#malevolent fic rec

[genderfluid-draws]

[ID: A redraw of the 1970 Jane Eyre movie poster. Bust portraits of John Doe, Arthur Lester, and Faroe Lester are drawn in sepia tones against a dark background with a filigree border. The title, “To Perish Twice”, spans the top of the image in yellow with an ornate drop cap. Above that are the top credits: “Arthur Lester” and “John Doe”, “in a story by theinkwell33”, “a Malevolent Big Bang 2023 Production”. Across the bottom it says, “art by Rawkingbunny, Genderfluid-Draws” and “beta read by Cosmya”, with the hashtag “MBB2023”. End ID]

I had the privilege to work with @splitting-infinities as an artist on their Jane Eyre-inspired fic, “To Perish Twice”, for the @malevolentbigbang! Check it out to get your fill of gothic heroine John Doe and brooding recluse Arthur Lester! Also check out @rawkingbunny, who did a great art piece as well as a WHOLE PODFIC! LIKE, ALL 28K WORDS, IT’S INCREDIBLE.

And here are a couple of boys meeting by the fireside:

[ID: Digital painting of John Doe and Arthur Lester by the fireplace in Henley Manor. Arthur is seated in a big red Victorian armchair, one leg crossed over the other. He wears white slacks and a dark blue suit jacket with a sky blue scarf. John stands across from him in front of a second chair. His arms are crossed behind his back, and he wears a charcoal grey doublet and slacks. End ID]

[olives-and-lilies]

So there’s been something in the works, @malevolentbigbang has happened, the results are in!

I got to work with the lovely @jay-jay-bird, our writer with a truly wicked skill for tactile imagery and sneaky foreshadowing, and @butzenscheibe, another damn good artists (the color control, seriously!)

Here are my humble additions, to this beautiful fic

[ID: A digital painting of Arthur Lester leaning on a counter with a mug in hand. He has long brown hair, a goatee, and bright blue eyes. He’s wearing a white tank top that shows his freckled arms, and his head is cocked playfully to the side, mouth open, cheeks blushing. In front of him stands John Doe, seen from the back. He has slicked-back blonde hair and is wearing a striped collared shirt. He holds a copy of The New York Times open in front of him. The words, “I’d probably just tie you down,” are written across the top of the image, and a blue broken circuit symbol emanates from Arthur. End ID]

[ID: a digital painting of a close up of piano keys with two hands resting on them. On the left is Arthur’s right hand, and on the right is John’s left hand. They are not quite close enough to touch, but Arthur’s pinky is slightly extended toward John’s. End ID]

[ID Left: Digital painting of Arthur’s shirtless back from the neck to the waist. John’s hands are cinching the knots on a black shibari rope harness that wraps around Arthur’s torso and pins his arms back. The scene is bathed in warm golden firelight. End ID]

[ID Right: Digital painting of Arthur in profile, from the shoulders up. He is shirtless, and part of a rope harness is visible around his arm. His lips are parted and he is looking back at John, who has his mouth to Arthur’s ear and one hand wrapped around Arthur’s chin. End ID]

[ID: Digital painting of John and Arthur’s hands. John is reaching for Arthur’s wrist, which has a faint red mark around it. Text: “‘You are an uncompromising man, Arthur Lester.’ John caught hold of Arthur’s wrist, gently running his thumb over the marks left by the rope. His calloused fingertips caught on each slight indentation, a match-strike touch that sent sparks across his skin. ‘And yet you offer yourself to me, when you would yield to no one else in the numberless worlds. Your faith is more precious than gold; it tastes sweeter than any wine. To a god, there is no greater gift than that.’” End ID]

Shoutout to @genderfluid-draws for helping me with the IDs, they are not my strong point and druid is absolutely next level at them

[genderfluid-druid]

[ID: three digital paintings of closeups of characters’ eyes. John Doe has very pale, slightly bluish skin and heavy black eyebrows. His irises are white with pinkish rims, and he’s scowling intensely. Arthur Lester has medium-light skin, dramatic eye bags, and worry lines between his eyebrows. His irises are golden-yellow, and his pupils are very dilated. Peter “Parker” Yang is a man of east Asian descent with medium-light skin, faint freckles, and dark brown irises. His nose is slightly crooked with a small divot scar on the bridge, and he seems to be smiling warmly. end ID]

if you enjoy Malevolent, i highly recommend the john-has-his-own-body fic whimsy and dearth by supposedtobewriting. this fic will cradle your heart so, so gently right up until it throws it like the frisbee. and if you didn’t have many thoughts on parker before, you will have them now.

[arthurtaylorlester]

what if i killed myself

ok, so i so i just finished I Love You So Much (It Scares Me Half To Death) by supposedtobewriting and i genuinely dont think theyve ever written a bad fic. this was incredibly funny and gutwrenching and i’d genuinely love to see more of this au! the dynamic between john and arthur was incredibly well-written and the lore of the au was incredibly well thought out as well!! it explored interesting angles to characters without necessarily changing their entire essence, definitely a 10/10 read, highly recommend

[physical-manifestation-of-spite]

do you have a favorite malevolent fic you've read?

