maulweek

[maulweek]

Knowledge and Power (I)

Darth Maul x Queen of Naboo!Reader

Summary: Maul is afraid that he is not strong enough...

Warnings: angst, nightmares/visions/past and possible future trauma, enemies to lovers, implied smut (naked in bed together), hurt/comfort, fluff, paraphrasing the "Let the past die. Kill it, if you have to. That's the only way to become what you were meant to be." quote, ?implied? plotting murder, reader description (long hair), some soulmate-ish/dyad-like stuff at the end, not proofread so probably a mess 🙈

Started for the Sith/Jedi secrets prompt but I guess it works with Death of the self too

A sequel of last year's @maulweek fic, Beauty and the Beast

~ 1,3 K words

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Maul was having another nightmare. There were not many tells but you know him by now. He usually sleeps eerily still, his breathing so calm and hearts so slow that you used to (and sometimes still do) have to check if he was alive when you woke up in the middle of the night, not used to having someone sleep next to you.

The nightmares were getting more and more frequent, and if you were correct, increasingly upsetting too. He refused to tell you about them though. That was about to change tonight!

You shake him awake as gently as you can but still find yourself pinned beneath him but instead of the night's previous loving embrace, he grabs you by your throat, ready to get rid of the threat.

It only takes a second or two for him to realise what's happening but it's enough to cause damage in the already fragile bond between you. He rips himself away so fast you can hardly follow, only barely reaching him before he could leave the bed.

You pull him back on you slowly, knowing that the skin to skin contact will help ground him after whatever he had seen. After a little hesitation, he nuzzles into your neck while pulling you impossibly close, holding you tightly with slightly trembling hands as his breathing starts to even out while you caress him ever so gently.

Lately he has been training you and your handmaidens, relentlessly trying to increase his own power too in his freetime. Something was clearly bothering him and instead of turning to you, he started to drift away, like he was preparing to leave.

"You are not alone. Please, tell me what's wrong," you murmur into his ear, and sigh when you feel him tense up again. "Even if I can't help, it could take some of the weight off you if you would just share."

He leans back on his elbows to look into your eyes, contemplating your words for a long minute before finally speaking. "If I tell you, it will put you in even more danger."

"While not knowing will keep me safe?" You question him with a disapproving frown.

Maul leans on his side, holding his weight on one arm so he can cup your face before he steals a kiss, lingering for a long moment then he parts and answers as he keeps brushing your cheek with his thumb.

"If there is a chance that he will spare you because I have not revealed his identity..."

"Is there a chance he would spare you?"He looks away instead of replying to your rather biting cut in, which is enough of an answer on its own. "I also made a promise to protect you, if you think I'll let..."

He turns back to you sharply, his intense gaze no longer dull yellow light in the dark but glowing flames of almost completely red as he practically growls, "I can't lose you."

Silence. Pain. Paralyzing helplessness. Does he truly think you feel any different about him?

You can hardly breathe as you plead, "Tell me what you dream about."

You almost think he will shut you down again but whatever he sees or feels has him give in, only a little though.

"It is not always the same." He starts, pausing to think just how much to tell you but you don't interrupt or demand more, just patiently wait for him.

The truth is, that it is always the same in terms of how it ends. With death. Only he can't tell you that. So he opens with something less ominous but you quickly connect the dots.

"You will have to go to Coruscant soon."

He is there, you think. The mysterious master who is a threat to you both, no matter how much Maul tries to deny it.

"What if we don't go?" you contemplate your options out loud.

"He will come here."

At that statement your brain races with the pieces of this infuriating puzzle that you already gathered. And then it strucks you. Of course! It has to be...

"No, no, no!" Maul gets up and paces in panic. It is unlike anything you have seen from him so far.

"I killed you! I just killed you!" he chants in desperate cries as you hug your blanket and hurry to him.

"Look at me!" you demand as you grab his arm and turn him to face you. His face kept in place between your palms, letting your covers go while forcing him to do as you said, you try to sound soothing as you weakly attempt to reassure you both, "I'm here. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you!"

He breathes out a shaky breath and carefully rests his forehead against yours.

"I am not strong enough to protect you," he whispers in defeat.

"You don't have to fight him alone." You remind him as you circle your arms behind his neck, holding him tightly as you keep murmuring, "You are not alone. I'm here."

