphap, in a staggering debut. It’s hard to believe Aof trusted a novice to anchor a series about a complex story of guilt and redemption, and Mix beautifully captured Tian’s fragility and growth through subtle internal acting.

Aof almost lovingly lingered the camera on Mix, who was at his most beautiful. In closeups, especially when Mix was backgrounded by the stunning mountain scenery, Aof lit him with a soft-focus hazy glow, reminiscent of how Hitchcock lit Grace Kelly. This was more than just a television scene; the lighting captured the “prestige” feel of the show. Perhaps more importantly, the romantic, “Old Hollywood” glow was a deliberate attempt to mythologize a new star in the GMMTV firmament. 

The narrative is propelled forward by contrasts: city boy versus country boy; Earth’s almost preternaturally sculpted physicality honed by a life in nature versus Mix’s softer form resulting from a life of luxury and privilege; Earth’s groundedness versus Mix’s evolving growth; Mix’s “script” - the diary - contrasted with the reality of messy village life, teaching Tian that life cannot be scripted; Aof’s signature cinematic use of light and color, with the almost sterile whites and silvers of the city contrasted with the lush ambers and greens of the country.

But it’s not just a story of contrasts; parallels are almost more important. Both Phupha and Tian are in the village because of people from their past, Phupha following in the footsteps of his deceased father, who loved the forest; Tian, out of guilt, following in the footsteps of the deceased Torfun. Both bear emotional scars, Tian from guilt, Phupha from the loss of his friend, Torfun. Both suffered pain, Tian from heart surgery, Phupha from a bullet wound. Both carry the physical scars of their pain near their hearts. Both Phupha and Tian’s stories center on helping each other, with Phupha watching over Tian until the roles reverse and Tian helps Phupha recover from his injuries.

The series also drops in what I think of as “nuggets of joy.” Khaotung is excellent in a type of role I hadn't seen him play before, proving his versatility as one of GMMTV’s best actors. Ever since “2gether,” I enjoy seeing Drake, and his release from his contract by GMMTV last year was a true loss for the BL community. And, Aof is not afraid to drop in occasional self-referential meta-humor, as when Tian tells his mother “I’m not smart enough to be a doctor,” while the audience knows Mix was currently in veterinary school. That acknowledgment of the actor’s real-world intelligence made Tian’s insecurity even more poignant. 

The middle chapters are frustratingly uneven. At one point Tian says ‘I’m a jinx,” and at least in a narrative sense, he was correct. In reality, the villagers would have asked him to leave after the second or third catastrophe he inflicted on them; instead, the villager’s repeated forgiveness acts as a narrative safety net. By not holding Tian accountable for the tangible pain he caused, the show trades realism for sentimentality. It makes the villagers feel less like a community and more like a backdrop for Tian’s redemption.

Another possible flaw was the forced delay of intimacy. Instead of a story of two adults discovering and learning to find solace and joy in one another, intimacy was delayed until the very last scene of the very last episode. Was this “drama for drama’s sake,” or, before it was possible for Tian to be open to true intimacy, was it necessary for him to move beyond living Torfun’s life and begin living his own? Adults who find joy in each other are living in the present; Tian was stuck in the past. The physical intimacy could only happen once the diary was "closed" and the new journal began; but, still, putting it off until the very, very end seemed … strained.

Such structural issues prevent it from rising to the height of Aof’s masterpiece, “Moonlight Chicken,” but it’s important to place it within Aof’s larger career. If ATOTS was Aof’s exploration of myth and legend, it provided the foundation for him to later explore the gritty, kitchen-sink realism of “Moonlight Chicken.” 

Gratefully, all is redeemed by the emotional payoff of the final two episodes. Despite the "jinx" logic and the forced delay of intimacy, the ending is beautifully moving—perhaps shamelessly cheesy—but so well-executed that you don't care. It leaves you with something beautiful that clears the record of earlier problems.

The series concludes with Tian burying Torfun’s diary and starting his own journal. Through trial after trial, Tian’s journey leads him to finally accept that while the past may always be present, he cannot honor the dead by becoming them. “A Tale of a Thousand Stars” helps us all understand that life only truly begins when you stop living through others and begin writing your own story.

Yesterday, my Sportage stopped working with CarPlay and stopped recognizing HD radio channels. If anyone else having this problem?

I keep seeing references to my new Kia Sportage 2026 SX-Prestige Hybrid having a car wash mode, but I can't find it. Does it really have one?