#ilsintro

“fun facts”

stays up late to listen to horror podcasts from around the world. also does late night lives in his room to talk about horror stories and conspiracies in the dark.

usually out of the house at very odd times of the night due to his bad sleeping habits. doesn't run by a particular timezone. so

perpetually tired™

kind of a nerd but like, not the fan type nerds, just really geeky

seems smart...

studied abroad after his freshman year in uni and graduated in the states. ( five years abroad )

went by alex in the states because no one could pronounce his name. aka one of his first friends said "you look like an alex." and his english name was born

wanted to live out the rest of his life in the states, but the job he wanted fell through and he had to return to korea.

arrived after his grandfather's funeral took place and his parents told him to start over by taking over his grandfather's old business — isang wonders

didn't love the idea of returning to ilsang because he's reminded of why he hated his birthname and all the memories of everyone thinking he was a girl before meeting him

lowkey triggered because no one knows he legally changed his name to seongwon years ago so everyone still calls him seongyi

likes gaming from time to time in between his breaks from horror research and whatnot

lives in yeonhwa-gil because he’s in his grandfather’s old home was there. absolutely hates it because it smells like fish like all the time and he also hates eating fish. 

a full grown ass man but can’t sell the house because his parents won’t allow him to. lol

dude is only put together when he wants too otherwise,, things are kind of a mess.

honestly a completely different person than when he was in america because lowkey depressed and not all that optimistic being in ilsang

“random starters”

these can all be adjusted and changed as we go! just ideas to get started! reply with the corresponding number if you’d like me to write a starter based off of one of the prompts below!

it’s 3 fucking am and you keep hearing something meowing in the street but it doesn’t sound like the cats you usually hear. you go to look to see if its an injured cat but you find this nutcase in nothing but a tshirt, shorts and sandals meowing to a dark corner. he tells you the electricity went out in his house and he didn’t want to be alone so he’s trying to find a cat to keep him company outside.

you run into seongyi and think he’s a foreigner because he’s speaking fluent english. commence being convinced he’s not a native until he steps in dogshit and starts swearing up a storm.

it’s getting late and the library is closing and they’re kicking you out. but you notice there’s some guy sitting in the corner that they haven’t mentioned and say you’re with him.... now you’ve both been kicked out and seongyi is kindaa annoyed bec he was like five books deep in research and the librarian yelled at him.

the elders of yeonhwa-gil have organized a neighborhood dinner and both you and seongyi were invited. surprise surprise, they only have fish. fish stew. grilled fish. steamed fish. pan-fried fish. just everything you could think of plus fish. seongyi sees you brought something that ISN’T fish and honestly, you’re his new best friend in that moment.

hi yeonhwa-gil neighbor. the plumbing and electricity both stopped working in my house and for some reason the electrician is not picking up his phone. can i use your bathroom. except i keep coming when it’s super late or super early until you get sick of me and tell me to go to just get a room at haedodi.

born in chengdu, jia is the second youngest child in a family of four kids, a mother, and a father

jia grew up always having to be a version of herself that she didn’t want to be because her mother was narcissistic and manipulative to all of her children. it took jia a while to realize it (aka up until her second year of high school) 

her father was basically just listening to what his wife told him to do and didn’t really have a voice of his own because he believed that she knew what was best for the family 

only her and her little brother know how much of a maniac her mother is

after a successful business deal, her father told the family that they would be moving to south korea. with a new start in a new country, jia took the opportunity to also become a new version of herself by officially deciding to act on her own terms from now on. 

fast forward to university: jia is introduced to her first love during one of the shared classes that they have together. it doesn’t take long for her to realize she has a crush and all of a sudden, the two begin to date. 

with the both of them having rocky relationships with their family, seojun (mentioned bf) proposes to her and she accepts, knowing that if she were to run away from her past life, she’d do it with him 

thus, they elope to the town of ilsang!

