#Parasite SEO Explained

[digitalaamir]

Grasping Parasite SEO: What It Works and It's Mean for Search Rankings

In the realm of computerized advertising, Parasite SEO is an undeniably talked about term. While the customary Web optimization methods center around improving your site for web search tools, Parasite Website optimization takes an alternate, frequently disputable methodology. This blog will investigate what Parasite Website optimization is, how it works, and its expected effect on your hunt rankings. By and by, you’ll have a far-reaching comprehension of this method and what it could mean for your internet-based technique.

What is Parasite Web Optimization?

Parasite SEO is a strategy where people or organizations influence significant position sites to rank their substance. They “piggyback” on the power of one more site to get their substance seen via web indexes. Rather than zeroing in on building their own site’s Web optimization, they post content on a generally deep-rooted website, permitting them to rank higher in web crawler results pages (SERPs) without the typical time and exertion it takes to upgrade an individual site.

How Does Parasite Web Optimization Work?

The idea driving Parasite Website design enhancement is genuinely basic. Initially, an advertiser or Web optimization expert distinguishes a significant position site that acknowledges client-created content, for example, web journals, discussion posts, or articles. These locales frequently incorporate stages like Medium, Quora, or even some industry-explicit destinations with high area authority. When the substance is distributed on these stages, it has a superior possibility of positioning profoundly because the facilitating site as of now has areas of strength for an establishment.

For instance, suppose you’re advancing a help in the wellness specialty. Rather than composing an article on your blog, you could post it on a webpage like Medium, which has a huge number of guests and a solid space authority. Your substance will rank a lot higher and quicker because the stage is very much regarded via web indexes. This is the central guideline of Parasite SEO.

The Great and the Awful of Parasite Web Optimization

The Benefits

Fast Outcomes: One of the main advantages of Parasite Website design enhancement is the speed at which you can get results. Conventional Website optimization requires months, on the off chance that not years, to fabricate serious areas of strength for a. With Parasite SEO, your substance benefits from the power of the facilitating site, giving you quicker rankings.

Practical: Because you’re utilizing another person’s space authority, you don’t have to invest as much energy or cash on third-party referencing or other expensive Search engine optimization administrations for your site.

Negligible Exertion Required: You don’t need to continually refresh or upgrade your site since the host stage as of now does that. You should simply guarantee your substance is significant and very much streamlined.

The Weaknesses

Restricted Control: You don’t claim the facilitating stage, so you’re dependent upon their guidelines and arrangements. Assuming they choose to eliminate your substance or change how they show it, your work could be lost.

Marking Limits: Parasite SEO works best when you want to drive traffic, yet it doesn’t assist you with building your own site’s power or brand. Since you’re posting on another stage, guests may not consider your site to be a legitimate source.

Moral Worries: Some think about Parasite Website design enhancement as a dim cap strategy. While it’s not unlawful, it skirts the line between fair utilization of significant position stages and controlling web crawler rankings. Over-dependence on this procedure could prompt punishments assuming Google’s calculations develop to distinguish such practices.

What Parasite Website Optimization Means for Your Methodology

On the off chance that you’re attempting to construct a drawn-out computerized promoting methodology, Parasite Web optimization can offer an easy route to prompt rankings, however, it shouldn’t supplant customary Website optimization endeavors. You can involve this technique as an enhancement, permitting you to acquire permeability while dealing with further developing your own site’s Web optimization. Be that as it may, depending entirely on Parasite Web optimization could thwart your image’s development over the long haul.

A reasonable methodology is much of the time the best. Use Parasite Web optimization for sure-fire traffic and permeability, yet in addition, put resources into improving your site. Along these lines, you can partake in the advantages of the two procedures while alleviating the dangers.

Best Practices for Parasite Web Optimization

Select Significant Position Stages: Not all sites are made equivalent. To prevail with Parasite Web optimization, you want to recognize sites with high area authority that acknowledge client-produced content. Locales like Medium, LinkedIn, and industry-explicit web journals are great beginning stages.

Make Great Substance: since you’re utilizing another person’s space authority doesn’t mean you ought to hold back on happy quality. Great substance is considerably more basic since it will be presented to a more extensive crowd.

Advance Your Substance: Even though you’re posting at another stage, Website design enhancement best practices apply. Utilize pertinent catchphrases, meta depictions, and legitimate organizing to guarantee your substance is discoverable via web search tools.

Advance Your Posts: Don’t depend entirely on natural traffic. Share your posts via online entertainment, email pamphlets, and different channels to amplify permeability.

Screen Execution: Watch out for how well your Parasite Web optimization content is performing. Instruments like Google Examination and stage explicit investigation can assist you with measuring achievement.

Is Parasite Website Optimization Ideal for You?

Parasite Website optimization isn’t a great fit for everybody, but it tends to be an important device whenever utilized accurately. If you’re a business or site attempting to get seen in a cutthroat industry, it can give you the prompt lift you want. However, for those expecting to fabricate a long-term, maintainable computerized showcasing procedure, it means a lot to join ParasiteSEO.

[beabaseball]

It is five am and once again SEO has fucked me over

The cat has found something in the tub making a weird popping noise and is fascinated so I go to see what it is, and there is what appears to be a long, reddish grain of brown rice lying there. She puts her paw on it and there's a popping sound. She takes her paw off it and there's another popping sound but the rice flies up a few inches in the air with no visible propulsion. No insect legs visible or movement like snapping in half or something. Just a six cm vertical leap from a grain of rice. So I go to get my phone and in the time it takes to do that the rice has popped its way into the drain, which is devastating for the cat, who asks me to fish around in the tub drain and return her new toy. I would love to weenie baby but I am trying to google "brown rice jumping" and "bug that looks like brown rice" and all I'm getting are how to cook rice recipe blogs and white rice weevils (wrong color rice, and crucially does not look like limbless brown rice.)

Someone please help me explain my mexican jumping rice so I can reassure myself this is not a fun new parasite she popped out

[raul-volp2]

I made a post on twitter criticizing how tabletop rpgs overlrely on popular media to promote themselves, like this is "Zelda meets Diablo in a western setting" and a lot of people defend this approach saying that it's a quick way to make their game knows. And I said I would make a text about it, this is not it.

This is right now just a small quick points I like to make about it.

1- The main issue is that all this quick ways to talk about your game don't actually talk about it, we don't know the story, the setting, the mechanics, the possibility of characters, its just add a bunch of recognizable pop culture reference so we can create our idea on our minds, and this can make a lot of different interpretations of it.

2- All the references I see them talking are 99% things that are popular for the global north of the world (US/Europe), even when it's not something from them it's asomething popular for them, if it's japanese it's Zelda, it's Soulslike, it's Ghibli, if it's korean it's K-Pop, it's Parasite, and so on. With tabletop rpg becoming more and more global, we can see creators all around the world making games that will use their own references and cultures that might not be aligned with what the global north perceive as popular, and so their game will never get their chance to shine unless they find a way to tie it to Lord of the Rings or something else.

3- With the marketin machine not only for ttrpg but for entertainment in general we can a bigger push for new ttrpgs to always ditch their unique ideas in favor of something recognizable, that can be used with algorithm, seos, the small paragraphs of kickstarter, that more experimental ideas will be discarded so a popular keyword is used instead and this can create a homogenization of the ttrpg, all of the drinking from the same few ideas (we can argue that the 5e scene is close of this or already on that).

4- Ttrpg is very bad at talk about their mechanics, how they play, all this talk about how to present the game is always about the setting, the feel, but never how you play it, and seem that this is the most important part of the game, it should be presented more upfront. But I believe that this is the way because it's hard to describe a ttrpg mechanic fast unless it's using a srd, again relying on something popular.

5- Ttrpg in general have a very difficult time to present themselves as ttrpg, this hard time to talk about how they play, they always using other mediums that are ttrpg to quick show the vibes of the game show that the ttrpg scene needs to understand itself. It have a big growth in popularity and the ammount of game being made in the last decade, maybe the biggest it's ever been, but right now it needs to find it's voice, understant what ttrpg and what identity it have, and I say this from a place of love, of someone that wants to see the scene to mature and take a voice, not use others voice like it's ashamed of itself.

One addendum: I am not against using references, this is basic 101 in creative work, we need to do our research and we always uses references and other ideas to tweak and make it our own, we are always a sea of reference turned into something unique. What I having problems is to take 1 or 2, 3 parts of this process and focus too much on that, and worst of all, none of this parts are the unique imput of the designers, writers and artists.

Second addendum (sorry): From what I saw about people defending it, and those who use this referencing approach, one thing I realize is that almost all of the cases it's better for them to explain directly what their game are going to be, when they throw references usually end up is something incoherent that opens to a lot of interpretations that will be very far from what the game it it. And people defending most times than not goes with the argument that when talking and recommending to someone, using references helps, and this is call anecdotal evidence, when you use a personal story to exemplified a general idea, and first this isn't work, and second you can't compare personal talking with friends and colleagues with market campaign, they have different language and approach.

Third Addendum (...) : I didn't find any research or study that shows that this approach is benefical for the designers, that improve their reach and sales, I know it makes sense for sites that covers tabletop rpg due to the need to play wiht algorithm and SEO but for designers I wouldn't be surprised if this is just a concept they accept without put too much thought. The tabletop rpg scene, specially indie is usually overly hostile to marketing concepts, and in this case they could be automatically applying a market concept that might give the big reach they think it gives, but I would need to know some numbers to be sure.

Thank you.

Raul.

[sweetseda]

Unlocking the Secrets of Parasite SEO Explained! #motivation #bestsidehu...

[goldensearchadvantage]

Parasite SEO Explained (It’s Not Always Evil!)

http://dlvr.it/T7f91x

[rahul1277kumar]

The Beginner's Guide to Parasite SEO Strategies

In the ever-evolving landscape of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), one strategy that has gained traction is Parasite SEO. But what exactly is Parasite SEO, and how can you implement it effectively? Let's dive into the basics of Parasite SEO strategies, focusing on host site optimization, high-authority link building, piggyback SEO methods, and parasitic link-building techniques, all explained in simple terms for easy understanding.

Understanding Parasite SEO:

Parasite SEO involves leveraging the authority of established websites to enhance the visibility of your own content on search engine results pages (SERPs). Instead of solely relying on your website's authority, you strategically position your content on high-ranking platforms to benefit from their credibility and audience reach.

Host Site Optimization:

Host site optimization is crucial for success in Parasite SEO. This means tailoring your content to fit seamlessly within the host site's ecosystem, ensuring it aligns with the platform's guidelines and resonates with its audience. By optimizing your content for the host site, you increase its chances of being featured prominently and attracting organic traffic.

High-Authority Link Building:

Central to Parasite SEO is acquiring backlinks from high-authority websites. These backlinks serve as signals of trust to search engines, indicating the relevance and credibility of your content. Ethical link-building practices should be prioritized, focusing on obtaining links from reputable sources within your niche to enhance your content's authority and visibility.

Piggyback SEO Methods:

Piggyback SEO methods involve capitalizing on popular trends, keywords, or topics to amplify your content's visibility. This could include creating content that aligns with trending hashtags, engaging in relevant discussions on social media platforms, or leveraging the popularity of viral content to attract attention to your own material.

Implementing Parasitic Link-Building Techniques:

Parasitic link-building techniques revolve around strategically embedding links to your content within high-traffic pages on authoritative websites. This can be achieved through tactics such as guest blogging, active participation in forums or discussion boards, or collaborating with influencers to showcase your content to their audience.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, Parasite SEO offers a strategic approach to enhance your content's visibility and attract organic traffic. By optimizing your content for host sites, cultivating high-authority backlinks, leveraging piggyback SEO methods, and implementing parasitic link-building techniques, you can effectively harness the power of Parasite SEO to boost your online presence.

Remember to approach these strategies ethically and focus on delivering value to both users and search engines. With patience, persistence, and a commitment to producing high-quality content, you can navigate the world of Parasite SEO with confidence and achieve meaningful results for your digital endeavors.

[jeonglixie]

[12:45am] “Can we…get out of here?”

The boy gave you a worried look but he nodded and grabbed your hand. You made your way through the drunken crowd.You took a deep breath as you stepped outside. Chan didn’t say anything,he just placed a hand on your back and slowly rubbed it.

“Are you ok,what happened?” he rasped after a while.

“I just…don’t feel like being in there right now.” you whispered.

“Are you drunk?”

You shook your head.Chan hummed and went towards his motorcycle.

“Let’s go.”

“W-where?”

“You’ll see.”

—–

You got to know Chan in the third year of college. You always saw him around campus with his friends,Jisung and Changbin,but you never really got a chance to speak to any of them. It’s like they all screamed trouble,their aura intimidating. So you’d either find them together or each of them alone.

Changbin seemed the scariest of them,his eyes piercing through your soul. You guessed you shouldn’t make mad this one.His hands full of tattoos and you were sure if he were to show more skin, there’d be more of them.

Jisung was more of a piercings guy,one on his left eyebrow and his ears full of them. He always seemed so confident and you could swear he screamed fuckboy.

Chan caught your attention first as you got more classes together. He seemed like a friendly one,but he didn’t really talk to anyone.He got that attractive smile that showed his dimples,on top of it, he got piercings on them. He’d usually sit in every class with his laptop and headphones. He was probably producing? You heard this trio was into music and rapping somewhere. You wondered if he ever paid attention to class though.

You were the exact opposite, cause other than staring at him before class started, was hanging from the professor’s lips and taking notes.That’s why he actually approached you the first time.

You were terrified when you turned your head to see who tapped your shoulder and met the familiar blonde haired boy.

Fuck,did he saw me staring?

