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captainamericasbeard · 4 years

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Rescue 8/10

Pairing: Alpha!Bucky x Enhanced!Omega!Reader

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: lots of talk about anxiety

Summary: The Avengers are sent in to rescue a group of omegas from the hands of Hydra. There Bucky finds you, an enhanced omega. Can you ever be fully rescued from what Hydra has done to you?

A/N: I’M REALLY REALLY SORRY, OK. IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED PLEASE SEND AN ASK.

Rescue 7 l Masterlist

You meet Bucky on the jet pad to send him off. He comes strutting out in his tack gear, guns and knives strapped everywhere, his arm gleaming in the sunshine and he takes your breath away. This is your Alpha, strong and mighty and off to save the world. The sight makes you lips curve up and your heart rate pick up. Bucky strides over to you and you wrap your arms tightly around him and bury your face in his neck, scenting him.

“Come back to me, ya hear?” You whisper into his ear, kissing his neck lightly. He grips your hips tightly.

“Promise,” he says, pulling back to look deep in your eyes and you know he means it. You give him a nod and a final soft kiss on the lips before you pry yourself off of him. He walks past you and moves into the jet, giving you a final wink and a smirk. A shiver rolls through you despite the sunlight and you wrap your arms around your body as you watch the jet disappear on the horizon. You stand there a few moments longer with your face turned towards the sun, quietly wishing Bucky back to you and then you turn back into the compound.

You wander through the mostly empty halls trying to decide what to do with your free day. Steve, Sam, Nat, and Bucky are on the mission. Wanda is off visiting her brother for the week. You're certain Tony is tucked away in his lab and you’ve no idea where Thor might be. You decide to go in search of the latter, Thor being the only alpha, besides Bucky, you feel truly comfortable with. He’s been training you for four months now, even delaying his return to Asgard to help you control and focus your powers. You’ve developed an easy friendship with the alpha and you know he’ll be excited to hear you’re going to train to go on missions.

You head for the gym first wondering if Thor is working out but you only find lonely equipment and the faint smell of alphas. You check his room and the kitchen to find those empty too. You’re about to give up and resign yourself to the list of movies Tony says you have to catch up on when you hear music coming from the library. You bound up the stairs and peak through the partly open door to see Thor picking through the record collection next to the record player. You watch as he pulls the current record off of the player and back into its sleeve and place a new one on the turntable. You gently knock on the door and push it open and the Asgardian looks up at you with his famous mega watt smile.

“Y/N! Did you farewell Bucky on his mission?” The god asks.

“I did. He should be back tonight, so that’s good.” A shiver runs through you again and you wrap your arms around yourself once more. “What are you doing up here?” You ask.

“I'm looking for a specific song I heard our dear Captain listening to the other day. Something about Black Magic, and a lover beyond compare.” Thor has a misty look in his eyes and he stares down at the stack of records. A deep memory has stirred inside him and you feel as though you are intruding on something private. He snaps out of his reverie and offers you a tender smile by way of apology.

“I think it’s Glen Miller. My dad used to listen to this kind of music.” Your heart stutters as you mention your dad and a memory comes clawing its way to the surface. It’s your turn to get lost in your mind and you shake your head to snap yourself out of it. You move over to the crate full of records and thumb through them until you come across a familiar picture. You pull the record out and searching the song titles until you find the right one. You place it on the record player and get the needle into the correct groove and Glen begins to croon out his tune.

That old black magic has me in its spell

That old black magic that you weave so well…

“A dance, my lady?” Thor asks, extending his hand to you. You fidget with the hem of your shirt, nervous of what Bucky would say. As though he can read your mind Thor says, “I promise I’m a perfect gentleman.” You smile and consent, gingerly placing your hand in his large, warm one.

It feels strange, you realize, to touch another person like this. Thor has touched you, but only in the training room. Wanda has hugged you and grabbed your hand excitedly, but that was friendship. This was a different kind of touch, kind and soft and close. Before you can get too nervous you realize that Thor has no designs on a slow, intimate dance. Despite the romantic tempo of the music he starts spinning you around the room, dipping you wildly, and holding you arms length away so you can twist your hips in unison. You’re both too busy laughing to notice the music has stopped and you fall down on a nearby couch, out of breath and grinning from ear to ear. Thor’s booming laugh echos through the room as he moves the needle off of the record before the next song can start.

“Well done, well done. You’re very light on your feet!” Thor says with a twinkle in his eye.

