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jessepinwheel · 11 days

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Oooh. About your parasitic extraction au? How do force sensitives live in the Mandalorian empire? Like you said conscripted, do they have a bastardization of Jedi culture? Are they enslaved? What is it like? Do canon characters live in the empire or in the Jedi Order in hiding? (I'm thinking Mace Windu, Depa Billiba, Plo Koon, and Ahsoka Tano mainly.) Also! Do other clones exist? Mainly the CCs. Wolffe, Fox and Bly lol

the mandalorian empire love having force sensitive warriors because they're extra strong and have superhuman reflexes so they do everything they can to get their hands on as many of them as they can

general practice is for young force sensitives to be 'adopted' by high-ranking mandalorian clans for training. if they're born into a less prominent mandalorian clan, maybe they can train their kid themself or they can surrender the kid. if the family is not a mandalorian family (e.g., one of the occupied worlds) they're supposed to surrender their force-sensitive child for training and this is considered an honorable thing to do. if they don't want to do that and try to get their child to the jedi order instead to save them from being conscripted for basically the rest of their life then usually their whole family gets killed and the child gets sent to a mandalorian clan as above (this happened to ahsoka and she hates the rebellion because she blames them for her family's death)

mandalorian jedi all wear collars which cannot be removed, and the collar denotes their rank. each mandalorian jedi is also assigned to a handler who is supposed to act as support and also is supposed to kill their jedi if they go off the rails (drink too much dark juice from all the murder and start killing everyone). a mandalorian's jedi armor specifically has an undefended back for this purpose. they're not *technically* enslaved because this is considered an honorable position and they get a lot of privileges but like. read between the lines here.

mandalorian jedi are basically all trained in combat and not so much in the psychic philosophical spiritual stuff because the mandalorians think that 'don't kill people' thing is for chumps and they burned down most of the jedi temple's libraries. they just don't know how to do the psychic stuff and most of the psychic stuff doesn't work very well when you don't teach them emotional regulation first. like a trial for all mandalorian jedi is that they get their kyber crystal and they're not promoted until they've killed enough people that it turns red. if that puts things into perspective.

anyways, the old jedi order is in hiding across the galaxy. they wear normal clothes and they got rid of the padawan braid because they don't want to be murdered on sight. instead of the braid, they use a set of prayer beads, which they carve and add beads to as they go through trials and visit different worlds, partially because prayer beads are really easy to dispose of in a hurry. they do have a base in dagobah though where they take care of and teach the youngest force sensitives.

re: who's who, there are a lot of canon characters on both sides. obi-wan, obviously, is one of the traditional jedi. he was mace's padawan when he got captured by jango. depa, plo koon, jocasta, yoda, and maul are all traditional jedi. obviously there are more, but those are the ones who get mentioned by name.

on the mandalorian side, we have ahsoka (whose handler is padme), anakin (whose handler was rex), qui-gon (who is dead), ventress (whose handler is isabet reau), dooku (whose handler is myles), quinlan (who is a spy trying to infiltrate the jedi order), also aayla and vokara che who kind of just briefly show up

the other clones mostly don't exist. I say mostly because when jango put in a clone order for two sons, kamino made three in case one of them didn't make it, but all three of them did make it and the third one is fox, who the kaminoans then put into the brainwashing factory to turn him into a brainwashed super soldier. and then when jango went back and asked for a new son because cody and rex disappointed him, they made three again and two made it. one of them is boba, and the other one I have named kiki. he is also put into the brainwashing factory.

which is all to say. being a jedi is rough as hell regardless of what side you're on.

ask me a question about parasitic extraction, the role reversal mandalorian empire au that I have

#ask jesse #fic: parasitic extraction

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space-blue · 8 months

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Ahsoka but the characters are better... The plot... everything is better.

I was talking/venting in RBs with @kanansdume on their post, and I started writing a reply that was just too long and in depth. So it's now its own post.

Offering you an alternative version of events for Ahsoka's first 4 episodes:

The cause of the break up between Hera, Ahsoka and Sabine, is Ezra.

Hera is more of a politician than a general these days, and if she sees action it's to police conflict and hunt down empire remnants. She's NOT under the impression that everyone who kept on living under the empire needs to be eradicated or whatever her deal is right now. She's busy splitting work with Jacen and not really able to help either of her friends as each would want to.

Sabine has never given up. She's still actively looking for Ezra.

Not Ahsoka. On her end, she's given up. She wrote off Ezra as a hero. She grew up watching Jedi sacrifice themselves to buy others some time or make doomed attempts to kill powerful enemies. She thinks Ezra is dead (gloriously so) and refused to indulge the fantasy that he may still be alive, driving a big wedge in her relationship with Sabine.

Until Ahsoka finds that Morgan seems to expect Thrawn to be alive… Which might mean Ezra is alive too… Just maybe.

We meet Sabine as she lands on Lothal. She isn't reckless, wasting time away in a tower like in the show. She's well dressed if rumpled and obviously drained. The moment she steps onto the space port, she's surrounded by local guards. The guy who chases her in the show is instead in full uniform waiting for her, and clearly distressed.

Did she forget what today was? That the governor asked her to attend the celebrations? She was meant to be here already, the event has even started.

Sabine brushes him off. She had no plan to come at all. She's been busy and never even opened the message requesting her presence. She's back from Coruscant, talking to the only scientist who seems to specialise in purgill, and does he have any idea how tedious it is to get useful fact out of someone who never steps out of academia? She's going home, thanks.

She gets upset when the "war hero" title is used to try and persuade her. She's trying to do war hero stuff by rescuing Ezra, thank you. Speeches and hand waving aren't for her, never were. Maybe the dialogue can hint that she used to play along, but has grown increasingly desperate in her search instead of the faff of her mostly ceremonial position.

But the guy drops a hint that convinces Sabine to get on the back of his speeder after all : her old "jedi friend" is there for the celebration. Ahsoka, who she hasn't heard from in ages!

Ahsoka would have trained Sabine for a while for saber, but they've since split and heir friendship frayed over the Ezra Lives situation. NOT because of padawan BS.

Ahsoka could also perceive Sabine's dedication to find Ezra as something worse with every year that passes. To her, it'd go from friendship to attachment, of the overly strong type. And even if Sabine isn't a Jedi, the way Anakin was, it doesn't mean that this attachment wouldn't bring some darkness.

Heck, Ahsoka could sort of wash her hands off Sabine by blaming the darkness brought by her Ezra fixation. Like this isn't her fault, no sir, it's the way Sabine is so consumed that she won't listen to reason.

Anyway, they're both here now, and though the "how have you been" is a tip toeing on eggshells exercise, Ahsoka eats some humble pie and admits she needs Sabine's help for something important.

She has tracked an artifact to a ruin, and although it's ancient, it clearly has a deep stratum. It's not just one culture that can be observed in it, but several stacked on top of each other. And one of the most recent traces of alteration are Mandalorian.

Ahsoka wouldn't solve that JFO puzzle on her own. She'd bring Sabine for her unique Mando insight. But trust would be an issue, so she'd remain super vague about what they're looking for and completely tight lip about why. Ahsoka doesn't want to kindle hopes about Ezra in Sabine of all people.

From Sabine's pov, she's doing Ahsoka a favour, and Hera asked her to please help as she's invested in this mcguffin hunt too. Sabine, by coming along, is doing that very adult thing of putting up with a shitty situation to accomodate people (the total opposite of her highway chase scene).

But even as Sabine finds the map and frees it from the old compartment it's in, they are attacked by the droids. A good old epic fight ensues, where Sabine is shown to be rusty with her saber, and rusty in general with droids, but also Ahsoka sucks at anticipating Sabine's actions, and keeps throwing orders that don't get obeyed (or can't realistically be obeyed).

In the past few years Sabine's been spending more time investigating, talking to people and reading books and buying intel, than fighting.

Not knowing what the map is for, she loses it. Does Shin come in then and wound her? Forcing Ahsoka to flee with her on the brink of death? I think it would be nice if the only reason Sabine lives is because Ahsoka was there to use a constant flow of Force healing. Not fixing her but keeping her alive as Huyang flies them away.

Because, you know, it's getting real tiresome to see people survive lightsabers to the centre of mass.

Then Sabine wakes up, she's sorry she lost the antique Ahsoka was looking for… But Hera calls in as a holo, upset with Ahsoka… And Sabine would slowly realise why. The thing she lost, nearly died over unknowingly, was a map! A map to Thrawn, and so to Ezra.

Nobody needs to be incompetent about that map thing, either, because it would be a very classic puzzle that Ahsoka could have solved. It's not old or mysterious, it was hidden in the old temple. In the show she never sees the map, and it needs to be inserted in the henge to make sense any way. Here Ahsoka didn't need Sabine's help to solve the mcguffin, but to get it. And she got it and lost it at the same time.

And now Sabine realises just WHAT it was. To Ahsoka it's a trail to Thrawn, or a clue in Morgan's plans. To Hera it's weeks of political favour wasted and hope for Thrawn and Ezra gone. Hera can't justify more spending on this without proof Morgan is up to no good.

Meanwhile Sabine sees the map as proof she's always been right. That Ezra is alive, and that Ahsoka used her and lied and kept her in the dark. Sabine would argue she'd never have engaged that rogue padawan if she knew what she was risking with the map. Ahsoka could argue back she only needed to follow her orders.

Huyang is the one who settles things between them by asking how exactly they think this argument is helping the situation? He could be the one to insist they have to stay and work together to get the map, when both Ahsoka and Sabine want nothing more than to split again.

Personality-wise Ahsoka can team work, but she needs to lead. She's used to being the most OP in the room, and grew up giving order to mostly unquestioning soldiers. Sabine has a different skillset, is pig headed, and won't take orders from Ahsoka, especially not now that she feels like she was used.