Once he calmed down a little, you pull him back to bed, letting him get lost in the touch of you again as you aimlessly caress each other. He unties your braid, spreading your hair on the pillows like a halo and plays with a strand as he tries to stay with you in the moment.

"Love, forming bonds of commitment... It is not something either side embraces, right?" He pulls back and looks confused at your seemingly sudden change of topic but confirms your theory so you go on. "It seems to me that you limit yourself to what he taught you about the Force and that is not even half of the things you could study if something is missing on both sides. Wouldn't you agree?"

He doesn't answer but you know he is thinking about it, you can also tell he is not convinced, at all.

You sit up, making him move as well. Keeping the remaining covers to your chest with one hand, you grip his jaw in your other hand as you anger starts to show. "He is the past, don't let that define you! He can't have you! If he has to die so you'll be completely free of this torment then he will die."

"How?" he growls at you impatiently, like you are talking nonsense.

In response you lean in and nip at his lower lip before sliding away and reaching under the bed.

"I was going to give you this tomorrow."

"What is this?" He looks almost adorable as he eyes the package. Turning it around this way and that way like it is a foreign concept.

"A gift," you huff. "Open it!"

He does and... there's no reaction. Literally, nothing. He stares at the ancient books with a strange expression and says nothing, so you start to explain why you thought to acquire them in the first place.

"I hardly doubt he knows about the Jedi ways, maybe you can find something useful in there. Perhaps it will give you a new perspective, maybe even help to find your own path.

With that, the last barriers that he was adamant to keep up had crumbled between you, his soul wide open for you, connecting the two of you through the Force as it was meant to be.

You gasp at the feeling but you don't have time to question him, Maul surges forward, grabbing you by your nape and capturing your lips in a kiss, devouring you with a hunger even more intense than usual.

That night was the true end of Darth Maul, for he was no longer a Sith apprentice in any way. He was on a new path, going into blindly to fully explore the world and the Force anew. He will never let anyone else define his fate from now on, he vowed. Although he still had doubts, he was no longer afraid of the future because he knew you would be with him, always.

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[maulweek]

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MAUL WEEK 2024 MASTERLIST

Many thanks from the mod team to all our 2024 participants! If your work isn't in the list, send us an ask or reply to this post and we'll add it asap. We'll be monitoring for new creations for the month of August: any new creation appearing will be reblogged and added to our masterlist!

ART

Maul Week day 1: To be loved by @im-yotsu

Maul Week day 2: Fangs and claws by @im-yotsu

Day 6 art by @alexversenaberrie

DAY 7 (08/03): DEATH OF THE SELF by @fresh-orange-whispers

FIC

[/] ~~Maul Week Day 1 Prompt: To be loved~~ by @dathomirdumpsterfire

[/] ~~Maul Week Day 2 Prompt: Fangs and Claws~~ by @dathomirdumpsterfire

[/] ~~ Maul Week 2024 Day 3: Dathomir & Nightbrothers + Alt Prompt: Dolby 1998~~ by @dathomirdumpsterfire

[/] Knowledge and Power (I) by @dreamlandcreations

[T] Six Years by Poggle_The_Greater on AO3

[T] when i hit the ground, it made a messed up sound 🔒 by nervoussubject on AO3

[T] How Maul learned to stop worrying and love his robot legs (and hate Kenobi) by Poggle_The_Greater on AO3

[maulweek]

DAY 7 (08/03): DEATH OF THE SELF

The death of the thoughtless allegiance, of the doubtful destiny and of the old self, led the way to a rebirth - the new dawn.

I made this piece in late May 2024 after the prompts were voted on. I decided to give it a dark take.

I have always thought that Maul being bisected brings out some dark aesthetics. I'm not talking about gore or torture on purpose - of course I hope Maul has never been tortured or abused or cut in half. I'm talking about the sights of him crawling in debris, leaving behind a trail of viscera and flesh and blood burnt by the lightsaber, struggling to survive on the trash planet, thriving among the most horrific circumstances, hatred and pain, with a vengeful madness, obsession, and that charming twinkling glint in his melting golden eyes.

Every chapter of his life makes him who he is.

@maulweek

[maulweek]

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DAY 7: DEATH OF THE SELF

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Have fun, everyone!

