Narratively I Am A Fan Of Romances That Don’t Ever Actually Become Romances

what i would like out of the "triangle" is frank to start internally pushing back on the matt/good me/bad dichotomy he's been clinging to these past 6 years. conscious of it or not he uses matt as a bumper between him and karen when he thinks karen is getting too close ("almost took the shot/may i ask why you didn't?/you never lie to me/does he?") or in the hospital she tells him she'll love him despite the corpses that keep piling up around him ("maria knew what i was and she loved me anyway.") and her overtures get shut down with a ("does that matt murdock know you're here?")

except 6 years later and just the sight of karen and matt in proximity together is stirring up his jealousy. i think he could rationalize it at first but the softer, loving side of frank that is dying at being shoved down and forced to live in a murder bunker is going to start reminding him of all the grace and acceptance karen has offered and maybe? hopefully? start to see himself from her perspective.

I humbly suggest that true crime freaks should get into learning about scammers instead of serial killers. I LOVE reading about fraud and grifts and pyramid schemes. true crime ppl have all this paranoid energy about murder, which is rare in the grand scheme of things.....maybe instead that could be channeled into some productive rage toward capitalism.

forgive me father for sometimes i just say things

Since I've seen it floated about how Frank and Karen getting together means the end of Punisher-Frank (it doesn't, just would require some changes to how he's handled); I'll go with the flipside. If Matt and Karen were to get together, then how long before Elektra shows back up and either there's another LT or Matt again picks Elektra over Karen. Like before I would've tapped on the comics but now after a rewatch, its very damn clear that Elektra is always going to eclipse any other person. Which that'd just be a repeat of s2 and regress most characters, but especially Karen. There's drawbacks to every side of the equation, which means that's a nonfactor. Daredevil needs to take a hint from Luke Cage in following the chemistry & story that is Kastle, not Jessica Jones s2-3. Just ftr I like s1 but god is it annoying in s2-3 in its insistence on bucking the chemistry to force in rando guys. Luke/Claire is -chef's kiss- and is a case of a Matt floated love interest who didn't match with him, thus going her own way w/ another love interest). Same as Kastle. Mattlektra not only has the chemistry, the story, but also bonus points is it tickling the comic fans special spots by being accurate to their pair.

God the next year is going to be so damn annoying with these types of anti bullshit.

I just finished watching The Punisher s1 (I know, kinda late) And the part that spoke to me the most was everyone being kinda charmed by Frank Castle : Sarah AND David Lieberman, Billy, in some way, Karen, Dinah… I see you bc same

Frank’s physical and emotional state in DD: Born Again

Occasionally I’ve seen people express confusion at Frank’s…general state in Born Again. He does seem unkept, unhappy, in a worse mood than usual and oddly detached from everything else.

The shock was apparently so big, people started theorizing SOMETHING must’ve happened to Frank. And I’m here wondering what people expected to find, exactly.

I mean, if you watched The Punisher season 2 you will know Frank embraced the vigilante life by the end of that season. You would also remember he ended up the show pretty much alone. He pushed Karen away in a very definitive manner, Curtis, if I remember correctly, was very done with his bullshit by that point and didn’t want any more contact with Frank, he sent Amy away to Florida and seemed like didn’t plan to meet her ever again. The only person he seems to be in contact with is Madani, but she was in the Middle East and he also shut down any relationship there when he refused her offer for a job at the CIA (because “he already has a job”).

So, what we are seeing in Born Again is Frank being The Punisher. It’s a guy who shut down every single relationship he ever had and it’s only focused on the mission 24/7. The only thing he does, day in and day out, is look for the next scumbag to kill, the next gang to gun down, the next mafia to disperse. He gets beaten up, goes home, stitches himself and does the same thing all over again the next day. He’s been doing this for years.

And I’m sure, at some point, he realized what he’s doing is pointless, because no matter how many criminals and bad people he puts to the ground, new ones take their place faster than he can kill them. So, all he has to hope for is to keep at it, until he eventually dies. Except he doesn’t die. Almost 10 years and he’s still at it, and not a single thing has changed. Fisk is freaking mayor of New York City, for gods sake.

What we are seeing is a man who has become hopeless and detached, because he has nothing to look for in his life, except death. So…..no shit he is moodier than usual.

I get that this is not a common arc for The Punisher in the comics (if it was ever portrayed), but I think it’s a very interesting thing to explore in the MCU version. I do think it’s in line with what the OG show might’ve explored if it ever got a third season.

Season 2 ended with Frank reaching the conclusion The Punisher was his destiny. There was no happy ending for him, his calling was to kill criminals no matter the cost. And that was actually a very tragic conclusion for Frank to reach, effectively shutting down any opportunity at recovery he could get. He didn’t find fulfillment living as Just Frank (A.K.A Pete Castiglione), so he would find it with The Punisher….except, spoiler alert: he doesn’t! He’s still as unhappy and miserable as he was before. Turns out, giving in to your worst impulses doesn’t improve your life.

I think the point of the mysterious pills we see him take in Born Again, is supposed to be a physical manifestation of Frank’s weariness. That there is a downside to living like The Punisher, and aside from the emotional isolation, he is physically weaker. And again, I know there’s a bunch of comics of an older Frank, and even though he is older, he is somehow as strong and agile as he was when he was younger, and while it’s a valid depiction of an older Frank, it’s probably not a realistic one. Like, the man doesn’t eat well, doesn’t sleep well, he gets punched, stabbed and shot at an alarming frequency and he doesn’t get any breaks. That’s not the lifestyle that creates a healthy and active 60yo. On the contrary, actually. Now, he might have chronic pain he needs to manage with medication, just to function. And I like that. After all, Frank is only human. To show him grappling with all the ways his body can fail him is very compelling storytelling in my opinion.

I mean, I don’t know what they are cooking with Frank, but if I’m right, I am very interested in what they might show in the future with him.

TL;DR: the reason Frank is….LIKE THAT in Born Again is not because of any singular traumatic event, it’s simply the downside of the life he chose as The Punisher. A lonely, violent life that finally is claiming his toll on him. So yeah, he is moody and detached and doesn’t care about much other than his next target.

Karen called Frank and the very first thing he did was run to the barber to get a clean shave and a fresh trim... oh he's down bad.

Karen, I can't tell you how much it means to me that you came here. So make it mean something.

"i don't comment on ao3 because i don't wanna be annoying or weird" skill issue + you greatly underestimate the power dynamic here, writing multi paragraph comments is like feeding a bunch of deeply insane and possibly starved ducks at the park and watch them go completely mad over having received a piece of bread