Without further ado, I uploaded the full audio book of the story, The Ghosts of Maul, Written by Michael Moreci, narrated by Sam Witwer himself, in the Maul voice, as if narrated by him!
I've been caught up by several things, and didn't really get around to screen recording it, and then today my screen recorder was a pain in the ass to record, so it's split into parts.
I listened to it on a walk and no joking, I had to pause it every so often to take a break. His voice is just too intense! Phenomenal performance, too. Let me share my favourite bits with timestamps and what went through my mind as I listened to them (I’m not going to heaven after that)
SPOILERS! Comment for part 2
Storywise, not much happens, tbh, Maul basically arrives at an old Sith castle and fights some ghosts who taunt him, assuming the visage of dead people he cared about. Basically, it was a therapy session for Maul that didn’t teach him anything.
A couple of notes: I’m really happy with the way the new Maul is so well-spoken. His speech patterns aren’t as magniloquent as in the comics, those, I believe, intended to show the influence of Sidious. They were curt and to the point. In the story, Maul’s reminds me of Scar from The Lion King. Same inflections, verboseness and overall a pleasure to dissect. BUT! This post is mostly about his growls, scoffs and panting, haha
Part one timestamps:
9:01: “Savage Opress, my brother, is gripping the hilt” As Savage/Maul shipper I couldn’t help but squeal. Ok, Lord Maul, whose hilt was it?
12:37: absolutely exquisite “the rage swells in me with every word he says. By the time he finishes, I’m on top of him (!)”. Top-notch panting through gritted teeth.
13:30: “I see fear in his eyes. His posture is defensive, timid, weak”. This is where Maul sees that he has the upper hand in the fight and oh does he love the feeling. You can hear the glee in the last three words. Did I mention how good Sam Witwer’s performance is?
14:19 (my heart is racing again as I’m listening to it) “*hiss* I grab him by the back of his neck and pull him toward me.”
Not a single Christian thought in my head atp. Incredible use of growling, hissing and drawling in “pull him toward me”.
16:33 “I enter what appears to be the throne room”. Seems like a throwaway line but the inflections of SW’s voice deliver such a nuanced feel. A slight bewilderment, being impressed by the room’s grandeur are all delivered with the sing-songy quality to the tone. You know Maul feels overwhelmed by it, even though he’s on guard.
BONUS!
16:46 “the last time anyone *scoff* anyone of living flesh and blood”
HIS SCOFF! I’m having a heart attack. He’s having fun! He’s enjoying his own little joke. It’s so small but gives a glimpse of what he finds funny, even if it’s a dark kind of amusement.
I'll throw in the wonderful Eizin Suzuki into this ring too, a man whose work just breathes light without actually using dynamic lighting in the usual way. It's no surprise both Nagai and Suzuki are both considered prolific in art pertaining to the city pop genre because they're able to paint these kinds of scenes with a delicate touch.
This feels like I could trip on that radio and fall right into that water, feeling the crystal waves as I drop in.
And this, a nice stroll down a resort strip, where my sunscreened skin could literally feel cooked if I leaned too close to the tiling.
And then a nice stretch of summer street, wherein you could see your face in the flushed red of that car provided it didn't blind you from its sunny reflections.
I don't think I even need to say anything more, Suzuki's a massive influence in how he even places colours so warmly in such unorthodox manner. It's a naturally sunkissed talent~ 🌊
I am so tired of short-attention-span, trim-the-fat culture.
All writing advice these days is for how to write like Chuck Palahniuk. "Cut 'think', cut 'feel', cut 'wonder' - only action, only pushing forward, show and move and move and move." What if I could emulate this style, and still don't want to? What if I want to write like Henry James, with three paragraphs of introspective musings between each dialogue line?
The music advice is, "make it shortform, make it Tik-Tok compatible, make it punchy, hit the refrain as soon as possible." What if I want that 10-minute prog rock piece? What if I want that symphony? What if I want it slow and luxurious and lazy?
Movies. Series. Poetry. Bodies. Everything is "trimmed trimmed trimmed trimmed, stripped bare, you have three seconds to win me over, make it airport chic." I don't want to win you over, then, I guess.
I want the fat left it.
I want the pleasure and the indolence and the indulgence.
Fuck this art-advice that's always "your art needs Ozempic."
I like to think that Maul built Spybot himself which would explain why he's affectionate towards him and vice versa.
It's canon to Maul's character that he's a skilled engineer, he has been known to build and/or modify vehicles and droids, even those little probe droids that we see in TPM which I think Spybot is meant to be a nod to, so it would make sense that he also built this little murder bot.
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