#matt murdock nation is of a single mind

[daresplaining]

Hi! Had a kinda weird question, but is it ever mentioned how Matt paid for his education or any student loans?

Hi! This has been touched on a few times, yes. One good source of information is Daredevil volume 3 #12, in which Matt tells a story from his early days rooming with Foggy at Columbia.

Matt: "[Being the teacher's pet] wasn't enough to float me out of a hell of student-grant bureaucracy. Unlike Foggy, I was eternally one step ahead of the bursar's office." Daredevil vol. 3 #12 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, Javier Rodriguez, and Joe Caramagna

This story takes place in law school and doesn't mention Matt's undergrad experience, but we learn that he was receiving financial aid (which seems believable for a high-achieving disabled student from a single-parent, low-income household; the Battlin' Jack Murdock mini-series also mentions that Matt was on a scholarship, implied to be tied to his disabled status), but was still struggling to pay (also unsurprising; Jack was still alive at this point, but it's hard to say how much money he was making). By the end of the story, Matt reveals that Foggy's well-to-do family stepped in at a certain point and helped keep him afloat until graduation (also unsurprising; Foggy's parents also financed the first Nelson & Murdock office).

Another thing to keep in mind about Matt's college experience is that the continuity changed in the early 80s. He wasn't always a Columbia grad; originally, he and Foggy attended the vaguely-named State College in upstate New York, and one of the reasons Matt picked that school was because it was affordable.

Daredevil vol. 1 #-1 by Joe Kelly, Gene Colan, Christie Scheele, Matt Ryan, and Richard Starkings

At this point, the only concrete thing we know about Matt's financial situation is that the money was coming from his father. The main reason Jack kept boxing past his prime, and the main reason he settled for signing on with the corrupt manager who eventually murdered him, was to afford Matt's college education.

Daredevil vol. 1 #1 by Stan Lee, Bill Everett, and Sam Rosen

With the shift to a much more prestigious and expensive alma mater, with the cost of college having skyrocketed since 1964, and with the sliding timescale to take into account, it has definitely become harder to believe that Jack's boxing earnings would have been enough to pay for more than a semester-or-two. It wouldn't surprise me at all if some future retelling of Matt's origin at least put him in a work study program of some kind to make some extra cash.

As far as loans are concerned, I think a lot of people tend to forget that Nelson & Murdock were/are a very well-known and successful law firm. They've had their low points, sure, but there are plenty of key periods in their careers when they were making a ton of money. The Bendis/Maleev run (in which Matt is a high-profile public figure and goes to court wearing $2,000 suits) is an easy example, but we can look much earlier than that too. Matt is referred to as "one of the finest trial lawyers in the nation" as early as Daredevil volume 1 #20, and check out his swanky, tricked-out Sutton Place brownstone:

Daredevil vol. 1 #167 by David Michelinie, Frank Miller, Klaus Janson, Glynis Wein, and Joe Rosen

Given this, I tend to think that Matt hasn't had too much trouble paying off his loans.

Thanks for the great question!

[mthofferings2023]

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[farfromstrange]

Foreigner's God: Chapter 18

Main Masterlist

Pairing: Matt Murdock x OFC

Chapter Summary: She’s tired and overwhelmed and just doesn’t understand why Matt isn’t angry at her – she’s a bad person, right? She has to be. Or in simpler words, Eliza struggles and Matt is there to pick up the pieces. He always is.

Other characters: Happy Hogan & Claire

Warnings: angst, so much angst ouch, mentions of minor character deaths, mentions of suicide, depression, making Matt see (yes, that’s a warning), fluff, non-sexual intimacy

Word Count:

A/n: I just watched my policeman and I’m in shambles, so I did cry while rewriting this… this is entirely self-indulgent. We all need Matt in our lives. I think I’m not the only one who identifies with that one speech in this chapter, and I hope it offers you the same comfort it did me when I wrote this. Take care of yourselves <3

Read Chapter 18: Anti-Hero here on AO3!

18+ MINORS DNI

It was long past ten in the evening. There wasn’t much Eliza could do; she was chained to Matt’s apartment, flinching at every loud sound coming in from the outside.

The past day had been quite busy and what happened between her and Matt somehow managed to push away all of the thoughts about the government declaring her a national fugitive. She didn’t receive any word from anyone, not that she expected them to after disappearing from the earth’s surface, but it still hurt. Tony refused to make a statement, as did Stark Industries. No one was trying to dispute the rumors and no one was delivering evidence either. The accusations were hearsay, but somehow it seemed like the world knew better. She was the bad guy. They had just been looking for a proper reason to lock her up. 

Eliza watched the news footage on her laptop repeatedly. Foggy fell asleep on the couch after they shared some Indian food from the place around the corner and Matt told her he was going to take a shower. She was alone. The silence found its cruel way into her mind, allowing the thoughts to spiral. 

Her bottom lip trembled. She looked terrifying. The red eyes, the hands - she didn’t recognize herself. She didn’t recognize the swell of pride and the desperate hunger for power that consumed her. It wasn’t enough, not nearly so. Part of her regretted it, watching the events go down over and over again, but another part was burning with anger. She was angry that it wasn’t enough, angry that she was being caged like an animal for being herself. She was angry that Hydra wanted her, that they were seeking her out because they realized their mistakes too late. And she was angry that despite all of that, the selfishness and the danger transmitting from her, Matt didn’t seem to find a single bone in his body to care. 

She was an abomination. She was dangerous, a ticking time bomb, a danger to be contained. She was responsible for what happened, even without having touched that bomb. People died because of her; because Hydra wanted her.

The public needed to know what Tony did by allowing her to become an Avenger. They needed to see the rabbit hole her mere existence caused her to fall into, and she had dragged too many people down with her in the process. At what cost?

She chose to stay hidden, but it would only get worse. Hydra would raise hell and it would be her fault, and all the while Tony would sit back and wait for the government to ruin everything she worked for in the past couple of days. But she deserved to be locked up. She deserved to be contained. It was a necessary sacrifice. 

Eliza toyed with the thought of surrendering herself, but she was too proud and too angry to give the reins over to Tony, and the entire thing was too dangerous for Matt alone to handle. If she left, he would die, and so would Foggy. If those two died, Karen would follow shortly after. Though Wilson Fisk himself was more than determined to destroy her before everyone else just to spite his nemesis – Matt. 

Perhaps surrendering herself was the best and wisest choice, after all. She had to stop. Tony said it first. He knew better from the start and while that bastard was annoying and a liar, he had a point. People died. She had blood on her hands. She wasn’t strong enough for this. There was no way this was going to end in her favor.

When Matt came out of the bathroom, not yet showered, but only half dressed because he forgot to get himself a towel, he felt her presence on the bed. She was sitting with her legs crossed, staring out of the window. Salt hung in the air, unshed tears glossing over her eyes. Her heart was beating out of her chest, racing with the way her thoughts worked. 

The rain kept falling against the window. Her leg bounced to the rhythm of the sky’s sobs. She tried to keep hers at bay, but staring at the outside world, well aware of the cages around her, loosened the cork that was keeping her together. The Billboard had stopped showing her face every two seconds, which was nice. The main color that night was blue, the same color she would have assigned herself if she had been a stranger trying to figure out her emotions. She didn’t quite understand what was happening, but empathy hardly mattered anymore. Seeing colors was just a byproduct of something more serious, and it felt as if she had lost control over the only thing she had ever been in control of. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, and she jumped at the sound of his voice in the usually so quiet apartment. 

She smiled. She tried to lie to him. “Yes,” she said, but he wasn’t buying it. 

“You sure? You’ve been staring out there for the past hour.”

Had it really been that long?

“You’re watching the news.” He moved over to touch her laptop. The charger was hot and the device itself roared due to its age. He shut the screen, much to her dismay, placing it on the nightstand.

“I still need that,” she grumbled.

“Stop torturing yourself,” he said. His back muscles moved as he searched through his closet for a towel. “No more internet for you today.”

Eliza scoffed, it was bitter. “I’m just facing the truth.”

“What truth? They’re lying. You’re not a monster and you’re not dangerous. If anything, it’s slander. We could sue, you know. When all of this is over, we could drag everyone who accused you of murdering those people through the mud. By the time I’m done with taking them apart with every legal strategy I have, they’re gonna be the center of attention, not you.”

“I broke the Accords,” the first tear hit the floor, “I did. I hurt those people. I might not have been holding the trigger, but that bomb was meant for me and it killed a baby. A baby, Matt.”

“You couldn’t have known.”

“I knew that baby. His name was James. He was so tiny. They were my neighbors, and I got to meet him because I’m a good person who likes babies. You know what a good person who likes babies does?” She raised her eyebrows. “They watch out for them, they don’t kill them.”

“Hey,” he said, firm yet soft at the same time.

“Don’t act like any of this still makes me a good person! It doesn’t. That baby died because of me. My neighbors- I watched them try for one for years and now they’re just gone. You don’t get to call me a good person after what happened because of me !”

“Don’t yell at me,” and when she exhaled loudly in the course of her frustration, he made sure to add, “Fisk blew up that block. Hydra tried to kidnap you. Everyone is after you, trying to make you look like you’re the bad guy. They want you to feel that way. They want you to break, to cave, to lose control. They want you to be this…” As if he could see it, he pointed outside at the same time her face flashed across the screen, “Because they want to ruin you. It does not make you a bad person, so stop saying that! Don’t give them what they want, Eliza. Don’t.”

She wasn’t listening. His words hit deaf ears. It wasn’t pretense. In the heat of her emotions, she truly didn’t hear a word he said. Her brain pushed them far away, somewhere she couldn’t find them again. 

“I’m a baby killer,” she said. 

“What? No!”

“I’m the reason all of this is happening. You know, maybe they’re right. Maybe I should be locked up, maybe I should be sentenced. Having me off the streets would mean fewer casualties. If I had never gone after them if I had listened to Tony and allowed him to keep lying to me… I- none of this would have happened. The families in that building would still be alive.”

Matt knelt in front of her. “Stop.”

“I can’t, don’t you get that? I never know when to stop. I always want and want and want, and if I don’t get what I want, I find ways to get it anyway, but when I do, people get hurt. People always get hurt. It’s me we’re talking about. People around me die or disappear all the time.”

“That’s not true. What happened to your friends wasn’t your fault.”

“Don’t drag them into this.”

“But that’s what you mean, right? Berlin, the Avengers, your friends running from the law. You think it’s your fault all of that happened because you weren’t strong enough to stop it,” he said. “You’re projecting.”

“How is that projecting? It’s the truth! I could have tried harder to keep them here. I could have tried harder to stop them from running, to sort it out. I mean, it was my job and I failed. Now people are dead because once again, I failed to do my fucking job. I’m the problem.”

He shook his head. “Stop it.”

“If I surrender myself now, Tony could fix this. I could just ignore who I am and all of this would go away. I could just stop being this… person. I could stop trying to be who I was born to be because chances are it’s all a lie anyway and just accept that I’m nothing but an empath whose mind is just a little more fucked up than others. I should surrender myself. It’s the only right choice.”

“And all the deaths would have been for nothing,” he said. 

She glared at him. “Innocent people died, Matt. Innocent people .”

“You’re right, those people were innocent,” he tugged at her thighs to pull her closer, “But so are you. You are the victim here.”

“No, you’re not listening. I’m not… I’m the problem that caused all of this in the first place. I am.”

“No, you’re not. You’re not the problem, Hydra is. The world is.” His thumb started drawing circles on her thigh. She shied away from his touch, mortified that he was still willing to see her in a better light.

“N-no.” The hick-up made her choke. “I keep seeing things, y’know, like some psycho? And she says it’s my fault too. She says I’m the problem, not the solution.”

In the corner, her double stared at her in disbelief. “I never said that,” she said. “I said I am. Don’t make this about you.”

“Who’s she ?” Matt asked. He could tell her eyes were focused somewhere else all of a sudden. He held her face, forcing her to look back at him. “Who’s she, Eliza?”

“Tell him. He’s gonna think you’re crazy. But maybe you are.“

Eliza groaned. She pulled at her hair, dropping her head between her legs. “Get out of my head,” she whispered.

“Hey, look at me!” he demanded.

“No.”

“What’s going on?”

“It’s just… I think I’m going crazy. I’m going crazy and I can’t fucking breathe. All of this… it’s too much. I can’t-“

“C’mere.” The tears wouldn’t stop falling. She laid her head on his shoulder. He opened her arms, caught her when she fell, and then closed them behind his back to make sure it was just them and no one could touch her. 

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. 

“Shhh, you’re okay.”

“No, I’m just making this worse.”

“You’re not. Hey,” he lifted her head only enough to have her meet his eyes, “You’re allowed to feel like this. It’s okay.”

Her body trembled. “It’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

“ I’m scared, Matt. I’m not scared of them, I’m scared of myself and somehow that’s even worse. I can’t take the fear away. It hurts me. It’s a pain that doesn’t go away. Like a fucking parasite. Oh, God.”

Eliza’s head fell against his lips and he used that to press a kiss to her forehead. He was holding her, body reduced to nothing but skin and bones. She had nothing else to defend herself with. She was naked. 

“What if, after everything I’ve been through, something has gone wrong inside of me… terribly wrong?”

He rubbed the back of her neck. “Nothing’s wrong with you,” he said.

“But what if there is?”

“No. Nothing is wrong with you. Not a single thing.”

Matt listened to the way her heartbeat picked up at first, then started to slow down when she realized, even though she wanted to with all her might, he wouldn’t leave. He made sure to hold her, to help her tune the world out. And when she was ready, he let her pull him into a kiss. 

He had his large hand on her jaw and cheek. Resting against him, she splayed her fingers along his wrist, stroking his pulse. 

“It’s days like these,” she admitted, “that make it harder to find a reason to stay alive.”

Matt flinched. “Don’t say that,” he said. 

“But it’s true. I’m just so tired, Matt. I’m so, so tired.”

“I know, but if you died…” he sucked in a sharp breath that made his eyes flutter close, “If you died, I wouldn’t know how to live with myself. So please, don’t say that. And please, for the love of God, don’t hurt yourself. I still need you.”

“Just feels like everything I do is wrong. Like the world would be better off without me.”

“Jesus,” he swallowed the pained sob. This wasn’t about him, no matter how much her words hurt him.

“I’ve been at this point before, you know,” she broke off with a scoff that sounded more like a bitter laugh. “Even before my overdose, I tried. I tried to jump off the roof of Avengers Tower, but it didn’t work because I was interrupted. Then I tried to bleed myself to death, also didn’t work. I tried it with morphine, failed miserably, so I took a few too many pills. I almost died. Almost. It’s always just almost,” she said. “I can’t even fucking kill myself without failing. I just won’t die. I should have. I have been on the edge of the cliff many times, but every time I saw the light, I came back. And I keep coming back. It’s like my life doesn’t have an expiration date, I just keep on being here.”

