As of February 12, 2018, this story is undergoing complete reconstruction and expansion.
The original was a labour of love (and suffering) over the course of five days and nights during my very sleep-deprived first year of university. While I do think that its bare bones still have potential, it has been 7 years since I posted it, 7 years over the course of which my writing has evolved (from a linguistic as well as narrative and stylistic standpoint, I would hope). A couple of things in 2017 sparked a resurgence of interest in this project that led me to months of planning and structuring, and a lot of thinking about what this story could be beyond its original 16,000-odd words. As of today, the bulk of the work (or reworking) amounts to 23k, and that's just a first chapter - and a half.
Cletus Kasady/Carnage has changed since 2011. He is not so subtly implied to be a Southerner; he's fought Deadpool; he's had a stint as a good guy (an absurd concept with very nice art). In all of that, he remains a hell of a character with a hell of a story to tell. It goes beyond the stock archetype of the deranged serial killer with the jarring laughter and the endless supply of cringeworthy 'It's murder time!' one liners that have been long associated with him (despite what recent comic - and now film - portrayals will have you believe). There are darker, murkier depths in there. I always had a lot of fun watching Carnage, from the first time I was introduced to the character as a kid watching the Spider-Man animated series, to comic book staples like Mind Bomb and It's a Wonderful Life; the premise itself is a killer. What if you bonded a dangerous symbiote with a convicted serial killer, knowing the result is that the symbiote will explode its host's pre-existing nature into something even more monstrous?
But the character's history in the comics always gave us a glimpse into the past, and that is ultimately what always fascinated me - what was already there before the symbiote bond. Cletus Kasady, not a villain with an origin story that made him "turn to the dark side", but a bad man to begin with, a serial killer. A real, grounded threat. When I set out to write Urge the first time, I did it as someone with a background of interest in all things true crime; crime was my comfort zone in terms of original fiction, too. I'd read books and transcripts, and in preparation for Urge I watched hours of interviews with real serial killers (cue all those nights of no sleep and throwing looks over my shoulder every two seconds). I wanted Cletus Kasady to be terrifying, and in order to accomplish that, I wanted him to feel real. I may have succeeded, to a degree; but I also recognise that there is a lot more work to be done to polish an original story that only scratched the surface.
Cletus Kasady does have a hell of a story to tell. I no longer believe the original version of Urge to be the full extent of that story, but I'm still committed to telling it.
Last but not least (I don't know if anyone will read this, but just in case, a couple of things): thank you to the small bunch that read and reviewed this story when I first posted it. I'd just started writing in English "full-time", and your reviews, encouragement, and just knowing that my sentences made logical sense meant the world. And thank you to HoistTheColours, always, for the endless support, feedback, late night phone calls, headcanons, and for having my back during this rewrite as much as she had it when I wrote the original. If you're short on good stories about psychopaths, head over to her profile for some superlative Joker writing - chances are you already have read her work.