My Dad Texted Me These Pictures While I Was At School Today. Apparantly Some People Down The Street Have

‘average writer kills off 3 gay characters per book’ factoid actualy just statistical error. queerbaiting rowling, who kills off over 10,000 characters per series and announces they are all gay after their deaths, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

Brother: Oh my gosh, look at this!

Me: Yes. Time Magazine. With President Obama.

Brother: NO! What is he doing?

Me: Smiling?

Brother: At what?

Me: The ground?

Brother: So...?

Me: He don't know he's beautiful.

Mom: What the heck is wrong with my children?

My friend and I spent our Saturday turning an old Mystery Date game into something awesome. Here we have Leonardo DiCaprio as the picnic date guy, John Green as the nerd, Orlando Bloom as the tux guy, Chester See as the snowboarding guy, and Shemar Moore as the surfer dude. I consider it a day well spent.

and here we have a small collection of images i like to call “Canes: Does Anyone At Marvel Actually Know What They Are” because i did like the base level amount of work to feel comfortable even making a casual tumblr post about daredevil and much of this seems like shit

[images: a collection of panels from marvel’s daredevil in which either matt murdock or his wife milla donovan, both of whom are blind, are holding or using a cane]

image 1: literally what the hell. matt has a short red crooked support cane that is not even facing the correct way. this panel is very old and not from volume 2 but i included it because it’s just wild, even though crooked canes like this for the visually impaired were popular in, like, post-WWII era, because it’s so short and facing the wrong way and so out of time

image 2: thirty years later and matt has a support cane again, but at least he’s holding it right and at least it looks closer to the right length (this came after a good run of matt actually having a reasonably effective looking cane, so i was understandably pissed) 

image 3: matt has a collapsible cane that… doesn’t work… like any collapsible cane i’ve ever seen does

image 4: matt is holding a cane that looks closer to me to being right, except it’s very short even for a guide cane and it looks like it has a strap at the top except he’s holding it like it’s a handle, and that is an incredibly awkward way to do anything

image 5: that cane looks short as hell, again, even for a guide cane

image 6: that cane looks long as hell, even for a long cane and especially for a straight cane because then it’s unadjustable, and why are you holding it like that

image 7: milla, how is holding your cane straight out from your body like a gun going to be helpful AT ALL ? why is your grip so weird 

image 8: milla, how is holding your cane two stairs down helpful at all, and are you just holding onto the top of it

So I got my first fancy massage over Spring Break, right? And they played this super mellow harp music and shit, which was nice I guess, but the whole time I was trying to think of a way to include Uptown Funk in their playlist. Because how hella rad would your massage be if in the middle of the peaceful harp shit it suddenly was like “UPTOWN FUNK YOU UP”??? So awesome. 

so i’ve been thinking a lot about the moment when karen comes to visit matt after he’s beaten by nobu

he answers the door without wearing his glasses, which i believe is the first time since he’s spoken to karen about being blind in the first episode (when he takes them off and then immediately puts them back on) that he’s not worn them when she’s there; he even puts his glasses back on when he’s sitting with foggy going over files and karen comes in 

so matt answers the door looking like this

[image: screencap of matt, battered and bruised, no glasses.]

karen and him exchange what passes for a greeting between them at this point, and then matt immediately goes to the counter and puts his glasses on while karen takes off her coat

[images: two screencaps of karen taking off her coat in the hallway while matt puts on his glasses at the counter]

then he grabs a beer and turns back around, glasses firmly in place

[image: matt, beer in hand, standing behind the counter with his glasses on.]

so i’ve been thinking about why he would put his glasses on so quickly if he’s willing to answer the door without them on. because it makes sense that he answers the door without them because he’s hurt and tired and sick of everything, whatever reason he’s had to keep them on seems unimportant in light of everything that’s happened, etc. and i’d say it would make sense that he went to the door without his glasses, realized it was karen, and then put his glasses back on (because karen is different, because it’s Karen, because he knows how karen reacted to seeing his eyes before) but matt has supersenses, matt knows it’s karen long before karen reaches the door. so what makes him put his glasses on? 

i think what’s different is this 

[image: karen stands in the doorway, matt turned away from her. CC says: “you look like shit.”]

matt hears karen say that, hears karen say “you look like shit,” and matt murdock puts on his glasses, which do next to nothing to hide his abundant injuries or uncomfortable gait or obvious pain, especially given that karen has already seen them. matt murdock, who is so rarely seen without his glasses in the comics and the show, who wears glasses even in situations that seem incredibly deeply impractical, even in his own home, even with people who know him well (and here’s a post about this, and tw for some well-meaning ableism + in-comics ableism) - when karen says “you look like shit,” he puts on his glasses. because matt associates looking like shit with people being able to see his eyes- with being visibly disabled. because matt has to live with not only all of the guilt that comes with his daredevilling and with his super senses and with only being able to do so much, but also with internalized ableism.