She had never said it out loud before. The times the thoughts occurred, she either tried to act them out or swallow them. She refused to admit when she felt broken when she felt hopeless with nowhere to go. She didn’t want to bother other people with her pain. Everyone struggled, she wasn’t special. It wasn’t fair on Matt to burden him with her dark and twisted thoughts. She already regretted it. The expression on his face was unreadable and she was too worked up to see anything but her own wild colors.

“And now you’re looking at me like I’m crazy.” She scoffed. “Must be exhausting, isn’t it? Trying to care for me only to realize I’m not the person you thought I’d be, that it’s too much work — rotten work.”

“No,” Matt breathed softly. He took her hand, placing it over his chest. “It’s not rotten work. Not to me, not if it’s you.”

He would dedicate his life to fixing her if he could. He would pick up all of the pieces, glue them together and make her better. She just had to let him.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Giving you the chance to tell if I’m lying or not when I say what I’m about to say.” He was trying hard not to cry. She curled her fingers into his shirt.

“There is a reason you’re here,” he said. “There is a reason you’re still alive. I know it might not seem like there is because life happens to good people in the worst of ways, and death almost seems like it’s an escape from the hell you’re living. I know life doesn’t seem like it’s worth living when everything goes wrong. People leave, people die, people either hate or love you, and most of the time it feels like everyone just hates you. I get it. I get that you feel alone like you’re on your own and there is no longer a point to life. You’re suffering, which means you’re not living, you’re just existing. Your heart is beating, but your soul feels like you’re in hell and being burned alive. I get it, Eliza, because I feel like that all the time. But I have learned… I’ve learned that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “For every terrible thing, there is something good waiting out there. And you’re good. You are so good. You’re kind, passionate, selfless… I know your mind tells you you’re not enough. I know it tells you that it’s all worthless anyway. I know you’re exhausted, exhausted from running, from fighting, from living for anyone but yourself, but you can fight this. You can fight this monster in your head. I know you can. Death is not the solution,” he said, “so please, don’t consider it. Don’t consider death as a way out. You need to live. Not for me but for yourself. And when you can’t do that, just then, do it for me .”

Her body tensed up with the worst crying fit she had ever encountered. She couldn’t sob, she couldn’t breathe.

Matt took her face in his hands. “Breathe,” he told her. “You’re okay. I’m here. Just try to breathe.”

She sucked in a sharp breath, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. “I can’t,” she said.

“Yes, you can. Take a deep breath in.” He opened his mouth, inhaling. “And out.” He exhaled. “In and out.”

She hiccuped with her breathing. His heart was still beating underneath her palm. His breath fanned her face. She felt his lungs working hard, and she tried to fall in line with him. It was hard, breaking through a closed door that was holding the key to life itself, but he managed to free her from the restraints.

“That’s it,” he cooed. “You’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” she breathed.

“Yes, you are. Good girl.”

In such an emotional context, hearing these two words felt entirely different. They felt good, reassuring, gentle praise to hold against her thoughts.

Matt stroked through her hair. “Do I have to worry?” he asked. “Do I need to be on suicide watch, make sure you don’t run away and get yourself killed?”

Understandable question. “No,” she said. She probably wouldn’t attempt to kill herself any time soon. She didn’t have the time for that.

“You sure?”

“Hm-hm.”

“Hey,” he said and pulled her close, lips hovering above each other, “We’re gonna be okay.”

“You think?”

“I know .”

“Perhaps you should give me some of that knowledge then,” her tone was almost teasing. 

He snuck a kiss to her nose. “I have a better idea.” 

Eliza found herself in the bathroom shortly after, clothes discarded over the sink, lazy hands touching her skin. It wasn’t sexual. He wasn’t trying to please her. Her skin felt so incredibly soft underneath his rough fingers. He made sure to take his time exploring her body, mapping out every last inch of her, memorizing it.

“Is this okay?” he asked for the third time. He was trying not to push her further than she was willing to go.

“Yes,” she whispered, “just please, keep going.”

The water ran hot. The shower was just a little too small to fit two people, but Matt refused to let her out of his hold anyway, so they made it fit. They made each other fit, the cold of the shower wall pressed to her front while he pressed kisses down her back. 

So beautiful, he thought. And he was the only person she would ever allow to touch her like that, to map out her scars, every dip and every wrinkle, and every last stretch mark. He saw her for the first time. He saw her body, saw what she looked like. His hands painted the perfect mental picture, including all of the imperfections she was so insecure about, and his heart swelled. His heart swelled because he realized she was opening herself up to him, bearing everything she hated about herself so he could love her. She needed love, she needed someone, she just needed to know she was enough. 

Her muscles relaxed under the gentle treatment of his fingers. The water on her upper arms parted as he pushed through the drops. It felt strange on her skin. Two entirely different substances mixed. While his tongue played with her shoulder blade, he kept on discovering the difference between water and skin, salt and neutrality. It was fascinating just how different skin could feel when found in certain positions. 

Moaning almost contently, she leaned back against him, head falling onto his chest - his pecks were the perfect height to be using them as pillows. She called his name and he replied with a searing kiss on her lips.

“What are we?” she asked. 

“Well,” he said, “What do you want us to be?” 

“I don’t know. I’m afraid,” she paused, arms wrapping tightly around her middle and pulling her flush against the sturdy chest behind her, “I’m afraid that a label might ruin things, but we’re not friends, are we?”

Matt had to shake some of the water out of his hair. “Friends don’t look at friends that way. Not that I can look at you, but I do have a look in my eyes whenever I’m near you.”

“I just…” she chuckled at the teasing bite to her cheek, “if I end up ruining things like I usually do-“

“Don’t even start.”

“You know I can’t just stop believing it, right? That’s not how this works.”

He hummed knowingly. “I will keep telling you that you’re not the person your mind tells you that you are,“ he said. “You’re better than this. I won’t stop until you believe it’s true.”

She could live with that. “I don’t want to lose you, ever. Do you understand?”

“I know.”

“I’m serious. Don’t leave me.”

“I won’t. We can figure it out as we go, but I’m not going to leave, no matter what direction we might end up going.”

When the time eventually came to decide what to do with each other, she would hold him to that. She promised herself. 

“What exactly is it that you see?” Eliza dared to ask aloud into the comfort of their shared bedroom.

Foggy was snoring peacefully outside, the door only half-closed, but enough to offer some privacy as they lay there, on top of the comforter in nothing but underwear and her in his shirt.

Matt sighed. His eyes were pointed upwards to the ceiling, aimlessly moving around.

She took in the sight next to her. There came hardly a time when moonlight broke into Matt’s apartment, but for some reason, it managed to fight that night, and as it fell on his face, she couldn’t help but admire the man he was. Sharp jawline, plump lips, big nose, and those eyelashes of his were longer and darker than most women’s facial hair could be.

It seemed like someone cut him out of a magazine and put him there, just for her to see, to admire, but not to touch. In the serenity of the night, Matt Murdock seemed unreal. His body was made out of marble, with muscles like those of the Greek gods she read about many times before, and skin as soft as silk. He was breathtaking. 

Museums tell you that you’re not supposed to touch the artwork. Hands off the masterpieces. Eliza felt God telling her the same thing as she watched him, taking in the rise and fall of his chest and the way he shifted underneath her gaze. It was one of the few moments where he was completely calm.

What exactly is it that you see? He wasn’t sure how far she was willing to open that up. 

“Remember what I told you about the world on fire?” he said. She nodded. “Well, I wasn’t lying when I said it’s a metaphor, but at the same time, it’s not, not really. Can you close your eyes for a minute?”

She frowned, at first. 

“Just, I’d like to demonstrate. Close your eyes?”

Hesitantly, Eliza allowed her eyelids to flutter close. Instead of blinking, she let her lashes rest on her cheeks, and the world around her turned to black.

“Are they closed?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” she said, surprised he had to ask. “They’re closed.”

“Do you see anything?”

“No,” she chuckled, “You told me to close my eyes, silly.”

“Okay, now imagine standing in a burning building.”

She wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but she followed his demand. She could almost see the red inside of her skin when she squeezed her eyes so tightly together, stars erupted in her vision. 

“What do you see ?”

“I don’t know, it’s just… I imagine it’s dark, but at the same time, it’s burning. I can see the flames, though at the same time nothing at all.”

“It’s like that for me,” he said. “Or you could compare it to sunlight streaming through your skin when you have to squint against it so your vision goes momentarily red. It’s like that, kind of. The world is on fire and that’s what it feels like with everything else being so strong …“

Her heart broke. He didn’t try that hard with anyone else. He struggled to explain because really, how do you explain the fact that chemicals took your vision but gave you heightened senses in return? How do you explain something so complex to a person who has the advantage of seeing? No matter how many words or metaphors he used, no one could ever fully understand without going through the same hell he walked through. 

She took a deep breath. “How do you do it?” Her eyes fluttered back open. 

Matt shrugged. The faintest smile rested on his lips. “You get used to it.”

“I honestly don’t know what I would do if I were you.”

“It’s been two decades, Eliza. If this were to happen to you right now, you’d have to learn how to deal with it first, as I did. Blindness doesn’t exactly come with a handbook.”

“Hmm,” she wriggled her shoulders further into the comforter, “How does one deal with it, exactly? I mean, all of the things you do, you coordinate them through the things you can hear, smell, taste, and feel, right?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“How?”

Matt sighed wearily. He lifted his hand. The fabric of her shirt bunched up around her rib cage. With every drag of his fingers, it rustled. The hairs on her skin stiffened. He wasn’t touching her, not really. Calloused tips hovered over the first layer of skin, enough to feel the heat radiating off of her. He placed his fingers down slowly. Blood rushed underneath the skin. Her stomach growled from the lack of sustenance. 

“Right now, I can feel the blood rushing through your veins,” he said. “I can feel your muscles shift, the way your skin is starting to close around the wound in your side, and it’s fast. It’s faster than anything I’ve felt before. I can also hear the goosebumps on your arms. Sounds like the crinkling of paper, only softer. And your heartbeat just picked up again just from the sound of my voice.” He grinned. “I know you were wondering how I knew where certain spots are that drive you crazy…” his index finger stroked over the band of her underwear. “I can feel them under your skin. Your heart, like any other heart, has its own special rhythm. The heartbeat changes with anticipation, and so does the body. Sometimes it’s goosebumps, but more often it’s the way the muscles twitch and just the blood pumping underneath the skin that has me capable of finding spots a normal person might not be able to.”

“Like echolocation?” she asked him. 

His chuckle sounded rough in her ear. “Yeah, like echolocation. Although,” he leaned in closer, “I don’t need echolocation to know where the clit is.”

He wrapped his lips around her own before she had the chance to let out a snarky remark, or the sound of embarrassment that had been brewing inside of her chest ever since he started touching her. 

“My senses,” he said, “They make a lot of things easier, I admit that, but I believe that if you pay enough attention to your lover, you don’t need enhanced hearing or sense of touch to know what they like or dislike. Besides, there are a lot of distracting factors that come with this gift .” He put the last part in quotation marks. “Like, I can feel the subway tunnel underneath the apartment complex whenever one of the cars drives by. The floor vibrates. It’s even worse at night when I have nothing else to focus on. Sirens, cars, music, the sound of my neighbors fucking, and then there’s the baby down the street that has the strongest lungs, and honestly, after listening to it night after night, I don’t really care that he’s a baby, I just want him to stop. I get a headache. That’s why I don’t sleep much, that’s why I go out. By helping people, I minimize the sounds and the pain, and it knocks me out enough to ignore the world for a little while. And don’t even get me started on the horrendous smell of the streets or the flower shop around the corner. Food also tastes weird most of the time, which makes me pick wisely what I eat. That’s just a handful of things, so yeah, it’s not always fun. Most of the time, it fucks with my head.”

“Like a sudden flash of light would distract me when I’m trying to look at something?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

Eliza let out a prolonged sigh. “I’m sorry. It must get tiring, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“I know what it’s like to get distracted by other people’s emotions… can’t imagine having that happen to all of my senses.”

“Be glad you don’t have to.”

“So you never regret what happened?”

“Regret? All the time. But I’ve accepted it. I’m fine with who I am,” he continued. “I don’t mind. I’ve grown used to it. Sure, it was a change at first, and I struggled hard, especially with the enhancement of my other senses, but now, the way I’m living, I don’t miss it. I don’t wish I could see you, for example, that’s not… okay, that makes me sound like an asshole.”

She was full-on laughing behind her hand now and he was flustered, the blush heavy on his cheeks, and she loved to listen to the adorable squeak the struggle left in his voice. 

Matt chuckled when he heard her. “I think you know what I mean.”

Eliza nodded. “Yeah, I get it.”

“It’s just that sometimes, I’m expected to act as if I miss it. I’ve heard people say, oh I’m sure he misses it because they pity me, you know. And I don’t want to explain to them why it’s not entirely true. I can’t explain what happened to my senses without blowing my cover and even then most people wouldn’t understand, and I don’t know how to explain that I’ve gotten used to it because it just seems so impossible for a normal person to hear.”

“I want to say I’m sure they would,” she said, taking a deep breath, “but I can’t because I know from experience that it’s not true.”

Matt chuckled, but it was a sad, darker one than the carefree noise it was supposed to be. “Having my sight back would be nice, sure, but I know it’s impossible, so I don’t waste my time thinking about what could have been and just accept what’s happening to me. There’s no use in lying.” 

“Accepting who you are?” Eliza feigned a gasp. “How could you, Matt? You’re not allowed to do that.”

“Ha! Okay.”

“Tell me,” she said and turned to her side to look at him better, “Is there anything you would like to see again? No, that sounds wrong. I mean… Just, if you randomly had the chance to see anything you wanted for, like, a minute or so. Or, a genie comes around and offers you three wishes. What would you wish for? What would you wish to see, if it were possible?”

He answered promptly, “I’d give anything to see the sky one more time.”

“Okay. Why the sky, exactly? Explain it to me.”

“I don’t know. I liked watching the stars when I was a kid, but I also liked going to the park during the day. I wasn’t the type of boy to play soccer. No, I, uh, hated that. I liked to read and feel the sun shining down on my face. I always pointed out the cloud animals to my dad…” the softest laugh passed his lips, the memories full of serenity. “I didn’t have many friends, so that had to do. My dad was my friend. I didn’t fit in, but he did. He was great. He, uh, he always put me first. Always made sure I was okay.“

She smiled. “That’s great.” Why did she sound so bitter? It wasn’t her intention.

“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly. “I didn’t think…”

“No,” she stopped him. “Stop it. You didn’t… I don’t know why I sounded like that. You have nothing to apologize for.”

“I’m lying here talking about my dad while you…”

“As I said, it’s fine,” she said. “I asked you. I think it’s great, actually, that you had a great relationship with your dad.“

“You really think so?” He could already tell she wasn’t lying. She meant every single word she said.

