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Application
CHARACTER
Name Eddie Brock and Venom
Canon Venom (2018 Film)
Age 38 for Eddie, uncertain alien adulthood for Venom
Birthright Jewel Purple-Dusk
Dreams made flesh Eddie was going to refuse, but Venom wants something done to ensure that his people's scouts don't find Earth again. The symbiote's not picky about what that something is.
Canon point Shortly after the end of the movie.
Canon Powers List your character's canon powers and abilities. Consider how their Jewel may impact those powers, either by increasing the potency of an ability or weakening it.
Eddie has powers only in the sense that he has Venom. Without the symbiote, he's an ordinary dude. For Venom, I'm sticking to what's in the movie and what's really classic for his abilities. Comics continuity gets wild if you go looking, and movie continuity is distinct.
In general, the jewel means that Venom needs more energy to do a lot of what he can already do, and it's a little worse and slower. He's going to also need to eat more and to rest more often.
There are also some weaknesses.
Venom and Eating (Because where else am I gonna put this)
Comics!Venom has a history of requiring a specific chemical found in human brains and in chocolate to function. The movie continuity hasn't weighed in on whether Venom needs this, but he does seem to especially like human heads and chocolate. I figure as long as he probably gets one or the other (probably the latter) regularly it wouldn't become an issue he even notices. Basically, I'm not jonesing to jump into the game and start a weird brain-eating plot without any kind of warning.
Personality
Eddie and Venom are a package deal, but they're also individuals and need to be addressed separately here.
EDDIE is an investigative reporter, and the job is a good fit for his stubbornness, his tendency not to trust things at face value, and his desire to see justice meted out on people who ignore or exploit suffering. His determination means he’s not easily intimidated and, at his best, he’s able to be the one that confronts hard-to-target bad actors and pulls their misdeeds into the public eye. Interpersonally, he tends to be direct (sometimes too direct) and can be thoughtless about how his words or actions affect others. His intentions are good, but he can be harder to like personally than he is just based on his work.
One of Eddie’s key problems is that while his stubbornness helps drive him, it often leads him into recklessness. He’s willing to gamble with his reputation and security to go big and loud on stories that could ruin him if something goes wrong. What’s worse is he’ll also do the same with others, involving them without consent if the potential gain is great enough. Eddie has wrecked his career twice, and that lack of consideration for others has also cost him his engagement with Anne Weying.
Losing everything has made him slightly more cautious as he has recovered, but it's not enough to change him. Eddie doesn’t just want to do good, he wants to be seen doing great. He’s even admitted that he used to steal toys as a kid just so he could be the one that returned them. This need to be noticed and approved of points to negative self-image, and this is a problem that dire consequences alone aren’t going to knock out of him. If Eddie can't find security in his worthiness as a person, he’s going to continue his all-costs pursuit of that external validation. It's more important than his safety or his personal relationships.
Unfortunately, while Eddie may be daring and resourceful, his resilience has limits. Getting never-work-in-this-town-again trashed isn’t something he bounces back from easily, and when he’s done it in the past he needed strong support (Anne when he had to leave NYC) or a stroke of luck (Dr. Skirth’s tip and meeting Venom). Eddie doesn't seem to be good at building up a support network (he had nobody after losing Anne), and raw luck isn’t always going to be there to pick him back up. He’s just one guy and the world is enormous, uncaring, and full of awful shit. Caring so much makes Eddie susceptible to burnout, and when things go to pieces around him, the exhaustion and bitterness set in. He'll turn his back on his work, and without it, all he has left is shame.
Eddie can't keep up this pattern of winning hard and losing harder. One day, he's going to get swatted down and not get back up at all. But changing that without compromising the things he finds meaningful? That's going to be very tough.
VENOM is pretty off-putting to most people: he's blunt, sarcastic, and considers the human head a crunchy delicacy. Fire, high-frequency sounds, and the potential loss of his host are his major vulnerabilities, and thus are the only things that really scare him. Venom's as stubborn as Eddie is, much more petulant, and much worse at understanding how morality works on planet Earth. Eddie has to steer him away from going with his first (often violent) impulse. This makes it especially rich when Venom's the one telling Eddie to try being less of a dick to other people.
Honestly, though? Venom, when he's paying attention, actually is more perceptive about other people's feelings than Eddie is and has called him out for it. Venom's a prideful and short-tempered creature, but by symbiote standards he's also soft and that's probably why he's considered a loser on his home planet. He chose to turn his back on his mission because he likes Earth, and he likes Eddie in particular. He shares Eddie's body instead of seizing control, enjoys talking and arguing with him, and (to Eddie's great discomfort) has taken a sincere interest in trying to get Eddie and Anne back together.
