#kepler rambles

[spacedryadkepler]

MALEVOLENT 55 SPOILERS

(rambling thoughts!!)

oh my god oh my god oh my god

so much happened holy fuck

- goddddd the whole story of john’s time in the dark worldddd

once again, so much info i thought would be left a mystery forever

AND SCENES WE NEVER GOT TO SEE PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND?? with mr faust!!! and john’s struggle with the king!!!

HE WANTED TO HELP HASTUR CHANGE

oh my god i need to listen to season 3 again with the reflection of everything we’ve learned

i just know it’s going to be 100x more heart wrenching

- RING ALL THE BELLS SET OFF ALL THE FIREWORKS

KAYYYYNNNNEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

i had resigned myself to like “oh yeah, given the way the story is going i guess we’re not going to get anymore kayne until the last 3 episodes at most, probably less”

oooooo that little freaking guy, what artful manipulation of john, what a nice way to get rid of excess arthurs

AND DOING THAT AT THE SAME TIME AS SEASON 3 IS HAPPENING

i just knowwwww he had to have been having the time of his life flipping channels watching arthur and john have simultaneous crash-outs that he kind of orchestrated

the sheer audacity of how he acts in “The Undefeated” is so much funnier now

ALSO JOHN THOUGHT ARTHUR WAS DEAD THE WHOLE TIME HE WAS THERE???? IT MAKES ABSOLUTE SENSE BUT OUGHHHH

- ALSO the older arthur who made john stop his rampage, everything said about him seemed to imply an arthur that wouldn’t have had a john? but he recognizes john’s voice? and if he had a john surely he’d have had a bigger reaction than just recognition? WHAT WAS UP WITH THAT???

- the entire conversation after john finishes his story

i don’t even have a lot to say just oof ow owie ouch my heart

the guilt and fear in john’s voice when arthur hasn’t said anything yet

(malevolent’s voice acting is always top tier but it’s been truly fantastic these past few eps)

the whole process of working though the grief and horror of what john did as quickly and rationally as possible because the whole thing is in part a big fuck you from kayne

the boys both crying oughhh

“we’re not going to make it out of this alive, are we?” DONT SAY THATTTTTTTT

- THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT!!!!

they would both be happy to stay the way they are ouuuuuugghhhhhhh

the pair getting separated, if it does actually happen, is going to be sooo agonizingly bittersweet

- the dollmaker!!! they seem neat!

delighted by the lil banter about them being able to hear john

i’m sure nothing will go wrong with this deal!

- the idea of the dollmaker being able to make a Different body for arthur, and the fact that the boys do ponder it briefly, feeels like something that will be relevant again

- dollmaker: “i need you to go to The Hunt”

gears slowly turning

dollmaker: “an experienced killer, one who enjoys it”

butcher????

butcher????

BUTCHER????

john: “… The butcher?”

THE BUTCHER!!!!!

DENNIS COLLINS MY GUY!!

THE PEGGY GORDAN NOTES PICKING UP IN THE BACKGROUND

YESSSSSSSS

i’m so fucking excited to meet the butcher again

i’m so distraught that they may have to kill him

butcher i love you butcherrr

-insane episode, i love it

[solreefs]

I hate the idea of smooth clear flawless airbrushed-looking skin as the only perfect kind of skin for many reasons but also it’s just so visually uninteresting?? it looks fake. it looks like a brand-new doll’s face. boring. NEXT.

[desertflowerbowling]

ASEXUAL RUDYARD??

[queezleofprague]

I just think that qpr Bartimaeus+Queezle

[spacedryadkepler]

malevolent part 53 spoilers!!

(it’s rambling time)

-for all of 5 seconds i thought arthur was gonna have the same echo to his voice that john has and was like “oh neat!”

being buried alive inside a coffin is equally neat actually!

-i’ve seen it described as a jarthur divorce already but honestly???

in spite of slinging vitriol at each other, they were kinda working pretty productively together at escaping the coffin and killing that guy

like sure, peak jarthur divorce toxicity, but like, they seemed on the same level with each other, and i’m kind of fascinated by the prospect of a jarthur working cohesively but for once both being at their worst at the same time

i don’t know if we will since the effect of the lighter doesn’t appear to wane so far, but i’d be so intrigued to see them lose themselves again while stuck here

-it’s a small thing but i think it’s neat how quickly john switched from saying “you killed him” about the shovel guy to instead “we killed him”, something something season 1-2 maybe even 3 john likely wouldn’t have corrected himself, i just think it’s cool when tiny moments so starkly ring of development

- how many times are we going to have to bite our nails about the lighter getting lost momentarily

i just want to know because i’m scared

- i kind of love the rat catcher ???? i kind of love the rat catcher . i kind of love the rat catcher !

idk if it was the voice or what

i kind of love the rat catcher

- fascinated by the contrast of john’s matter of fact “I’m dead” and arthur’s quick protest that he’s NOT dead when told as such by the rat catcher

- the descriptions of things in malevolent are always great, but the stuff this episode was very visceral and gross in a way that i think works well for introducing the setting we’re in now

- wracking my brain trying to recall if a bell has been relevant before for any reason, trying to figure out if this is something familiar or new

i don’t know if it will be a good one or a bad one, but it does feel a bit like a lure for our favorite fish?

