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ruffiorocks · 6 years ago

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James Olsen and Why he is a terrible character. (Anti James, in case it isn't clear).

So I've been thinking a lot about James Olsen and the reasons why I don't like him that have nothing to do with him getting in the way of Supercorp.

The truth is I haven't liked James Olsen since the first episode. He isn't James Olsen to me. I know I know they changed up the character and people often do this. But James Olsen is a canon and iconic nerd with a camera. To be honest if I didn't know who the characters were already I'd have clocked Winn as James, Winn is more James Olsen than this James is.

I disliked him almost immediately, he was basically there for a fresh start but he also took it upon himself to keep an eye on Kara. I didn't like the fact that he knew Kara's secret, something she should have control over. Imagine if she had just out right told Winn who Clark was? (OK,she and James kind of did by accident while arguing but that's beside the point).

James also instantly started flirting with Kara, probably not what Clark had in mind. Isn't there a bro code? No sisters or only living relatives?

James and Winn both acted all put out when they realized that they both knew Kara’s secret, ‘you told him?!’ Well actually Kara told Winn, she didnt tell James. Neither one has the right to feel indignant here. Kara is allowed more than one person in the know and more than one friend.

James and Winn started a pointless rivalry over who was going to get with Kara, instead of just being the friends she needed. They both even said that Kara wouldn't be into Adam since she wasn't into either one of them!!

James didn't believe that Kara could deal with issues on her own. He told her that even Clark couldn't beat Reactron, therefore there is no way Kara could. He immediately called Clark when she was fighting him, granted he was worried, but it wasnt his place to decide Kara wasn't capable. Especially when it turns out she was capable.

Then Lucy turned up, Kara discovers this by walking in on her and James. James it turns out hadn’t exactly fully broken up with Lucy. She spent time on her career while he neglected her in favor of being up Superman’s ass. She was understandably upset about this. But he decides they should give it another try! He completely forgets that he had been leading Kara on from the moment he set eyes on her. Now his ‘sort of ex’ turns up and Kara is a distant memory. Or is she? James decides that he is still going to give Kara longing looks, which isnt fair on either Kara or Lucy. Granted he doesn't want to take Lucy to game night, but he does and he spends time bonding with Lucy right in front of Kara, no regard for her feelings, and he gives her longing looks all night.

James then starts neglecting Lucy in favor of running to Supergirls side whenever she needs him. Once again doing the same thing he did that caused Lucy to leave the first time. This eventually causes Lucy to leave again, and i dont blame her. Thankfully she doesnt hate Kara for it.

I think General Lane had it right ‘You’re a glorified paparazzi’ yes, he is. That is James’s strength and he should have stuck to it. ‘You surround yourself with special people but that doesnt make YOU special’. Yes, right again General lane. James does do this, he is always surrounded by Superheroes and seems to leech off of their fame.

Remember how into Kara James was? Up until he realized that she in fact not perfect! After the Red K incident, Kara went to see James and apologize and he didnt want anything to do with her. He realized she had faults, and women apparently cant have these, so he basically gets her to leave. Ill give him kudos for not getting with her when she came onto him at the club though.

When Barry Allen turned up James was once again instantly jealous, even though he was the one who had basically rejected Kara. Kara wasn’t even into Barry, she was just excited to have a new friend with Super powers. ‘Jealousy! Thy name is Olsen’ Yes Winn, you are absolutely right! She is allowed friends James!

Season 2 James isnt much better, he has less redeeming qualities. He is instantly jealous of Mon El. He tells Kara that Mon El isnt a hero, like he gets to make that decision. He basically decides to become a hero because everyone else around him was one, Clark and Kara were super heroes, Alex and Lucy worked for the DEO, Jonn was part of the DEO and has powers, Winn even got brought in to work for the DEO, oh and Mon El was instantly welcomed to be a hero and be at the DEO. I see James becoming a ‘hero’ because he was simply feeling left out. At one point he just turns up at the DEO to see Winn. How is he getting past security? Even Jonn tells him to leave and go back to being a photographer.

James talks Winn into basically stealing materials from the DEO to make him a suit, then he gets all pissed at Winn because Winn is taking his time and he does actually have a job! He doesn't want James to get hurt with an uncompleted suit, but no, James is so demanding and yells at Winn! So desperate to be relevant.

He does in fact nearly get himself killed and Kara is understandably pissed! Yes its not up to Kara who gets to be a hero, James uses Mon El as an example here, The difference is though that Mon El had super powers and James had a tin suit and a black belt. James uses the fact that he ‘has a black belt’ as justification for him being a hero. Sorry, but who doesn't have a back belt now? James doesnt even train, he just gets his suit and jumps straight in. Even Kara and Alex had to train! Remember how cocky Kara was and Alex kicked her ass? Alex wasnt even allowed out in the field until months of training! (Her words) But James apparently can just jump in with no issue. I really dont get why Alex didnt put a stop to this.

Anyone who says ‘well Batman, Green Arrow, White Canary etc’ can do it. Yeah but Batman was was trained by the League of Assassins, same as Sara. Oh and Oliver Queen trained and survived for years on a desert Island. He trains every day honing his skills. Do we ever see James train at all?

Then we have James being instantly against Lena. No evidence against her, just her name and the fact that she is related to Lex. He is so prejudice against her, he even vows to prove to Kara that she is guilty, even though she isnt and he doesnt get to prove this.

James is left in charge of Cat Co? Such a dumb story line, What does a photo journalist know about running a multi media empire? Honestly Kara as Cat’s assistant would know more about it that James!

When Lena saves Cat Co, James is surprised she turns up and is staying there. What did he think was going to happen? She would pay millions of dollars for a company and not care about what was going on? ‘Thanks for saving us, i was thinking of setting up weekly meetings and carrying on running Cat Co the way i want to’. Yeah, Lena kind of shot that down didn't she?! ‘Ill be here everyday’ ‘We dont even have an office for you?’ Well she is entitled to your office now James, but she didn't take it did she?. Yes Lena set up meetings without telling James, which she probably shouldn't have, but maybe she wanted to see what was going on without his influence? Even whens she asked why Kara kept running off on the first day James was rude to her and said ‘She’s a reporter its what she does!’.

Then suddenly we have an awkward flirtation. We have that awkward kiss, then James and his creepy hand on Lena’s bare shoulder. Even she looks uncomfortable and squirms out of his grasp. He looks surprised and a little miffed she isnt allowing this. She calls Kara and James ex and he allows her to believe that, this simply isnt true. They had one date at Kara’s loft, then Mon El turned up and Kara forgot she ever liked James.

James had the gall to tell Lena he knew her better than her own best friend does! I mean What the actual f**k?!! Lena steps down when she is under suspicion, somethng James cant bring himself to do later when he is involved with he COL.

James reveals himself as Guardian, no regard for how this will effect Lena in anyway as his boss and girlfriend. He has zero respect for her as his boss. She tells him to stay the hell away from the Children of Liberty and to do the interview with Ben Lockwood. He completely disregards her and goes off to meet with some random member of an Anti Alien Nazi group. he even told her that her opinion didnt matter. No, sorry James but yes it does! If i was Lena id have sacked his ass!

Lena still saves his ass from going to prison for a long time, all the while he insists he can handle it on his own, how? I want to know how he thought he could do that? In fact he doesn't actually do anything to fix the issue. He then throws it in Lena’s face when she tells him not to go back out as Guardian because he will be arrested. Something he doesn't care about because he is so desperate to be relevant and involved. He throws the fact she worries to much and he sorted the DA problem out, forcing her to be like ‘For Gods sake! I did that you moron!’ (i know she didnt say this). He even has the gall to be pissed she saved his ass and he isnt in prison. She tells him she loves him and throws it in her face!

He decided the Children of Liberty decided to be given a voice for some bizarre reason?! He actually thought that by listening to them he could get to know them and change the minds. What a pig headed and dumb thing to think! Good intentions or not that was incredibly nieve and stupid.

He nearly killed Kara by blowing her up, something that could have been avoided altogether if he had just listened to everyone around him and stopped being friends with COL. But no, he knew best?

Lately, he told Lena he supported her, but he clearly didn't since he looked awkward as hell when he was sat up in bed with her asleep beside him. She gave him opportunity to tell her how he felt but instead of talking to her, he placated her and went back to bed with her!

Last episode, he told Lena their relationship was basically over if she went ahead and took the government contact. Simply because he didn't agree he was willing to end them. It's not like she was about to so something evil! But she has to live up to his impossible standards. The poor girl can't win. I'd of ended it with him to. Again, James's opinion on these things aren't really relevant, he can disagree yes, he can have an opinion. But anything he says doesn't matter, he isn't part of the DEO, he isn't a member of the government. He isn't even Guardian anymore because he's not allowed to be. All he is is a CEO of a magazine. He doesn't get a say. This is very like when he gave up on Kara for a while when she suddenly had faults and she wasn't what he envisioned. Same as Lucy, she doesn't give him the power and eveything he wants and suddenly it's over.

James should have continued to be a photographer and stuck to that. He's at his best when taking pictures. He believes he deserves to be a hero, it's 'his calling'. No it isn't, do you think it would be his 'calling' if he wasnt associated with actual heroes? Of course not. All I see a jealous, immature guy who sees those around him being heroes and being relevant to the defence of the world and he feels the need to be part of it. He could have been a different type of hero with his camera. Once he got some authority he suddenly became even more arrogant and had a sense of self entitliment. He dated his boss and suddenly thought he didn't have to listen to her. He could act on his own accord. Not one thought to what Cat Co's CEO'S affiliation with an Anti Alien Terrorist Group would do his girlfriends reputation. Poor Lena who has gone out of her way to distance herself from anti alien sentiment, James used her company for his own self gain. Then he got pissed at her when she tried to protect him, all the while thinking of him, maybe she was thinking of protecting her company to. He doesn't think of her even once. He actually pushes her so far she had to pull rank on him. Something he still had the arrogance to ignore. It's all about James and what James wants.