What the ever-loving fuck? 

I just finished watching After the Dark and I am...I am astounded. I think I loved it? But I'm so in shock at present that I can't decide. I certainly loved the plot and the characters were phenomenal...it was incredibly visually effective and beautiful...

But the ending! I have no idea how to handle it!

Please, if anyone has seen it, please please please talk to me about it. Please, I'm begging you. Someone needs to share in this delightful, brain-fucked agony. 

i don't understand the end of after the dark, explain

Ah, thank god, someone to talk to! I don't understand either!

I'm putting in a break thingy, spoilers for After the Dark under the cut.

I think maybe what it means is that the whole classroom scenario was a thought experiment as well. The whole damn movie was in the teacher's head...that's the only thing I can think of that explains the three scenario ending. 

What do you think, anonymous stranger? Share your thoughts with me!

[two screenshots of marvel’s daredevil. karen looks down at matt, concerned. CC: “Look at you.” matt sits at the table, silent, with a face that says, “how, karen. how do you want me to do that.”]

a small collection of canon facts about neurodivergent matt murdock

matt sleeps under a thick heavy blanket (deep pressure therapy) (netflix series)

matt sleeps in silk sheets because “cotton feels like sandpaper on [his] skin” (sensory processing) (netflix series)

matt’s costuming in the netflix series is specifically oriented towards texture, with his suits, ties, scarves, and other clothes all chosen to be interesting and comfortable texturally 

relatedly listen matt wears a compression shirt in the black vigilante costume on the show and that feels 100% to me like a piece of that

i also have a lot of very complicated things to say about matt’s glasses in comics and show, and i had a whole section on them in my paper, but like. the way he uses the glasses is very complex and engaging but maybe not relevant here

this is almost definitely just a superhero/comic book thing, but the fact that matt wears his costume under his other clothes at all times strikes me as a very autistic thing to do (all)

matt wearing his original costume UNDER his other costume strikes me as even more autistic just saying (vol. 4)

speaking of that new costume, the idea that someone tells him he needs to change his look and that he no longer has to wear a cowl and he responds by dramatically changing ever element of his appearance he can think of while still wearing his old costume underneath is just. yeah. (vol. 4)

matt is very sensitive to taste and texture of foods and has certain foods that he can’t comfortably eat (”oysters. a challenge, texturally”) (vol. 4)

matt goes into sensory overload that is NAMED as sensory overload- “What I wasn’t taking into account was maybe my greatest weakness: sensory overload. For me, [moving to San Francisco] is not just about warmer weather or navigating traffic. Because of my hypersenses, everything out here is new to me. But the human brain, no matter how smart, can only process so much data at any given time. The more there is to learn, the more difficult it is to maintain your normal level of concentration.” (vol. 4)

i’ve said this a lot but also even outside of sensory overload, just the way his brain processes sensory input and the amount of noise he has to wade through to get what he’s searching for is very very SPD

in some things he has to sleep in a sensory deprivation tank because it’s so much all the time 

matt continues to use his cane even after his identity is revealed, presumably because it is familiar to him, so that he doesn’t have to devote as much energy and concentration to orientation and mobility, and as a shortcut for communication (vol. 4)

matt gets sound and smell sensitive migraines (all)

matt hates crowds because of his heightened senses (all, but vol. 3)

matt has frequently gone manic in response to traumatic events in his life and has stayed manic for months on end (vol. 2 esp) 

matt also

matt is prone to episodes of paranoia and is especially susceptible to gaslighting (vol. 2, vol. 3 esp.) 

matt is incredibly self-destructive, especially in situations like when he believes foggy has died when he beats his fists bloody against the wall of his cell and has hallucinations (vol. 2)

Foggy: “Did he cure you of a lifetime of self-destructive depression?” (vol. 3)

