Stay back, I have a stick.

33. introverted as fuck. adopted. asexual. cat mama. avid gamer. tattoo&ring enthusiast. gay shipper. this account stans good books, good shows & good characters...amongst other things like pretty photography, animals and memes. good night and good luck. 

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

[SPOILERS AHEAD] Thoughts on Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord

I have been in a mind spiral of Darth Maul content

MIND SPIRAL

do you hear me

SO THERE WILL BE SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT BITCHES!!!

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED./

LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO

FIRST AND FOREMOST!

I want to applaud the animation team here. This show looks absolutely gorgeous. The painted backgrounds are so aesthetically pleasing to look at and the interplay on the characters, the backgrounds, and the light and shadow work is insane. I've never seen anything quite like it and that in and of itself makes this season of television a tour de force in talent I hope Lucas Entertainment keeps around for as long as they can.

For example:

Here in this shot below, Maul is about to use The Force and so you see the red in his eyes expand. The FABRIC on his cloak looks real. The attention to detail is so beyond anything I've seen in a Star Wars project (Clone Wars S7 and Bad Batch made excellent strides), and if the future of Star Wars leans more towards animation, with this level of quality, I would not be upset.

I recall so many shots of just going "WOW. I have never seen anything like this." So I want to start off by getting that out of the way, the animation is unlike anything I've ever seen before and the team should be beyond proud of their unprecedented accomplishments.

SECOND!

I love Maul as a character. I really do. I would even go so far to say as his character arc is what got me interested in Star Wars. I remember Phantom Menace and thinking his character was so fucking cool. I remember at a young age being interested in the Sith and the Dark Side more than the Jedi. The thing about Maul is he can't get out of his own way and is equally tragic and compelling to watch. We know where he ends up, and the sad thing is that...at one point in time, he was a victim. I saw an interview with Sam Witwer (WHO IS A GOD DAMN LEGEND FOR HIS VOICE WORK IN THIS, DO NOT @ ME) said that Maul feels the same emotions as anyone else but was never given any skills to deal with them.

His personality was complex. He was intimidating one episode, pathetic the next, sympathetic the next, unstoppable the next. Just so good. The trauma in him is obvious at times, in the way his eyes move or how he holds himself (particularly when he's alone in episode 8, this whole episode with him was fascinating). The way he views affection and how he is unable to separate it from usefulness is interesting, yet I do believe subconsciously he is a soul that wants connection from others. He just doesn't know what that means or what that looks like. He's only seen a Master/Apprentice dynamic and that's what he wants so badly. I think the writers did a great job with him; I think if at any given time you choose to watch him in the frame he is always doing something interesting. I actually stand with my hands behind my back as well so when he walked like that I stood up multiple times and mimicked him yelling "TWIN!!!!"

THIRD!

I feel like the dynamic between Maul and Devon was fascinating and very well done. You see him playing 4D chess and she's like

He rescues her from that little prison thing and she's like

Hell no, homie. You're nuts. Then he's like

These are the Mandos girlie pop, they're experts at combat injuries. Please.

And she's like "....."

Then she's like let me out home skillet

and he's like by all means, leave

And she's like "......"

Then she leaves and he offers her tea and tells her about his dead family

And she's like "WAIT A MINUTE NO. YOURE TRYING TO TRICK ME."

And then he fights her with one hand behind his back, and tests her and she goes

GRRRRRR

And he LETS her leave

Then when the confrontation with Maul and Daki and Devon happens Maul is like yo peeps, its because you're not using your powers that make you weak and begging to survive

And she's like "....." echoing her from the first episode saying she was tired of begging

Then when the Inquisitors come and it's MAUL who is there to protect her, not Daki

Then Maul leads both her and Riley to safety which is shown to be very important because according to her, this is how the connection was able to happen. She states in episode 9 that "When we were separated at the casino, we were attacked. He saved our lives. He brought us to safety." She really feels that way. He protected her and kept her safe. That meant something to her.

