Masterlist

Peruse the links below at your discretion; they’re all Matt Murdock x Reader.

EMBERS AND ASHES is a full-length story and is mostly posted on Archive of Our Own, but you can access Chapter One below. Quick overview of the genres — FLUFF is mostly little scenarios that should make you feel better if you’re having a bad day; there might be some physical intimacy but it’s not the focus of the fic. HURT/COMFORT usually will have both the physical hurt and the subsequent comfort — I tend to not write fics that lack the comfort (and if I do, I’ll make note of it). ANGST, on the other hand, isn’t physical but emotional hurt, and I try to include comfort in there, too. ROMANCE is basically fluff but with more of a focus on the *spicier* tension between Matt and Y/N. That being said, I don’t write smut, so it won’t ever get very explicit :) 

Also - not fics, but here is my photo with Charlie when I got to meet him at Dortmund CC in 2022, and here is the video of the conversation I had with him while getting my autograph!

Embers and Ashes, Chapter 13

After showing up at Matt's office, you tell him everything—and form an alliance.

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Story summary: It's not easy to keep a low profile when you've got the power to heal, but you've managed to carve out a home for yourself in Hell's Kitchen. By day you're an assistant at a literary agency, and by night you mend broken bones and bloody cuts. It's a double life that constantly forces you to question your morality, because the wounds you seem to magically heal don't vanish forever — they've got to eventually go somewhere.

But after you make the mistake of healing the wrong people, you become Daredevil’s next target, and suddenly your double life becomes far more tangled than you could ever have predicted.

Set post-S3. Slow burn Matt x Fem!Reader. You can read Ch. 1 on AO3 here and Ch. 13 on AO3 here.

Tag list (let me know if you'd like to be added to it!):

@yeonalie @mariatpwk @lionalsowrites @willowpains @lunaticgurly @kiwwia-wiwwia @e-l-s-i @natsuki2307 @noellander

Embers and Ashes, Chapter 12

You made to leave, and had your hand on the door when Matt’s voice echoed down from the top of the stairs.

“Change your mind?”

And inexplicably, at his words, you barely managed to keep yourself from crying again. “I’m sorry. I can leave. I don’t know why I came here, I just… I didn’t have anywhere to go. I didn’t know what to do.”

And you started to push open the door, but Matt spoke first. “Stay,” he said. “What happened?”

WARNINGS: Description of torture in this chapter.

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Story summary: It's not easy to keep a low profile when you've got the power to heal, but you've managed to carve out a home for yourself in Hell's Kitchen. By day you're an assistant at a literary agency, and by night you mend broken bones and bloody cuts. It's a double life that constantly forces you to question your morality, because the wounds you seem to magically heal don't vanish forever — they've got to eventually go somewhere.

But after you make the mistake of healing the wrong people, you become Daredevil’s next target, and suddenly your double life becomes far more tangled than you could ever have predicted.

Set post-S3. Slow burn Matt x Fem!Reader. You can read Ch. 1 on AO3 here and Ch. 11 on AO3 here.

Tag list (let me know if you'd like to be added to it!):

@yeonalie @mariatpwk @lionalsowrites @willowpains @lunaticgurly @kiwwia-wiwwia @e-l-s-i @natsuki2307 @noellander

Hi everyone! I wanted to post a quick update as I know it's been a long time since I've posted anything.

Seeing all of these behind-the-scenes pics of Born Again is making me absolutely SO EXCITED to write but I've just been so busy. I'm trying to find an apartment, trying to find a summer job before law school starts, juggling my senior year of college, plus trying to write a book at the same time, so I've had a bit of a hard time lately finding the energy to sit and write fan fic at the end of the day. Usually writing is a reward, but I guess lately it's just been tiring me out, so I've had to step back for a bit.

But! This is VERY MUCH temporary. I promise I'll be back and writing more Matt again soon! Not quite sure yet what "soon" will mean but I really, really promise that I haven't abandoned Embers and Ashes.

Long story short I'm so sorry to everyone that's waiting for an update but I swear I will return 💓

Hi!! First of all, thank you SO MUCH, it means so much that you're enjoying the story (and I love that there's a Grey at your work!!)

Yeah so I'm glad you brought up the Dex thing. I like to stay as canon as possible, and with his role in Born Again now, that... complicates things. I'm thinking I'm going to delay that part of the plot for as long as possible so I can scope out what his role is in the upcoming season — as much as I can, I want to stick to that. I'm thinking I'll just push some other plotlines forward in the meantime and keep him relatively on the back burner until we have a better idea of where his character is going to go.

Also, I don't have a face claim! I like to think that anyone, anywhere in the world who is reading Grey can envision themselves in that place. That's why I try to avoid bodily descriptions and even niche personality traits, because I hope that at least most readers can imagine themselves as her.

THAT BEING SAID, I do admittedly sort of write myself into the story — and then I try to blur that into a hobby-less, facial-feature-less version of myself that, in effect, becomes the generic Y/N. I try to think of how I would respond in each situation and end up going with that (though Reader is definitely probably funnier and also bolder in situations than me, lol most of the time I'd just be frozen in fear, unable to say anything if Daredevil approached me).

For example: the elevator scene in the last chapter. I tried to imagine how it would go down if I were in there. What would I say? How would I react to knowing Matt has super-hearing, especially when I also need to pee very badly at that moment?