Hera and Huyang could both come in then to soothe things, and Hera would suggest they visit the other trail she's unearthed (dockyards) while the villains actively get their plan on the tracks.

At the dockyards, Hera would understand that people worked for the Empire because they didn't have a choice, and wouldn't expect people to 'get rid' of imperials after the fall of the empire. It's not exactly how that stuff happens in real life, right? It would also be interesting if Chopper FINALLY came to some use…

So I suggest that the smuggling was done by droids, and the main human mind behind this operation was the one maintening the droid fleet. Altering their codes and priorities. We could have Chop somehow help figure it out. He could also be the one who PWA PWAs at the very end that they shouldn't look so disappointed, since he managed to slap a tracker under the chest plate of that one droid he highjacked that fled on the ship.

They have their lead to that planet.

Now's a good time for Ahsoka to be able to report about Shin and Baylan's sabers instead, maybe spotting them at that place, whatever. They have no clear character or motivation and for all I care we could keep visuals of their sabers from early on when freeing Morgan.

But here's the cinch about Huyang :

He's completely out of place with Ahsoka. She doesn't have a padawan. Doesn't want one. Sabine isn't a real one and has no desire to even try to be. And any good droid could do Huyang's job, without her moaning about Jedi protocol so much.

So why does she keep him?

Huyang should be with Luke Skywalker. Wouldn't it be a little dark and sweet if it's revealed that Ahsoka has been planning to bring him over to Luke's budding school but hasn't because… (and let's forget all shit with them in Mando) well, because she doesn't believe in a New Order. She saw too many younglings killed or turned, and she doesn't trust Luke with rebuilding the Order. Doesn't really want him too.

Yet at the same time she misses it. Misses the protocols she broke with Anakin, and the life she had there as a padawan. Huyang feeds into this nostalgia. Sometimes he sounds like a master--but one she doesn't need to listen to.

She keeps pushing the time to bring him to Luke over and over.

But now Huyang could have his own motivation : Baylan has survived, and he's taken a padawan.

What was Baylan like? Why would he want to free Thrawn? Why team up with Morgan? Imo it'd be a lot more interesting if his saber was yellow or truly orange, and Shin's was blue or literally any colour but red. Make them apparently rogue Jedi and not weird darksiders larping as Taron Malicos and Merrin.

Maybe Huyang would try to push for them to be in touch. Maybe he'd want to approach Baylan himself. Because he wants to recreate the Order, right? And he's got an apprentice. And wouldn't it be a shame if they truly fell down a dark path?

So instead of Baylan being sentimental but actually not about Ahsoka staying alive, it could be Huyang who is ready to expend his kindness to even them, even after the interaction over the map. Afterall, Jedi aren't always shy about using violence to get what they want, and maybe Shin always arrives on the scene when her side is already in a fight. Maybe Huyang is on copium!

But Baylan could be seen as behaving one way, and Ahsoka could feel his vibes being rancid… VS. Huyang knowing him by reputation. Why not go on and fully rip Malicos, at this stage? You got his looks and his theories. You may as well also make Baylan a respected Jedi general. Someone Huyang remembers from his trips to make his first saber.

Now wouldn't it be neat if Chopper's tracker returns a system that Sabine recognises the name of? She was just talking to that scholar about Purgill after all, and he mentioned how this system was an important migration point, one poorly researched, because it's so remote, and at the fringes of Dathomir space, not a friendly locale.

Sadly I still don't understand WTF the map is. Why does Morgan need it? it seems ancient… And yet it points to Thrawn? HOW? Why does it go to a different henge style temple? Nothing makes sense in the show and we're meant to just accept it.

I propose something else.

The map is stored into a bog standard data storage puzzle thingy. Anyone who could handle a Japanese puzzle box could use it. But the map is just the tip of the iceberg. It's actually a nightsister spell underneath, and the entire goal is to hyper focus and pinpoint.

So Morgan 'feels Thrawn calling to her'. And yep, that's corny, but she does. And what she needed was that nightsister focus tool. She needs to wildly amplify the signal, and then use the map to pinpoint its origine totally.

She goes to that henge because it's a meditation space. It's within the Dathomir sphere of influence, but not Dathomir proper, which is why she hid the ring here. There's something about this world, the same quality that attracts the purgill, that really throws the Force into whack.

While it's good for Morgan, it'd be confusing and disturbing for any other Force user (how to nerf Ahsoka, Baylan and Shin).

Once she fully feels the location of Thrawn's call, the map zooms in and in and in. As she suspected (as she's prepared for), it's in another galaxy entirely.

Instead of having the badies split, Baylan would have to protect Morgan so she can remain in her trance as the droids help her refine the coordinates. Shin can go harry Sabine and split her and Ahsoka, who can't properly communicate due to the planet's interference.

When the women go to fight Morgan and co, perhaps Huyang would ask Ahsoka to convince Baylan to return to them. Maybe Huyang's interest in helping with Shin is also what keeps getting in the way of Sabine whenever she has an opportunity to strike to kill.

Anyway, please no fucking Anakin!!! We don't need more nostalgia bait. Stop!! Jedi canonically can't die from falls of any height so long as they've trained to cushion a fall. We see the trio take insane falls all of Clone Wars, and it's in High Republic now too. Ahsoka clipping off the world map from getting yeeted from a small cliff is sad and a pathetic excuse to show Anakin off.

Also would like to point out that with a tight script, all the events above are 2 or 3 episodes max.

What do you think? Opinions? Suggestions? It's a bit of a meta post so feel free to add on to it!

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words-are-fireproof · 1 year

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Red Ribbons - (Din Djarin x f!reader)

Summary: After seeing his face, you and the Mandalorian end up in a snowy town with the kid and red ribbon.

Rating: T, just to be safe

Word Count: 3.1k

A/N: I don't celebrate the holidays but I started this as part of @toomanystoriessolittletime's December challenge and I finally finished it so...here you go! As always, my work is unedited. Whoops. And, also, as always, I can't write short stuff to save my life. Double whoops.

This is a sequel, of sorts, to Haalur but I don't think you'll have had to read that one to understand this one. Still gonna link that one, though.

[Masterlist] || [Part One]

-----

The minute he saw you, he had two questions–one, why was the kid wrapped in a bow; two, why were you wearing almost the same bow in your hair?

Holidays weren’t exactly something that he understood. The Outer Rim had festivals to honor gods and different tribes had different celebrations for harvests and the like, but you’d come from a place that chose to exchange gifts at the end of every year to encourage an uptick in morale. The morale sustained your culture through the long, harsh winters, and often the gifts were practical in nature. You’d explained it a few times, but he still didn’t understand the significance or why you couldn’t just exchange gifts all year long. If they were practical gifts, wouldn’t they be better suited to give at any time instead of the end of the year?

He never argued, though. He just nodded and went on, tending to the repairs of a newly rebuilt gunship that Peli Motto had found when he’d complained about the lack of space on the N-1. He knew of only one holiday on Tatooine–Boonta Eve–but he never celebrated it, and he made it a point to not be on the planet when the celebration happened. Mandalorians and celebrations weren’t exactly good bedfellows. However, he didn’t exactly mind. He also was careful to avoid most places during Life Day celebrations. What could he say? He wasn’t big on celebrations.

But he still was curious about why Grogu looked pleased as punch in a bright red bow and why you looked far too cheerful for a normal day on an almost deserted planet. Thankfully it wasn’t too deserted. You still managed to procure a rather nice room in town, framed by a big window that opened to a panorama of a snowy forest. He didn’t think he’d ever seen that much snow that wasn’t mostly ice, but you weren’t complaining and, strangely enough, neither was Grogu.

The little bog goblin toddled around the warm, enclosed landing pad. Only a sliver of cold air filtered to them through a small crack between the overhead bay doors. It barely ruffled the bow around his little neck. Mando couldn’t believe he was keeping the bow on. Sometimes changes in his routine threw the little tyke off. Most of the time, he went with the flow with small squeals of excitement that filled the Mandalorian’s chest with happiness, a strange and foreign feeling even now. He’s sure what he felt squeezing underneath his sternum– as he fiddled with a bolt cutter–was that ever elusive emotion. He couldn’t be so sure.

“Where did you get that?” He asked, crouching down to see under the chassis of his ship and to be more on Grogu’s level.

The kid pointed in your direction. His breath hitched, the sound crackling through his modulator. You didn’t hear it, but the kid glanced over him, his head tilted curiously.

You’d found a stash of wooly sweaters Mando had recently filched from a bounty. You were surprised they fit, but you were grateful, especially when his ship required emergency maintenance in the snowiest planet possible. The red ribbon had been acquired from the inn owner. Something about being easy to see in the snow. Maybe. You couldn’t understand half of what the woman–or you assumed it was a woman–said. She spoke in a language you didn’t understand. At least you had him to procure the room.

You took it upon yourself to do your hair in the room, curling it delicately in long ringlets one lock of hair at a time. When you’d finished, you pulled on one of the sweaters, a deep maroon one that brought out your eyes. You ignored the way it itched and clung to your body. You never wore form fitting stuff. You preferred loose clothing, and you rarely wore colors, preferring the browns and tans that you usually wore on Tatooine. And you were fairly certain he’d never seen you with your hair down like this, which might explain why the ‘t’ of his visor was trained on you, head tilted, Grogu making little squeaks of confusion at the change in you. But, as soon as you smiled, he came toddling over to you happily, asking silently to be picked up and you obliged. You settle the little green bean on your hip as you regard Mando closely.