Currently, Venom is in that place of giddy anarchy that comes between burning down your workplace and realizing you still need a paycheck. The other symbiotes didn't like him, and it's been incredibly exciting to realize that he doesn't have to follow their expectations or even be around them anymore. The impulsive choice to turn his back on it all was easy. He hasn't, however, figured out exactly how exiling himself to Earth is going to work in the long run. The only frame of reference he really has is Eddie, which means his perspective can't be as wide as it probably should be.
Luckily for Venom, he doesn't seem to be the type to dwell on this too much. Living with a human among humans is novel and interesting, he has a new best friend, and if Venom has any regrets about this he's not showing them to anybody for the moment.
TOGETHER, Eddie and Venom complement each other well. Eddie has a lot of normal, human physical fears that Venom carries him past, while Venom's impulsiveness is tempered by his host. They're both very determined people when they decide to do something, and are even moreso when acting jointly.
They frustrate each other pretty often, and are still getting used to how living together works. Eddie's "You can only hurt bad people" is also a very, very subjective and loose guideline for Venom to follow that will probably lead to problems. Still, Venom will fight in the mud for Eddie and Eddie, despite all reasonable reservations, honestly likes him and benefits from having a friend.
History
Here, have a summary.
SAMPLES
Network Sample
I’m going to be honest with you, I’m still not entirely over the “killing people is just how we solve problems around here” thing.
[ It’s crazy. His tone is loud with that: this is nuts. He's conversational, but he knows other people are seeing this cast and not just who he's speaking to. His words are pointed for them. ]
We got a saying back on Earth? “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
[ Which is unfortunate. Eyes are delicious. ]
Stop it.
[ It's reflexive, he's done it before he can stop himself, and Eddie regrets that instantly. He's going to have to get better at this, he can't afford to stop midstream to address Venom like that. It's harder to explain away if someone can see him. ]
[ You're embarrassing us. Quoting proverbs. You sound ridiculous. ]
Sorry about that. Somebody rude.
[ He gestures off frame, trying to play it casual. He's going to have to come up with some new ground rules about color commentary when he's on broadcast, and then he'll have to negotiate them with the symbiote. He's not looking forward to that. ]
Log Sample
In which Peter Parker has a goddamn heart attack
PLAYER
Name Zita
Are you 18 or older? Yes
Contact![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
zitasaurusrex, or Zita#2651 on Discord. You can also pm this journal.
Current character -
Name Eddie Brock and Venom
Canon Venom (2018 Film)
Age 38 for Eddie, uncertain alien adulthood for Venom
Birthright Jewel Purple-Dusk
Dreams made flesh Eddie was going to refuse, but Venom wants something done to ensure that his people's scouts don't find Earth again. The symbiote's not picky about what that something is.
Canon point Shortly after the end of the movie.
Canon Powers List your character's canon powers and abilities. Consider how their Jewel may impact those powers, either by increasing the potency of an ability or weakening it.
Eddie has powers only in the sense that he has Venom. Without the symbiote, he's an ordinary dude. For Venom, I'm sticking to what's in the movie and what's really classic for his abilities. Comics continuity gets wild if you go looking, and movie continuity is distinct.
- Durability - Venom's body is basically just black slime, and he can absorb a great deal of physical punishment. He's shown taking gunfire without it bothering him any, and his body mass can stretch, warp, and separate without causing him any apparent harm. Venom's probably still largely unaffected by conventional weapons. Attacks made with Craft from a darker jewel will still face some resistance because he's tough, but will be able to hurt him more and more easily depending on how much darker the jewel is.
- "Suiting Up" - Venom can completely cover Eddie, like a living suit. This form is much larger than Eddie, fast, very strong, and equipped with big teeth and clawed hands. When Eddie's covered like this, his body is mostly insulated from damage because Venom absorbs it. As a consequence of a purple-dusk jewel, this is harder to maintain than it is at home and isn't something they can keep up indefinitely without getting worn out. Characters with darker jewels would find it easier to fight off Venom with Craft, and are able to shield themselves from his teeth and claws.
