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qs63 · 5 years ago

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Heaven’s feel vs Matt/Elektra

Oh boy. I really don't know where I'm going with this, other than to get it off my chest, but here we go. An analysis between Fate/Stay Night and Marvel's Daredevil, specifically about the Heaven's Feels route and Matt/Elektra.

Spoilers and lots of feelings ahead. You’ve been warned. x)

At this point if you Googled it or know both series you're probably wondering what I'm smoking. One is a grounded vigilante story, the other is a high school magical anime. Technically both couldn't be further away from each other, but by coincidence or not, the more I think about them the more similarities I find.

THE HERO

Matt: That’s what I was trying to do, was trying to help people.

Shirou: Maybe I got something wrong, but it doesn't matter because the thought of wanting to help others definitely isn't wrong.

For those unfamiliar with Fate Stay/Night, the story follows a seemingly normal high school student who is dragged into a mage war for the Holy Grail, an artifact capable of making any wish come true.

Matt and Shirou despite being in very different stories, share some strong similarities, mostly in their drive/motive. They both want for their own -perhaps selfish- reason to save people and be heroes. They're also orphans by tragedy whose view of the world is shaped by a mentor/father figure who ends up being the cause of a lot of their suffering.

They also have a lack of self-worth that more often than not translates into a willingness to put themselves in harm's way for the sake of others. This quality of self-sacrifice, and their drive to uphold justice at all cost is perhaps what makes their path so similar.

THE HEROINES

Another similarity both series share are the heroines. In Fate the hero goes through three stories in which he ends up with three different girls. It's hard to explain without going into too much detail, but each of them represents different values and levels of acceptance of himself.

Surprisingly enough this parallels Matt's own romantic journey quite well.

The first girl is a representation of his ideal. She herself is a self-sacrificing person who lived her life for the sake of her kingdom. She's the definition of knighthood and the values the hero wants to live up to. Through her path the hero becomes the savior he wants to be, much like how Matt becomes Daredevil with help from Claire. In this path the hero doesn't get the girl, as this is all about becoming their ideal self, a true selfless hero capable of giving up even love for the sake of others.

The second girl is not as lawful as the first, or as chaotic as the third. She's a middle point that mirrors the hero's own true flawed self. She's also a companion to him in all the stories, whether as a friend or a lover. Through this path the hero comes to realize his own darkness and weakness, which stands in the way of achieving his ideal. In Fate the hero gets the girl, but she's not the main goal. She's his partner and support in his struggle to achieve his ideals.

Then we have the third girl. She represents the darkness the hero wants to conquer. A girl of quick smiles and gentle manners that hides behind a mask her hate/disdain towards the world. A hate that was mostly cultivated by her adoptive grandfather, who saw her as a tool for his goal. Through this path the hero accepts his own darkness and the selfish desire to save the girl above all, throwing away the ideals that caused him pain.

Sounds familiar, no?

The third is definitely the one that shares the most similarities, and that's why Elektra and Sakura are the focus of this.

THE JOURNEY

There's so much conceptual common ground between the series and, particularly, with The Defenders. A lot of it was, in my opinion, handled better in Fate Stay/Night. This isn't surprising, Fate is all about the hero's journey and his relationship with the heroine, while Defenders had a lot more going on. There was just not enough time to work the relationships.

Both heroines start their journey with their grandfathers, both were adopted into a family they don't love. Due to the way they're raised, and their eventual destiny, both see the world with disdain. And for both the only redeeming thing the world has to offer is the hero they love.

All they want is to be loved in a world that has showed them no kindness.

All the heroes want is to save them from their fate, which eventually makes them the villain.

And this all leads to the hero "dying" for them.

Now that we see the similarities, let's explore some of the common moments.

FRIENDS TO ENEMIES TO ALLIES

Out of the three heroines, the third is the one that has known the hero the longest. They met years before the story begins and their happy uncomplicated days progressively get darker as their story unravels. Eventually the heroine's own destiny puts them on opposite sides of a conflict with both of them unwilling to fight each other.

Then the hero pledges to help the heroine fight a common enemy, even if it comes at a high personal price.

THE SACRIFICE

Elektra: They have nothing now. I took everything. I know now what it feels to be good.

Sakura: Thank you for everything, Shirou. It might be too late, but I can't cause any more trouble than I already have.

One of the most beautiful moments for both Elektra and Sakura is when they decide to sacrifice themselves for the hero's sake. Both of them are aware of the potential danger they represent, but neither would willingly give up their life for the sake of saving strangers. Self-sacrifice is not part of their nature, and they don't hold any love for the people that need saving.

Their drive to stop the enemy (before they become one themselves) is rooted in two things.The desire to protect the hero, who won't let them go even at the cost of himself. And the satisfaction of spoiling the plans of those who hurt them.

It's the ultimate gesture of vengeance and love. It's also ironically, the turning point of their story, as they fail in their goal, and are awakened as true monsters.

TRUTH

Stick: The girl I trained, the woman you loved she ain’t there anymore. When the time comes, whatever is living inside the body of Elektra Natchios is gonna have to die.

Zouken: Once Sakura’s consciousness is gone, the catastrophe from ten years ago will repeat. If you want to hold your father’s ideals and save everyone by vanishing evil, then no one but Sakura is your enemy.

I really love these moments, and how similar yet different they're.

The hero is confronted by the grandfather figure and told the truth he had been avoiding, the heroine will bring chaos if allowed to live. While Matt falls into negation at Stick's words, until he’s unable to deny it, Shirou falls directly into despair. Both know that perhaps it's a mercy for everyone to stop the heroine before it's too late. Saving the innocent is what they'd pledged to do all this time, but the reality that hurting someone they love is the way to do so is something they’re unable to accept.

STRUGGLE

Shirou attempts to kill Sakura.

Matt grieves over Stick.

One of the moments or feelings I wish The Defenders had explored more is Matt’s own struggle to facing Elektra as an enemy. We only ever see him in a state of denial or desperation, and the only acknowledgement we get from him about the death that Elektra's caused, are the few seconds in which he grieves Stick and swears to save Danny.

In contrast we have a full scene dedicated to Shirou contemplating on killing Sakura for the sake of the people she will undoubtedly kill. This scene is so powerful, showing Shirou's internal struggle between his love and his values. You can see the pain in his face, as his ideals slowly crumbling. He can’t save everyone, someone will die, and he’d rather it be strangers than the heroine.

Granted, Matt’s own nature would never allow him to consider such an extreme method. Shirou has always been more willing to go to the extremes, but we have seen Matt mulling over right and wrong before. Showing more of his struggle, more of his pain at the face of Elektra’s destruction, would have only enriched the story.

RESOLUTION

Shirou: I'm not going to kill her. I'm going to save her.

Matt: No, I'm gonna meet you out there. I know I can get through her.

Despite everything he knows and the damage the heroine has already caused, the hero resolves to save them at all costs. It is in a way their only choice at this point in the story. It's the path they have chosen to walk, even by betraying their own justice. To make both their sacrifice worth it, they need to succeed and save the heroine.

The apparent answer to their dilemma comes as a form of self-sacrifice. For Matt it's staying behind to try to reason with the Black Sky, for Shirou it's using Archer's power -which will consume his body- to destroy the curse that Sakura is holding.

In the end both stories diverge as Fate comes to a satisfactory conclusion for the hero, while Matt fails to save Elektra and goes to grieve her in the coming season.

Shirou and Sakura's happy ending.

Matt wakes up without Elektra.

#Daredevil #fate stay night #mattelektra #heaven's feel #why did i do this?#oh well #i cant control myself #these parings make me emo

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cogentranting · 6 years ago

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Come Daredevil season 3, how do you think Matt's gonna reveal to Karen and Foggy he's alive? I don't think they'll learn at the same time, and to be honest I actually kinda feel that Karen will know by the end of the first episode, while Foggy and Marci will probably learn much later.

Here’s the thing about how I speculate about tv shows and movies and whatnot: I don’t really come up with one theory and stick with it. Instead, I tend to spin out all the different options as I see them. it’s like a flow chart type thing that splits into a bunch of different branches. So let me give you a little run down of some of the different visions I see for it:

- First question: how long is Matt “gone”? Does he A. return as soon as he’s conscious and able to walk out the door or B. Stay with the nuns for X amount of time?

-If A. Does he still need medical attention? If yes, I can see a version where he stumbles up to Claire’s doorway and collapses into her apartment. If he’s still in bad enough shape, it might end up being Claire contacting others to say that Matt’s alive. If so, Claire’s gonna call Foggy, because she doesn’t really know Karen. If Matt is making the calls, I still think he calls Foggy first. I’ll address why below.

If he does NOT need medical attention, I say he chooses to go to Foggy first because he and Foggy ended Defenders on slightly better terms. Also I think Matt has, at this point, had Foggy help him out enough times while simultaneously hating it, that he knows how to weather Foggy’s anger. So no matter what the emotions going on in the reception, Foggy will ultimately have his back. And Foggy really occupies a place as the brother, while Karen is currently the Ex-girlfriend. If you need a place to crash, go with the brother. But in this scenario Matt is back pretty quickly, after meeting up with Foggy, I think his reunion with Karen will be pretty quick.

In this branch, the reunions are basically just Matt calls them up or shows up on their door and they have a happy reunion. Yay Matt’s alive! They’ll work out their issues later, but right now they’re just happy he’s not buried underneath a building.

-if B. (Matt is gone a longer amount of time) the reason becomes important. Is Matt 1. unable to return immediately after he’s better because the people who found him are not allowing him to leave? or 2. is he choosing not to leave? I actually think B is a little more likely, because they probably want Matt to be able to fight and stuff at some point this season and if they pick up too quickly he’s got a lot of healing to do. Also, this allows for a bigger gap between Defenders and season 3. That bigger gap gives Matt’s “death” more impact because people have to live without him longer, allows them to push everyone’s story lines a little further along, let’s it fit more naturally within the timeline for the Netflix MCU in general and jive better with real world passage of time, creates more drama between the characters when Matt does return, and the more spaced out big take-over-New York/destroy-Hell’s-Kitchen type events are the more realistic it feels (as opposed to The Hand tries to rule the world and the next month here comes Fisk again).

- Option 1. Matt’s rescuers also holding him captive to some degree makes a certain amount of sense to me because: they saved this guy from an impossible-to-survive situation but kept it a secret; Maggie Murdock is there and there is definitely something sketch about her so why not this? If this is the case, then Matt doesn’t have to just return, he has to escape, and is potentially being pursued when he comes home. This narrows his options. It probably prevents him from breaking the news gently and more likely means he shows up at someone’s house and is immediately asking them to hide or arm him. It also means that Matt may not even be choosing who he goes to, just whoever is nearest. Or, what would be really fun, he goes straight to someone who can help him out in his situation: Jessica. I don’t think a Jessica appearance is likely, but boy I would love one. But between the others, I think it’s a toss up who he goes to first. The picture I have in my head though is night time, person here’s banging on the door, opens it, Matt comes rushing in, person is in shock but before they can even ask questions he’s telling them to take cover, or something like that.

