Arctic Light

Not gonna lie, I have hopes of dragging other people into this fandom hell sweet iddy show with me if I can, especially since this is probably going to be my playground for indulgent h/c for the next little while. (I've already written quite a bit, and there's more on the way ...)

The problem with Iron Fist (well, one of them) is that it's hard to rec because a lot of people bounce off the first season, and bounce hard. The second season is tighter, better written, does a much better job with Chinatown, and fixes basically everything that was an issue in season one. Unfortunately there's a lot in season one that sets up the character relationships in season two. And some people really do love season one! (I did, with some caveats.) So basically I'd recommend trying season one, and if you find yourself bouncing off but still want to try to get to the good stuff (and there is a lot of good stuff!), you can:

- Watch 1x01 and 1x12-1x13, which will establish the major characters and relationships in S2.
- Skip straight to 2x01. You'll miss some setup, but you can always go back and watch later.
- Watch season one while FF'ing through everything to do with ninjas, China, or kung fu. This was pretty much what I did in the early eps, before getting completely hooked by season's end.

The reason why it's worth it, and the reason why this ended up being my favorite of the four main Defendersverse shows (leaving aside Punisher, which I also adore and is kind of its own thing) is because this show is just so goddamn optimistic about people, and this universe (theirs or ours, frankly) could use some optimism. This is a show about family and love and connection and belonging, and characters actively seeking out those things and learning to build healthy supportive relationships with each other even when they come from terribly abusive/lonely/damaged backgrounds and screw up a lot along the way.

I think people who bounced off of, or noped out on, the other Netflix MCU shows because of the violence, grittiness, or darkness might like this one better. It's a lot more escapist, lighter, and more optimistic. The first season is essentially an off-its-rocker soap opera with ninjas; the second season is more tightly plotted, less batshit, and pays off on a lot of the character setup in really satisfying ways.

It also has some darn good canon hurt/comfort.

And yeah, it's cancelled now, which means (leaving aside the possibility of a revival or the characters turning up in other Netflix shows) two seasons is all there is, and unlike a lot of shows I've loved and lost along the way, it doesn't end on a forever cliffhanger. It's got a very solid ending that wraps up the character arcs in a satisfying way and, while clearly designed as a tease for season three, doesn't feel unfinished, but more like a springboard for further adventures. Unlike the other Netflix Marvel shows, it doesn't tear things down in season two; it builds things up and leaves the characters better than they were before.

There's a list of enticements under the cut - these are mildly spoilery, but just in the general sense of where things are headed that may not be apparent from early season one, rather than specifics.

( Enticements! )

Viewing order:

Because this show is part of the Defendersverse shows and the characters pop up all over, here is the order in which the IF-related shows take place:

1. Iron Fist season one
2. Defenders (includes a lot of Danny & Colleen, and sets up Iron Fist season 2)
3. Luke Cage season 2 - not a must-watch for IF purposes, but includes IF crossover characters in 2 episodes, and also provides setup/background for Misty, who is one of the major IF characters in season 2. The Iron Fist crossover eps are 2x03 (Misty & Colleen) and 2x10 (Danny & Luke).
4. Iron Fist season two

I think you can probably get away with just watching IF 1 & 2 without watching the other shows, but I was glad that I watched Defenders and most of Luke Cage in between; it does help a lot with character setup and generally understanding their universe better.

Basically I love this sweet, charming, well-intentioned kung fu soap opera and I want to be able to share it with other people! I'm requesting/offering it for Yuletide, plan to request/offer for Festivids, and will probably have it as one of my perennial exchange fandoms for awhile, which means that if you like this show and you like my writing, the odds of getting fic from me are very high. :D

Note: I know this show may not be for a lot of people. That's totally fine! I don't mind at all if you don't like it, don't want to watch it, or find it severely problematic. I would prefer not getting comments just to tell me that, though.



ETA: I also realized I should add a list of potentially triggery/squee-harshing stuff (contains some spoilers). Set off a bit so it can be skipped if desired.