An interview came out with Gideon Adlon recently and she said

"Devon related to Maul in a way that she wasn’t able to relate to Daki or people in the Jedi Order. Even though they never say it, she does find a father figure in Maul. It’s not love. It’s something I’m trying to figure out with her. And I will."

I find that fascinating.

THEN!

She fights with Maul as allies and when he takes that walker thing down she's like and walks towards him like she wants to be near him like

and after the crazy battle in episode 9, she turns to him after and tells him she's sorry he lost his friends.

And Daki and I are both like

So when the fall happens, I believed it. I GASPED. I was CLAPPING. I was rooting for Maul, and that is what the show has done so well. I want Maul to win. I feel for him, and I know he's fundamentally evil character but he wasn't born evil. He was created. And it makes watching his decisions fascinating.

I was listening to a podcast and they were discussing that what Maul has provided her is an illusion of freedom. He tells her she can be powerful if she chooses to use her anger. He implores her to unleash her potential. She loses her lightsaber and he offers her his own. He lets her make the decision to take it, even though in the moment, there really was no choice. Not really. And he's watching her fight from the shadows like a shark like "keekeekee"ing.

FOURTH!

I liked the other characters well enough. Daki, Lawson, Two-Boots and Riley were fine and had some pretty decent moments. I liked Spybot (RIP MY SWEET CHILD. I WAS *DEVESTATED*). I liked Rook Kast (I was not happy with her ending) and I like Vario well enough.

The reintroduction to Dryden Vos was great because we all know how that goes in Solo.

c:gffa

So I'm very excited to see where that goes. Apparently Maul taught Vos Teräs Käsi too, which is interesting. I wonder how their dynamic will evolve.

(Teräs Käsi is a mystical martial art developed specifically to fight Jedi)

LAST!

Darth Vader stuff was cool. I honestly wasn't expecting him in this first season. I thought maybe it would be the High Inquisitor. When he showed up out the mist I was like damn what a dramatic bitch lmaaooo

I do wish there was SOME kind of dialogue between Maul and Vader but I have faith in the writing staff to make that happen somewhere down the line. Vader was meant to be a monster in this and he really was. No words, just smash smash smash.

What I didn't like:

I didn't like Spybot dying or how Rook Kast went. I was really looking forward to more pets to Spybot's head and Rook Kast's story arc. I also wasn't a huge fan of Two-Boots. HE CALLED IN THE EMPIRE!!! Like dawg if it wasn't for you none of this would of happened.

SCORN! ICARUS! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

WHY?

WHY CAN'T MAUL EVER HAVE NICE THINGS??? WHY. WHY?????

(I know why but WHyYYYYYYYYy)

Okay. I think that's all I feel for now

maybe

hmmm

I WANT MAUL TO GET BETTER LEGS. Or like at least have armor on them. Like bro that is a MAJOR weakness, reinforce them with something so one kick to your knee doesn't fuck you up my guy

(someone made a comment on a Maul post I saw saying "imagine not having knees and your knees are still fucked up' kekekekkkekek shoutout to you that was iconic)

also shoutout to Sam Witwer again for doing generational voice work for Darth Maul. Absolutely incredible.

[pinkiemme]

It's all right, it's all right

[aouralune]

The chains are the easy part

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord has provided us some good fucking food and so you fanfic writers better be typing with your little inspired fingers and penning the best Maul fics yet because episodes 7 and 8 were PRIME and PERFECT!!!! MAUL CRIED! MAUL WHIMPERED! MAUL HATES HIMSELF! COME ON PEOPLE!!!!!

THIS BAD MAN IS SO SO SAD AND in SO MUch PAIN

GET OUT THERE

AND

COMFORT!! HIM!!!!!!!!

SOMEONE!!!!!

[tesb]

STAR WARS: MAUL – SHADOW LORD (2026) Chapter 4: Pride and Vengeanceㅤ ㅤ

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

THIS. THIS IMAGE. FROM EPISODE 4. HAS *HAUNTED* ME DURING THE DAYLIGHT HOURS SINCE IT AIRED.

