[FpM 4 ApF] Rise of the Shadow Lord

Hello, Reddit community! I’m here looking for something specific, and I’m hopeful that someone out there will be just as interested in building this idea as I am.

With the conclusion of Maul: Shadow Lord yesterday, I am back on my bullshit and eager to develop a plot with one of my all-time favorite Star Wars characters—the scorned apprentice. Although Maul has always been cast firmly as a villain (until recently), in several places the animated media has hinted at a complexity roiling beneath the surface of his tormented character that we’re finally just beginning to see dragged into the light. And I want to sink my teeth into it.

I would like to use Maul: Shadow Lord as a jumping off point for this story, but I don’t want to be beholden to it. Primarily, I want to explore what happens when Maul chooses to take an apprentice—how he molds them, how they change him, the emotional conflicts that bond drags to the surface after so many years, and how the presence of a dependent impacts his all-consuming quest for revenge. By Maul’s very nature, this cannot be a cute story. I am open to a “redemption arc” for him, of sorts, but it will be a hard-fought battle and a pyrrhic victory in the end. Whether he learns to make room for something else alongside his rage or tightens his grip on it all the more, the journey to get there will be tense, brutal, and emotionally devastating.

What I’m primarily looking for is someone to play Maul’s female apprentice. I would prefer an original character, rather than the canon character from the show, and I’m open to most species. I would like to include a romantic element to their dynamic, but I prefer to discuss with my partner exactly what that looks like. It could be very subtle, not so subtle, or something in between. Inversely, if there’s anyone out there who likes this idea but would prefer to play Maul, I’m open to having that discussion, too. I don't require my partner to have seen the entirety of the Star Wars canon, but please have a rough idea of the universe and at least the timeline of events around Episodes I-6.

About Me
I’m 32F, and I’ve been roleplaying for seventeen years, primarily on forums, though I’m looking for someone who’s comfortable writing on Discord right now. I have a long history of writing independently, too, and I’ve invested countless hours into developing my skill as a writer and storybuilder. I’m not perfect, but one day I’d really like to be! My style is exclusively third-person limited POV, and a typical response length from me is about two pages; I fluctuate wildly depending on what’s happening in the scene, but as a baseline, you can expect detailed, atmospheric, character-driven, multi-paragraph writing.

What I’m Looking For
>Someone generally around my age. I’m happy to talk and write with younger and older people, but I’d like us to have a few things in common.

>Someone who wants to hang out OOC. I’m an obsessive plotter and will happily outline emotional arcs and subplots that will span the entire length of the narrative. I would really, really like someone who wants to do that *with* me, and it’s especially important given the darker themes present in this story.

>Be literate, and enjoy writing solid, quality posts. I’m capable of writing several pages for the right scene, but I prefer to let the pace of the story determine post length. It sucks to feel pressured to write 2000 words around a single line of dialogue in a conversation, and it sucks to find a way to reply to just a few lines. I don’t need us to go tit-for-tat on post length, but write well and provide mindful responses.

>Be patient with me. I’m frequently available for OOC chatting, but because of my job I can’t always string together enough time to write a proper response more than once or twice a week. I’ll always let you know when work takes me out of town and away from the story, and I won’t poke for replies more often than I can provide them.

>Communicate. I really want us to build this story together, and because there will be moments when our characters hurt each other—on accident and on purpose—, I want us to be on the exact same page all the time.

If you're interested and feel like we may be compatible writing partners, please reach out! If you’ve messaged me before and I didn’t respond, please reach out again—it’s less likely I didn’t want to talk and more likely I just panicked at my inbox. Tell me a little about yourself, and please include a writing sample and some initial ideas about what kind of character you’d like to play. I’ll be happy to send a sample back if you’d like to see one. Thanks for reading, and hope to hear from you!