jia’s excited to live in ilsang for the first few weeks since moving there but all of a sudden... things get a little fishy (aka the alien gets into her brain) 

jia’s alien is in the process of trying to adjust to jia’s life and brain, thus it hasn’t completely taken over jia’s body. because of that, jia’s brain is literally like an ongoing tug-of-war competition between her own self and her alien where they see who gains complete control of her body versus who clocks out 

jia’s alien’s goal is to make sure that jia is living the perfect life because it wants to live the ideal life that the sitcoms portray. however, this is unfortunate to jia bc she just accepted that she is imperfect and she ran away from being forced to perfection because that’s also what her mother wanted from her 

so basically she’s just back in the situation she ran away from except she’s fully cautious AND there’s nothing she can do about it 

she just lives a rough life and no one is aware of it bc no one sees the little thing in her brain! 

now some little plots!

fellow nurse coworkers with jia! it’d be even funnier if you’re the case file nurse who started getting clumsy bc u both have aliens in ur brain 

anyone who frequents the clinic and witnesses jia’s perfect work ethic and always congratulate her on it not even knowing that half of it was just the alien taking her credit

u see jia wandering around in a grocery store and she doesn’t seem to be there for a goal. in fact, she does something a bit out of character: wander around the grocery store. because the real xu jia knows what she’s looking for. 

you think that jia is acting a little too wonderful and you begin to suspect something. and while the real xu jia is ecstatic that you noticed something, it’s the alien who is assuring you that everything is fine and making sure that you don’t think otherwise. 

the real xu jia hates medical dramas because of how inaccurate they are. but all of a sudden, you see jia at the local diner looking absolutely hooked on reruns of hospital playlist (side note: mun has not watched hospital playlist) 

you’re busy wanting to know more about jia’s life because she’s just moved in a few months ago with her fiance! you wanna know everything about her life but fail to recognize that she herself doesn’t seem to know what’s going on in her own life either besides the fact that she works at a clinic and lives with some weirdo who is constantly on his computer and tries to kiss her all the time. 

you run into a gloomier jia and it surprises you seeing her look so down when she’s usually sporting a smile on her face at her workplace and out in public.... what you don’t realize is that you’ve been tricked by the other her and this is the rare time where you see the real her. and she’s distressed because of this situation, but it’s not like she can tell you about it because she doesn’t understand what’s going on with her herself! 

you see jia looking as happy as if nothing is wrong with her life... which is odd... because just the other day, you saw her look completely miserable. how is she able to move on from... whatever was worrying her so easily? 

gemini sun / aquarius moon / scorpio rising

think eddie munson from stranger things and john bender from the breakfast club! if i had to sum him up into a song, it’ll be teenage dirtbag by wheatus!

off the bat i’m going to disclose that he’s got that strong avoidant attachment, so that’s pretty much going to be the undertone of all his interactions! he gets really uncomfortable with vulnerability and closeness and the most conversation you’re going to get out of him is when he’s rambling about whatever conspiracy theory he’s investigating next! if you’re really close to him, he’ll even show you his conspiracy wall 🤩

as for his backstory: his parents were high school sweethearts! parents are from very different backgrounds—dad is from a family of fishermen and mom is from some super christian upper middle class family, so when they found out they were pregnant with him a few years out of high school, they were forced into a shotgun wedding. didn’t go well! they found out the hard way that living together with adult responsibilities + a child is very different from being recklessly in love as teens, so towards the end of their seven-year marriage, they really hated each other’s guts

when minho’s seven-ish, dad files for a divorce. there’s a custody battle and in the end mom gets him for weekdays, dad gets him for weekends

everything seems to have worked itself out until his mom tells him she’s getting married to some pastor from church! they play happy family and start popping out minho’s half-siblings, and minho’s kind of shrugged off to his dad cause he doesn’t really fit into their pretty picture. no big deal, he’s always liked his dad more anyway

until a year later when dad falls for a high-strung woman who’s weirdly jealous of his past and doesn’t like the idea of minho existing, so now he’s being shrugged off to his mom and their parents get into huge arguments about who’s taking minho for the week

