#rhi goes to nyc 🗽

[saintmurd0ck]

loves of my life.

[saintmurd0ck]

i am currently sitting in the turkeys nest tavern (aka josie’s) where matt and foggy sat and i’m not ok someone pinch me

(terrible photo but i’m too excited)

[saintmurd0ck]

clinton church, circa s1 and s2

[saintmurd0ck]

“i’m not seeing penance for what i’ve done, father. i’m asking forgiveness, for what i’m about to do.”

[saintmurd0ck]

good morning from hell’s kitchen everyone! going matt hunting today >:)

[saintmurd0ck]

ok so whether or not you read this -- it's absolutely fine; your girl is very, very deep in her feels and i want to get this out. i promise it's worth your while, if you choose to do so.

firstly i want to thank my lord and saviour matthew manwhore michael murdock for bringing me to new york city. this trip has actually been my dream trip for a while (totally not because of him!) and the fact that i'm here is just... incredible.

back in february, about a month before i joined tumblr, i wrote my very first matt fic. it's written in first person (and you can read it here if you want to but be warned it's kinda shit HAHA) but it is so self-indulgent. i wrote it for me. to me. i loved this man so much that i had to write this. at the time, i had of course never been to nyc before, so truth be told i had no idea what i was describing or writing; it was so hard to do this without having been to the place you're writing about.

now, onto the part making me particularly emotional:

i did a lot of research and sprinkled that into my fic, and after research involving where matt would live and where josie's and n&m would be located i came to the conclusion he would live on west 44th street in hell's kitchen. what i failed to realise was that streets and avenues here are very very long, hence why new yorkers tend to describe locations via corners (eg corner of 54th and 9th etc). so, yesterday, when i set out to find west 44th st, i ended up in times square, and took a photo of the sign. i was emotional because i could see my 'rhi-verse' coming to life, but this was smack bang in the middle of broadway, not a residential area, and definitely not where matt would live. so, cue a little disappointment, but never mind, i'm in the city of dreams, why should i let that get me down?

flash to this morning, and i decided to go somewhere for breakfast that i wasn't originally planning to, it was in the opposite direction of where i wanted to go after, etc -- basically, just somewhere new i wasn't expecting to be. lo and behold, i look up at the street sign across the road when i arrive - west 44th st. and i look beyond that.

it is the most perfect residential area, with beautiful brick and stone buildings, fire escapes, little restaurants and shops, a bar, everything. orange and red hued trees line the street. it was as if something had just... clicked into place. this was the west 44th street i was thinking about. and then something else dawned on me -- when i did my research for this fic, i designated the river-side of this street to be where matt's apartment would be located. and guess what? this was the river-side part of this particular street. (also i know the whole thing about the billboard -- let's just pretend it's there. :))

basically, fate manoeuvred me here and no one can convince me otherwise.

and another shocker? the street has a fucking CHURCH on it!!!!!

i spent a lot of time walking up and down it today, thinking and smiling and feeling so content. i'm so thankful that loving matt brought me to the other side of the world, and helped me to discover a city i'd move to in a heartbeat.

yes, this entire trip is a fan service to me, and i couldn't care less what anyone thinks of my motivation to come here.

i understand now why he so fiercely protects this place -- there is a love for this city and this specific section of it that runs so deeply in my blood too, perhaps not one that would necessarily cause me to dress up in skintight black clothing and scale rooftops (although, let's be real, if matt were here, i'd be doing that); i'm just happy to have found a second home.

so, if you're ever in hell's kitchen, come to 44th and 11th.

photos under the cut 💗

[saintmurd0ck]

happy spooky szn from mr. murdock and i 🎃💗

[saintmurd0ck]

hey babe hope ur doing well. i've been scrolling through ur nyc posting and... ur making me miss nyc sm i'm actually tearing up. i love. that fuckin city so much idk how to describe it. i know it sounds so fckin stupid and cliche but legit since i was little i wanted to live there.

seeing it in shows and movies when i was little and becoming obsessed with various marvel characters who lived in different boroughs (my main one being matt ofc lol)

and then visiting for the first like a few years ago and staying in the city a long weekend and finding little local places to eat. getting into the residential areas and everything just feels so... right.

you can hear people moving down on the street, you can see the chrysler building from your window, you can hear the ambulances and the construction workers and the trash collectors, you can smell the food the neighbors are cooking when you step out in the tiniest hall and into the tiniest elevator

seeing people talking and yelling at each other from open windows cause these people have lived here years and sitting there eating the best damn food youve had in your life from a tiny hole in the wall place on the edge of china town.

