#MalVa (the ship) (implied)

[malvaweek]

ANNOUNCING...!

Age of Resistance gave us a whole cast of memorable characters, but arguably the coolest among them are skekMal the Hunter and urVa the Archer. Inspired by other similarly themed blogs, here’s the very first MalVa Week to celebrate these two (as well as their ship), from May 2nd - May 8th!

Everyone is welcome to join in and create fanart, fan-fiction, edits, and more. Don’t ship them? That’s okay! You can still participate if you like both characters. And don’t stress if you can’t submit your work on time: late submissions are now accepted indefinitely even after the original week is over.  

Each day has its own prompt. You don’t have to follow them strictly as they’re there to help you brainstorm. If you can’t think of anything or don’t like the prompts, that’s fine too. You can create anything you want as long as it follows the rules. Note that day 7 has two prompts and you can pick either or both:

Day 1: You and I Are One

Day 2: Knives and Arrows

Day 3: The Hunt

Day 4: Have Some Tea

Day 5: Campsite

Day 6: Duel

Day 7: What Lies at the Dream’s End/ Another World, Another Time (AU)

The Rules:

The work must include both skekMal and urVa. You can add other characters, but the Hunter and Archer must be the main focus. 

Minor violence/gore and some sexual situations (implied or jokes) are allowed, but these pieces must be tagged accordingly. 

Excessive violence/gore and explicit sexual content, however, isn’t allowed. 

Special mention that fetishes and topics/themes like n*nc*n/r*pe, dubc*n, and p*d*philia are not allowed, implied or otherwise. 

Make sure to tag the blog and use the hashtag #malvaweek2021 so I can reblog your work !

I thought that announcing the event early would give people enough time to plan ahead. Periodically I’ll make reminder posts as we get closer to the event date. If you have any questions, contact me at @skekheck​ (both my DMs and asks are open).

#the dark crystal #skekmal #urva #malva #malvaweek2021

[skekheck]

if your still doing character thing: skekmal

Yeah I’m still willing to do these: they’re a lot of fun!

Why I like them

There’s this lure about him like we know what kind of character he is, but there’s still an air of mystery to him. We get a pretty good idea what the other lords do in their day to day lives. SkekMal’s seemed way more interesting, battling against the elements and hunting whatever he could find. I really want to know the history with some of the trophies he wore. Not to mention, that unspoken relationship he had with Rek’yr. I mean they were on a name basis. As I recall, no other gelfling referred the skeksis by name, only as lord or by their title. 

A lot about skekMal is so interesting. Like how there are legends surrounding him by gelfling and podlings, referring to him as “the Hunter”. How he lived off the lands instead of relying on the Crystal (at this seemingly). But his most interesting aspect is his obsession with the hunt and how it shows deeper roots into his hidden fear of death. SkekMal’s whole philosophy hunting down worthy targets and wearing their remains somehow giving him strength. Thus, keeping off death’s doorsteps. I also feel like, besides enjoying the carnage of his hunts, he’s desensitizing himself from death. The more he kills, the less he’ll fear it. This is also why he has a great distaste for the skeksis court and their way of life. SkekMal sees how much they deteriorated, becoming weaker, closer to death. How much they rely on weaker beings for resources, being pampered and drowning in useless trinkets. The endless squabbling that goes on in the court about things that in the end don’t matter. He doesn’t want to become like that. He needs to keep himself strong and get stronger. That’s why he dedicates his life to the hunt: it’s a way of self-preservation. 

I’ve been thinking about skekMal wasn’t always this obsessed and that he may have had a better social life when he was younger. I’m under the assumption the skeksis are social creatures, seeing how they have their own cliques and friends. And while I think skekMal still had a similar bad attitude in his younger days, I feel like he was more mellowed out enough to have some friends. But as they got older and fears of their mortality sprung up, skekMal completely changed. He began dedicating himself to his profession, spending much longer time by himself. He grew more wild and untamable and the others began fearing him, maybe even moreso than before. No one wanted him around so they rarely summon him (and only do so under extreme circumstances). That doesn’t mean skekMal didn’t have any social contact. Despite how fiercely independent he is, he relies on the Dousan to guide him on hunts. And seeing how he and Rek’yr are on a name basis, I’m sure he has made similar connections over the years. But it’s not enough for him. I’ve read that social isolation leads to increased aggression and violence so perhaps this is why he’s so violent (and isolation probably amplified these traits). 

Why I don’t

This stupid bitch is the reason why urVa had to sacrifice himself. If skekMal wasn’t such a feral bastard and maybe chill the fuck out, they’d both be alive. 