-Option 2. Matt chooses not to leave and return home right away, but why? There’s a possibility that he either goes chasing off after Elektra or stays for some out of the box reason (like they’re a secret cult and he decides to join because it sounds fun) but I can’t predict anything about these possibilities so I’m just gonna leave them at that. Most likely, if he’s choosing to hang around and let everyone (aka Foggy, Karen and Claire. Matt needs more friends.) believe he’s dead, it’s because of his mom. I’m sure comic readers have more information (I don’t read comics, I don’t want your information in this case, let me be surprised) but for those of us just watching the show, we know next to nothing about Matt’s relationship with Maggie. We don’t even know if he’s ever met her. If he has, when did he last see her? Did he know she was alive all these years? What does he know about her? Did he ever try to find her? Why didn’t she step in when Matt’s dad died? Matt probably has questions he wants answers to. OR Matt is angry that she let him grow up alone (and possibly for stuff from before, because his dad knew she was alive and didn’t make any move to connect her with him in case of emergency so it could be that he was keeping Matt hidden) and Matt tries to push her away but she has some specific information or something she offers to get him to stay.

Matt hanging around to bond with his mom potentially has major implications for his eventual return. While in the other options Foggy and Karen get to mostly just be happy that Matt’s alive, this option introduces a betrayal of trust in that Matt is apparently choosing to let them believe he’s dead at least for a time. So they’re gonna be mad. Which brings us back around to, why does he choose to return? Was he always planning on coming back and just delayed it for a bit? In which case his reunions probably look about the same just with more anger thrown in. Or was he planning on using his “death” as a chance to get away from everything and just start over until something (Fisk?) made him feel like he had to come back? If that’s the case I can see him like leaving cryptic messages for Foggy and Karen that get them to meet him someplace and Matt being his dramatic self and stepping out the shadows and their reunion doubling as a strategizing meeting. Or it might be that Matt returns while trying to still hold onto the idea of keeping his “death” in tact and leaving when this all over. In which case we might have an episode or a couple of Matt sneaking around Hell’s Kitchen trying to avoid everyone and never actually telling Foggy and Karen he’s back, but instead they just discover him. And then they’re really really mad that he didn’t come to them.

In any of the given situations, I think there will be a little bit of trepidation, particularly from those who knew more about the whole Hand bringing people back to life situation (I think Claire and Foggy both knew at least a little). The characters should be asking the question: did we really get Matt back? or something else? And really that’s a question the audience should have at least a little– was Matt saved from the brink of death, or brought back to life? I think it’s the former, but it could be either. And even if he never actually died, there is the question of whether he recovered completely naturally or whether something shadier and more magical was involved. Questions that characters and audience need addressed before they can fully celebrate Matt’s resurrection.

tl;dr: I hope Matt shows up at Foggy’s door in the middle of the night, exhausted or injured, and just goes “surprise! Not dead!”

#daredevil #defenders spoilers #dd season 3 #askbox #matt murdock #WAY more detail than you asked for

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youveneverbeenalone · 7 years ago

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Inktober for Writers/Fictober:

Day 11- Seasons (Darejones)

Went a different route with this one, but I really like how it turned out. Didn’t know if I would hit 1000, but I got really close. Not edited yet, but one day soon. This one is kind of standalone, simply because I’ve never hammered out the timeline of their relationship, and I don’t want to commit to anything quite yet. Prompt list here. Links to previous days at the bottom. Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts, if you’re so inclinded.

Day 11- Seasons

Falling in love with Jessica Jones is an unfamiliar process. Because he falls in love with her over a series of moments. It doesn’t happen all at once- it is not a sudden flame or bolt of lightning like with Elektra. It’s a slow, steady thing that happens as they spend more time together. Another moment here, another day there- through yet another conversation or another laugh at each other’s expense. He falls in love with her along with the passing of time, the changing of seasons.

He falls in love with her one day at a time.

They meet in winter, wearing heavy, warm coats- her with her scarf- when their hands beg to remain in their pockets against the pervasive chill of the winter wind. Their breath condenses into mist, swirling like smoke between their faces as it comes into contact with the cold air while they walk down the sidewalk on that bleak, winter day. But something about her is somehow warmer and brighter than the muted, brittle, frigid world around him. He is drawn to her like a beacon, and the way she makes him laugh gives him the slightest bit of his own warmth. He soaks up every ounce of even though he doesn’t yet know that he will need her warmth to sustain him while the days slip away, and the winter with them, while he lays in an infirmary bed, trying to keep breathing.

He wakes in the spring. And he notices right away, breathing in a sigh of relief as the last of the winter chill is carried out on the back of a sweet, spring breeze that smells like wet earth and freshness and tells him that things are sprouting. Blooming. Growing. Living. He’s beyond grateful to count himself among those things.

And when he sees her again, as angry as she is initially, he knows that she appreciates the change in season, too. Appreciates that she doesn’t have to wear her scarf every day (“Because you ruined it!”), appreciates going outside without cursing the heavens for the temperature, appreciates the joy and newness that is latent in the air. She seems a little softer now, as though the excitement and vivacity that permeate each day are just the slightest bit contagious. And she laughs a little more freely.

He appreciates all of that too, but mostly he appreciates the possibility that he feels, down to his bones, with this new season. And he appreciates the possibility of spending more time with Jessica.

They drink in the summer, spending hours upon hours sitting on his couch or on her floor as they tease and laugh and bullshit their way through 100 degree heat waves several days long. Usually he hates the summer- the stifling heat, the sweat, the rancid scents around every corner. But with Jessica, he finds a new reason to appreciate the summer. Or rather, reasons.

Like spending nights laying out on one or the other of their rooftops, chatting but also just being- listening to the lively sounds of the city, feeling the crisp, cool temperature drop after sunset, and contemplating their place in the universe, the way that only seems to happen on a clear summer night in the company of a dear, dear friend.

Or like spending time in the rain during summer thunderstorms- anything to cool off- and being totally overcome by the sensory input of it all. The water droplets rushing down, the sharp and clean scent of ozone, the constant, soothing rhythm of the rain in his periphery. And he finds he loves Jessica in the rain because everything about her- her scent, her shape, her energy- is amplified through the filter of the water. And he’s mesmerized by every aspect of her, always left wanting to spend more time with her.

They kiss in the fall, under a canopy of rustling, changing leaves that herald the end of the sweltering heat of the summer. She smells like jasmine and oak and leather, and she tastes like whiskey and coffee and desire, and the earthy scent of decay lingers in the margins of his awareness, rounding out his sensory picture. And it’s perfect.

They stumble through the awkward first-stages of a relationship while watching horror movies and drinking homemade (homespiked) cider. They reluctantly attend other people’s Thanksgiving meals, because they aren’t completely sure about making their own. But they’re both grateful for one another, and they don’t need to sit around a table and share their blessings while passing the turkey plate to show one another that gratitude. Their time together is proof enough.

He loves her in the winter, almost a year after meeting in the precinct. After so many things have happened. After exchanging gifts, and stories. After fighting and making up and making out. After stepping out and being vulnerable, despite the fear and nagging doubt warning certain heartbreak. After quiet, tender moments of struggle and growth.

But as he thinks back, he understands that he loved her little by little, all along the way. He loved her when she didn’t slam the door in his face when he showed up at her apartment, still bruised, after he left the convent. He loved her when she held his hand on her rooftop, and they shared memories from childhood, before they learned how cruel the world could be. He loved her when she kissed him, in the middle of the sidewalk, and warned him- only partially joking- that she would “kick his ass” if he told the others.

He loved her for every jab, every snarky remark, during every step along the way. In every season. And if there is one thing that he knows to true, with every beat of his heart, he knows he’ll love her in every season after that. Forever.

Day 10 | Day 12

#inktober for writers #fictober #my fic #a prompt a day #matt murdock/jessica jones #matt murdock x jessica jones #jessica x matt #mattjess #matt x jessica #darejones #messica

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briangroth27 · 7 years ago

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Marvel’s Defenders Season 1 Review

Full Spoilers…

Marvel’s Defenders was enjoyable and is definitely worth watching, but I’m not sure it did all it could have. The chemistry between Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Kristen Ritter), and Luke Cage (Mike Colter) worked very well, but Iron Fist (Finn Jones) was the weak link. He had a few good moments, but Defenders still couldn’t redeem him for me. I was impressed by the inclusion of nearly every major supporting character from the four previous Netflix series, even if they weren’t used to their fullest potential. The Hand didn’t reach the heights I was hoping as the ultimate bad guys in the Netflix corner of the MCU (so far), but I was genuinely entertained and feel that their arc has come to a mostly satisfying conclusion.

Matt Murdock/Daredevil Matt’s one of my favorite comic characters and I’ve loved Charlie Cox’s interpretation of the character over three seasons now. I was surprised to find him retired from superheroics, but it was great to see him relating to and comforting a recently paralyzed teen (Gabe White) in his opening scenes; I’d definitely like more glimpses at how Matt’s powers and his blindness shape his worldview, so things like this—a way to save a kid without being Daredevil—are very cool. So much of Matt’s arc over the course of his series has been about how best to be a hero and what the line between hero and villain even is, so it was nice to see him mulling over whether he’d done the right thing in stepping down as Daredevil. When he did finally return to the suit, it was awesome! Murdock was hands-down the best fighter in the show, which hurt the credibility of these other martial arts masters a bit. His flippy and highly acrobatic style is always fun to watch, and Defenders was no exception. Matt’s casual parkour to travel the city (and evade Jessica) got a good workout here and I hope it pops up even more in Season 3, as that’s a comic book element I wish they’d show more of in Daredevil. Elektra (Elodie Yung) was the only character who matched his fighting prowess—Colleen (Jessica Henwick) was close, but didn’t get to do as much hand-to-hand as the others—and Iron Fist and the Hand looked lackluster in comparison.

Speaking of Elektra, I loved how dedicated (and possibly deluded) Matt was into thinking he could save her. Executive Producer Marco Ramirez said he felt Matt believed Elektra was a problem he had to deal with himself and I get that, but I think that drive could’ve had bigger implications for the team. It threatens to destabilize them at one point, but when Matt figures out Elektra’s been in his apartment, he lies about what he’s found to Jessica (almost directly after promising her he won’t keep anything back) and he’s never caught. I understand why he wouldn’t come clean—he was the only one who thought she could be redeemed and Stick was liable to have her killed like the last Black Sky (Bonale Fambrini)—and I wish he hadn’t lied, but if they were going to include that action it should’ve had a consequence.

While Luke informed Danny of his white privilege, I thought Matt’s was more striking. Matt was found at the scene of a homicide covered in blood—the cops even took his shirt to test it—yet the idea that he could be involved in Stick’s (Scott Glenn) death didn’t even occur to anyone at the precinct. At first I brushed this off as “who would suspect the blind guy?” but Misty (Simone Missick) didn’t have a reason to think Luke was a killer either and he was still under suspicion. Just because Matt was Luke and Jessica’s lawyer, he must be innocent? The cops barely questioned him about what happened. When he breaks out of the police station with them later, the cops assume he’s been kidnapped?