I MEAN JESUS H CHRIST

[hairyolmen]

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

omg BARK bark boRK BORK woOF WOOF Arf ArF YIP YIP yip yip BARK!!!!

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

STAR WARS: MAUL - SHADOW LORD SPOILERS AHEAD!

S...so has anyone created a gif set yet of that one look Maul gives to Devon and her master when he spares them? C-cause...I maybe rewound the episode like 10 times to stare at his face and the emotions on them. The light in his eyes while he's looking down? *shivers* The slow blink? *stares with wide eyes* The slight smile? *bites lip*

MAUL!!!!!!!!!! SIR!!!!!

Now look.

I may be an asexual, but holy FUCK. If someone said they wanted to bang Maul into a mattress all night, I get it. I really do.

PS- Sam Witwer is doing crazy work with his voice acting. He sounds so GOOD!

Btw, I randomly was thinking about Maul dancing like this covered in beautiful gold jewelry

So if anyone is asking, he IS living rent free in my mind rn

[tivvzz]

pretty boy

[thestalwartheart]

hey jason isaacs what the fuck

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

The Motherfucking Consequence aka Dark Age thoughts

holy SHIT

holy FUCK

I was just up until 4AM finishing this book

It was so...........GOOD

Nearly flawless!

The CAST!

The PLOT!

THE STAKES!

DARRRRROOOWWWWW

ok spoilers under the cut bitches

I have been left in the crumpled ruins of this book

where do I begin, like where do I even START

Ok ok ok holy fuck I'm already cackling

The first part was PERFECTION. Back and forth with Darrow and Lysander.

HERE I AM YOU DEVIANT BITCH. THE MOTHERFUCKING CONSEQUENCE

DARROW YES THIS IS WHAT I LOVE TO SEE

The Storm Gods and Orion (r.i.p baby girl) and Lysander describing Darrow as he comes to battle

GOOSIES BITCH

"If you hear wolves, find me. Only a legion accompanying the Slave King is permitted the howl. If you hear it, he is coming."

How the howls announce Darrow and Lysander describing how Darrow fights is CRAZZZYYYY Like he knows where a strike is coming without having to see it

Lysander watching Darrow carve his way through the troops like a DARK SOULS BOSS

Then Darrow is gone as quick as he came after destroying everything in his path

Lysander being Mr. "The Genius of His Violence" talking about Darrow XD

*Beginning of next chapter*

D A R R O W

"We brush away light resistance."

LMMMFFAAAOOOOO ok go off king

Seeing Darrow at the peak of his fighting is SO COOL to see.

I made an audiobook bookmark cackling at someone calling Apple a muscled walking penis LMAO

Ephraim was SO enjoyable. His chapters were so much more lighthearted and funny even though the content of his chapters was not (VOLSUNG FAAAA holy fuck).

"Someone starts to say Freihild is deft in all things. Yeah yeah shutup." lmmaaooooo

R.I.P Eph

Especially right after he was able to reunite with Volga....

And PAX PILOTING THAT AIRSHIP and the people of Mars being ride or dies for Reaper is so so fucking good

SO GOOD

I had goosies

Lyria's story was much better this time around (lmfao when she was playing stupid to get close to Duncan by grinding on his dick LMAO and then she literally dunked him in acid) as she was one of my complaints from Iron Gold. But she, Victra and Volga were great. And that...parasite? In her brain wtf it can detects like heat signatures but I have no clue it's purpose.

Victra is such an interesting character because I go back and forth on her a lot. I still don't understand how she and Sevro work. Sometimes I'm like FUCK YES GO VICTRA

Like when she was unleashed after her baby was killed (omfg) and she was just POUNCING on people and killing and tearing and I was like YEEEEESS VICTRA BITCH GO GO GO GOGOG OGG OGOG O!!!!!