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

Episode 4 is the best. Not only because he makes his debut here, but also features skekMal’s fight against Rian and Ordon. Which, in my opinion, is one of the best scenes in the series. 

Favorite season/movie

I mean, AOR. I could count the book series, but he is a waaaaay different character there (even between books: he seems way different in Flames than he was in Shadows). Also he’s a by far more interesting character in AOR than in the book series. 

Favorite line

“Nothing can stop the hunt!”

Favorite outfit

I do like him with the metal mask he wore briefly, but his bone mask is a LOOK.

OTP

It’s no secret that I ship MalVa. It’s the best one. You can fight me on that. I’m all about that self love!

Brotp

Talked about possible friendships he could have had in another post, but I also wanted to bring up skekSo. Like I talked about in skekSo’s post, I feel like the two would have an unspoken respect and fear of each other. SkekSo is the only one that can control the Hunter and that takes some skills considering how wild he is now. I can see that the two got into a pretty bloody fight and skekSo came out the victor, asserting his dominance over skekMal. Or he could have seen the Emperor beating skekShod to a pulp for even questioning his power and that might have gained some respect for him. Or might even be a combination of both. I also feel like out of all the other skeksis, skekMal might still see skekSo as powerful as he was in his youth and would hold him in high regard over the others. 

Head Canon

The Dousan Clan heavily influenced skekMal, especially in regard to his philosophy. The Dousan already live a similar lifestyle: only living off the land and what’s provided for them. They’re nomadic and don’t have a permanent residence. Plus, they have a spiritual belief for the cycle of life and death. The skeksis fear the Dousan for this and therefore not only limit visits to them, but also are the only clan that cannot become a castle guard. I feel like all of this would at least intrigue the Hunter. The more he spends time with them, understanding their culture begins inspiring his lifestyle. When he saw that the Dousan wore bones and believed they were charms, he inherited this belief. All of his trophies are his own charms: charms that give him power. 

Unpopular opinion

Every now and then I see people hypothesize that MalVa was Dark Heart, the urSkek that ultimately caused the Great Division. The Creation Myths imply that it’s SilSol, since you can tell it’s skekSil being torn from urSol. But even if they didn’t, it would suck if MalVa was the one and they both died without having that addressed. Or having it to be addressed and they’re already dead so what’s the point? Also since Dark Heart was a musician and urSol is the chanter, that’s an easier deduction. Additionally, skekSil has qualities of a musician, being able to pitch his voice and using words to sway others. Also on multiple occasions in the series he’s seen orchestrating/ordering the podling musicians. As dark and evil as skekMal is, he doesn’t hold a candle to skekSil’s own wickedness. 

A wish

Seriously hoping that Rek’yr and skekMal’s relationship can be explored in the prequel series. Also flashbacks of young skekMal would be nice. 

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

I mean he’s already dead so�� it’s already happened LMAO.

5 words to best describe them

Wild | Persevered | Bloodthirsty | Unpredictable | Ambitious 

My nickname for them

Feral with variations (like bastard, bitch, asshole). 

#Anonymous #skekmal #asks for skekheck #once again I am reminded I can just easily write a character study on this guy

[pkmnomegaverse]

Do you have any endgame ships for Cynthia, Iris, Diantha, Cyrus, Guzma, and others?

None of these are set in stone (thus why they’re not on the family list), but here’s what I’ve considered for endgame ships for each character. 

Cynthia - No one/single. I might change my mind and pair Cynthia up with someone, but as of this point, it’s fairly likely she’ll remain single.  Once she retires from being Champion, she spends most of her time researching history/mythology and acts as a mentor to some of the other characters, particularly Lucas as he takes over as Champion of Sinnoh.  Even if I were to give Cynthia a kid, it’d likely be an orphan she took in or a kid she’s mentoring and developes a parental relationship with, as opposed to pairing her up with someone to have a kid with.

Iris - Benga. This one has a fair likelihood of happening, mainly because they’d be another alpha/alpha pair, which is lacking in this AU. I haven’t listed them simply because neither are well developed and I haven’t decided whether they’d adopt any kids or not.

