TO CLARIFY AN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION AROUND 1:14:00 I compared my feelings about automatically assuming two men were romantically involved, to automatically assuming that me helping a child that wasn't mine was dangerous. This was only meant to be an example of preconceived notions and optics and in no way a comparative to the way people feel about these characters and my apologies if people took more from that. In retrospect it was not a perfect analogy however I want to stress that the example was in no way meant to cause offense or make ANY grander statement on LGBTQ+ individuals of whom I am ENTIRELY in support of. Again, my sincere apologies.
I feel the same way, honestly. I'm uh, a pretty harmless lady looking person. I know my advantages in life, and it just, sucks that we live in a worls so... distanced and strange to each other, all the time - at least speaking for the western world.
I analysed my own reading of John and Arthur's relationship after listening to season one. When there are unconfirmed relationships in media, i usually look at the relationship from a wider perspective. Yes, I personally read John and Arthur as a romantic relationship. But that doesnt mean this is queer baiting or anything. Its something to consider but to me there was enough evidence to assume, that the series itself explores male intimacy on a platonic level, not romantic or sexual. If I really want the romantic aspect or more, there is enough fanfiction on that. And thus I can enjoy the very important discussion of male intimacy in this podcast. Because being close to another man platonically is more of a taboo nowadays than being gay. At least in the western world, were this podcast is from. Media always shows what the author and their culture is concerned with and I'm really glad this topic was addressed, because it is really important.
I am keeping the hummus thing as a head cannon now because of one really important point, Jon can’t taste. So that would mean that he just gets really freaking hyped in the presence of hummus, and that thought delights me.
I'll be honest, I loved S3 the most. Episode 26 and 27 (going off of Spotify and not the Patreon episodes) were my all-time favorite episodes and made me genuinely sob. I get why Harlan says that they might feel too dark for some people, but it felt like a natural progression of Arthur finally having to address the trauma and self-hatred he has for himself that's been fumigating the past seasons.
I actually didn't realise this was a solo production. Bloody hell! I am so impressed! By the way, I'm English, and I just assumed you'd got an English actor to do the Arthur bits. Very, very well done!
Sorry Harlan, there are actually so many of us happy to listen to you talk and answer questions for an hour and a half, you're a fun guy to listen to! This also gave me a big kick in the caboose to keep pushing to write my project even though it's hard. But you keep trucking and I think your work is pretty incredible so *fingers crossed* for me. Ps personally I love your Tumblr answers and hope you never feel obligated to answer so many of them xD
I dont usually write long comments like this and this might be a lot, but I want to say two things: 1. When I discovered Malevolent (and deviser) a few months ago I was at kind of a strange time in my life where everything happened all at once. I had just lost a close family member, I was scrambeling to finish my masters thesis, and my wife and I were expecting the birth of our son. During this tumultuous time I found your podcast(s) and they served as a much needed respite from the stress of it all. As I spent more and more time litstening I became more and more invested, and now Malevolent is without a doubt my favorite podcast/show. No matter how stressed I am, I always make time to listen each week on patreon, something that has become quite meditative for me (regardless of whether it made me cry, laugh, or biting my fingernails in suspense). I guess I would just like to emphasize that Malevolent and Deviser really helped me through quite a tough time in my life and for that I am thankful. 2. I have to say that out of all the podcast I have listened to that follows the audiodrama format, this is without a doubt the most well thought out, best preformed, most interesting, and consistent in terms of quality I have encountered, by a long shot. I havent seen it mentioned a lot online, which frankly baffles me, but there is no doubt in my mind that it will explode in popularity over time and be remembered as one of the greatest horror podcasts. I know this might seem overly enthusiastic, but I think that it is important to give credit where it is due, and you really deserve the praise! I am looking forward to follow your work in the future and as a proud patron, I will continue to wait excitedly for new episodes.