But then when she was acting nuts after Electra and Pax were first taken I was like

Harmony finally dying A+

I can't believe how far gone and radical she was (the child wives WTFFFF)

Volsung Fa being Ragnar's father I did not see coming. I want him vs Darrow so bad

I want Darrow vs anybody so bad tbh

I love when Darrow wins *cries in Dark Age*

r.i.p Sefi she got fucked up bad and it's nuts that all it took was someone like Volsung Fa to completely take over the Obsidians and make them hungry for war again. I'm very curious his part in the story and what his plans are. He wants war on everyone so....what? So Obsidian can rule? I think they will be a huge factor turning the tides of the war.

LYSANDER. He's a great character but I hate him. I understand what he's trying to say the Pierce Brown has done a very good job with finding nuance in the ways that others look at Darrow and how he can be perceived as a villain.

BUT IM STILL TEAM REAPER BEETCHES IF YOU'RE ON ANY OTHER TEAM BLOCK ME

TEAM REAP 5EVA

He wants Gold to rule again, to "sheppard" the other colors because they're incapable of being on their own in his view. He wants the society back but with more checks on power but as we've seen, most Golds are not capable of that.

So like...what do we do? We either have them in power or kill all of them? What's the medium? Where does this war END? HOW? Then at the end when all hope is lost, when he MORTALLY WOUNDS Darrow (I was SCREAMINGgGGGGG) and CASSIUS?

CASSIUS?

BRO where WERE you

wtf!!! he's pops up like "lol brooding again huh" while Darrow has a slingblade sticking out of his body with no hope left

The legend of Darrow grows, the weight of his name as Reaper and the gravity of battles when he's on the field is AMAZING. I love it i love him so much please let him survive through this series he deserves HAPPINESS

"I would die for the truth that all men are created equal."

my king

Pax slowly understanding the burden on his father is a nice touch and Electra is just like her parents lmao a little helion

YO THE COUP

When Virginia was like *squints around* something is wrong

and whenever Pierce Brown has one of his characters say something is wrong then something is REALLY FUCKING WRONG

They killed DAXXOOOOO nooooooooo and Dancer too *sits silently*

Here's the thing, Dancer wasn't on Virginia's side until he had to be and I don't like that. I feel like...he wasn't meant to be written to be unlikeable but I haven't liked him in Iron Gold or here in Dark Age

Good riddance Red Hand

I have no idea what's going to happen in Light bringer but I'm going to start it tonight, godspeed my goodman

ps GOOSIES when Mars formed that slingblade and Virginia was like "Mars endures." yo Mars is the GOAT

pss Diomedes im super interested in, he seems honorable and Cassius is alive so...ALLLLYYY??????? pls pls pls pls pls

YO ATLANTIA IS FUCKING NUTS

so is Lysander

so is Apple

so is Ajax

r these people ok

because they're all barely held together by a single string

not sure how I feel about the Jackal clone tbh but Lilath is also nuts

*sits up suddenly*

WAIT WHERE IS SEVRO

I wish we had more of Ephraim in the future tbh...

[lillagrim]

[relelvance]

In what world is tall muscular man not conventionally attractive

[piedude]

We've all been down here too long. I truly think there's a chunk of tumblr's population that can no longer survive sunlight.

[reagan-slayer69]

women will say “hear me out” and show u a photo of pyramid head and then tumblr users will go “this is a perfectly normal man and an ice cold take”

[suchawretchedthing]

i mean, are we wrong

[bigandlong]

If you see this on your dashboard, reblog this, NO MATTER WHAT and all your dreams and wishes will come true.

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

War eats the victors last aka Iron Gold thoughts

So apparently some people think that this is one of the weakest books?

lmao if that's the case then I'm FUCKED

because I liked this book a lot

Is it really because of the multiple POVs?

Apple is nuts

I found Darrow FASCINATING

Lysander is..........Lysander

I actually don't have much to say tbh

BUT

spoilers under the cut

lets gOOOOoooooo

Okay so I see so much interesting talk about this book. Some people love it, some hate it.

I really liked this book. For a few reasons.