I loved that so many story threads from Daredevil wrapped up here; it felt like an unofficial Season 3. Not only did we finally find out what the Hand wanted with that specific plot of land, but we learned what wall Stick was referencing in Daredevil Season 1 and what the pit from Season 2 was for. I also liked that Matt’s past with Stick and his old mentor’s way of doing things got in the way of rejoining the war. That was a smart, organic way of giving Matt pause about joining up instead of just being bull-headed (even though he was that too; as Cox pointed out about Season 2—and was just as true here, part of Matt’s arc was learning to ask for help). Murdock feeling nervous about unmasking in front of the others was a great moment of vulnerability for him; even if it was partially about protecting his loved ones, I think it also connected back to his lack of certainty about suiting up again. Taking the scarf off meant declaring that he was Daredevil. I do wish they’d taken a moment for Matt to confront Stick about Nobu’s (Peter Shinkoda) death: one of the very few issues I had with Season 2 was that he threw Nobu off a building and never said whether he knew he could survive the fall or not. If he didn’t, then he definitely tried to kill Nobu, which could’ve been a reason for his retirement (he’d failed at being an upstanding hero, even if Stick was the one who actually finished Nobu off). That’s something that could’ve brought more context to where we found him at the start of Defenders. That said, the rest of his arc was great and I loved that it concluded with Matt saying he was glad Luke and Jessica were with him before they went into the pit at Midland Circle.

I’m glad they didn’t leave any question about whether Matt survived or not and that they’ve already confirmed Daredevil Season 3! I’m excited to meet Maggie Murdock and to see how they handle Born Again, which seems to be where they’re headed; I don’t want to see Karen (Deborah Ann Woll) dragged through the mud like in the comic, though. Whatever the next story is, I hope that after upping the challenges from gangsters to undead ninjas, Matt gets to face off with supervillains next!

Jessica Jones While Matt and Danny’s arcs segued into the miniseries’ plot most cleanly, I was impressed Jessica and Luke’s investigations brought them into the Hand hijinks just as naturally. In fact, the confluence of these four heroes at Midland Circle felt more natural than an outside force recruiting random superpeople to join the Avengers. I liked how thorough Jessica was with her investigation into the Hand’s building and that they took the time to show it. It would’ve been easy, particularly in a condensed miniseries, to just have her show up and explain the work she’d done, so showing it was a great bit of characterization instead.

While Jessica’s general disdain for heroics can be fun—particularly when interacting with Matt and Danny—it is beginning to become one-note. She isn’t new to these powers and even if she doesn’t want to dress up in a costume (or even want her abilities), I’d like to see her at least more willing to help people, even if it’s just to pay her bills. If nothing else, her powers make her job easier than it would be for most people, so why hate them so much? Speaking of her powers, they absolutely need to determine some limits to what she can and can’t do; vaguely strong and maybe able to fly isn’t good enough. Still, Ritter found a good balance between her disdain for her powers and being overwhelmed at all the magic going on without coming off as coldly unwilling to help. I do think they could’ve dug into her discomfort with magic and resurrections by bringing up Purple Man at least for a moment. It would’ve been great to force her to confront the idea of resurrections with the possibility—however remote—of Killgrave also coming back and what that would mean for her. If snapping his neck herself wasn’t enough, could she ever find peace? Particularly since David Tennant is back in some form in Season 2, this would’ve been a great moment to tease that she’s still dealing with lingering doubts about her success in getting rid of her abuser.

I loved that there wasn’t much (if any) angst between Jessica and Luke once they met for the first time since Jones’ first season. They’d both moved on and that growth was fine by me. I didn’t like the implication of Jessica asking Luke out for coffee (even if I can’t quite remember if it had the connotation in her show that it did in Luke Cage), so I was glad he shot her down. I know they’re married in the comics, but just being friends works for the MCU in my opinion. If she’s going to have a relationship with a superhero, I really liked her interactions with Matt here. They had some really fun banter, so I’d be open to seeing where they might go. Perhaps Jessica and Matt could strike up a romantic/heroic partnership like he did with Black Widow in the comics. They worked well together when they visited the Raymond home and it was nice to see Jessica connect with Lexi Raymond (Chloe Levine) through what she’d learned about Matt’s dad, showing she understood him as well.

Regardless of who she ends up with (not that she needs to end up with anyone), I’m glad Jessica’s arc took her to a place where she could open up again. Starting to experience and engage with the wider world of powers was a cool metaphor for getting back into the business of living her life as well. It would’ve been good to see how Malcolm (Eka Darville) fits into her detective agency a bit more, though. That’s not where she was yet, but we could’ve gotten some tease about how they’d work together at the end. On the other hand, Trish’s (Rachael Taylor) radio talk show reporting on the earthquakes in New York felt like a classic superhero/journalist connection for Jessica and I hope they play that up in Season 2. If she could act as an early warning source of information for Jessica, it’d be great! I’m also very ready for Jessica to face an enemy who isn’t Killgrave; she was perfectly out of her element with the Hand and I’m eager to see her face completely new challenges in her second season!

Luke Cage Luke was a big surprise for me when I watched his series; I knew almost nothing about his character and came out of his first season a huge fan. Colter portrayed him as something of a soulful Captain America just trying to do right by his neighborhood and it was perfect (I’d love for him and Steve to meet and just hang out some day!). I was surprised Defenders got him out of prison right away and I liked that fresh start. I thought his past crimes would continue looming over him, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him out so soon and an even better one to see that he’d truly moved on from his past. Of all of the heroes, Luke seems to have put his demons behind him completely at the start of this miniseries; with his time served, his personal history is settled.

I love Luke and Claire (Rosario Dawson) together and their post-prison sex session was a long time coming! I’m glad they wasted no time and I hope this relationship grows a lot in Luke’s second season. Also wasting no time was Misty Knight, who immediately got Luke back into the business of crime fighting (by the way, I like that Luke is effortlessly able to remain friends with not one but two of his exes). I love that he’s still so dedicated to his community and his personal bonds with the people within it are perfect, not only for his character but as a contrast to how the other heroes interact with the civilians around them. Matt may connect with people as Murdock, but Daredevil is meant to be scary and stealthy. Luke seems like he’d stop and talk about life with someone he’d just saved (assuming the villain was down), and continue checking in for weeks after the rescue. That’s not something we normally see from heroes and it’s something I’d love to see more of. His concern over both Cole (J. Mallory McCree) because of his job working for the Hand and Cole’s mom Dolores (Debbi Morgan) because of her family’s tragedies were excellent, even if he couldn’t save the day.

I would’ve loved to see Luke take down Sowande (Babs Olusanmokun), but his reappearance with the Hand leader in tow was still a great moment. I do think his hopefulness could’ve been tested by Sowande and the Hand’s apparent ability to completely demoralize their enemy; that’s a failing of the Hand’s characterization here and a missed opportunity to test for chinks in Luke’s armor. I enjoyed that Luke remained the most moral of the heroes, not wanting to blow up a building, and I wonder if that moment in particular was partially because he knew how easily the system can turn against you even if you’re doing the right thing. That said, I think he (if not Matt too) should’ve had a problem with leaving the Hand ninjas to die in the explosion; they agreed no one would get hurt and that seemed to go out the window once the bombs were activated. Regardless, his morality and sense of calm played well off of Matt’s obsessive crusade, Jessica’s apathy, and Danny’s unrefined enthusiasm. In fact, the scenes of Luke bonding with Danny, informing him of his white male privilege, and commiserating about how much gaining their superpowers hurt were the one area I saw a glimmer of hope for Rand. I don’t need them to team up here like in the comics by any means—Luke has a vibrant and fertile corner of the MCU without needing Danny to make it more interesting—but it’s good to know that if they do become best friends like in the comics, Luke can pull some likability out of Danny.

I think they definitely need to work on creating distinctive fighting styles for both Luke and Jessica. Both of them seemed to just barrel through ninjas and throw them around, but they could be doing more (though “barreling through” could work as Luke’s preferred style, since he doesn’t have to worry about gunshots or getting hit). On a story level, I’d really like to see Luke move faster into helping people in addition to getting involved with one person at a time. I wish they would’ve ended the season with him opening up his hero for hire business, possibly in the old barbershop. Misty started the season prodding him to become more of a helper and I would’ve liked to see how he decided to do that in a bookend scene at the end of the miniseries.

Danny Rand/Iron Fist I don’t want to keep harping on Rand—who looks for things to hate?—but even with his slight improvement here, he’s still the weak link of the Netflix MCU. While they smartly ignored the contradictory bits of his mythos (how can he defeat the Hand if he’s not allowed to leave K’un-Lun and why didn’t he know his greatest enemies still existed?), he still came off as brash and green (not in terms of his super-suit, though; he apparently still can’t have that). Danny trained to be one of the world’s greatest warriors for 15 years and there’s no excuse for him to still appear so fresh-faced. Even if they wanted to play a “training isn’t the same thing as war” arc with him, he’s been written as being so inept that it seems like he wasn’t trained at all. I’ve read that the idea behind Danny in this miniseries was to look up to the others as experienced heroes he could trust and seek out a partnership with them, but that didn’t really come through. Sure he’s enthusiastic about a team-up, but as soon as Danny doesn’t get his way, he’s off to do some stupid thing. I will say that while the other Defenders get to take verbal shots at him, Finn Jones played Danny in a way that didn’t feel like he couldn’t take their barbs; a definite improvement over his temper tantrums in his first season. And again, his bonding scenes with Luke were the most relaxed and natural Jones has felt in the role, so I’m glad they found the touchstone of that bond.

Defenders does undo a few of the questionable aspects of Iron Fist, though. Claire not calling Matt in for help against the Hand made a bit more sense now that we know he was retired, even if I’m convinced Matt would’ve suited up to help her anyway. The Hand not using the creepy-cool ninjas from Daredevil’s second season in Iron Fist’s first also makes sense if Elektra got the last of the resurrection substance (though where the undead ninjas went during Iron Fist remains a question. Even if Danny didn’t know much about the Hand, at least Defenders opened with him and Colleen running around hitting the Hand’s bases. This miniseries also finally made use of Danny’s white privilege after his own series ignored it; nothing against Jones, but casting a white actor added nothing to his character there, despite the internet’s insistence that he stay a white guy like in the comics. I liked that while Jessica had to do actual detective work to find Midland Circle, Danny was able to stroll into his company and ask someone else to look it up for him. This could’ve been played up more—and like I said earlier, Matt’s privilege was a much bigger example that seems to have flown under the radar—but I’m glad they finally touched on it and hope for more in Danny’s next season.

