#I am not a karen page hater

[wonderlandmind4]

Super agree with Foggy...look at Defenders where he sets aside his feelings towards Matt being Daredevil and shows him support by handing him his suit personally. And in S3 when he was adamant to Karen that he was willing to forgive Matt and didn't want to abandon him

But is Karen really at the same level of importance? One of the things that tick me is that I feel like I've seen Karen support Frank more than she ever did Matt. This is why I kinda fail to see the "she's so vital to Matt"...she didn't really show that. Not saying I wanted her to just show mindless unconditional support but it was weird how much more grace she showed to Frank than Matt in attempting to understand his motivations. She just straights up liken him to an addict which is problematic to me. Matt was the one man to ever help her first in her problem yet she couldn't lend him as much grace as she did Frank. Doesn't sit well with me at all

This is why she will never be as important as Foggy IMO. Sorry for the long rant.

Agai this really is a matter of fan’s opinion because I’ve seen so much Karen hate sadly, but for me, yes. I think she is. I say Foggy was the heart of the show, but not only to Matt, he was to Karen too. (She does say at one point that it was Matt AND Foggy that convinced her Matt was some kind of addict)

Matt has become one of my favorite characters ever, but I didn’t ignore some flaws he had or slightly had, and Karen was also a flawed character in certain ways. But she didn’t just straight up support Frank until after she dug deeper and found out what really happened why he was doing what he he did. And unfortunately that came at a time in S2 where there was too much shit on Matt’s plate and some things fell through the cracks. But Karen’s past makes sense of why she aligned with Frank and/or wanted to help him.

Because she also has a good heart under that penchant for pulling a trigger sometimes 🤷🏻‍♀️ she’s just a little more okay doing it if she absolutely has to. But she’s always been determined and sharp minded and wants to help just as much as Matt does so when she was finally told, and it all made sense, by that point she was already hurt and disappointed 🤷🏻‍♀️ but she also comes around by the Defenders and S3- especially holding that hope and having a feeling that Matt wasn’t truly gone.

In S3 when Matt shows up at her place again Karen is back in a life threatening situation and her reactions to him again make sense for that moment and honestly very realistic.

If she was told sooner about Matt’s secret, if Matt revealed himself to be alive sooner in S3, she would have a different reaction. But this also goes back to my point about Foggy being the one who knows every side and shape and cut and damage piece of Matt. When he says to Karen that all of Matt’s life he’s been abandoned and he wasn’t going to do the same even after everything, and that everything was very much rooted in Matt’s own self hate and worth and his trauma. And I think once Karen was reminded of that she too wasn’t going to abandon Matt.

To me she never really did, stepping away to take time for herself is different than full on never speaking to him again or leaving, es if she felt hurt from the events in S2 but in The Defenders we see that she does still care for Matt.

The whole “vital” part to Matt thing I think is due to, again, her own heart and deep care she has for Foggy and Matt because she too lost her entire family (but it her fault or an accident) but because of some of the violence in her own life, and siding with Frank, she has more of an understanding with Matt’s violent Devil side and the injustice that’s the cause of that.

She’s just not the typical female character that sits by a man and lets them get away with hurting her or is super quick to forgive and forget, because if you hurt her you better not do it again. And maybe that’s something I resonated with in a way, but to me yeah, I think she’s just as important to Matt’s life. BUT that doesn’t have to be a continued romance (as they showed in Defenders and S3) and now that she knows everything and understands it more would make her someone else in his corner supporting him.

(Let’s not forget that Foggy still doesn’t outright support Daredevil’s tactics mainly because he’s terrified of Matt dying or getting caught)

[ehhh2000]

Tekken 8 - Anti Reina Mishima Stamp(Rant) Huge Tekken 8 Spoilers!

This is gonna piss off Reina fans, but just a friendly reminder..... this is my opinion. If you love her, go on a page that praises her. You won't get it here. Alright here goes.

I was playing Tekken 8 at my friend's house. It was a fun time, and the story has improved from Tekken 7 (with the bland, monotone narrator gone, thank god) and..... Tekken 6 (ugh!) but has a few flaws.

The biggest flaw which almost ruined Tekken 8 for me, was this character, called Reina Mishima.

This is without a doubt, one of the most poorly written female characters I have ever seen in my entire life.

You mean to tell me that Lucky Chloe gets shit from Tekken fans, but Reina Mishima gets a free pass? WTF? I mean I am not a fan of Lucky Chloe (ok her character design is cute, but she is abusive AF to Eddie T.T) but at least she wasn't a forced and contrived, plot device character like Reina, and is just a dumb troll character from the creator, as a middle finger to their haters that really hated her guts.

Like you think Rey from Star Wars, Disney Remake Mulan, Bella Swan, or Captain Marvel were bad?