The ‘t’ of his helmet was still trained on you. You couldn’t be sure what he was thinking. Ever since that night on Tatooine when he asked you to take off his helmet, he’d been different. You enjoyed that night, and you made sure to tell him, especially when he took you to bed without his armor and held you in his broad frame like you were the best thing to ever happen to him. Maybe you were. You weren’t about to argue with him, not as he held you like that. But after that night, after he’d flown away, he seemed to grow distant, intent on not touching you, intent on doing other things and not giving you the time of day.

It hurt, but you weren’t so easily swayed in your affections and you’d like to think that he wasn’t either, whatever those affections might be.

“What’s the occasion?” His voice came through the modulator, quiet and uncertain.

“I thought I’d dress up for you.”

His helmet tilted to the side. “Why?”

“Why not?”

He stood slowly, his entire frame raising smoothly, even with the heavy beskar on. “You’ve never done it before.”

“It’s too hot to dress up on Tatooine.”

He snorted. “I noticed.”

You shifted Grogu onto your other hip as he played with a ringlet of your hair. “And maybe I wanted to entice you away from your ship.”

The kid cooed and looked between the two of you, dark eyes catching the dim light of the landing bay, his little fist curled into your hair.

He shifted on his feet, his helmet straightening as he peered at you. “You don’t want to get out of here?”

You shook your head as you said, “Why would I have had you get us a room if I wanted to leave?”

That seemed to flummox him. He didn’t have an answer for that. He just stared at you and his kid. He hated to admit it, but Grogu liked you as much as he liked him. The two of you weren’t attached like he was to Mando, but you knew he missed you when you were gone. Mando would tell you when he inevitably came back for a visit, Tatooine in his veins, calling like a siren’s song, pulling him in.

“You…like the snow?”

You shrugged elaborately. “I’ve never really been in snow like this. It’s nice.”

“The kid and I’ve mostly just seen ice planets. Haven’t we, little guy?”

Grogu cooed and continued to look between the two of you intently, like he could feel the shift in the two of you, like he knew something had happened while he was gone. You couldn’t be sure if he registered the time apart from Mando. You were sure he had, though. When the two of them came staggering back to your door after the fight with the rancor and the Pykes, you’d tended his wounds while Grogu remained attached to Mando’s hip. The kid’s eyes were trained on you as you stitched Mando up, having been out of bacta spray and other modern medical miracles. You prefered the old fashioned way. You’d been raised that way. That’s when Mando told you about the little green guy. Fully told you. He didn’t skirt around it like he had before. He’d told you the kid was actually fifty. You barely believed it, but when he told you about Grogu’s life before, the memories he’d suppressed, the power he had… a lot of things suddenly made sense.

“Ice planets can be pretty, too.”

Mando snorted softly and shook his head. “Not when you’re getting chased by ice spiders.”

You make a face, a shudder sliding down your spine. “Oh, god, no thank you.”

“I think Grogu made them mad.”

You lifted an eyebrow and peered at the kid. “Did you eat some of them?” The kid giggled and babbled which gave you all the confirmation you needed. “Of course, you did.”

Silence flowed between the two of you for a moment longer than it should’ve. Your eyes trained on him and you wished he would take off his helmet. You longed to see his deep, soulful eyes again. You wanted to drown in his gaze. Maybe you even wanted to drown in him but then you thought about the fact that the kid was there with him this time and there was no one to watch him but the two of you.

“You really want to stick around?”

You nodded. “You should see the room you got,” you said by way of answering him. “It’s beautiful.”

He heaved a heavy sigh, turning to survey the raggedy gunship. “I’ll get a pack together.”

“No need,” you sing songed happily. “I grabbed what you needed already. Same with the kid. It’s in the room.”

He turned back to face you. Once again, the ‘t’ of his helmet trained on you, but you couldn’t be sure what the Mandalorian was thinking. You wished you could see his face. You pushed that thought away. You couldn’t get attached. Not like that. It was inevitable that he’d leave you again, and this time, maybe he’d leave you for good. You pushed that thought aside. You wouldn’t let him do that.

“Come on, then,” his voice sounded different through the modulator. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but you followed him regardless, Grogu still settled on your hip.

The chill of the air cut through your desert acclimated body. It settled deep in your bones despite the cozy sweater you wore. You wondered how he could possibly be warm but then you remembered he often wore many layers under that beskar. You selfishly hoped he would take off some of those layers just in case anything happened. You didn’t relish the idea of the cold metal brushing against your bare skin.

When you finally made it back to the inn and to your room, your curls were all over the place thanks to the wind. Snow clung to Grogu’s little face and without even thinking, you took care of him first, making sure he was all clean and dry and changed into warmer clothes. But you made sure to re-tie the ribbon around his collar. He started to make a fit when he thought you weren’t going to give it back to him.

Mando watched the two of you closely through his visor. A strange feeling percolated in his chest. It wasn’t the normal happiness he usually felt when he saw the two of you. It tightened under his sternum. His heart pounded under the wide breastplate of his armor. What was this feeling that seemed to fill him up with pain and warmth all at once? He didn’t understand it. He wasn’t even sure if he liked it.

He cleared his throat softly. “He likes that bow.”

“I know. It surprised me.” Your gaze settled on him as you sat him down in his pram. Almost immediately, the little bog goblin settled down into his blankets, yawned, then began to doze, his little snores filling the ensuing silence.

You shifted on your feet, unsure of what to do now, unsure of what you could get away with, unsure if you even wanted to get away with something. It was your turn to clear your throat, stepping away from Grogu to let him sleep as you ran your fingers through your knotted curls. You winced with discomfort when you found a particularly big knot, but before you could do anything about it, you felt his large, strong hands brush away your small, slender ones as he picked almost timidly at the tangle. You still couldn’t believe you’d forgotten to pack a brush from home.

“It’s your turn to feel different, you know?” His smooth voice slid down her spine like molten lava, warming her from the inside out.

“I do?” You could almost feel him nod behind you.

“You’re uncertain.”

A wild laugh strains its way out of your chest and throat. “Uncertain?”

His hands and fingers pause in your hair. “Yes.”

Here you thought you’d done such a good job hiding it. “I’m not uncertain.”

His fingers continue their work on the knot, gently teasing it apart. “Are you afraid I'll be upset if you are?”

“No,” you answered far too quickly.

The truth was, you weren’t scared of him being upset. Uncertainties happen all the time. You both know they happen. You both know that being upset at uncertainties was the quick way to arguments and little resentments that would tear the two of you apart. You didn’t want that, and you imagined he didn’t either.

“Don’t lie to me, mesh’la.”

“I’m not,” you answer honestly.

“Then why–”

You cut him off quickly with a finished question of your own. “Why did you show me your face and then disappear for months?”

You swear you can hear him swallow thickly behind you, his fingers pausing again in your hair before they fall away completely.

“I had to see the kid, remember?”

“Yeah, but when you came back…” You still remember the exact time he came back. Down to the very minute, the noise of the N-1 was far different than the Razor Crest as it settled in the landing pad.

“I was hurt. Maybe that had something to do with it.”

You shake your head. “You and I both know that’s not the truth.”

This time, you did hear as he sighed and stood to get away from you. At least that’s what you reckoned in your mind. He was getting away from you because he really didn’t want to be close to you anymore.

“I shouldn’t have done what I did.”

“Show me your face?” You snap bitterly.

“Let you in.”

Your brief flare of anger deflates. “You regret letting me in?”

“I regret not letting you in sooner.”

You blinked in confusion as you turned to face him. “I don’t–”

“You’re great with the kid. You’re great with me. You make me feel…special, cyare.”

You breathed in a shaky breath, unable to look at him. Instead, you focus on the snowy expanse out the window as big, fat, fluffy flakes begin to fall from the grey-blue sky. Special? You made him feel special? What did that mean? Beyond the pet name in Mando’a, beyond the fact that you took care of the kid rather well when you were allowed to be around him, beyond all that–what exactly did it mean? What did he mean? Special? How special? Less like a killer? More like a man? Your mind reeled. You didn’t even know why it did. You just wanted it to stop.

“Then, why–”

“It scared me.”

That you understood. You finally turned to face him, gazing into the darkened expanse of his helmet.

“I won’t tell anybody.”

He shook his head. “I don’t care about that.”

“But your Creed…” you found yourself foundering again, much like you had so many months ago.

“I broke my Creed a long time ago.” He tilted his head in the direction of the pram. “For him.”

Your gaze fell to the pram with a soft smile. For some reason, that didn’t surprise you. Of course he’d do that for Grogu. The little tyke was worth it, and you knew the attachment you both had to each other transcended everything else, even whatever attachment they both had for you.

With a soft hitch of his breath, he gently removed his helmet, setting it down on the bed to fully tune his gaze to you. You tried to hide the happiness as it bubbled inside of you, but it broke across your face in a wide smile and a bright pink blush. You ducked your head against it, but his fingers quickly settled on your chin, tilting your head back up to face him.

“It scared me,” he continued, “because I’ve never felt like this before. Not with anyone. Not like this.”

The blush deepened as you chewed on your bottom lip. He brushed his thumb over your upper lip gently, your teeth yielding and releasing before his mouth slotted gently and briefly against yours. A happy little shriek from Grogu made you both jump away from each other. You laughed as you watched him clap excitedly.

“I think he’s happy about this new development.”

He chuckled, his turn to turn pink, the tops of his ears a deeper color than his cheeks. “I think you might be right about that.”

You shake your head, leaning in to steal another kiss, properly this time, tongues tangling together as you deepen the kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck to tug him closer. But you immediately frown and pull back, shivering at the chill coming from his beskar.

“You going to take this all off and get comfortable?”

He turned to survey the plush bed, adorned with sheets as white as the snow outside the window. “Maybe. Are you going to join me?”

You grinned, eyes shining as you slowly began to undress, peeling off the sweater you put on just for him until all you wore were your bra and underwear.

“Can I see your wrist?”

