#and i just think eddie would be into that vibe just. makin out with people. spitting wine on them.

[hexiewrites]

literally every day i have to hold myself back from writing an eddie as a rockstar but with goblin rat man matty healy vibes and steve as the feral fan who just wants to be pulled up on stage and made out with fic

every.

single.

DAY.

[mask-of-anubis]

HOA + Taylor Swift Songs

Joy - Clean 

Alfie - Daylight

Patricia - The Other Side of the Door

Nina - Out Of The Woods

Fabian - Death By A Thousand Cuts

KT - Call It What You Want

Amber - peace

Eddie - Long Live

Mara - Begin Again

Jerome - The Archer

Willow - Lover

Mick - Stay Beautiful

This was so hard because literally all of them have “New Romantics” vibes: Amber, Joy, KT, Willow... I could go on. More thoughts under the cut

. . .

Joy - Clean

Rain came pouring down

When I was drowning, that's when I could finally breathe

...

There was nothing left to do

When the butterflies turned to

Dust that covered my whole room

So I punched a hole in the roof

Let the flood carry away all my pictures of you

—————

Alfie - Daylight

Luck of the draw only draws the unlucky

And so I became the butt of the joke

I wounded the good and I trusted the wicked

Clearing the air, I breathed in the smoke

...

Back and forth from New York (Sneaking in your bed)

I once believed love would be (Burning red)

But it's golden

Like daylight, like daylight

—————

Patricia - The Other Side of the Door

I said, "Leave," but all I really want is you

To stand outside my window throwing pebbles

Screaming, "I'm in love with you"

Wait there in the pouring rain

Come back for more

And don't you leave 'cause I know

All I need is on the other side of the door

—————

Nina - Out of the Woods

Remember when we couldn't take the heat?

I walked out and said, "I'm setting you free"

But the monsters turned out to be just trees

...

Oh I Remember!

Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods yet?

Are we out of the woods yet? Are we out of the woods?

Are we in the clear yet? Are we in the clear yet?

Are we in the clear yet? In the clear yet? Good

—————

Fabian - Death By A Thousand Cuts

I look through the windows of this love

Even though we boarded them up

Chandelier's still flickering here

'Cause I can't pretend it's okay when it's not

—————

KT - Call It What You Want

And I know I make the same mistakes every time

Bridges burn, I never learn

At least I did one thing right

I did one thing right

I'm laughing with my lover, makin' forts under covers

—————

Amber - peace

All these people think love's for show

But I would die for you in secret

The devil's in the details, but you got a friend in me

Would it be enough if I could never give you peace?

—————

Eddie - Long Live

And the cynics were outraged

Screaming, "This is absurd"

'Cause for a moment, a band of thieves

In ripped up jeans got to rule the world

...

Long live all the mountains we moved

I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you

I was screaming, long live that look on your face

And bring on all the pretenders

One day, we will be remembered

—————

Mara - Begin Again

I've been spending the last eight months

Thinking all love ever does is break and burn and end

But on a Wednesday in a cafe, I watched it begin again

—————

Jerome - The Archer

I've been the archer, I've been the prey

Who could ever leave me, darling

But who could stay?

...

I wake in the night, I pace like a ghost

The room is on fire, invisible smoke

And all of my heroes die all alone

Help me hold on to you

—————

Willow - Lover

We could leave the Christmas lights up till January

And this is our place, we make the rules

And there’s a dazzling haze, a mysterious way, about you, dear

Have I known you 20 seconds or 20 years?

...

My heart’s been borrowed and yours has been blue

All’s well that ends well to end up with you

Swear to be over dramatic and true to my, lover!

—————

Mick - Stay Beautiful

You're beautiful

Every little piece, love

And don't you know

You're really gonna be someone

Ask anyone

And when you find everything you looked for

I hope your life will lead you back to my door

Oh, but if it don't

Stay beautiful

[bibibuckleyy]

my thoughts on ‘The taking of Dispach 9-1-1′

this was SUCH a good episode from start to finish! *pulls out a slide show* Now i’ll show you breaking down every. single. scene-

jk lmao...unless?

spoilers below the cut!

lord. have. mercy.

these hoes are givin me major heist vibes

tiffany bby ur the driver but for me to acknowledge you as such you better be Letty Ortiz good hun

wow these thugs are a lot my organized than i first thought like i know they was carryin guns but i aint know they was packin this much like damn

Oceans 8 who?

so i wanna know where they just...got a cop car???