Well, that is nothing comparred to this DeviantArt OC, Mary-Sue reject.

So Reina is the daughter of Heihachi Mishima. (Oh, so we are doing the Lars Alexandersson plot-twist, from Tekken 6 again, in 2024... aka lazy, repetitive writing for Tekken 8 when it comes to introducing new characters... got it 👍) 

My issues with her that makes her a poorly written character is that:

-She is a flawless fighter, like Disney remake's Mulan bad. I know she is suppose to have flawless fighting moves like Heihachi, but good god, this is just embarrasing.

Edit: Ok, I understand that it is a fighting game, and the Mishima's are suppose to be powerful, badass fighters, so Reina should be no exception. Fair enough. I still think she is a self-insert character because she was just thrown into the story, with no buildup or references from previous games (Same issue I had with Lars in Tekken 6 btw, he just exists to replace Jin as a MC, and they made him a Mishima to make him more relavant, instead of him just standing out on his own as a character. I don't hate Lars btw, he has a cool character design, but the hair is riduclous, and I felt indifferent towards him at first, but now I kinda see him as a potential father figure to Jin in Tekken 8.)

-She is trying too hard to be a hardcore, edgy, tomboy, cool-looking version of Asuka, so I will call her the poor man's Asuka Kazama.

-Her character design and oufit is uninspired and too modern for my liking (Black boots, black short-shorts and A black and purple hoddie, huh.... how creative... -_-) oh and short black hair and purple streaks to add to the edgy, tomboy look. (Or the Karen look as I like to call it ^^)

-She is younger than Jin Kazama, YOUNGER! Despite being Jin's aunty. Yes, you heard correctly. I think the creators wanted a self-insert character to have some sort of sex appeal, which is why they made her look younger and prettier, and show off her legs (which gives me the ick.) And her calling Jin "Senpai" didn't help either.

(I also didn't like the fact the creators made Kazumi Mishima and Jun Kazama look younger than their own sons, like what is wrong with looking a bit older, mature and graceful? I actually want to see a badass, old lady in Tekken that can fight! Kazumi felt like a missed opportunity in that sense.)

-She manages to beat the shit out of Kazuya in her ending, despite her looking like a twig. Reminding me too much of something out Inuyasha, when that abusive, unbearable, bratty, girl Kagome would do the same thing to her love interest Inuyasha, for comedy! 🙄

I will admit that Kazuya is a shitty father (Sorry fans 😭 don't kill me) at least Kazuya has flaws, he is a damaged man, blinded by hatred, rage and has an obssession with power, like it's a drug to him. A wrathful devilman, but not completely heartless, otherwise he would just be another mini Heihachi.

Reina has no flaws, no personality, no interesting backstory and is just a pathetic Jerk-Sue Character (a Mary-Sue that is a Jerk, with no consequences for her actions.)

-She is also not a good plot-twist character either, again, she just ripped off Lars' backstory, so there is no originality from her.

-And to add to the cherry on top, when it comes to her being a poorly written, fanfic-styled Mary-Sue character, she is also....... a devil! 😈 Unless if it is revealed that she is Kazumi's daughter or something, then why the hell does she have to devil gene? And she wants to be the new Heihachi, huh? Wait till she finds out that Heihachi is the OG devil hater.

Terrible twist, terrible story, and a terrible first impression of Reina. 🤬 Fuck this character!

[omgwhatchloe]

You are absolutely Sean’s biggest fan, and I love that. ❤️ But to be Molly’s biggest hater? I don’t really thinks it’s necessary, tbh 😂

Yes, she is classist— and the writers made her that way precisely because of the history you referenced. It certainly makes her less likable, but they would be doing the character a disservice to not implement any research when developing her interactions with others at camp, when they did that with everyone else. There are some quality scenes where Javier humbles Bill for being a racist idiot, for example! The purpose of including these moments is to make the history more accessible to a modern audience, who may not have the context to understand why these people wouldn’t necessarily all get along with ease, regardless of their apparent mutual interests— and to set up the eventual downfall of the gang. The final beat of this story is for this camp to dissolve, after all. It wouldn’t make narrative sense if the characters were all really on the same page.