throughout all of this, minho starts to get the idea that his parents were somehow abducted and replaced by aliens. it’s the only thing that made any logical sense to him, because they used to fight to have him and now they’re being really cold and distant, and a kid like him on the dark web reading reddit posts about people being possessed by aliens makes his brain go whirr

also starts to get the idea that he has to save his parents. he reads on reddit that aliens cannot come into too much contact with water, so he empties a bucket of water on his mom and gets the beating of his life. he hears from other conspiracy forums that aliens need to bask in the full moon to recharge, so he’s tracking moon phases and camping outside his father’s door. hears that aliens can’t cross the town lines, so he runs off knowing that his father would chase after him and cross the town line. basically a menace to society

as he grows older, he sort of gives up on his parents but his love for conspiracy theories never fades. even though he never really tests his parents anymore because none of them have worked ( because.... some of them are just really dumb and also his parents are not aliens ) he likes to think that there’s some explanation for why they sort of... ditched him

meanwhile in school, he was just a huge emo kid and because he’s so obsessed with his conspiracy theories, he pretty much got bullied for most of his schooling years! his teachers don’t really like him either cause he’s not a stellar student, is constantly sleeping in class and never hands in his homework

somehow, he manages to make it into a bachelor of science, majoring in physics in daeseong uni. doesn’t last long because he’s failing too many units and drops out in his second year, but throughout his college years, he managed to snag a part time job at cha ko latte as their barista and still works there even after dropping out! it’s one of the things he really enjoys!

sunghyun’s parents had him at 17, so he did not have much as a child, often had to be watched by neighbors, his grandparents during his early years.

was a bright kid, picked up a book during his 1 year ceremony so yknow the vibes

his parents gave birth to his younger sister hyunmi when he was 12, and he basically raised her because his parents were busy with work ( ::debbyryan:: anyone pick her up uhh hmu pls )

his younger sister had a health issue, which resulted in her needing surgery, strengthening his overprotectiveness towards her 

went through uni as a journalist without issue, his parents are v proud, but he still dotes on his younger sister quite often.

interned and eventually became a staff reporter with a politics beat at one of seoul’s top newspaper (clue! this will be important later)

got married around three years ago, but he and his wife separated because both of them were too focused on their career.  ( ::debbyryan:: )

came to ilsang after the divorce + and uhh got “transferred/fired” from his big seoul newspaper job for uncovering corruption with a certain politican.

and currently works at the ilsang ilbo, is a bit strict with deadlines and his articles but he is attentive to his sources and co-workers

he’s a serial monogamist — this is the longest he’s been single, aka it’s been like 3 months he’s going thru it

gives the interns money for food often

a baby, he cries when he watches sad commercials

hates people who waste time

BACKGROUND

rich girl from seoul, basically

has an older brother but was basically raised as the conglomerate heir of her dad’s ent. company since she’d always been known to be a fast learner (read: one of those “good at everything” kids)

doesnt really have a personality outside of being her parents’ perfect golden girl 

kinda grew distant from her brother........then one day he just left home without a word and it made her distraught 

his absence forced her to admit that she’d been turning a blind eye to their parents poor treatment and blamed herself for it all

long story short, she found a brochure in his room to ilsang and jumped on the chance that she just might find him there even if there was no actual evidence that he even went there

not long into her arrival (i mightve put an actual length of time in my bio but who knows kjsfsd) hailey was wandering about town and slipped on one of the oil spills and fell. she got a headache so she returned to her room at the inn early

the next morning she woke up but didnt feel like she had any control over her own body

((( THIS ASSUMPTION WAS CORRECT BECAUSE SHE’D BEEN TAKEN OVER BY AN ALIEN HOST!!! good job hyemi ur so smart )))

now she’s behaving the complete opposite from how she normally is. always smiling and happy, curious about the world around her

v touchy. will fb poke war u irl just because. also a hugger. 

hyemi continues to attempt to win back her body (read: is constantly yelling at her alien) and still very much wants to find her brother 