James is a fool who thinks he should be a hero. He wants women to be exactly what he expects them to be. If they do things he doesn't approve of he suddenly loses interest .

James should either leave, go back to Metropolis or go back to being the photographer he should be.

FYI, James does have good qualities, but they doesn't outweigh his bad ones.

#lena luthor #supergirl #kara danvers #anti james olsen #anti guardiancorp

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minaminokyoko · 6 years ago

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Venom: A Spoilertastic Review (that is mostly just a rant)

When the end credits to the Venom movie started, just as Eminem began his embarrassingly uninspired rapping, I turned my head to one of my two friends and asked her, "What the hell did I just put into my eyeballs?"

To be frank, Venom is one of the most peculiar, bizarre, baffling films I've seen in years.

I want to preface this review by saying I was against this idea when it was announced. I thought it was beyond idiotic to make a film about a supervillain whose entire creation hinges on a certain Webhead, and since Sony lent him out to Marvel Studios (the only smart fucking decision they've made in probably over a decade, imo), they went off half-cocked with the hair-brained idea that they could create an anti-hero solo flick for Venom instead. To some degree, sure, they were warranted because the general audience these days has low fucking standards and if you put the words "comic book movie" in front of them, they're usually going to lap it up no matter how terrible it is. After all, fandom doesn't care about things being accurate anymore, by this point, if you dangle fresh meat like Tom Hardy riding a motorcycle in front of them. As long as there's an attractive person at the helm, fandom will just adopt it as canon and ignore any red flags, as they have already done. That being said, I still think this is one of the most blatantly stupid things done for money and for notoriety from any studio toting around a popular comic book character.

Is Venom as bad as legendary awful comic book movies like Catwoman, The Spirit, Batman & Robin, Daredevil, Green Lantern, or Spawn?

Well, no.

And that's almost the only positive thing I can report about it, personally.

In short, Venom is inept. That's the word I'd choose, aside from bizarre. It has no fucking clue what it's doing at any given time, from start to finish. It's too wacky to be serious, too serious to be a parody or satire, too mature for kids, too childish for adults, too mainstream for nerds, and too nerdy for mainstream. It's just a piping hot fucking mess.

So let's dive into why. Spoiler alert.

Overall Rating: D

Pros:

-Note: I am being very fucking generous by giving this movie points for anything at all, just so y'all know.

-It's not boring. Other comic book movies that have failed, whether it's the really bad kind or just the mediocre kind, have failed worse than this movie simply because at least there aren't any dead periods. Venom doesn't have awful pacing, even with its sloppy, uneven story. It moves along at a steady rate and you can never accuse it of being a borefest like Superman Returns or something. Even though most of it is incomprehensible from a story standpoint, it keeps your attention throughout.

-The doctor boyfriend surprisingly averted the usual stereotype/archetype for this kind of story. For example, in the first Ant Man, the cop boyfriend who is with Scott's baby mama is a smug, overprotective dickhead who later gets better. Most of the time when a main couple breaks up, the girl picks some douchebag who is either so much better than her former lover that it just feels insulting or it's just a one-dimensional asshole for us to hate so we want the two of them to get back together. Hell, doctor boyfriend was actually TOO nice and understanding and helpful. There is no way in hell I'd have stuck it out after seeing Eddie bite the head off a goddamn lobster. I'd have sent his ass to a mental hospital immediately, fuck the regular hospital. That being said, I like the movie averting the trope. It was a welcome change and was awfully refreshing too.

-Even though this is one of his strangest fucking performances to date, Tom Hardy is doing what he always does and gives 110% to a film that really doesn't even deserve him. I've already been hearing rumors that he's not pleased with the final product and that doesn't surprise me, but he does what he can with that awful script and I appreciate the effort. In fact, the only reason I sat through this turd is for Tom Hardy. He is a dedicated, talented actor and even when he's in tripe, he's still busting his beautiful ass to make the best of it anyway. I like him a lot and I'd go to bat for him any day, which is the only reason I coughed up the money for Venom when I knew damn well it'd be a trainwreck.

-The effects are at least decent. Not always. But Venom and the symbiotes actually feel as if they're really there and it's not just the actors staring at a ball on a stick. I appreciate it, since Sony goes in and out of quality regarding CGI.

-Despite the fucking travesty of a fake clown wig on his head, Woody Harrelson is an excellent choice for Cletus Kasady. Everyone knows that. I just hope they get him a better hairpiece next time, sheesh.

Cons:

-Jesus fucking Christ, where do I fucking start?

-Plotholes. This movie doesn't have plotholes--it has plot canyons. It's plothole Inception, for God's sake, with holes inside of fucking holes. It's so clear that the movie doesn't give a rat's ass about anything because there are some of the most ridiculous moments you're expected to swallow with the power of Willing Suspension of Disbelief. It's why it took me a whole two days to try and write a review/analysis of the film. There is so much wrong with it that I frankly wasn't sure where to start and how to process it all. The best I can try to do considering the overwhelming number of holes in the story is go chronologically. First off, Eddie stealing Blondie's confidential documents (Note: Michelle Williams' character was so bland and unimportant I can't remember her name and I don't care to look it up because we all know she doesn't matter, so she is now Blondie) but then not doing his actual job as a journalist when making wild accusations is the first monumentally dumb thing in the film. Why the hell did he go through the trouble of breaching her personal security and trust if all he was going to do was rant about it to the Bad Guy without proof? What did he think it would accomplish? Why would you just confront the guy instead of looking for more proof? Plus, you stole that information, which means it's inadmissable in court since it was obtained illegally, so you still wouldn't have a case anyhow. Any writer with half a brain cell would simply have it so that Eddie read the document, became curious, and started snooping around Life Foundation himself looking for hard evidence that would stand up in court to get justice for the victims. The way they did it in the film makes no sense, but it's because they wanted to bust up the couple and make Eddie a "loser" to kickstart the rest of the film. Then, the girl who tattled on the Life Foundation 100% did not need Eddie Brock to do that. She had full access to the lab and the trust of her superior. All she had to do was document everything herself, send it to Eddie to pass along to his boss, and then skip town with her fucking kids to avoid being murdered. Hell, she could have given it to the authorities anonymously. Third, why after everything went tits up in the lab did she fucking return to the lab as if they wouldn't immediately know it was her? She was seen outside the lab seconds before Eddie set off the alarms and her palm print is recorded having opened the door to the lab. Why the fuck did she go back after she let Eddie in there with no way to cover her tracks? And then she actually told on herself and Eddie, which led to her death. I can't comprehend that level of stupidity at all. It's staggering. Because I'm trying not to turn this into a seven-page single spaced review, I'm just going to stop here and not try to point out all the other plotholes in detail, like the fact that the cops only get involved one time and are never seen again despite the fact that they'd be all over the explosions and missing people associated with the Life Foundation or Eddie's phone working perfectly after he swam under the fucking bridge or Eddie leaving his phone for his boss instead of just sending him the goddamn pictures or the symbiote magically knowing where Eddie was after they took him from the hospital. We'll be here all day if I keep going. I'll just reblog CinemaSins' eventual video of this movie and feel satisfied that way.

-The movie makes zero attempts at explaining anything about the symbiotes except for "they're vulnerable to fire and sound frequencies, need a host to survive, and eat brains." What is even stranger about the lack of explanation is that this isn't a long film. They could have easily added about ten minutes into the story to give us an overview of where they came from, what their world was like, how they found human contact, and why they were on that comet. All we can do is infer things, which pisses me off because this is YOUR story and YOUR new continuity that you just fucking made up on the fly, so I don't know the rules here and it's shitty of you to just gloss over it all. Why is it called Venom? Is that a translation from whatever the hell the symbiote was called on its own planet? Did it hear that somewhere and decide it liked the word? Why? Why does it get touchy if you call it a parasite when that is literally what it is? Is it like Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective and it's just in denial? We have to guess that it knows whatever Eddie knows, but why does it have any conceptual knowledge of romance and relationships when it attempts to get Eddie to apologize to Blondie or when it says it "likes" her? Or that Eddie "changed its mind" at the end? And how can a symbiote even be a loser? That concept is almost universally human and it's a giant sentient piece of fucking tar? How can it possibly be a loser on its own planet? There is just no damn context for majority of the shit surrounding the symbiotes in the movie and it's all the more frustrating since we spend a great deal of time in the lab with them during the movie and yet we learn almost nothing.

-Eddie and the symbiote don't actually form a proper bond or partnership. This is one of the things that's irritating me about people who seem to have taken to the movie. I was told multiple times by people that the movie is stupid, but the repartee between Eddie and Venom is enjoyable. Not really, no. Are there quips? Yes, there are quips. But quips do not inherently create a bond. Anyone can bounce dialogue off each other. If said dialogue does not change the characters, then it's just lip service. Sadly, though, a lot of people don't notice that absolutely nothing between Eddie and Venom lines up. Venom helps Eddie survive the attacks, but is killing him in the process. It's self-interest alone. The truly confounding part is when they get Venom off of Eddie and find out Venom has basically been consuming Eddie's organs to stay alive inside him, Eddie acts betrayed and storms off, but then when Venom returns wearing Blondie as his guise, he just accepts it and they go off to the badly filmed climax. What the hell changed in between those scenes? Nothing. Eddie still runs the risk of dying being piloted by the symbiote, and while Eddie has motivation to stop Bad Guy (again, another character that is so thin I can't be bothered to learn his name) from bringing the symbiotes to earth, Venom is given zero reason to want that at all. As mentioned above, there's no backstory. Is Venom concerned his race will consume the earth? If so, who cares? There's seven billion people and Venom has already found Eddie, who is a suitable match for him to survive, so why does he care at all? Eddie would survive an invasion anyhow. It makes no damn sense. Films that have dealt with symbiotic relationships always establish a common ground at some point but Venom doesn't for some inexplicable reason. I'm incredibly frustrated that everyone's just going "tee hee, look, they're best friends now, it's cute" when in fact Eddie is just running around committing murder randomly without ever really contemplating how serious it is, even though he claims to only be eating bad people.