Hey, Maple!! Oh boy, do I.

I'll throw in THREE of my favorites, but it's very difficult to choose only three. Malevolent has officially overtaken TMA in my Ao3 bookmarks, so you know it's bad.

Cold as the Rain that Falls in December - by captaincravatthecapricious

My very first Malevolent bookmark, though not the first Malevolent fanfic I ever read. It's set post-S3, which deals with the physical fallout of Arthur's body after being sewn back together with dirty shirt thread. It's an elaborate sickfic I read almost every month. It's such a comfort read. The rest of this writer's Malevolent fics are of similar cloth. Very tasty for those angst-inclined like myself, with a touch of that comfort at the end. It feels like a warm blanket during a rainy day.

and the pendulum swings - by bluejayblueskies

I remember craving a fic like this for many months, and when this was finally published, I was glued to my bed for hours because I kept reading and re-reading it. It's a timeloop fic centered on Ep 20, where Arthur keeps killing himself to prevent the King from winning, and John can't seem to stop it. The devolving madness John tumbles into is delightful. It's one of the best-written oneshots in this fandom, in my opinion.

formaldehyde (Or, The Case of the Missing Lilly) - by SupposedToBeWriting

Right, so, all cards on the table, SupposedToBeWriting is my favorite Malevolent writer. She has made multiple multi-chapter longfics that are COMPLETED and such high quality. But this one in particular gets me. It focuses on the Entity entering Arkham during a botched cult ritual and discovering a recently blinded Arthur Lester who is missing his partner Parker Yang. The Entity learns more about the world through Arthur, willingly or not, and develops into his own person, John Doe. He develops an affection for a singer, Lilly, at a local bar, who goes missing. He enlists in Arthur's help to find her, and a sort of enemy-turned-friendship forms between them. It can be sickening and beautiful. It's one of my favorites.

And just because I can, I'll throw in another SupposedToBeWriting fic that absolutely gutted me: the poem ends, softly as it began (I loved my friend). Arthur is dead. John is living in his dead friend's corpse. Are you sensing a theme with me? If so, keep it to yourself. (And don't worry. It ends happily.)

[izel-scribbles]

john + arthur designs from all that is mine to me, all that is yours to you by @tallangrycockatiel

[falloutcoys]

I already rec this every opportunity I get, but because of today's update I have to make sure I tell everyone (go read it to find out why :P)

Go read In A Yellow Wood right now!!! It is by far my favorite Malevolent fic, and until literally everyone in the fandom has read it I'll scream about it

It has:

Arthur being angsty as hell

Extremely compelling mystery

Some of the sweetest Jarthur scenes in history

Monsterfucker Arthur Lester

Awesome monster descriptions

Bitter divorcee crimsongold

CW: Poetry

and more! but I won't spoil it all hehe

[livebloggingmydescentintomadness]

what is this fic where john gets control of arthur's HEART? that sounds amazing

here you go! it's excellent.

tachycardia by bluejayblueskies

[vmprsm]

𝕄𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕧𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕤 𝕀'𝕕 𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕞𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕗𝕥 𝕡𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕒𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕖:

(The short fic writers of this fandom deserve some recs! These ones (imo) are specifically those that have the show feel, or could be reconstructed into episodes, (generally canon compliant). In no particular order.)

-the poem ends, soft as it began (I loved my friend) by SupposedToBeWriting soft, sad, john's pov, john has a body, post-pt 20 Read Here!

-a city's worth of wishes by nomadcomplex no monsters, just bonding, sad, post-pt 28 Read Here!

-A Night Out In Albany by SupposedToBeWriting cute, bonding, post-pt 29 Read Here!

-half-light by bluejayblueskies arthur's pov, dreams, soft, jarthur, post-pt 21 Read Here!

-a burden halved by Calamitatum typical gore/injury, sickfic, post-pt 27 Read Here!

-Before the Hunt by GloriousGarbage monster-body john, arthur's pov, typical violence, post-pt 25 Read Here!

-bone on granite by paprioth Kayne & KiY, kayne's pov, sassiness, post-pt 12 Read Here!

Feel free to add your own! Let's spread the love. 💛

[genderfluid-draws]

[ID copied from alt text: A rough sketch of Arthur Lester grabbing John Doe by the front of the shirt. Arthur towers over John, who has to tilt his head up to glare at Arthur. John’s fists are clenched at his sides. Little red marks indicate that both of them are angry. End ID]

@organchordsandlightning’s fic formaldehyde asks the bold question: what if you were a god but your roommate was taller than you

[genderfluid-druid]

[ID: a digital pencil sketch of John Doe and Arthur Lester walking arm-in-arm on a beach. John is about a head taller than Arthur and heavyset, wearing a collared shirt, suspenders, and a hat while leaning on a walking cane. Arthur is very slight and wears a Henley and belted pants that are quite baggy on him. He is holding John’s arm with one hand and gesturing wildly with his cane with the other, as if talking animatedly. End ID]

Well I sat on this for a few days thinking I might render it a bit, but then I remembered that I hate rendering, so. Jarthur beach walk, inspired by the John-has-his-own-body fic whimsy and dearth.

