Untitled

[shikisai-san]

"Show me something impressive."

Critical Role Pokémon!AU : Meet Essek, the Ghost-type Gym Leader!

Essek is an academic who is so cold and aloof he feels like a ghost - hence, perhaps, why he prefers the company of Ghost Types. Outside of his duties as a Gym Leader, he is a scientist, and he would do anything to further his research on Pokémon.

In combat, Essek favors status moves and well-planned strategies, making best use of moves like Will-O-Wisp and Trick Room. He tends to favor Pokémon with a high Special Attack.

Team Breakdown:

- Hisuian Zoroark : a purple Ghost-Normal type, making him an excellent all-rounder since he only has one weakness. Zoroark are known for their Talent, Illusion, which allow them to shapeshift into another Pokémon to trick their enemy. Essek being a master deceiver, this suits him well. Also, he'd have a shiny Pokémon because he's a rich bastard like that.

- Mismagius: a Ghost-type with a long flowing mantle like Essek does in the campaign, and access to solid status moves like Will-O-Wisp and a good special attack.

- Chandelure: As the Candelabrum Pokémon, Chandelure symbolizes Essek's elegance and his luxurious taste: Candelabra are only found in castles and ballrooms. Mostly for the aesthetic, but Chandelure is also an excellent Pokémon with a rare Fire-Ghost typing and excellent Special Attack.

- Drifblim. Look at him. LOOK AT HIM. He's purple, he floats, and he even has a little tuft of white hair! What was I supposed to do, not include him???

- Mega-Sableye. As a Ghost/Dark type with access to all the "evil asshole" moves like Foul Play and Thief, Sableye is perfectly fit to be Essek's ace. And what better for the man who stole his country's most sacred rock than a Pokemon who eats gems? With his myriad of status moves and the high defense granted by his Mega-Evolution, Mega-Sableye can simply burn or poison his adversaries and wait slowly for their death, or paralyze them before finishing them of with Shadow Ball or Foul Play.

- Umbreon. "But if Essek is a Ghost-type specialist, why does he have a Dark-type", you're asking? Because people change. Umbreon isn't his specialty, but he is a Pokémon that can only evolve through maxed friendship. If Ghost was Essek's coldness and aloof exterior, then Umbreon is Essek's connection to The Mighty Nein, and how it changed him for the better.

[bef0re-i-sleep]

This song is so Arthur Lester coded to me

[arialice]

Thought: if Kayne's orchestra consists entirely of diffrent Arthurs, what if the instruments they're playing were their own version of the piano. I know the piano is still the main instrument of the piece, but imagine.

I'm not good at identifying instruments, but what if there's a universe where Arthur played the flute, or one where he's a percussionist, or one where he played a string instrument and so on.

Desperately need someone with more musical skills to tell me exactly what instruments are present.

[arialice]

Time will change you by the crane wives will always first and foremost be to me personally the final act of The Lesbian Situationship trilogy (the garden, shallow river, time will change you) HOWEVER

It's SO about malevolent. So insanely about Arthur Lester.

"Ain't that the way it always goes?/Some of us float and some of us sink to the bottom/Just relax and believe that this'll pass"

"Give me a chance to get this right/I'm learning how to let go/Leave your love in a grave/If it won't grow then let it stay behind"

"Let go of what won't grow with you/Time will change you/We all outgrow our roots"

Everything is about malevolent if you try hard enough.

[nikoisme]

Malam doodles

[arialice]

Hey malevolent fans, let me tell you of the most malevolent coded album, Counterfeit Arcade by Shayfer James.

So many of the songs either in lyrics or vibes remind me so much of this show, so in a few words I'm going to attempt to explain my thought process about each song (be prepared, it's long)

Weight of the World - I don't have much to say about the lyrics. They kind of fit.

"That's just the weight of the world/We do what we must to stay alive/That's just the weight of the world/And we'll all be the weak and the weary sometime"

The instrumentals, tune and vibes is what really makes this song shine for me. Piano (obviously), the general deranged vibes and so on.

For the Departed - reminds me so much of part 20, thought I can't personally decide who's 'singing' the song. It lowkey works from both John's and Arthur's perspective.

