#this podcast has me in a chokehold

[threeyedemon]

I really wanted to do another Michael painting lol

[mothy-graves]

having more malevolent thoughts. spoilers for up to part 51

so, I’ve been looking into the lore of H.P. Lovecraft recently because of Malevolent and it’s triggered some thoughts. mainly about the stones, Azathoth, and Kayne’s motives. also a little bit about Lillith. what everything this season means. whether shes the true evil they need to avoid or not

Azathoth is known as the “blind idiot god.” he is in an eternal slumber, and it’s said that existence is simply his dreams. that waking him could wipe everything. earth, humanity, everything would be gone in an instant.

so in the context of Malevolent.. is this Kayne’s goal? we’ve been told that hes collecting the three stones that harbor Azathoth. is the “end” that the people are scared of not Lillith getting the black stone, but Kayne getting the black stone and waking Azathoth?

Lillith wants the stone to have power… but why? we know she has a deep hatred for Kayne. every time his name is said to her, she gets angry. does she want to take him down? she insists that she is the daughter of Nyarlathotep, not Kayne. does this mean shes a daughter of a Nyarlathotep that Kayne killed? does she want the stone to enact revenge? has she wanted this since Kayne took out all other versions of himself and that is why he trapped her?

I wonder if ultimately, Lillith feels for humanity. she talks about them with such distain, yet she gave Alia such kindness and gentleness, giving her peace. I wonder if she saw herself in Alia. if previously she’d also been used as a tool, and now she wants the stone so she cannot be used like that again. so no one can be used like that again

further with that thought, is Arthur her favorite because he too has been made into a tool? John as well? Arthur lost his eyes, a hand, and a foot. John lost all autonomy. they tools to each other, but furthermore are tools to Kayne, getting him what he wants. does Lillith use what she was taught about humans as a mask for how she really views them? but then if she wanted to help, to take down Kayne, why not say that? because she wouldn’t be believed?

Im not completely sure but I can’t help but feel like Lillith is at least not an entirely malevolent entity

[fossilfueleater]

MAG 6 Squirm

[arishaw3434]

JRWI 114 gave me everything. Spoilers to follow

The dopplerGill reveal? The mini puzzles? The skin thief?? THE “MY TURN” FROM CHIP THAT HAS NOW FULLY CONVINCED ME THAT CHIP IS SO IN LOVE WITH GIL??? AND BEFORE THAT CHIP ASKING GRIZZ IF HE CAN MAKE SURE HE CAN GET THE CREW TO SAFETY??

This episode is everything

[teazzle]

ok so i did something a little deranged and silly while relistening to malevolent. the brainworms are still worming

i wrote down every single scarring injury that arthur (oathur lol) gains over the course of the pod. idk why im like this. i was thinking this would be useful if i ever decided to make fanart. a thing i never do. it's specifically the stuff i think would leave scars. im sure he left the end of 40 bloodied but he's not injured in any *specific* ways

behind a cut for spoilery reasons, listed by episode. use this for whatever 🤷🏾

4: stabbed in the stomach

9: shot twice in the gut. shot once in the chest. (healed by the wraith)

12. severe burn on left arm. bitten? on the stomach by amphibian monster's stomach

13. left wooden pinkie ✨ and dark root veins (started to turn dark and red in 15)

15. skin torn off face on the right side across eye. i figure this would have some scaring

17. deep cut on bicep from rock

20. right tibia and femur snaaaaped. throat cuuuut. (healed by kanye)

25. uncle rips a piece of ear off

26. chuck of wood stabbed into arm near shoulder

27. stabbed through back out through his stomach. ouch

34. ok so this one is fun because the butcher says he shot arthur in the shoulder but, as far as i noticed, its never mentioned again lol

that's it for now! let me know if you think i missed any. I'm definitely going to keep this up during the rest of the show because i love my weird little notebook lol (it also has a page of questions i have that im sure will be answered eventually but that i want to keep track of)

[spaced-out-tiger]

It’s Gum Gum! The great flower wizard himself!