She smiled over at him, trying her best not to let his happy memories affect her. He had been through hell and back, just like her. He deserved to remember the good things about his life before he got blind and his dad died.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Thank you,” he returned the gesture, stroking a finger over her cheek.

“I mean, it would be awful if we both had daddy issues. You have the mommy issues, I have the daddy issues. Actually, I have both of those. I have the whole family tree in my file for mental issues. But hey, look on the bright side, that makes for some amazing sex.”

He took a moment to register what she said before he burst out laughing. He laughed so hard, he had to place his hand in front of his mouth in order not to wake Foggy.

She snorted. “That wasn’t even supposed to be funny.”

“Shut up, you know you did that on purpose.”

“Okay, yeah, I did.” Her laugh started in the bottom of her chest, bubbling out like soap.

She stayed silent for a bit. Matt tilted his head to catch up on her breathing. The thoughts in her head were particularly loud again. Just as he was about to ask her, her voice broke the silence. 

“What if I told you that I could grant you that wish I just asked you about?” she asked. She carefully turned to watch the expressions dance over his face. 

He was confused. “What?”

“What if,” she sloppily slid her leg over his waist, lifting herself so she was straddling him, “I could make you see the sky one more time?”

“What are you on about?” Matt asked. 

Her hands gently stroked his cheeks. “Do you trust me?” she asked. 

“What does that have to do with anything? What are you doing?”

“Matt, do you trust me?”

“Always,” he breathed hotly into her face. “You know that.”

“Good, ‘cause I’d like to try something.” She moved one of her hands down his neck, up his bicep, and into the palm that was outstretched on the mattress above him. “I was thinking. I managed to make other people not see, and I’ve been doing so for a while. I put up an invisible wall, a door into a world in which we do not exist. So what if instead of making people not see things, or getting into their heads to pull out their most painful memories, I could make you see.”

He reached for her hips. “Oh,” the sound was soft. 

“I did some research earlier and… it could work. Us right now is reality as we know it, but I can manipulate it. I’ve seen it happen. I just don’t know if-”

“Do it,” he said. She met his sightless eyes with a soft smile. He looked determined. His fingers dug into her hips, holding her straight, and she slipped her fingers through his hair. She detangled the knots left from their prolonged shower, still slightly wet. 

“You sure? I don’t want to pressure you into anything.”

Matt pulled her down into a kiss. “I trust you with my life,” he said. “And I mean that.”

The faith in her gave her the last necessary push. 

She kissed him again. “Okay.”

Eliza straightened her back. The muscles of his thighs tensed a little. He was uneasy. The way he kept holding onto her was a silent admission of fear. She stroked his knuckles briefly. She wasn’t going anywhere.

Eliza told him to close his eyes. He hesitated to comply. Only when her fingers found his eyelids and forced them down, he huffed, submitting to her handling. She smiled. She hoped he could feel it and realize he was fine with her, that as long as she was there, she would make sure there would be no harm done to him. 

She wouldn’t have suggested trying it if she had been sure it would hurt him. Still, she asked for his consent because what she was about to do, whether it worked or not, would change something he had lived with for over two decades drastically, and only for a short amount of time – he would return to the way he was. What she was about to do would mess with his head and she wasn’t sure if that was a line she was willing to cross, but then she saw the flush on his skin and the desperation causing his muscles to twitch and she knew he had made up his mind.

He was her personal test rabbit.

There is something powerful about control. Having someone putty in the palm of your hands, following your every command, bending to your will. It’s just you and whatever you want to control, and it makes you feel like the king of the world. It makes you feel important. But power also tends to corrupt us. We’re human, after all. Governments have fallen because certain people couldn’t get enough of their power and always wanted more.

Eliza wanted more. She saw what she could do, what she could create with just a thought, and what it felt like to hold the world in the palm of her hand. She felt the energy expanding in her veins, opening new doors. She managed to control it before, she hadn’t killed anyone yet, so perhaps there was a part of her that already knew how to manipulate it because the reality stone, like all the other Infinity Stones, was a powerful creation of the universe. How it worked, exactly, she still hadn’t figured it out, but essentially, the process of manipulating reality was just science. 

“Hands,” she told him. She intertwined their fingers on his chest. 

“You don’t have to do this,” he sensed her hesitation.

She shook her head. “Just let me focus.”

The red in her eyes managed to black out both of her eyes, not even a pupil left to be seen. The smoke traveled from the middle of her forehead into the rest of her body, tainting her veins and turning the light surrounding her into something sharp and laced with toxicity.

Matt heard the chirping of the birds first, then he felt the sun on his skin. There was grass underneath him, scratching through a cotton shirt. The sensation was different though. It wasn’t intense. He couldn’t smell the pollen invading his nose. He couldn’t trace the pattern of the leaves underneath his fingers. His sense of touch didn’t go that far, and neither did his nose or his tongue. And for once, the birds seemed to scream just a little less loud. 

The world around them was floating. They weren’t on Earth, couldn’t be. It felt like a fever dream to be lying in a field around summertime and not have a single thing to worry about.

“Open your eyes,” Eliza said next to him. Her voice sounded like an angel’s choir. She was no longer situated on his lap but rather kneeling on the soft grass. 

Matt breathed. He wasn’t sure if he wanted it. The sun seemed to be burning through his eyelids. It never did. Changes in the light hadn’t mattered for a very long time because he couldn’t see them. He had to have been hallucinating. 

She gently touched his cheek. “Come on,” her voice was so beautiful. There was nothing else, no loud noises, no vibrations, just the birds and her voice and the feeling of nature nudging his skin. 

The world was so quiet. He had missed this. He had missed not being able to hear everything. 

He squeezed his eyes. If he opened them, the world would shatter. He was sure he would be met with darkness or the site of one of his nightmares where he had to listen to the blood draining from his friends’ faces. A tear slipped down his cheek. She caught it, careful not to disturb him, and the rather impatient flick against his eyelashes made him giggle.

“Matt,” she whispered his name. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. Just open your eyes.”

The sun blinded him. Yes, it blinded him. You can’t blind an already blind person.

The sensation was entirely overwhelming. He could make out the soft blue of the sky, white dots of cotton candy forming the shapes of animals as they passed by the orange hues of the fiery planet shining down on planet Earth. The flappy wings of birds passed by as they hunted each other for food. A single leaf traveled from one corner of the park to the other. Flowers adorned the field he found himself on, the grass so incredibly green, the brightness hurt his eyes. 

That day, for the first time in over twenty years, he opened his eyes and was met with the world instead of nothing.

He twirled around to get a good look at her face, but she was gone. Her spot was empty. 

“No,” she said from somewhere behind him, and when he turned, her hand was back on his arm and face close to his neck. 

Matt pulled his knees up to his chest. His mind was in shambles. He truly meant it when he said he didn’t miss the gift of sight. Having it all back was too overwhelming. The world was so beautiful, so raw, so wild, he couldn’t resist. He gave in. He allowed himself to smile, to laugh, and to breathe as if the real world wasn’t lurking behind a dark alleyway. 

He tried to pull her in, but she refused. “I’m not letting you see me. You wanted to see the sky again and here we are! Don’t ruin it.”

“Why?” he choked out. Her forehead lay against his temple as she hugged him, and he watched the clouds pass by in perfect armies of tortoises and unicorns. 

“You don’t need to see me,” her smile was visible against him. “You know me. You don’t need to see my face, not when you already know who I am in my heart. And I don’t want you to, either.”

He knew she was right. He didn’t need to see her. It would have been to satisfy his own curiosity, but nothing more than that. He touched her. He painted his own picture and that was enough. He didn’t need an actual picture of her in his mind. And the fact that she was granting him this one wish, seeing the sky again, being able to breathe fresh air without having to worry about a thing, was more than enough for him. 

The tears stopped eventually. The birds kept on chirping their little tune, a song now stuck in his head, and they held each other as the sky slowly transitioned into darker shades of blue before it reddened completely in the west and faded into the sparkly dots of the far behind galaxies. 

Matt was cuddled softly into her chest. No matter how tired he was, the sky was too beautiful to tear his eyes away. “If I fall asleep and wake up tomorrow,” he said.

“It’ll be gone,” she finished, nails scratching along his scalp. “I’m sorry.”

“Is this- are we dreaming or is this real?”

“It’s real for as long as I want to.”

He nodded. “Can we stay like this until I fall asleep? I’d like to take my time to find Orion.”

“You don’t have to,” he followed her finger to the right side of the sky, “It’s here. And this one,” - she halted her scratching to trace the invisible lines between the stars that were essentially just small, white blobs in the middle of space - “That’s Fornax.”

“And this one?” he asked and pointed somewhere in the far southwest. 

“Aquarius.”

“And that’s Pegasus, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How about just below Orion?”

“Oh, that’s Aries actually.”

He hummed. “Oh. That’s cute.”

“We’ve also got Leo and Virgo in the east and Cancer in the northeast. Here.” She emphasized her words with the drawing of her fingers, the constellations coming together perfectly in front of his eyes. “And you know, Bootes is there too, in the south.”

The stars formed a distinctive picture. “Because it looks like a boot,” he said, rather unimpressed, with his eyebrows raised in amusement. 

“Because it looks like a boot!” she declared proudly. 

“Damn, who made up that name?”

Her chest shook with laughter underneath his head and he couldn’t help but smile at the carelessness that was suddenly in the way her heartbeat. 

“Bootes is thought to stem from the Greek word for either ox driver or noisy. In mythology, it’s either depicted as Icarius, the hero of the Attic deme of Icaria, or Arcas, a human son of Zeus.”

“So if Norse Gods exist,” he crossed his arms, “Do the Greek Gods exist too?”

“I don’t know. I only ever met Thor and Loki. That’s enough outer space people for a lifetime. Though Thor told me a story once…”

But by the time she had finished, he was already fast asleep. 

The stars were gone, the night chilly and the ceiling way too dull with its many rocks instead of the wide open sky. The constellations long forgotten, Eliza found herself straight into the darkness of his apartment. The silence ate her alive. Matt was breathing peacefully on her chest. He was calm. He looked so beautiful like this, finally able to rest without the worry lines on his face. And he was happy. For the first time, he was happy, and she would have done anything to keep it that way if she had had the means. 

The sharp headache rubbed at her temples, breaking into her forehead like waves to shore.

“So, how does this work, exactly?” She found herself sitting on a hard rock in the middle of the red desert, the only object standing out of the smoke. 

The Eliza in front of her gave her damn near a heart attack. 

“I don’t want to fight or insult you this time,” she said. 

“Alright. What is this then?”

“I’m gonna help you the best I can. I’m more comfortable here anyway.”

“That’s fine,” said Eliza. “I’m listening.”

“Deep down, you know how this works.”

“If I did, would I ask?”

“How do you come back here? How do you will me back into your consciousness?”

“I don’t know.” She lifted her arms in a sloppy shrug. “I just get a headache, then I close my eyes and I’m here. Almost like throwing up, kinda. And with you, I think I just prayed for a sign.”

“Prayed, seriously?” She had this amused glint in her eyes again. “You and praying, that doesn’t sound right.”

“But it’s true.”

“That’s not how this works. I know you want to think that there’s some easy explanation, but there’s not. You can’t explain something like this.”

“Then how does it work? Listen,” Eliza said and stood up, “I just learned about this whole reality stone thing a couple of hours ago. You tried to warn me and I’m sorry for not listening, but I want to learn more. I just don’t know how to control it.”

Her double reached her hand out. “Touch me,” she said. 

“What?”

“Just trust me. Touch me. Do you feel that?”

“Yeah.”

“This is real.”

“Okay?”

“Everything you can consume with your senses is part of reality. And everything you can consume with your senses can be manipulated if you wish to do so.”

“Now you just sound like a Wikipedia page,” Eliza muttered. 

“You hold the pen to change every story you read. If you want the world to look a certain way,” she said, “You just have to think about it.”

“So I can decide whether I want a character to be a part of the storyline?”

“If you want to use it as a metaphor, sure.”

“I could just rewrite everything?”

“Yes.”

“Change the characteristics?”

“You could change the entire character sheet if you’d like.”

She scoffed, suddenly curious. Time must have stopped in the world outside. Eliza smirked with her next question, “I could just change the setting?”

The other one nodded, snapping her fingers. “Just like that.”

“So this isn’t our only reality?” 

“Reality is relative. Every universe has its own, and every universe’s reality is fragile.”

“Every universe?” she hugged her arms around her torso. “So the multiverse, it’s real?”

“Pretty much.” The double was sitting in front of her now, legs dangling over the rock. The roles suddenly reversed and she wasn’t even sure how she got there. 

“Okay, so, this is where it gets complicated. I was exposed to the reality stone before I was even born, right? My DNA got pretty fucked up because of it. Some day, my dad decided I was entirely too dangerous, so he handed me over to Hydra to what? Control me, perhaps? And they didn’t know.”

“You can’t know something without ever being told about it.”

“But why didn’t he tell them? That would have made me so much more powerful.”

“Or they would have just drained you and reduced to ashes.”

“Okay, but why would they do that?”

“Because the stone is worth more than empathy ever will,” she pouted, “Sorry.”

“No, no,” Eliza waved. “It’s fine. You’re right. It doesn’t make any sense.” She sat down next to her, a few inches apart. “But why did they experiment with my amygdala instead of figuring out where my powers really came from?” she asked. 

“We started manipulating things from a young age. We couldn’t control it, so they did the next best thing. They took what we already had and put it into something new. That way, we were unstoppable while also being submissive. If we had known…”

“We would have burned the world down and with it, Hydra.”

The two of them shared a meaningful glance. 

“You’re not so bad,” Eliza ended up confessing. “But then again, you’re me. I shouldn’t be so surprised that you’re quite smart.”

“I’m the smart one,” she corrected. “You’re just an idiot with an amazing voice of reason.”

“Okay, I thought you weren’t going to belittle me?”

“I am not belittling you, just telling the truth.”

“Perhaps you’re right.” She got up again, ready to leave this place, ready to leave the desert behind and return to a more humid area that didn’t smell of dust and despair. “Our father should have just done a little more research, to be honest.” 

The double tilted her head curiously. “How so?” she asked. 

“We could have become one of the X-Men,” Eliza said. 

“We could have also just been added to a home for peculiar children. It wouldn’t have changed the outcome.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I know a lot more than you think.”

“Hmm. I still think Professor X would have done a much better job at taming us than Hydra did.”

“You would prefer fighting with Deadpool over the Avengers?”

She frowned. “But Deadpool isn’t an X-Man.”

She was smiling, faintly but nonetheless. “You’re the only one to ever survive bearing the full force of an infinity stone,” she said instead. It was ominous and it caused her to lean back a little, rather unimpressed. “The universe doesn’t make such a decision for nothing. God knows when you might need one of the stones to defend all of existence. Or something equally as terrible.”

“So it was a sign? Yeah, right. Of fucking course it was!”