OH HELL NAH Y’ALL BEST NOT MESS WITH TERRY

I MEAN ANA MAY BE HIS SISTER

AND  SHE MAY BE MAKIN MOVES ON EDDIE 

BUT IN THIS HOUSE WE LOVE TERRY FLORES SO YOU GET YOUR GUN AWAY FROM SUNSHINE BBY

it’s kinda funny rewatching this scene when you know what’s about to go down

like i’m cacklin like ‘oh shooooot dramaaaa’

but i’m also like ‘SOMEONE GRAB JOSH AND RUN’

“temporary maintenance, happens all the time” cool cool cool 

i’m not freakin out you’re freakin out

josh and maddie are like friend goals i love their dynamic like yoooo

hi yes could you please get that gun away from terry’s head i would really appreciate it.

OMG SECURITY DUDE NOOOO

wow ur like the only line of defense in the dispatch center and they just kicked ur ass

is this where our tax dollars are goin??

fly high josh’s mug, fly high

that absolute look of fear on his face tho, still breaks my heart

josh russo defense squad post up homies

“i love you, howie” nope nope nope didn’t like it the second time either

when that gun went off

LET ME TELL YOU

i just,,,waited for the blood to start comin out of terry

thank god it wasn’t him

good scene lmaooo 9-1-1 writers i hate you all lmao lmao

“bees are the least of your troubles here, sweetheart” I HATE YOU DUDE

someone call mama grant please

“we’ve got dispatch” i do not like this ma’am i’d like to speak to the manager

“you’ll shoot us” man shut the hell up-

“no, we’ll shoot the person next you you” this dude is insane

lookin like mr.clean’s evil cousin LMAOOOOO

“you only do something like this so you can do something...worse”

um whAT-

“you’re being paranoid, she’s fine” CHIMNEY NO NO NO

i don’t think i’ve ever thrown this much popcorn at my tv in my life

as chimney said “don’t do it man” just picture a 5′5 lightskinned girl tripping over her blanket while yelling “DO IT CHIM, DO IT!” and you’ll have me

“sorry, we are experiencing a high call volume” BITCH MORE LIKE A HIGH CRIME VOLUME SOMEBODY GET MAMA GRANT DAMNIT-

*screams* BUUUUUUUUCK 

HI BBY

ooh nice shirt, i guess pink isn’t the only color that suits ya

he looks good in all the colors

whole damn snaaaaack

not to be an idiot on main but seriously, who watches the watchmen?

“i miss like an earthquake or something?” lmao chim is a whole vibe

“wait....why are you calling 9-1-1, is everything ok?” paired with that cute adorable concerned face he made is making me cry ok we don’t deserve buck T-T

“she’s at the call center, what could happen?” AT LOT ACTUALLY

OH THANK YOU JESUS IT’S ATHENA FUCKIN FINALLY 

*cries* mama grant you won’t believe the day i’ve had

“he’s my husband” LMAOOOOO WHAT

whoa tiffany we’ve already had our fair share of mail bombs here that bet’ not be what i think it is

THE PACKAGE IS VIBRATING AND BLINKING TAKE COVER-

ohhhhhhhhhh

it’s just takin out the security systems lmao 

“technical difficulties” BITCH MORE  LIKE CRIMINAL DIFFICULTIES

“i bet this woman really thinks you’re...worthwhile.” JOSH BBY DON’T LISTEN TO A WORD HE SAYS EVERYONE LOVES YOU

ahaha thanks i did not need those flashbacks it hurt enough the first time 

“a woman called about an omelet, i dispatched an officer”

“to the restaurant?”

“not exactly”

???

“i tried calling josh, but no answer” aww josh and buck are friendssssss :)

JOSH HAS BEEN ADOPTED BY THE FIREFAM PASS IT ON

:0

JOSH YOU GENIUS

YOU SMART SMART CINNAMON ROLL

MAMA GRANT IT’S TIME TO MAKE SOME MOVES

“nO NO CHIMNEY DON’T HANG UP!” i shouldn’t have laughed so hard

oh great he’s hastily grabbing his jacket. he’s about to do something rash and irresponsible

....someone call eddie.

that’s some good heist music right there

the bad guys look stressed....good.