When he politely asked if he could take your notes,all you could do was nod and give him your notebook with a half smile.

“Y/N right?”

“U-uh? Yeah, that’s me.”

“I’ll return this tomorrow,yeah? Thanks.” he winked,gave you a dimpled smile and left.You sighed in relief and made your way out of the class.

Little did you know he indeed saw you staring.

—–

Since then,in every class,he would usually sit next to you and sometimes have a small talk or flirt just to tease you. Then,a group assignment happened and he asked to be your partner. It was the first time you ever saw so much music equipment on someone’s house,as you stepped in his room.

You finished the assignment rather quickly and he suggested you should stay for a while and hang out. You should’ve known he didn’t really have something innocent in mind when he did so. Like that,one thing led to another and he ended up fucking you on his couch and probably giving you the best orgasm you ever had.

“We can do this a casual thing,if you want.” he told you as you stepped out of his apartment.

You didn’t really have something to lose,and as you needed some way to relieve stress,you agreed.

“No strings attached though,I’m…not really a relationship guy.”

“Sure.”

—–

Months passed and your relationship stayed the same; you hang out and fucked, sometimes you just enjoyed each other’s company. The intimidating guy turned out to be one of the kindest persons you knew. And that probably was going to be the death of you. Cause as the time passed,you weren’t attracted only by his body. You could tell he wasn’t feeling the same way though,as he immediately turned cold when you got intimate. No cuddles after sex,no staying over. That didn’t mean he wasn’t the softest when it came to aftercare. But then reality hit him and turned back at being his usual self again. That’s how he was. Hot and cold.

Jisung and Changbin weren’t that bad either. Jisung was funny, talkative and a little cocky but he was a nice guy overall.

It took a while for Changbin to open up to you. He would usually act like you weren’t there most of the time. He didn’t seem to like the relationship you and Chan had, he thought everything happened too quickly and Chan didn’t know you that well when he suggested the whole friends with benefits thing.

So when you went over to Chan last week and he opened the door instead of him,you knew this was going to be awkward.

“He won’t take long,you can wait for him.”

“O-ok.”

You both sat on the couch, awkward silence filled the room. You grabbed your phone and scrolled through your apps to keep yourself occupied.After a while he sighed.

“Chan’s ex girlfriend was a horrible person. She really fucked him up.”

Your eyes widened and your head snapped towards him. His eyes anywhere but you.

“She used him,had a good time,then she cheated on him and just left. He really had a hard time getting over that bitch.”

“So when he told me about you and the whole arrangement thing you have, I knew this won’t go well. That idiot really doesn’t think before he acts…”

“Look, I love Chan, he’s my best friend and I’ve known him for years. He’s not that kind of person. He’ll eventually catch feelings and I don’t want him to get hurt. So I’ll be clear. If you don’t care about him,get the fuck out of his life before it’s too late.”

His gaze now on you. If eyes could kill you would really be dead by now. You felt shivers down your spine but that didn’t stop you from responding, feeling slightly offended by his words.

“I know where you’re coming from. But I can tell Chan has no feelings for me and-”

“If you open your mouth to say bullshit babygirl then shut it.”

Your jaw dropped.He stood up and casually walked to the door and opened it with a smirk.

“I think I was clear.”

You felt your blood boiling. Not only he didn’t let you speak and explain,he also got that smug look on his face you really wanted to punch. You jumped from the couch and stomped towards him,fuming as you grabbed and slammed the door shut.

“Listen here Seo Changbin” you aggressively placed your index finger at his chest. “I don’t care what the fuck you are to Chan or how long you know him or whatever, but that doesn’t give you the right to assume I’m the same shitty person like his ex. I care about him as much as you do and like hell I would hurt him. The only idiot here is me for throwing myself in a situation like that and then catching up feelings. So don’t fucking worry about your friend getting hurt,he doesn’t give a fuck about my feelings and I don’t plan on telling him about them so he won’t feel guilty.”

You were sure you were screaming at this point and by Changbin’s surprised face,you knew you went overboard. You didn’t realize tears were running down your cheeks till you stopped and took a deep breath.

“Hey,are you-”

“Keep it. You said enough Seo.”

The boy didn’t really have time to act as you quickly went over the couch and grabbed your things,then ran and opened the door to leave.You froze when the first thing you saw while getting out was Chan’s surprised face. Your eyes locked for a split second before you felt more tears forming and you ran past him.

That probably was going to be the last time you’ll see him.

—–

One week passed and you didn’t really speak with Chan. You’d see him at the class but he was sitting nowhere near you and didn’t even spare a glance. You figured out he heard everything then and just didn’t want commitment. You were heartbroken of course but that was your fault. Chan said from the start he didn’t want a relationship.Jisung texted you and asked you to go to the party he was throwing but you didn’t really feel like doing this right now.

You were going back to your apartment as you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket.

unknown number: hey this is Changbin

unknown number: I know this is kind of random but can we meet at the café near campus? I have to talk to you

You: ok,sure

You opened the door of the café and the strong smell of coffee and cinnamon hit you. You spotted Changbin sitting on a table near the window. His face turned to you when he heard the door open and he gave you a small smile.

“Hey..”

You sat on the opposite side of the table.

“Sorry if that caught you off guard.I guess you’re not that happy to meet me,after what happened last time.”

You shook your head.

“No I….I was indeed kinda surprised but it’s ok. What did you want to talk about?”

Changbin let out a shaky sigh.

“I wanna apologize. I really was an asshole.”

“When you left,I tried to speak to Chan but he didn’t really want to. He avoided mentioning the whole thing,but I could see he was struggling.”

“I thought a lot about this too. I was overprotective and from the start I treated you like a parasite. And that’s a dick move.”

“You’re a person with feelings too and I can tell you hurt as much as Chan did. And it wasn’t your fault,as I wanted it to be. I won’t blame Chan either. He’s confused and scared.”

“I told you many times I care about him and I want him to be happy. He seems happy with you and I can tell he’s missing you more than anything. So I just couldn’t sit back and watch you both get hurt just because you’re scared to admit your feelings.”

“So…I want you to come to Jisung’s party tomorrow. You two have to talk.”

You stood silent for a while.

“Changbin…I’m not sure what to say…”

“You don’t really have to say something. Just please,come and talk to him.” He reached your hand on the table and smiled bitterly before he stood up and left.

You sat there,trying to comprehend what just happened. After a while you stood up and left as well.

The next day,you felt anxious as you dressed up and stepped out of your apartment. You didn’t know how this would go and definitely weren’t ready to get your heart crushed but you had to get over this.

When you stepped in Jisung’s apartment people were already wasted,dancing on the music. You first spotted Changbin and his eyes widened as you made eye contact,a grin slowly appeared on his lips.

“You came.” he yelled over the loud music. “Thank you.”

You smiled.

A gasp left your lips as suddenly someone pushed Changbin out the way and you met Jisung’s ecstatic face.

“Y/N oh my God you came! I’m so happy! Here try this,I made it!” he mumbled and shoved a cup with a questionable drink at your face.

“I don’t think so.”

“Please? Please, please, please, for me?”

You let out a sigh.

“Ok,ok,here.” you drank the liquid and winced as it burned your throat.

Jisung looked satisfied and quickly went back to the kitchen, probably to grab a second one.

“Where’s Chan?” you asked Changbin.

“I’m sure he’s around here,we were talking just before you-”

“Y/N?”

You turned to see Chan,a surprised look on his face.

“Hey.”

“I didn’t think you would come.”

“Trust me,me neither but he-” you stopped as you looked around and Changbin was nowhere to be found.

This motherfucker.

Chan tilted his head but you mouthed a “nevermind” and you both stood there awkwardly.

Minutes passed and you felt anxiety bubbling up your chest. Why did you even listen to Changbin in the first place? This was a bad idea. You weren’t ready to talk with Chan yet. The loud music started ringing at your ears,you had a hard time breathing,it felt suffocating. You felt Chan tap on your shoulder.

“Hey,are you ok?”

—–

And that’s how you ended up here,behind Chan,holding him tight as you passed by the busy roads.

His bike stopped as you reached a hill outside the city,the view breathtaking as you watched down the flicking lights. Chan took off his helmet and placed it on his bike. You both stayed silent.

After a while he reached in his pocket,took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. A bad habit,Jisung once said,he always pulls when he’s stressed. It was the only thing you hated about him.

“I guess you heard me.” you finally spoke. “When I screamed at Changbin.”

“Yeah…”

“That day he told me about your ex….but he was quite rude so we ended up like this.”

Chan cracked a smile.

“I thought you were going to come out and take my head or something back there,I won’t lie.”

You couldn’t help but giggle,but your smile faded quickly.He inhaled the cigarette and exhaled the smoke through his nose.

“Chan,I genuinely like you. And you know I’ll never hurt you,right?”

Chan felt a pang at his chest. He sucked a deep breath.

“It’s not like you don’t know already,but I’m scared. I’m scared to give my heart to someone and be vulnerable. I’m scared everything’s going to end up the same way.”

“Thought it could work like that. Having sex,no feelings. But sometimes I can’t help but crave more. Since when I got to know you better I needed more.”

“But it’s fucked up. How my brain works. I really want to trust you but I-”

He stopped and let out a frustrated sigh. He liked you,right? Then what was holding him back?

“I don’t know…”

You both fell silent. You didn’t really know what to say at a time like this. You wish you’d know what was going on in his mind right now,he looked so lost. Your eyes fell on his plump lips as he inhaled once again the cigarette.

“Stop doing that…” you said,your voice shaking. “You’re hurting yourself…”

You meant smoking or overthinking? Chan couldn’t tell. He scoffed and his eyes turned at the trembling city lights.

After a while he dropped the remaining cigarette on the ground and stomped it.

“Fuck this,let’s…go at my place.”

His features now hardened,his expression unreadable. You just nodded.

—–

You knew when you’d step in his house he’d probably slam you on the wall and have his way with you. That’s how Chan was. Cold and dominant, he loved to have you begging.

But that night you and Chan didn’t fuck. He made love to you. Heart on his sleeve as he softly kissed your face. You never saw that side of him. Slow and passionate,he touched you like you’d break.

You felt drunk,loved even.

When he finally slipped in you,you were far too gone to see the tears running down his face. He thrusted into you desperately, trying to cope with all these overwhelming emotions. You both came with you screaming his name and him groaning yours. He slowly then made his way to the bathroom to grab a towel. He stopped as he glanced his reflection at the mirror; all he could see was a coward with eyes red from crying,his puffy face making him wince. He returned not long after to find you still on the bed,eyes half closed,your breathing back to normal. Sleep immediately knocked you out after he cleaned you up with the soft towel.

You didn’t see his eyes glistening at the moonlight.You didn’t see how he sat at the edge of the bed,face in his palms.

You didn’t see him smoking his last cigarette and throwing the almost full pack at the trash.

That night, Chan promised himself he won’t run away. He’d stay here with you,even if that meant he could get hurt again.

[youranemicvampire]

My favorite shows and movies I’ve watched in 2020

Not a professional critic or film girl, jus wanna recommend some good stuff. Random order. 

Russian doll (2019-)

Natasha Lyonne is a genius. A death loop that gets deeper and more creative every episode and it has only 8 so you can binge it and be satisfied. 

The good place (2016-2020)

Comedy and Philosophy? This is the one. It’s one of the shows that i would recommend to every person on the planet so we can all be better people without reading those incomprehensible and inaccessible philosophy books. 

The disastrous life of Saiki K. / “” Reawakened (2012-)

The most hilarious anime i’ve seen! And i can’t even explain why. It’s just about a psychic and idk how they made it that funny every single episode. Effortless and Random. 

Sex Education (2019-)

America should take notes. Still about s*x, but it’s closer to reality than most American teen shows + It breaks stereotypes. idk how to describe it., this show is cliche, but in a refreshing way?? Weird. It’s good. 

Pose (2018-)

Now, This is how you do it. I’ve seen a lot of music/dance-themed shows and movies and most of them are mediocre and inauthentic. Pose has a heart, passion and it stayed true to their culture while casting real gay men and transwomen. Overall, It’s realistic and hopeful at the same time. 

Diary of a prosecutor (2020)

A comedy depicting the daily lives of prosecutors. Freaking hilarious. The situations they’ve been, everyone’s comedic timing and reality of being a prosecutor are on point. 

Swing kids (2018)

About Korean kids with dreams and passion for tap dancing in a middle of senseless war and divide. A dance movie with an actual good story.

SKY castle (2019)

If you watched Parasite and hyped the f out it, you should do the same with SKY castle. It highlighted greed, Korea’s educational system and mental health by using satire, drama and suspense. A masterpiece. Literally the best Kdrama i’ve watched. I know it’s the 2nd highly-rated show in Korea, but Internationally, very underrated. So watch it! NOW! It’s on Netflix!

Nobody Knows (2020)

Bias included, I watched it for Kim Seo Hyung (The same actress from SKY castle who just won top excellence award for this so you better give her flowers) and stayed for the story. It’s a mystery drama about a cult, importance of good adults in life and empathy. Slow-paced, but never had a dull moment. Full thoughts without spoilers here.  

Disclosure (2020)

Watch this so you’ll know representation is not just a “woke” shit. It’s fucking important! It shapes how you perceive reality. 

But i'm a cheerleader (1999)

A QUEER FILM CLASSIC. Seriously. It’s on the top of the list of films new queers should first watch. It’s a satire about a lesbian cheerleader in a conversion camp. Funny, cute, entertaining, relatable and happy. Yes, HAPPY! Done with tragic ones.