Foggy: “You’re self-sabotaging. You’re not used to being this happy for this long, so you’re instinctively fighting the unfamiliar. I would invite you to consider that this is your depression lashing out. Being happy doesn’t fit the patterns it knows.” (vol. 4)

matt word-for-word canonically describes himself as having depression (vol. 4)

matt falls into specific behaviors in response to a depressive episode being triggered including a specific body position and apathy (after the accident, vol. 4 purple children)

also listen just this whole thing where matt doesn’t know how to fight against the weight and inertia of depression but as soon as the purple man calls on him to be afraid he’s like “that. that, i know how to fight.” (vol. 4)

also “Get up. You have momentum now. Don’t lose it. Don’t let the shadows pull you back in. Inertia is the enemy. Do something. Move. Move, Matthew.” (vol. 4)

actually just literally everything with the purple children, that’s all

matt is a massive fidgeter and fidgets extensively with the handle of his cane and makes those same gestures even when he’s not holding the cane (netflix series)

matt uses a script to approach situations, repeats even if the script is not 100% appropriate- “world on fire” for claire and foggy (netflix show), “i’m blind” in response to being questioned by police/media (vol. 2, 3), “i’m not daredevil” (vol. 3) 

fisk is so autistic-coded in the netflix series that many of the things that are parallels between fisk and matt are actually autistic-coded things 

matt wears huge ear protectors and a dust mask when sleeping in college to mitigate the sensory input of trying to sleep in a room shared with foggy (vol. 3) 

matt has super-extreme empathy levels for the people in hell’s kitchen, but is basically okay with crime happening as long as it occurs outside of his neighborhood (all, but shadowland esp.) 

“Matthew only had one love- Hell’s Kitchen. Its safety, its health. These are what he lived to protect.”

matt in general develops extremely close, strong connections with a very limited number of people, and generally only has a few close friends at a time (all)

because of his self-loathing and the degree to which he cares for these people, he strongly believes they would be better off without him

“I should live in a cave and have no friends.” 

matt is very skilled at scripted or arranged speaking (he’s amazing in the courtroom) but he is truly terrible at spoken, informal conversation (all, including netflix show) 

fun example: “Fun Daredevil fact: every single time Matt has to improv, he course-corrects by overacting.” (vol. 4)

matt is very resistant to telling other people his secrets, and naturally is inclined to keep his experiences to himself, not least because he is used to being forced to keep secrets and not having people around him who can relate to his experiences (all) 

matt’s emotionality is considered atypical given his circumstances 

foggy comments on this when matt is happy-go-lucky in vol. 3 

matt is so known for this that he’s literally called The Man Without Fear (it’s not that matt has no fear, it’s that he presents it and responds to it differently) 

this is very much working with parallels rather than with evidence but the way that matt uses alternate input to determine someone’s behavior and tone and to anticipate what they’re going to do next feels very much like the methods ND folks often develop in lieu of or in addition to NT social cues. it’s much more of a conscious effort, it’s far more intentional, it relies far less on traditional methods of determining someone’s intentions

this is made even more clear for me by the difficulty with which matt interprets these signals from other neurodivergent people who don’t match with what he’s expecting/used to interpreting 

he actually can’t tell if people are lying or not if they’re taking certain medications (this is from a comic i can’t remember what it is. um.)

matt has developed specific coping mechanisms and behaviors to respond to certain sensory input/pain/etc

“Three-hundred-some pulse rates just doubled. I can’t unhear them, so I use one of my mental exercises. I picture all those hearts as instruments in a giant orchestra.” 

meditation

“You don’t hurt anymore?” “No, I hurt a lot. But I’m done with it now. I have other things to do.” 

fun fact: I told my therapist this quote and she told me to “channel my inner daredevil” and I was like “ok miriam ok”

matt is incredibly obsessive and often over-responds to things regarding those obsessions- for instance, declaring himself the kingpin, ruining relationships because he can’t focus on anything else

“Matty, you have two speeds: underthink and overthink. Right now, you’re overthinking.” (vol. 4)

matt is deeply self-loathing and fully in doubt of the idea that he could be loved by anyone else ever

matt has also internalized a lot of ableism 

matt also has just a ridiculous amount of guilt

matt on the show reading and rereading and quoting and referencing thurgood marshall is very autistic 

matt absolutely has ptsd and struggles incredibly with the after-effects of things like elektra’s death, karen’s death, milla’s institutionalization, his father’s death, shadowland, the accident 

foggy draws attention to this when he tells matt how worried he is about matt writing a memoir 

it’s also shown time and time again as he struggles with building relationships in the wake of the loss of his previous loves

 Elektra about Matt and Shadowland: “It will leave him scarred forever.”