“you’re here so i can keep an eye on you and make sure you don’t do anything foolish” BUT YOU LEFT BUCK

OK BUCK I LOVE YOU BBY

BUT YOU HAVE THIS HABIT OF TURNIN INTO SPECIAL AGENT 007 REAL FAST WHEN YOUR FRIENDS ARE IN TROUBLE MAN

LIKE

HE’S THE ‘EVERYONE BEFORE ME’ MEMBER OF THE FIREFAM

mama grant i ain’t questionin your authority or nun but like???

WHY WOULD YOU NOT KEEP AN EYE ON BUCK TOO?

HE’S THE MOST LIKELY CANDIDATE TO DO SOMETHIN STUPID

thats some reckless drivin there buckaroo

buck who were you tryna fool tho

athena only knows one golden retriever dude in this city who drives a grey and black jeep

“ok now, don’t be mad” LMAOOOOOOOO

HANDS DOWN ONE OF MY FAVE SCENES

HE KNEW HIS MOM WAS PISSED TOO LMAOOOO

athena’s look is sending meeeeee 😂😂

omg my god😭😂

“hey buck”

“...hey chim”

athena has some dumbass kids yo

the best part is, she knows it

the way mr. clean broke his neck when dude said ‘police cruiser’ LMAOOOO

“and if it’s not normal?”

“we’ll find out”

*blasts boss bitch*

i love the way buck is kinda concerned for his mom tho

and athena’s just like ‘it’s no sweat sweetie i do this every day’

“shoot her”

BITCH I HOPE THE FUCK YOU DO

YOU’LL BE A DEAD SON OF A BITCH

I’LL TELL YOU THAT

“shoot her, now”

try her bitch, see what happens to yo ass. 

the 118

the call center

the entire fandom 

we will collectively end you

“we got a report of a code 77″

THANK GOD THAT GOT ATHENA OUT OF THERE

what is a code 77 you say?

“ambush, proceed with caution”

well it sure nuff aint indecent exposure

*boss bitch keeps playing cause that was super smart for her to give out a code 77*

“maddie is smart, she can take care of herself until help gets there”

HELL YEA SHE CAN

SHE KICKED DOUG’S ASS SHE’LL KICK YOURS TOO

“they’re not gonna wanna leave behind a room full of witnesses”

i’m-i’m fine, i swear-

“killing people, your solution to every problem”

excuse me? do i hear morals??

they’re really fighting each other

they some grade a stupid right there 

there’s no way they are pullin this off

terry

terry what are you doing

TERRY

RUN TERRY RUN GO GO GO

OH SHIT

JOSHHHHHHHH

i thought they were gonna shoot terry

BUT JOSH CAME THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH

wowwwwww dispatch is a lot more badass than i thought

these dudes are hard core

OH

OH JOSH NO BBY

THAT LOOKS LIKE IT HURT

aii square tf up mr. clean we don’t hit josh here and you gon have to pay for that one

the way everyone is just quietly sobbing tho

it saddens me

“I need another thirty minutes”

i’m really enjoying watching this dude’s plan crumble around him

swat posted up aii i see yall

“we’ll try to get eyes in a damn windowless room”

well when you put it that way it sounds like this is hopeless

“i’m sorry i thought you were crazy”

“i’m sorry i wasn’t”

wow i don’t think i was supposed to laugh at that

and chim bein concerned for maddie is literally one if the best things ever y’all.

completely unrelated note, anybody else see bad boys for life?

“yeah i’m ok, my ears are just ringing a little” with the TEARS and the SNIFFLES and him SMILING THROUGH THE PAIN JOSH IS TOO PURE FOR THIS 

“why do you think we asked for so many RA units?” BITCH I KNOW YOU FUCKIN LYIN

for those of y’all that ain’t kno, RA units are rescue ambulance units

way to reassure people, lady

it’s like she said ‘everyone might be lightly shot by the time this is all over’

“so you are worried. it makes sense, cause all your friends keep dissappearing are they even in the same building?” WITH THAT LOOK OF STRAIGHT SPITE DAMN MADDIE BUCKLEY, DAMNNN

we stan the BAMF BUCKLEYS

“oh my god, LINDA??” lo key thought this was real for a second

“latex! is there latex in your gloves?” greg come on man you planned a heist you can’t be this stupid