Black lightning (2018-2021)

Not even a superhero fan, but it gave me adrenaline rush, and made me think. What i also love about this is the parallels with reality. I get it that it’s sci-fi, but isn’t it more engaging if you can imagine it possibly happening in real life. +They treated the wlw storyline as a normal thing as it is. 

The L word (2004-2009) / The L word: Generation Q (2019-)

Ok this is not the best show in the world. It’s too white and got A LOT of issues, BUT i’m still gonna recommend it to “new” lesbians like me (R18+) especially when you experience this isolation stage. It’ll make you feel normal. If you don’t wanna watch the original one, i think you can skip to Gen Q because it’s more diverse, has a better treatment of transmen and transwomen and got a lighter tone so far, just watch a summary/recap of the OG.

More recommendations:

2019

2018

2017

[hatsukeii]

【Ｙｏｕｒ　ｎｅｗ　ｂｏｙｆｒｉｅｎｄ－　Ｄａｙ　１】

Word count: 6.2k+

【Ｄｅｃｅｍｂｅｒ　２５，　２０２０】

【２：３９　ａｍ】 Nearing the end of the seemingly indestructible health bar of this stupid resurgent cryo regisvene, Changbin lets out an audible growl, tapping furiously, almost murderously at his phone screen. “Cmonnnn you persistent piece of shit, just bite the dust already like the normal one...” His voice trails off as every drip of focus is directed back on his game. 

“Which one do you think it is this time Seungmin?” Jisung taunts from the kitchen of the shared apartment, watching the coffee drip into his cup from the ancient coffee machine at a snail’s pace (He had been insisting on having Changbin get a new one for the past three, four months but the latter had been persistent to keep it instead of “wasting money on a new one”). Seungmin yells from inside his room, the sound of keyboard clicking along with the occasional growling and mumbling exposing what he was doing- League of Legends. “You think I would know? I don’t even know the game he’s playing.” “He’s been at it for the past three days Seungmin, it’s obviously the same ice thing he won’t shut up about.” Minho deadpans, tenderly lowering the three cats in his arms onto the couch. “Now my babies, don’t touch the madman next to you, or I’m going to have to do the dishes tonight, kay? He’s our main dishwasher, let’s not try anything funny.” The three cats collectively look up at their owner as he cooes softly at the felines. With the last of his party completely obliterated, Changbin throws his phone across the couch, startling the cats as they jump off hastily, earning a piercing glare from Minho. “We’ll talk about this later, Seo Changbin.” “My god, I give up, I’ll just get Chan hyung to do it for me tomorrow.” What even went through Mihoyo headquarters when they created this boss? Did the development department just decide to throw everything into one giant boss fight? 

As he wallows in defeat, his ringtone blares where it sadly lies from being thrown across the couch, the annoying “We just got a letter!” song from Blue’s Clues (He had a feeling that the annoying children’s song would aid in motivating him to actually pick the phone up instead of ignoring people then texting them out of sluggishness) playing on loop the longer he chooses not to answer. “Will you just shut up?” Aggressively snatching his phone, he takes a quick glance at the caller, before picking up. “(Y/n), what do you wan-” 

A few audible sniffles can be heard from the other side of the line. 

“Changbinnie, he cheated on me.” 

Changbin deadpans, not sure he’s hearing things right.

“Hello? Binnie?”

The words hitting him like a truck, he bolts up from where he once sat, hand gripping the phone so hard veins were popping.

“That motherfucker did what?”

His voice rings clear throughout the unit, both Jisung and Minho flinching at the sudden burst of noise. “Jesus Christ keep it down Changbin, the whole apartment complex can hear your annoying voice.” Minho complains, picking up one of his dear cats and stroking its ears. “Soonie ah, that idiot’s yell didn’t hurt your ears did it? Aigoo my baby, it’s okay, it was just stupid horse-faced Changbin, it’s okay my baby boo...” Jisung rolls his eyes, taking a sip from his pitch black coffee. Wincing, he sets the mug down, running to the fridge to get creamer. “Changbin hyung, did you get the wrong creamer again? I told you to get the vanilla one, this one’s dairy free!” Changbin lowers his phone, covering the speaker. “Why the fuck are you even drinking coffee at this hour? Go buy your own fucking creamer if you want it so much then!” “I’m broke hyung! Plus the campus convenience store and the supermarket are closed already, use your pea brain!” “Use milk and sugar Jisung! I’m busy!” Returning to the call, he makes his way into his room, not wanting to have to deal with the two parasites outside. “Tell me everything (Y/n), oh he’s bruising for a cruising playing with your feelings like that-”

A sob passes through the speaker.

“I was just trying to check on him-”

“Scratch that, I’ll be there in twenty, don’t do anything stupid by yourself.”

Shoving the door of his room out of his way, he storms towards the three refrigerators in the kitchen, the other three people in the unit following him in sight (Seungmin heard the commotion and decided to come out of his man cave for once to assess the situation). He pushes Jisung to the side, pulling open the doors to the biggest one. “Soju... soju... soju... there it is.” He untangles the biggest plastic bag he can find from the huge bag on top of the fridge (Minho seems to collect plastic bags at this point, it’s getting annoying) and shoves just about all the bottles of soju he can fit into the flimsy piece of plastic. Moving on to the next fridge, he slams the previous one close, startling Jisung. “Hyung, are you okay?” Changbin ignores him, scrambling to grab the two family sized tubs of ice cream. “Hyung, that’s the last of our ice cream-” Yet again ignoring Jisung’s complaint, he makes his way to the pantry, throwing in the most tooth rottingly sweet candies he can find, a few bags of those honey butter chips and all of Jisung’s cup ramens. In the past couple of minutes, Seungmin had picked up on the situation on hand. He whisper yells at Jisung, making weird gestures to catch his attention. Once his eyes meet Jisungs’s, he frantically jerks his head towards the rooms (It’s like some secret bro code the two have). Jisung picks up on the message, shutting up and shuffling to his room along with Seungmin, before locking their bedroom doors. After his expedition in the kitchen, Changbin goes back to his room, just to grab a duffel bag to put everything in. He takes his switch and the dock, his laptop, and throws his phone into the mix (Both Jisung and Minho agree that Changbin needs to stop abusing his phone, Seungmin doesn’t really care). The only one left in the living room watches as he angrily puts his shoes on, and slams the front door just a little too aggressively as he goes. Hearing the front door close, the two younger boys come out of hiding, finally safe from their scarily furious friend. “My cup noodles... Minho hyung my cup noodles....” “Let’s just wait for him to buy them for us again, leave him alone for now.”

【３：００　ａｍ】 It’s been exactly 21 minutes since you had called Changbin and he is now furiously knocking at your door because 1) You need moral support, clearly, 2) He didn’t bring all the food and risk getting the life nagged out of him when he goes back for nothing, and 3) Your ex boyfriend’s new chick is about to receive a very explicit call from a very angry person. “Oi (Y/n), it’s Changbin, open up.” From inside, you wrap your Armin futon throw blanket around your tired body, before waddling to the front door to your apartment. Gripping the blanket together with one hand, you twist the doorknob with the other and pull. It’s almost like one of those slot machines you would always see in dramas. You pull the lever with all the might you can muster during this trying time and BAM! You hit the jackpot and an angry Changbin comes into sight. He looks scary, almost. His demeanor could probably kill right now if you didn’t know better. “Come in... yeah come on in....” His hand loosens around the duffel bag, dropping it on the floor while he gets his shoes off. You penguin waddle back to where you were sitting on the couch, picking up the crumpled tissues and throwing them out. “Make yourself at home.” You feel a stare burn into your back as you step off the bin pedal. “I’m here, now tell me everything that happened with this asshole.”

“So what I’m getting from this is that Junwoo fucker said he was going out to get groceries, which was a lie at that time but you didn’t know. He took a suspiciously long time so you, being the paranoid ass person you are, went to check on him, only to see him making out with some hussey that wouldn’t stop making moves on him during that dumb lecture you had in the afternoon, correct?” You nod, tears starting to form again for the fourth- no, was it the fifth? About the fifth time in the past minute or so that you spent explaining the situation. “(Y/n), sweetie, I’m gonna need the name of the hussey.” “No, you’re going to do something stupid.” “I wasn’t asking, give it.” You give Changbin a stink eye, acting like you were completely against whatever he has in mind despite actually being curious to see what he has planned (An angry Changbin is a scary Changbin but a rare one also). “It’s Jimin from the dance team.” His mouth hangs open in disbelief. “No, he did NOT!” You nod solemnly, sniffing.  "He cheated on you for that slut?” “Binnie! That’s rude!” “Oh please, I don’t like to disrespect women but you know that it’s true.” That shuts you up instantly. He’s not wrong, so far she’s been caught up in the middle of way too many relationships to count. She’s pretty much notorious for sleeping with people’s boyfriends now. Horrid, really, she knows what she’s doing and she enjoys it. Changbin practically rips the zipper off his duffel bag and snatches his poor, abused phone, before scrolling through his contacts to find Jimin (He would delete her contact from his phone if he could, really. He’s tried, but she hit on him so hard on campus as a threat that he kept it just to be safe. Quite honestly though, he doesn’t really care now). “Binnie, no-” He puts the call on speaker, his feet tapping at the floor impatiently. “Bitch, you better pick up before I find you and pick it up for you-” 

“Hello?” 

His face lights up when he hears Jimin’s voice from the other side of the line. “Oh yeah hi! Here’s your friendly Changbin reminder that your new boyfriend’s an asshole!” You can almost see the sneer that Jimin has on her face. “Uh, and who are you to say that? Twink.” Your mind doesn’t even let you properly process what she said because Changbin’s already retaliating. “Oh, you know, just from his ex partner he was cheating on, but you can state your arguments if you’d like. Also that wasn’t very nice, calling me a twink, considering you hit on me every day on campus.” Changbin’s aura goes borderline murderous when a chuckle sounds from the speaker. “Oh? Them? He could do better anyways.” “Okay listen here you little slut, I’m gonna be honest with you, because no one ever will. Any guy that says they’re in any way interested in you beyond just using you as a fuck toy, is full of bullshi-” 

You slam your finger onto the big red button before he can say anything more. 

Changbin’s seething with anger, even though he isn’t showing it. You know that because 1) He’s oddly calm in this situation and 2) He just openly called one of the most known people in the college a slut. “Seo Changbin, calm yourself down. Please.” Those were some harsh words he said to Jimin, it was completely out of his usually good natured, well spoken character. He closes his eyes, taking a few deep breaths, before grabbing a flimsy white plastic bag out from the duffel bag. He shoots his hand to the bottom, grabbing one of the 15 bottles of soju he brought over. He wrenches open the bottle cap, before chugging half the bottle in one sitting. “How much stuff did you bring?” Changbin really is oddly stable considering he had just gotten called a twink and went off at someone through the phone. “About 15 bottles of soju, two tubs of ice cream, a few bags of those honey butter chips, all the cup ramens in the pantry, and a bunch of those Hi-Chews that I know you love because you keep taking them from me and eating them in class.” He grabs another bottle of soju from the plastic bag, as well as a pack of Hi-Chews. “Drink?” You sulk, taking the green bottle from him while he rips open a pack of candies, popping one in his mouth. “Damn, on Christmas day too, what an ass, Junwoo.” You roll your eyes, taking in a mouthful of alcohol from the bottle. “You’re so stupid Binnie, she’s going to ruin your life because of that stupid call.” “Me? Stupid? The only stupid thing here is you managing to stay with Junwoo for an entire year. I knew he was toxic from the start. Besides, what’s Jimin going to do? She’s got nothing on me. I might as well be the only person that hasn’t sent her nudes or something.” 

It sounds harsh, almost mean, but you know that he’s not lying. Your ex boyfriend was the most toxic, manipulative person you’ve ever been with yet you stayed with him for over a year, it’s unbelievable, really. 

“Can I take a cup ramen?” Changbin doesn’t even spare a glance at you, he’s typing away on his phone (Looks like the nagging has started, one could never expect no complaints after taking all the comfort food from the kitchen). “No, you can’t. I brought all this food because it’s three in the morning and I suddenly want to eat at your house. Of course you can, this is about you, do whatever you want.” You grab one of the cups from the bag, before sluggishly making your way to the kitchen to boil water. Seeing that you left your seat, Changbin empties out the plastic bag, before discarding all the rubbish that you left behind prior to his arrival. Tissues, boxes, chocolate wrappers, everything, he throws them all into the white bag. “That should do.” Ripping open a pack of honey butter chips (Minho needs to chill out about him taking a few packs considering he bulk bought these in boxes. One pack won’t hurt), he takes one, before setting it down and waiting for you to return.

Meanwhile, the remaining three in Changbin’s apartment have just received a reply. “Hey... hey hEY HEY WE GOT A TEXT BACK EVERYONE!” Both Seungmin and Minho gather around Jisung and his phone. “Changbin hyung says he’s not coming back tonight and that he’ll restock the food he took when he’s back, what do we do?” The two young ones look expectantly at Minho, as if he would have any good advice. “I don’t know, should I give him a call-” “Are you mad? He’s going to tear you to shreds hyung, don’t waste your life like that!” Minho sighs in exasperation. “Then we’ll just have to wait for him to be back.” Seungmin and Jisung look to the floor almost guiltily. “He won’t even tell us what happened... how are we supposed to do anything about it?” “You don’t, that’s what you do, you don’t do anything about it until he calms down and tells us about it. Now Seungmin, stop playing your games and Jisung, stop doing solo karaoke and go to sleep.”