As many problems as they solved (at least partially), however, there were still some questions. How does Danny still know so little about his arch-enemies that they need Stick to provide all the exposition on the Hand? I wish Stick and the Chaste had appeared in Iron Fist to connect the dots a little better, but Danny being so clueless makes no sense. His fight choreography was still at the level of his first season, which made him immediately pale in comparison to Matt’s even though he’s supposed to be the much more experienced fighter. Danny bouncing off Luke looked silly more than anything; I was as annoyed with him as Luke looked. I wish the miniseries had ended with Danny getting his costume instead of the track suit-looking outfit he was wearing; it even looks like Matt’s from Daredevil Season 1, only in green and yellow, which would’ve been a perfect way for him to honor Matt’s request that they continue protecting the city. Now that the Hand is gone, I’m somewhat interested in seeing if defending Hell’s Kitchen is enough of a purpose to fulfill Danny, but he’s seemed so lost as it is that I’m not convinced it’ll feel very different.

Claire Temple I’ve really enjoyed Rosario Dawson’s Claire evolving over the course of five previous seasons! Her meetings with each hero felt completely organic and her appearances in each show are always a highlight. Since she’d gotten involved with each of the heroes so naturally, it didn’t feel contrived that Luke would get in a fight with someone else she knew; it just felt like another thread coming together like it was supposed to. I really liked that Colleen pointed out Claire is the foundation of this team of heroes and her reaction to that affirmation was great. While Luke is a steady source of hope, Claire is a great breath of fresh air and a perfect, practical wake-up call to these heroes.

That said, while Claire got the most screentime out of the supporting cast members (perhaps besides Colleen), I’m surprised she didn’t have more to do. As natural as facilitating the introductions was, it felt like she stepped away after that. When she’d appear in the individual series (minus Jessica Jones), she became an integral part as soon as she was involved in the action and I was hoping for more of that here. True she was involved in the final assault on Midland Circle, but nothing she did there had to be done by her specifically. I’m definitely interested to see what role she plays in the future of the Netflix MCU. Will she just remain their “Night Nurse,” patching them up and giving them advice? Or does she have a greater destiny? I don’t need or really want her to become a superhero herself (though she did take to combat pretty naturally in Iron Fist), but I would’ve liked an indication of where she’s going now. It’d be cool if they came up with a completely new role for her that wasn’t a now-common trope like the central information hub or something.

Allies Along with Claire, Colleen Wing was my favorite aspect of Iron Fist. Willingly being part of the Hand and then finding out just how evil they were was a fantastic arc and her reveal as a member was the biggest shock in the series for me. It was great to see her back for this and I’m glad she was right in the thick of the action almost the whole way through. However, I wish her history with the Hand had been more relevant to the events of Defenders. True, she finally got even with Bakuto (Ramon Rodriguez) and I was glad to see that, but what about all the Hand operatives she trained? Her righteous fury at being used and lied to was great, but a moment to consider the criminals she’d primed for service would’ve been better. How many secret ninjas are out there doing harm because she trained them? Even better, instead of facing Bakuto again and reaching the same resolution they did in their battle in Iron Fist, what if Colleen had been faced with her former pupils?

I really dug Misty Knight in Luke Cage and I was happy to see her here. Reaching out to Luke to get him to contribute more was a nice beat, but I would’ve liked less skepticism about the vigilantes from her. She walked a tightrope over the need for vigilantes vs. the rule of law before, and it seemed like the end of Luke’s first season felt like she was opening up to the idea of vigilantism, even wearing her comic book outfit. If I’m remembering that correctly, she’s the only character who felt like she took a major step back at the start of Defenders. Others have pointed out the significant mention that she’s in a Rand-owned hospital after getting her arm cut off, so it’ll probably be a Rand-developed cyborg arm that she gets. I’m interested to see how that goes with this version of Misty. I’d also like to know if she’ll face any consequences in the fallout from Midland Circle. While the Defenders seem to have gotten off without any trouble, she’s a cop and helped them. Will there be repercussions that lead her to life as a vigilante?

I like Scott Glenn’s Stick and have truly enjoyed his antagonistic mentor/fatherly relationship with Matt, but by Defenders I was ready to see him go. It just felt right for him to pass the torch on to the next generation in this war or, more fittingly, for the war’s last soldier to go out helping to end it. Cutting his own arm off to escape Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver) and Elektra was badass (even if his severed arm was less than convincing) and I was impressed by how capable he still was even after losing the hand and who knows how much blood! His no-nonsense attitude played well against the Defenders, even if it drove them away at times (true to their characters). I chuckled at him low-key wanting to kill Danny when the others were trying to convince Rand to lay low and I was pleased the writers actually let him try to do it. My distaste for Iron Fist aside, it wouldn’t have felt right if the Defenders were able to talk him down from trying to solve the problem the only way he knows how; just like the first Black Sky we met, Stick felt he had to kill Danny. It was also cool that Stick figured out a new weakness of Luke’s with his knockout gas; going forward, I hope the Luke Cage writers continue to explore other ways of attacking him besides bullets. It was tragic Matt didn’t make it back in time to say anything to Stick when he died; I would’ve liked one last bit of resolution to their disagreements, but sometimes you don’t get that in life.

It was good (and a little surprising) to see so many of the supporting characters show up here. That said, I wish there was more for them to do, even if it was just cool that they got time to interact with each other (something I wasn’t expecting at all). Foggy (Elden Henson) and Karen fared the best, with their concern over Matt becoming Daredevil again giving them some good material to dig into. It would’ve been nice to see more about how Karen felt about Matt being Daredevil since she only found out in the last moments of the Season 2 finale, but their talks here felt right. I liked that she was annoyed that his Daredevil life interrupted hers by making her a target again. Thinking about it now, I hope Matt’s presumed death isn’t what pushes Karen back into whatever darkness has been hinted at in her past, which could tie into her arc in Born Again. Foggy giving Matt his suit felt like a big step for him and I’m definitely interested to see how he handles Matt’s “death.” Trish and Malcolm’s attempts to get Jessica back into the world were good, but they didn’t really work (her camaraderie with the Defenders did), so I would’ve enjoyed them having some effect on the outcome of the series or our main characters. Maybe Trish knowing what went down at Midland Circle could’ve twisted the police’s arm into covering it up and letting the Defenders go, under threat of her show revealing there was a massive infrastructure takeover by the Hand (that she’d have proof of in this scenario) and the PD were completely powerless—and maybe even infiltrated by—to stop. That would’ve connected nicely to her bosses cutting off the call to her show about the earthquakes not being normal early on in the miniseries.

Alexandra Reid I thought Alexandra was a great leader of the Hand and I wish she hadn’t died. Even if she had to go, I think we should’ve known her (and the Hand’s) further plans beyond eternal life and returning to K’un-Lun. I’m bored of businesspeople as villains, but the Hand’s corporate front felt thin enough that she didn’t really resemble one to me too much. Alexandra seemed more like an independently wealthy individual who expected her power to allow her to continue with her routine, no matter how many people she had to crush along the way. She was likable and an imposing villain with unexpected depth from her motherly relationship with Elektra, but ultimately I thought she’d be a bigger threat or have a larger plan than her own survival. While personal and relatable, I originally didn’t feel that type of plan needed four heroes to stop, but as I’ll discuss later, it may be the perfect evil scheme for the Defenders. I didn’t think she’d physically fight the heroes, but I would’ve liked to see a bigger confrontation between them. I liked that she was somewhat amused by the Defenders standing up to her and I would’ve enjoyed seeing her fully unleashed against them (why was Gao the only one with a special power?), even if just once. Her wardrobe was definitely distinctive and felt appropriately of another era, as was Weaver’s air of superiority that effused from her in nearly every scene. I also really liked that none of the Hand leaders were tired of immortality; that’s a tired trope and, even if all they wanted was to maintain the status quo, it was cool to see immortals who didn’t want to stop living.

Elektra Natchios I loved Elektra’s arc in this series, from confused “blank slate” Black Sky to Hand assassin to master of her own destiny. Though her resurrection and training scenes were solid, I wish we’d learned more about what the Black Sky was exactly and why she was different from the other undead Hand ninjas. I’m assuming it means that she was supposed to be resurrected as a complete blank slate rather than one who can regain her memory completely (in addition to being able to take down the Iron Fist), but we should’ve gotten some clarification on that point. Still, Yung did a great job of slowly investigating and recapturing flashes of her former life! I also loved her mother/daughter relationship with Alexandra; it was just “off” enough to work really well. I didn’t see her killing Alexandra coming at all! I read that Marco Ramirez said the intention of that moment was for Elektra to take hold of her life and determine who she was for herself. I’d say that worked—and I realized later that she also killed her other mentor, Stick, which is a nice signifier that she won’t be returning to either of her lives—I just wish we’d seen what she wanted with leadership of the Hand. Apparently she wanted to stay immortal too, but did she have any other plans? Was she going to lead the Hand in a new direction? If so, what was it and were the other leaders only helping her to get their hands on the substance? If she was just going to keep things the same, then killing Alexandra loses a bit of impact (at least plotwise, because the emotional statement of the action is definitely there), I think.

If Elektra was the one to drag Matt out of the pit, then I’m definitely excited to see them meet again sometime in the future. Despite saying the fight with Matt and leadership of the Hand was what she wanted, if she saved him then he wasn’t completely wrong about her. I’d definitely be interested in seeing who she chooses to become now and how she gets there. Perhaps there’s still hope for her after all…

The Hand I liked Alexandra, Elektra, Gao (Wai Ching Ho), and Sowande quite a bit. The supernatural element the Hand brought to the MCU worked well for me, even in the grounded Defenders corner, and I liked them as a step up from gangsters. However, I do feel they’ve run their course and don’t need to see them in this form again; the next level of bad guys should be supervillains. It would’ve been nice if each of the Hand’s Fingers had their own individual goals and plans for their renewed immortality, but I understand why such limited screentime would keep them (mostly) united in their purpose. Though Gao rapidly became one of my favorite MCU villains, if she survived the destruction of the tower I’m not sure where she goes after this. Perhaps a Gao who’s lost everything would be an interesting adversary. I totally missed that her drugs in Daredevil’s first season were made from powdered dragon bones; it was cool she was able to diversify herself and that was a clever way to tie things together. I don’t need to see her again immediately, but I wouldn’t be opposed to her popping up sometime later. Sowande employing neighborhood kids to clean up Hand business was a cool operation and a neat way to tie in Luke Cage. I hadn’t considered that they’d need a clean-up crew and thought that was a smart way to flesh out their support structure. However, I was sorry to see Sowande die so easily: he had excellent presence and it felt like he deserved more. I don’t find Bakuto imposing, so he didn’t leave much impact on me here; his battle with Colleen felt like a retread of Iron Fist. The Hand seemed like enough of a threat before he was revealed to be alive and it didn’t seem like they got more dangerous with him around. Murakami (Yutaka Takeuchi) was similarly underwhelming and didn’t seem like a fitting step up from Nobu. He was billed as some great warrior—Nobu’s boss, even—but it felt like he was consistently taken down first whenever he fought. Any character can be redeemed, but it doesn’t seem like there was enough to his character to justify a return (and that’s if the debris didn’t decapitate him).