“You should listen to what your body tells you. You’re not out of control, you’re not new to this - you just have to learn how to live with me again.”

“I’m already living with myself. I admit barely, but thank you for your worries.”

“No, not you, Eliza,” she said, “I mean Alina.”

“What?”

“You wanted to know who I am? This is me.”

She disappeared. 

“Okay, but who’s gonna tell me about the X-Men now? I’m too lazy to read the fucking comics!”

Reality quite literally slapped her across the face. Eliza grunted when she opened her eyes and realized it hadn’t been hours; the alarm clock showed one in the morning. Matt was still asleep, Foggy snoring in the living room. She checked her phone. Luckily, the world was no closer to discovering her whereabouts, so there was nothing but a few more slandering statements made by the DailyBugle to ruin her life. No one even suspected she was hiding from the people she did. The news about Daredevil disturbed her, but it was bound to happen. Tony had warned her, but she just wouldn’t listen. 

She pulled on her jeans quietly, exchanging her sleep shirt for one of Matt’s and an olive green hoodie (also his because the only clothes she owned were either too short or too obvious and the rest of her belongings had blown up). She managed to go through his drawers without making even as much as a sound, finding a baseball cap alongside a blindfold - she would keep that in mind for the future. 

Foggy shifted on the couch when she closed the bedroom door. Her heart beat faster. She felt bad, guilty even, using her powers to coax both of them into the deepest sleep possible. But she had no choice. The metal of the gun felt heavier than usual in the back of her jeans and the knife she had strapped to the inside of her boot scratched uncomfortably against her sock. The photo identification slid into her back pocket, a stack of cash from the second floor of her duffel bag in the other. She was ready. She had weapons and she had the perfect disguise. She was sure nothing could go wrong, though at the same time, she had the feeling that the second she would leave the apartment, the spotlight would fall on her and the government would come storming out of every building in a ten-block radius. 

You won’t know if you don’t try. 

The hospital was packed. She wasn’t sure where the curious crowd began or the medical personnel ended. Claire held the back door open for her. 

“You know, when you called, I thought I was seeing ghosts,” she said. She peaked around the corner to make sure no one was watching them. “Like, you come to me for help instead of Matt? Sounds like a weird dream.”

“I’m sorry, I know this puts you in an awkward position,” Eliza answered. 

“Not really, no. I made myself an accomplice when I lend you my scrubs, which went unnoticed, thank God. What surprised me is that you told me not to tell Matt.” They managed to cross another corner unseen and her eyes lit up. “It’s the most fun I’ve had in years,” the admission caused her to smirk. 

“Oh, Claire, who would have thought!” 

“I may not seem like it on the outside, but I do like myself some danger.”

“If people knew…”

“They can’t tie me to you. Now, I’m not a lawyer, but without evidence? I’m just a nurse.” 

Claire pushed the door to the staff stairwell open. 

“Third floor,” she stated, “Once you’re out the door, turn right, and then it’s the third room.”

“How about security?” she asked.

“The cameras here are fake. Metro General can’t afford to have the whole hospital under surveillance, so if you want to find doctors making out like in Grey’s Anatomy, go through the stairwell. Oh, and about the officer guarding his room…”

Eliza lifted her hand. She drew the line at involving her in more than she had to know. “Leave that to me,” she said. 

“Okay, listen, I understand you want to see him, but you gotta be fast and you gotta be quiet. If somebody catches you, I don’t think there is much that can help you.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“I’ve also got this,” she pulled a piece of paper from the pocket of her scrub pants, “The air ventilation plan you asked for.”

She smiled. “Thank you, Claire.”

The nurse pulled the door close behind her, locking it. Through the glass, she could read her lips. “Try not to get caught!”

Eliza flipped two fingers off her forehead before ascending the ridiculously long flight of stairs. Matt would kill her. She knew he would kill her. The second he found out or woke up without her in the apartment, she would be in for it, chances were she would forget what it was like to walk after. And not in a sexy way.

She softened the police officer’s fall to the ground with a hand under his head. His eyes were red, his body stiff. Tony had been here shortly before, she could smell the faint remains of his Axe body spray. Other than the security detail assigned to Happy’s room, there was no one there. It was late and no one expected her to come, probably, or anyone trying to hurt him so shortly after the incident. Or perhaps Tony told them to take it easy, that she wasn’t so stupid as to show herself in a crowded hospital just to talk to him. 

He was wrong. 

The familiar snoring didn’t fill the room. It smelled of disinfectants and saline and some of the disgusting food they had brought him before tucking him in for bed. Eliza entered and the man was wide awake. 

“Finally,” Happy sighed. He pushed the button to get the backrest of the hospital bed to sit him upright. 

She pressed a finger to her lips. “Are you okay?” she asked. 

He nodded. This time, he kept his voice lower. “Just peachy. How are you?”

“Yeah, fine.”

“I heard what happened. What they’re saying about you. I told them-”

She quickly stepped into the limelight. He could see her smile and the silent apology on her lips. He patted the spot next to him. There wasn’t much space, but she could fit in. 

Eliza slid into the bed. He lifted the blanket to allow her in. It was warm and comforting, and he was soft. She heard his heart hammering underneath his chest, proof he was still alive. 

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she muttered. 

“Yeah, me too, pumpkin,” he said. 

“I’m sorry about what happened.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“Hey,” he forced her to look at him, “What’s going on?”

“I don’t have time to tell you the whole story,” she admitted. 

“Then try your best to sum it up in one sentence.”

“Hydra’s back, I have the reality stone inside of me and they want it, so they’re trying to kidnap me while Wilson Fisk is trying to regain control and murder me at the same time, so I’m trying to stop Hydra through Fisk, which is complicated and since I’m working with Daredevil and doing stuff I’m not supposed to, I broke the Accords and the government wants my rogue, mutant head on a stick.”

He contemplated for a moment. “That was more than one sentence.”

“Trust me, it was one.”

“You know, using ‘and’ to connect all of your thoughts doesn’t make it a sentence but more of a mess of words, right?”

“Yeah, but on paper, it would be an English sentence.”

He sighed. “So, Daredevil?” he somehow managed to ignore everything else about her explanation. 

“So, you’re not gonna scream or run to Tony?” she retorted.

“I think you realized that the second I came to your apartment tonight. It’s why you came back here to tell me the truth, I hope. I’m on your side, you know that.”

Eliza sat up. Her feet dangled off the edge of the bed, but she stayed close to him. “Do you think I’m a terrible person?” His approval was the most important. 

He shook his head. “No,” he said.

“But you think I made a mistake?”

“You didn’t make a mistake. I just think you could have prevented this if you had told me.”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference, Happy.”

“But what if it did?”

“This is so much bigger than you or me. You saw what happened tonight. You almost died,” she said. “I wanted to prevent that. Everyone around me is in danger right now and I can’t… if I lost you, too, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

He ran a comforting hand down her back. “I’m not blind, you know,” he said. The wires attached to his arm tangled with his sudden movements. “I could tell Tony was behaving strangely.” 

“Tony always acts strangely.”

Happy tried to sit up straighter. She fluffed the pillow behind his back, taking some of the pressure off his injured side. He groaned. “Yeah, but this was strange, even for Tony, and then I remembered how secretive you’ve been acting, so I just connected the dots. It had to be something he said and you wouldn’t try to hide things from him if it weren’t for good reason.”

In other words, he knew something was up from the beginning, but he accepted her boundaries and didn’t push her. He just wanted her to be okay. 

Eliza blew the air out of her pursed lips. ���Jesus.” If she had told him, things would have never gone this far. “I tried to push you away. You were just trying to help and I pushed you away.” Her voice broke. Tears collected in her eyes, appearing like thin glass in the neon lighting of the room. 

“It’s okay. You weren’t sure who you could trust,” he said. 

“Yeah, but I trust you. Always have, always will, I just thought-”

“That I was gonna rat you out to Tony.”

“Yeah,” she sniffed. “I am so sorry, Happy. Really, I don’t… I wish I could take back all that happened, but I can’t. I screwed this up. I did. I have to suffer the consequences now, not you, not-” she cut herself off. Certainly not Matt. He was the last person to have to suffer for what she did. 

She got up. Her knees cracked at the applied pressure. She wasn’t crying, though her chest hurt nonetheless. The weight was heavy, she could barely swallow. Her vocal cords were frozen in place. 

“Does it help when I tell you that Tony isn’t a bad person?” Happy tried to reason with her. The direction her mind was going looked dark, a place where she might not return from if she wasn’t careful on her way down the rabbit hole. 

Eliza scoffed in response. 

“I’m serious, Liz. I can’t imagine him keeping this from you just to spite you.”

“Of course not!” she snapped. “Don’t you think I know that? Of course, Tony wouldn’t do any of this just to hurt me, but he did, and he knew it would, even if it wasn’t his intention.”

“I think he was just trying to protect you.”

“Well, there are other ways to protect me that don’t involve lying to me about crucial details of my life. A life I had no idea existed before I found that stupid file. Also,” she said, her breathing growing more shallow by the second, “It explains why I am the way I am. If he had told me, I could have figured out how to control this. He and Bruce could have studied me and it could have made sense. It would have spared me so much pain if I’d just known earlier, but he didn’t tell me. He didn’t even make an effort. Now tell me again he didn’t want to hurt me, not even deep down. If you truly believe that, look me in the eyes and tell me again, and then I’ll go. Tell me you’d forgive Tony for this if you were me. Tell me he is the good guy, even after all of this.” She pointed at her face. 

Happy opened his mouth. He couldn’t say it. Telling her would have been a lie. Meeting her eyes, he struggled to find something comforting to say. 

“Even after I delivered proof that Hydra is out there, he keeps refusing to offer the resources to help me. He wants me arrested so he can make this go away. He’d just make it disappear and I’d have to continue living in fear of this happening again and again and again because they want me. Hydra wants me. Rest assured, they’ll find a way! They’ll find a way, it’s what they do unless I stop them myself. It’s the only way. I have to stop them. I have to end them. And if all else fails, I can always end myself. I’m the key and I’d be damned to let him stop me. Without me, stopping Hydra is impossible. They’ve made it this far just to get to me. I doubt anything is gonna stop them, especially not Tony.”

“Eliza, please,” he said, “Sit down.”

“No. He doesn’t care! He knows I won’t stop until this is over and instead of helping me, he wants to be right, and he’d do everything to achieve that. He always wants to be fucking right. For someone trying to protect me, he’s doing an awful job at showing it.”

“You’re so stubborn, do you know that?” 

“Yes, thank you. I’m well aware.”

“Did you allow Tony to explain, at least?” 

“Explain?” she gawked at him. “Why would I let him do that?”

“Because he’s the only one who knows why he did what he did,” Happy said, exasperated. His heart monitor grew louder, the beeping faster together. 

“I don’t need him to explain what I already know,” she retorted. 

“But do you know, really?”

“I…” she didn’t. There could be a plausible explanation for everything and instead of listening, she pushed him away.

In her head, he was the villain, the bad guy, the one who stole her the only thing she had been asking for ever since she joined the Avengers. He denied her the answers that could have helped her shape who she was. For the longest time, she’d had no idea who was even staring back at her in the mirror. Everything hit her at once. It was too much. And there was no one else to blame but Tony. By hiding it all away, he only postponed the inevitable, and now she was on her own. She had to do this alone. No Avengers, no Tony, nothing.

She was going to die for the cause and no one would show up to her funeral. 

Eliza wiped her cheeks. This was no time to weep. She was stronger than this. She had a fucking job to do. Crying wasn’t going to get her anywhere. Deep down, she knew how to handle all of this. It was in her blood. She had to find it in herself. She had to take the steering wheel before Hydra could steal it from her, causing her to crash the car into the next best wall. And she would do it alone. If she dragged Matt down with her, even further than he already was, she would never be able to forgive herself. She had to suffer, not him. She had to fix this, not him. It was all on her now. 

You’re on your own, kid, always have been. 

“You know,” she said, more reserved this time. Happy watched as the life drained from her eyes, replaced by a soulless monster. The soldier. “I’m glad you’re okay, I really am.”

He sighed. “No…”

“I’m gonna go now. It was nice to see you again, Happy.”

“Eliza, wait. You don’t have to go.”

“I do,” she said. Her hands flexed at her sides. The doorhandle rattled. She let the power dance around her fingers. 

Reality can be whatever you want it to be. 

She moved the lid resting over the vent to the side. In her mind, the metal of the door melted and glued it in place. The handle began to sizzle with the heat. The silver of the metal burned red. On the other side of the door, pained screams sounded loud enough for them to hear. The deadbolt melted into the doorframe, cooling down almost instantly. Even with constant kicking, the door wouldn’t budge. 

Happy’s eyes filled with pure horror. She stood there, using a chair to hoist her up into the vent. Her eyes met his. The regret lasted for about a second before the emotionless facade returned. She smiled, maybe that would ease his nerves. 

“What did you just do?” he asked. He tried to keep the fear away, but he was burning with it. Like the metal of the doorknob, he was glowing. The fear smelled sour this time, not sweet, not powerful. It came from someone she cared about and it was directed at her. The fear was there because of her. Happy was scared of her. 

She shrugged. She couldn’t stand this any longer. “Goodbye, Mister Hogan.”

The last time she had called him that was the first day she ran into him in the compound, looking for Tony. His heart broke. Clean, straight through. She could hear it crack under her boot as she stomped over it, crushing him like an ant. 

He was left with his head hung low, praying, something he had never done before.

When the cops finally broke down the door, Eliza was gone. The vent was shut, and the chair was back where it came from. There was no sign of her other than the melted metal of the door they had just stormed through. And even though he was scared shitless, when he was asked about what happened, if she had been in the room with him, he said no. He didn’t answer. He protected her, as he would until the day he took his last breath. 

[snapessecretdiary]

Keeping it cliché

a/n: I shouldn't write this right now, I'm at work. But look what I've done. So much for that.

words: 1382

In and out. In and out. You reapeated those words like a mantra in your head. In and out. Once again Valentines Day was drawing closer and- once again- you were in absolutely no mood for it. For one, because (just like last year and the year(s) before) you were single, and two, because it was so hyped that you literally couldn't stand it anymore. What was all this fussing about? Why did everyone feel the need to go out of their ways and decorate everything with hearts and red and winged babies? You honestly never grasped this concept. For you, it was a usual day. Well, as usual as it can be when you're surrounded by people who celebrate it like a national holiday. One of them was the one person opposite you: your best friend [F/N].

Knowing her for about five years, you've learned to understand her in a way, that only a best friend could. But then again, there was this day. February the 14th. And she absolutely loved it. It probably isn't a surprise to say that you didn't. You dreaded it.

„You're just saying this because you're single.“ [F/N] would muse, sipping her iced coffee that was ridiculously poured into a bright pink cup. Her's had hearts all over it. Yours didn't. Seemed the barista got your vibe. No hearts, no pink, no tooth-rotting curly handwriting. Just plain, brown cup and straight lettered [Y/N]. Exactly the way you liked it. Utterly un-romantic.