【５：５８　ａｍ】 “This is going to be the first and last night you get to be this unhealthy, we’re using healthy coping mechanisms instead of… whatever the fuck this is.” You look at him, a mouthful of ramen hanging from your food vacuum as you slurp it up loudly (For context, you’ve managed to go through four cup ramens, two bags of chips, a pack of Hi-Chews, and an additional three bottles of soju to wash it all down. The two tubs of ice cream remain untouched in the freezer. In other words, you were binge eating, all while being shit faced drunk). The TV blares from in the front of the living room, the Mario Kart theme playing on loop. Your controller sits on the coffee table, completely unattended as you get busy with eating. “Haaaaah? I need the junk food Binnie, it’s all a part of recovery!” Changbin clicks his tongue, before flicking your forehead. “That’s just a shitty excuse to be unhealthy, we don’t stan that.” Frowning, you snatch a few chips with your chopsticks and shove them in your mouth grumpily. “Now, where were we... ah! Yeah! Prepare for another devastating loss Binnie! You shall not come out victorious!” (Cmon, you really think you could beat Changbin in Mario Kart drunk? Hunny, he was losing on purpose.) He lets out a breathy chuckle, before picking you up bridal style, walking to your room, and throwing you onto your bed. “That’s about enough for now, go to sleep. I already know your hangover tomorrow’s going to be absolutely horrible.” You whine, tossing and turning. “But I don’t wanna go to sleeeeeeep... I wanna win again... I wanna playyyyy... gamess....” And with that your voice trails off. “Idiot, you would just pass out halfway.” He closes the door behind him as he leaves your room, but not before gently releasing the console from your warm, clammy hands. Coming to terms with what he has to do next, Changbin massages his neck when he sees the absolute mess of a living room. “Now, where do we start?” All the homework and study cramming is about to come in handy as he starts to clean up all the rubbish left sitting around. He sets his eyes on your pink blanket. It’s 2°C out, his nose is prickly and red as he sneezes, and he still quickly notices an alcoholic smell wafting out from the pink throw blanket. Reaching over to feel it, the fabric is slightly damp under his touch. “Jesus Christ, you for sure spilled soju over this thing. Tag... tag... tag....” his hand roams around the thick blanket, feeling for a laundry tag. He whips his phone out, searching for a laundry care symbol guide (It’s been a while since he’s done laundry properly. Seungmin is in charge of doing everyone’s laundry since he contributes the least). “40°C water at the highest, tumble dry on low.... alright.” He bunches up the blanket, the fabric hanging to the floor from his arms. Trying to get to the laundry room hurriedly, he almost trips over the soft material, stomping on the floor obnoxiously loud to regain his balance (The neighbours are going to seriously hate him for this). He throws it into the washing machine and slams the compartment door shut. Scanning the room for detergent, he deadpans when he sees where it’s located. “Why would you put it that high up in the shelf? You’re not even that tall-” He tries everything, from standing on his tiptoes, to jumping in order to reach it. All those attempts end in vain, and he resorts to his final trick- climbing on top of the washing machine. “Cmon, just a feeeew more millimeters-” The dust from the top of the cabinet along with the temperature causes him to sneeze profusely, almost losing his balance. But with a hook of his fingers, he manages to push the bottle out, before grabbing it and using the bottle to push another bottle of dettol out. He wrenches open the lids, before clumsily pouring out the needed amounts, but not without spilling it on the floor. Cursing, he quickly sets the washing machine for a one hour cycle. He then grabs a random towel from on top of the machine and wipes the floor now. “I guess it’s squeaky clean now, you did good Changbin, you did good. Go me.” With one job done, he makes his way back to the living room. The main area is so messy that Changbin has to form a proper plan on how to clean everything up with the highest efficiency. He grabs the ramen cups, draining out the soup and throwing them out. The chopsticks clank together when they hit the kitchen sink as he turns the tap on. He grabs a sponge, soaking it in water and squeezing detergent onto it, before scrubbing the chopsticks clean. With the dishwashing done, he staggers his way towards the coffee table. He’s tired. He’s so fucking tired that his eyes are about to betray his mind. His arms are numb and the floor is wobbling from beneath his feet. He sneezes a few more times, sniffling. He sighs, wiping his nose and warming it up with the sleeve of his hoodie. If anyone pushes him with a bit of effort, he’ll probably fall over and pass out, but he absolutely refuses to let you wake up to a messy living room. He makes use of the vibrant Mario Kart podium segment still blaring on the TV to keep himself awake while he works on cleaning everything up. Seeing that the sky has progressed from pitch black to a beautiful, yet dreadful shade of aegean blue, he’s pretty sure he won’t be getting any sleep any time soon.

【７：４７　ａｍ】 You cough yourself awake to the burning stench of smoke. The world really said “Lol your life is burning and crumbling down” and took it a little too seriously. Fire, fire, fire, what’s the worst that could happen? Fire needs to give itself a vibe check, can’t it see that you don’t have the energy to deal with it right now? You squeeze your brows together and pull your sheets back over your body. If not for the panicked yelling from outside you would’ve stayed in bed and just waited for whatever fire was burning to reach your room. Hearing Changbin’s chain of swears and curses, you shoot up, more worried for him than for yourself. “CHANGBIN!” You get no reply. You’re horrified, probably both from the hangover working its magic at making you more paranoid and sensitive than you already are, and the possibility that the apartment’s going to burn down. You scramble to the kitchen, choking when you reach the hallway. The amount of smokiness in the living room makes it impossible to see anything clearly. One thing is for sure- there is no fire. What there is though, is a very startled Changbin squatting next to a tray of what looks like charcoal. 

“Binnie, what the fuck did you do?” 

Poor boy, he looks like a lost puppy, a small pout evident on his face. “I was trying to make you breakfast, but I think I set the oven to the wrong temperature, turns out it doesn’t take that much heat to toast bread.” Pinching your nose, you take a glance at the oven. “Changbin I- why is it set to 250 degrees?” “I just told you, I don’t think toast needs that much heat!” It’s almost funny how bad he fucked up. You would laugh wholeheartedly if not for the borderline deadly amount of smoke wafting around your apartment. “Changbin, I have a toaster.” “I don’t know how to use it though, it’s too digital and it makes weird noises.” You let out an exasperated sigh (You knew getting a digital toaster was eventually going to lead to some problems), taking the tray out from the oven and discarding the two pieces of what used to be toast. “Binnie, do me a favour and go open up the windows.” Hearing his cue to leave the crime scene, he rushes to the other side of the living room, opening everything up. “It’s been 84 years... fresh air, hello....” You let out a sarcastic chuckle, before throwing out the piece of foil on the tray. You scan your surroundings, everything is in place, the apartment is squeaky clean, your futon is on a drying rack outside on the balcony, and that’s when it hits you. “Changbin, if you tell me you didn’t get any sleep cleaning my place up for me, I will knock you out here and now.” You speed walk towards him faster than Karen walks to the manager, before taking in his features. His eyebags are heavier and darker than usual, his face is pale, his hair is a mess, his eyes focus on nothing in silence. “Seo Changbin!” You snap in front of his face, startling him out of his trancelike state. “Huh? I swear I’m okay, don’t even worry.” His voice is hoarse and nasally, and he sneezes a few times after his statement, sniffling and wiping his nose with his sleeve for the second time this day. You don’t even give him time to move away or protest. Your fingers pinch his ear at the speed of light, before pulling him to your room and practically shoving him onto your bed. “Sleep.” Changbin pouts, curling into a ball. “But I don’t need to sleep! I’m perfectly fine-” “No, you’re not, you almost burned my apartment down messing with the oven tired, sleep.” You don’t wait for a response as you slam the lights off and shut the bedroom door.

【２：２３　ｐｍ】It’s been about seven hours since you practically forced Changbin to sleep, the ending of the final episode of Death Parade reminding you of the time that has passed. “He’s still not up?” Mumbling to yourself, you creak the door to your room open, being as silent as possible. “Changbin?” No reply. The covers don’t even budge the slightest bit. You are so taking a photo of his sleeping face for future uses. The second you pull your phone out, it starts ringing, the recording of Jisung’s impression of Changbin’s iconic “Yoooooh” blaring through the speakers like a concert (The two of you snuck into one of his music project recording sessions without him knowing, music major things am I right). You throw yourself out of the room, picking the phone up. “Hello-” “(Y/n)!” Dear God it’s Jisung, loud as ever. “Where’s Changbin hyung?” Of course he didn’t tell them anything. “He’s here, asleep, I forced him to sleep.” “Okay, when he wakes up tell him that he owes us everything he took from the pantry, and that he should come home, thanks!” “Wait-” And that little shit hangs up on you just like that. You place your phone onto the coffee table, before going back to check on Changbin. Scratch the idea of a photo, you’ll just do it next time. You kneel down next to your bed, placing your palm on his forehead. “You idiot, thank God you didn’t cook and get me sick along with you.” Being a medical science major, you never overlook anybody’s wellbeing, especially not your best friend’s. When you feel his burning forehead, you almost slap him in his sleep. He’s in for it when he eventually wakes up. Trying your best, you pull the blanket out from underneath him (He fell asleep pretty much straight after you shoved him onto the bed). He stirs, mumbling softly. “Where... where am I...? Who... am... I...? Who are... you?” You scrunch your face up, finally ripping the blanket from underneath him. Working quickly, you throw it over him, before turning on the heat setting for the aircon in your room. Doesn’t look like he’s going to wake up anytime soon, he looks like a sleeping baby. Motionless and oddly talkative and soft. In the meantime, you might as well go read over the old messages with Junwoo and cry a little more.

【４：５８　ｐｍ】 It’s been another two hours, your eyes are puffy and red from the crying, Changbin still hasn’t woken up yet. You pick up the ramen cup and drag yourself forcefully from the couch to the kitchen, throwing the soup out along with the cup, and reaching up to find the paracetamol and fever relief patches (Which you bought five packs of at a time for a great buy three get two free deal) from the box of first aid and medical essentials. Taking it out of the box, you keep it in your pocket, just in case. You make your way to your room, opening up your cabinet and grabbing your car keys. You shove those into your pocket as well, before peeling off the wrapper of a fever relief patch and sticking that flat on Changbin’s forehead. You throw on a trenchcoat to cover up the fact that you’re wearing a pyjama shirt with tights, get your boots on, and head over to Jisung’s place.

【５：１７　ｐｍ】“Jisung! Let me in!” You rap at their door until your knuckles hurt and a slightly concerned Minho pulls it open, his three cats following their owner and rubbing their cute little cheeks on your leg. “Oh, it’s you. Come on in, Jisung’s not here, what do you need?” “I just need to grab clothes for Changbin, he won’t stop wiping his nose on his sleeve, it’s gross, and he needs a shower.” “Go ahead.” Shooting Minho a quick thanks, you run into Changbin’s room, rummaging through his drawers and cabinets. For someone with a major obsession with hoodies, he sure doesn’t have many. You randomly grab a pair of sweats, along with a tshirt and the thickest hoodie you can find, before you drop the clothes, letting out a funny sound of embarrassment. “Fuck, Minho!” 

【５：３９　ｐｍ】It’s warm. It’s really warm, in contrast to how Changbin remembers feeling the last time he was awake. What time even is it? He doesn’t have his phone, and he notices that it’s starting to go dark out, looks about 6pm for the typical Korean winter... and the sound of running water? He kicks the blanket off of him (which he doesn’t remember covering himself with), and is welcomed by an oddly warm room for 2°C weather. Did you manage to throw the blanket over him and turn the heater on at some point when he was asleep? A lump forms at his throat at the thought, a tiny smile threatening to show. The light from the bathroom blinds him temporarily when he opens the bedroom door, and as his eyes adjust to the light, he can see you filling up a bathtub with water. “Oh, you’re awake, just in time.” He’s still dazed from the drowsiness as he staggers a little bit into the bathroom. “I got you a change of clothes, underwear and all, and paracetamol there for your fever.” You’re in your trench coat, the one you wouldn’t shut up about after buying, or so he remembers. “Did you go over to mine to get the clothes?” You let out a breathy chuckle, cupping your cheeks sarcastically. “Oh no! I secretly hide a stash of your clothes and underwear in my house! Get in the bath Binnie, I’ll make dinner outside.” He’s hesitant, but as you close the door behind him he can’t help but be welcomed by the bubbly hot bath in front of him.

【６：００　ｐｍ】“Did you take the paracetamol I left in there?” You chuckle a little at the towel hanging around his neck. “You look like one of those hardcore grandpas in animes.” You stir the tiny stone pot in front of you, making sure not to splash the red soup onto your shirt. “Yeah, I took the pill, thanks.” From the corner of your eye, you can see Changbin heading towards the kitchen. “Uh uh uh, stop right there buddy. You are not going anywhere near the kitchen, nope. I know you want to help, but I’m almost done, so just sit your ass down at the coffee table.” He does as you say like an obedient little puppy, sitting down at the wooden table. Putting on a pair of oven mitts, you carefully carry the scorching hot pot and a plastic mat to the table, setting it down while the liquid continues bubbling. “Now you can go in and help me grab the rice and bowls.”  