1.) Darrow's POV was FASCINTING. He's actually suffering from the consequences of his decisions. He's running away from being a father. It's even mentioned by the Senate that he only know war. And if he's been fighting since he was 17 and he's 33 now...yeah. That's...valid. And Darrow has moments of reflection where he realizes it. He realizes he's not a good father, that he is away from his child and will possibly die for a cause just like his own father. He's almost stunted in how he is able to show and receive love.

ALSO!!! He's shown almost as a villain from everyone else's perspective. And I LOVE that. It's so different.

AND! I actually find a rift between Darrow and Sevro interesting. I almost WANT to see that. I know that's crazy and self harming XD but it's interesting!

2.) I actually like Ephraim's story. Volga was awesome. I was back and forth with liking this story because Ephraim is an asshole but he's also funny and knows what's right, which he does at the end.

3.) Apple was nuts. He's gunna be a problem. Mid fight when Apple hugs Darrow and is like "YOU CUT A PATH LIKE AN ANGEL FROM THE SKIES" and me and Darrow are like

4.) Victra is an icon. "Politics is such a bore without a little murder" lmaaaooo

Wasn't a huge fan of Lyria but I did like her love for Kavax. OR DANCER. LIKE WTF BRO YOU ARE THE ONE WHO RECRUITED DARROW FOR WAR AND NOW THAT HE'S WARRING (btw after he has a victory and claims Mercury) HE'S CALLED A WARMONGER. like ok

you literally engineer a living weapon and pushed him to make hard choices but DARROW is the problem ok ok ok COOL dawg

YO WHEN I THOUGHT KAVAX WAS KILLED I WAS SCREAMING

I was like "if u touch 1 single hair on Sophocles' head, I will never read another page of this series (lie)".

THAT ONE SCENE WHEN HE'S ABOUT TO BE DETAINED BITCH and a few Greys are like HAIL REAPER and he's able to escappeeee yesss bitccchhh

The ending scene with the Ash Lord was awesome. "War eats the victors last." Goosies bitch. I did see that he was "incapacitated" coming. I knew it. Not seen in 3 years???? ok he's either dead or the daugher Atlantia is in power. So I did see that coming. That conversation was still amazing, especially that he seemed to show no hate for Darrow. THEN HE WAS BURNED dope dope dope

I really don't have too many more thoughts, this felt like a set up for the next couple books

Which, the next book is called DARK AGE gr8

I'm starting it tonight so wish me luck

oh I will say that I didn't like that it felt that Virginia had like NO power at all

The Senate fucking SUCKS

they're assholes

[isabelopaque]

how my brain picks a new favorite character who sucks

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

So I just started Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

and idk if it's because my period is coming but I already had tears in my eyes reading the first 3 pages LMAO

I have a feeling the second part of this series is going to destroy my emotional wellbeing and I'm so very ready for it

lmaoooooo HAPPY HOLIDAYS i guess

lets fucking GOOooOoOoooOooOOOOOoo

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

I need Tau Solarin to be wrapped up in a huge, all encompassing hug (I nominate Uduak) and be allowed to cry out all his anger and sorrow.

Of course Tau will try to pull away but Uduak just hugs him tighter and just says, "Tau..." sadly.

And when he finally starts to cry, Hadith is there and wipes away some of Tau's tears before he finally turns his face away to hide his embarrassment and just cries in Uduak's arms.

I need this because Tau needs this before he loses it completely. I read both The Rage of Dragons and The Fires of Vengeance in less than a week and the pain in Tau's soul is palpable. My man needs an EMBRACE. Not a hug. My boi needs to be swathed up like a fucking burrito

[thatfoxnamedfinley]

Do you bleed? aka The Rage of Dragons thoughts

Tau

my baby angel boi

my sad angry boi (mostly angry)

my dedicated boi

and the friends we made along the way

and the bloodshed

The audiobook narrator is GOATED; he can simultaneously make a character sound coldblooded and make other characters sound so warm it's so GOOD 11/10 recommend

I finished this book in 2.5 days, that's WILD

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT BITCH

Ok so I think when it comes to characters, I connect with characters who have lost parents (not to beat the horse with a stick but I lost my mom to cancer in 2022 so I get REALLY emotional when characters lose their parents because I can summon that grief in a moment and recall that feeling of her being gone)

So when Tau's dad is brutally killed and Tau holds him in his arms and vows revenge on everyone involved I'm like

go off king, i support you 10,000,000,000,000,001%

But him also being claustrophobic? relatable

I also really loved how devoted he was. I'm someone who's all in or not at all and his obsessive devotion to becoming a weapon was so overwhelming and relatable.