I wish every Finger of the Hand had a supernatural specialty; that would’ve provided the heroes with a wider range of threats than a constant onslaught of ninjas. Gao’s telekinesis was cool, but why didn’t the others develop some sort of power? Perhaps Sowande’s could’ve been the ability to increase paranoia and fear in those around him, just like the people who’d captured him in his story were afraid of the Hand barricade around their base. He could’ve been the MCU version of Mr. Fear, perhaps. If that had been the case, while it would’ve been a little too similar to Avengers and Loki’s scepter, at least a Danny whose fears and paranoia had been spiked wouldn’t have looked like an idiot for trying to fight the others when they just wanted him to lay low. An enemy with a power like that would’ve also been a great, distinct challenge from the physical threats the team faced as well as a way to look at the heroes�� deepest fears. Regardless of having power or not, Sowande’s story was truly imposing, so I wish we’d seen it come to fruition in some manner. Alexandra pointed out that they didn’t even try to rescue him and while I thought that was a funny acceptance of how that plot petered out, I was left to wonder why they didn’t try.

I’m not the first to say it, but I wish the Hand had attacked the police station everyone’s loved ones were staying in, forcing the Defenders to rush to save them. I really wish Sowande’s threat against the heroes’ friends had come to fruition even while they were in police custody; the Hand’s attempt to rescue him could have easily been kidnapping everyone the heroes cared about and offering a trade (as well as a way for his story to come true for our heroes). Misty, Colleen, Claire, Trish, and Karen protecting Foggy and Malcolm while holding off the Hand as best they could until help arrived could’ve been a great, tense sequence! In terms of character, it could’ve acted as a callback to Karen killing Wesley (Toby Leonard Moore) and potentially needing to take Hand lives to protect the people she cared about could’ve given us an idea of where her opinion on Punisher’s methods had landed. Trish dipping back into Nuke’s (Wil Traval) super-drugs—maybe she’d kept a few because she didn’t feel safe—would’ve been another cool callback and potentially a hint towards her heroic Hellcat persona. An attack also would’ve been a smarter use of Colleen’s past with the Hand—since she’d know their methods and plans of attack (and even individual ninjas!)—than Bakuto trying to recruit her again was. It would’ve paid off Claire’s self-defense training as well. A decimated police force would’ve taken the cops out of the Midland Circle bombing scene too, answering a few questions about why they were so willing to cover it up. They could’ve also played with the Hand agents who’d infiltrated New York’s infrastructure here, with some of the cops turning on the heroes’ friends and threatening them from inside the station as well. Aside from upping the stakes dramatically, that would’ve helped push Misty towards vigilantism even more.

I wish Alexandra would’ve utilized the secret Hand agents positioned throughout New York to manipulate the city against the Defenders. Unless they were the masked cannon fodder ninjas (and if they were, what happened to the undead ones Matt couldn’t sense?), where were they? Part of this wish is me thinking a more immediate doomsday plot than the city falling due to excavating the dragon bones would’ve upped the stakes in the final battle. Elaboration on what the Hand wanted after securing their immortality and returning to K’un-Lun once more (and what Elektra was going to do differently as leader) would’ve helped in that area too. However, writing this review led me to realize that the real doomsday threat was nothing changing. I think, in addition to wanting to go back to K’un-Lun, the Hand were looking to maintain the status quo, because it gives them their power. If that’s the case, I think it’s kind of impressive that they are so unconcerned with time that they’ll spend all this effort to infiltrate New York’s infrastructure just to secure their plan to destroy it in the excavation of the dragon bones; the city itself doesn’t matter at all, it’s their lives. And once New York is gone, they’ll just move on to the next city and infiltrate it to feed their power.

And really, what better enemy for heroes who represent the downtrodden is there than the system itself? The hidden Hand agents would’ve been the perfect way to dramatize the status quo being held in stasis by Alexandra and Co., so I think not utilizing them was the biggest misstep of the show. True, Winter Soldier and Agents of SHIELD already played this card with Hydra, but Iron Fist introduced a similar situation and it should’ve been utilized instead of ignored. Given the Defenders are civilians, the impact of the upper class keeping the lower classes down would’ve been much more relevant than the similar reveal in the lives of super-spies. For one thing, they could’ve personally threatened the heroes’ lives: Luke could’ve faced getting sent back to jail, the suspicion around Jessica over John Raymond’s murder could’ve become a full-blown frame, Matt could’ve been threatened with being disbarred, and Danny could’ve faced losing his seat on the Rand board of directors (which would’ve erased a fair chunk of his privilege). All of these factors could’ve pushed the heroes to their limits as they struggled with how far they’d go to preserve the lives they’d built, and what they’d do if those lives fell apart. This miniseries should’ve been an all-out war between the Defenders and the Hand’s operatives so that they could ultimately clear the deck—and the city—of Hand agents. At first, I didn’t think Defenders felt as relevant as the individual series have—Daredevil dealt with gentrification, Jessica Jones with sexism and abuse, and Luke Cage with racial inequality and injustice—and making the Hand’s larger goal of maintaining the status quo clearer would’ve been a solid way to make the show feel more timely. Those in power trying to retain their control over the system and the Defenders—just so they could extend their own lives at the cost of millions of innocent civilians, no less—would’ve perfectly contrasted with Elektra’s attempt to define herself and the heroes’ attempt to cast off that power and forge new lives for themselves.

General Notes Ultimately, I liked Defenders and I can’t wait for more, but it felt too short. It mostly worked as one 8-hour story, but I wish they’d had another five episodes to flesh things out more. The miniseries did a great job of introducing each main character and providing enough information that viewers could’ve missed any of the previous series and not felt lost, while at the same time not feeling repetitive for those of us who’ve seen everything. The establishing bits we got of the heroes felt fresh because they were at least half-steps into their new lives rather than retreads of their entire history. I liked that Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb had each of the individual series’ creators go over the Defenders scripts to make sure their characters were consistent with what they were doing outside the miniseries. It’s nice to know the heroes’ main series are the driving force behind this corner of the MCU, not the crossovers or universe-wide plots.

I liked S.J. Clarkson’s direction in the first two episodes; everyone was filmed through gates and other obscuring scenery, giving the impression that they were physically walled off from each other. The color palettes for each character also helped sell the idea that they all came from different corners of the world (and Twitter commenters pointed out that their colors converge in the sign for the Chinese restaurant where they have their first real conversation!). I wish Avengers had leaned more into the disparate tones and textures of each hero’s background like Defenders did, rather than going for a glossy one-size-fits-all feel. The more contrast in each character’s background, the better the clash will be when they finally meet. At the same time, Clarkson included transitions like one character flipping up a hoodie while the next flips theirs down; that was a neat way to transition between storylines that subconsciously builds to the team-up. Likewise, John Paseno’s score blended each hero’s music quite well. The one musical moment I wasn’t a big fan of was the Wu Tang Clan used over the climactic fight; used anywhere else in the series, it would’ve been fine, but it didn’t give the epic impression that fight should’ve had. I wish they’d gone with an orchestral Defenders theme for that moment. I also loved the opening titles: they brought back the cityscape idea from Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage that made Hell’s Kitchen and Harlem feel like characters unto themselves. Depicting New York in each hero’s color was another great way to display their differences while emphasizing that they all had a common stake in this city.

Moments like Foggy getting Luke out of prison and Luke and Danny running into each other on a case were really natural, simple connections between shows. When Foggy was told to keep Jones out of Hogarth’s (Carrie-Anne Moss) firm’s business, the handoff to Matt—who then became Jessica’s lawyer—was smooth and part of a nice, continual build of connections before the team finally converged on Midland Circle. The Defenders’ casual conversation in the Chinese restaurant worked really well to bond them into a single unit, even if Danny remained the odd one out. It’s probably more a function of the plot than his character, since Jones’ ribs at Daredevil’s costume aren’t much different from everyone discounting Rand’s experience with the supernatural, but it felt like Matt, Luke, and Jessica formed a stronger bond with each other than they did with Danny. He’s also removed from the team, so the rest of them have more time to bond without him. I wish the Hand had utilized more of the supernatural—that’s the one area Defenders seemed to back off from when blending tones early on—and it probably would’ve helped Danny come into the team’s good graces faster if they could see examples of the supernatural happening around them. It also could’ve made him the team’s supernatural expert, giving him a specific role to play besides “brash new guy.” Otherwise, the series blended the tones of its forebears very well.

As much as the miniseries seemed to back off of the supernatural outside of resurrections and the Iron Fist, I loved that there was an actual, literal dragon skeleton under the city! I assume the dragons were buried, domed over, and had cities built on top of them to obscure their locations, but it would’ve been nice to get confirmation of that. An extensive excavation of the dragon skeleton as the cause of New York’s “fall” wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but I didn’t mind it. Perhaps there should’ve been a more epic cause of the city’s destruction than a sink hole, like the monks of K’un-Lun had blessed the cities to stand eternally over the dragons and if the dome were breached the city would be cursed by its imminent destruction or something. Still, in hindsight I think the normal, logical result of removing the dragon’s skeleton is a little underwhelming, but not disappointing.

The Netflix series have an issue with connecting to the larger MCU, but there’s one area that I think really should’ve been touched on here. As I saw pointed out in an IGN comment section, Luke, Jessica, and Danny should’ve had to sign the Sokovia Accords as part of the Midland Circle cover-up. I liked that breaking the law was a legitimate concern for these street level, civilian heroes, and slapping them with the Accords would’ve been a good way to re-emphasize that status. It would’ve been particularly clever if even after the Hand’s hidden agents were routed from their positions throughout the city, the heroes still had to sign the Accords because of a different status quo. Once Matt returns, his unregistered status could add increasing pressure to Daredevil as he goes forward, while the others could be forced to operate within the constraints of the Accords.

All in all, Marvel’s Defenders is definitely worth watching, even if it falls short of the epic final confrontation with the Hand it could’ve been. Even so, there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s solidly good. The heroes’ bond—particularly between Matt, Luke, and Jessica (with hints of good material between Luke and Danny to be mined in the future)—was the show’s biggest strength and always a lot of fun. Defenders doesn’t function like a standalone crossover and that’s a great thing: the heroes come out of this changed and I can’t wait to see where they go as their shows continue! Until then, if you’re not following the show’s Twitter accounts I highly suggest it; they’re written in-character and they interact with each other, busting each other’s chops just like on the show!

I’m definitely ready for another Defenders miniseries!

#marvel #defenders #daredevil #matt murdock #charlie cox #jessica jones #kristen ritter #luke cage #mike colter #the hand #alexandra reid #elektra natchios #elodie yung #stick #scott glenn #claire temple #rosario dawson #madame gao #wai ching ho

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electriceell · 8 years ago

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Matt Murdock & Borderline Personality Disorder

It seems to be pretty universally believed among the Daredevil/Marvel fandom that Matt has some very serious neuroatypical tendencies. I’ve been told that he has depression in the comic book canon and, at first, that seemed pretty reasonable, all in all. He does really self-destructive crap, has a pretty low sense of self-worth, some pretty serious guilt, and pessimistic thoughts, all of which are Major Depressive Disorder territory. That being said, a lot of the other symptoms: loss of interest in life and reduced energy/decreased activity don’t seem to turn up at all.

