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welcometojapha-blog · 6 years

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Worms!

It is August in Japha. The leaves are starting to turn, school is about to start back up, you know the drill. There’s even a 50’s themed party on campus to welcome the returning students; how fun!

Chris was wearing a black leather jacket; it isn’t exactly the right style, but Chris didn’t exactly want to go to this party in the first place, but some friends were pressuring him so...it's fine, whatever. To prepare for a night of forced social interaction he didn’t want in the first place, Chris knew just what he needed: bong and video games!

Chris had just gotten to the part of Earthbound here Jeff is crossing the lake on the Loch Ness Monster-inspired sea monster (you know the part), when suddenly there was a knock at his front door. Seeing no one through the peephole, Chris opened the door to find an unfamiliar child at his door (not that Chris is super familiar with any children...just, like, he doesn’t know this kid from anywhere). Before Chris could figure out whose kid this is or where he came from, the kid asked, “Does it bother you that the dreams call you a girl?”

Chris was shaken by this. This boy was entirely unfamiliar to him, yet somehow knew A LOT about Chris that Chris had yet to share with ANYBODY. How did he know about the dreams? And the misgendering bitch that came with the dreams?

Before Chris got a chance to engage in some banter that would have no doubt been lively and productive, another new person appeared in the hall and scooped the boy up. The man quickly explained that his name was Josh and that the boy was his son, Jordan, and that they had just moved into Chris’ apartment complex, just down the hall (no judgement, I mean, Chris lives there and all, but it isn’t a great place for a kid to have to grow up, even a freaky, weird kid like Jordan). As the pair leave for their apartment, Jordan turned around and whispered at Chris, “The Diner.” Chris knew exactly what he meant….pancakes would be amazing before the party. And with that, Chris found the nearest save point in his game and set off for the local diner.

The scene at the diner was...well, it was weird. There were cops all over (which Chris didn’t love, given his current state of inebriation), and the owner was shouting loudly through a megaphone.

Oh and there was a MASSIVE sinkhole directly outside the diner….that was also new. Being reassured that the restaurant was still open by the yelling owner, however, Chris was undeterred and continued on his quest to satiate the great hunger growing inside him.

Though the food at the diner was fantastic as always (at least a massive sinkhole can’t change that), however Chris could not shake the conversation he had had with Jordan in his doorway earlier. He needed answers, and there was only one place to get them. So Chris set off to meet with Antigone Jameson, a local drag queen who was basically like a second mother to Chris and always seemed to know a little about a lot of different shit. On the walk over, Chris heroically set up a Twitter account (@SinkPit) in an effort to bravely snark about any further weird shit that might happen as a result of the diner’s new sinkhole. That completed, Chris refocused his energy on getting some much needed information out of Antigone.

Chris got no information out of Antigone. The most she had to offer was that kids are weird (which is true, but Chris already knew that). When the sinkhole came up in conversation, however, Antigone bolted into a secret backroom of her shop (which Chris until this point had assumed was more an urban legend than anything real), and remained there for 10-15 minutes before returning just to tell Chris he should be careful and sending him on his way. Feeling the weird interruption in their conversation deserved no follow up, Chris left without fuss. It was nearly time for him to make an appearance at this party on campus, anyway.

As Chris approached the frat house where the party was being held, things suddenly started to look better: people were already leaving in droves! Unfortunately, before Chris could text his friends that the party was dead and they should just have a drunk movie night back at his place, the people fleeing the house got closer, and Chris realized that maybe something more was going on; they all seemed pretty freaked out.

Luckily, it was around this time Chris noticed Caleb, another guy from around town, headed into the frat house with the single biggest axe Chris had ever seen in person. The ratio of axe-to-man wasn’t totally stupid or anything, either, as Caleb was probably one of the single biggest guys Chris had ever seen in person. Emboldened by the assistance of a real-life giant, Chris headed inside to investigate what was scaring all these drunk college kids away.

Once inside, it quickly became apparent to both that the real danger was in the kitchen. Caleb wanted to just scavenge leftover party booze and play Goldeneye on the N64, but Chris knew that if they didn’t take care of whatever this was, nobody would, so he convinced Caleb that they should investigate what is going on elsewhere in the house first, then they could return to alcohol and nostalgic multiplayer action later (SPOILER ALERT: They never returned to play Goldeneye).