- Symbiote Body Mass - Venom can stick parts of his body out of Eddie, or selectively cover parts of him. Mostly he will make limbs to grab objects, or help in tasks Eddie's not strong enough to perform alone. Venom can also do things like poking his "head" out to speak, or sticking to surfaces so they can swing and climb. Venom can also weaponize these extensions, such as by making them sharp and hard enough to spear a target. He could also probably squish parts of himself through narrow gaps, though he wouldn't be able to bring Eddie with him.
Venom has a limited amount of body mass, though, and it's possible for him to spread himself too thin doing this (especially if he loses large parts of himself). This would weaken him until he can pull himself back together or until he has time to regain that mass. Purple-dusk means he can't push himself as far as he's used to before coming up against these limits, and it also takes him longer to process things he's eaten into new, usable body mass.
Characters with darker jewels would find it easier to fight off Venom with Craft, and have no problem shielding themselves from any piercing attacks he'd try. - Healing - Venom can repair Eddie's body quickly when he's hurt, and keeps his system free of disease. He's also alert to the physical/chemical state of Eddie's body in general, it being his house and all. With less power at his disposal, it probably takes him a several minutes instead of a couple seconds to do things like straighten out a broken limb.
- Senses - Venom has a superior sense of smell, and seems to be able to notice potential nearby threats that Eddie can't see (such as when he tells Eddie not to open a door when armed men are lurking outside it). Mostly, this means it's hard to sneak up on them. Someone with a darker jewel who's aware of this could use Craft to avoid being detected or tracked by Venom. He probably can't pick up people on the other side of a door unless he and Eddie are against it or within a couple feet.
- Telepathy - Venom communicates with his host internally through a telepathic link, which also lets him read Eddie's memories and feelings. This reading isn't perfect, Venom can still misunderstand him and it's still necessary for him to ask Eddie questions and hold conversations in general. Eddie also doesn't seem able to send anything back to Venom telepathically, he has to speak out loud if he wants to talk to him.
I figure he can't psychic link at Venom because their link is probably shared and it would be like trying to call your own phone. (And it's funnier to me if he has to be that guy who is seen talking to himself.) - Camouflage - This isn't an ability we've seen in movie continuity, but is a really consistent one: Venom can imitate clothing on his host's body, which is sometimes useful for blending in. This isn't one he and Eddie have figured out yet, though.
In general, the jewel means that Venom needs more energy to do a lot of what he can already do, and it's a little worse and slower. He's going to also need to eat more and to rest more often.
There are also some weaknesses.
- Fire - Fire or high-temperature attacks will burn Venom and can cause his body mass to boil away from his host.
- Sonics - Loud, high-frequency sounds will disrupt Venom, can force him off his host, and could kill him at high enough levels. Pain and fear from them are likely to drive him to extreme action.
- Symbiosis - This one's more for Eddie than Venom. Part of symbiosis with Venom seems to be messing with Eddie's internal organs in a way the movie doesn't make really clear, but it seems to imply that if Venom is suddenly removed from him he has limited time before the absence kills him.
Venom and Eating (Because where else am I gonna put this)
Comics!Venom has a history of requiring a specific chemical found in human brains and in chocolate to function. The movie continuity hasn't weighed in on whether Venom needs this, but he does seem to especially like human heads and chocolate. I figure as long as he probably gets one or the other (probably the latter) regularly it wouldn't become an issue he even notices. Basically, I'm not jonesing to jump into the game and start a weird brain-eating plot without any kind of warning.
Personality
Eddie and Venom are a package deal, but they're also individuals and need to be addressed separately here.
EDDIE is an investigative reporter, and the job is a good fit for his stubbornness, his tendency not to trust things at face value, and his desire to see justice meted out on people who ignore or exploit suffering. His determination means he’s not easily intimidated and, at his best, he’s able to be the one that confronts hard-to-target bad actors and pulls their misdeeds into the public eye. Interpersonally, he tends to be direct (sometimes too direct) and can be thoughtless about how his words or actions affect others. His intentions are good, but he can be harder to like personally than he is just based on his work.
One of Eddie’s key problems is that while his stubbornness helps drive him, it often leads him into recklessness. He’s willing to gamble with his reputation and security to go big and loud on stories that could ruin him if something goes wrong. What’s worse is he’ll also do the same with others, involving them without consent if the potential gain is great enough. Eddie has wrecked his career twice, and that lack of consideration for others has also cost him his engagement with Anne Weying.