SURPRISE! LINDA IS ALLERGIC TO BEES

ENJOY YOUR EPINEPHRINE ASSHOLE

OH

OH WOW

WOW DISPATCH

Y’ALL JUST-

WOW

EVERYONES GOT GUNS AND EVERYTHING OH MY GODDDDD

GIVE IT UP FOR DISPATCH 

you know it’s really funny, cause tiffany ain’t nowhere to be found

“next one goes in your head” OOOOOOOOOOOH SHE’S A BOSS ASS BITCH BROOO YESSSSSSS

(i know, two different songs, but ya gotta admit, it applies)

“you don’t get to die” 

i just-

hands down, most powerful line in the whole episode.

it’s an odd form of vengeance, saving the man that attacked you multiple times from the release of death

 that’s what it would’ve been tho

a release

he would’ve died, and he wouldn’t of had to pay for any of his actions

but instead, josh saved his sorry ass

so he gets to pay for this in the land of the living

the best revenge, actually

and, josh saved a life

he’s worthwhile

“i’m not goin back” well i knew mr. clean was gonna die from the beginning sooooooo

“we’ve got dispatch”  and it’s finally over

i’m kinda bummed that we didn’t get to see SEAL!buck or the rest of the firefam but we got  BAMF!dispatch and that was enough lmao

kudos to those off duty dispatches as well, like y’all just walked past the dead body and moved on from the whole hostage situation to do your already stressful job

CHIM’S FACE WHEN HE SEES MADDIE I AM SOBBING

THEY SAID MADNEY RIGHTS Y’ALL😭😭😭

this hug is everythinggggg 

lo key buck watching from afar breaks my heart ahaha

“she already has everything she needs”

....this is tea for another day, but...

buck, you do know people need you as much as you need them, right?

....right?

still not over that hug tho

ayeeee wassup bobby!

how was the camping trip i was extremely against?

oooooh i love the crime recaps!

i may or may not have been like buck in the bank episode when he said ‘i’m some confused, can you start over’

...ahem....

“wait....you didn’t round her up too?”

ok listen....

while i don’t condone stealing and and the extreme amount of violence they used,

i do condone outsmarting men that think less of you because you are a woman

you are a boss tiffany, and i’m actually kind of sad you got caught

“tiffany was the real mastermind” can i just.....

*BLASTS BOSS BITCH FROM THE ROOFTOPS CAUSE WOMEN OWNED THIS EPISODE! THEY WERE SO DAMN BADASS*

thanks 9-1-1 writers for that, btw. 

gotta admit, as much as they rip out our hearts and stomp on em, they know what they are doin

jake you shady shady bitch

ngl tho both plans were solid 

maybe if it was done completely by women it would’ve worked :)

“looks  like your trip’s been delayed...by about 5 to 15 years” athena you got the best lines yo

jake f’ed up the other plan too lmaoo

like i said, if it was all women, they would’ve pulled this off

and they end it with madney

gosh i loved this episode

So! These were my thoughts on 3x14! Let me know what you think, and hit up my ask box if you want me to post my thoughts on another episode! Later taters!

Oh yeah, if you liked this you can find my thoughts on ‘Pinned’ here!

[verycharismaticdragon]

Venom (2018) is a Romcom, and here’s why

(or ”in this essay I will” joke gone very very wrong)

So, as most of us already noticed, Venom (2018) sure feels like a romantic comedy disguised as a superhero (well, antihero technically) movie. But is it truly? The short answer is yes, but I didn't just spend my afternoon hunting proof to leave you with a short answer.

Now, I must note that Venom is really not the first superhero movie to mix another genre in. Off the top of my head, and perhaps most obvious, Ant-Man is mixing superheroics with a heist movie. Black Panther has the political thriller going. Thor: Ragnarok is a full blown cocktail, adding at least three more genres to the original one. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that someone thought to mix in romcoms, and I for one am grateful that our first example of it has alien slime falling in love with a guy.

Because that's what happened, despite certain people bending over backwards just to not acknowledge it. But I promised you proof, so let's get to it.