Every character at camp is flawed in one way, or another. Arthur is capable of being charming, but chooses to be gruff with people just to get his way as quickly as possible. Marybeth has her head in the clouds. Karen is an alcoholic. Sean is a loudmouth. Dutch is outright manipulative. Being snobbish is just the most logical cross for Molly O’Shea to bear. That’s as deep as it gets, and I suspect that’s why you haven’t seen a lot of posts calling her out for it.

i am NOT molly’s biggest hater?? i actually quite like molly? but i also think we need more posts acknowledging how she treats sean. THATS what my posts were about, they were aimed at the fans who do not acknowledge this flaw of her. yes, every character has flaws and every character also has posts that talk about these flaws, and im allowed to as well. also my posts are not about molly being snobbish. they point out there is a lot of history between molly and seans people. that was the point of my posts, not that she is snobbish. and her being snobbish also really really not as deep as it gets.

all that your ask tells me is that you dont think i should be saying these things about molly…because every character has flaws? again, my post is aimed at the FANS who do not talk about this side of molly, the fans that either ignore this flaw or dont care about it.

also please dont tell me what you think is and isn’t necessary for me to post on my blog, especially when i have said things about a character that is correct. her being snobbish was not the most “logical cross the bare” its most likely because of her history, what she represents as a character, to assist in her character development, to help contrast her from the others etc etc.

and im not about to get into your ideas of flaws for the other characters. it says a lot about you and how you see people, tbh.

[misterjameswesley]

Hello, I am James. My Employer calls me Wesley.

I would like to say that I am Karen Page's number 1 hater.

Yes, Justin Hammer, if you find this blog, I have been the one making deals with you.

RP Rules

- I will come to you if My Employer asks it of me.

- If you have any questions about becoming a partner or employee of Fisk Industries, feel free to send a message.

[edgepunk]

The Witcher Netflix Rant from your local frustrated Slav I cannot tell you how tired and frustrated I am by TWN and its treatment of Slavic people. An actual Polish man has pitched the show to Netflix, multiple other producers of Slavic descent have been alienated and felt like they didn't belong there because of how they have been treated, then ultimately left the production that has been handed over to a literal Karen that doesn't give a shit about it. The show has removed every instance of Slavic(mainly Polish)/other European (Germanic, Nordic) influences, cultural significance and turned it into an uninspired, boring, muddy fantasy. Hell, I have tons of criticisms about the games, but at least they kept the Central-Eastern European influences and, despite TW being a dark fantasy, weren't scared to make the games look bright and colorful. You'd think that Girlboss Lauren and her posse would put some effort into representing the cultural influences since the games pretty much got the series popular with the blend of different Central-Eastern European (mainly Polish, obviously) cultures and the usage of Slavic folk music thanks to Percival. A lot of the themes in the books draw from Poland's history, which also have been lost in the show (here is a post that's written by an actual Polish person and explains it better than I could since I'm not actually Polish, ya know). All of that has been lost, both the writing and aesthetics lack the cultural and historical significance that has influenced the world of The Witcher, because the showrunners are a bunch of Brits and USAmericans who aren't willing to put any effort into trying to understand the history and culture. They just want to make the next GoT, which,, huh? GoT ended up like it did, but to give them some credit, in the beginning the writers mostly stuck to the books instead of making a badly written Wattpad fanfiction from the get-go.

And it's possible for a western person to try to understand the circumstances, look at Craig Mazin, the man who directed HBO Chernobyl. Of course it's dramatized, of course they added some things that didn't actually happen and a few things were inconsistent. But you can clearly see in the production of the show that they put a lot of effort and interviewed people from Ukraine. Not sure if it's true, but I've seen somewhere (or was it a podcast?) that they gave the scripts to some Ukrainian people who were alive during the Soviet Union and asked them to correct the dialogues to make them sound more authentic, closer to how people adressed each other during the USSR (and how Eastern Slavs adress each other since it's a little different than western people do, including us Western Slavs, here is a nifty post explaining it if you're interested).

Can't speak for all Slavs, but the overall reaction has been positive from the people I talked to and my older family member. Note that a lot of "older" people here have been born pre '89 (that's when the USSR fell apart, the disaster happened in April '86), so the majority of them lived through the disaster. The biggest criticism people had that they turned Dyatlov into too much of a villain. when in reality he was way calmer during the night the disaster happened. Not to mention Mazin had it more difficult since he was adapting a story from real life that affected thousands upon thousands people. Mazin is a westener, he could've just shrugged it off and said "eh who cares about these filthy Eastern Euro people" but he and his team went out of their way to actually approach the victims, read several books written by people who actually lived through the disaster, that affected them and their families to make the story more authentic and respectful. Now, why can't Miss Lauren and her posse do it with a fantasy setting? Because they don't care. The only instance of "Slavic influence" (using that term very loosely) in the show is during the Striga episode when they mention a "vukodlak" which literally translates to "werewolf" so like,,, eh. It's still a werewolf, just a different version. I'm sure the writers were patting themselves on the back for including that word they found on the werewolf Wiki page. It would've been so nice to see a Slavic piece of media make it to Hollywood, but you see how that ended up. We barely get any recognition and if there is a Slavic character in a western production they're always: an assassin, gopnik, Seksi Female Spy that falls in love with the American, thief, mob boss, and I could go on. They never get the language right, because all Slavs speak botched Russian, right? All of us are named Anton, Ivan, Nikita, Natasha or Svetlana. And there are other mythical creatures besides Baba Yaga which Hollywood can't get right either. And it bleeds into the fandom too, all the modern AUs take place in the US or the UK. When other Slavic people criticize the show for its westernization they are told by westerners to shup up or they're "haters" (I do actually hate the show and the corpo bullshit Netflix is trying to pull here so,,, you can come at me all you want lol) tl;dr: The Witcher was the perfect opportunity for Slavs to have something positive in Hollywood, but it got doomed the moment it was handed to an USAmerican woman who doesn't understand the cultural influences and has zero interest in doing proper research. I probably would've forgiven her and her team if they actually tried, but they didn't. But seeing how other cultures that aren't USAmerican are being treated in movies and TV shows it shouldn't surprise me. Also I feel like I have to clarify - this has nothing to do with the actors, this is purely on the writers, the background and costume designers that put zero effort into researching the different cultures (not just Slavic, but I am Slavic so I wrote this from my perspective) that influenced The Witcher universe.

