Red Mimosas

The Punisher: One Last Kill (gifs by @sentrysvoid)

(Full read in AO3)

Paring: Frank Castle x Karen Page

Summary: Because sometimes life is not like a fairy tales and the warm cozy endings don't exist; because sometimes life is chaotic, bloody and painful... Because in a fact that nobody cannot live dreaming of humming golden slumbers to other people as if was a lullaby...

--

Or how karma is a damned bitch and Frank Castle had to deal with the consequences of his actions after Karen returned to New York.

(Post DDBA 1x9 Straight to Hell)

Kastle x The Origin of Love

New level of fandom nerdiness unlocked… I made my first edit! (Sorry for my amateur skills!)

“I will come for you.” -Frank Castle TPS S1E10

David - find Frank because he wanted his life and family back. While he could have done it himself, he had the means and opportunity to gather evidence against Rawlins and Carson Wolf, he knew he and his family would be safe only after these people were dead. He needed a killer because he didn't want to pull the trigger himself.

Madani - She needed Frank to confirmed her story is true. That it was a government conspiracy that killed Ahmed Zubair. Then in season 2 she needed Frank to face her own demons, to face Billy. She didnt want to help him after he called and asked for help. She only changed her mind after she learned about Billy's escape. Later both her and David learned to care about Frank, but before that it was only their personal plans and they saw Frank as a tool than as a friend.

Amy - I didnt know if I should put her on that list. It's not that she wanted to use Frank, he kinda didn't let her leave. But she quickly figured out he is a "lesser evil" because at least he didn't try to kill her and she tried to leave him whenever she had a chance.

Matt - he used Frank's case to justify his own actions not in front of people but in front of himself. He convinced Foggy to take Frank's case then he abandoned it. His speech in court was to defend Daredevil, not The Punisher.

So every person tried to use Frank. And Frank was fully aware of it. Except one person. Karen. She was the only one who truly cared about him and wanted to help him.

When he was in troubles she left everything and rushed to the hospital to help him.

Sigh. I remember after DD s2 when it was "kastle shippers who think there's anything between Frank and Karen don't understand the character at all. His heart died with his family. He can never have romantic feelings for another woman after Maria"...

And yet, here we are 3 shows and 9 years later and Frank Castle canonically has romantic feelings for Karen Page. LOL

What's so difficult to understand about the fact that mcu/netflix Frank is a different iteration of the character and so doesn't necessarily have to have the same fate as his comicbook version?

No one's expecting Frank and Karen to ride off into the sunset or relocate to the countryside to live on a farm. But if you don't see how Karen was framed as a possible potential "after" for Frank, then maybe you weren't paying attention.

Frank is older, weaker, using pills for his pain and for the first time in Frank Castle history, he's fallen hard for someone after Maria (please don't mention him & Elektra in the comics, it was hot but not the same or close). Everything about him having romantic feelings for someone post tragedy is new. It's never happened before with any other version of Frank, comics or screen. There's no benchmark to hold it to. So quite literally, anything could happen. It just depends on what the show runner decides to do. The character has to be retired at some point and they're not killing him off. He can't remain static forever, that works for comicbooks, not for tv. There's also only so many times they can have him reject Karen and choose war over her. Been there, done that. Next.

The comics are designed to go on forever + and that's why they need stories that can't be resolved. That's how superheroes end up with the endless cycle of fridged girlfriends/wives and why every nation the x-men start for mutants gets destroyed eventually and why no one stays dead: In comics, the story can never end. In the comics, giving Frank a romantic storyline could never be the final end of his storyline.

TV-shows and live action actors cannot go on forever. They need to come to a satisfying conclusion for the characters we've come to care about. So they actually need to be able to undergo permanent developments for that. So saying "Frank Castle falling in love/quitting as the Punisher would be a bad adaption" - ignores the fact that an adaption actually has to adapt.

And I would argue that this is especially true for Frank because unlike the Defenders, he occupies a much darker role - he's not a superhero. He also doesn't have a life to fall back on the way Matt or Danny or Jessica do (I think it's a bit more complicated with Luke with how famous he is and the way season 2 ended but I hope we find out what he's up to)

this post (re: Matt and Karen holding hands while disguised) is so funny to me bc.......buddy, i barely know how we got here or how we made it so far. 😭😭😭

Random hit chemistry between these two characters on Daredevil season 2? what the fuck + that was insane + amazing but sure that is the last we will hear of Kastle - - - except Karen Page will have several appearances on the Punisher show??? :o insane shit. DAW sharing all her lengthy theories and ideas about the ship in a way no actor I know really does? who are we to deserve that. season 2 actually acknowledging they have feelings even when they knew there won't be a season 3 and these characters will likely never see each other again. i'm a stupid blessed thing.

LEARNING THEY WOULD ACTUALLY BE IN THE SAME SHOW AGAIN IN THE YEAR 2025??? MY BABIES BACK??? I'm crying a million tears. Not only are they in the SAME SHOW BUT THEY'RE IN THE SAME EPISODE TALKING TO EACH OTHER AND WERE IN CONTACT THE WHOLE TIME? The writer's strike saving our asses by making sure that Karen is in there when they originally planned to write her out entirely?what kind of divine intervention miracle dimension am i in.

Writers acknowledging their dynamic and promoting the show with clips of them on social media, saying it's going to continue in season TWO and likely not even be resolved by season 3????? Listen we were starving in the desert for so long and they dropped us in front of a banquet, if we win all the way, we win, if things don't work out we get to enjoy the tragedy, this is a win-win-win-win-win scenario here.