-Nitpick: Fridging two different female characters, the homeless lady and the Life Foundation tattletale, rubbed me entirely the wrong way. Both of them were in Eddie's vicinity, both die, and both are never brought up again or shown to have impacted Eddie's motivation or life. They are simply used and discarded, which is another thing that makes this movie feel so hollow.

-The tone is all over the fucking place. It can be argued that Venom never went full serious and is always sort of tongue-in-cheek, but there's just this ridiculous whiplash feeling when you watch it spike from an action scene to "wacky" Brock antics to Venom quips. Eddie's personality even before the symbiote is just confusing as hell. It's like stuffing a bunch of random character traits into one man and all of them are fighting to get out at once like the characters from Split. The most consistent thing is he's sarcastic, but even then his moods range far too widely to get a bead on him. He can be dry one minute and then frantic and excitable the next, and that's before the symbiote. After the symbiote, it's like they gave Tom Hardy cocaine and steroids. The man's acting is simply all over the damn place. He accepts near-impossible things sometimes with a shrug and other times he freaks out. The movie just doesn't know what the hell it's attempting to accomplish, and that's why mood and tone are important to set from the get-go with a film. It just slingshots between a faux-horror film and a snippy action flick over and over again until your head feels pulverized.

-The final action sequences is one of the dumbest, messiest things since Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. It's an ugly, dark, jumbled up mess. It's so indistinguishable that Godzilla (2014) can take potshots at it. Why in perfect blue hell did they choose two symbiotes with such similar appearances to showdown with each other on top of a rocket at night? It's so hard to see what the two of them are doing, who is winning or losing, or what kind of movement is happening at all. We also are never given the full range of their abilities, so the only real stake is when they pull off their hosts and their bodies are vulnerable, but even then it appears that Venom can raise Eddie from the dead seconds later anyhow. I'm stunned the movie couldn't even do a fake out death properly, which is so fucking easy that even Disney can do it. Eddie dies and is revived in less than fifteen goddamn seconds. The camera doesn't even linger on his body to sell the emotion (not that we'd ever have one, he is just barely a character anyway) before it just takes it right the hell back. That's filmmaking 101, for God's sake, and the movie blows it too.

-The last scene in the movie. In its entirety. I haven't been that exasperated since I stupidly forced myself to watch Pacific Rim: Uprising. There are so many things wrong with it that it's hard to know how to tackle it. I don't care that Eddie stopped that guy from extorting the shop owner--he openly turned into a 10 foot tall alien and ate a guy in front of her, and the movie just laughs and shrugs like it's just totally fine, like that woman isn't about to lose her shit, call the cops, or fuck, the NSA/FBI/CIA/Avengers on Eddie for making her a witness to murder, and endangering pretty much anyone around them. To say nothing of the fact that there is no reason a 10 foot tall alien with a million sharp teeth needs to say a single word to threaten someone. You are the threat, buddy. Your existence is the threat. Why did you need to insist on threatening to bite things off? You're terrifying and nothing you say is going to somehow make you scarier, especially when you just ate the guy anyway. It's like they just made that scene for the final trailer, much like that "I thought she was with you" comment all the way back in Batman v. Superman despite in-canon it made no sense. It's so unnecessary. And don't get me started on the fact that the crook actually asked the giant alien who it is. Fuck you. That was a lazy, transparent attempt to spoonfeed the wretched cliche that Michael Keaton's Batman made famous. (Consequently, all movies ever, please stop doing this cliche. Stop it. Just find another way to announce yourself. It's really tired, y'all, let it go already.) No human would ever look at that thing and ask it who the fuck it is. He'd piss himself and die of fright. Period. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Piss. Die. Period.

-Nitpick: Why was there that weird Godzilla (2014) trailer noise every time Venom attacked someone? Did they just steal it from public domain? They used it almost like the Inception horn cliche that Hollywood was obsessed with for a while and it took me right out of the scene every damn time.

-Nitpick: They really thought we're so stupid that we needed Kasady to actually say his character's name out loud. Look, you fuckers, you know goddamn well that end credits scenes are extras and that people can go home and Google things instead of you literally spelling it out for us. Hell, you know that not that many Average Joes and mainstream people went to this movie anyway since Venom is a second-stringer villain and your main demographic is die-hard Eddie Brock fans anyway. So having Kasady say the damn name “Carnage” in the post credits scene really was the final fart in my general direction. Give us some fucking credit, man. Venom has barely five plotlines to his whole character anyway. Of course we knew you were going to drop Carnage for the Sequel Hook, you condescending twat of a film.

Look, I get it. I'm hypercritical because I write fiction for a living. There are plenty of movies where turning your brain off is required in order to enjoy it, but I think this movie is asking me to get an entire lobotomy to be able to swallow the big-ass pill it's offering. It's just so sloppy and uncaring and yet it's holding its grubby little hands out for your money and your love and I think it's undeserving of it on every last level. It has zero comprehension of what it's trying to accomplish since it's a money grab, and its artistic choices are nothing short of bonkers. It's so strange that it even veers outside of the So Bad It's Good category for me. I can't in good confidence recommend it to anyone even though it's almost like a study in what not to do in both comic book movies and movies in general. It's weird in a distasteful way rather than in a charming way for me, honestly. I know people have rallied around it for being different and out there, but I don't think different and good are the same thing in Venom's case.

#Venom #Venom 2018 #Eddie Brock #film review #movie review #film rant #rant #movie rant #spoilers #spoiler alert #don't @ me #i don't care #anti Venom

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ralfstrashcan · 7 years ago

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3x04 Reaction

I apologize in advance. This is long.* But, hopefully worth it.

- Well, Lilith,

tho I wonder who put those flowers there. Did she go out and buy them to have something to destroy in a fit of rage? It would have been more dramatic if all the ceramics exploded.... on that note, who the hell was that big ass table set for? Certainly not for the disciples. And again, who did that?

- Don't get me wrong, I love that shot with Jace slow walking into the Institute, but it makes no sense. Like, did he really just take half an hour out of his schedule for this? Shouldn't he hurry to save Morgan's DNA or something? And no one of the other Shadowhunters questioned that he was lingering in the hallway? Weird.

- Random Shadowhunter Dude being promoted to Head of Security. My immediate thought: I'm sure he's gonna die before the episode is out and Izzy will get his position lol.

- Also “If you have a minute I'd love to pick your brain.” Does that mean it was Jace's position before RSD got promoted?! So many questions! Tho, if that is true, it is no question at all why Alec appointed someone new, because Jace clearly is the wrongest choice for that job there is. What drug was Alec on to appoint Jace in the first place? (Magnus, probably.)

- RSD just accepting Jace ignoring him means (in my eyes) that Jace acting like an a-hole is a common occurrence. Who's surprised?

- Does that mean Clary has the unique ability to shake Jace out of his Lilith-induced-Trance? If so Lilith really must think the NY Shadowhunters super dumb if she thinks having Jace walking around like a super slow robot won't be noticed..... or she thinks really poorly of Jace's day-to-day socializing skillzZ.

- Okay, sorry, what. Alec clearly (and thankfully, because everything else would be dumb) turns off the intercom

but three shots later in Morgan's cell

Izzy's voice can be heard, distorted, as if coming through the intercom. Just, no. Also, does that mean Izzy already analyzed Morgan's cells and Jace failed? Well. That's what you get for slothing around in the hallway I guess.

- So much Yes for Maia. All the Yesses. Seriously. Honestly, I understand Luke's decision and I'm not saying that with Simon out of the picture the risk for bloody murder (for both Simon and the werewolves) hasn't considerably shrunk. BUT. Trying to argue why this decision was right or good is not okay. Hiding behind 'thousands of years of hate' is not okay. Abdicating your responsibility when you're the leader is not okay.

“And right now, I'm short on both.”

Excuse you, Luke, but if you learn one thing from being discriminated against it's that it is never never NEVER the right time for prejudiced people to change their minds, and those with a closed mind never will, if you wait for them to magically develop an open one. You have to pry it open with a crowbar and shove common sense and decency into it and even then it's probably a loosing battle for a long time and in most cases. Why didn't Luke say (and plan) that this is a temporary arrangement because clearly both Simon and the werewolve's physical integrity is in danger and until he's managed to get the wolves under control it is safer for everyone if Simon stays away. Maia wouldn't have been happy about that, but she experienced first hand how fraught Simon is with the prospect of hurting someone again, so maybe she could have accepted that. What Luke said however, was unacceptable. *sigh* I feel like in every other episode there's one character who draws the short straw and has to act really dumb and out of character to serve plot convenience. Guess it's Luke for this episode. Because what happened to “I just don't want to act until I know exactly what's going on” which was literally a day ago?! But okay, I get it, today is a new day so let's just insinuate that Simon was hurting these people deliberately because yolo. *SIGH* Conclusion: “I'm all for change” weeeell I liked the “I'm all for effort” line better. Just sayin'.