[mj-irl]

John needs some legal help so he turns to two lawyers who have a reputation for taking on clients who don’t aways have the cleanest of backgrounds but are trying to make a change 

Karen sticks her head into the conference room where Matt and Foggy are waiting "Your ten o'clock appointment, Max Emerson, is here."

 Foggy adjusts his tie and clears his throat, his heart rate jumps. "Please, send him in." His voice only brakes slightly which Matt thinks is an improvement.

 "Thanks Karen." Matt smiles and leans in Foggy's direction. "You calm?"

 "I am... I am. I just love his books."

 "I know." Mattt chuckles and Foggy jumps to his feet as Karen shows their new client into the conference room.

"Can I get you anything to drink Mr. Emerson, water or coffee?" Karen asks.  

 "No, thank you, I'd like to get right to it." Max Emerson says with a slight accent, Australian Matt guesses, while setting his satchel on the conference table.

 "Welcome Mr. Emerson...Mr. Max Emerson." Foggy gushes a little but pulls it together. "I'm Franklin Nelson, this is my partner Matt Murdock and our assistant Karen Page who if you don't mind will be taking notes."

They shake hands all around, which Matt can tell Mr. Emerson doesn't particularly like and everyone has a seat.

 "What can we help you with Mr. Emerson?" Matt asks. 

He knows from Foggy's descriptions before the meeting that the man in front of them is about their age with a young face, expressive eyes and a scruffy, handsome, poor grad student kind of look about him.

 "Well, I've heard good things about what you've been doing here.  I can't stand corporate kiss asses, and I believe your firm will be sensitive to the nature of my concern.”  Mr. Emerson fidgets with his hands in a way that Matt is familiar with.  “As you may be aware I write books, rather successfully. I have recently had it brought to my attention that a certain journalist is about to publish a book that has information about me that I didn't give the okay on... I suppose I always knew this would come out but I was hoping it would be on my terms."

"Mr. Emerson, there are things we can do to try and prevent the release of your information, of course we'll have to have some more details." Foggy says very professionally but his heartbeat says he's still nervous.  

Mr. Emerson opens his bag and takes a thick printer paper manuscript out and sets it on the table. The title page is facing Foggy so he reads it out loud for everyone to hear. "The True Story of the Mutant Rights Movement: From RFK Stadium to Alcatraz."

 "and this is the writing that contains your information? Were you involved with the movement Mr. Emerson?" Matt questions levelly, this could go a couple of ways either Mr. Emerson is a Mutant or a Mutant hater.

 "Yes and you can call me John. Max Emerson is a pen name. My real name is St John Allerdyce and I am the subject of chapter 34 in this sensationalist drivel."

Foggy flips through the pages to find Chapter 34.

"Pyro: Led Astray" He reads the title when he finds it.

He looks back and forth between the client and the picture of the young man Pyro under the title.

Foggy can't believe it. One of his favorite authors was a Mutant terrorist or alleged Mutant terrorist or alleged former Mutant terrorist

"No way." Foggy blurts out and leaves Matt and Karen in without a clue.

"way." John confirmed a bit amused Matt can hear in his voice.

 Matt flips back through the files in his mind. He had been dealing with his own stuff at the time, getting the hang of his heightened senses and what not.

He recalls the Mutant Rights Movement including the cure controversy and the young mutant people talked about from the Militant Mutant Brotherhood. 

"You're Pyro?" Matt puts the pieces together without Foggy, who is still a bit too flabbergasted to speak.

 "Yes."

 "You were at the Battle of Alcatraz. I thought no one from the Brotherhood survived."

 "I was the only one who survived uncured." John breathes in heavily, Matt gets the impression this is a painful subject for their client.  

 "If I recall correctly you were reported among the missing or I guess, hum, the dead." Foggy regained his voice.