- OUGHHH THE “i don’t want to think about who else might be here” OUGHHH i’d been waiting for it, of course it was coming, it’s been a question im sure arthur had wondered since episode one, and was first asked outright in season 1 or 2 right?

it was delayed by the idea of the waylay, but with that proven to be an outlier and not the typical “afterlife”, it had to be brought up again

something about this instance felt so striking, other times faroe gets brought up, even other times the question of if she is in the dark world is asked, i feel like her song is very prominent, even if it is a soft song in the first place

this music box version felt so muted, so distant, kind of like an audible representation of wanting to keep the idea out of mind

i loveeee it

-circling back to the rat catcher (i kinda love them), i half expected the rat that the guy turned into to be like the one from the hotel

since iirc john said it was something from the dark world

- anyways KELLINNNN i knew we’d see kellin but it’s so soon! im surprised!

- the spotlight crabs are kind of neat tbh, also i love the soundscaping of like, BIG BIG creatures so far, i feel like malevolent as a whole hasn’t had a lot of entities that are in part scary due to their scale

- HELLO ???? MARIE’S SON????? OH MY GOD???

“the light” don’t do this to me im going to cry

i don’t have a lot of thoughts abt frederick showing up i just oughhh aughhh anguish

however i do know that this means i really ought to broaden my horizons on who im expecting to show up, because frederick was far from anyone i expected

- THEY GET CLOTHES THANK GOODNESS

- fascinated by the dollmaker, something makes me wonder if it could end up being someone we know, and i’m not sure why

- listen,,, arthur,,, john,,, jarthur,,, i know there’s a lot happening right now and you just had a lot happen, and like, died

but you did absorb that talon (was it described as white? i don’t recall) from lilith

and then you called it a SCRATCH

i’m sure they’ll get there

-i neeeedd to know what john is still so scared to tell arthur please please please please

- i loved this episode

anyways i’ll be thinking forever and ever about how even when both of them are dead, deceased, in the literal afterlife, they are still together sharing one body

“My fractured soul has become entangled in yours” really is as true as it’s ever been, huh?

[spacedryadkepler]

malevolent part 52 spoilers!!

(theee most rambling thoughts)

(extra long edition)

- NIGHTMARE SEQUENCE WITH JOHN

- LILLITH PULLING OUT OLD AND NEW TRICKS

- THE SCENE WITH ANTOINE PULLED MY HEART OUT, STOMPED ON IT, AND SHOVED IT BACK IN BEFORE SAYING “THAT WAS JUST A SAMPLE PLATTER”

- KAAAAAAAYYYYYYNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEE BESTIE GIRLY POP I MISSED YOUUUUUUUUUUUU

the complete and utter shift in my mood and vibe listening as kayne entered the stage was embarrassing

i’m so normal about this character

- god the callbacks, the references, it’d be excessive if it was anyone but kayne im OBSESSED

- kayne is SO antagonistic towards lilith oh my god no wonder she hates him

- YORRIK NOOOOOOOO

“no one makes it out of this one alive” how dare you, you just know he’d be looking directly into the camera if this was a visual medium

- obsessed with the way kayne is threatening arthur, utterly possessed by this scene when doodling stuff from the episode

- orchestra made up of alternate arthur’s is fucking insane i love it

SPEAKING OF, THE SONG IS FUCKING INCREDIBLE IM INSANE ABOUT IT

- arthur’s parents being cultists oh man

- also the side comment about how arthur never should have opened that book?? god, he’s honestly right, so much tragedy would have been avoided, but also like OW OUCHIE poor john…..

- arthur and john trying to appeal to kayne or talk him out of it was comedy to me, there’s surely nothing they could have said to sway him, i want to know what sort of faces he was making while letting them roll persuasion checks

- LILLITH GETTING HER HEAD SMASHED IN WAS NOT ON MY BINGO farewell queen

- kayne wanting to remake the world with him as the most powerful being in it, okay okay sounds about right-

what do you MEAAAAAN HE’S LIKE??? FIXATING ON A PERFECT WORLD WHERE THERE IS NO PAIN, ONLY JOY, ERASING THE BAD PARTS AND STARTING FRESH????

HELLO??? KAYNE MALEVOLENT??? WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN WHAT HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED WHY ARE YOU THE WAY YOU ARE???

HE IS CRYING????