- lol the subtitle's just told me that the Blood Donation Guy is called Leo.

Seriously, how do they know these things?!

- I like that Kyle guy already but with every new character that I like I'm sensing imminent and terrible betrayal. Sebastian/Jonathan traumatized me, because even though I knew he was evil (because books.... like, the books CC wrote, not the ones in his apartment........) he was so nice and likable at the beginning :/

- I get the feeling Alec summoned Clary just to squeeze information out of her so I don't get why he didn't squeeze more forcefully because I have no doubt that he knows she is lying to his face. Also, I'm slowly getting the impression that being the Head of the Institute is a glorified title for ordering Jace, Izzy and Clary around or tapping aimlessly on a tablet.

- Oh my God bribing with a guitar I definitely like that Kyle guy! And I feel like he and Simon would make great friends and Simon so deserves a great friend who's not part of the Shadow World Madness because honestly I think he really misses mundaneaty.... mundaneness?... mundation.

- So Jace has a piano in his room.

Seriously, who paid for that. And I guess his grand piano (from 2x14)

is in his personal music room. Do they have drums, too, somewhere? A band called Rock Solid Institute? So many questions......!!!!11

- Who lit all the candles in Jace's room? The same person that lit all the candles in Lilith's home? Is that a subtle indication of kinship I need answers!!!

To appreciate his epic slow walk because nobody else did. Duh, Alec.

- Annnnnd once again we have a prime example of Jace snapping at Alec for no good reason other than that he is shit at communicating his feelings. I'm not bitter. Not one freakin' bit. (I am.) Then again, denial and lashing out at people in a time of desperation is something Alec does, too, occasionally, so there's that.

Are you shitting me right now, Clary? The sad part is, I don't think you are. Way to guilt-trip-talk Izzy into something she clearly doesn't want and deny her self-reflection in one go. Well done. Because clearly Izzy is the type of person that doesn't really know what she wants and doesn't understand herself. *epic eye roll* Does Clary even know her at all.

THE BEST

Maia is one ice cold lady. Tho I don't approve of her just steamrolling over Simon's very real concerns. You would think one of her pack mates possibly receiving life long paraplegia because of what the Seelie Queen did to Simon would make her a li'l more sensitive to the topic.

- I'm not gonna lie, I liked that scene with Luke and Jace because that's one really interesting dynamic but Jace could have easily gotten that info looking into the medic file. The length he goes to to avoid reading is really astounding. That's what I call commitment. If only he was as committed to being honest with his parabatai but whatever. Also, don't think I missed that cheap, cheap set up

for more Clace dependency instead of Jalec dependency. What is even the point of parabatai if you trust your significant other more in a time of need? I thought the whole purpose of parabatai is that this is the very first person you go to when you have a problem? But maybe I got that wrong?!

- Oh dear. I'm only now realizing that Heidi is that girl from 2x15. The show caught me off guard there, showing long term consequences for something that happened more than three episodes ago. I'm so slow on the uptake sometimes.

- Raphael to the rescue.... or not. Having his own weapons turned against him... ouch. For all her deranged behavior Heidi is clever. What a dangerous combination, I can't wait to see more. ........also now I fear for Kyle. What if he gets caught in the crossfire when Heidi comes for Simon? If he gets killed off in this episode I will be inconsolable.

- Suspiciously disappearing limp is suspicious. So if Kyle is a Downworlder he's probably a werewolf? Accelerated healing? But then he must have smelled Simon was a Vampire, right? No need for sneaking around each other? He can't be a Vampire himself because daytime, and I don't think I saw his ears so far but he seems very un-Seelie (unseemly ahahahahaa sorry but I'm not even sorry for this craptastic pun). So, ah, warlock? Do they have better healing? *facepalm* They have magic. Okay, yeah. He could be a warlock. That'd be super cool. I dig that. That'll be my head canon for how he escapes his untimely demise should Heidi get to him. Made an illusion, slipped through a portal. Kyle is safe, yesssss.

Oh my god I would pay so much money to see that. Also, notice how Magnus knows what Alec has and hasn't eaten all day even though they just see each other in the evening? I'm just leaving that here. Still waiting for them to hug, tho. It's Episode 4 already, seriously, what are they waiting for.

Yeah, to a person that has no respect for personal boundaries. And you don't even get to play the Drew-The-Shortest-Straw-This-Episode-Card, Clary, because you're always like this.

Oh, I don't know, maybe that dysfunctional addiction thing had something to do with it. But that's just a guess. What do I know. Also, if this is the start of a conversation where Izzy ''realizes'' that she's ''over Raphael'' and needs to ''start opening up'' to that dumb hospital dude then I'm gonna be so angry. And yes, those were a lot of air quotes. You really don't want to enforce the myth that when a woman ignores you and says no it really means yes, she just doesn't know it yet, because feelings, they're so confusing, how should a girl deal????? Just.... no.

Thank god. Dodged a bullet there. Also, all of a sudden Clary can accept Izzy's judgment of her own feelings. Why oh why.

He’s.... undead? Haha.

- Oh Raphael, what have you done. Very relatable though. I love ambiguity, it makes a character all that more human and gives him depth. It was wonderfully done here, with very few words. Also, I know what I'd love to see happen. Clary turning Raphael into a Daylighter as a last measure to save him (because from the promo I know Izzy and Clary end up there trying to save him). Worst Case Scenario: Raphael dies tragically just after Izzy decided to maybe give them a shot again. That would be really intolerable. And of course then Izzy would have to comfort herself with that dumb hospital dude. Yikes. Kidding. Even if Raphael died I don't believe she'd do that.

- Jace. Even with that Strength Rune activated it would be excruciatingly painful to rip off a necklace that thick.

What is wrong with you. (Dianna Agron: A lot.)

Oh my god thank you for that completely random totally not stiff sounding exposé of your actions, Lilith. Great work. And.... why is she surprised? This can't be the first time Jace broke free of her order. The mundane killings have been going on for a week now. Jace must have checked it at least once every day at the Institute and he and Clary touch plenty. So why exactly did it take her seven re-orderings to notice she had to re-order him once in a while? Because plot, that's why!! Edit: Okay, I think I understand it now. While Jace is awake the order is dormant and can't be broken. When Clary touched Jace earlier she didn't only wake him from his trance, she broke the order completely, so Jace wouldn't have become the demon again had he fallen asleep. Okay, great, everything figured out. Except...... why the hell didn't the order break the first time when she touched him while he was Owling Out during the fight in 3x03? (Sidenote: Does that mean Jace fell asleep while he was supposed to be monitoring Morgan? Lol? That poor guy is seriously sleep-deprived.) They were pretty close, he choked her and everything. Or does it only count if she touches him, not when he touches her? Seems pretty pedantic to me. Of course it would have kinda ruined the whole Season if Clary resolved The Drama in Episode 3 already, before we even learned that Jace is in fact the goblin-faced demon. So my thesis “Because plot, that's why!!” still holds. Also Lilith and Luke should start a Club promoting Clace dependency. *eye roll*

Because when Jace is asleep he......... loves Clary less. Makes perfect sense!

- What the hell, that with the “He’s.... undead? Haha.” was a joke are you kidding me?? There was a Haha at the end and everything. (Jackson would be so proud of me.)

- Oh no that new Leo Vampire is not gonna bite Izzy and then she'll have a relapse, right? That would be terrible!!

- Okay, so I totally dig Clary and Izzy fighting together, but.......

But I'll spare you my tirade** on that because it would go on forever.

- Why does the sun rise so freakin' quickly that's not normal. Again, poor Raphael. And so relatable. I'm really excited for this plot line, because Izzy definitely sensed that there was something up.

- Aaaaaand we're back to slow walking Owl!Jace. Seriously if he just sped up he would get that much more done. I'm re-dubbing him Sloth!Jace. Also I don't understand what the point of killing Morgan was. Really. Her corpse can still be examined by Magnus, so clues about Lilith can still be gathered, and with a broken neck she won't be able to serve as a disciple. I'm severely tempted to re-dub you Dumb!Sloth!Jace.

Damn Magnus, what a freakin' fine jacket you're wearing!

Also, who tends to the ivy vines?! Can you even reach them? Is there a Shadowhunter whose sole purpose it is to garden all day? Interior Plant Design?

This face clearly says, “It is never just a glitch.”

- Morgan pulled a Surprise!-Not-dead! and as a confirmed Sherlock fan I can appreciate this.

- Also I may have judged Sloth!Jace too fast and I'm sorry for that. I'll credit his intelligence by re-dubbing him Clever!Sloth!Jace.

- So this is where my excitement gets me.

Ouch. I'll need some time to process that. But, perfect scene, perfect acting, both very relatable and that's why I'm torn inside and I love it.

- Okay whaaaaaaaaat. First I wanted to rehabilitate Luke because it seemed like he orchestrated this whole bike accident so Simon could get a cool new home but “Simon Lewis belongs to the Praetor now” sounds very ominous, as if Luke had sold off Simon's soul. And I mean that apartment is very nice, but there are limits. So I'm reserving judgment on this. Still, the Imminent-And-Terrible-Betrayal-Senses are tingling. I knew Kyle was too good to be true. Dammit. I so wished that Simon could have a cool mundane warlock friend </3

I hate and love this cliffhanger in equal measure.

Edit: I read some posts about why the hell Magnus didn’t notice he was standing in front of a greater demon. My guess would be that Lilith is able to shield her magic or aura or whatever, so it’s not Magnus’s fault.

And now...... I just have to endure until next week. Dammit.