In regards to specific personality traits (which wasn't even part of your question lol but now I'm rambling) I do try to keep Reader as relatable as possible, considering what I know about the average fan fiction reader:

It's not much to work with but it helps! So sorry this turned into such a long answer haha!!

Embers and Ashes, Chapter 11

Once in the elevator, Matt pressed the button for the second floor of the hotel, where the Valentine’s party was held, and the floor rattled as you began to descend.

But the descent didn’t last long.

With a resounding jolt, and a screech like a dying crow, the elevator suddenly shuddered to a stop, right above the forty-sixth floor. There was a pregnant pause, during which you waited for the elevator to resume its descent — surely it was just stopping to pick someone up — but nothing happened. Ten seconds passed. Twenty. The elevator didn’t move.

“We’re stuck,” you said, flabbergasted. More specifically — you were stuck. With Daredevil. In a six-by-six foot space, with nothing to use as a weapon, if he were to change his mind and exact his revenge on you.

I was thinking about how I wish there was a psychology course for why "x reader" stories are so addictive and then it made me wonder if there ARE any patterns to those of us who read/write reader-insert fan fic. I've personally never been in a relationship (I've tried dating, but it hasn't worked out for me) and I'm wondering if this is typical for reader-insert folks out there.

(Also please share this so we get as much data as possible!!)

Unfortunately there's not a good control group to compare this data to, aside from general relationship demographics; it'll be hard to pin down since obviously everyone's nationality, age, gender, etc is anonymous.

Still - hopefully this will be interesting!

Just imagine all the new gifs we're going to have at our disposal once DD Born Again drops. I adore the gifs we currently overuse with all my heart but dang, it's going to feel amazing to have some new ones in our arsenal

Embers and Ashes, Chapter 10

Like a switch flipping, through the double doors you saw Matt’s dark head snap in your direction. Oh, God. He really is a mind reader. Party over. “Wow. Oh, man. That’s awful,” you said distractedly, hitching your purse higher onto your shoulder and moving away from the bathroom doors. “Um, thanks for all the updates.”

“Where are you going?”

“Back inside.” And you seriously needed to piss, but there was no way in hell that you were going to put yourself in a place where you would be alone. The crowd was the safest place. Only there could you guarantee that Matt wouldn’t go vigilante on you and bash your head in. You pushed back into the throng of people and chanced a look towards where Matt had been.

He was already gone.

Two years ago today, on February 3rd of 2022, I officially journaled for the first time about how much I loved Matt Murdock. And so now, two years later, I'm pretty much wondering if I'm still going to be writing fan fic for this man when I'm eighty years old ITS JUST INEVITABLE AT THIS POINT like

SO ANYWAY to commemorate this two year anniversary I'm going to try to update with a new chapter sometime today! Not quite sure how long it'll be yet but it'll at least get past the last cliffhanger that I left on

Solidarity

Summary: Frank enlists your help on a dangerous mission. Matt’s not happy about it.

Pairings: Matt x f!reader, platonic Frank Castle & f!reader, platonic Matt & Frank

Warning: Strong profanity (looking at you, Frank). Canon-typical violence. There’s also dog abuse in this, so please proceed with caution!

Embers and Ashes, Chapter 9

“The point is," Foggy said, "that I know that you know Matt’s secret. Like, Matt’s deepest, darkest, kinda terrifying secret that I’m not going to even say aloud just in case there’s a hidden camera in here somewhere. And yeah, you’re probably thinking, Foggy Nelson is a nice guy. Foggy Nelson wouldn’t hurt me. But I swear to God—” Here Foggy leaned forward slightly, and instinctively you leaned away. “—if you give up his secret, accidentally or intentionally, I will find you and I will make your life miserable in a way that only a damn good lawyer can do.”

WARNINGS: Just language in this chapter! Also some self-deprecation on the reader's part.

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Fem!Reader

Story summary: It's not easy to keep a low profile when you've got the power to heal, but you've managed to carve out a home for yourself in Hell's Kitchen. By day you're an assistant at a literary agency, and by night you mend broken bones and bloody cuts. It's a double life that constantly forces you to question your morality, because the wounds you seem to magically heal don't vanish forever — they've got to eventually go somewhere.

But after you make the mistake of healing the wrong people, you become Daredevil’s next target, and suddenly your double life becomes far more tangled than you could ever have predicted.

Set post-S3. Slow burn Matt x Fem!Reader. You can read Ch. 1 on AO3 here and Ch. 9 on AO3 here.

Tag list (let me know if you'd like to be added to it!):

@yeonalie @mariatpwk @lionalsowrites @willowpains @lunaticgurly @kiwwia-wiwwia @e-l-s-i

I'm taking a creative writing class and the professor is discussing the second person POV this week, so of course she's telling us how to write in this perspective, and giving us literary examples, etc. And I'm just sitting quietly in my seat, bursting to say YES I LOVE SECOND PERSON POV IT LETS ME LIVE UNDER THE DELUSION THAT MATT MURDOCK LOVES ME

Meanwhile so many students in the class are like "Ugh I hate 2nd person, it makes no sense and it's painful to read." And all I can think is you haven't been exposed to the wonders of the matt murdock x reader tag on tumblr.

That's been my week so far (also unrelated but I am working on the next chapter of Embers and Ashes, it should be out by Friday at the latest!)