#carl brock

[reaperlight]

[In which Eddie gets a new show, casually mentions his husband/he/they partner on air and gets a not-so-nice phone call from his estranged father]

Carl: You're not good enough for my son!

Venom: You're not good enough for your son. Or ANY of your grandchildren.

Carl: What?!

Venom: You heard me!

Venom: [*Angrily slams the phone down*]

Cletus: Uh... Did you want us to...?

Venom: No! I'll take care of it.

Eddie: Guys, really, I appreciate it. But I'd rather not find out what my father tastes like.

Venom: I'm sure his brain is far too small to make a meal in any case.

Carnage: My host knows some excellent places to hide the body!

Eddie: [to Carnage] ...This is not setting a good example for your brothers. [To Venom] Just let it go man, he's not worth it.

Venom: But you're worth it.

Eddie: Yeah, but he no doubt wants the attention. Just let him rot.

Frances: Well, we've got some nifty ideas for revenge if you change your mind...

Eddie: ...

Frances: They don't ALL involve kidnapping and murder, I swear.

[samasmith23]

Diving into The Abyss arc of Donny Cates' Venom!

I'm currently marathoning Donny Cates' Venom run in the "Venomnibus by Cates & Stegman" that I got as a birthday present this year. I re-read "The Abyss" arc published in Venom (2018) #9-12 just a few nights ago (which was the last arc from the run that I originally read back in 2019), and holy FREAKING crap... I had honestly forgotten just how effectively heavy and powerful this arc truly was!

When I first read this storyline back in 2019, it completely blew me away with its sheer amount of shocking twists and revelations, ranging from the backstory of a teenage Eddie Brock being involved in a drunk driving accident in which he ran over and killed a kid, but ultimately got off despite wanting to plead guilty due to Eddie's abusive father Carl Brock violently forcing him to plead innocent, to the revelation that his older sister Mary Brock and past experiences with cancer were actually false memories implanted by the symbiote in order to manipulate Eddie into staying with it, to the fact that he has a son named Dylan Brock who was accidentally conceived during that brief time his ex-wife Anne Weying bonded with Eddie's symbiote and briefly became "She-Venom" during the 90s miniseries Venom: Sinner Takes All.

But re-reading the story now I can look back and greatly appreciate the sheer amount of craft that's on display with Cates' writing in this arc, since he carefully foreshadows all of these plot twists all throughout the arc through subtle hints and double-meanings in the character's dialogue. Aside from the brilliant narrative subversion of fooling the reader into initially believing that Eddie is the kid who's run-over in the flashbacks before pulling to rug to reveal that in actuality Eddie was the one behind the wheel, the twist that Eddie's sister was simply a false memory was expertly foreshadowed through both Carl & Dylan being absolutely confused whenever Eddie mentioned the name "Mary."

Another that I really love about the drunk-driving backstory is how it not only recontextualizes Eddie’s motivations as both an anti-hero and as a supervillain. In regards to his anti-hero persona, Eddie's constant proclamations about wanting to "protect the innocent" were rather ill-defined back when the character received over a dozen miniseries' during the 90s. But here Cates' emphasizes how Eddie's guilt over accidentally killing a kid and being let off due to being manipulated by his abusive father has made him want to try to protect "real innocents" from people like himself. but also during his time as a villain pursuing Spider-Man. As for how this backstory recontextualizes Eddie's tenure as a Spider-Man villain, during in the original David Micheline era in which Venom first debuted, Eddie’s hatred for Spidey was connected to the classic Death of Jean DeWolfe storyline, wherein Eddie wrote a series of interviews for the Daily Globe with a man he believed to be the notorious serial killer, “the Sin Eater,” whilst hiding the killer’s true identity under the guise of “first amendment rights and protecting his journalistic source.” But Eddie was eventually forced to reveal his source’s identity due to mounting police pressure and the Sin Eater’s rising body-count, which led to Eddie outing the Sin Eater as Emil Gregg. But literally 30-minutes later it was revealed that Gregg was just a copycat, as Spidey caught the real Sin Eater who turned out to be policeman Stan Carter, which led to Eddie being fired and refusing to take responsibility for his own failures by projecting the blame onto Spider-Man. Additionally, the Micheline's Venom: Lethal Protector & Zeb Wells' Venom: Dark Origin miniseries highlighted how Eddie’s relationship with his estranged father partially influenced his writing of the Sin Eater interviews in an effort to bolster his reputation, but following his firing permanently destroyed any chances of reconciliation with Carl Brock.

And in those classic stories Eddie constantly proclaimed that he was “once an innocent whose life Spider-Man ruined,” even though his actions as a journalist were incredibly morally dubious and unethical. So the drunk driving backstory of Eddie being violently forced to plead innocent by his father and ultimately getting off? That only further fleshes out Eddie’s inability to accept responsibility and false projection of “innocence” onto himself during his villainous phase in those original stories, while also showing how much Eddie has grown since then by acknowledging that he’s not a “real innocent.”

Plus, there's also a strong thematic through-line in this arc about the nature of abusive relationships in the form of Eddie's co-dependent bond with the Venom Symbiote plus Carl's abusive behavior towards Eddie in the past & Dylan in the present day. Additionally, Cates also touches upon ideas of self-improvement and redemption, not only through the backstory of Eddie's motivation to "protect the innocent," but also through the story ending with Eddie deciding to raise Dylan himself after helping him escape Carl's influence, as well as the Venom symbiote willingly leaving Eddie & Dylan after the former denounces the symbiote's manipulative behavior, with the symbiote proclaiming that it's, "Trying... to... be... better... both... of... you... better... without... me..."