*This got so long because I wrote it while watching, so obviously I had to pause every five seconds to put down my delightful thoughts. That’s the reason why I change my mind on some things throughout the comment.

**I ended up writing that tirade after all. Click here if you’re interested.

(Gif Source. The rest is mine.)

#shadowhunters #3x04 #clary fray #jace wayland #alec lightwood #isabelle lightwood #raphael santiago #maia roberts #luke garroway #simon lewis #magnus bane #lilith #reaction

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searchforthescars · 7 years ago

Text

Little Beast - Chapter 8/9

WARNING This chapter contains mentions of drinking and suicidal ideation (it’s canon-compliant if you think about season 3). Please read with caution. If you need any info or clarification if that sort of thing may trigger you, please message me.

What would you like? I’d like my money’s worth.

Try explaining a life bundled with episodes of this—

swallowing mud, swallowing glass, the smell of blood

on the first four knuckles.

Murphy thinks he could get used to waking up beside her.

On this particular morning, she’s curled under a mound of blankets despite the August heatwave simmering in the valley. Her body is turned to face him, her face half-buried in the pillows. She looks soft and peaceful like this: messy hair, soft lips, flushed cheeks.

He reaches out, touches a finger to her cheek. She sighs, nuzzles into his touch, her eyes slowly fluttering open.

“Morning, beautiful,” he says. Sappy? Yes. But it’s worth it to see her blush.

“Hi,” she sighs, scooting over so she can rest her head against his chest. He lets her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders, the other one falling over her waist. He kisses her forehead and feels her wrinkle her nose against his shirt. [Read on Ao3]

She likes to be held, he’s noticed, but only like this, where she has a clear line of sight around the room and when she can easily wriggle free in a moment’s notice. Murphy wonders if it’s because she’s used to having to run, or if it’s because she, like him, has been pinned by the unwanted weight of someone else one too many times.

Sometimes, he wants to ask. But he never does, because it’s not worth the pain and anger the question would dredge up in her.

“Sleep well?” she asks, voice muffled.

He shrugs. He hadn’t, not really, but he never does. “Fine, I guess.”

“I felt you moving a lot,” she counters gently. He knows that’s her way of refuting his half-truth. “Nightmares?”

He shrugs again. “No more than usual.” Her bare feet brush against his leg, and he chuckles. “You’re really warm. You should get rid of some of these blankets.”

“I like it,” she mutters, pulling the blankets over her head so only her eyes peek out. She looks like a petulant kid. Murphy tries not to say ‘awww’ out loud.

They doze together for a while, rousing once every few minutes to cuddle closer or kiss the other on the cheek, forehead or lips. The obnoxious sound of his phone echoing from the kitchen is the only reason Murphy even thinks about moving, and that’s only because it keeps ringing, one phone call after another insistently coming in.

“I’d better get it,” he grumbles, kissing Emori on the nose as an apology and slipping out from under the blankets. Even though the temperature outside must be close to 90, the air feels cold.

He grabs his phone the third time it starts to ring. It’s Luna, so he tries to sound civil.

“Hello?”

“Murphy, it’s Luna.” She sounds ragged, not at all like her usual calm, impassive self. “I need you to come help me. Raven needs to get to the hospital.”

His stomach clenches. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“We’re not sure. She can’t move without pain and there’s internal bleeding at her lower back.” Murphy knows now what’s in her voice. It’s fear. “I’m not strong enough to carry her to the car.”

Murphy nods. “I’ll be right there.”

He hangs up and all but sprints the ten steps into his bedroom. “I have to go,” he tells Emori, who’s sitting up in bed, both sleepy and confused. “It’s Raven - something happened.”

“I’ll come with you,” she decides, alert in mere seconds. She joins him at the dresser, rifling through the drawer of shirts they both share. She’s dressed before he is and has his keys and two granola bars she insisted on buying last week in her hand by the time he had his shoes on.

“Let’s go,” is all she says, tossing him the keys and pocketing what Murphy assumes is their breakfast. They’re at Raven’s trailer two blown-off stop signs, three potholes, and one bad turn down a one-way street later.

Murphy can sense Emori’s numerous questions as she regards the ugly tan trailer, full of crappy siding, mold and rot. Wisely, she doesn’t ask any questions, just stands aside and lets Murphy use his emergency key to get in.

“Raven?” he calls, not really caring if he wakes up her mother.

“In here,” Luna answers for her. Murphy leaves Emori in the living room and goes toward Raven’s bedroom.

“You called him?” Raven asks, voice tight with pain, eyes incredulous. “What the hell’s he going to do?”

“Carry you, genius,” Murphy responds, standing near the bed. Judging by Raven’s wincing, she can’t feel her legs, but can sure feel her hips. “You need to go to the hospital.” He swallows the lump of guilt and shame in his throat. “It’s probably the bullet fragment shifting again.”

“I don’t need to go anywhere,” Raven snaps without venom.

“Yes, Little Bird,” Luna interrupts. “You do.”

Murphy raises an eyebrow at them both, then scoops Raven carefully into his arms, letting her bury her head in his shoulder and let out a muffled shout of pain. She’s too light, especially without the brace.

He walks slowly and as smoothly as possible, careful not to jolt or jostle her. Emori, who had been perched uncomfortably on the couch, jumps to her feet when she sees them and runs to open the front door.

“Thanks,” he hears Luna murmur to Emori. “Do you have a key?”

“No. John?” Emori calls. Murphy stops, already halfway down the sidewalk, not wanting to climb the three front stairs again lest that cause Raven any more misery.

“Just leave the damn thing,” Raven yells. “There’s nothing in there worth stealing anyway.”

Murphy shrugs, then somehow, through finagling and swearing, gets Raven situated in the back of his car, laying with her head on Luna’s lap and her feet awkwardly hanging off the seat. Murphy speeds to get to the hospital, instructing Emori to call Abby Griffin and let her know what was coming.

“You have Abby on speed dial?” Raven asks, a pained laugh in her voice. “Why?”

Murphy taps his fingers nervously against the wheel, then grips it so tightly his knuckles pop. There’s more traffic than expected going into the hospital, and they haven’t moved in about ten minutes. Emori reaches over, pries one of his hands from the wheel, and laces his fingers through hers.

“In case you did any more dumb shit,” Murphy responds. To his relief, Raven laughs. In the rearview mirror, he catches Luna’s eyes. They’re dark, angry, burning a hole through him.

She knows , he thinks, and his blood runs cold. Luna is harmless enough until you hurt someone she loves. Murphy’s given Raven enough hurt to last a lifetime.

When they make it to the front doors, Jackson is waiting to carry Raven from the car and into the lobby, where a stretcher is waiting. Murphy has to smile at Raven’s loud and vehement protests that she doesn’t need to be babied.

“Why are you laughing?” Luna asks lowly, harshly, leaning forward to murmur in the ear farthest away from Emori. “You did this to her.”

“I wasn’t laughing,” is all he says. “You gonna get out and go with her, or what?”

Luna sits back, unbuckles her seatbelt, and leans forward again. “Don’t come in until I text you the room number. Understood?”

Murphy says nothing. She gets out, slams the door, and Murphy takes off toward the parking lot. It isn’t until he parks and turns the engine off that Emori starts asking questions.

“What was that about?” she gestures to the back seat while passing Murphy a granola bar. He holds it in his hand, but doesn’t eat it. It’s warm from her pocket.

“Nothing. Old wounds.” The faint scars on his neck itch.

Emori hums, unwrapping her bar. “Eat, John.”

He shakes his head. He can feel his heart pounding against his ribcage, drumming out a steady rhythm: Your fault, your fault, your fault. “I’m not hungry.”

Emori sighs. “You need to get better at that.”

“At what? Eating.”

“Taking care of yourself,” she says around a mouthful.

She leans over and rests her head against his shoulder. He rests his cheek against her hair. “That’s why I have you,” he murmurs, suddenly intensely grateful for her presence, the only thing keeping his self-hatred and fear from spiraling out of control.

She laughs, more like a rush of air than actual sound, and turns to press a kiss to his clothed shoulder. He feels his pulse jump, and the beat of his heart changes: not worthy, not worthy, not worthy . What would she say if she knew what he had done?

There’s silence for a moment, then Emori asks, “Why does Raven live there?”

Murphy frowns. Emori sits up to look at him. He misses her warmth. “Her mom is a neglectful bitch,” he starts, righteous vehemence coloring his words. “Raven still feels loyal to her for whatever reason, so she stays.”

“Maybe she has nowhere else to go,” Emori says.

“Bullshit,” Murphy declares. “The Blakes, the Millers, Luna - any one of them would take her. Her boss, Sinclair, has been trying to get her to move in with his family for years.”

“There has to be a reason,” Emori counters. Murphy is about to argue when his phone rings. “Is it Luna?”

Murphy checks the text. “Yeah.” He unbuckles. “You can stay here, if you want.”

Emori’s lips twitch. “I guess she’s my friend too now, right? So I’ll go.”

They walk toward the hospital hand-in-hand. He looks over at her, at her resolute face and squared shoulders, and an overwhelming adoration sweeps over him, threatening to choke him. She’s willing to face anything that hurts him, and he doesn’t know what to do with that kind of love.

Abby is leaning against the front desk when they walk in, going over a chart and talking to the man at the desk. When she sees them, she gives Murphy a tight, knowing smile.

“Straight down the hall and all the way back,” she tells him. “But we’re operating soon, so you’ll have to make it quick.”

“Operating?” he asks, mouth dry, nausea rolling his stomach. Emori grips his hand a little tighter. “Was it the bullet?”