„I don't think that's why,“ you huffed, rolling your eyes as you continued to walk the busy streets of Hells Kitchen, „It's just dump. Why pretend I'm in love just because of a day? You aren't nearly half as happy on July 7th, and why? Because no jerk declared it day of the lovely dovey couples.“

Scoffing loudly, [F/N] stopped and looked at you quite exasperatedly, „Damn it, the arrow Armor hit you with seems to have been poisoned.“

Being the awesome friend that you were destined to be, you completely ignored her. Today, you would not care. And you know what? You wouldn't care on the other 364 days, either.

Gladly, someone decided to bless you with the gift of not caring. Fucking thanks man.

„Honestly [F/N] just leave it be and start pestering someone else. I've had a ridiculously hard day and right now, I don't need you to make it any harder. Just go see Louis or something.“

„Louis isn't available.“ she answered, flipping her red hair and nuzzeling further into her dark brown coat. She had trown away both your cups earlier when you passed a bin.

„Lucky him.“ you grinned, earning a shove from your best friend, „Hey! Stop being a jerk.“

„I'm not sure if she's able to do that.“ another voice appeared, slightly scaring you. Turning around, you saw who it belonged to: the one and only Matt Murdock. Attorney at law, part-time vigilante, your former boss and might you add the one man you had a crush on not so long ago.

„Murdock.“ you greeted, watching him closely. He still wore the same sunglasses you two once brought together. „What are you doing here?“

„[Y/N], hi, lovely to meet you again. I'm great, thanks. Oh, and [F/N] is with you too; Hello there sweetheart.“ Matt mocked you, his voice high and squeaky, „You've always had this talent of making anyone feel like they're part of an investigation.“

„Oh shut you. We were having a small walk and I was actually partly enjoying it, until you decided to grace me with your sarcasm. Anyway, what're you doing here?“

Chuckling, Matt shook his head of thick brown hair, and answered: „Oh, you know, taking a stroll, looking at the nature. The usual.“

Next to you, you could hear [F/N] laughing. She had always thought he was cute. You knew that, and you were pretty sure, Matt did too.

„I see you still enjoy the fine art of jokes,“ he complimented [F/N], making her blush furiously. Oh, what Louis would say if he knew this..

„Hi Matt,“ she giggled, sounding almost nervously, „It's so nice to meet you again.“

„You too. How's Louis?“

Wrong move Murdock, you thought, you shouldn't ask the girl that has a crush on you how her boyfriend is. That just doesn't mix up- only makes her feel kind of guilty for being in a relationship but still blushing over silly complimentes given by other men.

She didn't even know Matt the way you did. She didn't work with him. And she most definetely hadn't seen him the way you did- lying on your bed, bleeding so much you thought he wouldn't make it through the night.

[F/N] only ever saw him as this handsome guy, who was blind and a lawyer and smoking hot.

You saw him for who he really was. Someone who's suffering from all the wrong that was done to him and the people around him. You saw him for the broken boy he was. And yet he still smiled.

In all honesty, you really admired him for that. He was a good person, and a good boss, and you know that he didn't deserve any of this. But this was life- no-one really got what they truly deserved.

You didn't need Matt's super hearing senses, to actually hear the loud gulping noice that [F/N] made, it was almost impossible to overhear.

„Fine,“ she nooded, clearly a little uncomfortable, „Louis is doing just fine.“

Now at least Matt should have the decency to actually anwer her, yet all he did was nood, mumble a small nice and then turning his whole being in your direction.

„Actually, I wanted to ask you something [Y/N].“ he started, completely ignoring your best friend still standing there.

Giving a sideway glance towards the red head, you bit your lip, and nooded. Of course he couldn't see you, but you knew he was aware of what you did anyway, so you didn't care.

„Go on then.“ you said, nudging your head as you crossed your arms, creating a bit of much needed warmth.

Grinning wickedly, Matt shifted his weight on the his left foot. „Well, after you so sufficiently decidet to end your employment at Nelson and Murdock- that I honestly still cannot grasp- one particular thought came to my mind.“

Raising an eyebrow, you looked at his muscular figure. Whatever would now follow probably wasn't what you wanted to hear right now. „Well?“

In all honesty, you wanted this to be over. You liked Matt, quite a lot so, but you also knew about [F/N] and her permanent shifting from one foot to the other made you quite unsetteling.

„As you've always put so perfectly, and I quote: 'I'd never ever date my employer' I came to one realisation: You quit. You're not working at ours anymore. We're no collegues anymore, I'm not your boss anymore. So go on a date with me.“

Out of everything he could have said, you probably wouldn't ever guess it would be.. well, that.

Of course he was right. You said you'd never go out with your employe, but Matt no longer was that for you. Right now he was just someone you once worked for, who now asked you out on a date because otherwise he'd be just as lonely on Valentines Day than you would be.

„What are you saying?“ Matt urged after a while of you being dead silent.

„I- eh-“ You broke your rambling when you felt a hand touching your shoulder. „Just say yes.“ you could hear [F/N] whisper. She was encouraging you. She gave her confirmation, it was okay. But it wasn't just that. It wasn't okay, it was exactly what you wanted to do ever since you had first seen him- to just say yes.

„I.. Yeah, alright, let's go on a date.“ you said, a smile forcing itself on your face.

„Great, I'll pick you up at seven then.“ Matt grinned widely.

And suddenly Valentines Day wasn't so bad anymore.

[dewittsend]

‘The Defenders’ Review [Episodes 5-8] {REPOST}

“Come as you are,” for better, and worse.

Something I neglected to fully delve into in my last review is the technical genius of episode four, easily the best episode of the series. Those color pallets I mentioned? Each of them is represented in this Chinese restaurant the foursome has escaped to. The bright neon lights both within and outside of the eatery are casting all sorts of beautiful shades onto our main characters and the colorful painted walls within, helping to create the perfect atmosphere for the delivery of some pretty A-game dialogue and performances. And the episode ends, as you might recall, with the Rolling Superstones getting ready to square off against Elektra. In fact, let’s look at that image again.

It’s a great moment. And one of the few this series has left to offer.

Well, crap.

It’s almost laughable how immediate the drop-off in quality is from the first four episodes, which are traditionally the ones screened ahead of time to critics. After the tantalizing cliffhanger of “Royal Dragon,” where we see Blink-MCU ready to take on Elektra, the fifth episode, “Take Shelter”...begins with classical music...and Madame Gao mobilizing her men...and Sowande (the “White Hat” Luke was tracking) in a van with HIS men...and oh, this dude Murakami is on the rooftop...and he jumps down and crashes into the middle of the fight, which has apparently been going on for some time.

We missed it.

It was such a sloppy way to open up an episode, and a total letdown for me, considering that throughout most of these fight scenes, the heroes are just knocking out randoms in black suits. It would’ve made a difference to see them take on a “mini-boss” like Elektra all on her own. This may seem like nitpicking but it’s merely a precursor to the other dropped balls in this second half.

Summarizing eps. 5-8 actually won’t be as hard as 1-4, because there isn’t a great deal of character or plot development. During all the chaos at the Royal Dragon, Matt of course tries to get through to Elektra, convinced that there’s still good in her because she’s hesitated on each of the multiple occasions she’s had to kill him, but she escapes before he can seal the deal. She does NOT, however, escape before Murakami can see them having a moment, and she attacks him for attempting to kill Matt, leading him to question her loyalty.

There’s an unnecessary side plot with Colleen that starts up when she gets her stomach sliced open by Bakuto (surprise! This asshole’s back!). She’s taken back to the police precinct, where all our supporting characters have been relegated for protection. After she gets patched up by Claire because I guess Iron Fist forgot he can heal people, she reveals a feeling of general uselessness to her friend. MIND YOU, she’s like a triple black belt in four Japanese martial arts and knows how to use a katana, which is kinda the same thing everyone else in this show is doing, yet she thinks she’s outclassed.

Though in Colleen’s defense, it seems that every single member of The Hand can teleport, because they all do the Batman disappearing trick, and I’m as SICK OF IT as she is.

After the skirmish at Royal, Luke captures Sowande. Now, they all try to get information out of him. Jessica Jones...punches him back INTO consciousness, which I don’t think is possible, but whatever. He taunts all of them, knowing there’s no pain they could put him through that would make him divulge any information about The Hand or their motives. “Cut off a finger,” he tells Stick, “and you can still use a hand.”

I guess HYDRA and The Hand had to flip a coin on sinister slogans at some point.

There’s a pretty great torture moment where Daredevil slings his billy club cord around Sowande’s throat and gradually tightens it, but of course, the hardcore nigh-immortal super ninja doesn’t give in. He’s actually able to escape his bonds and briefly takes Danny hostage, before Stick beheads him.

Ep. 6, “Ashes, Ashes” contains a standout in a show full of people flipping and punching each other in the face, and that is Daredevil vs. Iron Fist. Prefaced by a tense escalation of dialogue between them both, Matt and the rest try to explain that they think the best way to keep The Hand from getting to Danny is to keep him away from the fight. Essentially, he’s being grounded. Perhaps rightly so, Danny feels betrayed. His anger starts to boil, and despite efforts from Luke to keep him civil, he punches Matt right in the face. But we all know the Devil eats those for breakfast. So the fight begins, and I gotta say, I had a good time watching it! It’s well-choreographed, WELL-LIT (don’t. get. used to it.), and a bit more satisfying than Cage’s match with Blonde Ralph Macchio, if only because Murdock feels no need to hold back. And it’s interesting to see their fighting styles collide, with Matt being much more aggressive, and Danny’s wushu-inspired training favoring deflection and redirection. (((Except for the fact that he starts it.)))

*EDIT: I MADE GIFS OF THIS FIGHT SEQUENCE. ON GIPHY. AND THEY WERE REALLY NICE LOOKING, BUT THERE WAS A PROBLEM. KEEP READING TO SEE MY OTHER EDIT LATER ON AND GET DETAIL. SORRY.*

In the end, it takes the efforts of all the heroes to put Danny down (although again the show dodges an opportunity for a mini-boss moment, as for the majority of this fight, everyone else is just watching this happen). They tie him to a chair and try to formulate a strategy. While Jess and Matt reestablish contact with John Raymond’s family to gain information about exactly how much he knew, Stick and Luke keep watch over Danny. This allows the latter pair to try and act like they have chemistry.

Matt and Jess discover a map of the Midland Circle tower in John Raymond’s piano (after Matt...plays the theme song of the show...on the piano..?) and are on their way to bring it back when Matt senses some SHIT GOIN DOWN. Because while Luke and Danny were yuckin it up, Stick concocted some sort of sleeping inhalant. He uses it to knock out the Black man of steel and is about to kill Danny, because, of course, this is the only way he sees to completely deny The Hand. The other two hurry back, but it is actually Elektra who {somehow} finds their hideout and {somehow} is just in time to save Danny’s life by trying to kidnap him. She kills Stick before Matthew can stop her, and proceeds to knock the rest of them out one by one, managing to {S O M E H O W ?} PULL Luke Cage onto his back with some TV JUDO — I’m sorry. I am. But I have to address this.

This is another big issue. In her resurrection, Elektra is constantly referred to as the “Black Sky.” We’ve heard about these things beforehand. Apparently, they’re natural-born killers. And apparently apparently, they come with some form of enhanced strength and durability. At least, that’s what I’m forced to synthesize. Elektra is twice, two whole times, struck directly in the chest by Iron Fist’s iron fist in this show, and somehow doesn’t return with her ribs protruding through her back. Super-strong and actively remorseless Jessica Jones smacks her around numerous times, but she isn’t phased. And LEAST LOGICALLY OF ALL, she repeatedly manhandles Luke Cage, and it’s as if this dipshit forgot he shoulder-checked a van and tanked an RPG blast like two months ago! Her abilities as a Black Sky are completely ill-defined. ‘Well Justin don’t worry about it, because she’s, like, the best fighter ever probably,’ which, based on what the show demonstrates, translates into “She’s stronger than a man who can wring metal pipes like a towel, but when she punches Matthew Murdock in his de-helmeted face he’ll still {s...ome..how} keep all his teeth.”

So, whatever, Stick’s dead, and it almost means something, but then doesn’t. The only time it’s mentioned is when Matt tells Foggy in the precinct. And Charlie Cox acts the scene well because he’s phenomenal, but it doesn’t quite feel adequate.

Gee maybe if....you had made.....a little more than eight episodes.....you could’ve given some time.....to this major character’s departure....

Next, Elektra brings Iron Fist back to Alexandra. Yeah, remember her? This show sure doesn’t. Every time she shows up, it’s a surprise. To be accurate, it’s not like she totally disappears. There are scenes between her and the other Fingers of The Hand, but they’re all boring. These people have known each other since the dawn of time, but they can’t be bothered to say anything interesting to each other, or have some emotion when they find their brother with his head REMOVED from his body.

And yeah, I’ll say it — it doesn’t look good that the Black immortal was the first one to die.

After Finn Jones gives us some of his patented “I Am Vibrating With Anger!!!” acting and has brought his small face to peak punchability levels, he’s wheeled off to his episode wrap, and we get a closing moment that honestly made me shout.

Alexandra is confronting her dissident cohorts and putting her foot down about who’s in charge around here, damn it, when she gets shanked in the back with a sai.

*EDIT 2: YEAH SO I REALLY WENT INTO THE EFFORT TO USE GIPHY TO MAKE MY OWN GIFS AND I TRIED FOR HOURS BUT COULDN’T UPLOAD THEM PROPERLY OR AT ALL. I’M REAL SALTY AT TUMBLR RIGHT NOW. SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME HOW TO RESOLVE THAT. UNTIL THEN, ENJOY THE CRAPPY GIF OF THIS MOMENT THAT TUMBLR DID HAVE AVAILABLE.*

^Sigourney isn’t even acting in this moment. She’s legitimately confused about why her time was wasted.

Yes, Elektra kills Alexandra, and I shouted because it was a shocking twist. But that didn’t mean it was a good one. I mean for God’s sake. You hire NATIONAL TREASURE and SCI-FI ICON SIGOURNEY “GET AWAY FROM HER YOU BITCH” WEAVER AND ALL YOU DO IS MAKE HER A POSTER-CHILD SO THE CRITICS WILL GIVE YOU A NICE SCORE ON ROTTEN TOMATOES? This GREAT actress was PIMPED OUT for four episodes and then REAMED.

What are we DOING, Marvel?

That question is in my notes several times. Let’s hurry up and finish ep. 6 so I can tell you why.

