Nothing compares to the anxiety of the first upload except for the anxiety of uploading the final time. It was an absolute pleasure to make something again and I sincerely hope you all enjoyed it.
This was the story we wanted to tell and I can't give enough credit to everyone involved that made it possible. The list of thank yous is incredibly long but I wanted to take time to single out two people in particular.
Tony for being on site and in the trenches with us. Absolutely the best script supervisor we could have had! This project easily would have taken twice as long without him!
And of course Troy for taking my vague, wild idea and fleshing it out to something substantive and compelling (not to mention knocking the editing out of the park, as usual!). Rosswood would not have been half as good if not for his dedication, passion, and talent. Well done, my friend.
Last year I did my first concept of mando Maul so for the next prompt of @maul-appreciation-week I wanted to share more about this concept.
Day 3: "Mandalore"
Last three months ago I was working on the design of this Maul. I did a few more concepts but at the end I decided to use this design (thanks for the votes on IG in that time).
For this AU where Maul adopts the mandalorian way after the comic "Son of Dathomir", Maul becomes more cruel in his attacks and tactics. He wears this mandalorian armor after meditating and thinking in everything he has lost after arriving on the planet. He still wants to destroy the sith but instead of the help of criminal syndicates completly, he decides to focus in the tools that he has in his hands: The darksaber and mandalorians who blindly follows the one who has it. "Tools" that's what he reduces this culture at first. "Maybe if I pretend to be the ruler they want for some time, until I get what I want, they will be usefull" he thinks and at the end he will dispose them...that's what he thought it would be.
At the end he will grow and his perspective will change. Revenge is still a goal but after spending some time with his mandos, learning more about the culture, seeing the honor, the courage that most of them had, he slowly change his perspective of live.
He still has a grudge of mandos, but I believe that with help he will understand that not every mando that are under his command follows him blindly, they trully believe that he is the ruler that everyone deserve. So I think he slowly will remember his names, their faces, they won't be their tools anymore.
The weight of being a ruler is in his shoulders and he'll realize that sacrificing everyone will be his doom. (He learn that to well after order 66. ) So he will take care of his mandos, being more counscious about his desitions, the sith ways will be vanish in years, not completly but in a lower opacity than before.
Speaking of order 66, his duel with Ahsoka is more harder and goes different, but that is something I want to show in a comic.
So what is doing Maul as mandalorian? His goal is to eliminate the clan of Bo-Katan completly, destroying the empire, growing his clan and survive. Killing Sidious is his goal at first, but soon he will recognize that it will be imposible and that his power will not be enough, still he doesn't throw everything he build, he stays.
I am so sorry for how blurry and pixelated this is. Idk why it isn’t sharper, I keep trying to edit it but my shit is all fucked up so this is what the screenshot looks like I guess.
First two images: Playing around with the official Taung design. I was trying to tweak it so the inspiration for the Mandalorian helmet/armor is a bit more visible. In the official art, the Taung are only grey in color, but for fun I headcanon they had chromatophores in their skin like cuttlefish/octopus/squid to help them camouflage, communicate, intimidate enemies, etc.
Third image: A few doodles of Legends/EU Mand’alore with face paint as a little nod to the original Pict inspiration for Mandos. (Goran Beviin technically wasn’t the official Mand’alor…but he stood in as the acting Mand’alor while Boba had his various identity crises and disappeared for years at a time. So he counts. To me.)
You were a punk or a “hoodlum” as the old lady at the grocery store liked to say whenever she thought you weren’t listening. Yet, she loved you. Your richgirl, Charlotte “Lottie” Matthews, should not have been even near you, but she was. She loved you and you loved her. The rest of the people could go fuck themselves. You guys had met through Nat, your best friend, and ever since then she’s been the line that kept you grounded when you felt like you could float off.
