Last to Know
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Last to Know |
| Author(s): | whitchry9 |
| Date(s): | Jan 8, 2016 |
| Length: | 1629 words; one chapter |
| Genre(s): | Oneshot, POV Outsider, Secret identity, Friendship |
| Fandom(s): | Daredevil (TV series) |
| Relationship(s): | |
| External Links: | On AO3 |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Last to Know is a gen oneshot by whitchry9. The story is set in the Daredevil TV universe and focuses on a minor canon character, Brett Mahoney. The story was created for a prompt on daredevilkink, a kink meme on Dreamwidth. The original prompt was quite detailed and included some suggestions from anonymous commentators, such as:
"It was dark, you know?" Couldn't see a thing." "The room was fully lit." "Well, it felt dark. From, you know. My despair."[1]
The completed story, as posted on Archive of Our Own, is fairly popular with over 2000 kudos, 76 comments, and over 500 bookmarks.[2]
Premise
The premise is that Matt Murdock's secret identity as Daredevil is actually well-known throughout Hell's Kitchen. The story is told from the POV of police detective Brett Mahoney as he observes the rather silly lies citizens of Hell's Kitchen tell to keep Murdock's identity safe.
Reactions & Recs
"I keep coming back to this. Still the best way to deal with Matt's secret"[3]
"People describe Daredevil to Brett Mahoney, and they're descriptions get wilder and wilder.Eventually, Brett gets it.
(The first one in particular had me cracking up for like 10 minutes straight)."[4]
This is so great, because in the comics literally EVERYONE knows Matt is Daredevil even when he denies it (so much so that he actually went to a party wearing a sweater that said 'I'M NOT DAREDEVIL'. I cannot make this stuff up, it is the most hilarious comic book panel I have seen to date.)
“Got it,” Brett said. “Definitely not blind, at least seven feet tall. I'll make sure to note that in my report.”[5]
Last to Know was included on princesssarcastia's reclist of superhero fics that focus on community as an example of stories where "the literal, physical community that heroes protect protect[s] the heroes back."[6]
Similar Stories
Gen stories related to Brett Mahoney dealing with Matt Murdock's secret identity in some way aren't uncommon in the Daredevil (TV) fandom. Several similar stories are popular on AO3. A few are listed below:
- Friendship is magic. by NohaIjiachi (2015)
- Plausible Deniability by EmpressOfHiddenRainbows (2015)
- "Sgt. Brett Mahoney is a good cop – not just in the sense of being on the right side of the law, but also good at his job. When he first starts noticing how injury prone Matt Murdock is, he doesn’t think much about it. Murdock always has a plausible explanation. However, Brett gradually starts to realize that something isn’t quite right with all these excuses and is determined to get to the bottom of things. What will he do when he finally arrives at the unbelievable answer to the mystery?"
- Magnet for Trouble by prettybirdy979 (2015)
- I Am Not Your Jim Gordon[7] by WerewolvesAreReal (2015)
References
- ^ Anonymous comments on daredevilkink. Matt's identity is the biggest open secret in Hells Kitchen, Jan 7, 2016. Archived from the original on March 26, 2021.
- ^ Last to Know, whitchry9 on Archive of Our Own. Jan 8, 2016. (Accessed March 26, 2021) See WayBack Machine captures for a more complete picture of kudos and bookmarks over time.
- ^ PotterinPakistan. AO3 comment, April 29, 2020. Archived from the original on March 26, 2021.
- ^ AO3 bookmark by TalkBubble. Bookmarks, May 22, 2018. Archived from the original on March 26, 2021.
- ^ hujwernoo. AO3 bookmark, Nov 16, 2016. Archived from the original on March 26, 2021.
- ^ princesssarcastia. here is the key to making me fall in love with a superhero narrative., June 13, 2020. Archived from the original on March 26, 2021.
- ^ AO3. I Am Not Your Jim Gordon. July 20, 2015.