fannishliss

According to the National Day Calendar that Clint gave Steve last Christmas, December 5 is National Bathtub Party Day.  Steve and Bucky love any excuse to relax and enjoy themselves!


"Wow Steve, I really love taking a bubble bath here in our own rooftop paradise!"
"No kidding!  Thanks to Wakandan shield tech, we can have this tropical oasis on top of our Brooklyn Heights brownstone!"
"Mmm, I love it when you wash my hair."
"And when you come out, the bathtub party is just beginning!"
"Yup.  Wonder what other folks do to celebrate Bathtub Party Day?"

* * *

Meanwhile, in Hell's Kitchen....

"Rand! What the hell are you doing here?"
"Hi Matt! it's Bathtub Party Day!  I brought you this bottle of 1996 Dom Perignon, just in case you happened to be celebrating!  And hey, if your water goes cold, I have this Fist....!"
"Dammit, Danny, stay out of my tub with your fist.  And I'm not bathing, this is where I sleep, because of my angst and guilt...."
"I'm opening this bottle....!"
....
"Hey. It's true what they say, that expensive champagne does actually taste better. Thanks, Danny."
"You're welcome, Matt.  I mean, for $49,000 it oughta be good, right?"
*sputter*
"I'm ... drinking... what?"
"Ha ha.  No... this is just an every day $499 bottle, but it is the same vintage, and we do actually have that gold-plated one in the Rand cellar!"
"Danny... no!  Sell it and give it to the orphanage!"
"Oh.  Okay!"

* * *

Over at 177A Bleecker Street, Stephen Strange gets an unlooked for Bathtub Surprise of his own:

*burbling*
*hissing*
*a foul chthonic tongue, the likes of which mortal mind cannot bear to contemplate*

"By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth! Back from whence you came, foul denizens of the darkest depths!"

*devilish quacking*
*farting*

"Now that's just rude.... Wong, where's the plunger in this place?!?!"

I finally finished watching Iron Fist last night, and I liked it a lot.

That's not to say it didn't have its problems, it did... but it's a more complicated show than critics originally realized when they were given the first six episodes.  The full series is 13 eps, and it has a lot of developments and twists.

Here is a very good article that evaluates the show, taking into account the problem of cultural appropriation, and still giving it a B, so that is pretty good.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2017/03/20/iron-fist-is-weakest-marvel-netflix-series-but-offers-b-grade-action-fun/#343a05ad7acf
I appreciate this critic for having a good handle on the cultural appropriation topic, which I think is slippery and difficult. He takes the criticism seriously and works with it at face value without trying to make excuses, which is important.

If you read the whole article, it does a very good job laying out the problems and how the show treats them -- not based on the first six eps, but based on the full show, which comes to conclusions you may not expect.

The characters of Colleen Wing and Claire Temple are standouts in this show, and worth watching.  There are some inconsistencies, but they are handled well overall.  Claire is definitely the main glue which will eventually bind the Defenders together with her no-nonsense code.

I didn't like Ward much, but I liked Joy, and Harold was fun to hate, with his crazy energy.  Really liked Bakuto a lot.  Watch for his capoeira style!!

I'd be glad to hear what others thought.  If you were turned off by the bad reviews, I'd say, it is worth watching.  If you were turned off by the idea of Danny as a white savior, the show makes clear that he is a typical Marvel character -- messed up, confused, conflicted, and not nearly so infallible as he would like to be. In his heart he is a ten year old boy, regardless of his fighting skills.   Just like Matt and Jessica, he is an orphan, and not a very emotionally mature one.  (Luke is by far the most emotionally mature, and of course Claire takes the trophy.)