“I don’t know how it's possible that I'm any good, I’ve never actually danced before,” you say lightly, not wanting to shift the mood.

“Perhaps it’s natural talent. You should explore it, drag Barnes to some dancing lessons. You never know, you might have fun.” Thor encourages.

“Speaking of natural talent,” you wink, “wanna go train!?” You ask excitedly. You’re eager to perfect your skills and get Thor’s sign off on missions.

As the two of you make your way to The Cave, you tell Thor about your conversation with Bucky. Thor is supportive of your desire to go on missions though he says he understands Bucky’s misgivings.

“If I had a lovely omega such as yourself, I wouldn’t want her going on missions either. It’s our natural instinct to protect. Bucky’s only doing what his physiology tells him to, protecting his omega. You must forgive him for it.” Thor offers by way of explanation.

“I do, it’s just hard. I’ve been controlled my whole life. I don’t want the person I care for the most to control me as well. I want to do what I know in my heart is right,” you say.

“Give him time. And train hard. Let him see how capable you are and he’ll feel more comfortable.” Thor says patting you on the shoulder. You’ve arrived at The Cave and the two of you head inside to train.

Thor begins putting you through you your drills. After months of training aiming and controlling how intense your power is is no trouble. Thor wants to move on to seeing how much power you can absorb so you spend an hour getting shocked by the God of Thunder. You’re having fun so you can’t understand why there’s a growing sense of unease in the pit of your stomach. Your anxiety is rising but you can’t see any reason why. After an hour and a half you tell Thor you want to call it quits.

“Everything alright, my lady?” Thor questions.

“Yeah, I’m ok. I just feel like something is off. I might go watch tv and see if I can calm down,” you explain.

“Would you care for some company,” Thor offers.

“No, I think I’d rather be by myself,” you say. You give Thor a nod and wander off in the direction of the common room.

You’re feeling depleted from your training session so you grab some of your favorite snacks and cuddle up on the couch under the coziest blanket you can find. You flip through Netflix searching for something that could grab your interest but after 15 minutes of browsing you come up with nothing, and you resort to rewatching a series you’ve seen a million times. You binge watch three episodes but it's not distracting you from the growing feeling of anxiety building in your body so you decide to try to sleep it off.

You go to your bedroom where the mingled scent of you and Bucky surrounds you and automatically starts to take the edge off your anxiety. All you want is for Bucky to be home so he can wrap you in his arms and take away your fears. You fall into your nest and snuggle up to Bucky’s pillow, and drift off into a fitful sleep. You dream but you can’t remember it upon waking. Snippets of pain and fear and Bucky is there. After a few hours you give up on a nap. You’re about to try a book when F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s lilting accent comes over the PA in your room.

“Y/N, I thought you might like to know that the jet is five minutes out,” the AI informs you.

“Thanks, F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” you respond, hopping out of your nest. You rush to the landing pad and wait, bouncing on your toes. You know you’ll feel better as soon as Bucky steps off that jet. The jet lands and the ramp opens. Sam, Nat, and Steve pile out but Bucky doesn’t follow. Sam is hurt and he and Nat avoid your gaze as Nat helps him limp up to medical. Steve is approaching you and your head is spinning. Why isn’t Bucky stepping off the jet? Why are you not in his arms already? Steve is in front of you and you can’t meet his eyes for fear of what you’ll find there.

“Just tell me,” you say as you stare at the ground, your eyes filling with tears. You don’t need to hear it to know something has gone terribly wrong. Steve stays silent. You finally bring your eyes up to his face to find his eyes dull and his expression twisted in pain.

“Tell me Steve.” Still he’s silent. He can’t bring himself to speak the words. He can’t stand the thought of how much he’s about to hurt you. Your anger builds at his silence and you scream at him to tell you what happened as you pound your fists against his chest.

“Damnit Steve, talk to me! What happened!?” You shout, the tears falling freely. This not knowing is agony. Steve finally comes to and grabs your wrists to stop your abuse. He drops your hands and breathes deep, bracing himself.

“It was a set up, Y/N. Intel told us it was only 20 agents in a seldom used base. It was over 100 agents. They were waiting for us, for Bucky. They captured him, took off. We couldn’t catch up. I’m sorry, Y/N, I’m so so sorry,” you heard Steve’s words but they were an echo in the back of your mind. All you could hear was that Bucky was gone. Your head rang with the words, it spun your mind into a whirl. You felt your knees going weak and your vision darkening. The last thing you remember is Steve’s strong arms reaching out to catch you as you collapse to the ground.