Hopefully I'll get to drawing the other characters soon lol

More random art under the cut :]

In order of appearance:

Nakoma - a DnD character of mine (who I have not played yet) who is a shifter monk (might give more of her later :D)

Marcia + Brutus - another DnD character I haven't been able to use yet, she's a shadar-kai elf ranger and Brutus is her animal companion (that she found hurt and nursed back to health in her younger years)

Another batch of random ROTTMNT OC doodles that I made based on tumbler posts I found on Pintrest

Umi - yet another DnD character (I’ve made to many TvT) who I've gotten to half-use(?). But she's a Triton fighter (may change) who's looking for her sister

[verytiredfrog]

"Make your statement, face your fear."

[tamtamthealmighty]

I drew the Elephant Man from the hit podcast Camp Here And There

bonus image:

[teasexual]

Pretty convinced that it's the dice roll audio from early episodes that he's actually talking about here

[last-endling]

Statement begins…

I’ve made the executive decision to make this a Magnus Archives blog now. No, you cannot stop me. It’s happening.

[umbraghoul]

Okay, so I restarted Rogues! The Podcast again the other day, from the beginning this time.

(I normally start from season three because I like the JCMD episodes)

I am still amazed by how many new details that I'm noticing with every new play through.

During S4 E23 I noticed that while Jon was using the stairs at the Valentino Farm, that he was limping.

It's such a specific detail, something that most people wouldn't think twice about, especially as he broke and re-set his leg back in S2 E33 (there are 47 episodes between them).

Another thing I noticed was in S5 E21, after Edward was sprayed with toxin. It's hard to hear, due to how loud everyone else is, but Edward mumbles random trivia to himself in order to self-sooth and work his way through the effects of the fear toxin.

You can just tell how lovingly created this series is, with all of the small details that just add so much to each episode.

I love this series so much, and with how I get with obsessively relisteing to things it makes it so much more of an enjoyable experience.

[threeyedemon]

Some things just happen, Marigold.

[boobasnook]

SAVE ME MALEVOLENT ….. MALEVOLENT SAVE ME….

[shimxy]

I've been listening to TMA (just started S5) and I've seen a few people talk about fear alignment.

I am not sure if it is simply the one you like the most or the one you are the most scared of. I think it might be both. Or maybe neither. But anyway here are a few feelings I had about it :

I think the fears I would enjoy serving the most would either be The Lonely or The Eye. They seem comfortable, interesting and fun.

I've always been very scared of heights and I've had vertigo for as long as I can remember. So The Vast would have fun with me.

But I do not think that those things matter. I think the fear I align with is The Corruption and let me explain why.

The Corruption statements are the ones that are the most uncomfortable for me. I do not want to listen to them. They make me want to throw up. And yet I find them fascinating.

They disgust and scare me but I find myself wanting to know more.

But this isn't what convinced me. Mag153, Love Bombing, made me realize that this is the fear that could make me follow it.

I would listen to the Wasps nest that tells me that I am beautiful. I would fall in love with the beetle that tells me it loves me. The promise of companionship would get to me.

Not only is it the one that is the most likely to notice me since The Corruption is the most disturbing fear to me and the one that affects me the most but it's also the one that would be the most successful in luring me in.

I would fall for The Corruption, no matter how much I hate it, I would fall for it. And that might be what scares me the most.

Typing that makes me feel sick but I think that that is what it would want.

[whosectype]

new brain worms festering the horrors THE HORRORS!!

[fancygremlin]

I absolutely adore how the themes in Malevolent are introduced so subtly at the very start of each season. I feel that each season has distinct ones that could foreshadow how Arthur and John's relationship progresses throughout the show.

I will be rambling about it below (sorry if it's a but messy, I wrote it all in one sitting and didn't proof read it very thoroughly).

The first season is introductory, so we are shown right away how the characters struggle to come to terms with their condition and how to make the best of it to actually accomplish their goals.

