"What do you like about your partner's characters or the way they portray them?"
Marc Flynn
I like the way Nate writes Marc. Somehow I feel that it comes naturally to him. Marc is grounded in reality. He’s a reliable and dependable man we can count on. He has an edge, like all of Nate’s character and was shaped by the rough and awful childhood he had. Marc is a wounded man, who built himself the best way he could. He patched himself up, healed some part of himself and still has a lot to work on. That never took away from the goodness of his heart. Marc has seen the worst of mankind, the cruelest deeds people had done, the lies and schemes and yet he still is capable of doing good. He’s a force of good. I like the way Nate dives deep into Marc’s psyche. How he allows me (and us) to see Marc for who he really is. He writes him as flawed, as human, as complex but not complicated to understand. He writes him as multi-layered and I love that the most. Marc is extremely attractive as himself. A human character I didn’t expect Nate to write since he told me that the next one was going to be a supernatural creature 😂 but here comes that human being, and he swept me off my feet. I am invested in his story and I want to see what comes next.
as curious as it is, while Marc is a great cop, and I respect his skills, it’s his interpersonal relations that get my attention. I love to see how he interacts with the people around him. He’s a loyal and dependable friend. Always ready to lend a hand. Always happy to spend time with Bianchi and her family. Always polite with the new people he meets. He’s not closed off and not an asshole, hence why he’ll get quick friends with Chief Walker and Debbie. That’s why he so easily small-talked with Phoenix in the elevator. That’s why the kids of the building love playing basketballs with him and the old neighbour keeps babbling about him. He’s kind. That same kindness that turned Phoenix on, is the same one that impressed me. He is a good man, not an idealized version of a good man, not perfection made flesh but a good man. He is trying his best to be a better version of him. He doesn’t hesitate to confide in his partner Bianchi, to try and do better by his people, by Phoenix. He doesn’t hesitate to show his vulnerabilities and to express his objections. He tries to be fair and to make sure that the other party understands why he did what he did. Marc is what we call a “fair and square” type of guy. One who colors inside the box but would not hesitate to bend the rules or go off the books if he has no other choice to ensure the greater good.
He has a darker side. Something that has to do with his trauma, his repressed anger, his repressed fears (cause yes, he represses a lot of negative emotions). He has depths we will explore and depths that don’t take away from his goodness. He is a man who suffered and one I believe, deserves to have a happy life. He deserves to have something that is his. A happiness no one can take from him. He deserves to be loved for who he is. Cared for instead of being the one who cares. To have a shoulder to lean against when in need, to know warmth and love when he lacked it most of his life. He deserves to be Marc. Not just officer Flynn. Not just a soul bound by duty. Marc has a lot to offer and he has a lot to get too.
For Nix, Marc is a safe haven. He is a second chance at life. She was convinced that after the horrors she witnessed and experienced, that there was no one able to love her. She is fractured by life, beaten black and blue by violence and powerlessness. She was on the verge of killing herself when she decided to try and wash as much red as she could off her ledger. Marc came and showed her that she still had something to give. She still cared. Still had feelings. Still craved love and still wanted to give her heart to someone. There is so much life inside Phoenix but for so long she ignored it that her encounter with Marc forced her to notice it. There was life. There is life. And there is a future for someone like her.
Marc, with his soft heart, his honesty, his kindness and good nature taught her to have trust again. He taught her to love again. He taught her to care for herself. He heals parts of her she didn’t know still existed and little by little, underneath all those layers she put on, he uncovered the real Phoenix. He set her free. For Nix, Marc is her safe place. The one with whom she can be free to simply be. He is the one who loves her as she is and never wants her to become his perfect doll. With Marc, she explores her humanity, and I love that the most about them. They are human. They simply are human.