going across the street and down steps into a second hand bookstore where the floorboards creak with EVERY step and the back is literally a shed shoved up to the door taking up most of an alleyway and you just feel so fucking at peace and alive because the city is alive and FUCK

the subway and the architecture and the PEOPLE

RHI the first time i ever visited i was doing all the dumb tourist things and was walking through hells kitchen (didn't even realize I was at the time) and some middle age guy stops me on the street

he has a thick ny accent and starts asking me about my day and if i'm a tourist and what attractions ive visited and hes cracking jokes and acting like he's known me for years and telling me about his wife and hows hes traveled the world and giving me tips on how to dodge random vendors

and he tells me he stopped me cause i reminded him of his kids and he says "oh, welcome to hell's kitchen by the way, best part of the whole city"

and i. i'm so fucking broke im so broke but i swear im going to live there i have to live there i have to

and i thought it would wear off, cause that's what everyone says. the more you visit the more trash you see and the more bad things you see. and you do. i saw more trash and rats and all of that but. it just made me fall in love with it more

everyone's just there, trying to survive and trying to live their lives and i love that. yeah it has it's problems but i don't care. every time i visit i see one bad thing and twenty good things, and twenty-one reasons to love that stupid city even more

anyways let me actually shut the fuck up, ily hun, hope your day continues to get better

i am absolutely over the fucking moon receiving this, ren. i hope you know how much it means to me that you took the time to write all of this out and share your thoughts with me. firstly let me say, i feel like new york city is kinda a city of clichés, but they're all true. it has this... magic to it, and it kinda sucks you in.

when you say everything feels right, i know exactly!!!! what you mean. here i was, in a country i'd never stepped foot in before, over 15 thousand km (9320 miles) away from familiarity, but yet i knew what i was doing. it felt like some kind of puzzle piece had just clicked into place, and it only took me 21 years to find out.

i feel that the thing with new york is, the residents all have the same thing to say. "oh yeah this city fucking sucks" or some sort of variation on the criticism. but at the end of the day -- at the end of the day, they step back and think, "oh yeah, i live here. in new york freakin city." and it's such a bonding thing.

i thought it would wear off too, and after a while you'd just get used to it and everything would be mundane, but it never felt like that. even being back home, back to reality, i'm pining for it. the thing i've stressed the most about going away is that it never was a holiday. it was never supposed to be that. it was actually the chance for me to go there and ask myself honestly: "can i actually live here? would i like it?" and i am so glad i proved myself right.

so yeah, let's get an apartment in hell's kitchen. let's wake up to the sound of traffic and sirens and someone yelling on the street below, then go for coffee where the baristas pretend to care about our coffee orders (until they do). everything's a subway ride away, one way or another. fuck it, let's go on the staten island ferry at three in the morning and laugh about all the people who've paid $200 to go see lady liberty (when they can be doing it for free).

the city is alive, and while it can take and take and take from you, it leaves a part of its magic in your soul. and you know what? i'm fine with it.

the city awaits with open arms...

and i can't wait to go back.

[saintmurd0ck]

flying back to australia in about 15 minutes (catch you in 27 hours 🤡). thank you everyone who’s followed along on my fantastic trip away, can’t wait to get right back into it & post a few upcoming things!!

i’m also very pleased to announce that something special is hitting your dashboard, let’s say mid next week if not sooner? hint: it has to do with a subway network ;)

i’ll message everyone back/respond to asks as soon as i can 💗

[saintmurd0ck]

Hi Rhi! I love seeing your nyc posts, the photos are so gorgeous! I loved your last post, seeing you talk about how daredevil influenced your trip and walking around Hell’s Kitchen is so inspiring and I love seeing the emotion behind it. I came here for Matt smut originally but the way you write and your personality are amazing.

Sorry if that’s a lot I just want you to know that I appreciate your thoughts lol 🙏

no because what the fuck i’m crying? nonnie, my love my heart my sweet, thank you for making my day. thank you for being so sweet — i love the opportunity to be here and share things about me, to just be who i am without fear of judgement, and your ask reaffirms that tenfold. thank you, my love, i’m holding you dear 🥹💗

[saintmurd0ck]

ok so fuck the east coast fog for wasting 13 hours of my life but happy to report all is well and i am back in my city of dreams.

[saintmurd0ck]

okay so, still stuck in the airport. we fully got on the plane, then had to get off, then the flight got cancelled???? :(

i am losing out on a whole day of travel and v upset :((

[saintmurd0ck]

if you're reading this, i am currently on a very very long plane ride (24 hours let's goooooo) to hell's motherfucking kitchen. i will be away for a couple weeks and all my posts will be on queue generally, but i will be posting all my exciting highlights using the tag -> "rhi goes to nyc" (see tags below to follow or block.)

i will be visiting DD filming locations too, so stay tuned.... <3333

[saintmurd0ck]

Omg ok Kodama sushi on W 45th, Empanada Mama in the Kitchen, Harney and Sons in SoHo, Stonewall obvi in the Village, and I fckn love Big Gay Ice Cream at Pier 17, that whole area is v nice. That's all I can think of rn for food but honestly hmu anytime for more and for attractions n stuff 😊

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!! adding all of these to my list 🤩 can’t believe we’re in the same timezone, im sending you a spiritual hug 🥹

[saintmurd0ck]

crying rn because you’re only 790 miles away from me for the next 3 weeks :’)

i knowwwwww 😭🥲 i feel your love and im so fucking happy to be in the same time zone and continent as you🥺🥺 honestly just the best feeling ever