This theme is introduced when we learn right at the start of episode one that Arthur is a pianist, as well as a private investigator. The piano requires two hands to play a song. The right hand plays the main melody, the one everyone recognises by ear and is more likely to hum when recalling the song. The left hand plays the accompaniment, the melody that is perhaps not as nice to hear on its own, but makes the song being played that much more complete.

It's not a coincidence that Arthur keep the control of his right hand, while John gains control of the left hand. Arthur is the one that has to interact with the world around him, he is the one that people see and hear and talk to, he is the one that ultimately controls where to go and how to move about a space. He is the main melody, the one people recognise and hear and remember. John is instead stuck in the background, unseen and unheard... limited to just relaying visual information to Arthur. However, without John's aid, Arthur would be incapable to do anything at all. John is the accompaniment: the trained ear can't hear it well, but without it, the main melody would not be as complete, or as rich, or pleasant to hear.

In season two we have them transported in the Dreamlands and this is an environment that John is more familiar with. This is not a safe place to stay, anything or anyone could bring harm. We see the characters pushing their boundaries, learning how to survive... but is it fair to respond to a harsh environment with more harshness? In about episode two (I think, I am writing this all from memory, so sorry if I am misremembering), Arthur mentions Aesop's fable of "The Woodcutter and the Trees". The quote that is being repeated multiple times over the course of the season is "at least the handle is one of us".

If we want to apply the fable to Arthur and John, it could be possible to infer that Arthur might be the axe, while John is the handle. Arthur is the one that is foreign to the place, that does not understand it and is more often than not ready to resort to more violent or extreme methods to escape or resolve issues. On the other hand, John mentions that he has faint memories of the Dreamlands, he is part of them and he remembers he had some sort of control/dominance over them when he was part of the King in Yellow. It's because of John that Arthur is even able to access the Dreamlands in the first place, so maybe John did betray in some way his nature and bringing harm to the place that he once called home.

In season three, the main theme was the (1) loss of humanity and (2) identity. In this case, this was communicated, respectively, (1) by removing a thing that was at the core of the characters' personality, and (2) by offering a narrative foil to the characters.

Loss of humanity for Arthur was symbolised by the destruction of Faroe's music box, which sent him down a very dangerous and dark path of self-vendetta fuelled by murderous rage. On the other hand, Arthur's narrative foil was Larson. Both characters experienced a great loss, but the motivations and (in particular) emotional response to the event was what made them become very different people. Arthur's loss of his daughter haunts him constantly, drags him down with the gravitational pull of a black hole. He cannot forgive himself, to the point of considering himself a monster that does not deserve redemption or forgiveness. On the other hand, Larson willingly sacrificed his daughter for power and money and never experiences any remorse or guilt for his deplorable actions.

Loss of humanity for John was shown by having Arthur strike a deal with Kayne: John is back, but with none of the memories or experiences he lived with Arthur. He is back as a manipulative fragment of the King in Yellow. It's interesting how he regains all his memories when Arthur plays Faroe's music box. Of course, John's narrative foil is... another version of himself... Yellow. I could write an entire essay comparing the two and their respective journeys on how they wanted to try so hard to form their own identities... but I'd go off on a very long tangent. This is already long enough and I am blabbering too much.

I've JUST started season four today and I am two episodes in and I am suspecting that this season's theme is fractures... Just in episode one I heard Arthur choosing a story about a broken relationship between two friends, then the multiple mentions between Arthur and his father in law, and then in episode two there was also the broken window in the room they are renting in Mary's apartment... I am honestly so scared that by the end of this season something very big will happen that will push Arthur and John apart and fracture their relationship almost irremediably.

I know John is hiding something very big from Arthur and it's very possibly something regarding Kayne. I also have a sneaky suspicion that Arthur had a real chance to get some answers about Kayne from Yellow, but of course he just decided to NOT DO THAT!

Can't wait to have this show mess me up once more.

[Season 5 theme analysis]