 "I was and I was missing... I just wasn't atomized like the others. I was knocked unconscious and taken from the battlefield before the Phoenix destroyed everyone and..." John knows he has to talk about this even if it is painful.  "and I was experimented on by scientists until the X-Men found me a some... time later."

"Really?"

 "Oh God."

 "That's terrible... hum John.” Foggy’s says in disbelief.

 “It was a difficult time.” John clears his throat and shifts uncomfortably.

"What happened after that, you were never publicly tried for your involvement with Magneto." Matt keeps the conversation moving.

 "I was pardoned.” John continues matter of factly “I was a minor during my time with the Brotherhood. I had to agree to finish my education and train with the X-Men. I did and then went to college in Australia where I was born."

“that's quite a story.” Matt can hear Karen’s pen scratch online the paper as she tries to get it all down.

“yes, one that I'd like to not be undermined by some journalist trying to make a buck.”

Pt2 Continued in reply…

[trombonesinspace]

Typhoid Mary: feminist femme fatale?

“Season 4 was going to be Typhoid Mary, Alice Eve [who played the role in Iron Fist], we were doing a kind of...I had a much different version of her than what Raven [Metzner] had done in Iron Fist. I was kind of rebooting what she was going to be like, and we were going to do a, you know, kind of a warped love story/murder mystery kind of femme fatale, but kind of a modern-day, feminist version of it, as opposed to kind of the older, sexist kind of femme fatale archetype.”

-Erik Oleson, in conversation with Steven DeKnight, SaveDaredevilCon 

As I said yesterday, I have some thoughts about this! If you want some opinions nobody asked for, about a storyline that may never come to pass, you’ve come to the right place! Let’s dive in.

A femme fatale is a character type with quite a history, that can take various forms. She is always an attractive woman who brings ruin to the man who gets involved with her. But sometimes she is deliberately manipulative, while sometimes she is more a victim of circumstances. She may be evil, or she may be sympathetic/tragic. But whatever her moral alignment, she has two defining traits: sexual allure, and some form of negative consequences for the hero as a result of his involvement with her.

A woman who schemes against the hero, and succeeds in harming him, but without using feminine wiles? Not a femme fatale. The Marvel TV universe has featured several examples on different shows: Madame Gao, Mariah Dillard, Alexandra. And, ironically, the version of Typhoid Mary who appeared in Iron Fist. (We’ll get there.)

A sexy woman who tries to manipulate/damage the hero, but fails? Also not a femme fatale. I wish I could give some examples, but sadly I can’t think of any, in dramas at least. Our current media culture loves a sexy manipulator, no writer ever seems to introduce one into a dramatic story without making her succeed in her schemes, to some extent at least.

Which is unfortunate, from my perspective, because I loathe sexy manipulators. It’s a character type I really dislike, whenever I encounter her. As soon as she shows up, I know the hero is going to fall for her bullshit like a chump, and I’m going to end up respecting him less as a result. I could try to unpack my feelings about this a bit more, but that would probably make a post all on its own, so for now I’ll leave it at that.

This doesn’t mean I hate all femmes fatales—it really depends on her motivation and her behavior. If she isn’t trying to harm the hero, and it happens due to circumstances, then I might like the character, but the story becomes a tragedy. Which is not necessarily bad. Just, you know. Tragic.

Anyway! Let’s talk about Typhoid Mary.

Mary Walker is a woman with Dissociative Identity Disorder (multiple personalities), and high-level combat skills. In the comics, she is also a mutant with mental powers. She appeared in the Daredevil comics starting in 1988.

In this original version, her personality fragmented due to childhood abuse, leading her to vow as an adult that no man would ever hurt her again. Her personalities are: Mary, who is timid and gentle; Typhoid, who is adventurous, lusty, and violent; and Bloody Mary, who is even more violent, sadistic, and hates all men.

Mary becomes romantically involved with Matt Murdock, who is cheating on his girlfriend, Karen Page, to be with her. At the same time, Typhoid is trying to ruin him, having been hired to do so by the Kingpin. Matt can’t tell they’re the same woman, because when she switches personalities all her bio signs change (voice, scent, heartbeat, etc) so much that he can’t recognize her. (Uh, sure.) She may also be using some of her mutant powers to confuse his senses. I haven’t read the comics, I’m relying here on what I could learn from the internet.

Eventually Typhoid drops him off a bridge, but then Mary finds him and gets him to a hospital, saving him. Karen is with him when he wakes up, but he breaks her heart by calling out for Mary.

This storyline...does not thrill me. As I said, I haven’t read it, but comics writing about mental illness is generally neither nuanced nor accurate, and comics writing about women circa 1988 is also not great, by today’s standards. And comics Matt’s disastrous love life is legendary—cheating on your girlfriend is bad, Matt! Don’t do it! 