Chapter 9

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TAGLIST: @fanfictionjunkie1112 @kiki5283 @humanexile @starkrobb @alyxkbrl @momc95 @bullshitantichrist @the-omni-princess @animegirlgeeky @acf2510 @fluffyirwinie @disasterwelshgirl @jamesbarnesappreciationsociety @veronawrites @guccicloudz @holyhumorliteraturelight @mrsalwayswrite @no-clue-whats-happenin @booktease21 @mymomcallsmefury @fafulous @asgardlover75 @susmita121 @noseyrosey1597 @jennmurawski13 @buckybarnesscrunchie @learisa @kinkywitchy @mywinterwolf @dyanna-corona @procrastinating-angels @shellbeerocks @broco8 @just-a-littlebit-of-everything @sweetybuzz25 @cookies186 @badassbaker

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mrswhozeewhatsis · 5 years

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21 Supernatural Questions

Thanks to @sammit-janet for helping me procrastinate tonight!

1. When did you start watching Supernatural?

Early December, 2014. I’d been sick for a month, already, and had run out of other shows I wanted to watch. I decided to watch that show that Misha Collins was on that my goddaughters used to watch. I got through 9.5 seasons by Christmas. That first hellatus was awful, and it’s how I got into the fandom. I needed more, found con videos, then fan fiction, and the rest is history!

2. Who is your favorite in TFW?

It depends on the day. I usually say I’m Winchester-sexual, angel-curious!

3. Who is your least favorite in TFW?

Ugh. I don’t dislike any of them (though I miss BAMF early-seasons Cas who didn’t bleed much and could do things regular hunters couldn’t like see demons’ faces). If I had to rank them, I probably obsess over Cas the least.

4. Tag your top 5 Supernatural blogs.

You’d ask me who my favorite children were, too, wouldn’t you? Not falling for that!

5. Who is your favorite character (not including TFW)?

You’re killing me. You’re really killing me. I CAN’T PICK. Chuck? Donna? Jody? Rowena? I love John and Mary, but I don’t get squishy when I watch them on the show. Charlie? I literally squealed and frightened my husband when we saw AU!Charlie the first time. Ellen? There are too many and you can’t make me pick!!

6. Who is your favorite woman in Supernatural?

Donna. She kicks ass and calls it butt.

7. John or Mary?

Gonna quote @sammit-janet directly, cuz she said it well: “Both. I know people hate one or the other, but you cannot look at these parents with real-world glasses. John had the mother of his children burned on the ceiling and he had no fucking clue about the Supernatural until then. Once he did, he was on a mission to find whatever killed his wife.

“Mary made a deal to save the man she loved. She would have stopped Azazel that night in the nursery too, but Michael erased her memory. Now that she’s come back, well, don’t you think it’s a little disorienting to spend 32 years in heavenly bliss and then get thrust back down to earth and find out her children are living the exact life she didn’t want them to?

“Also, don’t forget, EVERYTHING was stacked against them. Heaven made 100% sure that they got together just so Sam and Dean could be born and play out the apocalypse.”

8. What were your first opinions of Sam, Dean, Cas, and Jack?

Sam: Tall, but the hair, and he’s a baby, I feel like a pedophile.

Dean: Older, still tall, wiseass, heart of gold, if he loves pie, I’m a goner!

Cas: HOLY FUCK.

Jack: If he’s good, I will hold him and love him and squeeze him and call him George. If he’s evil, I will cut him down with the flames of a thousand burning suns.

9. What’s your favorite season?

I really don’t have one. I have seasons I love more, and seasons I love less, but none are my favorites. The writing in the beginning was tighter, and felt like there was an end coming, which made it more electric. But I really love watching the boys grow and change and make better, smarter decisions, or make stupid decisions for bigger, better reasons. I dislike the degradation of angel powers, though. I mean, remember when Cas could smite an entire diner of monsters or demons with just a bright light, but this season he was beaten to pulp by a demon gang? And now that Heaven’s gates are all open, can Cas fly, again? I mean, they couldn’t fly because the closed gates cut them off from Heaven, but now the gates are open, so LET CAS FLY, DAMMIT.