Once they got to the kitchen, the boys found a trapped party-goer; some girl Chris didn’t know was trapped in the far corner of the kitchen by a worm. A big worm. A really big worm. Think of like one of the worms from Dune or Tremors, only instead of those-sized, it was about the size of a medium dog (so I guess it could’ve been a worse situation). A quick Jack Daniels bottle to the back of the thing’s (probably) head redirected its aggression from the girl, and from there it proved little match for Caleb’s axe.

While making her exit, the girl informed Chris and Caleb of two very important things: these worms don’t like light and there is another worm in a nearby bedroom. Regrettably, when they opened the bedroom door, they found they were too late; the damned worms had gotten Chad! Why, of all the people at this stupid party, did Chad have to die? He had always been so awesome!

In a blind rage, the two immediately dispatched the worm that had gotten Chad and hurried on, leaving Chad to finally rest with a little dignity (a much dignity as a body can have after having a hole chewed through it by a giant worm).

While sweeping the house for others in need of assistance, Chris and Caleb encountered another brave party-goer, some rando Chris also did not know, who was in the process of tenderizing what appeared to be an already dead worm with a baseball bat. After some brief discussion, the new guy proudly proclaimed that there were only two remaining worms and they were both in the backyard and valiantly volunteered to lead the trio into battle. However, Chris knew the true order of things, and took front and center himself.

Once in the backyard, Chris quickly surmised that in addition to light, these worms didn’t seem so keen on water. Armed with this knowledge, Chris managed to used his cell phone flashlight to wrangle the worms into a position where they were pinned between the light and a large puddle that had formed in the backyard. From there, Caleb took out a worm out handily, as they had also proven to be not wild about being hit with axes. The third guy, however succumbed to his worm, but not before getting in several good blows with his baseball bat. Seeing his new comrade fall in glorious battle, Chris launched himself forward and delivered the final blow to the the worm, quipping “Welcome to Earf!” Everyone really appreciated the timely topical reference (at least Caleb did...since he was the only one left alive here).

Following the battle, as Chris was helping Caleb load one of the worm carcasses into Caleb’s trunk to take to an alcoholic friend of Caleb’s at a nearby bar, Chris realized what he needed more than anything. The whip! His whip! That whip from the dreams and then it turned up in real life and he freaked out and buried it in the graveyard because he didn’t think monsters were real but now he needed it because apparently monsters are real. After a little convincing, Caleb agreed the whip is too useful, and they should halt further investigation until they acquired it.

On the way to the cemetery, the pair met up with Dave, a friend of Chris’ from work at the library, and Denise and Padma, whom Chris knew from her research work in the library and from just generally being hot around campus, respectively. They all seemed just as on board with the “get the whip” plan as Caleb had been, so the crew continued on toward the cemetery.

Once they all arrived at the local Catholic cemetery (the others were in a golf cart; did I mention that Dave also drives a golf cart? He does.), Chris borrowed a shovel Caleb had been keeping in his trunk for just such an occasion and headed on in. Chris made his way to the back corner of the graveyard, to the lone Jewish person buried there (Jewish grave in a Catholic cemetery...pretty memorable marker for a buried treasure, huh?). Five paces from the back of the headstone, and Chris started digging.

And digging.

And digging (should be to it any minute now).

And then Chris heard the others seemingly talking amongst themselves, but he couldn’t make out any particular conversation because he was still digging.

And digging (okay, we have got to be at least a foot too deep at this point).

And nothing. No whip. No trace of a whip. No note saying where the whip had gone. It just wasn’t there anymore.

From up on the surface, someone said something to Chris about a humanoid monster, pallid grey, with dripping fangs, nasty talons, and a loping gait, but he wasn’t really in a place to absorb information anymore. The whip was gone and he was all alone with monsters in the world.

Some time later, Chris found himself in the golf cart with Dave and Denise, headed to the police station to fix some issue or other that had come up while he was out of it (something about Padma teleporting the dead worm and leaving it on the police station’s doorstep).