"Save yourself/I am far beyond repair/They will bury me alive/But I'm not inclined to care"

More inclined to think Arthur because of the lines:

"Now I must finish what I started, oh-oh/I'll write a symphony for the departed/And I have no time for second chances/So I survive on bourbon, blood, and backward glances, oh"

"And so, the scene begins/Your cries become the wind/A desperate plea best left unheard/Then my contrived goodbye/A poet's pantomime/A drunken jester's final words"

Where we belong - this song. It's literally malevolent in a song. This is the most literal one. I would quote the entire song if I could, but here's some key lines:

"I know we're far beyond the point of no return/Let's say we light a fire and be the first to burn"

"Do you recall the day when we went wrong?/Time is flying/Ease your weary mind, we'll be alone"

"There's a freight train coming, barreling around the bend/There's a red light flashing, oh, ladies and gentlemen, this is the end/I do believe that we've a lesson left to learn/So take your seats, your salutations, and your turn"

"And on the way to our salvation, we'll be making plans/To overthrow the king and pick apart the promised lands"

L.V.S (Your Lady Waits) - makes me think about Oscar, specifically BlindFaith. Very much "you are my reason" vibes. I think it's the overall softness of the song, the emotion in it is so palpable.

"Oh, the mountains bow before ya/Oh, the clouds are open wide"

"Oh, and we, my friend/Will meet again"

"Upon this Autumn morn/Your laughter lingers on"

Villainous thing - This song is so, so, so obnoxiously Kayne to me, as in it feels like a song thats meant to be sung by him. The kinda cheery tune mixed with the lyrics sell it for me.

"Welcome, won't you come inside?/Oh I fear the passing year did not deserve you"

"Soaked and shivered from the rain/You have always been a delicate disaster" - singing about Arthur

"Waste no worry for the world/Let it be a tragedy of love and glory/While they wait by gates of pearl/We'll be building palaces in purgatory" - makes me think of him pitching the the deal with John in like a reverse psychology way. "Oh I'm sure Arthur is fine you can keep building your empire here in the Dark World, king."

Battle Cry - Works in general considering the 'monster of the week' trope this podcast sometimes falls into.

"Hear my battle cry, hear that mighty sound/They've come before and many more will try to strike me down/Hear my battle cry, hear that mighty roar"

The second verse is what really stands out to me though.

"I met a stranger on my way to here from God knows where/He won my lover in a dirty game of solitaire/He stole my crown and placed it crookedly upon his head/He turned around, I took him down and this is what I said" - again, thinking about part 20 (can you tell its my favorite?) The 'stranger' is The King/Hastur/Yellow/Whatever. 'But he's not a stranger?' He kind of is. After Arthur and John are together for so long, even the King admits that he doesn't know why his other half would pick Arthur. John himself had been making small steps at redemption, and just those baby steps made him pretty duffrebt from the King.

"You'll sacrifice the truth to justify your sins/But I don't need an excuse to let the darkness in" - again Arthur and the King. The King does 'bad' shit simply because he wants, yet when Arthur does something moraly 'bad', he has to justify it to himself.

Peace - Very part 31, aka Arthur's Scratch induced nightmare.

"I'd rather live alone than live a lie/I will never deserve peace" - the confessions we get from Arthur about how he felt about Bella

"I spoke to the ghost on my way to asleep/But the boards in the floor called my footsteps a thief" -reminds me of the argument with James. My line of reasoning is that James is the 'boards', and he's calling him a thief because he 'stole' Bella's life by stepping into it, marrying her when he didnt love her, if that makes sense.

"I will never deserve peace/I will never deserve peace/I will never deserve peace" - general self deprication

Diggin' Up Hatchets - makes me think of Larson or in general season 3. A little bit cult-y. It's mostly tune and vibes but the lyrics kind of work

"We're diggin’ up hatchets today/And sharpening the blades/In case, a stitch of hope remains/In this hell that we've raised"

"Hey! We're witnessing the waking of the dead/We’re ripping all the wires from our heads"

"We're burying mercy and grace/In unmarked shallow graves"

"There’s a plan for us lunatics and liars/We have faulty gears and wires/They can't save us, but they’ll do the best they can"

Under the Willow - John theme song in my mind, can't convince me otherwise. Song about discovering one's self and purpose.

"Mother, mother, I think I found my soul/While I was hiding under the willow"

"I've been the portrait of despair/Despite this hat and badge I wear/I've been a captive and a coward" - 'hat and badge' in this case is the crown and robe of the king

"I met a wise man under the willow/Lover, lover, look for me no more/I've been right here under the willow" - Arthur, obviously

"I've been a bastard and a fool/Rewritten nearly every rule/But I believe I'm worth redemption" - the redemption line alone is perfect.

Godspeed - the Jarthur divorce song. Arguing with someone but knowing that in the end you'll find each other again.

"There’s many ways to hide a heart that bleeds/But I prefer the ease of rolling up my sleeves" - might be imagining bit I sweat once John told Arthur that he wears his heart on his sleeve, if not I apologize.