Changbin once told you that he would never set his eyes on one of your “stupid japanese cartoons” because apparently they're too immature for a 5′6 college student to watch. That’s complete bullshit. He doesn’t even see the kimchi stew drip onto your coffee table because his eyes are glued to Hunter x Hunter which you coaxed him into watching with you. You scoff, mixing the stew into your rice. “Move your spoon Changbin, it’s dripping all over my table.” He snaps out of his trance, hovering his spoon on top of his rice instead. “Poor Ikalgo, all he wanted was to be a squid and have friends....” “Are you going to eat up or not?” You watch as his hand slowly tilts to let the liquid drip into his rice, his eyes not once leaving the tv screen as he mixes it and shoves a spoonful into his mouth. “Ikalgo... you deserve everything. Absolutely everything.” This is a sight, you take your phone out and snap a pic before he notices. “What happened to anime being too immature for you huh?” “Shut up (Y/n).” He retorts, shoving another heaping spoonful of rice into his mouth. “Are you... about to cry?” Changbin continues to stuff his mouth with food, his cheeks puffing up. “Oh my god you’re crying! You’re crying over an anime!” “No I’m not.” He forces himself to mumble out a disagreement with all that food in his mouth, however his watery eyes completely betray him and say otherwise. You stay silent, smirking at him knowingly. “It’s just Ikalgo deserves so much better, if Killua doesn’t become his friend I’m going to stop watching.” He looks so reluctant to admit it that you start laughing, a snort sounding from your nose. “Called it, you’re getting sentimental over a childish fucking anime!” “I’ll kill you if you tell anyone, Seungmin will never let me live this down.” “Thanks for the idea, idiot.”

【１０：４２　ｐｍ】Sentimental hours are open starting from 10:30pm till whenever your body decides to fall asleep. Poor Changbin has been trying to comfort you since then, yet all has been in vain. “Changbinnie, am I really good enough for anyone then? Am I good enough for someone to just stay with me?” No one likes seeing a pretty girl cry, let alone their best friend being said pretty girl. Seeing you cry pulls on his heartstrings. It angers him to the point where all he wants to do is break Junwoo’s face, yet knowing how you wouldn’t like a fight is the only thing stopping him from going along with his desires. “(Y/n), for the last time, you are more than good enough. Please just listen, he was a douchebag all along, you knew that. He didn’t do this because you weren’t good enough for him, he did this because he was selfish and toxic, at least he’s out of your life for good now.” You slump into the mattress further, Changbin staring at you hopelessly. “You can’t keep this up you know, it’s self destructive.” You try your best to move your eyes towards him, but the angle you’re lying in doesn’t allow for that as you feel the strain in the corner of your eye. “For the record I am very much aware of that, thank you.” You feel a hand on the top of your head, stroking your hair softly. “It’s gonna be okay, you’re better off without him and there’s plenty of fish in the sea anyways.” You turn and toss a little bit, shoving your face into and wrapping your arms around his torso while you sulk (If people didn’t know better, they would mistake the two of you for a couple). Your fingers grazing his body sent warm pinpricks up his spine and feathers in his stomach. Changbin’s hand never leaves your head even as you stop sniffling and the room slowly shifts into a comfortable silence. “How is it that you treat me better than how my ex did so for me?” His eyes leave the phone in his other hand to glance at you empathetically. For a moment, he isn’t the witty, sharp tongued Changbin everyone came to know. He hopes you can’t see the almost devastating look on his face as he smiles pitifully, such vulnerability that he will only ever show towards you. “Anyone could treat you better than that guy.” He doesn’t get a verbal reply, but instead receives a string of soft snores slightly muffled by the fabric of his sweater. Satisfied, he has to pry your arms off of him to reach the lights, turning them off. “Binnie, come backkkkkk...” Freezing in his tracks at your words, he sighs, rolling his eyes in slight amusement. He slips himself in bed next to you, getting comfortable with your arms back around his torso. You mumble a few incoherent words, before dosing back to sleep. 

Meanwhile in Changbin’s apartment, Jisung feels a sneeze coming. He braces for the impact, before sneezing once, then twice, then the third time. “Oh my god, it’s happening.” Seungmin side eyes him, giving Jisung a weird look. “Not you with your stupid mind bonds or whatever you call it.” “No I swear, it’s real, three sneezes that’s what I told Changbin hyung would happen if he ever did it.”

Now, the two of you have long since passed out amidst the comfort of your bed. However, let me share you a little secret, You, who were the most reluctant to share your sanctuary with someone else, you’re going to wake up from the best sleep you’ve had in months tomorrow morning.

Tags:

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[drama-pop]

Dramas I Watched in 2020

I watched a lot of dramas this year, y’all.  Here’s what I watched and what I thought of them!

Boys Over Flowers (10/10)

3rd watch – I cannot explain the love that I have for this show.  It is absolutely wacky and farfetched, but so, so fun.  This was my introduction into K-Dramas (well, re-introduction…more on that later) and it will always have a special place in my heart. This watch was with my sister as she was recovering from surgery. Even though I’d already seen it twice, it was addictive as always.

Dream High (9.5/10)

1st watch - This was one of the cutest and most feel-good shows I watched this year. Part of me wishes I hadn’t discovered it until quarantine because nearly every episode left me grinning and with a song in my heart.  It was also my introduction to K-Pop (2PM, which eventually led me to BTS aka the best thing that happened to me this year).  I loved the characters and their pursuit of their dreams.  The drama turns 10 in a few days, so I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that I loved when the kids finally came together as a team near the end of the show.  My one regret is that I fell for the wrong lead guy, so I would have liked to have avoided that second lead syndrome.  It’s one of the most compelling love triangles I’ve watched, though!

Cinderella and the Four Knights (7.5/10)

1st watch - Regrettably, I don’t remember much about this drama.  I know that I enjoyed the relationships between Ha-Won and the “Four Knights.”  I enjoyed Ahn Jae-Hyun’s character at the beginning, but didn’t like him as much as his tear-filled relationship with the seamstress progressed.  The singer was my favorite of the cousins and am I the only one who wanted more screen time for the bodyguard?  Anyway, it was cute and my mom really enjoyed it.  Plus, seeing Park So-Dam is what eventually got me to watch Parasite!

The King: Eternal Monarch (9.5/10)

1st watch – I know it’s controversial for me to give this one such a high score, but it was really special to me.  My whole family (minus my dad) and our neighbor watched this show together and debriefed after each episode (from a safe social distance) during early quarantine.  It was the first drama I watched as it was airing, so I experienced the stress of waiting for the next week’s episodes.  I love Lee Min-Ho, so I was really looking forward to his comeback drama.  Woo Do Hwan was an unexpected favorite from this show and I just enjoyed the characters, story, and mystery so much.  I know this drama wasn’t everyone’s favorite, but it holds a lot of special memories for me.

Bring It On, Ghost (7/10)

1st watch - This was a pretty cute drama, but it was spooky too.  I watched it for Taecyeon, but stayed for the ghost fighting squad.  Kang Ki-Young and Lee David were a treat to watch.  Although I liked Dream High more as a show, I absolutely loved Taecyeon’s Bong Pal.  I didn’t like the ghost at first, but she grew on me as the show went on and ended up enjoying Kim So-Hyun as an actress.  The mystery in this one was compelling too and kept me watching!

What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim? (9/10)

1st watch - I’m SO glad I watched this drama!  It had the fun energy of Boys Over Flowers, but was more realistic and grown-up.  If you haven’t gathered yet, I’m a sucker for fun ensembles and the office staff totally fit the bill!  I also live for vacation episodes and this show did not disappoint.  This was my first time to see Park Seo-Joon and Park Min-Young and I will definitely continue to follow their careers.  The mysterious past of the characters slowed the plot and felt a little out of place in my opinion, but I loved the show as a whole and will likely watch it again someday.

Save Me (6/10)

1st watch - This drama was unlike anything I’ve ever seen and left me feeling a little uneasy after every episode.  That’s not to say that it wasn’t good…on the contrary! This was so well acted and had a unique plot.  I started it because of Taecyeon, Woo Do-Hwan, and Lee David, but was absolutely blown away by Seo Ye-Ji’s acting.  My brother developed a huge crush on her, which is what led us to our next drama, It’s Okay to Not Be Okay.

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay (10/10)

1st watch - Hands down the best drama I watched this year!  I don’t often cry when I watch things, but this had me in tears several times. It was such a loving portrayal of people with mental illness and difficult family relations.  It also had quite a bit of mystery, which is always fun. The characters were well written and beautifully portrayed.

She Was Pretty (6/10)

1st watch – Okay, so I tricked my mom into watching this with me because I’ve had a crush on Siwon since my English professor in college showed the class the music video for “Hoot” by Girls’ Generation (so random…ask me about it sometime).  He was THE highlight of this drama for me.  I might be biased, of course, but I loved his character way more than the lead (and don’t get me wrong, I love Park Seo-Joon).  Second lead syndrome aside, I enjoyed the drama and it made me want to work for a fashion magazine!

Just Between Lovers (9/10)

1st watch – Another highlight from this year.  Another thing I enjoy besides fun ensembles is melancholy.  This show is a lot heavier than most drama’s I’ve watched, but it was so good.  It explores survivor’s guilt and how grief doesn’t follow a clean timeline.  Won Jin-Ah and Junho were absolutely lovely as the leads.

The Sound of Your Heart (8/10)

2nd watch – I watched this for the first time back in 2016 before I knew anything about Korean media.  My siblings just found it on Netflix and we decided to watch it together.  This time, we watched it with our mom.  If you haven’t seen it, it’s more skit than continuous storyline, but each episode had me laughing!  I’m glad that I watched it again now that I have so many dramas under my belt.

Hello My Twenties (6.5/10)

1st /2nd watch –  I started this in 2016 but didn’t finish until this year. I am still in love with the first episode, but didn’t like the direction the show ended up going. I think it’s still worth a watch and I’m glad that I eventually finished it.  The girls were written and portrayed well.

Cheese in the Trap (6.5/10)

1st watch - I still haven’t really decided how I feel about this drama.  I liked it, but something felt off about it.  I couldn’t keep track of how characters felt about each other and the end was disappointing.  It was overall fun, though and was my cute introduction to Nam Joo Hyuk!  It also gave me a new song to listen to when I want to feel sad (Je te veux by Erik Satie).

When the Camellia Blooms (7/10)

1st watch – Oh, When the Camellia Blooms, I had such high hopes for you.  I loved the first several episodes and I came around again by the end, but I was not loving the screen time devoted to the Joker plot.  I guess it’s my fault for not thoroughly looking into the story beforehand.  I will say that I am so smitten with Yong-Sik and soft for his relationship with Dongbaek.  

Heirs (6/10)

2nd watch – I watched this alone a few years ago and referenced it so often that I made my mom watch it.  I actually didn’t like it the first time I watched it, but ended up enjoying it this time around.  I was able to keep track of the characters this time, which was a plus! Kim Tan is still kind of a loser and I still have a soft spot in my heart for Young Do, but he’s also a loser.  Surely there are better men out there, Eun-Sang!  

Start Up (8.5/10)

1st watch – I really enjoyed this drama, but I think it helps that I fell for the “right” guy (controversial, I know.  What I mean is that I fell for the one that does end up getting the girl, so I didn’t suffer like I did in “She Was Pretty”).  The Samsan Tech squad was so cute.  My favorite episodes were early on when the plot felt similar to Cyrano de Bergerac and the lead guys weren’t hateful toward one another.  Overall a fun watch!

Goblin (7.5/10)

1st watch – What a show to end 2020 with!  The bromance between the Goblin and Grim Reaper was the highlight for me, but I also really enjoyed Sunny and her relationship with the characters.  I think it’s because I watched TKEM and Cheese first, but I didn’t like Kim Go Eun’s character as much as I should have.  I’m finding that I do enjoy fantasy dramas, so I’ll be watching more of those in the new year.

 Whew!  If you stuck with me to the end, thanks!  I’m always open to drama recommendations.  Happy New Year!

[jeongyunhoed]

A year after the events of Past-Present-Future, Lee Mirae, Choi San, and Jeong Yunho receive a mysterious envelope containing photos and notes about the deaths of several individuals. The deeper they go into the case, they find that the entertainment industry hides a very dark secret. 

Group: ATEEZ Pairing: Yunho/OC Genres: It’s a little bit of: adventure, romance, mystery, crime, fantasy, action. Things to note: It also features mentions of other idols/artists: Junhong (Zelo), Dean, Chanyeol, etc. Superpowers AU if it wasn’t obvious as well. 

T/W: Themes of death, violence, demons, cults, blood, use of weapons and/or firearms, use of drugs (both recreational and medical), implied/referenced assault, implied/referenced suicide

A/N: The main conflict is a reimagining of an actual long-running theory. This is also a remaking of a previous fic I wrote before on Ao3 that will now be under the new super powers au. (if you know, you know). This work is pure fiction and does not bear a direct reflection of the idols in the story. Please let me know if you would like to be included in the tag list. 

Masterlist

One

Lee Mirae and Choi San were seated at the dining table, huddling over the steaming pot of noodles in front of them. Even with the heater on, the freezing winter winds seeped through the windows that night. The television was on, the evening news reporting anything that happened during the day. Aside from the reports of finances and petty crimes, there was the sudden update in the case involving a nightclub owned by a celebrity. 

“You know, the more the police let people like that get away with what they’re doing, the more I’m convinced that it’s all about the money,” San muttered in between bites. 

“When hasn’t it been? Times are hard,” Mirae replied, glancing at the television every now and then while they ate. 

It had already been a year since the events at Kang Tower, where she faced off with the family that played a big part in turning her into what she was. A year since remembering everything about her past, a year since putting it all behind her once and for all while reuniting with the man she loved, Jeong Yunho, who also turned out to be a mutant, an immortal mutant that could teleport in the dark. 

Mirae was a mutant, as was San, who was her half-brother. Both of them essentially had the same abilities, only Mirae’s was much stronger and she was referred to as an omega-level mutant. The two of them had the ability to manipulate energy and were capable of turning objects into explosive projectiles. San only channeled his through his harpoon gun while Mirae did it with lighter objects like playing cards. Although she never played card games much, she knew how to throw it. Both of them were also highly skilled at hand to hand combat, both unarmed and armed, and had an extraordinary healing factor that made them almost-immortal. 