Diantha - Malva.  I’m 99% certain I’ll endgame them so consider this one set.  I thought it would be interesting to explore, since when Malva gets involved with Diantha would play a major factor.  If it happened before or during the events of XY, it could be the beginnings of her loyalty starting to shift away from Lysandre/Team Flare.  Even if she only got involved with Diantha as a “keep your enemies close” kind of thing, feelings might eventually catch up with her, which possibly explains why she remained at the Pokemon League (presumably doing nothing, since there’s no indication she was at least trying to delay the other Elite 4/Champion) while the big showdown with Team Flare was happening.  It also has good potential as an angst pair, since I don’t see Malva as ever being a completely honest person, so even if she did fully commit herself to Diantha, I still think she would do things behind her back, even if it was, according to her, for Diantha’s own good or to protect their family (since I do see them having a daughter). I mainly haven’t listed this one since I haven’t worked out all the details. 

Cyrus - Isn’t he dead?  That was always my assumed fate for him after he stayed in the Distortion World.  Even if he’s not dead and eventually gets out, I can’t see him getting with anyone. And literally the only character I’ve even kind of shipped him with is Dawn, who’s very happily married to Riley.  If he were to have a kid, it would be like the Cynthia situation above, an orphan he started taking care of or a tag along kid he unintentionally starts to mentor.  Through interacting with them, he starts to gain vaguely paternal feelings for them and maybe begins to see the error of his ways. The world is still flawed, but perhaps it’s okay for people to have spirit.  But this is all hypothetical, since at this point, Cyrus is ambiguously dead, unless I add a side plot about Cynthia or Lucas eventually going back to the Distortion World to get him out (which, tbh, Lucas at least would probably try to figure out what happened to him eventually, so I suppose Cyrus probably gets saved from the Distortion World by him).  

Guzma - I vaguely implied this in an earlier post, but endgame for Guzma is Sun, aka, USUM AU Faller!Elio.  I blame pixiv for getting me into Guzma/Elio, but since Gladion/Elio was already endgame, I didn’t want to deal with another angst love triangle situation like Lance/Ethan/Silver so I thought, screw it, there’s two Elios now. I have Faller fankids so why not explore how a Faller version of someone major like a protagonist would affect things.  Plus Elio’s design in USUM is different enough to seem like a different character (even if it really is just him with a haircut in different clothes).   I haven’t listed this one since it’s very new and not well developed, but I do know it’s starts out as more of a no-strings-attached-let’s-hook-up-when-we-feel-like-it situation before feelings start to develop. 

The only other endgame pairing almost certain to happen not on the family list is Eusine/Kris. Since Kris is one of the test subjects for Team Cross, having become part Suicune of sorts, having her at least interact with Eusine is a must.  It’s the details of how they get involved romantically I’m still iffy on, since while Kris isn’t as traumatized as some of the other test subjects from Team Cross are, she still very much has problems.  But I do really want this one to happen, since I even had Feng, Eusine’s ward/adopted son, be one of the main fankids to interact more with Kris, specifically to start the buildup for the three of them as a potential future family. 

#Cynthia #Iris #Benga #Diantha #Malva #Cyrus #Guzma #Elio #Eusine #Kris #asks #anon #Feng #Lucas #Dragonheartshipping #Angelfireshipping #Everlastingdayshipping #GuzSun doesn't have a ship name but I saw someone on here and ao3 (same person?) use it so in respect to them I'll use too #Crystalshipping #Team Cross #Sun

[malvaweek]

MalVa Week Is Here!

MalVa Week is finally here! It begins today and ends on the 8th. Don’t fret if you can’t get your pieces done on time! You got until June 5th to get late submissions in. For convivence, here’s the prompts and rules.

Prompts:

Day 1: You and I Are One

Day 2: Knives and Arrows

Day 3: The Hunt

Day 4: Have Some Tea

Day 5: Campsite

Day 6: Duel

Day 7: What Lies at the Dream’s End/ Another World, Another Time (AU)

The Rules:

The work must include both skekMal and urVa. You can add other characters, but the Hunter and Archer must be the main focus.

If you don’t ship it, you can still participate. This event is not just celebrating the ship, but also these two amazing characters.

You do not have to strictly follow the prompts and are free to draw anything you want for the event as long as it falls in with the rest of the rules. 

Minor violence/gore and some sexual situations (implied or jokes) are allowed, but these pieces must be tagged accordingly.

Excessive violence/gore and explicit sexual content, however, isn’t allowed.

Special mention that fetishes and topics/themes like n*nc*n/r*pe, dubc*n, and p*d*philia are not allowed, implied or otherwise.

Make sure to tag the blog and use the hashtag #malvaweek2021 so I can reblog your work !

If you have any questions, contact me over at @skekheck !

#the dark crystal #skekmal #urva #malva #malvaweek2021