When they got to the police station, however, they found the dead worm had already been dealt with by someone else. The team immediately agreed that they needed to make sure the body wasn’t getting into the wrong hands, but while they were discussing the best way to locate the current whereabouts of the worm, Officer Elaine Bullock emerged from the station. While Elaine was a friend of Chris’ and generally pretty cool about most things, Chris figured the less police involvement at the moment, the better, so through distraction on the part of Dave and Denise, as well as a bit of cunning on Chris’ part, Chris was able to extract himself from the impromptu interrogation and make his way around to the back of the station to poke around.

Around back, Chris was able to pull himself up enough to see in through a small slit window. From there, he was able to see that the police had in fact acquired the dead worm and appeared to be performing experiments of some sort on it. Just as he was taking all this in, Chris received a telepathic message from Denise that Officer Bullock was coming back around his way, so Chris courageously played possum so that Elaine would just think he had wandered off and passed out, because everyone knows, you can’t arrest a passed out person.

The ruse worked! As soon as he was discovered, Chris almost immediately heard a sigh of defeat, followed by footsteps headed back away from him. Once he was sure he was alone again, Chris headed for the nearby river to lay low until the heat was off.

Eventually, Padma and Caleb turned back up from wherever they had gone off to following the failed whip-retrieval mission at the cemetery, and then Denise and Dave reemerged from the police station, having had the entire worm adventure dismissed by officials as a one-off strange creature escaped from the campus lab, with “drug use” filling in the gaps in that explanation.

After a bit more discussion, the group retired to Caleb’s back yard to burn some duffle bag that Caleb and Padma said needed destroying. Upon lighting the bag, it quickly became apparent that there had been a body inside (the smell wasn’t the best).

In an effort to speed things up to get rid of the smell, Denise used some weird magic thing she can do to make the fire heat up to the point of incinerating the body and duffle bag, after telekinetically throwing a lawn chair around in order to break up a fight brewing between Padma and Dave (Padma isn’t a very nice person).

Almost as soon as the body was dealt with, Denise suddenly freaked the fuck out like she had a really loud noise going in her ears, and with some difficulty, was able to explain that an alarm she had placed back at the sinkhole to make sure no one else messed with it while it was unattended had just gone off, but also wasn’t functioning properly so it was WAY too loud for her. The team quickly got the magic alarm dispelled and hurried over to the sinkhole to make sure everything was okay.

Once at the sinkhole, the gang found that nothing was out of the ordinary, but through the use of more magic the Chris didn’t fully understand, Padma and Denise joined forces to see that someone had recently entered the sinkhole, and then exited again shortly thereafter.

Seeing no more immediate danger to deal with, but plenty of new weird shit to still figure out, the newly formed Monster Mashers vowed to solve all the supernatural shit that needs solving around Japha and the surrounding region, and with that, they dispersed for the evening to get some sleep.

P.s.: Monster Mashers?! No...no, that’s not what they’re going to be called. Sorry about that, but we’ll do better with it next time!

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thedramafilesblog-blog · 6 years

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Appearing before The Dramacourt: Just Between Lovers Eps 9 and 10

***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read The Rules section first for our reviewing and rating system***

Issues:

Whether Kang Doo trying to leave for Moon Soo’s sake makes sense.

Whether its awesome that Moon Soo stands up for herself about who she likes.

Whether family is really something that you can build.

Whether the characters need to experience Grandma’s loss.

Whether it’s true that the healing process itself is painful.

The Rule(s):

Yes. And No.

Absolutely. She doesn’t let anybody tell her how to feel which is badass.

Yes. Family isn’t something that exists because of blood ties. Families can be made.

In a way, yes.

So true.

Analysis:

RedRosette J: First of all these episodes were an assault on my feelings. Just when I thought they wouldn’t they dumped a whole bunch of feels on me. If you thought this week was emotional, next week (if the preview is any indication) is going to take us through even more of an emotional roller coaster. But if you can survive an hour of angst and tears, these episodes are worth the watch!