10. What’s your least favorite season?

Season 7, although that season does have an inordinate amount of things I like about it, so it makes no sense. Story-wise, I get it. They had to systematically take away everything the boys valued in order to leave Sam the destroyed mess he was when Dean and Cas disappeared. I don’t like it when my boys hurt, but I understand why they did it. On the other hand, season 7 gave us Charlie, and Frank, and Garth, and Kevin, and numerous dick jokes, and Sam tied to a bed, and Cas naked on Dean’s car covered in bees. So torn, but when I rewatch the series, I take a deep breath when I start season 7. (During my most recent rewatch, I also took a breath when Toni Bevell came onto my screen, so I guess I now put 12 in with 7.)

11. Opinions on Destiel?

Canon - Dean is straight. He’s said multiple times he doesn’t swing that way. I wouldn’t object if the writers decided to change that, but I respect Jensen and the writers in their decision not to go that way. There are more and more diverse characters on our screen every year, and I’m okay with letting Dean be a cis het white male who loves women of all kinds. I would love if they did a Human!Impala episode and the Impala turned out to be John Barrowman, though. On the other hand, Cas is completely unconcerned with gender and sexuality, so I wouldn’t mind seeing him have a romantic thing with a guy. Pretty sure that would break the fandom, though, so not holding my breath.

Fanon - Holy cheeseballs, that boy swings harder than an old-time saloon door, and I love reading about him being so open to everyone. Give me all the guys banging Dean like a screen door in a hurricane. Dean is all the door metaphors and memes, including the memes about Cas loving to destroy doors. Show me these two idiots falling in love any way you got it. They were roommates, you say? YES. There was only one bed, you say? SIGN ME THE FUCK UP. Dean’s a fireman and Cas is a nurse? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME??? BRING IT.

12. Do you believe Supernatural queerbaits?

Not intentionally, or maliciously, but I can see why some folks might think that, sometimes. It’s a fine line the show writers have to balance on when it comes to scenes with Dean and Cas because of the fandom’s obsession with Destiel. They want to show the love between the two characters as brothers, but it can’t be too much love. (However, I sometimes wonder about certain things. I would love to sit down with Jensen, Jerry Wanek, and Robbie Thompson, show them certain moments, and ask why certain decisions were made regarding framing, editing, props, and such. If they weren’t thinking Destiel, what were they thinking??)

13. Seasons 1-7 or 8-14?

You’re asking me to pick my kids, again. 1-7 is Kripke writing, 8-11 is Robbie Thompson writing, NO NO NO YOU CAN’T MAKE ME DECIDE.

14. Favorite villain (plot wise)?

Crowley

15. Do you think they should end the Lucifer plot line?

YES. I’m cool with watching Nick progress into a big bad, but keep Lucifer in The Empty. (I just had a wild thought about The Empty, Lucifer, and The Shadow coming for Jack. Lord, I hope I’m wrong.)

16. Who do you think has gone through more trauma (Sam, Dean, or Cas)?

Quoting Sammit again: “Sam. He found out he had demon blood in him, was one of Azazel’s “chosen”, died by being stabbed in the back, went to hell for 100 years, lost his soul, was driven mad by Lucifer, almost died doing the trials, was possessed by Gadreel…did i leave anything out?”

Dean and Cas have also had their share, but if you want to quantify it, I think Sam has had more.

17. What’s your favorite Supernatural episode?

Baby, Dog Dean Afternoon, Don’t Call Me Shurley, most of the other episodes writing by Robbie Thompson, too.

18. Do you like case episodes?

They are a nice breather in between the episodes where I can’t sit back for moment.

19. Who do you relate most to in TFW?

I switch back and forth between Dean and Sam. I relate to Sam wanting to go to college to get away from his family, I relate to Dean’s eating habits, I understand why Sam’s done all the stupid shit he’s done, and I understand Dean not wanting to delve into things because it’s hard. Oh, and I say awesome almost as much as Dean. Cas, though, is a mystery to me. The only time I relate to him is when he’s confused by pop culture references.

20. Why do you like Supernatural?

The characters. They’re just so fucking interesting, you know? And (with some notable exceptions) the writers have managed to keep them from getting too far away from who they were in the pilot, while showing them growing and changing and improving. I love the world, I love the fantasy, and I love how universal they all are. I mean, if you took characters from another show and put them in a Beach AU, I wouldn’t be able to see it like I can with these characters. They’re awesome.

21. If you could bring back one character and kill off another who would they be?

Keep Lucifer dead, bring back Frank. I also want to see more of Linda Tran. Or Ellen, though I don’t know what they’d do with her with Mary around. I’d say Crowley, but I know that will never happen, and I understand why, so I’m letting him go.

Tag yourselves!

