[There was a dangerous glint in Maul's eyes when Dabi suggested this place had somehow gotten to him. He really hated when people assumed he'd changed for any other reason than his own, as if he'd succumbed to the peer pressure of "good people" or somehow gone soft due to being whittled down day after day.]
I didn't let anything or anyone change me. [His voice was as hard and unyielding as the red kyber crystals that made up his saberstaff.] I chose to change because I wanted to. No one forced me to do this. I simply learned the hard lesson that it was better for me to change than to end up miserable and broken by continuing down a path that would lead nowhere but self-destruction.
[It had taken Maul a long, long time to learn that and in some ways he was still unlearning all the bad habits ingrained into him which had been put there after a lifetime of being raised by Sidious. But he was doing this now purely because he wanted to be this way. Others had helped him find his way, but ultimately, he was on his own when it came to choosing a different way to live his life.
Maul listened, and by the Force, didn't that all sound familiar? The idea of one son being the golden child, the one all the attention was focused on while the other was forgotten about? That had been the dynamic with Maul and Savage when it came to their mother. Much as Maul hated to admit it, his mother had been wrong to do that to her middle child. Savage had been brilliant in his own way but all Talzin could see was a disappointment, a son who wasn't nearly as strong either physically or with the Force as his older brother was.]
The heir and the spare....
[He murmured, more to himself than to Dabi. He got it, he really did. But as he heard Dabi continue he shook his head. He thought about shutting up and staying quiet. But it had never been in Maul's nature not to voice his opinion when he had one. So he turned to look at Dabi. There was a curious emotion in Maul's eyes and in his tone. It was pity.]
You know I feel sorry for you. You're so blinded by the idea of your revenge you can't see any other way to live your life. You still think clinging to the idea of causing him misery and pain is the only way to be, acting as if you don't have a choice in the matter. There are other ways, better ones that would give you happiness instead of just spreading pain to others
[He wouldn't listen. Maul already knew that because in the same position Maul hadn't listened to people who had told the same thing to him. But at the very least he could voice the idea. Perhaps Dabi would come back to it later on.]
no subject
I didn't let anything or anyone change me. [His voice was as hard and unyielding as the red kyber crystals that made up his saberstaff.] I chose to change because I wanted to. No one forced me to do this. I simply learned the hard lesson that it was better for me to change than to end up miserable and broken by continuing down a path that would lead nowhere but self-destruction.
[It had taken Maul a long, long time to learn that and in some ways he was still unlearning all the bad habits ingrained into him which had been put there after a lifetime of being raised by Sidious. But he was doing this now purely because he wanted to be this way. Others had helped him find his way, but ultimately, he was on his own when it came to choosing a different way to live his life.
Maul listened, and by the Force, didn't that all sound familiar? The idea of one son being the golden child, the one all the attention was focused on while the other was forgotten about? That had been the dynamic with Maul and Savage when it came to their mother. Much as Maul hated to admit it, his mother had been wrong to do that to her middle child. Savage had been brilliant in his own way but all Talzin could see was a disappointment, a son who wasn't nearly as strong either physically or with the Force as his older brother was.]
The heir and the spare....
[He murmured, more to himself than to Dabi. He got it, he really did. But as he heard Dabi continue he shook his head. He thought about shutting up and staying quiet. But it had never been in Maul's nature not to voice his opinion when he had one. So he turned to look at Dabi. There was a curious emotion in Maul's eyes and in his tone. It was pity.]
You know I feel sorry for you. You're so blinded by the idea of your revenge you can't see any other way to live your life. You still think clinging to the idea of causing him misery and pain is the only way to be, acting as if you don't have a choice in the matter. There are other ways, better ones that would give you happiness instead of just spreading pain to others
[He wouldn't listen. Maul already knew that because in the same position Maul hadn't listened to people who had told the same thing to him. But at the very least he could voice the idea. Perhaps Dabi would come back to it later on.]