He still hadn’t taken off his flight suit or his beskar, too enthralled with watching you get ready for bed. You chuckled as he quickly took off the arm armor, letting it fall on the floor with a heavy thud before he divested himself of his heavy woolen flight suit. The scratchy material found its way to the floor as well. It was only then that he offered you his wrist readily. You wound the red ribbon around his wrist and tied it in a pretty bow to match the one around Grogu’s neck.

“There you go. Both my boys are my Life Day presents.”

He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t celebrate Life Day.”

You shrugged. “Neither do I. But I do love having the both of you around.”

He fell quiet for a long moment before he murmured, “We love having you around, too.”

And you knew as soon as he spoke those words that he meant more by it than what he said. You let it fill you up and give you light and warmth, especially as you both tumble into bed, the snow falling heavily as Grogu hides in his pram, seeming to know exactly what’s about to happen.

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newpathwrites · 3 months

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Series Masterlist Main Masterlist

💚🤍🩶🖤💚🤍🩶🖤💚🤍🩶🖤

Love Day (An Aromantic Valentine’s Day Story)

🖤🩶🤍💚🖤🩶🤍💚🖤🩶🤍💚

Had you been clearer in mind at the time and not buzzing with alcohol, you might have appreciated the irony… that somehow you’d ended this celebration with the expected declaration of love - and it had absolutely nothing to do with the manufactured romantic expectations associated with the holiday.

It was just a simple truth. And you were kind to each other every day because of it.

Summary: Cyar’ika has yet another surprise for Din, this time a tradition from her own home planet.

Note: This was originally written on Valentine’s Day 2023 - in aromantic fashion, of course. I was very sick with COVID at the time and feel like I didn’t fully get the aromantic aspect to come through clearly enough, so this is a re-write!

For those unfamiliar with the backstory: Din and Cyar’ika are aroace partners in a loving and committed non-sexual but physically affectionate relationship, who do not consider their bond to be explicitly romantic in nature. They do enjoy some sensual activities like kissing.

Warnings: Kissing and sexual references.

Read on AO3

————————————————————

“Good morning, Cyar’ika… late night?” Din regarded you with a small grin as you stumbled into the small kitchen area, reaching immediately for the cup of caf he held out to you before kissing his cheek in greeting. It was unusual for you to sleep in - typically up and about at the crack of dawn right along with him.

You downed a large gulp before responding, hoping to shrug off the sluggish feeling of inadequate sleep. “Yeah… sorry I came in so late. Those errands took longer than I thought they would.”

He looked at you skeptically. “Those ‘female’ errands, you mean?” He smirked, but you could feel the mild hurt radiating from him. “I know when you’re trying to get rid of me, you know… You could have just told me so.”

Oh, kriff. This day was going all wrong already…

“Hey, no,” you started, reaching out to gently grasp his forearm. “Just… hold on… I have a surprise for you.” You let go and turned to walk back toward the bunk as he watched after you quizzically.

____________________

While you and Din frequently did each other small kindnesses, usually practical in nature, gestures had really never been your thing. In fact, the romantic undertones of gift-giving and intentional declarations of feelings had always felt a bit forced and superficial - something you’d both gone out of your way to avoid for most of your adult lives.

It was different between you, though, especially since your marriage. You both simply said and did what felt right in the moment. There was absolutely no expectation or implication, even if the mood to make your care for each other known out loud struck once in a while.

One of the first things you’d learned about Din when you started working together all those years ago was that Mandalorian culture had deprived him of many things - physical touch, human comforts like sharing a meal with friends or sleeping without his helmet, holidays and festive celebrations… So you’d set out in the years since to help him experience these things where you could… and he accepted those gestures from you readily, trusting that you wouldn’t ever expect something from him in return that he wasn’t able to give.

Today you were introducing him to a holiday celebrated on your home planet. Roughly translated into Basic, it might be called ‘Love Day’.

You had hated it - a holiday which forced uncomfortable romantic gestures and declarations of love. But now, in a loving relationship that never felt suffocating like the romantic flings of your younger days, you had a new perspective. Instead of celebrating romance , you could celebrate partnership - one that had brought you a kind of happiness you didn’t think was possible.

Gift-giving was a big part of it - usually candy, pastries, colorful flowers… A box of gourmet candies on display in a storefront had given you the idea, reminding you of the silly, heart-shaped boxes sold around Love Day on your home planet. It was also customary to go out for a fancy, expensive dinner… but that was something you’d have to do in the privacy of your own ship.

You’d been hiding the candy box in a drawer for weeks, but you’d had to wait for a few days break between jobs to find time for scrounging up an appropriate meal.

You and Din weren’t exactly attached at the hip, but if he had no reason to leave your side, he generally didn’t, content to accompany you whenever you went out to the market or to explore the shops. You didn’t mind it - Din was always easy company. But it did present a problem when you were trying to plan a surprise.

You’d gotten around it last night by claiming ‘female’ necessities which you preferred to handle on your own… and that had gotten him off your back rather quickly so that you were free to order from one of the high-end restaurants and hide the prepared meal in the ship’s storage compartment before heading to bed.

But apparently Din had taken some offense, seeing through the lie and thinking that you just needed some time away from him. Well, it was quite the opposite, actually…

____________________

You approached him again a few minutes later, holding something behind your back with a nervous smile on your face. In truth, you were starting to worry that Din might think this sort of tradition was strange. But he’d never judged your affectionate antics before… why would he start now?

Din looked at you expectantly, tilting his head in his usual way to encourage you to speak, a curious grin forming at his lips at your nervous countenance.

“There’s a holiday on my home planet,” you started, clearing your throat a bit nervously. “It’s called something like ‘Love Day’, meant to celebrate romantic love… I thought we could celebrate our… other kind of love… if you want…” You looked up to see him genuinely smiling at you, eyes twinkling with some combination of affection and amusement, a sweet relief to your anxious mind. You took your hand from behind your back and held out the box of candies to him. “It’s mostly about food, so… I’ve got quite a bit in the storage. That’s what I was doing last night.”

He stepped toward you but didn’t immediately take the box from your hands, instead pulling you into a crushing hug before bringing his forehead to rest on yours. “Thank you, Cyar’ika. Somehow you still manage to surprise me.” Before you, there had never been anyone in his life who actually cared after his happiness, and it still gripped his heart in joy every time.

You leaned in to kiss him firmly. “You’re welcome, Din. I’ll take that as a high compliment. By the way, we’re going to eat very well tonight.”

____________________

It was one of the most delicious meals you’d ever had. Din, so accustomed to tasteless rations for many years, couldn’t hold back groans of pleasure as he sampled the gourmet items you��d purchased for the occasion. “Holy kriff , Cyar’ika. This is the best food I’ve ever had in my life. I won’t ever eat a ration pack again.” His tone put you into a fit of giggles - such exaggerated exclamations being rather out of character for your overly serious husband. The alcohol probably didn’t help…

Din sat back and just watched you laugh for a moment… he really loved seeing you happy. You’d both lived difficult lives before fate and circumstance had brought you together, and it was moments like these that reminded him just how lucky you’d been to find each other.

“So,” Din began as he took another sip of the finest spotchka you’d been able to find, hoping to break your laughing fit with a real conversation. “What is the food about, anyway? How does all of this represent… love?” He was genuinely curious - there didn’t seem to be any obvious connection between the two.

You looked at him with a funny expression for a moment before bursting again into a fit of alcohol-addled laughter.

Now he was laughing, too, but he really wasn’t sure what was so funny. You were just being so… exuberantly joyful tonight. “ What? ” he finally asked.

You regained your composure eventually, still hiccuping a bit with laughter. “Well, traditionally the food was meant to be aphrodisiacs … Though now I think it’s more about sugar and expense… and less about the intimacies that follow…”

“That’s… interesting… So it was originally meant to be… a sex holiday?” He was completely serious in his inquiry, but even he could see the humor in it then… especially for a couple who had no intention of ever partaking in that particular activity. “ Maker… ” he huffed, gesturing to the meal laid out in front of him. “Will we be able to control ourselves in bed tonight?”

Your eyes went wide at his dry joke before you were both lost to another fit of hysterics. Maybe you needed to indulge in the expensive spotchka more often - even if just to see him laugh like this.

____________________

Eventually you reached the end of the bottle and made a mutual decision not to open another - you did hope to remember this enjoyable evening in the morning, after all. So instead, you curled up together in the bunk, sinking into each other’s warmth as you so often did in this private space where he could comfortably relax without the armor, chatting over the box of sugary treats you’d presented to him in the morning.

“Wow… these are really good…” Din exclaimed, sucking on a piece of hard candy, a rare delicacy for him. “Grogu would love these.”

You nodded, humming in agreement. “I got a little box for him, too. It will keep until the next time we see him.”

Din’s head whipped around to face you, and he stared at you in wonder for a moment before pressing his lips to yours in a lingering kiss. That you thought so often of his foundling was… meaningful… more so than any love holiday, that was for sure.

“What was that for?” you asked, grinning at his unexpected show of affection.

He shook his head slightly, like he couldn’t find the right words. “I just… I really love you. That’s all…”

You smiled at him broadly. “I love you, too, Din.” Reaching a hand to run through his curls, you added, “Happy Love Day, sweetheart.”

It was just a simple truth. And you were kind to each other every day because of it.

You leaned into him and brought your mouths together in a soft kiss which Din eagerly reciprocated, bringing his hand to the back of your neck as he deepened it slightly. He always enjoyed this sensual kind of closeness with you, comfortable in knowing that you would always respect each other’s limits.

But he couldn’t stop himself from making one more dry joke at the expense of this odd holiday tradition you’d introduced him to, as he slid your bodies down onto the mattress and brought his hand instead to run up and down your back over your tunic. “I don’t need to worry about wandering hands now, do I, Cyar’ika?” he asked, mumbling against your lips. “All those aphrodisiacs we consumed at dinner haven’t gone to your head?”