#incoherent babbling by mrswhozeewhatsis

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componentplanet · 4 years

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Netflix Is Now Terrible at Email Marketing

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings when he found out how much the company paid in App Store fees.

Ask people where they get their entertainment from in 2020, and I’m willing to bet Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, and Hulu rank considerably higher than they might have in years past. Tens of millions of people are binging old favorites or discovering new ones. With virtually no new content released into theaters or on TV, streaming services are some of the only places to find new media. Old shows, including Deep Space Nine, have gotten a fair bit of online discussion over the past few months. Netflix picking up Avatar and The Legend of Korra has been a major topic of conversation.

Streaming services are benefiting from a disproportionate cross-slice of consumer attention compared with what they normally receive. But someone at Netflix doesn’t seem to realize this. The company has cranked up the rate and pace of its email blasts until being a customer feels less like a business transaction and more like dealing with a needy child.

Maybe the company itself is also going a little stir-crazy in the age of COVID. I’ve gotten nine emails from Netflix about watching content since the beginning of the month, including three on Friday, August 7 (arriving between 1:00 and 4:30), two on Sunday, and two more today. That’s a bumper crop, even for Netflix, which typically sends between four and seven emails per month, not one email every day and a half. When you look at the list in aggregate, the effect changes from whiny to creepy (click to enlarge).

“Don’t forget to watch The Last Airbender. Don’t forget to relive your favorite moments from Deep Space Nine! What are you doing tonight? Have you thought about some Netflix? You might enjoy it — after all, we just added a TV show you might like. And another. And another. We’re sorry to just keep emailing, but there are so many great shows! Have you thought about what the people around you are watching? We sure have. And now that we’re such good friends, such intimate buddies, well, we can’t stop emailing you now. We have such sights to show you. Here’s what’s coming, Joel. Watch TV, Joel. Play with us, Joel. Forever, and ever, and ever.”

Seriously. Could you guys take, like, two steps back?

See the August 7 reminder not to forget to finish The Umbrella Academy? That one particularly rankles. I started watching TUA on Monday, August 3. I watched one episode on Monday, one on Tuesday, one on Wednesday, skipped Thursday, and got reminded on Friday that I hadn’t read Netflix a bedtime story or gotten it a glass of milk the night before.

Netflix appears to have subscribed to a more-is-better strategy for customer contact without realizing that increasing the number of times you take up people’s time with useless contact only trains them to throw your email away. I do not mind it when Netflix sends me an update saying “Season 2 of X is now on Netflix.” If I watched Season 1, I may well be looking forward to Season 2. But I know damn well that the service doesn’t need to send me a “Here are some shows you might like,” email, and a “Suggestions” email, and a specific email when the shows I actually watch are added to the service.

At some point this spring, Netflix decided begging people to watch new content wasn’t good enough. On March 17, the company invited me to “Rewatch my favorite moments” of shows I’d already seen. Consider the oddity of a company reminding you where to find your own favorite content. Clearly you know where it is — you literally watched it already. If you use Netflix, you know that the service aggressively positions your own previously-watched and favorited content. Here’s my own home page:

I haven’t watched The Flash, Supernatural, or Lost in Space for months. Ditto for Deep Space Nine. The shows on the bottom are the ones I had accessed last, the shows on top are old favorites. Netflix emails me to recommend I rewatch the same set of shows it makes certain I see when I log in.

I won’t claim to know if Netflix’s strategy of customer retention is effective or not, but I know this: I found myself wanting to not watch The Umbrella Academy this week. I wanted to see if Netflix’s algorithms would keep harassing me to spend more of my life watching a service that has already received a great deal of my attention during the annus horribilis. I am both very glad for and just a little tired of Netflix and the other streaming services at this point. I am not a marketing expert, but I’m fairly certain that the point of brand engagement is to generate a positive association with the product.

I could just throw the emails away, but this counter to the purpose of being a paying customer. Generally speaking, if you pay a monthly fee to a company, you expect some of its mail to be important. There was a time when Netflix’s “Recommendations” emails were a genuinely useful place to find new content. They could be again, if the company stops carpet-bombing people with spam.

If you’re tired of neurotic reminders to watch television, you can shut Netflix up by blocking [email protected]. It’ll make inbox zero that much easier. And Netflix — seriously — you can ease up just a little. I know Disney Plus represents new competition and I think most of us are probably going a little stir-crazy over the past six months, but it’s all going to be fine.