That view though

Poor Kang Doo 😥

I’m glad that they spent a lot less time on the architecture/construction problems this week and focused more on character development. Moon Soo came to terms with her feelings for Kang Doo and Kang Doo got a well needed reality-check from Grandma. CEO Boss also got shut down by Moon Soo and Kang Han Na’s character became a character that actually pushed our leads together instead of creating unnecessary conflict. My only criticism (of sorts) is that I wish that Moon Soo didn’t have to hear about Kang Doo being injured in the Mall collapse from Kang Han Na’s character. I just feel like there would have been a greater impact had she heard it from someone closer to Kang Doo or Kang Doo himself. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s not really like its a huge detriment to the plot so whatever I’ll let it slide.

When you get irrationally mad at your crush when they do dumb stuff…

Going for advice like…

Can you seriously stop going around spilling people’s secrets?

When you suddenly remember someone like…

OMG girl it’s about time you remember!

The biggest plot point addressed in these episodes was Grandma’s illness. It had to come sooner rather than later and, as sad as it is, I’m glad they decided to address it at this point because it gives the characters some time to process her death before the drama ends.

Why did you leave it if was going to be this bad?

Thinking at sea like…

When the love of your life goes away….

Realizing you love someone like…

I also liked that we saw another side to Noona. She seemed like a regular person in her sweater dress and sneakers and not quite as intimidating as we have seen her so far (and I think the Director became a total goner once he saw her feeding the kitties. Poor guy). I love love love that the drama doesn’t typecast people. Sure, she a beautiful woman who runs a sketchy bar or whatever but that’s just her job. The writers don’t let that define her and shows us that she’s a well rounded person with an actual life aside from her work. As I have mentioned in previous posts, there is no judgment in these characters’ lives and jobs because its normal. It’s life. Some people do ‘questionable’ jobs and their jobs don’t define them. I love that about this drama.

Issue 1: Whether Kang Doo trying to leave for Moon Soo’s sake makes sense.

RedRosette J: Logically, it makes sense when I think about Kang Doo’s state of mind. However, as a viewer who is now emotionally invested in the outcome of the characters’ relationship, it seems pointless. First of all, logically, Kang Doo has self-esteem issues and has very low self worth which explains why he feels like he needs to leave for Moon Soo’s sake. As a rational viewer, it makes little sense. I get that. But from his point of view, he seems to genuinely believe that him leaving her is going to be better for her. I think it might also have to do with the fact that he seems to think that the CEO Boss guy is a real contender in the race for Moon Soo’s heart. This is silly because anyone with eyes can see that Moon Soo doesn’t give a crap about the CEO. It’s his lack of self worth that pits him against the CEO with the impressive resume. I liked that Kang Doo admitted to Kang Han Na’s character that he’s afraid he’s going to lose Moon Soo to the CEO but he’s still going to run away because that’s what he thinks is best for her. It really took Grandma yelling at him in episode 10 for him to realize that there’s nothing wrong with him and that it’s Moon Soo who gets to decide whether she wants to “ruin” (so to speak) her life by staying with him. He doesn’t get to make that decision for her.

Contemplating your life choices like…

Drinking your sorrows away

Setting your priorities like…

Noooooooo!!! Kang Doo!!! Don’t leave!!!

Seriously don’t leave!!!!!!!!

That’s right Grandma, you tell him!

Shots Fired!

As a viewer, it frustrates me that Kang Doo can’t see himself the way that us viewers, Moon Soo, Noona and Grandma see him; as a genuinely caring and loving guy with the best heart, so it sort of feels like it’s pointless angst meant to drive a wedge between the characters. But he needs to get past this point of seeing himself as worthless so that as he moves forward in his relationship with Moon Soo he feels deserving of her love. Also, it just about killed me at the end of episode 9 when he still got on the boat while she yelled out to him. To make matters worse, I think it just about killed him to do it too. I absolutely loved that this drama showed us that his struggle to leave her was very real and that he was doing it even though every fiber of his being was telling him not to.

Boy at least pretend to subtle

Can you be more upset that she didn’t show

When you’re happy to see her but then remember that you’re actually pushing her away so you can’t smile anymore…

See if I care LOOOL!