How do you determine if something is a romantic comedy or not? "That's just the vibe I got" is really not going to cut it in a debate. But what is a vibe if not our subconsciousness recognizing a certain pattern? In this case, the pattern was the plot structure. Not being a huge fan of romcoms in general, though, I wasn’t sure how to put it into words. Thankfully, I didn't need to: with a bit of googling, I found out that most articles have referred to the same source when it came to the romcom plot structure: a book "Writing the Romantic Comedy" by Billy Mernit. According to him, all romantic comedies can be broken down into seven story beats. How many of those would you guess does Venom follow? Hint: it’s all of them.

The rest under cut. Careful, spoilers start here!

I’m going to give a short description for each beat, and then point out a scene or scenes which align with them. Let’s get to it!

We start at “The Chemical Equation” - this is a setup, a starting point, our characters’ status quo prior to meeting each other. It is meant not only to give us a sense of their personalities, but to show us what it is that they lack: an unfulfilled need, a missing piece in their life. Note that some films have that part concentrate on the main (point-of-view) character, while others distribute it equally.

For our case, that is pretty much everything prior to Eddie agreeing to help Dr. Skirth.

On one side, we are introduced to Eddie Brock. We are given a glimpse into his life at it’s high point: he has a work that he loves, being a reporter who goes after the powerful and corrupt, and a beloved fiance. However, a mistake he makes ruins both his career and his engagement. Now he is alone, and more than that, he lost faith in what he used to do - helping people. He says as much to Skirth when she approaches him: “I’m done with it” - “Done with what?” - “That whole ‘helping my fellow man’ shit.” On top of that, his ex-fiance has moved on…

On the other side, we are introduced to the symbiotes. We don’t learn as much as we do about Eddie, who is our point-of-view character, but we do get a glimpse. While a lot of exposition here is for the superheroing half of the plot, let’s pick a few important bits: the symbiotes can’t just attach themselves to anyone, they need a host that ‘suits’ them. And they are trapped.

So, Eddie’s life is ruined seemingly beyond repair; and the symbiote needs someone to get out. Which leads us to…

“Meet Cute”, the catalyst: an incident that brings our characters together, but also sets up a conflict between them. It should reflect the theme of the story, as well as set the tone for the relationship.

Technically, everything from Eddie getting into the lab and up to Venom jumping into the bay falls under this beat, but I think the apartment fight scene and the following chase bear most of it. We get the tone of Venom and Eddie’s relationship (“What are you doing?” - “I’m putting my hands up!” - “You are making us look bad!”), and we get the conflict: not only can the symbiote control Eddie’s body at a whim, but they also relish in violence (“Pile of bodies, pile of heads”) and, well, consider human beings food. These scenes also tie into the main plot, as well as show that our characters are capable of more together than they are apart.

The next story beat is “A Sexy Complication”. Typically occurring at the end of Act 1, this is a new development that raises the stakes of the story. It can be an external problem that might break the characters apart, or an internal issue that keeps them from really connecting. This is where the conflict becomes apparent: either characters’ feelings interfere with their external goal, or characters find themselves at cross-purposes with each other.

In Venom, this is a scene under the Golden Gate Bridge. Our characters get to talk without getting interrupted for the first time, and the Venom symbiote makes it clear that their relationship is not that of equals: “Cooperate and you just might survive”. On top of that, the symbiote admits that eating people is “why [they] are here”. That goes directly against one of Eddie’s main personal values, his desire to help people, thus putting the characters at odds. Yet Eddie has no way of stopping the symbiote, so he has to go along with it.

Going into Act 2, we come to the midpoint, “The Hook”. This is a big scene that really binds the characters together as a couple: it gives a feeling of “now they are in this together for good”. It should repeat or reflect the main theme in some way, and offer implications for how their relationship is going to work out.

This is the whole sequence at Eddie’s former place of employment, which going forward I’m calling a tower (because I have no idea if it’s called anything in the movie and it’s a tall building, bear with me). We see Eddie successfully argue against Venom for the first time when the latter suggests eating the security guard. This is the beginning of an agreement Eddie is going to put into words at the end of the movie - that they are only going to hurt (and eat) bad people. We see also that Venom is willing to do things for Eddie, such as scaling the tower to get to Eddie’s former boss’ office. Essentially, they start to compromise and work together, ending the sequence with a good old fight. And this time Eddie is not an unwilling participant - unlike the apartment fight scene, he actually chooses to let Venom out (“Mask!” - “Copy”).