The show has a fleeting chance to get interesting again after taking out its best performer by perhaps turning Elektra into a rogue agent of chaos. Perhaps she manages to kill ALL the “fingers” and assumes her place as The Hand’s leader, a position she does hold numerous times in the comics. Or, even the vanilla option of her trying to fight Alexandra’s siblings and fleeing, wounded, to find Matthew and restore their bond, eventually standing with The Defenders against The Hand — either of these would’ve been better than what actually happens, which is that she’s turned into a nonsensical and lazily-written sociopath with zero authentic motivation to be doing any of what she does in these last two episodes.

Penultimate chapter “Fish in the Jailhouse” opens with a flashback conversation between Elektra and Stick to remind you that he mattered at one point. It’s just a retroactive and very obvious attempt to make you understand the emotional weight of the fact that she killed him given the father-daughter dynamic they’re supposed to have.

Episode six ended with a big “RUH-ROH” moment because we were shown police lights flashing over the unconscious Matthew’s face. Our heroes wake up in the precinct, where the cops, namely Misty and her captain, are understandably perplexed as to why a lawyer would be found unconscious with two superheroes and two very dead bodies. It’s a nice way to generate conflict between Matt’s dual lives, but it ultimately leads nowhere. Jessica, Luke, and Matt all break out of the precinct to go find Danny.

Meanwhile, Elektra has The Hand’s balls in a vice. Bakuto, Gao, and Murakami are all like ‘Aye maybe you should chill out trick, cuz there are three of us and we all know how to pluck a chicken, nahmsayin?’ and Elektra is all ‘Nah fam cuz we ain’t got no more of that magic sludge to bring you back if I murk your ass so try me if you want to.’ And that’s enough to get them to listen to what she has to say, which is...nothing.

Seriously, Elektra’s arc makes no sense! Alexandra was the only person she listened to or took orders from, so she kills her, but we never find out why! It wasn’t FOR the good guys, even though she says “His name is Matthew” to Alexandra when she sticks her (Weaver’s character had earlier ordered Elektra to kill Daredevil, “whoever he is.”). Maybe she just did it to prove that she could, but again, if she’s feeling that bold, why not try to murder the rest of the leadership? It’s not as if you need them for anything! Clearly you can handle all four of The Defenders on your own!

Whatever. Elektra still wants to find out what’s trapped behind the wall at the bottom of the pit underneath Midland Circle oh, crap. I haven’t explained this part.

Iron Fist is the MacGuffin of this series because his chi can open the door to a secret passage buried hundreds of feet underneath New York. The Hand have been burrowing tunnels, and finally found the spot they needed. What’s behind the door? A giant F*%$#!G dragon skeleton, the reveal shot of which is pretty sick. I’ll update with a GIF or image if I can find one. But this is all that’s left of Shao Lao the not-so-Undying, the dragon who Danny Rand had to face in order to receive his power. Although there is no, no, zero, NEGATIVE reason for this incalculably powerful dragon to be buried underneath New York!!! How does that work? Isn’t K’un-Lun in another dimension? Oh, it doesn’t matter? We only have eight episodes to resolve this? Okay. My bad.

The insinuation is that it is from within the vestiges of this dragon and others like him that the Fingers of The Hand receive the substance that revives them. And that’s the setup for the finale. But before I can move on to episode 8, I have to talk about...the World’s Worst Thing.

There is a fight scene that occurs...between the Fingers of The Hand...and the three Defenders who come to rescue Danny...and....there’s no splitting hairs about it: this scene is atrocious.

It’s heinous. It’s an affront to fight scenes everywhere. Every fight scene ever made at least tried more than this one did. In 19 years of life, a huge chunk of which has been spent watching action and martial arts movies, I’ve almost never seen a comparable mess of close-ups, cuts, and crap choreography. Never mind that the entire encounter could’ve been filmed inside an elephant’s rectum it’s so dark, but when you CAN see something, it’s Mike Colter and Krysten Ritter pushing cinder-blocks back and forth with an ancient telekinetic Chinese woman and then pretending to punch her in the face or swing a car bumper into her. And then they replace that ancient telekinetic Chinese woman’s 73-year-old actress [Wai Ching Ho] with what can only be described as a digital bean bag so it looks like she can withstand that kind of force as she’s tossed into the cement floor. Meanwhile Charlie Cox is over on the other side busting his behind to make these stunts and strikes look good against the other two bad guys, who for what it’s worth also probably trained extensively, but you can’t appreciate ANY of their hard work because you’re just watching silhouettes bop around in an arena too cramped for MICE to wrestle. It’s so, so terrible. Easily the worst sequence in the whole of the MCU.

Episode 8 is called “The Defenders,” and it’s basically just a lotta punching. Colleen steals a ton of C4, confiscated from John Rayburn’s home, from the evidence room in the precinct. She brings it to the Defenders, along with Claire, who doesn’t need to be here, except if she was gonna die! She does not, and this is also the first time she interacts with Matt in the entire show’s run. I don’t even think either of them reacts to this fact.

🎵Whaaaat are we dooooiiiiiiing, Maaarveelll???🎵

They all decide they have to blow up the building to stop The Hand permanently, so while Colleen and Claire go to set the bombs, the rest of the team heads to help Danny. God knows he needs it.

Daredevil, Jess and Luke find a secret elevator to ride down to the bottom of the pit, where they haul off on the rest of The Hand, who seem to just be sprouting up from the ground at this point. Colleen and Claire are interrupted in planting the charges by Pretty Boy Bakuto. I wanted to see this slimy, second-rate Ra’s al Ghul actin, discount yet still older Orlando Bloom lookin fool get his spine pulled out through his nose, but his actual death is just a beheading. Not quite as satisfying. In the process of the battle, Misty shows up, and loses an arm protecting Claire. This is a setup for her to receive the bionic replacement she bears in the comics, and it’s honestly not the avenue I expected Marvel to trust itself in taking. I applaud them for it, even though Misty was otherwise useless in this show.

I’m really trying to finish the summary so I can get to my conclusion. It’s not that things are complicated, it’s just that there’s so much noise to cut through here. Once Bakuto is dead, Colleen realizes that “RUH-ROH,” the timed detonator was accidentally triggered. So down below, Luke, Jess, and Dan are all like ‘Ayo Double D, we gotta double-dip on outta here!’ and Daredevil’s all ‘Nah, I can’t. Iss mah shorty, she’s actin’ wiiiilllld, she won’t let me go out. But I think I can help her remember she’s good, nahmsayin?’ And the others are like ‘Nah you’re mad weird!’ But they leave him anyway because we really, really have to make sure that our fans think we’re killing Daredevil.

Matt and Elektra have an emotional sex-fight, wailing on each other and saying nonsense lines. Again, it would mean more to me if Elektra was indeed still brainwashed for sure, but I can no longer tell what her character is, so it’s just two hot people in red kicking each other. The bomb blows up, we see them embracing and then the screen is covered by an onslaught of dust.

The wrap-up of this finale is probably the best part. I don’t mean that cheekily in that it’s close to the end, but it feels more paced and well-planned than anything else in the last few episodes. Each character gets a pretty obvious setup for the next season of their respective shows, and then, surPRIIIIIIISSSSEEE, if you're a five year old—Matt wakes up in a nunnery, bandaged and badly bruised, and the nurse tending him tells someone to ‘Get Maggie. Tell her he’s awake.’ Or something to that effect. It’s a visual callback to the Frank Miller comic Born Again, if I’m not mistaken; a beautifully written graphic novel that takes Matt Murdock out of his element. Disbarred and living on the streets, Matt is reduced to his basest instincts, his rage ever-building while Kingpin rises to influence yet again, and Daredevil’s reputation is slandered. Meanwhile, the enigmatic Sister Maggie may share the most important link with Matthew yet. If season three is going to follow that storyline, I’m definitely intrigued for what’s coming.

That, ladies and gentlemen, was Marvel’s The Defenders. And, despite my tough tone, it’s not all bad. It’s just frustrating to see the pattern throughout these shows whereby all of the effort and funding is poured into the first few episodes so critics will give it a good grade and then the next six (or in this case, four) episodes are so clearly lackluster by comparison. There are some nice moments between the supporting cast while they wait on their super loved ones in the precinct, and there’s a stellar moment between Foggy and Karen when Matt doesn’t walk through the door with the others. But, like I said, Claire Temple, who we first met in Daredevil (where Rosario gave her best performance out of all these, if you ask me) has no time at all to spend with Matt. The lack of a scene between the two of them reflecting on how this all started was jarring! Or a moment for Jessica to realize that Luke is with Claire. The foundation is being well-paced for their eventual romance, but right now it just seems like that’s because Luke is omitting the mention of his relationship with Claire. I think with just two more episodes--scratch that, even just ONE more, we could’ve had time to do these things. We would all have watched it. Your investment would not have been in vain, Marvel.

I also found myself annoyed because while I understand we may never see Jessica Jones drink space bourbon with Rocket Raccoon, or watch Luke Cage arm-wrestle with Thor, I don’t understand how any conversation about “getting help” for this massive threat to New York City doesn’t at some point have someone say: “Oh what about Tony Stark who lives literally twenty blocks away in the tallest building on Earth? Maybe we can at least try to contact him? Maybe we can at least think about trying? Danny? Billionaire to billionaire? No?” Marvel keeps shoving “THE INCIDENT” down my throat, so we know that this is indeed the same universe where aliens attacked New York, but The Avengers came out five years ago and not one of these people can even say “Hey where’s Iron Man???” The joke is RIGHT. THERE! A RICH GUY on your team has the word IRON in his NAME! JUST MAKE THE JOKE! Give me a BREAK!

What ARE WE D--forget it.

Now, for some good reactions: although she was essentially robbed, Sigourney Weaver brought her absolute best to her part. And as far as the Defenders themselves, I think Krysten Ritter and Charlie Cox were really pulling their weight the most. Their scenes together were always the most entertaining to watch, and they just both have such a good grip on their characters. Not to speak ill of Mike Colter. I think at times he falls victim to what I like calling “the Superman Syndrome”: a character is indestructible, and therefore the writers make him unrelatable. He does have a number of good moments, though, especially when paired with Ritter. Plus, he’s charming, and looks so much like the Luke Cage on printed page that I don’t even need to suspend my disbelief. This man probably really is bulletproof. The cinematography and screenplay of the first four episodes is prime. 

I can also appreciate the inverse to the threat the Avengers faced, which came from the skies above, where the Defenders are combating evil from beneath. If they even thought about it that much. And there is some really cool fighting. Aside from the end of episode seven, very little of the choreography is actually bad, it’s just that after watching people do handsprings into flip kicks for six hours your brain kind of turns it all off. The big battle in the pit at the climax of episode eight is #1. too damn dark, aGAIN, and #2. filled with more of the same we’ve seen these characters do aaalllllllll theeee tiiiime. Danny and Matt do a barrel roll. Luke and Jessica awkwardly shove folks. And, on that note, anyone remember the first time we saw Luke fight and he only needed to tap people’s foreheads to knock them out?

He was backhanding crackers into Limbo! But now he needs to cock his elbow to put someone to sleep? Just keep up with yourself, guys. Come on.

Personally, I would’ve liked more team-up super combos from them. Allow me this one childish desire to see Luke Cage and Danny Rand simultaneously pound the ground and send out a radial shockwave that puts everyone on their backs. Can you ALLOW ME THAT, WORLD?

In the end, I would still recommend this series, if only because we’ve been building to it for two years now and people should see what’s been offered to us. While it is an incomplete package, it’s still not the worst of the bunch.

However the finale doesn’t give me the impression these four people will ever team up again. And, honestly, that may not be the worst thing.

THANK YOU for reading if indeed you did read! Stay tuned for an unscheduled upload like this sometime in the indeterminate future. Keep watching, my friends. And as always, Blessings & Blexcellence!

[fightasonepromo]

✗ Matt Murdock/Daredevil || FC: Charlie Cox  || OPEN

→ “I know what I am…who I am. And I am not afraid.“

✗ BIO

Born in Hell’s Kitchen, Matt Murdock was raised by his single father, Jack, a washed-up boxer who pushed his son to do well in school in order to make something of himself and avoid following his footsteps. When he was nine, Matt saved an elderly man from being struck by an oncoming truck, but was himself caught in the accident. Radioactive waste from the flipped truck splashed onto his face and into his eyes, blinding him. But at the expense of his eyesight, his other senses became heightened, so much so that - at first - they were excruciating to bear.

Over the months following the accident, Matt began to adapt and control his powers - notably his amplified hearing - and learned to read Braille. Meanwhile, Jack’s losing streak, as well as the stacks of medical bills and overdue rent, spurred him to accept a deal from a local mobster: lose his next match, earn a fat check. Matt - having overheard the conversation - naively encouraged his father to overcome his odds. Wanting to give his son something to be proud of, Jack won the match, a decision that resulted in his murder and sent Matt to be raised at Saint Agnes Orphanage. There, he encountered an old blind man by the name of Stick. Aware of his heightened senses, Stick took Matt under his wing. Beneath his harsh tutelage, Matt began to grow into a skilled fighter, skills he would have to hone on his own after a show of sentimentality sent his mentor packing.

Later going on to attend Columbia University to study law, he met Foggy Nelson, his roommate and soon-to-be best friend. Upon graduation, the two took an internship at Landman & Zack, during which they found themselves forced to defend large corporations against innocent people whose lives and well-beings were being destroyed in the process. Sickened by the prospect of working for such a soulless company, Matt convinced Foggy that they could set out on their own. Their freshly opened a law firm soon found itself wrapped up in the intense and interwoven case of Karen Page and the Union Allied scandal. In the unfolding weeks, Nelson & Murdock exposed a crime syndicate wreaking havoc on Hell’s Kitchen and Wilson Fisk - the man at the top - was sentenced to life behind bars.

Matt generally makes a point to use non-lethal and appropriate force when dealing with his enemies, his profound respect for law and the justice system spurring him to try to better it as opposed to simply scrapping it entirely. His analytical mind, unique skills, dedication, and apparent lack of fear make him a remarkable adversary.

✗ CURRENTLY

Matt crossed paths with Frank Castle, publicly dubbed The Punisher. His involvement in Castle’s trial was minimal, caught up in an effort to thwart The Hand with Elektra Natchios and Stick. During the Skrull invasion, Matt stayed in Hell’s Kitchen, tracking down the alien invaders from the shadows in order to protect those unable to evacuate the city. He now struggles with the weight of The Accords, a United Nations mandate that requires individuals wishing to act as vigilantes - especially those of superhuman or enhanced qualities - to register and to act only when deemed necessary.

✗ NOTE

FightAsOne has Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.

                          → HOW TO JOIN → FAQ → RULES → MOST WANTED

[dapperfvck-arc]

RULES.  repost, don’t reblog. tag ten whatever. TAGGED BY: @hittcr TAGGING. fucking everyone

BASICS.