Abby nods tersely, eyes darting from him to Emori and back again. She’s gauging whether she should say more in front of an outsider. Murphy shakes his head imperceptibly. Thankfully, Abby gets the message.

They head back to Raven’s room. Bellamy, Miller, Octavia and Monty are already there, perched on her bed or folded up into chairs. It might be his imagination, but Murphy could swear he feels a change in the room when he walks in.

“You’re going under the knife again, huh?” he asks Raven, fighting to keep his voice casual. He takes her hand with his free one and squeezes it.

Raven nods. “Maybe this’ll be the time they get the hunk of metal out of my back,” she laughs. “Then I can go through metal detectors again.”

Monty laughs. “Sometimes she even sets off store monitors,” he tells the room. “It’s so funny to try to explain that to store personnel.”

“They should just demagnetize you,” Miller says, bouncing his leg, his heel tapping on the floor. “You know, like they do with library books?”

“That's not even what they do,” Bellamy grumbles.

“Bell,” Octavia leans forward, “you're literally the only person who knows that.”

Miller snorts, pushing himself up in the chair when Luna tells him to stop slouching. “Yo, Em,” he says. “You want to go get coffee?”

It takes Emori a moment to realize he’s talking to her. “Oh.” She looks surprised and a little pleased. “Sure. Monty, John, you want to come?”

“Murphy’s going to stay here,” Bellamy says in the tense tone that means he’s not to be argued with. Murphy feels his blood run cold.

Octavia rolls her eyes, hopping off Raven’s bed. “At least if you kill each other, you’re doing it in a hospital.” She grabs her purse. “Come on, guys, let’s go.”

Emori gives Murphy a wary look. “I’ll be okay,” he says, kissing the back of her hand and finally releasing it from his tight grip. “Go on.”

He watches her leave for as long as he can before Bellamy closes the door.

“Bellamy, don’t-” Raven starts before Bellamy holds up his hand, stepping forward so he’s practically in Murphy’s face.

“I’m not going to do this here,” he says in Murphy’s ear. “I don’t want to upset Raven.”

“Why are you doing it at all?” Murphy retorts. “I thought we were past this.”

“I thought so too.” Bellamy’s voice is biting. “But every time your screw-up causes my friend any more pain, we go right back to the start.”

“Oh, fuck you,” Murphy snarls, no longer caring if Raven hears. “She was my friend long before she was yours.”

“Murphy!” Raven barks. “Bellamy! Stop!”

Luna strides forward, grabs hold of both Bellamy and Murphy’s arms. Her grip is bruising. “Outside. Now,” she growls, marching them both toward the door.

Once they’re in the deserted hall, Bellamy turns on Murphy again. “Do you get it yet?” He shoves the younger man. “Are you sorry yet? She has to go into more surgery, more pain, more debt, and it’s all because of you .”

Murphy feels tears of frustration and hurt prick at his eyes. “I get it!” He explodes. “I’ve always gotten it! I didn’t even mean to shoot her - I was aiming for Octavia!”

Silence. Murphy realizes he has truly fucked up.

“You son of a bitch.” Bellamy lurches forward, planting his forearm against Murphy’s shoulder and driving him into the wall. His arm slides up, pressing against Murphy’s throat, and fear roars through him. “I ought to kill you.”

“That’s enough,” Luna’s calm voice breaks through the roaring in Murphy’s ears. Bellamy releases him and Murphy coughs once, then again, and rubs at the aching parts of his throat. “We agreed we’d talk to him about Raven, not anything else. You two can fight that out on your own time.”

Bellamy rakes a hand through his hair. “Are you even sorry?” he asks, voice trembling. “Look at what you did to your supposed best friend. It’s been a year, and she’s still suffering.”

“I am sorry!” Murphy all but screams. “I’m sorry every damn day, Bellamy. I can’t even look at her without being sorry! Don’t you think I hate myself for it? Because I do. So shut the fuck up, because you have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.”

He sucks in a deep breath. “If I could go back and undo it, I would. You have to believe me. I am sorry.”

Bellamy regards him. “Does she know all this?”

Murphy nods. “Yeah. I told her a while ago.”

Bellamy nods. Luna blows out a breath. “And when were you going to tell me that you planned on shooting my sister?” Bellamy’s dangerous voice is back. Luna rolls her eyes.

“You two can do this on your own time,” she mutters again, turning back to Raven’s room.

“Fuck off, Bellamy,” is all Murphy says, angry again. Bellamy draws his hand back and punches Murphy straight in the stomach. He doubles over, and Bellamy slams him into the wall, shoving him so hard his head cracks against the plaster. A searing pain rips through him, and he shouts, but doesn’t let go. He manages to get one punch in - a solid one against Bellamy’s cheek - but that’s all the leverage he can gain.

“Get the hell away from him!” Emori appears seemingly out of nowhere. She pries Bellamy away from Murphy, twisting his arm back and forcing him to his knees, standing over him like an avenging angel. Murphy fights to drag air back into his lungs, rubbing his head. Some blood comes away on his fingertips.

“If it wasn’t for the fact that Raven needs all of her friends and Octavia needs her brother, I would be beating your pretty little face into an unrecognizable pulp,” she hisses, her smaller hand wrapped loosely around Bellamy’s neck, her thumb pressing into the hollow of his throat. “Don’t test me. You don’t know what kind of damage I can do.”

She turns to Murphy, reaches for his hand, winces when she sees the blood on his nails. “And stay away from John,” she adds to Bellamy over her shoulder, guiding Murphy out of the hallway and out to the now-deserted waiting room.

Once he stumbles to a chair, he clutches at Emori’s larger hand while the world tilts on its axis. He can’t form a coherent thought, can only struggle to breathe and stay still while Emori’s gentle fingers probe the broken skin at the back of his head.

“I don’t think you have a concussion,” she murmurs. “But we should check with Abby just to be safe.”

Murphy snorts. The action makes his head hurt worse.

“Murphy?” Clarke’s surprised voice makes Murphy wince. “What happened?”

“Does he have a concussion?” Emori asks, voice hard, telling Clarke without saying anything that she’s not in the mood for small talk. “Your mother’s a doctor; wouldn’t you know these things?”

Clarke twists her lips in an amused smile for about half a second before bending to stare at Murphy’s face. He doesn’t want to, but he lets her, knowing Emori will riot if he doesn’t sit still. She grabs a small light from her pocket and shines it near his eyes. “No, no concussion. He’s going to be fine.” She shakes her head ruefully. “Was it Bellamy again?”

Emori nods. Murphy keeps his eyes on the floor. “I’m going to kill him,” Clarke mutters, stalking toward Raven’s room, a woman on a mission.

Emori smooths some hair back from his forehead. “Want to tell me what that was all about?

Murphy shakes his head. “You’ll hate me.”

Emori takes his hand, kisses the bruised knuckles. “Try me.”

“I shot her.” The confession is bitter. “It’s my fault Raven wears a brace.”

He lifts his eyes to meet Emori’s. She’s looking at him, brows raised as if to say go on .

So he does. “I didn’t mean to. It was- I was aiming for Octavia. To piss Bellamy off. I didn’t want to hit anyone.” He feels a tear run from the corner of his eye down toward his nose. “I didn’t want to hurt her.”

“John…” Emori sighs, wiping his tear away and curling her hand around the hair at the back of his neck. “I know you didn’t mean to. It’s okay. I don’t think less of you.”

“Like I keep telling you,” he laughs without humor, “I’m a shitty person.”

Emori smirks. “I know.”

“No, you don’t.” Murphy figures he might as well lay out all his sins now. “My dad died because of me. My mom drank herself to death because of me. Raven has to undergo a third fucking operation because of me.”

“Stop it.” Emori gives his hair a gentle tug. “Look at me.” She waits until he meets her eyes to continue. “You made some shitty choices, John. You’re an ugly, hateful boy sometimes. But,” she raises her malformed hand - which is unwrapped, Murphy notices in surprise - “you’re trying to be better. That’s all any of us can do, is try.”

“It’s not your fault that your father’s dead, and your mother’s drinking was her choice. Sure, Raven can’t use her leg, but you’ve made amends, or are trying to. And your friends still love you. I still love you.”

He smiles slightly, leaning forward to press a chaste kiss to her lips. “Thank you,” he murmurs against her skin. “I am trying to be a good person. For you.”

She cups his cheek in her hand. “I know.”

He looks down, reaching for her left hand, turning it over. “It’s unwrapped.”

She looks down, blinking in surprise. Her body goes rigid, her eyes growing darker and darker. “I was in such a hurry, I forgot,” she mutters.

Murphy runs his fingers over the knobby bones and rough skin. “Badass,” he says, tapping on the scar around her wrist.

“Liar.” But she kisses him, so he figures she’s not too angry.

Raven isn’t going to get out of surgery for a few hours, so Murphy and Emori go back to town. He’s not happy to be there - he’s full of nervous energy and anxiety, imagining Raven under the knife - so Emori distracts him by taking him to the diner.

“John needs a distraction,” she tells Anya firmly. “Can he train me?”

“I don’t give a shit,” Anya says with a flip of her hair. “If this is your idea of date night, go nuts.”

“It’s not,” he grumbles, “but thanks.”

He starts off by showing her the menu. “We all have it memorized, but Lincoln put cheat sheets back here.” He shows her the laminated page, then elbows Monty gently in the side until he slides over so Emori can look into the fridge.

“It’s so organized,” she says with surprise.

Murphy shrugs. “We try.”

“No, we don’t,” Monty says without looking over. “I’m the only one that cleans that thing.”

“I cleaned it yesterday,” Harper says from over the counter, voice taking on a jokingly offended tone.