Losing everything has made him slightly more cautious as he has recovered, but it's not enough to change him. Eddie doesn’t just want to do good, he wants to be seen doing great. He’s even admitted that he used to steal toys as a kid just so he could be the one that returned them. This need to be noticed and approved of points to negative self-image, and this is a problem that dire consequences alone aren’t going to knock out of him. If Eddie can't find security in his worthiness as a person, he’s going to continue his all-costs pursuit of that external validation. It's more important than his safety or his personal relationships.
Unfortunately, while Eddie may be daring and resourceful, his resilience has limits. Getting never-work-in-this-town-again trashed isn’t something he bounces back from easily, and when he’s done it in the past he needed strong support (Anne when he had to leave NYC) or a stroke of luck (Dr. Skirth’s tip and meeting Venom). Eddie doesn't seem to be good at building up a support network (he had nobody after losing Anne), and raw luck isn’t always going to be there to pick him back up. He’s just one guy and the world is enormous, uncaring, and full of awful shit. Caring so much makes Eddie susceptible to burnout, and when things go to pieces around him, the exhaustion and bitterness set in. He'll turn his back on his work, and without it, all he has left is shame.
Eddie can't keep up this pattern of winning hard and losing harder. One day, he's going to get swatted down and not get back up at all. But changing that without compromising the things he finds meaningful? That's going to be very tough.
VENOM is pretty off-putting to most people: he's blunt, sarcastic, and considers the human head a crunchy delicacy. Fire, high-frequency sounds, and the potential loss of his host are his major vulnerabilities, and thus are the only things that really scare him. Venom's as stubborn as Eddie is, much more petulant, and much worse at understanding how morality works on planet Earth. Eddie has to steer him away from going with his first (often violent) impulse. This makes it especially rich when Venom's the one telling Eddie to try being less of a dick to other people.
Honestly, though? Venom, when he's paying attention, actually is more perceptive about other people's feelings than Eddie is and has called him out for it. Venom's a prideful and short-tempered creature, but by symbiote standards he's also soft and that's probably why he's considered a loser on his home planet. He chose to turn his back on his mission because he likes Earth, and he likes Eddie in particular. He shares Eddie's body instead of seizing control, enjoys talking and arguing with him, and (to Eddie's great discomfort) has taken a sincere interest in trying to get Eddie and Anne back together.
Currently, Venom is in that place of giddy anarchy that comes between burning down your workplace and realizing you still need a paycheck. The other symbiotes didn't like him, and it's been incredibly exciting to realize that he doesn't have to follow their expectations or even be around them anymore. The impulsive choice to turn his back on it all was easy. He hasn't, however, figured out exactly how exiling himself to Earth is going to work in the long run. The only frame of reference he really has is Eddie, which means his perspective can't be as wide as it probably should be.
Luckily for Venom, he doesn't seem to be the type to dwell on this too much. Living with a human among humans is novel and interesting, he has a new best friend, and if Venom has any regrets about this he's not showing them to anybody for the moment.
TOGETHER, Eddie and Venom complement each other well. Eddie has a lot of normal, human physical fears that Venom carries him past, while Venom's impulsiveness is tempered by his host. They're both very determined people when they decide to do something, and are even moreso when acting jointly.
They frustrate each other pretty often, and are still getting used to how living together works. Eddie's "You can only hurt bad people" is also a very, very subjective and loose guideline for Venom to follow that will probably lead to problems. Still, Venom will fight in the mud for Eddie and Eddie, despite all reasonable reservations, honestly likes him and benefits from having a friend.
History
Here, have a summary.
SAMPLES
Network Sample
I’m going to be honest with you, I’m still not entirely over the “killing people is just how we solve problems around here” thing.
[ It’s crazy. His tone is loud with that: this is nuts. He's conversational, but he knows other people are seeing this cast and not just who he's speaking to. His words are pointed for them. ]
We got a saying back on Earth? “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
[ Which is unfortunate. Eyes are delicious. ]
Stop it.
[ It's reflexive, he's done it before he can stop himself, and Eddie regrets that instantly. He's going to have to get better at this, he can't afford to stop midstream to address Venom like that. It's harder to explain away if someone can see him. ]
[ You're embarrassing us. Quoting proverbs. You sound ridiculous. ]
Sorry about that. Somebody rude.
[ He gestures off frame, trying to play it casual. He's going to have to come up with some new ground rules about color commentary when he's on broadcast, and then he'll have to negotiate them with the symbiote. He's not looking forward to that. ]
Log Sample
In which Peter Parker has a goddamn heart attack
PLAYER
Name Zita
Are you 18 or older? Yes
Contact
Current character -