FULL NAME. John Constantine NICKNAME. The Laughing Magician, The Hellblazer, Conjob AGE.  usually portrayed as mid to late forties BIRTHDAY. May 10 ETHNIC GROUP.  caucasian NATIONALITY.  English LANGUAGE.  English, Latin, most dead languages tbh, a grasp of most major European languages, prolly some Infernal languages or whatever SEXUAL ORIENTATION. hella bi RELATIONSHIP STATUS. defaults as single, but also heavily verse/continuity dependent, practically married to Matt Murdock CLASS. unknown, tbh. Is generally portrayed as blue collar, working class (even though he’s never technically worked a day in his life) or even impoverished, however it has also been heavily implied that he’s got quite a little nest egg stashed away. HOME TOWN / AREA. Liverpool, England  CURRENT HOME. verse/continuity dependent PROFESSION. Con artist, exorcist, paranormal investigator, human disaster

PHYSICAL.

HAIR. blonde EYES. electric blue NOSE. slightly crooked FACE. highly dependent on artistic license, though generally portrayed as having sharp features and a triangular face LIPS. sensuous COMPLEXION. very pale  BLEMISHES. mostly just scars SCARS. one over an eye from a blade, heavy scarification over entire torso (see: tattoos) TATTOOS.  a crude pictograph of an evergreen on a buttock (Swamp Thing is a punk bitch) and protection sigils and various occult symbology all across his torso in which the ink has faded and been rejected, resulting in them remaining as intricate scarification HEIGHT. 5′11″. WEIGHT.  150lb BUILD.  rather thin, somewhat lanky, not unfit, but that can be attributed to walking a lot and yoga. Not built however. Very flexible FEATURES. scruffy good looks, great smile, trench coat  ALLERGIES. none. USUAL HAIR STYLE. bedhead USUAL CLOTHING.  dark blue or black suit and tie, trench coat, either black or tan (depending on artist), and oxfords, usually worn and scuffed

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR. It’s more related to those close to him, mostly of them dying because of him, drowning, leaving this world unaccomplished ASPIRATION. um. Not to lose complete faith in humanity? POSITIVE TRAITS. highly intelligent, forgiving in his own way, deeply compassionate to a fault NEGATIVE TRAITS. manipulative, cynical, duplicitous, somewhat self-serving VICE HABIT. smokes heavily, drinks, some drugs FAITH. it’s complicated GHOSTS? I meeeeeeaaaannnn...he’s basically a medium and can see and talk to them on the reg, sometimes without ever realizing he’s speaking with one AFTERLIFE? ALSO COMPLICATED. BECAUSE HE KNOWS FOR A FACT BOTH HEAVEN AND HELL EXIST???? ESPECIALLY HELL BECAUSE HE’S PRETTY MUCH TAKEN DAY TRIPS THERE FOR REASONS REINCARNATION? I don’t............think so? ALIENS? yes POLITICAL ALIGNMENT. extremely liberal ECONOMIC PREFERENCE. getting by SOCIOPOLITICAL POSITION. none EDUCATION LEVEL. I think he dropped out of secondary school, never went to university. Self educated in the occult, among other things

FAMILY.

FATHER. Thomas (murdered) MOTHER. Mary Anne (deceased in John’s birth) SIBLINGS.  an old sister (Cheryl), twin brother (stillborn) EXTENDED  FAMILY. nice (Gemma), an unnamed aunt and uncle that took Cherly and John in when they were younger upon their father’s brief incarceration NAME MEANING.  John, Yahweh is Gracious; Constantine, Constant, Steadfast, in Hellblazer canon, he’s referred to as The Constant One HISTORICAL CONNECTION. Heavily implied to be related to Constantine the Great

FAVOURITES.

BOOKS. Mostly prefers nonfiction  MOVIES. documentaries, mostly, though he finds most films to be painfully predictable. Likes Hitchcock tho. MUSIC. punk rock and other rock genres DEITY. lol nope HOLIDAY.  nah MONTH.  October SEASON.  fall PLACE. London or New York, it’s a coin toss WEATHER. Cool but not too cold, overcast SOUND. comfortable silence SCENT.  fresh pure beer, burning tobacco, citrus, juniper, whiskey TASTE. a lover’s sex sweat, the first cigarette of the day, top shelf whiskey and gin, curry FEEL. skin on skin, a comforting bed ANIMAL. fox NUMBER. I don’t do numerology man COLOR. attracted to neutral tones

EXTRA.

TALENTS. ritual magic, some artistic talent, manipulation, sex BAD AT. self care, sleeping, opening up to people TURN ONS. confidence, a strong body and mind, all shapes and sizes of women, honestly so so much TURN OFFS. blondes and sexual violence HOBBIES. reading, drinking, and trying to be happy TROPES. paranormal detective, urban magician, asshole with a heart of gold, human disaster, charming bastard, infamous con artist AESTHETICS.  old books, smokey pubs, wind-swept streets, the witching hour, incense burning, rumpled bed sheets, coffee and cigarettes, freshly turned earth, occult sigils

FC INFO.

MAIN  FC. Ewan McGregor ALT  FC. - n/a OLDER  FC.   - lol maybe Sting if I ever go with his proper “canon age” YOUNGER  FC. - Ewan McGregor (cos he’s been in the biz for years, man and I got plenty of material to work with) VOICE  CLAIM.  Jason Statham

[ixmtheshield-archived-blog]

RULES.  Repost, do not reblog !  Tag 10 !  Good  luck ! Tagged by: @radxrand Tagging: @ayoungeststark @untolikeiron @youll-know-her-name @neverthehercine

BASICS. FULL  NAME :  Danielle Cage NICKNAME/S :  Dani AGE :  19 BIRTHDAY :  March 1st ETHNIC  GROUP :  Half African American, Half Caucasian NATIONALITY :   American LANGUAGE/S :   English SEXUAL  ORIENTATION :  Pansexual ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION :   Panromantic RELATIONSHIP  STATUS :  Single (verse dependent) CLASS :   Lower-Middle HOME TOWN / AREA :  New York, New York CURRENT  HOME :   New York City, New York PROFESSION :  CEO of Rand Corp./Enterprise

PHYSICAL. HAIR : Long, dark curls EYES :  Brown NOSE :  Rounded FACE :  Diamond LIPS :   Thin upper lip with heavy lower lips COMPLEXION :  Light brown BLEMISHES :  None SCARS : None TATTOOS :  None PIERCINGS:  None HEIGHT :  5′5″ WEIGHT :  140 lbs BUILD :  Athletic, muscular FEATURES :  High cheekbones ALLERGIES :  Seasonal USUAL  HAIR  STYLE :  Falling around her shoulders USUAL  FACE  LOOK :  Lips slightly upturned USUAL  CLOTHING :  Hoodie and jeans

PSYCHOLOGY. FEAR/S :  Not being good enough, Losing her loved ones, Failure ASPIRATION/S :  Be a hero like her parents, Save her world POSITIVE  TRAITS :  Trustworthy, Affectionate, Loyal, Independent, Humble, Respectful, Compassionate NEGATIVE  TRAITS :  Impatient, Stubborn, Reckless, Impulsive, Sarcastic, Unpredictable, Absent-minded MBTI :  ESFP - T ZODIAC :  Pisces TEMPERAMENT :  Extrovert, Sanguine SOUL  TYPE / S :  Warrior ANIMALS :  Butterfly VICE  HABIT/S :  Too much takeout FAITH :  Blind GHOSTS ? :  Yes AFTERLIFE ? :  Yes REINCARNATION ? :  Kind of ALIENS ? :  Well duh POLITICAL  ALIGNMENT :  Democrat ECONOMIC  PREFERENCE :  tbd SOCIOPOLITICAL  POSITION :  tbd EDUCATION  LEVEL :  K-12

FAMILY. FATHER : Luke Cage MOTHER :  Jessica Jones SIBLINGS :  none EXTENDED  FAMILY :  Danny Rand, Misty Knight, Doreen Green, Matt Murdock NAME  MEANING/S : “God is my judge” HISTORICAL  CONNECTION ? :  Hebrew דָּנִיֵּאל

FAVOURITES. DEITY :  Athena MONTH :  July SEASON :  Summer PLACE :  Just...with her family WEATHER :  Pleasantly hot, slight breeze SOUND : New York traffic, soft murmuring SCENT/S :  Fresh-baked pizza, Vanilla TASTE/S :  Coffee, Chocolate, Pizza FEEL/S :  Warmth, Fuzzy ANIMAL/S :  Manatees NUMBER :  23 COLOUR :  red / yellow

EXTRA. TALENTS :  punching things, piano, swimming BAD  AT :  singing, can’t cook to save her life TURN  ONS : confidence, humor, helpfulness TURN  OFFS : disrespectfulness, being coddled, HOBBIES : superheroing, reading, binging tv shows TROPES :  Legacy Character, Affirmative Action Character, Set Right What Once Went Wrong AESTHETIC  TAGS :  aesthetic

FC INFO. MAIN  FC/S :  Madeleine Mantock ALT  FC/S :  tbd OLDER  FC/S :  tbd YOUNGER  FC/S :  Yara Shahidi VOICE  CLAIM/S :  Madeleine Mantock

[fightasonepromo]

✗ Matt Murdock/Daredevil || FC: Charlie Cox  || OPEN

→ “I know what I am…who I am. And I am not afraid.“

✗ BIO

Born in Hell’s Kitchen, Matt Murdock was raised by his single father, Jack, a washed-up boxer who pushed his son to do well in school in order to make something of himself and avoid following his footsteps. When he was nine, Matt saved an elderly man from being struck by an oncoming truck, but was himself caught in the accident. Radioactive waste from the flipped truck splashed onto his face and into his eyes, blinding him. But at the expense of his eyesight, his other senses became heightened, so much so that - at first - they were excruciating to bear.

Over the months following the accident, Matt began to adapt and control his powers - notably his amplified hearing - and learned to read Braille. Meanwhile, Jack’s losing streak, as well as the stacks of medical bills and overdue rent, spurred him to accept a deal from a local mobster: lose his next match, earn a fat check. Matt - having overheard the conversation - naively encouraged his father to overcome his odds. Wanting to give his son something to be proud of, Jack won the match, a decision that resulted in his murder and sent Matt to be raised at Saint Agnes Orphanage. There, he encountered an old blind man by the name of Stick. Aware of his heightened senses, Stick took Matt under his wing. Beneath his harsh tutelage, Matt began to grow into a skilled fighter, skills he would have to hone on his own after a show of sentimentality sent his mentor packing.

Later going on to attend Columbia University to study law, he met Foggy Nelson, his roommate and soon-to-be best friend. Upon graduation, the two took an internship at Landman & Zack, during which they found themselves forced to defend large corporations against innocent people whose lives and well-beings were being destroyed in the process. Sickened by the prospect of working for such a soulless company, Matt convinced Foggy that they could set out on their own. Their freshly opened a law firm soon found itself wrapped up in the intense and interwoven case of Karen Page and the Union Allied scandal. In the unfolding weeks, Nelson & Murdock exposed a crime syndicate wreaking havoc on Hell’s Kitchen and Wilson Fisk - the man at the top - was sentenced to life behind bars.

Matt generally makes a point to use non-lethal and appropriate force when dealing with his enemies, his profound respect for law and the justice system spurring him to try to better it as opposed to simply scrapping it entirely. His analytical mind, unique skills, dedication, and apparent lack of fear make him a remarkable adversary.

✗ CURRENTLY

Matt crossed paths with Frank Castle, publicly dubbed The Punisher. His involvement in Castle’s trial was minimal, caught up in an effort to thwart The Hand with Elektra Natchios and Stick. During the Skrull invasion, Matt stayed in Hell’s Kitchen, tracking down the alien invaders from the shadows in order to protect those unable to evacuate the city. He now struggles with the weight of The Accords, a United Nations mandate that requires individuals wishing to act as vigilantes - especially those of superhuman or enhanced qualities - to register and to act only when deemed necessary.

✗ NOTE

FightAsOne has Foggy Nelson, Jessica Jones, Frank Castle, Trish Walker.

                         → HOW TO JOIN → FAQ → RULES → MOST WANTED

[fightasonepromo]

✗ Matt Murdock/Daredevil || FC: Charlie Cox  || OPEN

→ “I know what I am…who I am. And I am not afraid.“

✗ BIO

Born in Hell’s Kitchen, Matt Murdock was raised by his single father, Jack, a washed-up boxer who pushed his son to do well in school in order to make something of himself and avoid following his footsteps. When he was nine, Matt saved an elderly man from being struck by an oncoming truck, but was himself caught in the accident. Radioactive waste from the flipped truck splashed onto his face and into his eyes, blinding him. But at the expense of his eyesight, his other senses became heightened, so much so that - at first - they were excruciating to bear.

Over the months following the accident, Matt began to adapt and control his powers - notably his amplified hearing - and learned to read Braille. Meanwhile, Jack’s losing streak, as well as the stacks of medical bills and overdue rent, spurred him to accept a deal from a local mobster: lose his next match, earn a fat check. Matt - having overheard the conversation - naively encouraged his father to overcome his odds. Wanting to give his son something to be proud of, Jack won the match, a decision that resulted in his murder and sent Matt to be raised at Saint Agnes Orphanage. There, he encountered an old blind man by the name of Stick. Aware of his heightened senses, Stick took Matt under his wing. Beneath his harsh tutelage, Matt began to grow into a skilled fighter, skills he would have to hone on his own after a show of sentimentality sent his mentor packing.

Later going on to attend Columbia University to study law, he met Foggy Nelson, his roommate and soon-to-be best friend. Upon graduation, the two took an internship at Landman & Zack, during which they found themselves forced to defend large corporations against innocent people whose lives and well-beings were being destroyed in the process. Sickened by the prospect of working for such a soulless company, Matt convinced Foggy that they could set out on their own. Their freshly opened a law firm soon found itself wrapped up in the intense and interwoven case of Karen Page and the Union Allied scandal. In the unfolding weeks, Nelson & Murdock exposed a crime syndicate wreaking havoc on Hell’s Kitchen and Wilson Fisk - the man at the top - was sentenced to life behind bars.

Matt generally makes a point to use non-lethal and appropriate force when dealing with his enemies, his profound respect for law and the justice system spurring him to try to better it as opposed to simply scrapping it entirely. His analytical mind, unique skills, dedication, and apparent lack of fear make him a remarkable adversary.

✗ CURRENTLY

Matt crossed paths with Frank Castle, publicly dubbed The Punisher. His involvement in Castle’s trial was minimal, caught up in an effort to thwart The Hand with Elektra Natchios and Stick. During the Skrull invasion, Matt stayed in Hell’s Kitchen, tracking down the alien invaders from the shadows in order to protect those unable to evacuate the city. He now struggles with the weight of The Accords, a United Nations mandate that requires individuals wishing to act as vigilantes - especially those of superhuman or enhanced qualities - to register and to act only when deemed necessary.

✗ NOTE

FightAsOne has Foggy Nelson, Jessica Jones, Frank Castle, Trish Walker.