“My mistake.” Monty winks at her, then smiles. Murphy and Emori share a look.

“What’s with that?” she asks under her breath, gesturing to them.

Murphy shrugs. “Beats me.” He’ll never say it out loud, but he’s happy for them.

Next, he takes Emori into the office and shows her where Anya keeps the schedule, then points to the sheet of butcher paper pinned haphazardly to the wall.

“‘Catch of the Day’?” Emori reads aloud, looking at him questioningly. “What does that mean?”

“Whenever someone says something dumb, we write it up there,” Murphy explains. “It’s usually dumb shit Bellamy or Miller say when they’re tired or hungover, but it’s funny.”

Emori narrows her eyes at the paper, reading the quotes scrawled over the paper, occasionally smiling or laughing to herself. Murphy looks over her shoulder, stepping forward so her back brushes against his chest.

“Hey,” she murmurs after a moment, leaning back so her head rests against his shoulder. “You okay?”

He nods. Instinctively, his arms come up to wrap around her waist. He can’t resist touching her, he realizes. He has to make sure she won’t disappear.

The rush of fear and inadequacy he felt in the hospital comes back. He tightens his grip on her just a fraction. She lets out a hum of slight surprise, but doesn’t stop reading or turn to ask what’s wrong.

“Heard Raven’s in the hospital,” Anya says by way of greeting, barging into the office with a filing box in her hands. “She okay?”

Murphy feels his hand twitch. He knots one into the loose fabric of Emori’s shirt. “I hope so.” He tries to sound flippant, and fails. He sounds tense, anxious and afraid.

Anya frowns, an almost-imperceptible crease of her brow. Her sharp eyes travel over them both, their closeness, Emori’s pursed lips, her hand hidden in the folds of the massive shirt that used to be Murphy’s.

“What’s with that?” Anya asks, gesturing to the hidden appendage.

Emori grimaces, then reveals it slowly. Murphy feels his heart clench. “I usually cover it up,” she says, “but we had to get to Raven’s. It doesn’t keep me from working.”

Her jaw ticks. Murphy realizes she’s afraid that it will keep her from everything she’s trying to build for herself, and he guesses that fear is directly connected to her fear of inadequacy.

“I don’t care about that,” Anya waves dismissively. “Why do you hate it?”

Emori blinks, surprised. “Because it’s ugly,” she says, lifting her chin. “Because it’s the reason my mother didn’t love me.”

“If a mother doesn’t love her child because of how they were born, she’s not fit to be a mother. Mothers should always feel lucky to have a child.” Anya’s eyes are stone, her voice nearly wavering. Murphy thinks back to the small photo of a little girl he once saw in Anya’s wallet and wonders if Anya is speaking from experience.

Emori nods once, looks down, and lets her hand hang at her side. Murphy releases her waist and takes her left hand in his. The rough skin scrapes against his. When he runs his thumb over the back of it, he feels her wrist twitch. Pride swells in him. She is so brave in this moment, and he loves her for it.

“Your hand might be fucked up,” Anya says as an afterthought as she turns to leave, holding the office door open for Lincoln, who has the cash handling bag tucked under his arm. “But as long as you work hard and stay tough, I won’t have any complaints.”

Murphy sees Lincoln’s eyes go to Emori’s hand. Again, he tenses. He doesn’t know if Emori can sense it or not.

“You can’t control how you came into the world,” Lincoln says mildly, giving Emori a gentle smile. “Only what you do once you’re here.”

Emori swallows, nods sharply, and whispers something under her breath that Murphy doesn’t catch. She then tugs on his hand and pulls him from the office, leaning against the door once they’re back in the kitchen and looking up at him with shining eyes.

“I thought they’d care,” she whispers, holding up her hand in plain view. Murphy realizes those are tears in her eyes. “Why don’t they?”

His heart breaks when he realizes that she’s accustomed to hatred, disgust, disdain - all because of what she looks like and where she comes from. She can’t understand their acceptance or their love. It makes him want to protect her from the world and unleash holy hell on everyone who disrespects her for something she can’t help.

He then realizes, with a start, that this is something with which he is all too familiar.

“How you felt in there,” he starts, voice low, eyes not meeting hers, “is how I feel all the time. I don’t deserve these guys as friends, and I sure as hell don’t deserve you.”

“That’s not-”

“Mori, please.” He sighs, shoves his hands in his pockets. Emori reaches out without a word and wraps her smaller fingers around his wrist, tugging it back out so she can hold his hand. “I hurt her,” he whispers, voice breaking as he imagines Raven in the operating room, remembers Luna’s anger and Bellamy’s hatred. “I hurt all of them. And I don’t know if they’re truly my friends, or just pretending, but I don’t deserve any of it.”

Emori shrugs. “Maybe not.” She stands on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “But you have it. It’s called grace, John. And it’s not something you can earn. It’s something you accept.”

Harper calls to Emori then, and she steps away, leaving Murphy staring at a closed wooden door, pondering the strange concept of unconditional love.

He really shouldn’t be drinking.

It’s quarter past midnight and he’s sitting on the couch in the dark, a half-empty bottle of vodka beside him and his revolver and cell phone on the table in front of him.

The operation had gone wrong. Raven wasn’t waking up, and when Bellamy called him, he let Murphy know in no uncertain terms what that meant for him.

“Luna doesn’t want you here,” he had said, voice exhausted and devoid of emotion. “I don’t think anyone else does either.”

Murphy had hung up after that, pretended to go to bed with Emori, then waited until she was asleep to drown his sorrows. He pulled out the alcohol, then the weapon that destroyed the only decent friendship he had, and punished himself with both.

Now, he stares at the gun, picks it up, tests the weight in his hands. It’s a bad idea, what he’s thinking of, but he can’t remember why. Everything is fuzzy, dreamlike, and he’s so tired of being wrong, so tired of the twisted thing inside of him ruining everything. What’s the harm? One squeeze of the trigger and it’s over. No one will be hurt by him anymore.

To test his resolve, he puts the gun to his chin and pulls back the hammer. His finger trembles on the trigger, resists, and then he drops it back to the table, letting out a choked sob.

“I can’t do it,” he mumbles to no one in particular. The night is too quiet and he’s alone and he just wants it to be over .

“Can’t do what?” Emori appears in the hallway, leaning against the wall near the couch. Murphy blinks, surprised. He forgot about her. Was she the reason he couldn’t pull the trigger? “Oh, John,” she sighs, taking in the bottle and the gun. She sits beside him and he, numbly, hands over the bottle at her insistence.

She looks at the gun, then at him. “Were you going to shoot yourself?”

He nods, hanging his head. He just wants to sleep. He just wants his heart to stop hurting.

She doesn’t say anything, just takes the bullets from the gun and puts the safety back on. “Come here,” she whispers, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pulling him to her. He buries his head in her chest and cries.

“If I were you,” he hears her whisper, “I would have shot myself too.” He doesn’t know what she means, but it doesn’t matter. As long as she’s here, what he’s done doesn’t seem so bad.

“I’m sorry,” he says through his tears. Sorry for my weakness. Sorry for my selfishness. Sorry I’m not even a fraction of the man you deserve.

She kisses the top of his head. “Don’t be sorry, John. You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t pull the trigger. You’re okay.”

He dimly remembers her convincing him to drink a glass of water and take painkillers, but he doesn’t remember how he got to their bed. When he wakes up the next morning - really, afternoon, according to Emori - his headache is manageable and his shame is palpable.

“I’m sorry,” is the first thing he says to Emori, who’s standing in their bedroom, the contents of her dwindling duffle bag of stolen tech spread out on the floor. She’s been pawning it off, he learned a few weeks ago, which explains how she got the money she left for him to use on groceries.

She climbs up on the bed, kisses his forehead, smooths his hair away from his face. “Don’t be. We’ve all had bad nights.” She fiddles with the wrap around her hand, unties it, shows Murphy the scar on her wrist. “I was drunk when I decided to take it off.”

“You could have bled out,” he murmurs, reaching for her wrist.

She shrugs. “At that point, I’m not sure I cared.”

Murphy presses a kiss to the scar. She lets out a soft noise and turns her head away, so he does it again and again until she looks at him, a single tear rolling over her cheeks. She looks the same as she did when he found her at the beach: vulnerable, small, desperate to be safe.

He hopes he’s giving that to her.

“I’m sorry,” he says again. “I’m sorry for everything.”

She shakes her head, moves to sit cross-legged on the bed. “There’s nothing to be sorry for, John. I’ll love you no matter what.”

Unconditional. The concept makes Murphy’s heart beat faster. He looks at her and has one wild thought.

I’m going to marry her someday.

But, of course, he’s not going to tell her that. Not yet.

Raven comes home from the hospital two weeks later. She had a seizure during the operation, according to Abby, but she’s fine now, as long as she takes her medication. Rather than going back home to her mom, Bellamy convinces Raven to stay with him and Octavia and take the room that once belonged to their mother.

“It’s a battle getting her to take those damn pills,” Octavia grumbles to Murphy one morning when they’re opening the diner. “School starts in a week - thank God - so now it’s Bell’s responsibility.”

“How’s he going to manage that?” Murphy asks with a smirk.

“Hell if I know,” Octavia laughs.

“Watch your fucking language!” Anya shouts from the dining room. Murphy, Emori and Octavia exchange a look, then burst out laughing. In the dining room, Lexa, Clarke and Bellamy bury their heads in their hands and folded arms so Anya can’t see their reaction.

“When our shift’s up,” Emori murmurs in Murphy’s ear when she passes by him to do the dishes, “let’s go on a date.”

Murphy nods. “Okay. Where?”