You pulled back, huffing at his humorous dig at the admittedly silly tradition of your home planet. “Din…” you admonished him, tapping his chest playfully. “We’re doing this our way. Let’s just enjoy this for a few minutes before the alcohol puts me to sleep.”

“Well said, Cyar’ika,” he replied, smiling, bringing his lips back to yours. “I like our way.”

Who needs sex and romance when you can have companionship and affection without those strings attached? Certainly not the two of you…

____________________

Thanks for reading!

#din djarin x original female character #din djarin x ofc #queerplatonic relationship #aromantic din djarin #asexual din djarin #aroace din djarin #din djarin fanfiction #the mandalorian fanfiction #newpathwrites #a marriage of convenience

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garden-bug · 4 months

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ABOUT ME because hello there 🐞🦟🐛🪲🐜🪳🦋🪰🦗🐝

I am garden-bug and you can refer to me as such. I love bugs big and small but mostly big (unless I have a microscope handy which I literally don't guys I don't have a microscope). My favourite insects are praying mantids or ants and I have written too many essays that talk about ant symbolism.

I am relatively new to Tumblr.

I am a literature student and critical analysis is not my degree it is my lifestyle.

DNI categories and other info is in my bio.

I am multi fandom. I will list fandoms I engage with, my takes and my fics below:

Star Wars

OG Trilogy: Amazing incredible

Prequels: Flawed but culturally relevant

Sequels: 💀💀

The Mandalorian: Seasons 1 & 2 changed my life but none as much as season 3 which I was so appalled by that I spent the summer of 2023 rewriting

Ahsoka: 💀💀

Thrawn 1st 2 trilogies: Literally space Sherlock Holmes I love the Thrawn trilogies (haven't read the original yet I know shock horror but idt I'd cope)

Clone Wars: Very cool, Ahsoka my beloved, going to cause heartbreak and horror by saying that idc about the clones other than Rex so I have 'the clones' filtered out as a tag LMAOOO

Anything not mentioned I either haven't seen, abhorred, or forgot what happened in.

My other takes:

Star Wars is going down an unfortunate route where a lot of the previously established lore and messages are being undermined and misunderstood.

I do not like Dave Filoni's writing or his mando-verse or whatever he's calling it.

Ezra and Thrawn space adventures forever in our hearts 💔

Thrawn is an anti-villain. He’s not morally good but he isn’t evil either. Also people don't seem to be able to appreciate characters as storytelling mechanisms and instead take it personally when someone highlights a character's moral flaws.

Ships:

I wish I could ship Shin x Sabine but I've seen brick walls with more chemistry.

Thranto...

DINLUKE!!!

My Fics:

Mandalorian S3 (+ Ahsoka series rewrite):

Force-school crack fic:

One Piece

I am on WATER SEVEN! I love Franky with my whole life and Iceberg is a beautiful man. Started Dressrosa for Doflamingo and Law and Corazon and skipping through the eps because oh my god the pacing…

Ships

Zolu on the aroace spectrum my beloved 💞💞

Not been convinced by Zosan...

FROBIN!!

Lawlu

Oh my god dofuwani

Other takes:

I LOVE OPLA! It stole my heart. OPLA cast my beloved. So good. Amazing. Even my mum loved it.

Crocodad/Crocomom is real idc

The one piece is real

Death Note

I don't interact with this fandom much because my takes are shaped by my AU so I literally relate to nothing they say.

Ships:

Not a lawlight shipper. Light was mean and evil and L deserved better 11yr old me was distraught and my feelings have never changed.

L x my OC (that's better)

In my AU Near and Mello are raised as siblings so their ship kinda freaks me out.

Idc abt Matt I never even wrote him into my fic (rip).

Mello x Halle my beloved. I love when two bisexuals fall in love.

Other takes:

The manga is better.

The anime deserves a re-adaptation.

Near is my absolute favourite fictional character ever (genuinely do not know why huh) he is so annoying and I adore him.

Mello didn't die what L and my OC saved him.

My Fics:

I wrote this when I was 12 but it is the basis for my AU and deserves all the honorary mentions:

Jujutsu Kaisen

WHAT THE FUCK -

My fics:

Cosy one-shots basically:

Bungou Stray Dogs

Chaos shambled disarray that somehow I enjoy.

Pisses me off but it has its moments.

Ships:

Sokoku is my all time absolute favourite ship ever of all time.

My fics:

Dazai and Chuuya get hit by a tsunami oh no they have to face their tumultuous feelings for each other (spiral in all the mental-health ways) and accidentally adopt/rescue a small child:

Ninjago

JUMP UP KICK BACK WHIP AORUND AN D SHPIN -

I love Ninjago. Lloyd my beloved. Zane is me fr.

Ships:

Jaya

Zane/Pixal

Kai/Skylor

Llorumi is a NO Harumi is an irredeemable monster and you cannot convince me otherwise. My sweet Lloyd deserves better.

I don't ship any of the ninja with each other ESPECIALLY not with Lloyd the age thing is a mess.

Images used in the ninjago memes are from Pinterest and saved to this board under the ‘I’m gonna make memes’ section: https://pin.it/4rN3gIj

#blog intro #star wars #one piece #ninjago #jujutsu kaisen #death note #ao3 fanfic

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apocketfullofstones · 1 year

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The Mandalorian s3 e1 & 2 Review

Just some articulated thoughts about chapters 17 and 18 because I have opinions.

Spoiler Alert!!!

The first two episodes of The Mandalorian season 3 have both been a flop so far. First off, episode one just carried on from where Boba Fett's show left off with absolutely no explanation as to why or how Grogu is back with Din for the viewers who maybe didn't watch TBoBF, which is fucking annoying because it forces people to watch something they might not have been interested in in the first place.

Secondly, they should have of built up to Din going to Mandalore and getting some character development where he realizes that there is more to his life than just blindly following his covert's beliefs. And that life-altering epiphany along with his reunion with Grogu, learning how to properly wield the dark saber, and reaching the planet that was razed to the ground (depending on his decision on whether or not to rejoin the covert) should've been the overarching storyline. Instead we get to start off episode two with Din arriving at the desolate planet with Grogu in tow.

And don't even get me started on the sudden inclusion of Bo-Katan as Din's trusty sidekick. You know, the woman who joined an extremist group that was pretty open about their plan to assassinate the ruler of Mandalor -which was her sister at the time- just because they didn't like that she was a pacifist. The very same woman who wants the dark saber, not because she's selflessly trying to rebuild her people, their home, and their culture, but because she's selfishly after power. The woman who would happily slit Din's throat in a heartbeat if it meant that she could have the dark saber. That Bo-Katan? Yeah, okay. Needless to say, I'm finding the "new best friend" Bo-Katan storyline a hard pill to swallow.

Also can we acknowledge that Din falling like he did while bathing in the living waters was fucking dumb. I tried to rationalize it, giving him the benefit of the doubt by writing it off as him just being woozy from blood loss and not noticing the drop off. But even then, that doesn't explain why he plummeted so far, so ridiculously fast. It's because his armor is heavy!!! I can hear you typing furiously. But, you're wrong. We've seen in the previous season that the armor that Din wears is not actually that heavy. Like on the ship in s2e3 "The Heiress" he dives into the water and then is able to swim to the surface, treading water and holding onto the bars. The point is, he didn't sink. And he should have immediately went straight to the bottom of the hold after diving into the water if we were to believe that the beskar is really that heavy. Basically what I'm trying to say is that they are already retconning shit they've established just to hit these lame story beats instead of just writing the scene in a way that is loyal to the rules they've set in previous seasons and it's only the third season.

I fear that it can only get worse from here.

Oh! And I recently watched a short on YouTube that put some things into perspective about the choices that were made regarding the entire show. Apparently seasons 1 and 2 were filmed pretty much back-to-back, so while s1 was just airing, they were already well into shooting s2. So that means that the showrunners had no idea how big Grogu was going to get, which is why he was always handed off to someone else or left on the ship/in the pram and had very limited screentime in both season 1 and 2. It also explains the horribly rushed reunion because it is my belief that it was the writers original intention to write Grogu off the show at the end of season 2 by sending him away with Luke (and they would only bring him back as a cameo or something along those lines).

But with "Baby Yoda's" sudden internet popularity, they had to basically abandon their initial goal in order to keep their tiny, adorable cash cow (affectionate). If this theory of mine were true, it would also explain why Grogu's inclusion in s3 so far has been a bit awkward, like the writers aren't quite sure what to do with him and they just wrote him into scenes simply for him to be there. Because to me it felt like Bo-Katan was supposed to have accompanied Din to Mandalore from the jump, but then they had to change the script so that Grogu could do something other than just sit in his pram and look cute the entire time (like going to fetch Bo-Katan when Din is put out of commission). That would also make the pacing issues of episode 2 make sense cause it definitely took a while for Grogu to fly to Bo-Katan's castle (I doubt that she was less then an hour away) and the villain just so happened to wait to start up the machine to drain Din of blood until Grogu made the trip there and back? Yeah, no.

Also, I refuse to believe that Grogu couldn't help Din escape with his "force powers" at this point (take for example his feats in TBoBF), so him not even really trying was just a poorly disguised plot device to get Bo-Katan involved. And the minute that the audience notices that the plot is driving the characters, and not the other way around, the cracks start to become visible, breaking the immersion and making the show unenjoyable to watch because then fans (like me) are just gonna start picking apart everything that's wrong with the story.

#the mandalorian #the mandalorion spoilers #the mandalorian s3 #chapter 17 “The Apostate”#chapter 18 “The Mines of Mandalore”#episode tag #episode review #the mandalorian critical #review #din djarin #grogu #baby yoda

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mortallyclearwonderland · 1 year

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Bo Katan vs Satine Kryze

I want to talk about the topic that not a lot of people seem to bring up, not here, nor on You Tube.