                        → HOW TO JOIN → FAQ → RULES → MOST WANTED

[fightasonepromo]

✗ Matt Murdock/Daredevil || FC: Charlie Cox  || OPEN

→ “I know what I am…who I am. And I am not afraid.“

✗ BIO

Born in Hell’s Kitchen, Matt Murdock was raised by his single father, Jack, a washed-up boxer who pushed his son to do well in school in order to make something of himself and avoid following his footsteps. When he was nine, Matt saved an elderly man from being struck by an oncoming truck, but was himself caught in the accident. Radioactive waste from the flipped truck splashed onto his face and into his eyes, blinding him. But at the expense of his eyesight, his other senses became heightened, so much so that - at first - they were excruciating to bear.

Over the months following the accident, Matt began to adapt and control his powers - notably his amplified hearing - and learned to read Braille. Meanwhile, Jack’s losing streak, as well as the stacks of medical bills and overdue rent, spurred him to accept a deal from a local mobster: lose his next match, earn a fat check. Matt - having overheard the conversation - naively encouraged his father to overcome his odds. Wanting to give his son something to be proud of, Jack won the match, a decision that resulted in his murder and sent Matt to be raised at Saint Agnes Orphanage. There, he encountered an old blind man by the name of Stick. Aware of his heightened senses, Stick took Matt under his wing. Beneath his harsh tutelage, Matt began to grow into a skilled fighter, skills he would have to hone on his own after a show of sentimentality sent his mentor packing.

Later going on to attend Columbia University to study law, he met Foggy Nelson, his roommate and soon-to-be best friend. Upon graduation, the two took an internship at Landman & Zack, during which they found themselves forced to defend large corporations against innocent people whose lives and well-beings were being destroyed in the process. Sickened by the prospect of working for such a soulless company, Matt convinced Foggy that they could set out on their own. Their freshly opened a law firm soon found itself wrapped up in the intense and interwoven case of Karen Page and the Union Allied scandal. In the unfolding weeks, Nelson & Murdock exposed a crime syndicate wreaking havoc on Hell’s Kitchen and Wilson Fisk - the man at the top - was sentenced to life behind bars.

Matt generally makes a point to use non-lethal and appropriate force when dealing with his enemies, his profound respect for law and the justice system spurring him to try to better it as opposed to simply scrapping it entirely. His analytical mind, unique skills, dedication, and apparent lack of fear make him a remarkable adversary.

✗ CURRENTLY

Matt crossed paths with Frank Castle, publicly dubbed The Punisher. His involvement in Castle’s trial was minimal, caught up in an effort to thwart The Hand with Elektra Natchios and Stick. During the Skrull invasion, Matt stayed in Hell’s Kitchen, tracking down the alien invaders from the shadows in order to protect those unable to evacuate the city. He now struggles with the weight of The Accords, a United Nations mandate that requires individuals wishing to act as vigilantes - especially those of superhuman or enhanced qualities - to register and to act only when deemed necessary.

✗ NOTE

FightAsOne has Foggy Nelson, Jessica Jones, Frank Castle, Trish Walker.

                         → HOW TO JOIN → FAQ → RULES → MOST WANTED

[fightasonepromo]

✗ Matt Murdock/Daredevil || FC: Charlie Cox  || OPEN

→ “I know what I am…who I am. And I am not afraid.“

✗ BIO

Born in Hell’s Kitchen, Matt Murdock was raised by his single father, Jack, a washed-up boxer who pushed his son to do well in school in order to make something of himself and avoid following his footsteps. When he was nine, Matt saved an elderly man from being struck by an oncoming truck, but was himself caught in the accident. Radioactive waste from the flipped truck splashed onto his face and into his eyes, blinding him. But at the expense of his eyesight, his other senses became heightened, so much so that - at first - they were excruciating to bear.

Over the months following the accident, Matt began to adapt and control his powers - notably his amplified hearing - and learned to read Braille. Meanwhile, Jack’s losing streak, as well as the stacks of medical bills and overdue rent, spurred him to accept a deal from a local mobster: lose his next match, earn a fat check. Matt - having overheard the conversation - naively encouraged his father to overcome his odds. Wanting to give his son something to be proud of, Jack won the match, a decision that resulted in his murder and sent Matt to be raised at Saint Agnes Orphanage. There, he encountered an old blind man by the name of Stick. Aware of his heightened senses, Stick took Matt under his wing. Beneath his harsh tutelage, Matt began to grow into a skilled fighter, skills he would have to hone on his own after a show of sentimentality sent his mentor packing.

Later going on to attend Columbia University to study law, he met Foggy Nelson, his roommate and soon-to-be best friend. Upon graduation, the two took an internship at Landman & Zack, during which they found themselves forced to defend large corporations against innocent people whose lives and well-beings were being destroyed in the process. Sickened by the prospect of working for such a soulless company, Matt convinced Foggy that they could set out on their own. Their freshly opened a law firm soon found itself wrapped up in the intense and interwoven case of Karen Page and the Union Allied scandal. In the unfolding weeks, Nelson & Murdock exposed a crime syndicate wreaking havoc on Hell’s Kitchen and Wilson Fisk - the man at the top - was sentenced to life behind bars.

Matt generally makes a point to use non-lethal and appropriate force when dealing with his enemies, his profound respect for law and the justice system spurring him to try to better it as opposed to simply scrapping it entirely. His analytical mind, unique skills, dedication, and apparent lack of fear make him a remarkable adversary.

✗ CURRENTLY

Matt crossed paths with Frank Castle, publicly dubbed The Punisher. His involvement in Castle’s trial was minimal, caught up in an effort to thwart The Hand with Elektra Natchios and Stick. During the Skrull invasion, Matt stayed in Hell’s Kitchen, tracking down the alien invaders from the shadows in order to protect those unable to evacuate the city. He now struggles with the weight of The Accords, a United Nations mandate that requires individuals wishing to act as vigilantes - especially those of superhuman or enhanced qualities - to register and to act only when deemed necessary.

✗ NOTE

FightAsOne has Foggy Nelson, Jessica Jones, Frank Castle, and Trish Walker.

                           → HOW TO JOIN → FAQ → RULES → MOST WANTED

[fightasonepromo]

✗ Matt Murdock/Daredevil || FC: Charlie Cox  || OPEN

→ “I know what I am…who I am. And I am not afraid.“

✗ BIO

Born in Hell’s Kitchen, Matt Murdock was raised by his single father, Jack, a washed-up boxer who pushed his son to do well in school in order to make something of himself and avoid following his footsteps. When he was nine, Matt saved an elderly man from being struck by an oncoming truck, but was himself caught in the accident. Radioactive waste from the flipped truck splashed onto his face and into his eyes, blinding him. But at the expense of his eyesight, his other senses became heightened, so much so that - at first - they were excruciating to bear.

Over the months following the accident, Matt began to adapt and control his powers - notably his amplified hearing - and learned to read Braille. Meanwhile, Jack’s losing streak, as well as the stacks of medical bills and overdue rent, spurred him to accept a deal from a local mobster: lose his next match, earn a fat check. Matt - having overheard the conversation - naively encouraged his father to overcome his odds. Wanting to give his son something to be proud of, Jack won the match, a decision that resulted in his murder and sent Matt to be raised at Saint Agnes Orphanage. There, he encountered an old blind man by the name of Stick. Aware of his heightened senses, Stick took Matt under his wing. Beneath his harsh tutelage, Matt began to grow into a skilled fighter, skills he would have to hone on his own after a show of sentimentality sent his mentor packing.

Later going on to attend Columbia University to study law, he met Foggy Nelson, his roommate and soon-to-be best friend. Upon graduation, the two took an internship at Landman & Zack, during which they found themselves forced to defend large corporations against innocent people whose lives and well-beings were being destroyed in the process. Sickened by the prospect of working for such a soulless company, Matt convinced Foggy that they could set out on their own. Their freshly opened a law firm soon found itself wrapped up in the intense and interwoven case of Karen Page and the Union Allied scandal. In the unfolding weeks, Nelson & Murdock exposed a crime syndicate wreaking havoc on Hell’s Kitchen and Wilson Fisk - the man at the top - was sentenced to life behind bars.

Matt generally makes a point to use non-lethal and appropriate force when dealing with his enemies, his profound respect for law and the justice system spurring him to try to better it as opposed to simply scrapping it entirely. His analytical mind, unique skills, dedication, and apparent lack of fear make him a remarkable adversary.

✗ CURRENTLY

Matt crossed paths with Frank Castle, publicly dubbed The Punisher. His involvement in Castle’s trial was minimal, caught up in an effort to thwart The Hand with Elektra Natchios and Stick. During the Skrull invasion, Matt stayed in Hell’s Kitchen, tracking down the alien invaders from the shadows in order to protect those unable to evacuate the city. He now struggles with the weight of The Accords, a United Nations mandate that requires individuals wishing to act as vigilantes - especially those of superhuman or enhanced qualities - to register and to act only when deemed necessary.

✗ NOTE

FightAsOne has Foggy Nelson, Jessica Jones, Frank Castle, and Trish Walker.

                            → HOW TO JOIN → FAQ → RULES → MOST WANTED

[fightasonepromo]

✗ Matt Murdock/Daredevil || FC: Charlie Cox  || OPEN

→ “I know what I am…who I am. And I am not afraid.“

✗ BIO

Born in Hell’s Kitchen, Matt Murdock was raised by his single father, Jack, a washed-up boxer who pushed his son to do well in school in order to make something of himself and avoid following his footsteps. When he was nine, Matt saved an elderly man from being struck by an oncoming truck, but was himself caught in the accident. Radioactive waste from the flipped truck splashed onto his face and into his eyes, blinding him. But at the expense of his eyesight, his other senses became heightened, so much so that - at first - they were excruciating to bear.

Over the months following the accident, Matt began to adapt and control his powers - notably his amplified hearing - and learned to read Braille. Meanwhile, Jack’s losing streak, as well as the stacks of medical bills and overdue rent, spurred him to accept a deal from a local mobster: lose his next match, earn a fat check. Matt - having overheard the conversation - naively encouraged his father to overcome his odds. Wanting to give his son something to be proud of, Jack won the match, a decision that resulted in his murder and sent Matt to be raised at Saint Agnes Orphanage. There, he encountered an old blind man by the name of Stick. Aware of his heightened senses, Stick took Matt under his wing. Beneath his harsh tutelage, Matt began to grow into a skilled fighter, skills he would have to hone on his own after a show of sentimentality sent his mentor packing.

Later going on to attend Columbia University to study law, he met Foggy Nelson, his roommate and soon-to-be best friend. Upon graduation, the two took an internship at Landman & Zack, during which they found themselves forced to defend large corporations against innocent people whose lives and well-beings were being destroyed in the process. Sickened by the prospect of working for such a soulless company, Matt convinced Foggy that they could set out on their own. Their freshly opened a law firm soon found itself wrapped up in the intense and interwoven case of Karen Page and the Union Allied scandal. In the unfolding weeks, Nelson & Murdock exposed a crime syndicate wreaking havoc on Hell’s Kitchen and Wilson Fisk - the man at the top - was sentenced to life behind bars.

Matt generally makes a point to use non-lethal and appropriate force when dealing with his enemies, his profound respect for law and the justice system spurring him to try to better it as opposed to simply scrapping it entirely. His analytical mind, unique skills, dedication, and apparent lack of fear make him a remarkable adversary.

✗ CURRENTLY

Matt crossed paths with Frank Castle, publicly dubbed The Punisher. His involvement in Castle’s trial was minimal, caught up in an effort to thwart The Hand with Elektra Natchios and Stick. During the Skrull invasion, Matt stayed in Hell’s Kitchen, tracking down the alien invaders from the shadows in order to protect those unable to evacuate the city. He now struggles with the weight of The Accords, a United Nations mandate that requires individuals wishing to act as vigilantes - especially those of superhuman or enhanced qualities - to register and to act only when deemed necessary.

✗ NOTE

FightAsOne has Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.

                          → HOW TO JOIN → FAQ → RULES → MOST WANTED

[fightasonepromo]

✗ Matt Murdock/Daredevil || FC: Charlie Cox  || OPEN

→ “I know what I am…who I am. And I am not afraid.“

✗ BIO

Born in Hell’s Kitchen, Matt Murdock was raised by his single father, Jack, a washed-up boxer who pushed his son to do well in school in order to make something of himself and avoid following his footsteps. When he was nine, Matt saved an elderly man from being struck by an oncoming truck, but was himself caught in the accident. Radioactive waste from the flipped truck splashed onto his face and into his eyes, blinding him. But at the expense of his eyesight, his other senses became heightened, so much so that - at first - they were excruciating to bear.

Over the months following the accident, Matt began to adapt and control his powers - notably his amplified hearing - and learned to read Braille. Meanwhile, Jack’s losing streak, as well as the stacks of medical bills and overdue rent, spurred him to accept a deal from a local mobster: lose his next match, earn a fat check. Matt - having overheard the conversation - naively encouraged his father to overcome his odds. Wanting to give his son something to be proud of, Jack won the match, a decision that resulted in his murder and sent Matt to be raised at Saint Agnes Orphanage. There, he encountered an old blind man by the name of Stick. Aware of his heightened senses, Stick took Matt under his wing. Beneath his harsh tutelage, Matt began to grow into a skilled fighter, skills he would have to hone on his own after a show of sentimentality sent his mentor packing.

Later going on to attend Columbia University to study law, he met Foggy Nelson, his roommate and soon-to-be best friend. Upon graduation, the two took an internship at Landman & Zack, during which they found themselves forced to defend large corporations against innocent people whose lives and well-beings were being destroyed in the process. Sickened by the prospect of working for such a soulless company, Matt convinced Foggy that they could set out on their own. Their freshly opened a law firm soon found itself wrapped up in the intense and interwoven case of Karen Page and the Union Allied scandal. In the unfolding weeks, Nelson & Murdock exposed a crime syndicate wreaking havoc on Hell’s Kitchen and Wilson Fisk - the man at the top - was sentenced to life behind bars.

Matt generally makes a point to use non-lethal and appropriate force when dealing with his enemies, his profound respect for law and the justice system spurring him to try to better it as opposed to simply scrapping it entirely. His analytical mind, unique skills, dedication, and apparent lack of fear make him a remarkable adversary.

✗ CURRENTLY

Matt crossed paths with Frank Castle, publicly dubbed The Punisher. His involvement in Castle’s trial was minimal, caught up in an effort to thwart The Hand with Elektra Natchios and Stick. During the Skrull invasion, Matt stayed in Hell’s Kitchen, tracking down the alien invaders from the shadows in order to protect those unable to evacuate the city. He now struggles with the weight of The Accords, a United Nations mandate that requires individuals wishing to act as vigilantes - especially those of superhuman or enhanced qualities - to register and to act only when deemed necessary.

✗ NOTE

FightAsOne has Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.

                         → HOW TO JOIN → FAQ → RULES → MOST WANTED