It shows that the key difference between Carl and both Eddie & the symbiote is that Venom at least acknowledges his past monstrous behavior and makes efforts to change unlike his coward of a father, thereby simultaneously allowing Eddie to overcome the demons of his past with his abusive father, as well as making the symbiote's later reunion with Eddie in Absolute Carnage more believable!

Like... hot dang! There's a reason why "The Abyss" arc in particular left such a lasting impression on me when I initially read the first 12-issues of Donny Cates' Venom series a few years ago! Not only does it still hold up phenomenally well from both a narrative and thematic standpoint, but it's gotten me even more excited to dive into the rest of Cates' Venom run and the corresponding Absolute Carnage and King In Black events, which will be my first time ever reading those stories!

However, I do have some thoughts regarding two minor points of contention about Cates' run as a whole and "The Abyss" arc in particular that I've encountered from toxic fandom spaces here on Tumblr that I also wanted to address, which I'll link to right here:

[aamy2100982]

What happened to Eddie on Earth-654 is

he looks a lot like his dad xd (and he wears a lens, weird, I guess it's also the universe in which Eddie has myopia)

Obviously I don't know much about this universe, but seeing as Eddie is a reporter, it's probably the universe where Eddie lived up to his father's standards.

[deaddcrow]

Was reading smut then suddenly got hit with the hardest reality check right now

[xoxoch3rry]

𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥

𝑾𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑹𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔! 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑹𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔!

𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚

────⊹ ࣪ ˖⋆˖ ࣪⊹────

𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝑾𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒚

The Lines between Us

────⊹ ࣪ ˖⋆˖ ࣪⊹────

𝑺𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝑹𝒆𝒊𝒅

The Breaking Point

────⊹ ࣪ ˖⋆˖ ࣪⊹────

𝑹𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝑪𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒏

Blue Eyed Tied

Dangerous Waters

────⊹ ࣪ ˖⋆˖ ࣪⊹────

𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒃𝒚 𝑩𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌

Murdering My Girlfriend Prank

Tension?

────⊹ ࣪ ˖⋆˖ ࣪⊹────

𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒍 𝑮𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔

Through Sickness and Health

It's Gonna Be Okay

Beneath the Stars

Sorrow

────⊹ ࣪ ˖⋆˖ ࣪⊹────

𝑩𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒚 𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒓

Shadows Of Regret

In the Dark

A Kiss to Remember

────⊹ ࣪ ˖⋆˖ ࣪⊹────

𝑷𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑷𝒂𝒏 2003

Dream A little Dream

────⊹ ࣪ ˖⋆˖ ࣪⊹────

𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒌𝒊

Love in the Chaos

────⊹ ࣪ ˖⋆˖ ࣪⊹────

Updated masterlist. January 24, 2025

@ xoxoch3rry do not steal or translate my work.

[yourmamakira]

Update, you guys will get your Christmas special’s tomorrow because I fell asleep and didn’t start writing anything until now! 😁 but MARRY CHRISTMAS MY BABIES!! I LOVE YOU!!!

[justdealingwithsomeissues]

Eddie uses an aging ray to turn all the symbiotes to dust... but hey... the people inside are still alive at least?

[autisticfoxgirl333]

Comment or Reply who your Favorite Brawl Stars Character is!

Here is mine!

-Janet

-Bonnie

-Bea

-Max

-Surge

-Tara

-Carl

-Emz

-And Sprout!

But to be honest, I like all the Brawlers!😄

[thevondoom62]

The Incredible Hulk is always open for a fight.

[megamett44-lover]

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐌𝐞!

𝙃𝙄 , 𝐈’𝐦 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐚!

•She/Her

•20

•Matt girl 🦈

•Libra

•Fake blonde

•Former Wattpad celebrity

•Dog lover

•Coffee addict

•Nursing student

•80s lover

•Friend to all

���･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐈 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫!

(Please send your requests in the ask box rather than messages please)

•Matt Sturniolo

•Chris Sturniolo

•Nick Sturniolo (Platonic!)

•Colby Brock

•Sam Golbach

•Grayson Dolan

•Ethan Dolan

•Steve Harrington

•JJ Maybank

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Requests are open at this time!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

love ya!🫶🏻

[carldoonan]

Folks have been creating their own redesigns of the original Pokémon anime cast recently and my, uh... my hand slipped.

[reaperlight]

Cletus: Listen here you son of a bitch--

Eddie: My mother, was, in fact considered an immensely kind and well-liked woman.

Cletus: ...

Cletus: Your father?

Eddie: ...Continue.

[samasmith23]

Considering that we later learn in Donny Cates’ Venom run that Carl Brock did indeed physically abuse his son while forcing him to plead innocent instead of guilty after Eddie killed a kid in a drunk driving accident, I’d like to think that this flashback from the classic Lethal Protector miniseries is a partial case of unreliable narrator considering that the housekeeper tells Spider-Man that Carl was never “cruel or abusive” towards Eddie. I mean… she’s either not aware of the truth or is aware but is trying to protect herself from Carl potentially firing her or worse…

From Venom: Lethal Protector #3 by David Michelinie & Mark Bagley, and Venom (2018) #10 by Donny Cates & Ryan Stegman.

[gothicscars]

the garden of death . . .

about me masterlist spotify

[xoxoch3rry]

𝙏𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙍𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙨

𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆.

𝑾𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑹𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔! 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑹𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔!

𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚: 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩

ᴼᴿ

𝑺𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒃 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 '𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩'

@ xoxoch3rry

[mamabearneeds-her-dietcoke]

oh my god a hundred followers? i love yall sm no joke🙏 ik i haven't been active recently so send in requests for anything you want see for whoever, and I'll do them all i love yall🥹🥹