Issue 2: Whether its awesome that Moon Soo stands up for herself about who she likes.

RedRosette J: The thing that I like about Moon Soo is that she’s not a doormat (although initially it kind of comes across like she is). She has this quiet strength about her and she doesn’t let anyone tell her what to do (Kang Doo included). I find that this is a rare phenomenon with Kdrama heroines. When Kang Doo insists on leaving her and asks her to go to the CEO, she makes sure that he knows exactly how she feels. She says to him that she’s going to do what she wants and that he can’t tell her how to feel. I love that she voices how she feels because in reality that’s what a real woman is like. I also really like that this drama doesn’t try to hide her awareness of Kang Doo. She’s aware that Kang Doo likes her just as she’s aware that the CEO does. I appreciate that the drama doesn’t try to show that she’s a dumb Candy who has zero inkling that the male lead is in love with her. This is especially true in the snippets where she notices Kang Doo sneaking glances at her or him accidentally overhearing conversations that she has with someone else. She also brings it up with him which is super realistic. I think this is awesome and that more Kdrama females need to do this. I’m sick of seeing these passive females who go around as if they are totally oblivious and unaware of men. Honestly how unrealistic is that?

You tell him girl!

Standing up for your friends like…

Overhearing conversations like…

Confronting him about him overhearing your conversation

Be brave girl

Tell him how you feel!

Kang Doo you’re an idiot

She doesn’t care at all

This girl is really ballsy

Awwww

She finally set things straight.

Issue 3: Whether family is really something that you can build.

RedRosette J: I love the idea that family is something that can be built and not only something that you are born into. At the end of episode 10, we see the beautiful friendships and family that Kang Doo has built after having lost his parents. Grandma, Noona, Sang Man, and even Moon Soo and her friends have become a part of Kang Doo’s circle and are now reliant on each other just as a family is. It really shows that family is built on trust and acceptance and I really liked how this drama portrayed it.

Family ❤

Issue 4: Whether the characters need to experience Grandma’s loss.

RedRosette J: I will be the first person to say that I don’t want Grandma to die. She’s my favourite character. But, that being said, she has to die for the benefit of the other characters (that sounds mean but you guys get my drift). These characters have all experienced loss in such a sudden and shocking way that they need to understand that loss is not always something that happens like that and that sometimes you actually get to say goodbye properly and eventually come to terms with loss through a proper grieving process. Arguably, Kang Doo and Moon Soo are still grieving the losses of Dad and Sister respectively but that is likely because of how sudden and shocking the loss was. While Grandma’s loss will inevitably bring a lot of grief to Kang Doo and Moon Soo, they need to experience this so that they can grieve properly because they couldn’t properly grieve the loss of their family in the accident. This is why I agree with what Moon Soo said to Kang Doo’s sister that she has to tell him about Grandma’s illness sooner rather than later. He needs to know while it’s still not going to be sudden so that he can be prepared (as much as one can in this cases) for Grandma to leave.

So adorbs

Kang Doo finding out about Grandma

Please don’t delay the truth

Issue 5: Whether it’s true that the healing process itself is painful.

RedRosette J: Another thing I love about this drama are the little sound bites of life lessons that we get. Small things like this really resonate with viewers. This week, I really liked when Kang Doo talked about how the healing process itself was a painful one. I totally agree with this. The hardest part about an injury is recovery. Whether its a physical or emotional injury, its the recovery that’s tough. For the person who makes it to the other side in one piece having endured the pain, they become a stronger person for it. It’s real character development. These characters are still in the process of healing which is why they are hurting so much. Once we get to the end of the drama, we’ll hopefully see the characters towards the end of their journey of healing and over the more painful parts, and having become stronger people for it.

Momma

Dad coming to visit is progress

Kang Doo stop taking those pills!!!

Conclusion: Appeal Allowed.

Rating: 4 = I’ll Give You A Cookie (I actually do want to give everyone cookies and hugs because these episodes were so sad!!!)

File No: Just-Between-Lovers-EPS-9-&-10 Appearing before The Dramacourt: Just Between Lovers Eps 9 and 10 ***If this is your first time browsing The Drama Files, please read

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