Second comment, but I really appreciate what you said about platonic relationships and how there can be just as much meaning in them as romantic relationships. I'm currently writing a story and I found myself falling into that, where I just automatically made my main character have a love interest. But she's immortal and tbh it wouldn't make much sense that she would see people in a romantic way. And I just love that, in the sea of romance and "romantic love" that there are still creators who make platonic relationships a central focus of their stories. And I really love that, especially as an aromantic person. Even if they do end up becoming romantic later on I still really respect you for it.
Great, I've just listened to the whole Malevolent series (so far) over the last week. Then I find out there was live Q&A! Anyway. I think if you read everything from H. P. Lovecraft, Malevolent is the next best thing. Really captures the vibe. I would even say it's more Lovecraftian, than quite a lot of Lovecraft's lesser work. As a fan of HPL, I was stunned. It also reminds me of the old radio plays, where they put everything into it. I'm fan of them as well. So it hits at multiple levels.
im aroallo and i see john and arthur as a sorta queerplatonic relationship :-) it makes me rlly happy to see u depict that kind of closeness without the romantic lens most stories would show it through /gen generally i like shipping characters, but i really appreciate how the assertion that it's platonic emphasizes how real and important their relationship is, rather than detracting from its significance!! idk if this is worded super coherently, but i love malevolent and (ironically enough 😭) it makes me feel seen!!
I love how when Harlan is asked what his favorite thing about the series is, and I'm here expecting some really heartfelt, deep response he just says "it's you guys :D" fast forward three seconds "it's fucking funny" gotta respect it
I never knew you were doing this by yourself while binge watching the episodes while I draw until I listened to this Q&A (currently at EP40 while I type this) that is seriously impressive and I always love any casual moments between Author and John (like when John was pestering Author to go see a movies)
TO CLARIFY AN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION AROUND 1:14:00
I compared my feelings about automatically assuming two men were romantically involved, to automatically assuming that me helping a child that wasn't mine was dangerous. This was only meant to be an example of preconceived notions and optics and in no way a comparative to the way people feel about these characters and my apologies if people took more from that. In retrospect it was not a perfect analogy however I want to stress that the example was in no way meant to cause offense or make ANY grander statement on LGBTQ+ individuals of whom I am ENTIRELY in support of. Again, my sincere apologies.
Really kudos to you about kids and preconcieved notions about men
I feel the same way, honestly. I'm uh, a pretty harmless lady looking person. I know my advantages in life, and it just, sucks that we live in a worls so... distanced and strange to each other, all the time - at least speaking for the western world.
I analysed my own reading of John and Arthur's relationship after listening to season one. When there are unconfirmed relationships in media, i usually look at the relationship from a wider perspective. Yes, I personally read John and Arthur as a romantic relationship. But that doesnt mean this is queer baiting or anything. Its something to consider but to me there was enough evidence to assume, that the series itself explores male intimacy on a platonic level, not romantic or sexual. If I really want the romantic aspect or more, there is enough fanfiction on that. And thus I can enjoy the very important discussion of male intimacy in this podcast. Because being close to another man platonically is more of a taboo nowadays than being gay. At least in the western world, were this podcast is from. Media always shows what the author and their culture is concerned with and I'm really glad this topic was addressed, because it is really important.
I am keeping the hummus thing as a head cannon now because of one really important point, Jon can’t taste. So that would mean that he just gets really freaking hyped in the presence of hummus, and that thought delights me.
I'll be honest, I loved S3 the most. Episode 26 and 27 (going off of Spotify and not the Patreon episodes) were my all-time favorite episodes and made me genuinely sob. I get why Harlan says that they might feel too dark for some people, but it felt like a natural progression of Arthur finally having to address the trauma and self-hatred he has for himself that's been fumigating the past seasons.
Thank you for stressing the value of platonic friendships! Platonic love is just as valid as any other kind.
Me who thought the dice rolls were vine booms....
I was always super confused by the random dice rolls til I found out about the Patreon
AS AN AROMANTIC RAAAHHH THANK YOU FOR PUTTING THAT IN WORDS Never knew I needed that SPOKENNN 1:13:55
I actually didn't realise this was a solo production. Bloody hell! I am so impressed!
By the way, I'm English, and I just assumed you'd got an English actor to do the Arthur bits. Very, very well done!