Now Read:

Upscaling Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Using Topaz Video Enhance AI

Netflix Is Killing Support for Some TVs and Roku Boxes Because of DRM

Biometric Big Brother: Streaming Services Want Thumbprint Verification for Access

from ExtremeTechExtremeTech https://www.extremetech.com/internet/313846-netflix-email-marketing-failure from Blogger http://componentplanet.blogspot.com/2020/08/netflix-is-now-terrible-at-email.html

#Netflix Is Now Terrible at Email Marketing

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urameshiy-blog · 6 years

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This episode is alternatively titled: How to Score an Unpaid Internship that Might Cost You Your Life.

Episode 5: Yusuke’s Back

Wow that episode title leaves a lot to imagination. So, basically, if I was watching this for the first time ever, I would know what was happening. YYH does this a lot, and I’m always just sitting here, like, thanks. I have no idea what’s going to happen.

Episode 5 wraps up our Ghost!Yusuke arc. Today’s the day that Yusuke comes back to life for REAL. First, though, someone has to donate their spirit energy, so that Yusuke’s spirit/physical energy realigns… or something along those lines (honestly, I always tune out fake logistics like this).But it has to be tonight at midnight, or else Yusuke will have to wait 52 more years to come back. Oh, and it has to be done through a kiss which Yusuke freaks out over. Jeez, this boy is just not a huge fan of physical/romantic/platonic contact…

In order to get someone to kiss him, he has to visit three people’s dreams. Like the first time he visited their dreams, this does not go well. Atsuko per usual is drinking:

And then there’s Kuwabara. And… well…

And so launched 1000 ships.

In any case, Keiko is his only hope. After a bit of drama, where it looks like Keiko’s not going to make it back to Yusuke’s house because her mother collapsed, she finds her way back. And, as they say, the rest is history.

So, Yusuke makes a cheery recovery from the dead. And, apparently with this recovery comes even worse fashion choices.

#iconic

Things get weird though, as Yusuke stumbles upon a fortune teller. And, oh boy, WHO COULD IT BE?

Nope, not a clue. It’s a mystery.

The fortune teller says that he has “interesting energy” and a “mission” to complete. In true Yusuke fashion, though, he ignores it, and heads to a cafe for some coffee. A boy after my own heart.

But Yusuke has a knack for finding trouble. The cafe, apparently, has been taken over by another gang, even though it used to be part of Kuwabara’s turf. Yusuke decides to go in anyway, where the new gang leader and his crew are sitting. He ignores them, and grabs his coffee anyway. But something is off: the gang leader has horns. Which, oddly, Yusuke decides not to care about. I guess coming back from the dead makes everything else ordinary.

Through the gang’s conversation, we learn that the leader, Sakamoto, has kidnapped Kuwabara’s cat, and is forcing him to steal comics. When Kuwabara appears though, it’s quickly revealed he didn’t steal the comics at all–as Yusuke mentioned, that’s against his honor code.

Sakamoto is not happy with this. He demands that Kuwabara apologizes to him, and then decides they’re going to take this outside (even evil thugs are willing to protect the sanctity of the coffee shop). Outside, the gang threatens Kuwabara’s friends and cat. Just when we think all is lost– Yusuke steps in and surprises them.

With his hair gelled again, no less. Was he in the coffee shop styling his hair before he came to the rescue?

One quick fight sequence later, the boys beat up the gang, get Kuwabara’s cat back, and it’s revealed that there’s actually a parasitic demon possessing Sakamoto! When Yusuke knocks him unconscious, the demon appears and Yusuke captures him easily.

The fortuneteller comes back as well, and it’s revealed that she is oh so surprisingly actually Botan! Botan thanks Yusuke for all his help, and tells him that his first case is a success. Oh, and by the way, he’s now officially the Spirit Detective. And no, he cannot turn down the position. And no, it’s not paid. Yay!?

The second part of this episode is much more fun that the first. The actual revival scene is rather a bore, since we all know that he’s coming back. Especially after rewatch number twenty, I’m no longer that interested in the scene. Atsuko, again, does not fail to make me sad with her drinking streak, even though it’s played completely for laughs. Luckily, they keep the revival tension very short, and quickly move on to the more interesting part.

The second half of the episode contains much more of what we come to love in YYH. In a lot of ways, I think this episode marks the true beginning of YYH as we will know it in the future: aka demons, one-liners, fighting, and Yusuke and Kuwabara pretending they’re not friends. It’s action packed, urgent, and most importantly, punchy with its humor.