However, that was only a few of Mirae’s capabilities. Her abilities also presented her with one unusual power set, that was being able to trap souls. This manifested when her eyes would turn black and was likely a result from using her powers to the fullest extent. Her powers also resulted in her being able to generate static, that not only made her able to neutralize touch-based powers, but it also gave her a strong psychic shield, making her mind unreadable to psychics. Yunho was an exception as he was what her old colleague Ino called, her soulmate, and would always be connected to her. 

San on the other hand, ran away from home when his mutant powers first manifested. He witnessed Mirae get taken away and interned in the sanitarium when he was younger. Years before reuniting with her, he worked as a mercenary, a highly-paid assassin. San had since put that life behind him when they met again and decided to work at the store after the event at Kang Tower.  

“It shouldn’t be hard for those celebrities that get arrested for those kinds of things. They could do whatever they want and get away with it. They’ve got some balls to be that cocky,” San pointed out. 

“You talk like you don’t have billions stashed in your clothes.” 

“Those are my life savings, I kept 1,000 won every day since I started school,” San argued. 

“And how much of those billions were your cuts from old jobs?” She raised a brow. 

San wrinkled his nose at the comment and went back to eating. Mirae reached over to ruffle his hair, amused at his reaction. “Where’s Yunho?” He suddenly asked. 

“He’s closing the store for tonight. He lost the rock-paper-scissors game with the other employees, so he’s closing,” Mirae replied, pausing to drink water. “Money’s the root of all evil, isn’t it?” She heard more updates on the incident in the nightclub. 

He noticed the way she said it. “You think there’s something more to it? Government cover-ups?” He was curious. 

“There’s always something like that, isn’t it? When a government official messes up, what does the media do? Rather than cover it, they release an entertainment industry-related scoop or scandal, whatever it is,” Mirae explained. “How much of those celebrity relationships were revealed just when executives or high-level government officials were being charged for crimes? Hyuk told me a lot of those were publicity stunts too,” She added. 

San looked intrigued at his sister’s explanation. He wasn’t one for being interested in the private lives of celebrities but even he knew a publicity stunt of a relationship when he saw one. “Eat the rich, kill the parasites,” He managed to say, chuckling. 

“Depends on who the parasites are,” Mirae pointed out. 

They heard a rustling coming from the hall and Yunho appeared. “Honey, I’m home, and good evening to you too Sannie,” He said, sitting down at the table to help himself to a bowl of noodles. 

Jeong Yunho was also a mutant, an immortal mutant who had the ability to teleport. However, his teleportation abilities were very limited as he could only do so in the dark or at night. His powers manifested when he was killed during a mission in Morocco, when he died in Mirae’s arms only to wake up shortly after they had gone and made a long journey back to Korea. Yunho was also interned in the same sanitarium as Mirae, trained with the same fighting abilities and seemed to be the only one who could match up to her with an added advantage of his height. 

“We were just watching the news, another update on that case with the club,” Mirae tilted her head towards the television. The news shifted into a commercial that featured an idol group. Mirae noticed that the group looked familiar, until she saw the face of Lee Midam, her best friend and producer Kwon Hyuk’s cousin. Both Hyuk and Midam were mutants that had psychic abilities. Hyuk was a powerful, omega-level telekinetic that had some telepathic ability, while Midam was a telepath of what could be the worst kind - he could project a person’s worst fears and desires and saw how they may die if they were to die in the near future. “Oh, I see those boys are doing very well. Hyuk told me they’re all overseas now for a concert or something.” 

Yunho sat up upon remembering something. “Oh yeah, I saw this envelope for you, placed on your desk in the back room,” He took out a long, thin, piece of paper and slid it across the table towards her. 

Mirae put her spoon down to tear the envelope open. Out fell several small photos of men and women, including one of a police officer. All the photos looked years old based on how their hair was styled. Another photo was a wedding photo. Behind each of the photos had names and some information. The wedding photo was of Na Youngji and Ji Myungsoo, and it struck her as familiar. Myungsoo was one of the biggest basketball players in the country. Youngji, his wife, was among the top actresses. She paused as she read what else was written. 

Na Youngji - Committed suicide by hanging in 2008 - murder covered up as suicide. 

Ji Myungsoo - Committed suicide by hanging in 2013 - murder covered up as suicide. 

No wonder they were familiar, she thought, and Yunho heard it as he peered over from his seat, as did San, both of whom looked at the wedding photo. Mirae looked at the other photo. It was of Min Junghwa, who played one of the mean girls in a very popular drama. She looked through the rest of the photos, realizing why they were so familiar. 

Min Junghwa - Committed suicide in 2009 - forcibly hanged, murder covered up as suicide.

 Na Jongsuk - Committed suicide in 2010 - murder covered up as suicide - brother of Youngji, carried her portrait during funeral possession. 

Oh Jinho - Committed suicide by hanging - murder covered up as suicide - carried Junghwa’s photo during the funeral, accused of drug possession. 

Mirae stopped at the photo of a police officer and turned it over to look at what was written behind. 

Officer Kim Yujin - apparent suicide in 2015 -  murder covered up as suicide. 

Yunho and San peered through the rest of the photos she slid to the center of the table, careful not to let any soup from the ramen noodles spill on each one. Mirae took out a few pieces of paper that were also included in the envelope. It was a chart linking all the deaths together, including what was currently on the news. The actresses in the photo were all under the same company, and at the very center of it all was one name. 

Madame Seo

“Who sent this to you?” San asked. 

“There’s no name, not even inside,” Mirae shrugged. “What could this mean?” 

“I think you know what it means,” San was trying to contain his excitement at the realization. 

“It’s been a while since we did something like this,” Yunho eyed her. “Whoever sent this to you must have known what you did before, with the cult? And the Seoul attack?” He said. 

“And probably the Kang mob too,” San added. 

Mirae looked into the envelope. There was another folded piece of paper and a business card of a luxury fashion brand called Montague. Unfolding the paper, she saw it was a list of five people, all of whom were prominent CEOs, one of which was a CEO of an entertainment agency, Yang Ent. 

“All of these men, Junghwa was supposed to sue before she died. All the victims were found with piercings on their necks and wrists,” was written next to the list of names. 

She handed the note over to the males. San and Yunho gaped at the note. “Now I’m even more convinced we have to solve this,” San nodded. “But where do we even start?” 

“We could start with these five guys, but then there’s this too,” Mirae held up the business card and stopped when she saw another note at the back. “I’m thinking we start at this place first, it’s Madame Seo’s fashion brand. Maybe this is a front or something.” 

“Maybe,” Yunho nodded. “I don’t think we have a lot of time, but whoever’s doing the killing probably believes they’re vampires or something because why would the victims have holes in their necks and wrists?” He read the descriptions again. 

“Serial killers do tend to have certain preferences,” Mirae pointed out. “It’s one of the things I had to read in university,” She mumbled. 

“You know, since you’re taking that up in university, this could make for field work,” San said, making the two of them stare at him. “What? I’m just saying, you won’t only solve a long-running problem in the entertainment business, but you’d also have some firsthand experience.” 

“So do you, and especially you” She eyed him and then Yunho. Mirae sighed. “Well, I guess we could check this out. Whoever brought this to our attention will probably be glad we’re saying yes to solving this.” 

San cheered in his seat and went back to eating, only to sit back and cringe. “Oh, my noodles have gone soggy.” 

~ 

Mirae was staring at the notes behind the photos and the charts and the list later that night at her study desk by her bed. Her laptop was open and she needed to finish her dissertation. Yunho turned the television in the bedroom off and turned to face her. “You should probably come over here and rest, you’ve had a long day, we’ve had a long day,” He said, rolling over to her side. 

“I will, you get some sleep,” She said, eyeing him with a small smile on her face. 

“I won’t unless you do,” He said. “Also, you forget I can read your mind, I really won’t be able to sleep unless you relax.” 

“Since when has that stopped you?” She teased. 

Yunho sat up. “Since I started being able to read your mind, which was almost right away when you remembered who I was,” A fond smile crept up on his face. 

“You really have to remind me?” Mirae grinned. 

“Mhmm, because it’s how you know we’re stuck together for life” Yunho was beaming. “In a way, you could say, we’ll always have some kind of connection no matter what happens.” 

“We do, yeah,” She nodded. Mirae closed her laptop and kept the photos and the pieces of paper laid out on her desk. “You’re excited about doing something like this again, aren’t you?” She got up and climbed into bed, Yunho rolling back to his side with an arm outstretched to hold her. 

“Yeah, it’s been a while, I’m starting to miss beating bad guys up and I’m getting tired of having to play bouncer whenever Hyuk’s group’s fansigns are at the store,” He teased.

“Are you still sure you want to work at the store? You could work somewhere else-” She was cut off when he kissed her quiet. 

“I’ve been away from you for so long, it took years for us to be together again, I don’t want to be away from you anymore,” Yunho rested his forehead on hers. 

“I don’t know, I guess I was thinking you never got to do what you’ve always wanted to do, you know?” She said. “Not that I know what you’ve always wanted to be when you grow up, but, don’t you have dreams to do something you’ve always wanted to do?” 

“My father wanted me to be a dentist, I think,” Yunho tried to remember. “But I didn’t want it, I rebelled, but he thought that me not wanting to do what he wanted me to do was enough to intern me.” 

Mirae frowned and ran her fingers through his hair. “He was that strict, wasn’t he?” 

“Very,” Yunho chuckled. “He wanted things his way, not even my mother could argue, not even my brother, and he was the favorite. But no, my father always wanted things to be done his way. You can imagine how suffocating that was.” 

“I can,” She hummed in response. “My birth parents were the same way, they liked my sister more than me. If not my sister, they also liked San more than me. When my powers manifested, well, they called the sanitarium. My father ordered them to put me through electroshock therapy, and the rest is history.” 

“We’re really not that different after all,” Yunho smiled, nodding knowingly of the tale. 

“No, I guess not.” 

“Now, you’re a lot more tired than I am, you should sleep, we’ve got some snooping to do tomorrow,” Yunho kissed her cheek. 

“I guess you’re right,” Mirae watched him close his eyes. “It’s always going to be you and me.” 

“You’re reading my mind now, aren’t you?” 

“Somehow I don’t have to, I can tell when you’re so assured,” She was grinning. 

~ 

The three of them spent the entire morning piecing everything that was in the envelope together. It went to the extent that both Mirae and San drew up a diagram on a piece of paper noting each connection everyone had to Madame Seo to Yunho’s amusement. It made him see how they were related to each other. “There wasn’t any name on the envelope either,” He said, peering over at the piece of paper that contained the notes and the photos. “Whoever sent this also seems certain we’ll solve this and get this Madame Seo arrested with the proper evidence to do it.” 

“That, or wants her dead, after everything she’s done,” Mirae said. “She was the reason why Ji Myungsoo divorced Na Youngji. He left Youngji for her, and then they divorced eventually.” 

“Oh, and these actresses aren’t the only victims apparently,” San looked over at what he wrote. “They all came from one entertainment agency, and a few singers were also victims of this whole scheme. You won’t even believe where they all came from,” He reached over for his phone and showed them what he found. 

“Kang Entertainment,” Mirae and Yunho read. “...That better not be what I think it is.” 

“Yeah, I can’t even believe that guy. Is every Kang company in this country under the Kang Organization?” San was unable to hide the annoyance in his tone. 

“Well he is one of the richest guys, it wouldn’t be surprising if Kang Entertainment was a subsidiary business for the Kang Organization,” Mirae shrugged. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he practically owns nearly the whole capital either.” 

“He’s got a lot of answering to do then,” Yunho pursed his lips. “And then I thought he was really coming around, he gets involved in this mess.” 

“Well, when we first met him, it wasn’t in the best of situations either. We found out he killed the CEO of Park Enterprises,” Mirae recalled. “Did the dirty work of the CEO’s daughter. She’s in maximum security now.” 

“I remember that well,” A small smile crept up on San’s face. “We just found each other again when someone called you,” He turned to his sister. “It was something out of a murder mystery story.” 

“Oh yeah, I remember that. One of the first times I saw you, but you didn’t see me then,” Yunho eyed her. 

“So, I think we can cover more ground if we split up today,” She suggested. “There’s Kang Entertainment, Montague, and… Yeosang. San, you can pass as a model, you should probably check out the store. Yunho, you’re the only one who can get through to Yeosang without really fearing death so you should pay him a visit. I’ll go to Kang Entertainment.” 

“As long as we interrogate those five men in the list together,” San pointed out. “We’re surprisingly efficient now.” 

“We’ve always been, and it’s a lot easier with you two anyway,” She chuckled. “We meet at Viva Polo tonight for dinner and to talk about what we’ve found out for today. Let’s hope we get answers.” 

The doorbell suddenly rang, making them look at the hall. “Who could that be?” San strode over to the monitor to see who it was. “Oh it’s Junhong, and Mirae, I think you know who else is standing outside,” He gestured to the screen. 

Yunho and Mirae approached the monitor and upon seeing who else was with Junhong, they exchanged looks. “Hongjoong?!” He was stunned. 

“I know. Well, I guess we may as well let them inside. Ino oppa’s probably foreseen or seen this happening, whichever one it was,” She rushed to the door when the doorbell rang again. Yunho and San crept by the hall, peeking over. “Coming!” 

As soon as Mirae opened the door, Junhong was smiling, while Hongjoong looked a little reluctant but certain of his resolve in being here. “Ino hyung told us to come here, said you needed help, he saw this situation,” The taller of the two said upon taking his shoes off. 

“It’s been a while, Hongjoong,” She said to the shorter one of the two. His hair was now dyed a very light brown and his fashion sense was now a stark contrast to the all-black garb and the sanitarium uniforms from the past. 