Sorry Harlan, there are actually so many of us happy to listen to you talk and answer questions for an hour and a half, you're a fun guy to listen to!
This also gave me a big kick in the caboose to keep pushing to write my project even though it's hard. But you keep trucking and I think your work is pretty incredible so *fingers crossed* for me.
Ps personally I love your Tumblr answers and hope you never feel obligated to answer so many of them xD
I dont usually write long comments like this and this might be a lot, but I want to say two things:
1. When I discovered Malevolent (and deviser) a few months ago I was at kind of a strange time in my life where everything happened all at once. I had just lost a close family member, I was scrambeling to finish my masters thesis, and my wife and I were expecting the birth of our son. During this tumultuous time I found your podcast(s) and they served as a much needed respite from the stress of it all. As I spent more and more time litstening I became more and more invested, and now Malevolent is without a doubt my favorite podcast/show. No matter how stressed I am, I always make time to listen each week on patreon, something that has become quite meditative for me (regardless of whether it made me cry, laugh, or biting my fingernails in suspense). I guess I would just like to emphasize that Malevolent and Deviser really helped me through quite a tough time in my life and for that I am thankful.
2. I have to say that out of all the podcast I have listened to that follows the audiodrama format, this is without a doubt the most well thought out, best preformed, most interesting, and consistent in terms of quality I have encountered, by a long shot. I havent seen it mentioned a lot online, which frankly baffles me, but there is no doubt in my mind that it will explode in popularity over time and be remembered as one of the greatest horror podcasts. I know this might seem overly enthusiastic, but I think that it is important to give credit where it is due, and you really deserve the praise!
I am looking forward to follow your work in the future and as a proud patron, I will continue to wait excitedly for new episodes.
I LISTENED TO PEGGY GORDON TO FIND OUT THE SECRETS BEHIND IT AND NOW IT’S BEEN STUCK IN MY HEAD FOR THREE DAYS
Second comment, but I really appreciate what you said about platonic relationships and how there can be just as much meaning in them as romantic relationships. I'm currently writing a story and I found myself falling into that, where I just automatically made my main character have a love interest. But she's immortal and tbh it wouldn't make much sense that she would see people in a romantic way. And I just love that, in the sea of romance and "romantic love" that there are still creators who make platonic relationships a central focus of their stories. And I really love that, especially as an aromantic person. Even if they do end up becoming romantic later on I still really respect you for it.
I gotta say, the train was definitely the goofiest and funniest episode,probably my favorite
Great, I've just listened to the whole Malevolent series (so far) over the last week. Then I find out there was live Q&A!
Anyway. I think if you read everything from H. P. Lovecraft, Malevolent is the next best thing. Really captures the vibe.
I would even say it's more Lovecraftian, than quite a lot of Lovecraft's lesser work. As a fan of HPL, I was stunned. It also
reminds me of the old radio plays, where they put everything into it. I'm fan of them as well. So it hits at multiple levels.
im aroallo and i see john and arthur as a sorta queerplatonic relationship :-)
it makes me rlly happy to see u depict that kind of closeness without the romantic lens most stories would show it through /gen
generally i like shipping characters, but i really appreciate how the assertion that it's platonic emphasizes how real and important their relationship is, rather than detracting from its significance!!
idk if this is worded super coherently, but i love malevolent and (ironically enough 😭) it makes me feel seen!!
I love how when Harlan is asked what his favorite thing about the series is, and I'm here expecting some really heartfelt, deep response he just says "it's you guys :D" fast forward three seconds "it's fucking funny"
gotta respect it
Absolutely amazing Q&A! Thank you so much, Harlan.
I never knew you were doing this by yourself while binge watching the episodes while I draw until I listened to this Q&A (currently at EP40 while I type this) that is seriously impressive and I always love any casual moments between Author and John (like when John was pestering Author to go see a movies)
Worked for the original stream but going back over to see what I missed
I think John maybe a Yithian but something happened that kept Arthur in his body
Malevolent is awsome thankyou
🎉🎉🎉
I'm listening to your right now and I love it. Can't wait for more from you. 😀