What makes more sense, to me at least, is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). It is, of course, necessary to acknowledge that we cannot diagnose characters since they exist in a very specific unreal spectre of our world. We have no way to reference their actions or choices and no clear insight into their thoughts and thought patterns. On top of that, I was somewhat recently diagnosed with BPD and it seemed like the things in me that are Matt Murdock are some of the stuff that started to make sense in light of the BPD diagnosis.

The DSM-V has five general criteria for personality disorders:

Significant impairments in self (identity or self-direction) and interpersonal (empathy or intimacy) functioning.

One or more pathological personality trait domains or trait facets.

The impairments are relatively stable across time and consistent across situations.

The impairments are not better understood as normative for the individual’s developmental stage or sociocultural environment.

The impairments are not solely due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., severe head trauma).

For BPD the first two these break down like this:

Impairments in Personality Functioning:

Impairments in identity or self-direction: Markedly impoverished, poorly developed, or unstable self-image, often associated with excessive self criticism; chronic feelings of emptiness; dissociative states under stress.

This one is really the crux of BPD and one that I think is frequently misunderstood. “Unstable self-image” is something that is hard to wrap one’s head around, especially considering that “instability in goals, aspirations, values, or career plans” are considered separately in the ‘self-direction’ category. Matt certainly has stable goals, values, etc. but despite that, he exists as many different personalities. He tends to morph to what the people around want him to be; he does his best to inhabit the space that he imagines is meant for him. With Foggy he’s gentle and kind, a fake softness to cover his sharp edges, with Elektra he becomes the sharp edges and nothing in between, for Karen he becomes the perfect gentleman and protector he sees her as needing, etc. I would argue that he leans into the traits that he thinks his partners see as desirable or good or ~Matt~ in order to become what they want. Karen and Foggy have mostly overlapping images, making it possible for them to coexist with Matt, but Elektra is totally other. By this token, Matt with Elektra cannot overlap with Foggy because the essential Matt-ness changes depending on who he’s with. On top of all of this, Matt literally exists as the two incongruous halves of himself. The show tracks the ways that Matt Murdock, attorney-at-law and Daredevil cannot inhabit Matt at the same time. But I honestly think this is less crucial to Matt’s BPD than his amorphous personality.

Impairments in empathy or intimacy: Intense, unstable, and conflicted close relationships, marked by mistrust, neediness, and anxious preoccupation with real or imagined abandonment; close relationships often viewed in extremes of idealization and devaluation and alternating between over involvement and withdrawal.

Do I even need to go into this one? Matt, in his entire life, manages one long-term close relationship, which is certainly intense and unstable. He is incredibly attached to Foggy, willing to strike out and start a law firm with him, but too scared to tell him about his senses. Despite evidence to the contrary, Matt doesn’t trust Foggy enough to tell him something essential, presumably for fear of abandonment. Extremes of idealization and devaluation absolutely come to play with Foggy, Karen, and Elektra. Matt seems to idolize Foggy, considers him the heart of Nelson & Murdock, but then proceeds to detach and condemn Foggy for not accepting him as Daredevil. Elektra is perfect and the center of Matt’s world and ~knows Matt better than anyone else~ and then she’s terrible and destroys everything. There’s a definite reason for this snap change, but it’s still very extreme, changing polarity quickly.

Pathological Personality Traits:

Negative Affectivity characterized by emotional lability - Unstable emotional experiences and frequent mood changes; emotions that are easily aroused, intense, and/or out of proportion to events and circumstances.

I mean. Matt does not have normal emotional responses as an adult. He flares with anger easily, which would explain his sense that the devil is in him. Outbursts of anger with following intense remorse, shame and guilt are also considered common in people with BPD.

anxiousness - Intense feelings of nervousness, tenseness, or panic, often in reaction to interpersonal stresses; worry about the negative effects of past unpleasant experiences and future negative possibilities; feeling fearful, apprehensive, or threatened by uncertainty; fears of falling apart or losing control.

This is another one that I have trouble even digging into because it feels so obvious. We’ve all seen Matt’s ability to handle interpersonal stress. He basically backs out awkwardly while mumbling about random things. Or he yells or punches things. That’s basically the only ways he handles things.

In addition, Matt clearly clings to ‘killing his father’ and then, of course, Stick leaving him. He says he ‘has an incredible ability to bring disaster into his life’. I have to think both of those are attached to this sentiment. And of course, nearly driving Foggy out with Daredevil and keeping his senses to himself.

He’s terrified of losing control and crossing the line and killing someone. Despite a strong, intense moral compass, he seems to exist in a state of fear that he might murder someone in an outburst of anger (see emotional lability).

separation insecurity - Fears of rejection by – and/or separation from – significant others, associated with fears of excessive dependency and complete loss of autonomy.

Jack, Stick, Elektra, Foggy - people leave him. And since his dad died he’s fucking terrified of it. His resistance to loss of autonomy is demonstrated most clearly with Elektra and Stick. It’s easy to justify with them because they’re ~bad influences~ and morally ambiguous, but Matt is scared of becoming their puppets despite being, you know, an autonomous human being.

depressivity - Frequent feelings of being down, miserable, and/or hopeless; difficulty recovering from such moods; pessimism about the future; pervasive shame; feeling of inferior self-worth; thoughts of suicide and suicidal behavior.

Matt never feels good enough, has terrible sense of self-worth to the point where he LITERALLY BELIEVES HE’S THE DEVIL SOMETIMES. Shame surrounds his existence as Daredevil and lying to the people around him and also not doing enough as DD. I don’t think it’s that much of a reach to say what he does as DD is suicidal behavior. He knows this can’t be sustained. But he keeps going with no sense of self preservation.

Disinhibition, characterized by impulsivity - Acting on the spur of the moment in response to immediate stimuli; acting on a momentary basis without a plan or consideration of outcomes; difficulty establishing or following plans; a sense of urgency and self-harming behavior under emotional distress.

... Nothing says acting on the spur of the moment or without plan quite like when he gets hacked to pieces by Nobu or goes on a rescue mission for Stick. Or for Karen et al. to be entirely honest. Urgency and no regard for his safety are basically the backbone of Matt Murdock’s Daredevil.

risk taking - Engagement in dangerous, risky, and potentially self-damaging activities, unnecessarily and without regard to consequences; lack of concern for one’s limitations and denial of the reality of personal danger.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA NEXT

Antagonism characterized by: hostility - Persistent or frequent angry feelings; anger or irritability in response to minor slights and insults.

Is he ever not angry? Like really. Pretty small things (Stick’s commenting on Jack) set Matt off and get him swinging. Repeat on the devil in him - small things spark anger in him.

Stable across time check Not explained by age or socio-cultural environment check Not due to substances (drugs or meds) or a medical condition (head trauma) check (even if Matt has serious head trauma, I don’t think that’s what shapes his personality functioning)

Being raised in an abusive environment is common among people with BPD. Correlation, of course, does not imply causation, but Matt’s early and intense relationship with Stick was abusive and could have shaped BPD tendencies.

When it comes down to it, a personality disorder makes a lot more sense for Matt’s unstable and non-normative functioning than depression.

“I’m so good at beginnings, but in the end I always seem to destroy everything, including myself.” - Kiera Van Gelder, The Buddha and the Borderline

#mine #Daredevil #meta #bpd #god help me #matt murdock #my baby #lol what school work?#WHAT SCHOOL WORK?#come at me

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pluckyredhead · 8 years ago

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Daredevil 101: Typhoid Mary, Part 1

Hello, friends! With Miller back off the main Daredevil book for good after “Born Again” (though not done with Daredevil forever, as we’ll see), it’s time for Ann Nocenti’s run (mostly with John Romita, Jr. on pencils), which is most notable for introducing the villain Typhoid Mary.

In recent years Nocenti’s Daredevil has been lauded as an underrated gem of DD canon. I...disagree. I find her run to be a real slog to get through, boring and histrionic by turns, and frankly deeply misogynistic. Because she’s a woman, I keep second-guessing that last judgment call, wondering if there are nuances here I’m somehow missing, but so far...yeah, to me it’s just virulently sexist. She’s definitely consciously doing stuff with gender, deliberately subverting some norms, but in the end I think it falls flat. But let me know what you think!

CONTENT WARNING: Dubcon, attempted sexual assault, sexual violence, infidelity, child abuse, ableist depictions of mental illness.

In the aftermath of “Born Again,” Matt was left disbarred and homeless, squatting in a tenement in Hell’s Kitchen with ex-junkie Karen and working as a short order cook at a diner, but very happy about it. He’s totally content to let that state of affairs continue, but Karen is not:

Like. Can we just appreciate Karen for a moment here? You saw her last week, she was barely walking upright. Now she’s applying for grants and opening a legal clinic/drug addiction hotline while Matt’s obliviously flipping burgers in his blousey-waisted pants. She’s amazing.

Matt throws a big whiny tantrum about how that part of his life is over now Karen!!! Don’t you understand!!! but gets with the program eventually.

He also wanders off to the park and chats with a little boy who is sailing his toy sailboat:

As Matt’s radar-sensing, though, a truck dumps chemicals into the water - chemicals that have a very bad effect on poor Tyrone:

Matt rushes Tyrone to get medical assistance, but it’s too late - he’s permanently blinded. Matt, naturally, is very personally affected by his case and determined to help his family in any way he can.

Meanwhile, the clinic is bustling:

I like this because it’s really the first time we’ve seen the Hell’s Kitchen community form around Matt. This is the closest the comics ever get to what N&M looks like at the beginning of Season 2, I think.

I also want to point out the little kids in the first panel: the Fatboys, a little gang of skateboarding urchins who hero-worship Matt, Karen, and Daredevil. I love them so much and want them to show up in the comics again. Here’s another little bit with some of the more central ones:

So cute!

Meanwhile, what’s Foggy up to? Well, he’s gotten an extremely plush job in a corporate firm that, unbeknownst to him, is owned by Fisk. Unfortunately for everyone concerned, it’s the same company that dumped the toxic materials that blinded Tyrone, and Tyrone’s family is now suing. So Foggy goes to check out the company’s usual waste disposal site:

Foggy is horrified by how disgusting and irresponsible Kelco is, but they’re still his client, and he still needs to defend them, even though Glori thinks that he shouldn’t and that Matt wouldn’t. (Matt probably wouldn’t. It is, however, literally Foggy’s job.)

Okay, you’re saying, but where’s the character this post is named after already?

Here you go:

...Yeah. Welcome to the late 80s, folks!

That narration on the side, by the way, is part of why I’m not a fan of Nocenti’s writing. It’s...it’s pretty incoherent, huh? There’s a lot of that in her run. It’s worse in the dialogue.

I also want to talk about the art for a second. Starting a couple pages up we’ve got John Romita, Jr., one of the artists most associated with Daredevil thanks to this run and his work on the Miller-written miniseries “Man Without Fear.” I can’t really say that I like Romita’s work but I find it really interesting. His shapes and poses and choices are all really blunt and strange and striking. (I feel similarly about Miller’s art, actually.) He’s also one of those artists whose attempts to draw aggressive male power often come out very, well, fetish-y (his Frank is a straight-up sexy bear). It winds up working really well for this story which is in a lot of ways all about sexual dominance and gender roles.