[arthurtaylorlester]

I only just. got around to reading whiskey old fashioned sour and oh god one of my instant favourites

[olives-and-lilies]

@bluejayblueskies wrote an amazingly sweet drabble over on AO3, and I just couldn’t resist drawing it out. Hope you like!

Might add Arthur sitting up IN the tree later…

[your-mom-friend]

Do you have any fic (Malevolent) recs?

:D

Well I don’t have a lot, because I haven’t finished the podcast and have been avoiding spoilers like the plague, but from the ones I do have:

There’s this, which honestly made me cackle a bit because it’s John and Arthur infiltrating a drag ball in search of someone with a freemason’s ring and John is just 👁👄👁 about Arthur flirting with some guy

This one is Aceflux John!! John is still trying to figure the whole communication thing out

Post-Malevolent AU where Arthur becomes a famous composer and also Physical Body John who is his bodyguard /+1 / boyfriend

Possessive Arthur got me giggling and kicking my legs like a school girl idk what it is about the not-typically-jealous character being jealous but it is just 🤌. Arthur punches a guy for flirting with John

This is pretty much all I have. I might come back to it once I’ve listened to every episode

[a-canceled-stamp]

🍂September Fic Recs🍂

Uni did not leave room for much reading this month. Anyway, here are the fics I read in September that made me go f e r a l.

⊱┄┄┄┄𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼 𓋼 𖤣𖥧 𓋼𓍊┄┄┄┄⊰

Jujutsu Kaisen 🍙Work is shit🍙

sea glass gardens by thepolysyndetonaddictsupportgroup Summary: Okkotsu Yuuta blows up a school with the power of love, meets Gojo's kids, launches his career in organized crime, and figures out how to want to be alive. More or less in that order. Comment: I am obsessed with this one. So freaking excited to see where Author will take us. Yuuta is powerful yet smol and I want to protecc-- Ummm ok so guess who accidentally didn't subscribe to the fic and now has two new chapters to consume??? We feasting tonight bois

Malevolent - ⛥⛧this too shall pass⛧🕯️

Lost in What You Think of Me by SeerOfTime Summary: Arthur is invited to play piano at a lavish party. Naturally, he brings John along. Comment: Aaah this one is wonderful. It has a first kiss tag- need I say more?? Absolutely adorable.

Batman (DC) - 🦇we live in a socie—🃏

Of Sense and Sensibility by Alatariel_Galadriel Summary: Tim gets hurt while stalking Batman and Robin. It changes some things. Comment: A-mazing. I love this so much. Poor Tim is going through it. Jason is best boi.

i'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy by TheCopperPan Summary: Damian knew consequences would come back to bite him in the ass someday. Comment: fear toxin fic, amazing writing, obsessed. Mind the tags with this one, fr. Damian's fear toxin experience is...it's a lot.

it was not your fault, but mine by TheCopperPan Summary: Dick gets caught and tortured. Tim finds him. Dick thinks he doesn't care enough to help him. Tim, frankly, doesn't care what Dick thinks. Comment: !!! yoooooo one of the best Dick & Tim reconciliation fics I've read in a while. Author has "enemy to caretaker vibes" as a tag and honestly, I love it. Also love how their relationship is portrayed so much. They're both so...human in this. Ngl made me ;_;

Mercy Down by SilverSkiesAtMidnight Summary: They find Jason's trackers on the rooftop of the apartment building - every single one, carefully and efficiently cut from his clothes, except for the ones in his shoes. They do not find Jason. Comment: A Reverse Robins AU bc sis is weak for big bro Damian. Brace yourselves for this one as well, mind the tags etc. Poor Tim. Very painful soup.

You must be this conscious to ride by motleyfam Summary: In which the boys ride a few rollercoasters, play a riveting game of I Spy, cut a toddler in line for a corn dog, get a crash course in heat-related illnesses, and make memories to last a lifetime, not necessarily in that order. Comment: Aaah this fic!! Tbh when I saw the update notification I legit rejoiced. A wonderful addition to the series, an absolute bop, one might even say. For once, Tim isn't the one suffering 😈

⊱┄┄┄┄𖡼𖤣𖥧𖡼 𓋼 𖤣𖥧 𓋼𓍊┄┄┄┄⊰

Can't believe Whumptober's already happening. Am currently emotionally preparing myself for the sadness.

Stay readin' girlies.

[me-a-nerd]

Read these fics after finishing the Prelude episode and I just wanna share them cos I felt a many emotions <3

PLEASE read the tags before reading.

JArthur was just so soft and aaaaaaaaaaaaa never mind I have no other words than ajshakakabajsjkahh