OTHER FUN STUFF

hailey loves and adores all things pretty!! will very much get distracted by anything sparkly

will flirt with you, but in a clumsy way (think early 2000′s rom-coms)

did i mention that hyemi hates “hailey” lol

hailey picked up a job at cha ko latte bc she discovered the wonders of all sweet things and caffeine. catch her on her shift jumping around behind the bar off of 5 cups 

mayhaps a bit of a klepto?? just bc she’s curious about things, she’ll pick them up and take them back to her room to look at. sometimes she actually does put them back (but only if hyemi is yelling about how much of a mess their room is and that she does not need a random jacket from off the street sitting on their floor)

is what some may consider a ✨ditz✨

loves to look at herself and started an ig account against hyemi’s protests so that the whole universe can bask in how pretty she is

PLOTS???

honestly if u know me u know i suck at plots but here are some ideas that can maybe spark some better ideas LOL

def her older brother (will probably put in a wc form to the main too!)

alien buddy - hailey is super excited to be hailey and she absolutely needs someone to share her experience with

i need someone who is sus of her and constantly trying to make attempts at exposing her but she somehow avoids them coincidentally bc of how silly she is

a cha ko latte regular who either just really likes her coffee or enjoys watching her act a fool on the clock 

another haedodi house resident. this is just for some housing plots maybe. perhaps they just eat breakfast together in almost silence (hailey constantly providing a commentary for her food) or they just walk home together sometimes

ooc intro

♡ as i said, my name is salem ♡ i use they/them ♡ cst time zone ♡ i am twenty two ♡ i loooove plotting over twitter or discord, so if possible i always prefer those! my twitter is ( @/mlmjjk ) and my discord is ( salem#0048 ) ♡ fun facts about me: i have three cats, so you will be hearing about this!! and haneul is one of my favorite characters, i actually made him in 2017! crazy. but this character is special to me and a whole lotta fun. so i hope that you all will enjoy him~

jun haneul

♡ jun haneul... what can i say about him? well, first of my little dashing guy is twenty-five. he was adopted, but has lived in ilsang since he was five. he went to college in town, etc etc. and about a year or two ago he became a dj at the local radio station, so you can hear him on the airwaves. ♡ when you first meet him, you’ll probably see the fun loving, jokester he usually tries to be. you may hear him be crass, flirtatious, or anything in between. you might even think he annoying, or just a funny pal! ♡ but despite the outward appearances of a very silly guy, haneul actually is pretty serious sweetheart! ♡ you won’t find anyone as sweet as him, or as good as a friend! he prides himself on being the bestie of dreams, lol. he is very considerate, and spends a Lot of time getting to know and remember even tiny details about those he loves!! bestie WILL find out your love language and give you exactly what you need! ♡ anyway tho, seriously, deep down he is a lot more than jokes and usually hides himself under the jokes so people like him more, and hide that good ol’ Anxiety and, well, honestly he has dealt with psychotic breaks and departures from reality ♡ speaking of, if you grew up in town haneul could be described as: that weird kid who was always trying uncover a made-up mystery. think ryan in buzzfeed unsolved and you have haneul. only, um, sometimes haneul is kinda right, like.. maybe he isn’t right about the ghost that lives in cabin 3, but he was one of the very first to grow obsessed with and start positing ideas about ilsangs mysteries ♡ sadly, though, very few choose to hear haneul out!! in fact, haneul has since learned that his more serious ““ delusions ““ should be kept secret. however, little does he know... they arent fully unreal! ♡ there are a few people he tells though, especially those in his little gang and his closest friends ♡ anyway... haneul is also a major charmer (manipulator kinda, on accident??? ok. manipulate, malewife, and manslaughter), and being bisexual he is kind of always trying to charm people. you Will be flirted with if you come within 10 miles of him... but is he serious?? ♡ an actual introvert but you’d never know it bc he is a rambly people loving boy ♡ also, haneul is CF8A in preplot 8. he’s still looking for his childhood friend who loves him, as well as their two stowaways... so if u like haneul think about it ;) ♡ anyway.. does this man interest you? wanna know more?? you can buy him here for $19.99! or just message me :3

general plot ideas