Both Bo Katan and Satine Kryze are not great leaders. They care about their people (allegedly but I'll get to it). But that doesn't equal being a capable ruler.

Let's start with Satine cause she is the lesser evil of the two.

Her being a pacifist but also defending herself isn't hypocrisy. What about her not killing the literal terrorist who threatened her life, the life of Obi-Wan who she loves, and an entire ship full of people? Hesitating to kill someone, even a bad person, when you haven't killed anyone yet isn't that out of the ordinary. If anything I have more gripes with Obi-Wan being apparently more worried about looking good in front of Satine than stepping up and killing a guy.

But even then to me, it looked more like neither of them wanted to provoke him and accidentally blow up the ship.

Good thing Anakin saved their asses and neither of them had to make a hard choice.

A) Obi-Wan toughens up and stops caring what his ex thinks of him and does what they both know he did in the past and will do in the future, kill a dangerous person threatening the lives of others.

B) If Satine killed him she would've had to accept that sometimes you have to kill people to save yourself and others. She would have to see thinks not only from her point of view ''You're bad for participating in war even though you were the ones attacked first and you just protecting yourselves.'' Of course, Clone Wars are more complex than good vs bad.

This brings me to my second point.

Satin saw right through Palpatine's plan to occupy Mandalore.

She was kind of in a lose-lose situation. If she agrees to another army occupying her homeworld and, given the record of other planets saved by the Republic, be completely wrecked or let her guards/police/army do things themselves. Even tho they are no match for a criminal underworld.

And that brings us to criticism number three.

Her army or lack there off because she demilitarized Mandalore. I think I don't need to point out how stupid that is to have no army. Even if you're a pacifist and don't intend on attacking anyone that doesn't mean you will never get attacked yourself. Especially when the war is going on just a stone's throw away from your home planet.

Going from what we showed in the show this ''demilitarization'' meant that either you stop being warmongering warriors which value strength over anything else or go to the moon.

And that's when the lack of explicitly shown backstory rears its ugly head. Everybody has their own point of view. From the Death Watch's point of view, Satin is disrespecting her and their culture for trying to make it more peaceful and doesn't deserve to call herself a Mandalorian.

From Satin's point of view, she banished aggressive warmongers.

The timeline of when the Death Watch became a terrorist group is crucial. If they turned ''true Mandalorians'' supremacy when they were still living on the planet and Satin's idea of dealing with them wasn't throwing their asses in jail but banishing them to their moon which doesn't even change that much because they can travel to Mandalore no problem, then she's an idiot.

If the Death Watch formed after the banishment that means that instead of cultivating their culture and creating their own society on the moon and showing the Galaxy who is ''better'' they decided to turn into a terrorist group and eventually take over the planet.

''But Satine's military is so weak! The Death Watch had to come in and save them! It means that they're right!’’

If you think that then you fall for their manipulation.

Let's not forget how the whole crime underworld attacking Mandalore and making the Death Watch look like heroes was a genius plan concocted by Maul. These attacks were staged, and Death Watch knew exactly when and what was going to happen, giving them a huge advantage. They just show up and deal with the problem before the actual guards could even get there. They are careful to not kill each other or civilians, only the guards. That way they show how ''peaceful'' they can be and how useless the guards are.

We have no idea how it would've turned out if all those crime syndicates were actually trying to fight and win and the Death Watch was supposed to be a regular military without their enemies giving themselves on a silver platter.

youtube

It’s getting long. All in all, Satin isn't that bad. She's not perfect, no one is. But she also had a lot of things stuck against her that were outside of her control and I doubt if anyone could have handled it better.

In part two I'm going to tear into Bo Katan.

#Satine Kryze #bo katan kryze #Bo Katan #star wars #star wars the clone wars #mandalor #Mandalorian

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ciphernull · 9 months

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some rhoen rambling as i try to develop something for this awful man AKA bounty hunter story continues to give me characterization issues, let’s go

sooo, i was intending to join the mandalorians with rhoen, mostly just to keep things different from vex’s playthrough. but i, uh... maybe forgot about the whole “mandos hardcore genocided the cathar in fairly recent history” thing.

oops? 😬

rhoen doesn’t exactly strike me as close to his culture, the kid grew up rough on the streets for sure, so maybe he would anyway? my running idea was that he'd join up purely for selfish reasons, and kind of be a bit of a renegade among them, mostly just using them for access to bigger stuff to hunt. maybe along the way develop a bit more of a conscience??? idk idk

BUT at the same time it’s really satisfying to tell mandalore to fuck the hell off after he tricks/forces you into an initiation. honestly starting to think i just fucking hate the mandalorians in this time period, lmao. they jerk themselves off about being honorable warriors then commit atrocities left and right. that or they’re preachy wet noodles like torian who have no character outside of their codes (sorry, but it’s trueee)

they all come off as such huge hypocrites, it pisses me off sdkfsk

i’m probably going to stick with my original idea, it’s not as if the choice has a particularly huge bearing on the storyline, and even if rhoen doesn’t end up developing in favor of the decision, it would be just like him to get fucking kicked out for being a piece of shit, lol.

(thank you for reading if you did, i really need someone to bounce ideas off instead of yelling into the void but this is what i got 😔)

#rhys rambles #rhoen varr #squeezing him like a stress ball while i ponder

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themosleyreview · 1 year

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The Mosley Review: Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Season 3)

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this season. The past 2 seasons were so well crafted and had a direction that ultimately met its amazing conclusion. That same quality of storytelling continues here in a strong opening, but something was truly off. The idea of it moving away from Grogu being the Mcguffin and on to reuniting the mandalorian clans was a great strategy. The problem I felt was that there were some serious logic problems when it came to the traditions and some inconsistencies involving the tech. I don't mind when a story decides to pivot and go off on a exploratory missions because that's what Star Wars does best. It just felt cheapened this season because of a few cameos that took me out of the story and could've been given to someone less popular. What I did love is the amount of political and underground spy games that were being played while the titular character was running around. I loved the subtle and straight up references to Star Wars: Rebels that made my heart flutter with joy. The majority of the characters we love return and many of them actually take on the heavy lifting of the story this time.

Pedro Pascal returns as the voice of the titular character Din Djarin/The Mandalorian and he delivers yet another strong and emotional performance. Din this time around was on a path of redemption and it was great to see him explore the more spiritual themes of the creed. I enjoyed the continued father son dynamic between him and Grogu. Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder's physical performances as Din were amazing as Brendan delivers that trademark swagger and Lateef knocks it out of the park with the many action sequences. Honestly both of them had an equal amount of action between them. All three of them make up this character and they deliver in spades. Din takes a bit of back seat this time around as we delve deeper into the other Mandalorians. Katee Sackoff continues to deliver a stellar performance that she started way back in The Clone Wars animated series. As Bo-Katan Kryze, she takes the lead as she comes to grips with her issues with the the creed, culture and you finally get an answer on how she lost the darksaber. I loved that she was seeking to find her place again and how she handles getting back to being the leader she was born to be. The chemistry between her and Din was a fun dynamic and I also liked the buddy cop aspect of their adventures. There is a illogical moment between them that really urked me and I wish it was handled way better when dealing with the ownership of the darksaber. Emily Swallow returns as the Armorer and I loved that she has stayed consistently mysterious about her past and devoted to the creed. The scenes between her and Bo-Katan were the best moments as you see the many comparisons between them. They are different sides of the same coin and I loved how they quickly realize that. The one and only Carl Weathers returns as the magnificent Greef Karga and I loved his jovial nature as the new High Magistrate of the planet Navarro. He may be more of the governor type that’s more friendly, but he stays as the great business man and badass that you don't want to cross. Omid Abtahi and Katy M. O' Brian return as Dr. Pershing and Elia Kane and I loved their episode. It showed how each character dealt with refugee life as a former Imperial officer and doctor. I loved that they finally got a taste of what the Empire forced many civilizations to live like. Omid did an amazing job showing the immense compassion the character has toward wanting to help the New Republic instead of condemning it. Giancarlo Esposito returns as Moff Gideon and he is even more pissed off and determined than ever. You get to the bottom of his ultimate goals and how he doesn't really care about the more expansive plans that other Imperial remnants have in store for the future. I love villains that have a goal and plan that is clean cut.