“Yeah, a year since we last met,” He replied with a small smile, following her and Junhong down the hall, where he quickly greeted Yunho and San. “Yunho, it’s been a while too. I’m...glad you’re not dead after all.” 

“And I probably won’t die anymore either,” Yunho replied. 

“What kind of help did Ino oppa say you two would bring…?” Mirae asked this time. 

“I’m glad you asked. Well, for starters, Hongjoong is your reinforcement. Apparently, the Kang family did more than just give your old colleagues some improvements, in fact it was an understatement as I’ve observed over the last six months,” Junhong said. 

“What do you mean? Like they gave him powers or something?” San tilted his head in confusion. 

“Yes and no. You see, the chips in the brains were one thing that I took out, and the audio trigger Ino hyung took out. Hongjoong’s now incredibly impervious to pain, practically built like a zombie, or a wall, whatever you prefer,” Junhong explained. “He still knows what you know in terms of combat though, one more person that could match up to you,” He eyed her. “But aside from that, he’s also gotten so much faster.” 

“Wait a minute, I stabbed you with your blade thing back in Sky Sushi, does that mean you heal too?” Mirae raised a brow. 

“Kind of yeah, just not the way you heal,” Hongjoong tugged on his shirt a little to reveal the scar of the stab wound on his chest. San and Yunho cringed. 

“Well, if it helps, at least you fight well? You won’t have a lot of scars to worry about either way,” She assured him. 

“Which also leads me to the other things,” Junhong opened the black bag he was holding. “I was tinkering in my lab again, and I thought I’d bring some things you should try out while you’re out snooping on whoever this Madame Seo is,” He handed her a roll of what looked like small, black poker chips. 

“What’s this?” 

“Hongjoong told me about some of the gadgets you all once had back in those missions of yours, and I was so intrigued that I built my own. I guess you know how to use them?” 

Mirae glanced at Hongjoong, whose face was expressionless, as if also intrigued by what the taller had built. Yunho nodded, remembering what he meant. “Oh, these. When I whistle these explode,” She looked down at the chips again, feeling the cool, marble-like texture of each one under her fingertips. 

 “Bingo,” Junhong grinned. “Here are more communicators. The ones I had you test before went through some improvements. I’ll be a call away if you need anything. Last but not the least, here,” He brought out a small wooden box and handed it over to Yunho. 

Yunho opened the box, revealing a set of test tubes and a few bottles of some solution. “A chemistry set?” 

“More or less, for sudden findings, you never know what needs to be collected,” Junhong shrugged. “It was Ino hyung’s idea to give you that,” He added right away. 

“I’m not surprised one bit,” Mirae shook her head. “But to make sure, we’ll go ahead and bring the samples to you anyway.” 

“That might probably be the best idea,” Junhong nodded, feeling assured by her words. “So, what were you three planning to do today again?” 

“We were thinking of splitting up in our investigation today. San will be going to Madame Seo’s fashion label, Yunho will be paying Yeosang a visit to ask him what he knows, and I will be going to Kang Entertainment. All the actresses that were killed came from that one company, which might have been owned by Yeosang’s company too,” Mirae explained. 

“We’ll interrogate the five guys in that list Min Junghwa left before she died together,” Yunho finished. “Hopefully tonight but we can’t be sure.” 

“Well, you will cover more ground in one day that way,” Junhong nodded. 

“Hongjoong, you might want to go with San to the fashion label, but we’ll explain on the way to where we need to go,” Mirae suggested. 

“Got it.” 

“Everyone armed and ready?” Mirae glanced at the two other males. 

San lifted his coat to reveal his harpoon fitted into a holster and the extra blades and the ropes carefully inserted in other parts of the belt. Yunho did the same, revealing the holsters in his jeans that had his trusty sai. To their surprise, Hongjoong lifted up the sleeves of his jacket, revealing the blades that were activated by the fingerless gloves he was wearing. Junhong beamed with pride at his invention being brandished. 

“So, I guess this means we’re on,” Mirae said.

[365days365movies]

May 4, 2021: The Host (2006) (Recap)

NO NOT THAT ONE

Stephanie Meyer goddamn sucks. I realize that I’m not exactly the first person to say that, but she’s terrible. Not only is she not a good writer, but she also has some very disparaging views about science fiction and its fans, which led her to make her own science fiction book and film. ANd yeah...it’s terrible! No surprise there.

So, no, not the 2013 critical and commercial flop known as The Host. No, this post is about 2006′s The Host, AKA Gwoemul, AKA 괴물. I haven’t ventured to far into the world of Korean cinema, and with this film, my repertoire includes only the films of director Bong Joon-Ho. And if that name sounds familiar...it should.

Bong Joon-ho DESERVEDLY made headlines last year when his film became the first non-English language film to win for Best Picture, and the first time Asian writers won for best screenplay! His Oscar speech in accepting best director is genuinely one of the best and most sincere speeches I’ve ever heard from a director, and I love the dude.

Oh, and if you’re wondering which film it was, then, like me, you also really need to watch Parasite. And because I’m terrified of spoilers, I’m not gonna look for GIFs of that movie. Instead, I’ll put in a GIF of one of my favorite sci-fi films, and the only other Bong Joon-ho film I’ve seen.

God, I love Snowpiercer. And if this is anything like that, I’m probably going to love this movie. Now, I don’t really know much about this film, other than the fact that it’s a monster film. And if there’s any science-fiction subgenre more iconic than monster films, I don’t know it. Well...OK, aliens, robots, and more, but monster films are still a big part of the genre. But where does that begin? Is it here?

Definitely an argument you can make, since Frankenstein’s Monster is a creation of science gone wrong, from the book to the movie. Fun fact, Mary Shelley based it on a real-world experiment by Italian physiologist Giovanni Aldini, who used a corpse to illustrate the connection between electricity and muscles. Neat, huh? So, yeah, that’s a solid launching point.

But that’s more of a horror story. What about something a little more monster-y? Well, from the UK to Japan we go!

OHHHHHH YEAH, THAT’S THE GOOD STUFF

Toho’s 1954 film Gojira is one of the most classic monster films ever made, and singlehandedly launched the kaiju genre in Japan. And it’s really well-known that it was made as a response to post-World War II tensions about nuclear warfare. Which, in Japan, is kind of understandable, no? But nothing demonstrated the destructive power of science more than that moment in history. 

So, Godzilla arrives. And the US also makes more monster movies, most of which take place in contemporary settings, making many of them lo-fi sci-fi. Now, some dipped into horror or fantasy, but the science fiction roots were there. Which eventually would bring us full circle to films where monsters were made and go loose. You know, like this:

It’s a franchise that defines the ‘90s, and lab-grown monster movies exploded around that time as well. At the same time, environmental concerns REALLY started to build by this point, and those concerns leaked profusely into film all over the world. And by the time we get to 2006...well, let’s get into it, huh?

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap

In a mortuary, a U.S. military doctor (Scott Wilson) instructs his assistant (Brian Lee) to dump bottles of formaldehyde down the drain of the facility, which goes directly into the Han River. The assistant protests, but the doctor insists, despite the risk of polluting the river. AAAAAmericans.

In the river about two years later, two fisherman see something strange looking in the river. Then, four years later, in 2006, a suicidal man is about to jump into the river, when he sees something dark in the water below.

Later that year, we meet Park Hee-bong (Byun Hee-Bong) and his son Park Gang-du (Song Kang-ho), who run a food truck and snack bar near the river. Gang-du’s not exactly a hard worker, to his father’s chagrin. His daughter, Hyun-seo (Go Ah-sung), is a student who comes home from school, where her drunken uncle Nam-il (Park Hae-il) comes to her chagrin. She and her father watch TV, where his sister Nam-joo (Bar Doona) can be seen competing in archery.

As he’s bringing food out to customers, he joins them in observing something strange and massive hanging off of the bridge. And at this point, I would be running the fuck away. Literally, the news just said that there was a body found with the legs missing, and these people are throing cans at it after it plunges into the water. One girl asks if it’s a dolphin. Mother...HAVE YOU SEEN A DOLPHIN BEFORE?

NOT THIS

Yeah, this thing just comes bounding along the shore, slapping people into the water with its tail, and batting aside others. Doesn’t look like its actively killing anybody yet, but it’s definitely hurting people at least. That is, until it goes into a trailer where a bunch of people have gathered, and appears to eat a bunch of them. So, yeah, dangerous.

Gang-du, to his infinite credit, actually attempts to confront and hurt the creature, with the help of Donald White (David Joseph Anselmo). And it works, but at the cost of the creature aggro-ing onto him. Back at the snack truck, his sister’s lost the title, much to the chagrin of Gang-du’s daughter and father. She goes outside in frustration, only to be thrown into the midst of the chaos with her dad. He grabs a girls hand in the chaos, only to find that it’s a different child entirely. And...unfortunately...

The creature grabs her with its tail, and leaps back into the river, disappearing. Fuck. Poor Hyun-seo, and poor Gang-du. Gang-du IMMEDIATELY goes to get her back, jumping into the river, but the creature takes her across to an island, out of reach. That night, an impromptu funeral is held for the victims, at which Hyun-seo is being honored as well. There, both Gang-du’s sister and brother also attend, and all four of the break down dramatically and publicly.

Nam-il blames his brother for letting her die, which is unfair, but understandable. The family eventually calms down and discusses the circumstances of Hyun-Seo’s birth and death, both of which were accidental. As they do, a man in a protective suit comes out, and asks who was at the river incident. Nam-il protests this, and asks what’s going on. The man doesn’t explain, and the room is instead gassed, as everyone is ushered towards the entrance.

In the process, Gang-du (stupidly) reveals that he was hit by some blood splatter. He’s immediately stuffed in a bag and kidnapped by the authorities. Meanwhile, the news reveals that the creature is carrying a virus, and anyone who has been in contact with it has been infected. Because of this, the entire family is taken to a quarantine hospital, which oddly has very few actual quarantine procedures in place. And additionally, Gang-du is feeling a bit itchy.

That night, in the hospital, Gang-du gets a call on his cell phone! It’s Hyun-seo! She’s alive! And she’s trapped, in a sewer somewhere near the river. Meanwhile, a group of men in protectve suits are outside patrolling the river. One man finds money on the side of the road, and goes to pick it up, only for the men to be attacked by the creature. But it’s then that we discover that the creature is not killing or eating people, but simply taking them own to its lair. Also in said lair is Hyun-seo, trapped and with a now dead phone.

The next day, the family tries to get an officer to look into the call, only for the officer to be, frankly, an absolute piece of shit to this grieving family. Gang-du tries to explain, and his explanation is ENTIRELY RATIONAL, but the officer and doctors are absolutely terrible about it.

Because nobody’s listening, the family manages to escape from the hospital in order to try and save Hyun-Seo, and they hop into a van, taking it and running. This is a good place to mention that, despite this being a monster movie, it's also...weirly funny sometimes. Like, that whole scene is pretty great. After bartering with a group of gangsters for supplies (and after Hee-bong basically gives away all of his credit cards), the group manages to get a map and a new car. But they pretty quickly get stopped at a checkpoint into the city, and are nearly caught, but manage to escape and get to the riverfront. Once there, they begin searching the sewers to find Hyun-seo. And I gotta say; this may be an extremely dysfunctional family, but they’re a devoted family all the same.

Of course, that eventually gives way to arguments within the sewer itself, but that’s interrupted by a noise heard somewhere around them. They fire at it, using weapons obtained from the gangster but conclude that it was nothing. What it actually is is two brothers, older Se-jin (Lee Jae-eung) and younger Se-joo (Lee Dong-ho), homeless kids who are foraging the sewers in the abandoned city. But, of course, they eventually run into the creature, which attacks them. Meanwhile, an asleep Hyun-Seo dreams of dinner with her family, only to be woken up by the arrival of the creature, who deposits the bodies of the two boys in the sewer with her. Se-joo has survived, but Se-jin hasn’t, sadly.

Meanwhile, the rest of the family is gathered at their snack bar for the night, and prepares to set out or the morning. The to younger siblings appear to not give a single shit about Gang-du, but Hee-bong attempts to set them straight, talking about how he blames himself for the way Gang-du is now. However, the two just fall asleep during his speech. Poor Hee-bong. Also, he can apparently identify Gang-du’s health condition based on his farts because they spend so much time together, it’s dumb, and funny.

Also, poor the rest of them, because Gang-du wakes up to see the creature just waiting outside, watching them. Hee-bong fires at it, but the creature attacks and knocks over the bar. However, Hee-bong manages to hit it directly in the head, knocking it off, but not killing it. The family goes out to finish the job, but it runs away before they can kill it. They run after it, and are almost completely out of bullets. Hee-bong volunteers to go after it himself, but in the process...

Hee-bong doesn’t make it. The creature kills him, and the commotion attracts the military to their location. Gang-du is again captured, while Nam-il and Nam-joo escape, only to later be separated regardless. Meanwhile, the virus kills Donald White, the sergeant from earlier, and it continues to spread across Korea. To kill the creature, the government plans to release a chemical into the river called Agent Yellow, which feels...controversial.

Nam-il meats a colleague, “Fat Guevara” (Yam Pil-sung), who is easily able to provide a location for Hyun-seo using the number, which the cop earlier insisted was nearly impossible to do. Plus, both the sergeant and Gang-du encountered the creature together, and he seems to be just fine. Which probably means that something very wrong is happening now. Even worse, though, is the fact that Guevara’s appeared to trap Nam-il, as a massive reward is sought for his arrest. A gang of people surround hi, with the plan to capture him, but he VERY cleverly escapes by causing an electrical short, and AFTER having found Hyun-seo’s location! Nice, man! He takes off, now knowing exactly where his niece is.