Our Glasses honcho is a great starter villain and really raises the stakes by threatening not only Kuwabara’s kitten, but his friends. Again, this reinforces our main FriendshipTM theme, and foreshadows a lot of the future battles. It’s also interesting to contrast our first demon with the later demons we get. This one is tiny and parasitic in nature, possessing humans for its own personal chaos. As the series goes on, demons go from these odd alien creatures to more exact human copies, which we’ll discuss more in the next few episodes.

We get some weird inconsistencies with later mythology from the set-up of Yusuke’s powers as Koenma says, “You’ll get cool powers, I’ve come up with them myself.” It brings into question where exactly Spirit Energy comes from. Are humans born with a certain amount of Spirit Energy, or are they gifted with it? For now, I’m just filing that aside as weird beginning series talk, similar to Hiei’s demonic form and telepathy that we don’t ever get to see again.

Animation wise, I’m pretty happy with the one fight scene we get. It’s not extravagant, but I always enjoy Yusuke’s dramatic entrance.

My Dark!Koenma theory lives on though! “Let’s see how our little Yusuke fares when he’s not floating in the sky,” he says. OKAY, KOENMA. CAN YOU TALK MORE LIKE AN EVIL VILLAIN? Not to mention, he made Yusuke’s Spirit Detective position mandatory, despite the fact that he never mentioned it as part of the deal when he brought Yusuke back to life. No wonder Yusuke spends the rest of the series trying to ignore Koenma’s orders. He’s just an unpaid intern being forced to do entry-level work. I feel your pain Yusuke, I do.

Final thoughts:

Favorite line of the episode goes to Yusuke: “I can talk trash to people and even touch them. To be alive is a wonderful thing!”

And we can’t forget: “Hey! That guy has horns. Well, not going to ruin my day.” Oh Yusuke. You idiot.

Kuwabara’s love of kittens raises my respect from him 1000%

Yusuke’s outfit here will always remain forever in my heart

I’m weirdly fascinated by the high school gang wars. Kinda wish there had been a larger side arc with that.

Pay Yusuke Urameshi For Saving the World 2018! Even Naruto got paid for his missions!

TL;DR: Though the beginning of this episode lacks rewatch value, the second half makes up for it with its on point humor and characterization. It’s the perfect closure to our first arc.

#yyh #yyh rewatch #yu yu hakusho #yyh review #anime review

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greygamer · 7 years

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TP Countdown Day 27: Cooper’s Dream

If memory serves, I have watched Twin Peaks in its entirety twice before this rewatch, not counting the handful of episodes at the end of the series run I managed to incomprehensibly catch while the show was still airing. The first watch occurred after I’d tracked down the VHS set of the entire series. The second watch was after I picked up the Gold Box edition. That edition was released in 2007, meaning it’s probably been about ten years since the last time I watched this show.

Watching it now, ten years older, hopefully ten years smarter, and definitely with ten years of film, television, and other pop culture behind me, I definitely feel like I’m seeing it with a new set of eyes. I’m noticing different things. Enjoying different things. In many ways it’s a whole new show. Which is exciting, and one of the reason that rewatches like this can be so rewarding, I think. It gives us the chance to hopefully find new layers in work we already appreciate.

In the midst of tonight’s rewatch, something new struck me, and it has to do with one of the central concepts of the show.

When I wrote about Cooper’s Dream in the third episode, I talked about how that moment, which wasn’t originally planned, would eventually become one of the central parts of the Twin Peaks mythology, specifically The Black Lodge. There’s no discussion of the Lodge in the first season, and I don’t think it comes up until late in the second season, but by the time we hate that finale, we’re shown, essentially, that the red room from Cooper’s dream and The Black Lodge are one and the same.

What I had forgotten about as I wrote about Coop’s dream is that certain elements of the dream actually come to represent elements of Laura’s death. It’s as if, as Cooper said of his dream, that it’s a code waiting to be cracked, and once done, it would reveal the identity of the killer.

For example, in this episode, we see Cooper realize that the red curtains in the dream were meant to suggest the red curtains in Leo Johnson’s cabin, where presumably he and Jacques had taken Laura and Ronette the night that Laura died. And the little man’s reference to there always being music in the air was a suggestion of the record player in the cabin, locked in an endless loop of Julee Cruise’s Into The Night, presumably since Laura’s death.

But this got me thinking -- if those red curtains and other details form the dream are meant to be communicating clues to Cooper, then what does that say of the larger existence of The Black Lodge? When we see those red curtains in the Lodge, we assume it’s because that’s how The Lodge exists. But if the curtain’s aren’t really real and are only symbols, then why do they appear in the Lodge as well as the dream?