Although Ludwig Goransson didn’t compose this season, the reins were left in the hands of brilliant composer Joseph Shirley and he did an excellent job creating new and haunting themes that are easily identifiable. I did miss Ludwig's touch on the series, but Joseph did a great job never the less. I loved the sound of the N64 generation inspired theme for the "Coruscant Steet Fair" that has The Resistance theme playfully mixed into it. The very ethereal and then renaissance influenced "High Magistrate" piece was awesome and I could listen to that all day. The epic and somewhat gothic tone of "The Great Forge" plays toward the last half of the season and illuminates one of the best scenes of the entire season. Like I said, the pacing of the series felt off as the focus was shifted too many times. The adventure is always the highlight of Star Wars, but the central plot and tone of the series felt second hand instead of the forefront like the past seasons. We got to the point, but it was messy. I didn't like the cameo of 2 major stars as I felt the storyline with them had no real bearing on the overarching plot. There's a Blade Runner style chase that happens in that story that introduces something that would've changed the direction of The Clone Wars if a certain droid could move like it did. Even with all the problems, it ended on a good and somewhat rushed note. Will I be here for Season 4? Absolutely. Have my expectations been lowered for the future of this series? Yeah. All the references and cameos aside, this was a season that was fun in many ways, but it was missing that polish that the first 2 seasons had. Let me know what you thought of the season or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

#star wars the mandalorian season 3 #pedro pascal #brendan wayne #lateef crowder #Katee Sackhoff #emily swallow #carl weathers #omid abtahi #katy m. o'brian #giancarlo esposito

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secretsolarsystem · 2 years

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there's this hannah montana episode where the press accuses jake ryan of cheating on miley with hannah montana which i think would be a hilarious crack scenario in the batman au. (the newest chapter is so good! going with a hug instead of a kiss was a good writing decision. anakin pining is always *chef's kiss*)

JHSGAFAKJSHDFLKASDFLK ANON YOU JUST UNLOCKED A MEMORY FOR ME. THIS IS SO FUCKING FUNNY

I'm imagining we're in a world where Obi-Wan and Anakin end up together and Obi-Wan still doesn't know that Anakin is Vader. and they've had a discussion along the lines of Obi-Wan saying "yeah I was trying to get in his pants but now your pants are the only ones I'm interested in <3" and Anakin wants to joke that technically they're the same pants, but he just smiles and says he trusts Obi-Wan (and it's not a lie in the slightest)

and then this picture of Obi-Wan and Vader working on a case starts circulating in the local papers and on social media, with captions like We're Detecting Sparks Are Flying Between Kenobi and Vader – But Can Skywalker See the Clues of Infidelity? and office romance????? (that one's Anakin's favorite) and Anakin Skywalker Better Get a Prenup! because Obi-Wan is laughing at something Vader said with a hand on Vader's arm, and Vader's eyes – Anakin's eyes – are just so full of pure and recognizable love as he smiles down at him

Anakin loves the picture, but he has to keep that to himself, for obvious reasons. but when Obi-Wan finds out about it he rushes to Anakin right away and is losing his mind trying to reassure him that nothing happened or will happen I love you so much I wouldn't do that to you he just told a joke but you are so much funnier I promise (and somehow being told he's funnier than himself is both flattering and offensive but he keeps that, too, to himself, for obvious reasons). and Anakin's just like "it's okay. I told you I trust you :)"

but you see. when a politician from Mandalore came to visit Theed a while ago and they were part of the city's welcoming committee, Obi-Wan had told the visiting woman that he was excited to learn about her country's culture and that the flowers in her hair were pretty, Anakin had nearly bit both their heads off and glued himself to Obi-Wan's side, giving the Mandalorian dirty looks the whole week she was there. so yes, Anakin might trust Obi-Wan, but it doesn't mean he gets pouty and possessive over him

and that's how Obi-Wan finds out that Anakin is Vader. it has to be the only explanation

#I GOT CARRIED AWAY WITH THIS BUT ANON I LOVED THIS SM #anakin is no longer threatened by his alter ego when it comes to obi-wan and that's what ultimately gives him away #also thank you for the kind words!!! I think the hug worked out a lot better too <3 #I am taking every advantage of this being a slow burn mwahahahaha #ask #obikin

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comm-caribou · 2 years

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2016 vs. Now:

Just me looking at my old pieces and comparing my OG babies to their official versions. So happy with their growth, especially Juliette’s because… *face palms*

————

Juliette: Couldn’t even fire a gun! Was just a naive idiot who got lucky enough that Hardwire picked her up off the streets after her father died. I don’t even know how she was okayed with being a General because she was so dumb. Was a twenty year old Mandalorian daughter, but knew absolutely nothing of her culture or how to fight. I can’t find it, but I remember distinctly I wrote something about her mother being a Jedi and Juliette was also force sensitive, but some reason nobody realizes this?!?! She literally got a whole character rewrite, the only thing that’s the same is her name and Fang being her boyfriend.

Hardwire: Cold, mean, and had a crush on Juliette. He was very jealous of anyone who spoke to her, that when Fang started going out with her Hardwire shunned him and treated him like dirt. Now Hardwire is awkward, kind of silly mixed with serious, a sweetie pie who just wants to be included in the fun, is under the ace umbrella, and views Juliette as his closet friend.

Cooper: Was nice, and just wanted to help everyone. Now he’s more reserved and snappy with adults, but has all patients in the universe for children. He’s protective and can come off as a know-it-all now too.

Keks: Nothing has changed. He’s still a trooper who loves kids and was named for eating burnt cookies a little girl made. Only thing added was his facial tattoo.

Tracks: Hasn’t changed either. Still a 6’5” pilot with silver hair, couldn’t talk due to an accident, and minds his own business.

Mirage: He use to be a bully. If he didn’t like you, he’d give you the silent treatment and convince everyone to turn their back on his victim. Super quick to anger and would get in fist fights. Has since been revamped into a protective brother who has some jealous outbursts, but it’s comes from his own insecurities of thinking he’s not a good ARC trooper. More of a follower than a leader, but knows when to step up. Also now made him the key to their survival of Order 66.

Boomerang: Still a goofball and jokester, who got his name for always coming back for his brothers.

Fang: Absolutely nothing has changed, only his bottom canines and his personal interests have been added. Still a sweet trooper who gets mixed up in his head from all the trauma he endured, including losing his arm and both squads. I did edit his hair to be more like Tem instead of the CW model, but he still has his loose strand in front that never stays in place even when his brothers try to use any hair products on him.

Coyote: Kept the blue eyes, added more drive to his character. He use to just be there as a crutch for Fang, someone for Fang to lean on and count on to always be there for him until Coyote is promoted. Now, he’s everyone’s voice of reason and comforting presence, but he’s the one who’s learning to stand on his own.

#caribou speaks #caribou ocs #star wars #star wars the clone wars #juliette trix #commander hardwire #sergeant cooper #corporal keks #tracks #arc trooper mirage #boomerang #fang #coyote

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runemyth0 · 1 year

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Aight, not tagging this to avoid drama. Anyways, from what I’ve heard, my decision to sit out Mando S3 has been a good one. And looking at a lot of the reactions to it all, plus my own reaction to BoBF, I kinda want to posit a potential way this season could have gone. Had I been in charge of writing it.

Okay, so, to start, I’m reaching back into the past and slapping Fettuccine and Foi Gras in the face and ignoring everything Grogu that happened in BoBF. Mando still showed up as backup, he still had his whole cast out of the Watch scene.

We start off with the building the N-1 starfighter episode, set after the events of BoBF. Mando spends most of the episode running around looking for rare parts and negotiating for them, as well as bonding with Pelli and just generally being kinda sad Grogu’s not around anymore.

Then everything goes to heck when a Gozanti shows up and starts carpet bombing the city. Din makes a run for it in his new ship and there’s a brief dogfight scene between some Fang fighters and Din, culminating in him getting a call from Bo-Katan telling him to surrender so she can kick his ass and take the darksaber.

This is more or less the pattern for the season, with Din hopping from planet to planet, getting into wacky adventures with the locals, then having a fight with Bo-Katan or one of her lackeys and narrowly escaping. The whole time he’s moving towards Mandalore so he can fulfill the whole bathe in the waters goal.

Along the way, pretty much every episode, he’ll meet other Mandalorians and learn a bit about how they see the whole deal of ‘being Mandalorian’. Like he’ll meet an ex-Death Watch assassin, who betrayed his friends when they sided with Maul and he didn’t. A family of artists and architects, who still believe a future of peace is possible. A Protector, who once served at the side of Duchess Satine but has now been forced into mercenary work to survive. The son of Pre Vizsla, who wants nothing more than to reclaim what he sees as his family’s legacy. A Clone who sought out his gene-father’s culture after the war and found it unwelcome to him.

And through all these, Din grows and changes as a person, gradually realizing that there is so much more to Mandalorian culture than what he was taught in the Watch. And also he’s gradually working through his issues with not having Grogu with him (his empty nest syndrome).

The finale takes place on Mandalore, as Din fights to get to the waters and he and Bo-Katan end up being the only ones left after a giant monster attack. They’re beaten and bruised and their armor is broken.

Bo-Katan picks up the Darksaber and prepares to strike down Din with it. While Din just sits on a rock, looking at the devastation their battle wrought, further despoiling this dead world. Bo-Katan sits with him and they talk for a bit about whether or not Mandalorians are warlike in their nature, or if it’s a product of the suffering they’ve gone through over generations.

At the end, Din stands above the waters, ready to do the thing to make remake him into a proper Mandalorian. But instead he throws the Darksaber in, declaring that Mandalore should not be ruled by martial might, since, you know, they’ve been doing that for years and look where they are now.

And with this, he also is finally able to let go of Grogu, trusting that if the stars align they will reunite. And if they don’t... at least they’ll always have the memories.

And Bo-Katan invites him to help her rebuild Mandalore, setting up the hook for S4, if you want to go there.

For the credits, we follow the saber as it falls through the waters, until it hits the bottom and comes to a rest at the end and the eye of the mythosaur blinks open.

Maybe as an after credits scene, we can have Grogu show up doing some training on his own and then Luke comes in with a sack of Jedi artefacts he collected from his most recent expedition.

So, yeah, that’s what I would have written. Focus in on Din and Bo-Katan, make their conflict the core of the season.

As for S4, I guess I would probably have it be based around Din joining up with Bo-Katan and trying to convince Mandalorians to come back to Mandalore. But the main conflict would most likely be Moff Gideon showing up to get his revenge on Din and co, and the Mandalorians deciding to become protectors instead of conquerors. You could probably seed a few hints towards the Gideon plot in S3.

The ultimate finale of this would be basically a dark twist on S2 ending, where Gideon’s real goal was to draw out the Jedi so he could get his actual revenge on them. If we want to end it there (feels like a natural stopping point), you can have Din sacrifice himself to save Grogu. Have a real tearful goodbye scene.

And then in the epilogue you can have Bo-Katan watching a statue of Din getting built on Mandalore. And maybe Grogu studies there to connect with Din’s culture.