I have, however, watched season 2 of Iron Fist, where we get a different version. This Mary Walker is a US army veteran, special ops, who was captured by the Sokovian military. Her personality fragmented due to the brutal abuse she received from her captors for nearly two years, until she finally escaped. She got a medical discharge from the army after being diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Her personalities are: Mary, who is innocent and naive; and Walker, who is a ruthless, coolly efficient mercenary-for-hire. The existence of a third, ultraviolent personality, previously unknown to either Mary or Walker, is revealed near the end of the season. 

Mary meets and befriends Danny Rand, while Walker is hired by his enemies to stalk him, and eventually capture him so they can steal his Iron Fist powers from him. She later changes sides, getting hired to bring down Davos, the season’s main villain, by Joy Meachum, his former ally.

There are clear parallels to the Daredevil comics storyline, albeit in less extreme form—Mary befriends the hero, but isn’t romantically involved with him; her more violent personality works against him and fights him, but doesn’t try to destroy him. 

I enjoyed this version of the character more than I expected to, for a couple of reasons. For one, she is never the out of control, “crazy” stereotype of a person with mental illness. Both Mary and Walker are more-or-less functional adults, managing to live a strange hybrid life, aware of each other’s existence even though they don’t share memories.

But what I especially like is that she isn’t sexualized, at all. It’s incredibly rare, in my experience, to see a young, female antagonist opposing a male hero, and not have her be sexy. Older women are exempt from this obligation (see my list of examples above), but the young ones always vamp it up, and I am so tired of it. I am not opposed to sexy women, but I am very opposed to the requirement that all women must be sexy. (Unless they’re old.) Male antagonists aren’t required to be alluring, so why should women be? (Yes, I know why. I just don’t like it.)

There’s also a lot of potential YIKES in sexualizing a woman with a severe mental illness, which was caused by (among other things) repeated sexual violence. Could it be done in a way that isn’t super problematic? It’s possible, sure. Am I assuming that most television writers would give the subject the respect it deserves? NOPE! 

I’m really glad they chose to just not go there. Walker is extremely good at what she does, takes no shit from anyone, and (almost) never gets riled up. After everything she’s been through, nothing in her present life has the power to faze her, and none of the men around her have the power to intimidate her. It’s pretty great!

She isn’t the least bit coy or seductive, and, equally refreshing, none of the men try to sexualize her or hit on her. Everyone Walker talks to knows she is a highly skilled professional, and they treat her accordingly. Or, when someone does disrespect her, it’s never gendered as far as I can remember, and it stops as soon as she calmly states what she’s going to do to him if it doesn’t.

As for Mary, although she has a more feminine appearance than Walker (hair down and loose, makeup), she is also not sexualized. Her friendship with Danny, who is in an established relationship with Colleen Wing, is platonic, and no one else tries to hit on her that I remember.

So this is the version of Typhoid Mary that Erik Oleson was going to reboot, into a femme fatale. Only, you know. A feminist one. 

I...have some questions. What does that even mean? What does feminism mean to Erik Oleson? Let’s be real, the idea of a woman becoming an ultraviolent, sadistic man-hater as a result of sexual trauma would have been seen as feminist in some circles, back in 1988 when that version was written. So what, exactly, did he have in mind?

As I said before, sexual allure is a necessary component of a femme fatale. So she was definitely gonna be sexy. And you know now how I feel about sexy female antagonists. As for the “warped love story” part...Matt wouldn’t be cheating on Karen, since they aren’t together (please, for the love of mercy, don’t have them get together right before he meets Mary, we did that once and I do NOT want to see it again), but I am still not a fan of Matt/Mary as a couple.

Her Dissociative Identity Disorder raises some serious issues around consent, and even if the show chose to ignore that, there’s still the issue of past sexual trauma. Unless Oleson’s reworking of the character was going to include a completely different back story, a Matt/Mary relationship would mean Matt unknowingly having sex with a woman who has suffered brutal sexual abuse in her past. Not to mention, having sex with her that only one part of her personality actually wants.

Is it possible for someone with Mary’s past trauma and present mental illness to have a positive sexual relationship? In reality, of course! In the hands of writers with only a layman’s knowledge of psychology, on a show that loves to torment its hero, I wouldn’t bet on it. How do you suppose our poster boy for Catholic guilt would react when he inevitably finds out the truth?

Plus, aside from any issues around Mary herself, Matt starting a relationship with anyone other than the handful of people who already know his secret identity, means a whole new round of Matt lying to someone he cares about. Does anyone really want to see that? I know I don’t. Sure, maybe he’d tell her eventually, but how long would they have to date before he decided to trust her with the truth?