"You’ve got some nerve to be coming/around with that card up your sleeve/And those thorns in your crown" - I think 'card up your sleeve refers to a plan, a secret, which John had many of

"Funny how the night is not as long,/when you depend upon/The dark before the dawn" - John deceiving Arthur many a times. Works well with the repeating line "I used to be someone that you could belive", Arthur starts ignoring and going against John (see, the entire thing with Oscar)

"Good luck, godspeed, I know I’ll see you again/I’ll always call you a friend indeed" - They always get over it and play nice again, until the next argument of course.

Have a Seat Misery - Coda and Intermezzo vibes. Short and sweet. Reads like a conversation between Kayne and Arthur.

"Have a seat, misery/Lord how I’ve missed you/Don’t go crying to me/That I kept you away for too long/Just put your feet up, friend/cause I read all your postcards/And in a way, I am happy to say/That you’ve never been gone"

"Let me light that for you/Seems your hand’s a bit shaky/We’ve got damage to do/And I know you’ll need smoke in your chest/So have a seat, misery/And don't ever mistake me/Of all of my friends, you know/You are the one I like best"

Conclusion/TLDR: Counterfeit Arcade by Shayfer James is, to me, THE malevolent album. Are some of these conclusions a stretch? Probably considering some of the lyrics I didn't present do actually go against the messages of the show, but I had fun writing this and the good(things matching up really well) outweighed the bad(some contradictions). Also go listen to the album or just Shayfer James in general

[arialice]

When they said this I giggled to myself and went "this is so malevolent"

And then I looked at the description

I can't escape this man (affectionate)

[arialice]

AND he just dropped part 44, which now makes this whole thing worse (better?)

[arialice]

When they said this I giggled to myself and went "this is so malevolent"

And then I looked at the description

I can't escape this man (affectionate)

[arialice]

Because it is physically impossible for my brain NOT to mash my interests together, I've recently started thinking about a TOA x Malevolent crossover.

Imagine Apollo and the arrow in a Arthur-John situation. Apollo trying to regain his immortality, except he's blind and has to depend on the arrow to describe things for him. Like, he's already the only one that can hear the arrow. I feel like this would be so fun with it's Shakespearean way of talking. So much room for shenanigans.

How would this happen? Well up until Apollo goes to the Grove everything goes as it should. Then when he goes to receive the prophecy, he sees the arrow and starts feeling a weird and very strong urge to touch it...and then the fun begins.

This is by no means a serious idea since Trials is WAY more lighthearted then malevolent, but I think It could be a fun crack AU.

[arialice]

While listening to the final part of Diffrent Beast for the first time, I actually paused it and took of my headphones when the Sirens started screaming, thinking there was an ambulance or something outside... because I heard a siren.

The Siren's screams...sound like a siren. Beautiful. 10/10

[arialice]

A crack theory appeared in my mind after listening to ep 20 and I felt the need to share.

The 5 OIAR empolyes represent Jon across the 5 seasons of tma.

Season 1 is Alice, playing the skeptic hoping that closing her eyes and stuffing her ears will make everything go away. Both her and Jon dismissed the stories they came across, making up excuses.

Season 2 is Sam. He's now accepted there's weird stuff going on, and he's determined to investigate and find out what's happening. Sam's determined to find out the deal with the Magnus institute, Jon wants to know if the people around him are safe and to be trusted. (I'm not super sure on this one*)

Season 3 is Gwen. Knows a bit more now, but isn't fully in on it yet. She's having run-ins with the externals just like Jon with the avatars, and I've seen some people drawing parallels between her encounter with Bonzo and Jon's with Nikola. (Also makes me think that Gwen will figure out what's mostly happening by the end of the season since we got full confirmation about the fears mid way through 3. It'd be cool if Gerry will be the one to tell us.)

Season 4 is Celia. She thinks she knows how everything works pretty well by now, except something unexpected comes along. She thought she knew the way the fears worked, but she might be realizing that things aren't exactly so simple, just like how the extinction came in and messed with the avatar classification that Jon thought he knew.

Season 5 is Lena. She's in on it, an insider. She's more cryptic, not making a lot of sense to those that don't know as much (so, basically everyone). She has a questionable morality, no one knowing whether her intentions are good or not, just like Jon who started smiting not for protection, but for revenge. Also if I'm remembering so many people are just..confused like 70% if the time Jon talks.

*Tbh Sam is the one I'm most hesitant on. Colin might also work for season 2 (he's def got enough paranoia), but we don't know if he's actively investigating. High possibility that he's the stand in for season 2 Jon, and Sam's just another thing entirely.

Anyway...good podcast