- HELLOOOO DARK WORLD WE FINALLY GET TO SEE YOU

after everything that’s happened, arthur does not care what john did in the dark world, he accepts it, he forgives him for whatever he’s sorry for

i’m going to explode

- the line “the heart you two share” is going to be spinning in my mind for a very long time oughhhhhhhhhhhh they are a bonded pair do not separate

- i knew this was going to end bad

there was no way we were moving into season 6 unscathed

but holy shit

arthur getting dismembered alive by kayne while john is forced to watch, seemingly to an extent that straight up kills both of them

was not on my bingo card

- the dog barking sounds kayne makes in the season 4 finale are basically me this entire episode

i am utterly ravenous for the next episode to come out, i’m going insane

[spacedryadkepler]

MALEVOLENT DA CAPO SPOILERS

(IM HERE TO YELL INTO THE VOID /positive)

- THE SHARP INHALE I DID THE MOMENT I RECOGNIZED THAT FUCKING ARKHAM OFFICE SOUNDSCAPE, GOOD GOD

-PAAAAARKEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRR PARKERRRRRRRRRRR OH MY GOOOOODDDD

hearing the moments leading up to the start of episode one i’m going to start biting things

- FINALLY FINALLY UNDERSTANDING HOW/WHY JOHN KILLED PARKER, CAUSE HE -DID- KNOW WHO HE WAS BEFORE SOMEONE INTERVENED HOLY FUCK

that was something i never understood and never thought would be explained im so delighted

- YOU CALLED IT MADNESSSS OH BUT I CALLED IT LOVEEEE

i’m losing my mind about the song returning, AND FINALLY BEING EXPLAINED HOLY SHIT

-WAYLAY WAYLAY WAYLAY ARTHUR AND JOHN BOTH IN THE WAYLAY THEY WEREN’T SEPARATED YESSSSSSS

-oh ohhohohoho impossible to put into words the feral reaction i had to the manager, im insane about this im going wild im going crazy im going to chew on this character

THE MANAGER THE MANAGER THE MANAGER RAHGHHHGGHHH

the description on the manager gives me a jumping off point for trying to draw the other nyarlathoteps mentioned in 52, i wasn’t sure that there was any reason to assume the other versions would take on a form similar to kayne’s, but now there is the possibility of that

DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THAT HIS FOOTSTEP SOUND DEFINITELY IMPLIED THE MANAGER ALSO WALKS AROUND BAREFOOT?? IS THAT JUST A PRE-REQUISITE FOR BEING A NYARLATHOTEP?? AT LEAST I CAN OBSCURE KAYNE’S DOGS WITH BLOOD BUT THIS GUY???

anyways i loveeee how this guy tries to differentiate himself, that one post pointing out how he stops himself when he laughs like kayne?? oughhhhh

i love how in spite of that he still soooo sounds like he motions so expressively while talking

AND HE’S BEEN HELPING THEM!!! THE LIGHTER THE SONG AAAAHHHHGGGG so many things i thought would never be explained and im so happy with the answers

- so with the whole description of the dark world and such, the lighter definitely like, restores people’s humanity right? the dark world’s gonna be a fun carousel of past friends and foes right??

if parker wasn’t in the waylay (im assuming the manager is the one who gave arthur the blood and sand last time), do we think he’ll be in the dark world now???

if the waylay isn’t part of the natural process of the afterlife, and instead is the manager’s personal hideaway, does that mean that arthur’s original fear, that EVERYONE goes to the dark world when they die, was true??

-THE FIRST ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE LISTENERS IN SO SO LONG!! the last one was “Someone needs to tell them coins don’t land on their sides”, right??

the listeners are attached to arthur specifically in a way that neither kayne or the manager understand hmmm

anyway i’m so normal about the manager speaking directly to the fourth wall (*twirling my hair*)

-INTO THE DARK WORLD WE GO !!!

[spacedryadkepler]

malevolent ep 47 spoilers

(rambling thoughts)

i don’t have a lot of thoughts actually, but i just want to kick my feet and giggle about how arthur and john’s relationship has progressed!

going into season 5 expecting a divorce season on the level of seasons 2 or 3 and instead getting what feels like the best and most consistent communication they’ve ever had!!!

it feels very satisfying to see the fruition of all their character development.

there’s of course the big moments, like john saving arthur, and the “you know i love you, too”, but so many small little things

even in this episode, john’s concern over arthur’s wellbeing, arthur just sort of casually opening up about things in his childhood to john, the way john uses things he’s learned from arthur to help arthur in turn

it’s all so good

john is so so funny for letting arthur do the rock throwing

i’m going to be so anticipating when the candle-lighting phrase is going to come up again

arthur and john having to work together and both lie/feign cluelessness?? i think this is a first?? going to be interesting to see

scratch is back!!! hell yeah!!

i saw theories about scratch being kayne’s daughter and went “nah”, but

“she’d like you” “you’re her favorite”, power level similar to kayne, hmmmmm

but at the same time, i think it’s funny if lilith is kayne’s daughter, and “lilith you bitch” is more of an affectionate “you little shit” line.

arthur’s plague rat situation is so so worrying, i don’t think he’s making it through the next episode without passing out, or unleashing the horrors

interesting that his coughing, presumably relating to spreading horig’s spores, got increasingly intense as he got closer to some form of civilization