I’m not opposed to the Mary Walker from Iron Fist appearing in Daredevil, if the writers could come up with a new story for her (i.e, don’t just have her repeat all the same plot beats with Matt that she already did with Danny). But bringing her in as a femme fatale really doesn’t sit well with me. We’ve already seen Matt in an ultimately destructive relationship with a sexy, violent, morally grey woman. I really don’t want to watch Round 2: now with multiple personalities!

Of course, maybe we never will. The quote at the beginning of this post is from just a couple of weeks ago (July 25 2020), so Erik Oleson still seems to think it’s a fine idea. But obviously we don’t know yet if there will ever be a season 4, or who the show runner will be if there is. He may never get to make the story he was planning.

So yes, I realize I’m merely speculating about a completely theoretical story that may never happen. But I wanted to write this anyway. I had a strong “ugh, no” reaction to the idea of a feminist femme fatale Typhoid Mary, and I wanted to go deeper and pick apart my reasons for not liking the idea.

To the three of you who have read this all the way through to the end (this post is nearly 2000 words, yikes), thank you for indulging me! These are, as always, my own opinions, and YMMV. 

[kalup-linzy]

https://www.newgreenwoodllc.com/product-page/release-me-the-spirits-of-greenwood-speak-anthology @poet_phetote @tulsaartistfellowship @zaxary @drjosiah @davidcastillogallery @the_breeder_gallery @sean.horton.presents Late post!  Get a copy of Release Me, the Spirits of Greenwood Speak anthology.  Edited by Phetote Mshairi.  The poem below is my contribution. A Race In History Footsteps to History Sprints of memories Touchdowns of heartbreak A cheerleader of hate A marathon of inflicted wounds Because I refuse to be your coon A jog around the block A ride in an elevator Not your average hater Profiling, like you did my ancestors The epic ballad of "Karens" We need a chorus filled with "Sharons" A race not to be detoured by race A race to be won by Grace ***Please not that the "Sharons" I am referring to are more like my friend's (Zak and Josh) mother Sharon Sandler.  Not the ones who fall in line with Sharon Osborne's recent tone deaf approach on The Talk. Stroll through #kaluplinzy #releaseme #spiritsofgreenwoodspeak #1921tulsaracemassacre #commemoration #phetotemshairi #poetry #2021tulsaartistfellowship #2021tulsaartistfellow #sharonsandler #golfcartparade #thevillages https://www.instagram.com/p/CRex4CclfIz/?utm_medium=tumblr

[treadmilltreats]

Why is it okay to come at strangers?

So my question today is why is it okay to come at people? To come at strangers, people you don't even know or never met? When did it start being okay to be an out and out hater? To call people names, to be out right mean and nasty to another human being?

With the age of social media it seems to be socially acceptable to do this. To be the "Karens" of the internet, to not just disagree with a person's ideas but to  actually demean a person, disgrace a person because your views are different from theirs.

Recently I wrote about why people were so angry, and yes, I said I was too because of all the hate and racism going on in the world. Well some hater came at me with both barrels and called me every name in the book including a racist just because his views didn't align with mine. 

That part actually made me laugh and it will be funny to all of my friends as well, who really know me.

See it's obvious he has no idea who I am, the real me, and it is also obvious he doesn't follow me because if he did he would realize just how laughable that was. To tell you the truth early on I would have been upset, I would have let him have it but these days not so much. I realized we all have our opinions, they're like assholes we all have one and so I let it go with a "Thanks for the love" comment.

See I'm not about to waste my time with haters, if you are out in the public eye, you will sooner or later have them. Now you can waste your precious time fighting with them or you can learn what I have this year, that you will never change their minds and just move the hell on. 

See I don't really care about your opinion, write your own blog, this is, as far as I still know, still America, the land of the free. We still have freedom of speech and I will continue to use mine, whether or not you like it.

Want to hear my opinion? Well if you don't there are plenty of other blogs to follow. My opinion is that there has to be something missing in your life, something lacking, something broken that you could come at someone with hatred and such bitterness about their own opinions. Maybe it's a God complex thing, that you feel you are better than someone else and so your opinion is the end all to be all.

Maybe you're narrostic and have to always be right and so you must make it your mission to make sure everyone out there knows how right you are and how wrong you think they are.

And of course you need to do this by cutting others down, trying to make them feel bad by demeaning them.

Whatever your issues are, you need to keep them moving because as they say, I am not going to roll around in the mud with pigs. I will let you have your opinions, and I will move on with my opinions and my life not worrying about you or yours.

I have learned that in life there will be many haters and at this stage of the game I chose to take the high road, I chose to walk away because my peace is not worth losing over someone else's opinion. Trust and believe I heard enough of someone's else's opinions of me for 24 years of verbal abuse, I will no longer tolerate it, in real life or on fairy land, social media. 

So today my friends and my haters, don't let anyone get to you by their words. Who gives a shit what they have to say. Do they pay your bills? Do their opinions change your life? Only if you let it. All you gotta do is delete, block, unfriend or simply say...Thanks for the love and walk away.