A cigarette hung between your lips as you waited outside her big ass house in your old beat up pickup truck. You saw the door open and your girlfriend walked out of her house in that pink miniskirt that did things to you. She opened the door and got into your truck. Lottie held out her hand expectedly and you took off your leather jacket to give to her. She wrapped it around herself and smiled. You playfully rolled your eyes and scoffed, “You know you can’t keep getting away with this.”
Lottie smirked and shrugged, “It’s worked so far plus I wore this skirt just for you, baby~” She batted her eyes playfully and knew she won when saw the blush on your face.
“Yea. You wore it so I could eat you out in the parking lot after school.” She scoffed and punched your arm at your crass words. You chuckled and started your truck before driving off. You placed your hand on Lottie’s thighs and gently squeezed it. You heard her hum in content as she snuggled into your jacket, inhaling your cologne from it. You arrived at school and shut the truck off before hurrying to open the door for her. She smiled, “Such a gentleman.” You softly pulled her into a kiss, pushing her against the passenger side door. She hummed against your mouth and kissed back. You slowly pulled away and grabbed her hand. Lottie smiled the entire way as you walked her to class. She kissed you one more time goodbye and walked into her first period.
This was not how you expected the day to go. You sat in your truck with a black eye, busted lip, and blood dripping from your nose. You had gotten into a fight with a guy in your class after he made some comments about your girlfriend. You hardly remember what he said because as soon as he mentioned Lottie’s name you were on top of him. You won the fight but now you knew you had to deal with the wraith of your girlfriend. Speaking of which, you saw your girlfriend stomping towards your truck, still in your jacket. Lottie opened the door and you could see a brief pause in her anger as she looked at your busted face. Lottie climbed into the truck and started her rant, “A fight? Really Y/N? You could have gotten hurt and look at your face! Do you know how upset with you I am?”
You shrugged, “A lot..?” She scoffed before softening her gaze a bit as she cupped your face gently.
“Drive back to mine. I might as well bandage you up. What was this even for?” She tilted her head and stared at you with those brown eyes that made you melt.
“He said something about you. He said that you were too good for me and that if he got into bed with you that you would leave me in an instant.” Her gaze flickered over your face before she softly kissed you. It stung a bit but it was worth it as her thumb rubbed your cheek. She pulled away, but kept her hands on your cheeks.
“I love you and only you. I don’t care that people think I can do better. You are my better. You. I wear your jacket all the time because I love showing off my amazing boyfriend. What was it this time? I come from a rich family? Money can’t buy the experiences and love that you make me feel. Was it because you’re trans? I don’t care about that. When I look at you, all I see is my handsome, sweet, punk boyfriend.” You teared up slightly. She really fucking loves you. You pull her close by her waist and onto your lap. You bury your head into her chest as she runs her fingers through your messy hair. You feel Lottie placing soft kisses ontop of your head. She murmurs into your hair, “Take us home, baby, and let me clean you up..” You nodded as she slid off your lap as you started the truck. You drove you two to her house. Luckily, her parents weren’t home. She led you two inside and up to her bathroom. You sat on the sink as Lottie wet a rag to clean the blood off.
The warm rag against your skin felt nice as Lottie tenderly rubbed the blood off your face. She murmured praises and sweet nothings as she did, “Such a handsome boy.. My handsome boy. I love you so much, sweetie..” After she was done, she helped you take your shirt off and pants. You were left in your binder and boxers. Lottie smirked and let out a wolf whistle as you rolled your eyes. She got the spare clothes you left at her house and helped you get dressed. She stopped at putting on your shirt though, “I’ll leave the bathroom so you can take off your binder.” You shook your head before slowly taking it off. Lottie smiled and didn’t stare at your chest. She was happy you felt safe around her. She helped you put your shirt on and led you to bed, “Why don’t you let me be the big spoon, handsome boy?” You felt too exhausted and that sounded really nice. You climbed into bed with her, cuddling into her chest. Lottie rubbed her hand along your back as you laid ontop of her. She lulled you to sleep with an “I love you” before drifting off herself.