Nam-joo, meanwhile, is literally living inside of the snack bar, and she gets a text from Nam-il with her location. He tags out, and she tags in, running to the location where the call came from. But she immediately runs into the creature, which knocks her down and unconscious. She manages to call Gang-du, who is currently about to be sedated. Now knowing where his daughter is, he tries to escape, only to be tackled by the doctors. He tells them where she is, but they don’t appear to listen. More importantly, the anesthetic doesn’t appear to work, much to the confusion of the doctors. Something is verrrrrrrry wrong here.

An American doctor (Paul Lazar) comes, and asks what’s wrong, and he tells him exactly what’s wrong. However, despite his words SEEMING to be heard, they once again call him crazy and delusional, and decide to give him a lobotomy to isolate the virus once and for all, like FUCKING ASSHOLES. Turns out that the virus? Yeah, it doesn’t exist whatsoever! It doesn’t exist even a little bit! Which means that this entire thing is a wild goddamn goose chase for a virus that DOESN’T FUCKING EXIST!!!

And the best thing is that Gang-du, despite not actually knowing English, still understands the words “no virus”, and know he fucking knows! However, because he knows, they now have to give him a lobotomy. Fuck me, man. Panicking, he cries for them to stop, and cries for his daughter, who’s still alive in the sewer.

Speaking of, Hyun-seo and Se-joo are bonding in the sewer, as they work to make a rope from things they find there. But in the process, they’re attacked by the creature, who know is actively eating the bodies, and presumably other people. Whoof. They manage to escape, but barely.

Back with Gang-du, who’s just gone through the lobotomy, which...hasn’t worked at all. Holy SHIT. Not sure what the hel is UP with this dude, but that’s a question in and of itself. He escapes by taking a nurse hostage, threatening them with a syringe of his blood, full of a virus that doesn’t exist!

Nam-il wakes up at the same time, not accompanied by a homeless man (Yoon Je-moon), who agrees to take him to the bridge to find Hyun-seo. In the sewer, the two kids have survived, and the creature appears to be asleep. Like a GODDAMN BOSS, she runs up the creatures back, and jumps onto a rope that she had made, and that was hanging far out of her reach. Unfortunately...the creature catches her with its tail. Fuck. It sets her down, and...lets her go? But as soon as she runs, it attacks bother her and Se-joo.

Just then, Gang-du gets to the lair, and uses the rope to climb down. Below him is a pile of bones, and no kids to be seen. The creature goes by, and Hyun-seo’s hand is dangling out of its mouth. And once again by coincidence, that’s when Nam-joo wakes up and reunites with her brother. The creature runs to the waterfront, only to be greeted by...a crowd? They’re gathered there to protest the release of the dangerous chemical into the river.

It all collides at once. The creature swims towards the crowd, Gang-du runs towards the creature, Agent Yellow is released over them both, causing the creature to faint. Gan-du runs up and grabs the bodies of his daughter and See-joo from its mouth, apparently too fucking late. Shit, man. This would’ve been avoided if they just HELPED him. Fuck. He carries her body away as more chemical is released onto the flailing creature, and the chemical causes everyone else in the area to violently hemorrhage as well. Meanwhile, Nam-il and Nam-joo arrive to see their deceased niece, grieving all over again. It’s...fuck, man, it sucks.

And Gang-du is fucking PISSED NOW. He grabs a street sign and attacks the injured creature, fueled by pure rage. Nam-il joins in with Molotov cocktails as it runs away. The homeless man douses it with gasoline, and that makes it easier for Nam-il to set it on fire...until he drops the bottle. And then, Nam-joo uses it to light an arrow on fire, hitting the creature with it, and setting it ablaze. It runs to the water, only for Gang-du to stab it through the head with the street sign, finally killing it in revenge for his father and his daughter. Fucking bad-ASS. And also quite tragic, given the circumstances.

And despite the tragedy, there is one happy circumstance: Se-joo lives! In fact, Hyun-seo died saving his life, like the real goddamn hero of this story that she is. Fuck. That’s terrible, but I’m happy that her sacrifice wasn’t in vain. From here, we fast-forward to the winter, where a clean-shaven and well-kept Gang-du is is now caring for Se-joo. The news is on in the background, but the two ignore it, happily eating together after the ordeal they’ve been through.

Whoof. That’s The Host, or Gwoemul! And yeah, that’s one hell of a movie, I tell you what. For a monster movie, it’s quite dramatic, and they don’t try to humanize the monster AT ALL. And honestly, I really like it! A Pyrrhic victory at the end, but nothing wrong with that! I’ll elaorate a bit in the review! See you there!

[gautierprotectionsquad]

Comparing Fight For My Way and Parasite (2019) themes and messages.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen the kdrama Fight For My Way but I’m feeling big brained right now so I’m going to write this anyway. Have you seen the movie Parasite? It’s okay if you haven’t. I just now watched it in February 2021 and that’s why I’m writing this now. I’m a big fan of kdramas (though it’s been a while since I watched one sssshhhh) and I was very interested in seeing this film when I first saw trailers for it. But I didn’t end up watching it till 2021. Spoilers for Parasite and Fight for my way.

Within the first 10 minutes or so, I yelled, out loud “Oh my God! No Fucking Way” because despite being a fan of kdramas, I did not go into this film expecting to see any actors I was familiar with. That’s too much of a coincidence in my mind. Why would I see actors I know from some romantic comedy in a movie like Parasite? Yet here he was, my second favorite Korean actor, Park Seo Jung playing the character Min. Now Min is only there for a few minutes but he is one of the most important characters in this movie. He’s Kevin’s college friend that gives him the rock and the job at the Park’s house. I checked the casting list just to be double sure and to see if there was anyone else in this film I might know, now realizing that it was a possibility. This is where Choi Woo-sik comes to play. I didn’t recognize him because in Fight For My Way, he wears thick glasses but Kevin was also an actor I knew. Both Choi Woo-sik and Park Seo Jung played in the tv series Fight For My Way.

Now that I’ve explained the obvious things that Parasite and Fight For My Way have in common, it’s time to get into the less obvious things. The messaging and the themes explored. In order for me to do this, I have to explain the general plot.

Fight For My Way focuses on four childhood friends in their late twenties as they struggle with their work and love life. Choi Ae-ra, our main female protagonist, has always wanted to be an announcer. She was in love with the mic and she gleefully grabs at any opportunity to have a mic in her hands. But getting a job as an announcer is difficult and competitive especially because she is underqualified. She now works at a department store. Ko Dong-man, played by Park Seo Jung, is the main male protagonist. His dream was to be a kick boxer but when his mom(?) got sick, he chose to purposefully lose his match for money so he could pay for his parent’s treatment. He now works in pest control. Baek Seol-hee’s life revolves around her boyfriend of six years and she longs to be a mother. She hates her job at the food network where her boyfriend, Kim Joo-man, is the boss. Kim Joo-man has his dream job and dream girl but he doesn’t make enough money to be able to afford a house. He wants to buy a house before he can finally ask Seo to be his wife.

Parasite (2019) focuses on two families, one poor and one rich. When Kevin is given a job to work for the Parks, he conjures up a scheme to get the rest of his family a job working for them as well so they can make more money. In the process, they manipulate and take advantage of the rich clueless family and get other class workers fired so they can steal their positions.

Parasite is bloodier and more negative than Fight For My Way but both discuss issues of class, how difficult it is to make it in this world, and end on a hopeful note.

Let’s talk about Choi Woo-sik (or what I remember of his character from Fight For My Way plus what I can look up). Woo-sik plays a rich asshole and temporary boyfriend for Ae-Re. He “falls in love at first sight” with Ae-re but it is later revealed he had a fiance and planned on her being his side chick while he was married. He is shown to be heavily jealous of Dong-man and says he hates that Dong-man has nothing but still manages to be so hopeful and happy.

Now I feel like because it’s 1 am and I’m going solely off my memory here that from this point on, I’m kinda bullshitting my point but I can’t seem to get myself to lay down and stop typing and my eyes refuse to close. Am I blinking? Doesn’t feel like it.

So Fight For My Way is about dream jobs and fighting to try to make it because living your entire life doing the wrong job can kill your spirit and make your life suck. It’s also about hope and how these characters manage to get the jobs that they desired or close to it because they sought opportunity and found happiness in the little things. Ae-Re, when working at the department store even though it’s a job she hates, still finds a way to make herself happy while working there like taking over announcing the latest sales and those “spill on aisle 4” type of announcements. She ends up getting fired though. Dong-man, hating his job quits to pursue his dreams again. I don’t exactly remember what happened that made him decide to quit his job so oof I guess. Like the very first scene we see of the present day Dong-man is of Dong-man on a date where he brags about having his own car only to reveal that it’s a pesticide van that makes his date run away. Instantly showing us class disparity even in a light hearted way. The story’s happy ending is that Seo quits her job, temporarily breaks up with her boyfriend and makes money as a blogger instead. Ae-re gets a job introducing the fighters at the beginning of a kick-boxing match. And Dong-man gets to be a successful kick boxer again after defeating a powerful player.

Min is visually shown as a literal beacon of light in the movie parasite when he first enters the scene. He gives Kevin opportunity and hope. At first, the family is sort of grateful for what little they have while trying to work for a better life. As the movie progresses, they go farther down the con artist rabbit hole until the rain floods their house and Kevin sees the rock Min gave him and remembers his dreams of being successful. Before the reveal about the previous housewife, he had plans on marrying the daughter because he genuinely liked her. His family brings up that that would make the house theirs, a gold digger and con man way of seeing it. After they run away from the Parks’ house towards their own, he asks what Min would do in their situation. He looks down at the party happening below and thinks he doesn’t even look like he belongs in their world but then wakes up in the hospital and realizes that the doctor doesn’t look like a doctor or the detective like a detective. The movie ends with him telling his father in a letter about his plan to earn his way to the top so he can eventually buy the Park’s old house. Light shines through the window once again.

Obviously Parasite is a lot “smarter” of a story as it does a better job of acknowledging the systems that these problems stem from but both stories have a positive outlook on hope and hard work while acknowledging your financial situation is not your fault and that the world can be hard, cruel and unfair.

[scrapimmortal]

i was tagged by my dearest @uenaina and @pekkalastrega list 10 favourite characters from 10 different things here we go

pippin from lord of the rings (books and movies). he was my first favourite character when i was aware what that was

sook hee from the handmaiden. at all times i want to be watching the handmaiden and she is at least half the reason why

sam vimes from terry pratchett’s discworld series. copy+paste ina’s answer why

daniela velazquez from sense8 (all ladies really, no offence to the lads)

ki jung from parasite. still my favourite movie at the moment and i adore her

athos from bbc the musketeers. i will always have a soft spot

lan wangji from the untamed. do i even need to explain

seo bi from kingdom. if she doesn’t survive this show i will be very angry

parker from leverage. i <3 her

yennefer of vengerberg from the witcher. as far as i’m concerned she can and should and must have everything

i am tagging @b1a4p, @sera-chyeah and @itspixibot (you don’t have to do it unless you feel like it)

[rahul1277kumar]

Unlocking the Potential of Parasite SEO: A Beginner's Guide

In the realm of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Parasite SEO stands out as a potent strategy for enhancing online visibility. But what exactly is Parasite SEO, and how can it be harnessed effectively? In this beginner-friendly guide, we'll delve into the essentials of Parasite SEO strategies, focusing on host site optimization, high-authority link building, piggyback SEO methods, and parasitic link-building techniques, all explained in straightforward terms for easy comprehension.

Demystifying Parasite SEO:

Parasite SEO involves leveraging the authority of established websites to elevate the visibility of your own content on search engine results pages (SERPs). Rather than relying solely on your website's authority, you strategically position your content on high-ranking platforms to capitalize on their credibility and audience reach.

Host Site Optimization:

A crucial aspect of Parasite SEO is optimizing your content to align with the host site's guidelines and audience preferences. This entails crafting content that seamlessly integrates with the existing material on the platform, thereby increasing the likelihood of your content being prominently featured and receiving organic traffic.

High-Authority Link Building:

Central to Parasite SEO success is the acquisition of backlinks from high-authority websites. These backlinks serve as signals of trust to search engines, signaling the relevance and credibility of your content. Ethical link-building practices should be prioritized, focusing on obtaining links from reputable sources within your niche.

Piggyback SEO Methods:

Piggyback SEO strategies involve capitalizing on popular trends, keywords, or topics to amplify your content's visibility. This could entail creating content that resonates with trending hashtags, participating in relevant discussions on social media platforms, or leveraging the popularity of viral content to attract attention to your own material.

Implementing Parasitic Link-Building Techniques:

Parasitic link-building techniques revolve around strategically embedding links to your content within high-traffic pages on authoritative websites. This can be achieved through tactics such as guest blogging, active engagement in forums or discussion boards, or collaborating with influencers to showcase your content to their audience.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, Parasite SEO offers a powerful avenue for boosting your content's visibility and attracting organic traffic. By optimizing your content for host sites, cultivating high-authority backlinks, leveraging piggyback SEO methods, and implementing parasitic link-building techniques, you can effectively harness the potential of Parasite SEO to enhance your online presence.

However, it's essential to approach these strategies ethically and focus on delivering value to both users and search engines. Remember, success in SEO requires patience, consistency, and a commitment to producing high-quality, engaging content that resonates with your target audience.

By embracing Parasite SEO as part of your SEO toolkit and adhering to best practices, you can navigate the intricacies of online visibility with confidence and achieve tangible results for your digital endeavors.