"Be the change you want to see"

"And just when the caterpillar thought his life over...he turned into a beautiful butterfly"

**Now released my latest book**

The Blessing in Disguise.... revealed

https://www.amazon.com/Blessing-Disguise-Revealed-story-faith/dp/1074340493/ref=sr_1_19?keywords=the+blessing+in+disguise&qid=1561392004&s=books&sr=1-19

***Now available***

My 1st book The blessing in Disguise 

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[trombonesinspace]

Just curious as to why it is that Karen Page seems to be so disliked? She certainly made some questionable decisions, but then again, what Daredevil character HASN'T made questionable decisions? And all in all personally I thought Deborah Ann Woll's portrayal fits really well into the morally grey themes and atmosphere of the show. What do you think is the cause for this dislike? Misogyny or something else?

I try to avoid Karen-hate, since I know it’ll piss me off, so I cannot claim to know how widespread it is, or how the haters justify it. But of course I’ve seen some. What I’ve seen seems to fall into a couple of different categories: people who dislike Matt/Karen as a couple, and people who dislike Karen herself.

People who I’ve seen hate on Karedevil are generally people who ship a different pairing, usually Clairedevil or Matt/Elektra. I’m sure there are people out there who just don’t care for Matt/Karen for its own sake, but when I’m seeing people say “Matt and Karen have zero chemistry together” or “The show is shoving this pairing down our throats”, it always seems to be followed by “Matt’s scenes with Claire, or with Elektra, are so much hotter!!”

And there is really no arguing with those people, because it ultimately boils down to a difference of opinion. We all watched the same show, and clearly a lot of us think that Matt and Karen have amazing chemistry together, and that the show did a really good job setting up a believable, gradual coming together for the two of them. For us, it works. For others, it clearly doesn’t. Different people find different things hot, and also come to a show like Daredevil wanting different things. I remind myself of this whenever I see people complaining about “pacing issues” when they really seem to mean “the show actually took the time to develop the characters and relationships, when I wanted non-stop ninja-fighting!” Everyone in this fandom has found something to love about the show, or we wouldn’t be here. But we don’t all love the same things. And we will never all love the same ship.

Hating a ship doesn’t necessarily mean hating the character herself—I’m sure there are people who like Karen just fine, but just don’t see her as a romantic partner for Matt—but it can definitely sound like that sometimes. And promoting one ship by actively tearing down others can sound uncomfortably like pitting the women against each other, in a way I am eternally glad the show didn’t do. Please, show, don’t ever make me watch two women fighting each other for Matt’s love. Ugh.

But then there are the people who just don’t like Karen. From what I’ve seen, this is usually because they disapprove of her behavior in season 1, when she lied to Ben to get him to come to the nursing home with her. And I actually agree, completely, that that was Not Cool. Ben was choosing to step back from the investigation into Fisk for completely valid personal reasons, and Karen used those reasons to manipulate him into doing what she wanted, instead of respecting his choice. And the show pretty much let her off the hook, by having Ben’s widow, who had every right to be angry and bitter, tell her that Ben made his own choices and it wasn’t her fault. Karen blames herself, but conveniently, no one else does. I can understand people having a problem with that.

But I can disapprove whole-heartedly of the tactics she used in that instance, without deciding she’s a completely terrible person. The fact that she has flaws is not, to me, a reason to hate her. It doesn’t cancel out all the other things about her that I love. She’s complicated, and messy, and real, in a way that, all too often, only the hero is allowed to be. Anyone who is willing to forgive Matt all his fuck-ups, but condemns Karen…I don’t even know what to say to that. She’s doing what she thinks is for the best, and when people get hurt or killed because of it, she feels guilty and terrible about it, and I don’t know what more people expect of her.

Misogyny could well be a factor, as you suggest—women get held to a different standard than men all the damn time, in art as well as in life. But also, protagonists get forgiven far more than supporting characters. I see Karen as another lead, not just a supporting character, but I think not everyone agrees, or not everyone thinks she should be. (I can remember seeing someone, I forget where, complaining that Karen carries so much of the plot, like they want her to be nothing more than Matt’s secretary or something, but I can’t even with people like that.) So they don’t extend her the same degree of tolerance they do to Matt.

I totally agree with you that Daredevil is full of questionable decisions, and it is unfair to single Karen out for hate. And Deborah Ann Woll does a fantastic job playing her, and I love the things she says about Karen in interviews—it adds another layer to the character, to know what DAW thinks of her, and what she thinks goes on in Karen’s mind. To me, Karen Page is a great character, well-written, well-cast, and well acted. As far as I’ve seen, the people who disagree dislike her either because they ship Matt with someone else, or because they can’t accept the shades of grey in her character.