Anyway, Typhoid Mary has a split personality: “Mary Walker” is sweet and innocent, and “Typhoid” is a sadistic killer, who comes to New York and starts mowing down criminals because eh, why not. (Matt isn’t particularly troubled by this, even though he freaks out whenever Frank does it.) Mary has no knowledge of Typhoid, somehow, but Typhoid hates Mary. Typhoid is also telekinetic, pyrokinetic, and has some kind of pheromone powers that give her limited mind control over men. Oh, and her heartbeat and scent are completely different between the two personalities.

Basically, she’s a random assortment of powers and physiological quirks that target Matt’s weaknesses specifically. It’s preeeetty contrived. Plus she’s her own madonna/whore complex, compounded when contrasted further with patient, loving, good girl Karen.

She’s also sexually dominant, which is portrayed as extremely transgressive and dangerous:

Yeah, she fucks this random guy in a burning warehouse next to a bunch of corpses. On top, because Typhoid is evil you guys!!! Siiiigh.

Meanwhile, Matt is trying desperately to teach Tyrone to use his other senses the way Matt does:

Matt’s using a milder version of what Stick did to him as an attempt to jumpstart Tyrone’s “abilities,” but Tyrone doesn’t have Matt’s abilities, so this is basically just Matt breaking into a disabled child’s hospital room in the middle of the night to berate and imperil him. On one level it’s an interesting contrast to Miller’s argument that anyone can do what Matt and Stick do - that they don’t have special abilities, they’re just tapped into their awareness more than ordinary people. On the other hand...Matthew, stop. He’s clearly projecting, but...STOP.

(Tyrone also displays an acceptance of his own blindness in that last panel that Matt never has - he always speaks of his blindness in terms of his powers being a compensation for it, and in Nocenti’s run in particular he’s extremely self-loathing about being “a blind man,” which Nocenti for some reason thinks is one word. “A blindman.” It’s weird.)

Meanwhile, Fisk has heard of Typhoid, and thinks she could be useful to him:

This is one of those strategems that you’re like “Okay, okay,” when you’re reading it and then you think about it and you’re like “...Wait. Why is the ruler of crime in the largest city in America hiring a street person to break someone’s heart?” JUST SHOOT HIM, WILSON. This is so silly.

So Typhoid sets off to win Matt’s heart:

THIS DIALOGUE IS TERRIBLE. NO ONE TALKS LIKE THAT. UGH.

Again, I’m so frustrated by how contrived the Mary/Typhoid split is and how the rules change in order to make the plot work. This is definitely Mary - we see Mary later, unaware of Typhoid’s interference and very much in love with Matt - but Typhoid’s the one who gets them the job working with Tyrone, who makes up the story about a blind father, who uses her poorly-defined powers in the first panel to compel Matt to sit with her. It just seems lazy to me.

Matt is captivated, and uses his work “helping” Tyrone (he is now serving as a “ghost lawyer” for Tyrone’s father and the affordable baby lawyer they’ve hired) as an excuse to see Mary and, well, basically begin an affair with her:

1. MATT THERE IS A TERRIFIED BLIND CHILD YOU ARE NEGLECTING YOU SELFISH PIECE OF SHIT

2. MATT YOU CHEATING BASTARD

3. MATT I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU LET STRANGERS HEAR KAREN CALL YOU “BIG M,” SHE SHOULD BREAK UP WITH YOU JUST FOR THAT

Seriously, Matt is The Worst. It’s unclear how far he and Mary go (though he does discuss leaving Karen for her), and also, to be fair to him, unclear how much of this is happening of Matt’s volition, given Typhoid’s powers. But then, Mary’s consent is just as dubious as Matt’s. This is all so fucked up.

(I should also note that a few years after this plotline, after Karen has left him and they’ve painstakingly rebuilt their relationship for the second time, he cheats on her again with Elektra, this time in full control of his body and mind. So Matt You Cheating Bastard still stands.)

Meanwhile, the Tyrone v. Kelco case finally makes it to the courts, and Foggy is finally confronted with his old friends:

You know, Karen, you’re awfully high-and-mighty there for someone who last saw Foggy when you showed up on his doorstep as a strung-out junkie and then broke a lamp over his head and disappeared, leaving like a dozen dead bodies on his street.

Look. I freely admit that I am biased in Foggy’s favor and tend to give him more of a pass than I should, and the narrative is very, very clear that he is in the wrong in defending Kelco. Though Foggy is right that the legal system only works when everyone has the right to dedicated legal counsel doing their best to win, Matt and Karen are also right that sticking up for a company whose willful neglect caused massive environmental destruction as well as the blinding of a little boy is not exactly Foggy’s most shining moment. (Matt also makes the point later that Foggy should’ve known he was working for Fisk, but I think a suicidally depressed, recently divorced lawyer who just lost his livelihood and whose partner was just disbarred probably isn’t gonna look any job offer horses in the mouth.)

But Karen and Matt both act like Foggy has committed some horrible personal crime against them when Foggy stuck his neck out for both of them in “Born Again,” did everything he possibly could to help him, and they both disappeared and from what I can tell didn’t even bother to let him know they were alive. By the time of this story Foggy knows about the clinic and that they’re together, but it’s not clear how - legal scuttlebutt?

Basically, Matt and Karen have a lot of nerve, and if there’s anyone who owes anyone else a personal apology here, it’s not Foggy.

While Karen is snubbing Foggy, Daredevil is finally battling Typhoid, who he does not recognize as Mary (even though, ironically, a sighted person probably would):

Oh, I forgot, she also disrupts Matt’s radar. Sure. Whatever. *throws hands up in the air*

Anyway please note Matt calling her “bewitching” and Mary’s seductive dialogue and pose in the second panel.

Matt’s attracted to and repulsed by her simultaneously. She’s hot, feverish, burning - desirable and sickening at once. He’s confused by her dominance before violently rejecting it. She’s screwed up the gender roles he’s used to - dominant and submissive, pursuer and pursued - and it’s literally making him ill even as it fascinates him. (It’s worth noting that Mary, who he’s enchanted by, is totally helpless and submissive around him, constantly begging him to hold her and guide her and make her feel safe.)

Again, if this had been written by a man, I’d write it off the combination of the madonna/whore complex and the transgressiveness of female domination instantly as gross misogyny. Since it wasn’t, I can’t help feeling like Nocenti was trying for...something? Some subversion of what are very, very old comic book tropes? (“Nice lady with villainous split personality” has been around since the 40s, for example.) But maybe I’m giving her too much credit.

Up next: Matt and Foggy reunite, and Typhoid kills Daredevil!

#daredevil #daredevil 101

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djrelentless · 8 years ago

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“With My Heel On The Banana Peel Towards 50″

August 16, 2013 at 5:31am

There was time when I could not even conceive the age of 46. I remember when I turned 18 and the age of 30 seemed like a million years away. I can remember thinking that 30 was ancient. I got diagnosed as being HIV+ at the age of 23. I immediately thought that I would never see 30. So, by the time I did reach 30 I was amazed that I was still alive.

I was living in New York City, in a serious relationship and my lover at that time took me home to meet his parents in Santa Rosa, California. Probably one of the most significant birthdays I ever had. I was still alive and my boyfriend's parents threw me the best birthday party I had ever had. Actually, it was my first birthday party ever. They had phoned my lover's high school friends and organized a welcome home and birthday party for he and I. I was completely blown away that people who I had never met bought me presents and planned one of the best weeks of my life. I went sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. We went to this wonderful amusement park on a board walk. Hell…I had lived in New York City for some years and still had not been to Coney Island. My lover's mother was just adorable and loving. Coming from such a dysfunctional family as mine, this was the closest I came to that classic TV family scene I had dreamed about.

Something amazing happened at the age of 30. All the things that I used to worry about just wasn't important anymore. I used to be afraid of what people thought about me. I was afraid that I would "catch the AIDS". I was afraid that I would never have a real relationship. Well… everything I had been afraid of had happened by the age of 30. And thus my 30's were definitely the coming-of-age years. I became a recording artist and became a member of the Screen Actors Guild. I became a real adult. I had the same phone number for years. My utilities were never shut off because of a delinquent bill. I found out the difference between business associates and close friends.

So, the idea that I have been HIV+ for more than half my life and I am still here is just amazing and such a great gift.

My husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told him…"Nothing". I have more than I ever thought I would have gotten in my life. I have a loving husband and partner in life. Is he perfect? Absolutely not. No one is….but he is perfect for me. To wake up and know that I have someone who has my back and is completely devoted to me is more than I could have ever asked for. I have my health and am probably healthier than I was ten years ago. Like Maya Angelou says "When we know better, we do better." So, I know better now.

I guess one of the lesson that I learned this year is to recognize my self worth. All my life I have felt like an after thought. And I have let people treat me as such. Throw me a compliment and I have bent over backwards to get another one. Not realizing that I have created a body of work and a history of ethics when it comes to my beliefs. I had to recognize most recently that I am worth more than I gave myself credit for.

So, as I am approaching another milestone in my life. I am finally being recognized for my past work. I am presently working on a new single which will be a cover of Carl Bean's classic "I Was Born This Way" and I am about to start working with a producer who believes in my vision and words. This has never happened in my life before. I recorded with my good friend Calvin Roberts on my first projects. We were just two friends recording tracks in his bathroom that made us laugh. But I have never had anyone approach me that was interested in me and what I thought. All my other projects I was trying to get noticed. I worked for several people and club owners for many years that never recognized my talent or abilities. So, it always makes me laugh when I hear someone say that they never knew that I could sing or that I have programing and mixing skills with video. My tracks have all been about things I wanted to say. Many think that my tracks are just bitch tracks, but if you listen closely there's always a real message behind them. Well, I finally have met someone who wants to share my voice with the world. Not just use my voice to make a quick buck.

For the past week, my postings on my facebook page for Jade Elektra page have been tributes to all the queens and performers that have influenced and shaped the person I am today. As I started thinking about all my years it occurred to me that I have been brushed with greatness. From performing with Grammy winners like Cyndi Lauper and Beyonce to by chance meetings with legends like Quentin Crisp to standing on the stage in The Cotton Club to spinning at Toronto's FLY nightclub, I have had an amazing life because I overcame my fear. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

And finally….the last thing that I learned this year is that I am never gonna be perfect. Last year I wrote a poem called "Perfectly Flawed".

I’m perfectly flawed.

From the slight twist of the bridge of my nose

To the road map of varicose veins that run down my legs

I’m perfectly flawed.

From my mangled toes from years of ill-fitted pumps

To the gray hairs that seem to keep on coming

I’m perfectly flawed.

My years of watching seasons and friends come and go

Have taught me that all I need to know is....

I’m perfectly flawed.

I’ve been admired and loved

But very few can say that they truly know me

The me that is coiled away from everyone’s eyes

The me that laughs at himself while he cries

The me that so desperately yearns for his place in life

The me who has learned to accept that he is flawed

Would I change anything?