[maulweek]

[maulweek]

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DAY 6: WOLF AT THE DOOR

A few things to remember:

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[maulweek]

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DAY 5: SITH / JEDI SECRETS

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[maulweek]

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DAY 4: STAR WARS CYBORG SUPPORT GROUP MEETING

A few things to remember:

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Have fun, everyone!

[maulweek]

~~ Maul Week 2024 Day 3: Dathomir & Nightbrothers + Alt Prompt: Dolby 1998~~

Contrary to expectation, Maul has always had a complex relationship with light.

Green light, when he was young, was something forbidden. Nightsisters could use the gift, making magick at their whim, exploring the world around them with ever stronger, more creative abilities. Maul was a boy. Nightmagick was not for boys. The green mist that could heal or harm was denied him, and so like any stubborn child scorned, he decided he did not want it anyway.

When Sidious took him away to the gloom of Mustafar, that was not so bad, but then came visits to Naboo, where his master was an important political figure. Naboo had a bright yellow sun that hurt his eyes, and gave him headaches. Unfortunately, stars came in lots of colors, but most of them were just as terrible. White? Blue? Yellow? He squinted everywhere he went for years, wishing for something more like the soft red light of his homeland.

Years on Orsis, with its bright sun, were spent trying to find shady, quiet places to do his homework. It was no surprise that one of the few other students who preferred low light -usually of the deep ocean- was his most frequent companion. There were no other nightbrothers or dathomirians on Orsis. Kilindi was as close as he came to someone who understood.

His relationship with light only became more complex with time.

As a teenager, he grew to love nothing more than running through the forms of juyo, his lightsaber in hand. When everything else was difficult, swordforms were always there to lose himself in, his burning red blade a luminous blur around him. Nightbrothers trained, every day. They enjoyed it. This was normal for his kind. It felt nice to be very good at something. Maul thrived with a blade of light in his hand.

As an adult, he was also maimed by a lightsaber, though even that could not steal what juyo meant to him.

Then came the darkest days, ironically on a planet with a sky so dulled by pollution that he did not have to squint. The sunlight of Lotho Minor was a weak orangey color, every hour of every day. The closest thing he'd seen to Domir's red hue. He lived with that as some small comfort, until his brother came with a glowing amulet to take him home. He hid on Savage's ship even after they landed, convinced they had only gone in a circle and he was still trapped on the trash world... until the Nightmother lured him out with a will 'o whisp spell.

Returned to Dathomir, the green light of nightmagick was used to heal him. Put back the broken pieces of his psyche, into something a little more like stained glass than a single frame, but still a good deal functional than it was before.

The story doesn't end there, it doesn't even end when he dies the first time, but you get the picture. Darth Maul, despite his darkness, had just as much -if not more- of a relationship with light than anyone else in the galaxy.

[maulweek]

~~Maul Week Day 2 Prompt: Fangs and Claws~~

When he was small, fangs were for biting and claws were for rending, and among his people that was normal. Dathomir was a feral place, and it would devour anyone who was unwilling to fight to live.

The rest of the galaxy was not quite the same.

The first time Maul smiled at his new master after his performance had earned a bit of praise, the man had taken one look at his fangs and made a face. Turned away.

The other children at Orsis thought his claws were an unfair advantage in combat practice. The teachers made him cut them. Their reasoning was that short nails were better for welding weapons, whether melee or ranged. It was an excuse.

Even his horns, something so normal for any zabrak, even Iridonians, earned him looks. Despite a million, million species represented on Coruscant, if he attended a soiree as a bodyguard for his master's latest ally, someone said... something. So long, so sharp... what, did he gore people with those?

Maul did not like his inhuman features, his fangs or his claws. Then one day he was dumped onto a pile of trash, reactor cooling fluid spilling around him. He was damaged, alone, and forgotten. For the next thirteen years, all he had were his fangs and his claws. When every other gift had left him, he still had those... and the force, of course.

[maulweek]

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DAY 3: DATHOMIR AND NIGHTBROTHERS

A few things to remember:

Don’t forget to tag #maulweek2024 and/or mention @maulweek if you post on tumblr (especially if you upload links redirecting to other websites; the posts don’t always appear in the tags!)

The AO3 Collection has been revealed; feel free to post your work there as well!

Remember to tag work appropriately!