Emori grins. “Anywhere you want.”

Murphy can’t help but lean over and kiss that mischievous smirk off her lips. “Have I told you today how much I love you?”

She smiles. “Yeah. Three times, in fact.”

“Make it four.” He kisses her cheek. “I love you.”

Amid choruses of mock-disgusted groans and wolf-whistles, Emori kisses him full on the mouth ( with tongue, Lexa points out). Their catcalls turn to cheers when Raven limps into the diner on Luna’s arm.

Murphy approaches the counter, meeting Luna’s stony stare, then looking warily to Raven.

She blinks at him for a second, then gives him her characteristic smirk. “What does a girl have to do to get some coffee around here?” she asks, smiling at him as if to say it’s okay .

“Ask nicely,” he retorts after a moment, reaching for her hand, giving it a squeeze.

“Fine.” She rolls her eyes. “Please?”

Luna leans forward. “Give her decaf,” she whispers. Raven elbows her in the side. Octavia snorts, and Murphy can hear Emori laugh. The sound fills his heart with something not unlike joy.

“You okay?” Emori asks him as he fills Raven’s mug, compromising her desires and Luna’s request with half-caf.

Murphy feels himself smile. “Yeah. Perfect.”

Sappy? Yes. But it’s worth it to see her smile.

#murphysurvived #dailymemori #memorifics #daisytachi #maskingtapepoetree #lindseysfandoms #bombshellsandbluebells #katswatermelon #amanda writes fanfiction #little beast

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pluckyredhead · 7 years ago

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Daredevil 101: Foggy Finds Out, Part 2 (Ghost Stick Boogaloo)

[Content Warning: Severe mental health issues portrayed rather sloppily, suicide attempt, discussion of violence against sex workers.]

Last time on Daredevil 101, Matt was found in basically a catatonic state by Karen and Foggy - both of whom thought he was dead, and only one of whom knew he was Daredevil. By the next issue, Matt’s still out of it, and Foggy’s not particularly happy with anyone:

IDK why Foggy’s a redhead here but WAY TO GO, KAREN. Yes, she kept Matt’s secret from Foggy - but it was Matt’s secret to tell. Just because Matt’s not in a position to be yelled at right now doesn’t mean Foggy gets to take it out on Karen.

And Matt’s really, really not in a position to be yelled at:

Hooboy. I don’t believe anyone in Matt’s entire 53-year history has ever suggested therapy but, like...he should probably go? Right away? Honey.

Eventually, as he is wont to do, Matt decides to escape from the expectations of his two favorite people by climbing out the window and running away. It’s fairly distressing to his loved ones:

THESE TWO. HOW I LOVE THEM.

So where is Matt? Well - possibly predicting DD Season 3 - he’s gone to see his mommy:

Maggie tries to comfort him, but if confession could make Matt feel absolved of this he’d probably have gotten it over with a long time ago, repressed memory or no. (Though to be fair, I can only think of one example of 616!Matt taking confession, and that was this year.)

Leaving Maggie, Matt briefly flirts with the idea of just ending it all:

Having decided not to kill himself, Matt returns to Jack Batlin’s hovel, only to be confronted by a surprising figure from his past:

I mean, technically neither of you saw anything, and also shut up, Stick.

I’m not really sure how to take his presence here, because on the one hand, if it’s all in Matt’s head, that means that Matt’s way of coping with his mental health issues is to imagine his former mentor hitting him in the face with a cane until he feels better, which is appalling.

But if Stick’s really there, it means there’s a possibility for him to come back in DD Season 3, which is also appalling.

Anyway, Stick or Matt’s hallucination thereof goes away long enough for Matt to greet Karen. He attempts to do so with a kiss, because he is a moron:

Matt takes a beat and apologizes - for yelling at Karen just now, and for, um, faking his death at her. I like this moment because it acknowledges simultaneously that Matt is having - and has been having - a really hard time, and yet he also treated his loved ones in an unacceptably cruel way, and though his illness is a reason, it’s not an excuse.

Meanwhile, there’s one person who never really gets an apology:

Foggy looks so young and sweet in that first panel, MY HEART.

Anyway, I’ll come back to this later, but please note that Foggy’s betrayal here centers entirely on being lied to and he has no problems with the basic existence of Daredevil.

He’ll have to wait to get proper closure on this, but meanwhile Stick is still beating Matt up, this time almost definitely inside Matt’s head - and he’s brought help:

Is this the first time Matt’s been beaten up by hallucinations of his various selves? It’s definitely not the last. Oh, Matt.

Seeking some kind of closure, he goes to the brothel where he accidentally knocked the prostitute out the window, all those years ago:

Matt sort of vaguely explains his purpose, and the last woman explains that the girl in question, Lyla, was a runaway fleeing an unhappy home, and in a way maybe it’s better that she died and got out of this life young. I realize we have a little bit of an unreliable narrator situation here but I’d be okay with 100% fewer “better dead than a sex worker” opinions out there, fictional or not!

(This won’t be revealed for a couple more years, but "Lyla” turns out to not be dead, in a particularly dumb retcon. Not that her not dying is dumb, but the reveal is...well, you’ll see.)

Anyway, I guess putting a name to the accident makes Matt feel better, because he declares himself ready to put it behind him. At which point Stick drops a fairly hilarious bombshell:

Yeah, Matt’s just been killing people pretty much his whole career, it turns out. Here are the most damning phrases to me: “some beaten an inch past their lives,” “you saw them as worthless maggots who deserved what they got,” and “faceless thug.” Matt habitually beats people to death, apparently, and then forgets about it because they deserve it???

(Stick telling him that taking even one life is too many is an interesting contrast to MCU Stick, who is constantly urging Matt to kill. But 616!Stick only kills Hand ninjas, who aren’t really alive to begin with.)

Anyway I think this is a real YMMV piece of canon. Personally I feel like it’s a pretty lukewarm approach to the ethics of killing, especially since DeMatteis would leave right after this arc. It just sort of throws down the idea that Matt kills people all the time, wags a finger at him, and leaves. Either dig into what this means, for Matt and for superheroes as a whole, or leave us with the polite fiction that superheroes (and head trauma) never ever kill. Don’t half-ass it like this.

And speaking of half-assing it:

Matt just needs to accept all the parts of himself! That makes it okay to commit habitual manslaughter! Phew, what a relief. Time to eat a Pop-Tart and dance around Karen’s kitchen!

HOORAY!

(No, seriously, I’m glad Matt’s feeling better and that he and Karen are okay, but see what I mean about half-assing it? You can’t be like “Matt, you kill people all the time” and then have him immediately get over it, especially in a story about how he developed a split personality disorder due to repressed guilt over accidentally killing someone ten years ago.)

With that, DeMatteis is off the book. Our next long-running writer will be Karl Kesel, but before he takes over there’s a brief fill-in by Ben Raab and Shawn McManus, which touches on the state of Matt and Foggy’s relationship. It’s...not good, and Matt doesn’t make it better by snooping - specifically, on Foggy at work with a client named Martinique:

"Something’s not kosher here...” Please note that Matt, as always, is very upset by Foggy being attracted to someone else. Please also note Matt creeping on Foggy’s “pleasure centers.”

Matt announces his presence. Foggy’s not happy to see him:

“Things may never be as good as they once were, but they can at least be good...” That’s practically up there with “Was anything ever real with us,” my goodness.

Please note that nowhere on this page does Matt use the word “sorry.” And yes, this is the first time he’s spoken to Foggy since before his “death.” Wow, Murdock. (Also, get a haircut.)

Matt does not trust any woman who flirts with his Foggy, so he tails Foggy to his meeting place with Martinique and finds a horrifyingly trippy carnival full of monstrous puppet versions of his enemies. And at the very center:

It’s the classic superhero dilemma: Matt can only save one of his loved ones! And this time, he chooses Foggy.

All the trappings of the carnival fade away to reveal...Martinique, of course, a.k.a. Lady Mastermind:

Right, so this makes no actual sense, because it’s not public knowledge that the “old” Daredevil is back. Martinique should be operating under the impression that the “current” Daredevil would show up in a black costume and not give two shits about either Foggy or Elektra. Also how would she know how Bullseye killed Elektra, anyway?

She takes off, and Matt and Foggy are left together:

Again, this doesn’t make a lot of sense, given that Elektra’s not dead anymore, and Matt knows it. He doesn’t say that he knows Elektra wasn’t really there (in which case his choosing Foggy over her would mean very little), so is the implication supposed to be that once you die once Matt doesn’t care if you die again? This is all very silly.

Anyway, that’s...kind of it? No “Nelson v. Murdock”-style fight here, just Matt saying that he wants to be friends again with no actual apology at any point, and Foggy very slowly thawing over the next few issues. There’s no yelling, no catharsis, nothing. Feh, I say!

(I will reiterate what I noted above - Foggy’s only upset about being lied to. He has no ethical problems with Daredevil’s existence or vigilantism in general, and isn’t particularly troubled by Matt’s propensities towards lawbreaking, violence, or nearly getting himself killed. Because, of course, in the comics Matt is just one of many superheroes and is practically legally sanctioned, or at least not an outlaw - and Foggy has been friends with Daredevil for many years. Whereas in the MCU, Matt’s the first real vigilante and the first with a secret identity - the Avengers are (or have been) all government sanctioned and public, and Matt predates Spider-Man and the other Defenders. MCU Foggy doesn’t really have a framework to accept Matt’s extracurricular activities in the way 616 Foggy does.)

Next up: Brighter days for Daredevil and company as we head into the Kesel run...and finally meet Rosalind Sharpe!

#daredevil #daredevil 101

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