But nothing is ever that easy, which brings us to the “Swivel”: a turning point at the end of Act 2, raising the stakes higher than ever. This is where the underlying conflict of the relationship finally plays out, the main character forced to choose between the relationship and something of equal importance for them.

In our case, the hospital scene. Dan, a doctor, tells Eddie that his body is suffering extensive damage, which will lead to his death. The symbiote tries to convince Eddie that they can fix him. The situation escalates, and as a result Venom gets physically separated from Eddie.

This was the scene that initially clued me in to the whole “wait, Venom is actually a romcom” deal, I must say, mostly because of Eddie’s reaction to being separated. Because he isn’t relieved, or scared, or anything else one might expect from a person whose life was just saved from an alien parasite. No, his first action is actually to jump up to the glass separating them and yell. “What happened to we, huh? what happened to we?”

He sounds hurt. He sounds betrayed. He sounds like he is breaking up with the alien slime, not happily getting rid of it. He even adds “We’re done!” as he leaves.

This brings us to “The Dark Moment”: the consequence of the swivel scene. The characters’ private motivations revealed, they have sacrificed either their relationship or their goal. This is the lowest point for our characters.

Eddie leaves, and is captured by the bad guys. Without Venom, he can’t do much more than quip at them. When the main villain realizes Eddie doesn’t have a symbiote, he orders his henchman to dispose of him. Eddie is taken to the forest, and his attempt to fight and escape yields nothing. It seems these are his last moments - and then he is saved by none other than the Venom symbiote, leading to…

“Joyful Defeat” - a reconciliation between the characters that reaffirms how important the relationship is to them. It usually leads to a happy ending, albeit often at the cost of some personal sacrifice for one or both of the characters.

I could say “that’s the rest of the movie” and be done, but let’s be honest: I want to talk about them juicy details. I also want to make sure you can use this essay should you ever find yourself in an argument with someone saying Venom isn’t a romantic comedy, so: let’s talk about the Big Damn Kiss.

So, the love interest makes a grand entrance, saves the protagonist, and plants a big one on him. We all saw this scene probably a million times! Granted, most of those times the love interest wasn’t also re-bonding to the protagonist in a symbiosis - but finding a new way to spin a familiar scene is what keeps the genre fresh. It must be noted that the bonding could be done without making out for almost 15 seconds (every other symbiote transfer we see is done by hand on shoulder/neck). It must also be noted, for those hung up on who Venom chose as a temporary host (Eddie’s ex-girlfriend), that not only does the kiss end the moment a symbiote is fully transferred, but her reaction when Eddie brings it up later is “you call that a kiss?” She also confirms it was Venom’s idea.

The kiss and the bonding definitely check that “reaffirms how important the relationship is to them” box - Venom clearly shows that Eddie is the only host they want. But there is more, even as romantic plot gives way to the superhero plot. The symbiote has a few reasons for going against their own kind, but the main one is spelled out clearly: “What really made you change your mind?” - “You. You did, Eddie”.

As the main plot concludes and the movie moves to the epilogue, we learn that Eddie is doing better - he’s got his job back, he and Anne are now amicable exes, and despite a bit of a dramatic goodbye in the final battle, Venom is still alive and with him. Eddie outlines the rules for their renewed partnership, showing how far they came from “Think of yourself as my ride”. The agreement is a compromise: the symbiote is still a human-eating alien, and Eddie isn’t trying to change that - but he finds a way to align it with his own values. In the end, it’s clear they are better off together than they are apart.

Remember that this story beat is called “Joyful Defeat”? It implies that characters didn’t get what they wanted, but they do not mind; in a lot of cases it means they got what they actually needed. Eddie doesn’t get his old life back; instead he gets a new partner, a new purpose, and a fresh start. The symbiote has turned against their whole kind, but found a place for themselves and a person they can truly belong with.

As you can see, Venom (2018) follows the same beats as a romantic comedy would, complete with a kiss and a grand declaration (seriously, get yourself an alien who would betray their entire species for you, right?). Romantic feelings influence characters’ decisions, give them a reason to do what they do as a hero (super-, anti-, or both). Not acknowledging that does disservice to the characters and the movie.

So enough. Is Venom truly a romcom? Yes.