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If you’d like us to post a link or a creation to tumblr on your behalf, feel free to send us an ask and we will add it to the queue.

Have fun, everyone!

[maulweek]

Maul Week day 2: Fangs and claws

I've wanted to draw an oni mask style Maul for a while.

[maulweek]

The sparkling pendant hung from his fingers. Rose gold wound around pastel gemstones. Maul watched the little treasure swing back and forth. "To be loved," it said in ur-Kittât, carved delicately into the metal. A token created by a long, long dead sith who had craved what it offered, using energy and ritual to peak into the unifying force and find who might fulfill such a wish for the wearer.

Minutes ticked by, and still the pendant swung, back and forth.

Who had loved him? Who had he loved? His path had been so very dark, but even he had known such vibrant emotion. Known it, yes... and lost it. Those who might have claimed to love him were dead. Those he might have considered loving were also.

What good was love, then, if it just took and took and never stayed?

Caustic yellow eyes watch the pendant swing a few more times, a glittering pendulum that offered something nearly every sentient being craved, 'to be loved.' He huffed softly, and relaxed his grip. The finely wrought chain slipped through his fingers. The talisman landed in the dirt at his feet. Maul stood, turned, and walked away.

Love was a flicker. Sith were creatures of passion. An appetizer of emotion was not sufficient. He wanted more than that. What lived on when all else faded? Maul knew, so well. So very well.

Hatred.

The crimson nightbrother drifts out of the ruins he had been wandering through, leaving its grand treasure behind. He did not want to be loved, not anymore. What he wanted was for someone to stay, and only those who hated him the most, and whom he hated in return ever did. Ever lived long enough for it to matter.

To be loved was not enough. He wanted to be hated.

[maulweek]

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DAY 2: FANGS AND CLAWS

A few things to remember:

Don’t forget to tag #maulweek2024 and/or mention @maulweek if you post on tumblr (especially if you upload links redirecting to other websites; the posts don’t always appear in the tags!)

The AO3 Collection has been revealed; feel free to post your work there as well!

Remember to tag work appropriately!

If your creation hasn’t been reblogged within a day following posting, feel free to send us an ask; tumblr notifications aren’t always the best.

You can submit any form of creative fanwork you can think of. We welcome all forms of writing, fanart and works in progress!

If you’d like us to post a link or a creation to tumblr on your behalf, feel free to send us an ask and we will add it to the queue.

Have fun, everyone!

[maulweek]

Maul Week day 1: To be loved

“Oh, poor Maul. All he ever wanted was a friend...”

[maulweek]

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DAY 1: TO BE LOVED

A few things to remember:

Don’t forget to tag #maulweek2024 and/or mention @maulweek if you post on tumblr (especially if you upload links redirecting to other websites; the posts don’t always appear in the tags!)

The AO3 Collection will soon be revealed; feel free to post your work there as well!

Remember to tag work appropriately!

If your creation hasn’t been reblogged within a day following posting, feel free to send us an ask; tumblr notifications aren’t always the best.

You can submit any form of creative fanwork you can think of. We welcome all forms of writing, fanart and works in progress!

If you’d like us to post a link or a creation to tumblr on your behalf, feel free to send us an ask or ping a mod on discord and we will add it to the queue.

Have fun, everyone!

[maulweek]

One week to go!

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Maul Week 2024 Prompts

DAY 1 (07/28): TO BE LOVED

DAY 2 (07/29): FANGS AND CLAWS

DAY 3 (07/30): DATHOMIR AND NIGHTBROTHERS

DAY 4 (07/31): STAR WARS CYBORG SUPPORT GROUP MEETING

DAY 5 (08/01): SITH / JEDI SECRETS

DAY 6 (08/02): WOLF AT THE DOOR

DAY 7 (08/03): DEATH OF THE SELF

ALTERNATE SET: PICTURE PROMPTS (under the cut)

You can swap alt prompts for any day you’d like!

ALT 1: Spooky solar eclipse by @jgvfhl

ALT 2: Deimos (2023) by Dragan Bibin

ALT 3: Dolby (1998) by Dan Christensen

ALT 4: Untitled by Andrei Riabovitchev

ALT 5: Untitled by @jgvfhl

ALT 6: Unknown source

ALT 7: by Emilie Hofferber

Tagging: @swfandomevents