DUAL WEILD BITCH shink shink shink shink shink

(Im always dual wielding daggers in video games if I can so when he starts fighting with two blades i SCREAMMMMEDDD)

UDUAK

I loved him. For a character who doesn't talk a whole lot, I really found him to be a moving character. Why? I think I like protector/defender characters. AND the narrator made his voice so sweet and deep and warm. When he said "Well met, Tau Solarin" and it SOUNDED like he was smiling warmly and they embraced?

PFFFFFfff bitch my lower lip trembled

And at the end when Zuri was nuked off the world (jfc I didn't think she was going to die what a TWIST!!!! ESP AFTER SHE JACKED HIM OFF LIKE A DOMINATRIX IN THE TUB AND THEY FUCKED BRO!!!! I thought she would be like, his reason to live and fight when it got bad in later books but nope Mr. Winter said YEEET) Tau was wailing his grief and Uduak was holding him and shushing him and I was like OOF this right here is a great character. I love Uduak. He's my favorite side character along with Themba, a man with situational awareness on 100% and also -100%.

Jiyaad was cool but...*smiles but cries*

Kellen is fine because he doesn't REALLY want to kill and be a dick and I think I see MAYBE what the author is trying to do. Either he and Tau will be a characters that have grudging respect for each other and even eventually protect one another one day or they'll be like best friends.

I also have a weird tingly feeling about Kana, the hedeni warlord's (what was that guy's name...? Achak I think) son. He seemed intrigued by Tau the moment he met him so either that will be a great dynamic or Tau will be miserable more miserable.

It's on fucking sight with Abasi Odili like WTF bro. Peace was actually going to happen but because ThE OdEHi doN'T SuRRenDeR now we're gunna be at a war and our entire people wiped out, ok ok ok cool cool just so I understand properly

ALSOOOOOO the African inspired cultural aspect was so so GOOD. I've rarely seen it in the fantasy genre and it was AMAZING. The characters and the terminology and how they spoke was just

The concept of Isihogo is INSANE. It's like...a spiritual world...? But if you don't pull power from it, even if the demons rip you apart you're fine irl but you may become demon-haunted. Which Tau...kind of is but just like, ignores it despite being terrified. Because my man does not QUIT. He literally is like "I'm gunna go ahead and train in this realm because I need to be better than I am with my swords and time passes slower and it'll help me with feeling pain as I get torn to shreds and with fear as I face immortal demons" and I'm like

Why do I also have a feeling that one huge spiky one is like....a demon king or something...? Tau was like "lol I'm here now so you gunna kill me bro?" after he took in power so Zuri wouldn't be killed and the demon was like !!!!!!! before Tsiora came and expunged him out of the realm. And Spiky!Demon was like SCReeeeeeeeecCH

Ou ou ou ou the twin guardian blades he got at the end PERIODTTTTT Tau is Champion, beetch

I want the Nobles to be so irate about it like "WUT WE CANT LET A LOW COMMON BE A CHAMPION GROSS" and the Tau be like

"Yeah cool no worries whoever has a problem can challenge me in single combat and if i lose (lol) then I'll step down as Champion" and then everyone be like

Such a good book, I really really loved it.

I'm kinda glad (I know how bad this sounds) that Zuri died because she was a good character with a decent arc that went out knowing she was probably going to die and I want Tau to be like, borderline EVIL with his revenge

His character is so interesting because he's so single minded and now that his one beacon of light is gone, he's gunna be INSANNEEEEEEEE

*content sigh*

ok thats all I feel I think