Absolutely not!

It has taken me this far in life

To become the person who stands before you.

I am perfectly flawed

And I like it!

I am never gonna be some Greek adonis. I am never gonna be one of those gym bodies that's in the gym 4 to 5 times a week. I do know that I will never stop trying to make a difference. I will never stop sharing my knowledge and wisdom of life. And as my old friend Tameka Love used to say back in Tampa, Florida, "This is the best I have ever looked." I am the person I am supposed to be. I am in the right place and the right time. Everything I have to offer is a gift. We all play a part in the evolution of our world.

Life is a set of decisions. So, wherever you are in life right now is where your decisions have put you. I have made some bad ones, but mostly I have made some great ones. And although I am no RuPaul or someone at the top of the charts with my music or a world famous DJ, I love my life. I love the decisions I have made. Mainly because the decisions I have made have brought me to this point in my life. I can sit back and watch others make bad decisions. My path is very clear. Experience is not a bad thing. I wear it like a badge of honor.

I used to have a lover back in New York who was very critical of me. He used to tell me that I had ruined my life by becoming HIV+. He asked if I could go back and change my life, would I? "No" I answered. Because all of the things that happened to me and all the decisions I made led me to this moment. He, on the other hand, still lived at home with his parent at the age of 32 and had never left home. He had only had sex with 5 people in his life. He could not take care of himself. He wanted to be a singer, but had never really done the work to make it happen. I was willing to get up and do the work. I knew how to take care of myself. I wasn't afraid to make a move. He could never do that. Before me, he had never left the Tri-State area. I got him to go on his first real vacation to Disney World. The chord was never cut and his growth as a person never really happened. Sadly, he died at home in the bedroom next to his parents from pneumonia (not AIDS related).

So, the question I always fall asleep with every night is "Are you happy with the decisions that you made today?" And I can honestly say "yes". I am happy to be here another year. Life is a gift!

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cogentranting · 7 years ago

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I can't help but draw some similarities bet daredevil and arrow in terms of how they present first love. Arrow had L/O which was mostly on the past and toxic. Couldn't it be said for Matt and Electra? In 1 episode we saw their relationship develop and crash but it was all in the past. Matt just needed closure like oliver in 5:08. Am I the only one obsessed and seeing parallels bwt arrow and daredevil? Who do u ship matt with? Karen, Electra or Claire? How do u compare their dynamics?

Careful, throwing Daredevil and Arrow at me in one ask, I’m liable to write a book.

I think there is a lot of difference between the two ships. Matt and Elektra, pretty much all the negative stems from Elektra alone. Whereas with L/O, you have significant problems on both sides, with the (by far) biggest one being on the part of Oliver. Arrow seems to have much more of a ‘had their chance and messed it up irrevocably’ vibe, while Daredevil seems to me to be more ‘inherently doomed by nature of who they are’. At the same time, I feel like Matt and Elektra have a much stronger connection. They are two people who understand each other and believe in each other in a way that no one else can really match. It’s more of a matter of that not being enough to counteract the way they feed into each other’s destructiveness- so they have this deep passionate love for each other, but it can only ever end with an argument over a knife, or shot full of arrows on a rooftop. They’ll always be torn apart because they believe such different things, or be destroyed together. Oliver and Laurel on the other hand, don’t have that level of connection. They’re two people whose lives have been intertwined and who care a lot about each other but who have never found a way to actually be a unit. And I feel like situation defines them a lot more than Matt and Elektra.

There is that similar note of the past love that ended in some form of lies and betrayal. And those experiences shape the character and eventually it seems to lead to a more healthy love. So I think both have shows have some idea of there being relationships that drag you down and you grow past them and find a love that lifts you up. But they play with it in different ways.

As far as the idea of closure, I’m first gonna have to challenge your ideas about Arrow. I think for Oliver it was less about closure, and more about the idea that both Oliver and Laurel were, to some extent, in love with an idea of the other person. They always imagined the other would be the love of their life. And I think they sort of demanded that ideal from each other, and neither was ever gonna be able to realize that, and so, post-island, the relationship was never fully going to end until that idealization was shattered. I would argue that for Oliver that moment- that closure, if you will- came mid season 2. I don’t think any moment after that between the two of them is romantic for Oliver after the argument outside Laurel’s apartment. I would argue that 5x08 is more about Oliver getting closure for his guilt relating to how he treated Laurel and how she died. Not their relationship itself.

For Matt and Elektra, I think the connection is a little more transcendent. Because there is that unique connection on a base level of their identities, I think that as long as Elektra is around, Matt will go back to her. And no amount of closure will ever change that. It’s still a doomed romance every time it happens but Matt will choose it every time. Partly because of his martyr complex. And partly because he truly loves her, and she loves him more than she is capable of loving anyone else. [Defenders spoilers]] However, I think in terms of letting her go in the face of death, it’s possible that Matt just needed greater closure there. On the rooftop, he felt like they could have had a life together and he didn’t do enough to try to protect that. In the cave, he had a better realization that choosing Elektra meant choosing destruction and he embraced that. If she IS dead ( I think she is) then I think he’ll be able to move on this time because he feels he gave everything to loving Elektra in that moment and there could have been no other end. [[ End Defenders spoilers]]

And no you are not the only one obsessed with Daredevil/Arrow parallels. I am right there with you.

Daredevil ships. I kind of ship all of them. Kind of ship none of them. Depends on how you define ‘ship’. I am totally okay with any relationship outcome. Elektra, Karen, or Claire. or Jessica. And I enjoy any and all of them when they’re ongoing.

Matt and Elektra are basically the song Red from Taylor Swift. They love each other very very deeply, very very passionately. And one way or the other it is always always going to end badly. Because I think they are simply too different in their beliefs to ever coexist peacefully. In times of war, they will be unstoppable together. And if they don’t die there, they’ll self-destruct in times of peace. I think Elektra means something to Matt that no one else will ever be. Not that he necessarily loves her more, but that he loves her in a very special way. But I also don’t think Elektra will ever change, and I think she loves the parts of Matt that are Daredevil- not that she loves the persona (in the Mary Jane loves Spiderman, has a crush on the public figure type of way) but that she understands and is drawn to the specific parts of Matt’s character that caused him to create Daredevil. And because those are the parts she loves, when he’s with her those parts are taken out of proportion and allowed to dominate.

Matt and Karen are a little hard to pin down because most of their interactions are tinted by the amount they don’t know about each other. we haven’t seen them really with each other since she found out his secret, and he doesn’t know her past, about shooting Westley, or a lot of what went on with her and Punisher. As is, my tendency is to see this relationship as the opposite of Matt and Elektra. Karen loves Matt Murdock, but the more his Daredevil traits come to the forefront, the more she clashes with him. Karen brings out the softness in Matt. She encourages him to see the beauty in the city. She reaches out and offers comfort when Matt is hurting. She pushes him to strengthen his relationships. She paints pictures for him with her words and urges him towards belief and trust. But she also tries to pull him away from Daredevil- again, not the persona as much as the traits that inspire it. Part of her rebels against that protectiveness from Matt, that temper. In Defenders, she is actively trying to get him to give up Daredevil and seems to think his life is better when he denies that side of him and it’s a big moment for Matt when he claims Daredevil as a part of himself. There seems to be a lack of trust, as well. She lies to him, she won’t open up, and to a certain degree I don’t think she believes that he’ll make the right choice. And a large part of her resistance to Daredevil is fear for Matt’s safety, but I think she doesn’t yet realize how essential it is to his identity. However, with this relationship, I don’t see it as doomed like Matt and Elektra are. I think all of this is just growth that has to happen. And, admittedly, Karen’s exposure to Daredevil happened in large part during a time when Elektra was emphasizing some of the most destructive elements of it so Karen had good reason to be wary of it. And there’s just something so sweet and innocent about the way Matt and Karen interact when they’re together, despite their individual darkness.

Matt and Claire. Here my tendency is to put Claire as the middle ground between Karen and Elektra. She meets Matt first as the Matt side of Daredevil, which I think gives her a really unique side of him. She seems him kind of vulnerable and open to analysis. And I think Claire, more than the other two, is able to understand where Matt’s at. She sees the vigilante and the man simultaneously. She seems to understand why it’s important for him to be Daredevil- both from the perspective of the people he protects and from his emotional/psychological state. Claire also seems most capable of holding him accountable; she’s able to push back against his bullheadedness and call him out when he’s making a mistake. So she is a moral influence in a way that Elektra is not. She also can be a real partner to him, in a way that Karen doesn’t really have an avenue to be- Claire as the Night Nurse (type role) is a real part of Daredevil’s crusade. And so they both have sort of this superheroish role to play. Additionally, I think they both push each other with a reciprocity that isn’t always present in the other two- Claire holds Matt accountable and keeps him grounded, while Matt gifts Claire some of his idealism and pushes her to really participate in making change happen, where the other two range towards Karen makes Matt better and Matt makes Elektra better. Plus, Claire is really even-keeled which is good for someone as passionate and ready to fight as Matt is- both Karen and Elektra are more on the explosive/impulsive side with Matt. The thing is they don’t have that much actual content so a lot my assertions can be challenged because it’s extrapolation. And… they seem to have really walked away from each other, so it seems that they’re not nearly as committed to each other as either of the other two characters. Still, if I were writing things, I would have Claire, having embraced the superhero mindset through her time with Luke, and Matt, having found a little more balance in his life and a little more concern for his own well-being in the aftermath of Defenders, work their way back to each other.

And haha! a surprise fourth ship appears! Jessica and Matt. Now, thus far Jessica and Matt are completely platonic, and if I had to guess what’s going to happen in the end when all’s said and done, I think it will stay platonic and Jess and Luke will be together as in the comics. And I prefer that (I think). BUT. If they DID decide to make Jess and Matt romantic… it would be awesome as well. Because Matt and Jessica completely stole the show in the Defenders (as far as dynamics between the four are concerned). They instantly connected and seemed to fall into sync. They’re broken in similar ways and they have sort of these complementary approaches to life. They snark at each other and yet also get along really easily with a sort of natural ease to their communication. And Jess tries so hard not to care and then Matt comes along and aggressively cares about everything and ends up pulling her along for the ride. And Matt tries to fit into what people think he should be and Jessica shows up in open defiance of what everyone else thinks. And Matt won’t ever open up and let people in even though he wants to so he really needs someone like Jessica who is actually very good at understanding people and when she needs to get past Matt’s walls she just kind of… takes the doors of the hinges and is belligerently supportive. The intuitiveness with which they understood each other’s approach to heroism even though their approaches are so different. And they manage to inspire each other to be better without rejecting any part of the other and without making the other feel less worthy, but they DO make each other better. The amount they care about each other after only knowing each other for a few days. And the blue and red lighting look so good together. But yeah- obsessed with them platonically and would totally jump on board if the shows decided to make it romantic.

#daredevil #clairedevil #karedevil #mattelektra #jessmatt #arrow #askbox #matt murdock #defenders

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