I realize this is asking questions of specifics from a creator who prefers to work in abstracts and symbolism, and what the red room meant when it was created might not be what the red room meant when the show closed.

And I guess I bring this up because I’m realizing for the first time that what the red room might mean in 2017 might not have anything to do with what’s come before either. I’m not sure if that’s terrifying or exciting, but that’s the way I feel about a lot of stuff in David Lynch’s work, so it’s par for the course, I guess.

“I just feel I need something to occupy my mind ...”

One of the other things I remember being so entranced with, especially during my initial watch of the show, was slow meltdown of Leland Palmer. By the time I watched the show for the first time I had already known that he was the killer, but his emotional breakdown seemed like so much more than just someone dealing with having committed a horrible crime. It really did feel like someone struggling with grief in a legitimate way. One of the thing’s that’s unique about episodic storytelling like this is it let’s you paint a bigger picture of things that really require a bigger canvas to express them, like grief. And I know I’ve said a lot about the way this show portrays grief in the past, but I think it’s worth a reminder every time it comes up.

Leland comes to Ben Horne early on in this episode. Having heard of the arrival of the Icelanders, he’s eager to help Ben close the deal on Ghostwood. He’s eager to do something, anything, to get his mind off Laura. Unfortunately Ben isn’t in agreement and sends him home.

Leland would later return to the Great Northern during a celebration involving Ben and the Icelanders and much of the rest of the glitterati of Twin Peaks. He’s disheveled, of course, but he means well. He only wants to help. At least until Pennsylvania 6-5000 starts up out of nowhere and suddenly Leland begins his sorrowful dance again, shuffling around alone, arms wrapped around a partner who isn’t there, as he sobs uncontrollably.

This leads us to yet another of Twin Peaks’ wonderful moments of darkness and comedy. As Leland struggles with his grief, Ben sends Catherine Martell to dance with him, in the hopes of distracting the Icelanders from the truth of what’s going on. Even as Leland pushes his hands into his eyes to press away the tears, Catherine. begins to make similar gestures, as if this were simply some strange, new dance craze. Ben Horne and the Icelanders soon join along, not knowing that the root of their celebration is one of pain. It’s a wonderful scene, equally heartbreaking and comic.

This week on Twin Peaks ...

Almost a week into my rewatch recaps and I’m still not entirely sure what I want to do with these. As much as I want to be able to dive into the deep end of small details that fascinate me, I feel like that will lead me to neglect the smaller elements of the show. And if I spend too much time on those smaller details, I tend to distract myself from digging deep into the stuff that really interests me. So I’m trying something different tonight, and maybe going forward -- the above work is me going deep in stuff I found significant or meaningful. Following this will be smaller comments on specific moments of the show. Hopefully I can find the best of both worlds here.

Bobby Briggs was always a tough character for me, I think because when I first watched the show -- still in high school -- he represented the kind of kid I would have avoided. And easy as it would have been for Twin Peaks to just paint him as your basic drug-dealing jock type, there’s more depth there than that. Over the course of the show he gets to have some really wonderful moments, and this episode’s scene between him and Dr. Jacoby is one of them. Jacoby shows his skills as a psychiatrist (and also, I assume, someone who has some inside knowledge from Laura) by breaking down Bobby’s had shell exterior and getting to the lost little boy that’s inside.

Apparently Hank Jennings used to be the go-to criminal in Twin Peaks and he seems a bit annoyed that Leo Johnson has taken over his previous position, or at least that’s what the few punches he threw at Leo would indicate. I’ll admit that I was never particularly interested in Hank’s story, and I think that might have been at least partly from getting off on the wrong foot with the character -- specifically that moment last episode, when he’s talking to Josie Packard, and he just sucks on his weird domino tchochke. I mean, who does that? Fucking creeper.

Audrey’s about to have a bit of run of bad luck. First she’s managed to promote herself to the perfume counter at her father’s department store, by passing her father’s suggestion that she start out in gift wrapping. Audrey is hoping to discover what happens to girls -- like Laura and Ronette -- who work the perfume counter. She’s not going to like what she finds out. Also, she’s just his episode learned that her dad is having an affair with Catherine Martell, and in a fit of her own grief, has thrown herself into Agent Cooper’s bed, where Coop finds her in the concluding moments of this episode.

#twin peaks #david lynch #cooper's dream #tv #television #review #commentary

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