( Potentially triggery/squee-harshing content )

I've gotten into a couple of new shows in the last month or so, and since I'm making another stab at getting back on DW for awhile, I thought maybe I'd open up by telling you what I'm into these days and why they're awesome so you can try them too, if you want. :D

First of all: Stranger Things



What is it? It's an 8-episode miniseries on Netflix, a period horror/suspense show set in 1983. The first season aired last year as a self-contained miniseries - there's a sequel hook at the very end, but otherwise it wraps up all its storylines in a satisfying way - and it got renewed, so there will be a new 8-episode season dropping on Oct. 27. TWO WEEKS!!!

What's it about? It's obviously inspired by Stephen King, ET, and kid/teen movies of the 1980s in general. The basic concept is Plucky Kids Fight Monsters. There are three different sets of characters - the little kids, the teenagers, and the adults, each of whom have their own storyline as they separately investigate different aspects of creepy goings-on in small-town Indiana in 1983, picking up different pieces of the puzzle that finally come together at the end.

Why is it awesome/why might I want to try it? If you're in a mood for 80s nostalgia, the period feeling is basically perfect, from the clothes and hairstyles to the music and even the camera angles. It's such a good period show that I kept trying to calculate how old the actors were in the modern day and then going "Wait, no, this show was filmed last year!"

But even if you couldn't care less about period nostalgia, it's a very solidly written show with fantastic child actors, well-constructed storylines full of twists, A+ use of All The Tropes (from eerie psychic kids to mysterious top-secret government facilities to creepy supernatural things happening with ordinary household appliances). I loved the characters, and there's a very shippable OT3.

Plus Winona Ryder's in it.

What might turn me off? Well, demographically speaking, it's very true to the source material, which is to say - mostly white cast, all het romances, etc. (The OT3 isn't canon, alas.) There's also the fact that it's horror, although it's not extreme horror. The level of gore/creepiness is similar to Supernatural, so if you can handle that, you can probably handle this.

Anything else? NEW SEASON! OCTOBER 27! THEY'RE GOING TO KILL ALL MY BABIES AND BREAK UP MY SHIPS AND I WILL DIE!! Okay, hopefully not.

There's also a really cute and addictive phone game with adorable retro graphics (similar to a 1980s run-and-jump-on-things arcade game, e.g. Legend of Zelda or old-school Mario).

I haven't had another serious fan-addiction in the two years that I've been in SGA fandom. I've realized this because I'm currently in the middle of a full-blown, reading-every-fanfic, brain-swamped-with-plotbunnies Life on Mars addiction. No worries, I really don't see myself dropping out of the SGA fandom. I have too many stories to finish (including my Big Bang one with naye), and too much love, time and friendship invested in the fandom to just walk away; besides which, even if I do get a bit apathetic for a while, I have no doubt that Season 5 will refresh my interest. However, if I'm a bit scarce in SGA-land for a little while, it's because my brain has been taken over by the boys (and girls) of A-Division.

I'm also learning to use del.icio.us, since the launch into a new fandom seemed like a good time to explore its features. (The idea of trying to bookmark all the SGA fic I've read and enjoyed makes my brain explode -- there are 900 stories in my SGA fanfic stories folder on my hard drive, and those are just the ones I felt were good enough that I wanted to save them in case they ever disappeared off the Internet!) Anyway, the only thing that's given me a little trouble so far is that I'm so used to comma-delimited tags in LJ that I keep trying to separate my tags with commas and ending up with duplicate tags with commas on the end. Luckily that's easy to fix. My del.icio.us username is, of course, friendshipper if you want to watch me flail around trying to find a tagging system that makes it easy for me to go back and find stuff.

Also, a vid rec!

Devotion by cherryice
This is a stunningly gorgeous vid to "Devotion" by Tracy Chapman - season 1 footage, no major spoilers that I noticed. For me, at least, it does a really beautiful job of capturing the feeling of the series, of Sam's life and all of the characters' struggle to keep their soul and sanity intact in their violent world.