#lyle's musings #no fandom tag

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anoldstoryteller · 1 year

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44 BBY The birth of the Scarab part two

This is Xan'rra. She is the seer of my clan and a long time friend. She just got to Coruscant so I'm showing her around." Alephi relaxed and Tali smiled and rushed over. "Hi! My name is Talicia. It's so nice to meet you." Xan'rra looked at the two girls and smiled. "It's nice to meet you too. And that makes you Alephi." Alephi straightened, "Yeah. Kal helped me on Alpha Ti. I'm sworn to him until my dying day." Xan'rra walked over to her and grabbed her hands. "That gladdens my heart to hear that Mand'alor has someone who looks so dependable." Alephi looked at me confused. I had explained to her quite a bit of Mando'ade culture so she knew enough to know what Mand'alor meant. I sighed and explained that Xan'rra had proclaimed me Mand'alor ever since meeting me and that's just what she calls me. Alephi nodded an understanding but Tali looked on confused. I explained to her what Mand'alor meant to my people. The whole time Xan'rra looked on with a smug look on her face. Tali left and brought back the food she had been cooking and we ate. Afterwards I showed Xan'rra the guest room and helped her settle in. Over the next several days Xan'rra made a point of educating Tali and Alephi about what would be expected of them as Mando'ade. I had tried to stop her but they insisted on learning, so I left it be. I decided to show them the Scarab. They gave several compliments about the designs. Alephi was eager to use the Scarab instead of the cramp Basilisk. I had to agree with her. The dock hand had surprised me with the amount of equipment and supplies that he had stored.

After staying with us for two weeks Xan'rra informed me that she was heading back to the clan. Alephi and I took her to the star port. Afterwards we went to Brok's to meet with Natasha. Natasha was sitting by the bar when I came in. Sitting next to her was a human woman. Natasha stood up as she saw me approached and introduced us. The woman's name was Helen Gaskin. She stepped forward, "It is an honor to meet you Kal Torka. I have heard a lot about your exploits on Coruscant recently and would like to offer you my services. I'm familiar with Mandalorian culture and have worked with several Mandalorians over the years." I liked what I saw. It was obvious that Helen was a seasoned soldier. Having accomplished what she had set out to do, Natasha left while I talked to Helen about her experience. She was only four years older than me but she had several different campaigns under her belt. We decided to go for a walk and ended up in the lower level when one of the people Alephi and I had helped in the past ran up to us. "Mr. Torka! You're needed at Tai district. There are people rounding up people!" I started running in the general direction with Alephi and Helen close on my heels. As we rounded a corner we saw Trandoshans pushing people into a freighter. I didn't even hesitate and pulled out my blaster and started shooting. Alephi and Helen followed suit. They returned fire but the beskar just slugged it off. A large Trandoshan charged me and knocked me down. He tried to pulled my helmet off but Helen put a round through his skull. I pushed him off and stood up. Alephi was already helping the people off the freighter. I walked off followed by Helen. I looked over them and made sure they were alright. There was a girl who had a cut on her arm. I got on one knee and applied some bacta. I asked her where her parents were but she remained silent. One of the others walked over and said they were killed by the large Trandoshan. I made sure that she would be taken care of by one of them before leaving. As I started to leave the little girl grabbed my hand and asked my name. I gave it to her and she told me her's, Reazeal. I gave her some credits and left. On the way back Helen complimented my quick decision making. I could tell she was quite smitten with me. Helen bid us farewell and we continued to the penthouse.

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anupalya · 2 years

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Please stop hating on Luke Skywalker

(note: I don't like what Disney did to him either and I'm not a fan of the sequels)

But with regards to attachments and having Grogu choose, SO many people have said it better than I can, but in Buddhism, "attachment" isn't love, it's possessiveness and inability to let go. That's what makes you selfish, desperate, willing to do anything to keep your attachment, even hurt others.

Grogu chose to go with Luke at the end of Mando S2, and now Luke is saying "you can choose to leave, I will not force you to be Jedi."

I disagree with the Old Order's marriage ban, seeing as it didn't even work and (I think) it would have been much more effective to instead provide social support and emotional support, so that Jedi could have help remaining un-possessive in their love rather than allow the need for secrecy make them fearful and more desperate.

HOWEVER. "Attachment" being the way to the dark side in no way conflicts with the lessons learned in the Original Trilogy, which Luke embodies so well. Luke's love for his friends keeps him from falling, and his love for his father brings Anakin back, but Luke's being able to let his friends go and not control the outcome and trust them instead, the lesson he had to earn in ESB, is the reason why his love was able to remain un-possessive and a conduit of light rather than dark.

So Grogu got to leave if he wanted to, because Luke could sense that Grogu, the traumatized baby who was willing to force-choke a stranger who he thought was hurting his dad, who he'd imprinted on after years of isolation and abuse after surviving a massacre, had an attachment, and very understandably so. Grogu needs to resolve his trauma and heal and be able to let Din go, because that's the nature of existence, if he wanted to learn to manipulate existence without the temptation to, you know, lay waste to entire civilizations if it meant saving his dad, the way Anakin did for Padme. And if Grogu can't or didn't want to do that, Luke wasn't going to force him, and would let him choose to keep the attachment rather than the ability to manipulate the universe.

Now, it seems to me, just based on my read of it, that Disney doesn't quiiiiite understand Western vs Eastern definitions of "attachment" (and I'm willing to bash Disney All. Day. Long.) Or at least they didn't quite execute the "choice" scene in a way that made their take on attachment theory very clear, especially because "choose between shirt and saber" doesn't actually make sense because Din wasn't saying "hey Grogu, you can have this shirt IF YOU COME BACK" etc. I digress.

BUT

Luke, starting from the end of OT, is also trying to restart a decimated culture off of CRUMBS as the only one left (to his knowledge - and yes, Ahsoka is a force-user but doesn't identify as a Jedi and isn't contributing to the resurrection)

Also, I'm a DinLuke shipper. I would LOVE to see Din and Luke together, but I'm also completely unsurprised that these are the choices Disney is having Luke is make in canon, because this strong, powerful, compassionate, imperfect, traumatized character is also doing his best with the crumbs of the old wisdom he can find. And also, I know it becomes a tragedy all over again, because they're not going to erase the sequels (which, again, not a fan).

So I'm here in the "write fic, take what you want from canon, and love the story, characters, and dynamic" party. Fandom is all about taking what we love and making it our own. I love saying it and won't stop saying it: canon is just the headcanon of the person with the biggest budget, and fic is inherently anticapitalism in storytelling. And that's what I'm all about.

(and tbh one of my favorite things about canonverse/canon-divergent DinLukes where Luke decides to allow marriage with un-possessive love and Grogu gets to be a Mandalorian Jedi like Tarre Vizsla is that those AUs end up averting the tragedies of the sequel trilogy 👌👌)

But, in summary, it hurts my heart to see so much Luke-bashing. We can make the stories we want.

#attachment #the book of boba fett spoilers #the book of boba fett #the Mandalorian #Buddhism #luke Skywalker #dinluke #dinluke positivity #fanfic is love #fanfiction

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newpathwrites · 1 year

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Love Day (A Marriage of Convenience one-shot)

Pairing: Din x OFC/reader/Cyar’ika

Note: This one-shot is written for Valentine’s Day - but in aromantic fashion, of course. Apparently I posted chapter 1 on this day last year!

For those unfamiliar with the backstory: Din and cyar’ika are aroace partners in a loving and committed non-sexual but physically affectionate relationship, who do not consider their bond to be explicitly romantic in nature. They do enjoy some sensual activities like kissing from time to time.

I am feverish and achy as I write this, so if it’s rather subpar I do apologize. Turns out I have COVID despite rigid masking…

No warnings - just affectionate, aromantic fluff.

Word count: ~1.8k

AO3: NewPath3432

Tumblr: NewPathWrites

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“Good morning, cyar’ika… late night?” Din regarded you with a small grin as you stumbled into the small kitchen area, reaching immediately for the cup of caf he held out to you before kissing his cheek in greeting. It was unusual for you to sleep in - typically up and about at the crack of dawn right along with him.

You downed a large gulp before responding, hoping to shrug off the sluggish feeling of inadequate sleep. “Yeah… sorry I came in so late. Those errands took longer than I thought they would.”

This day was going all wrong already…

“Hey, no,” you started, reaching out to gently grasp his forearm. “Just… hold on… I have something for you.” You let go and turned to walk back toward the bunk as he watched after you quizzically.

____________________

But all of these things felt different with him. You simply said and did what felt right in the moment, and so did he. There was no expectation. And that made affectionate gestures a whole lot more comfortable.

Today you were introducing him to a holiday celebrated on your home planet. Roughly translated into Basic, it might be called ‘Love Day’.

You had hated it back then - a holiday which forced uncomfortable romantic gestures and declarations of love. But now, in a loving relationship that never felt suffocating like those of your younger days, you had a new perspective. Instead of celebrating romance, you could celebrate partnership - one that had brought you a kind of happiness you didn’t think was possible.

Gift-giving was a big part of it - usually candy, pastries, colorful flowers… A box of gourmet candies on display in a storefront had given you the idea, reminding you of the silly, heart-shaped boxes sold around Love Day on your home planet. It was also customary to go out for a fancy, expensive meal… but that was something you’d have to do in the privacy of your own ship.

You’d been hiding the candy box in a drawer for weeks, but you’d had to wait for a few days break between jobs to find time for scrounging up an appropriate meal.

But apparently Din had taken some offense, seeing through the lie and thinking that you were just tired of having him around. Well, it was quite the opposite, actually…

____________________

Din looked at you expectantly, tilting his head in his usual way to encourage you to speak, a curious grin forming at his lips at your nervous countenance.

He stepped toward you but didn’t immediately take the box from your hands, instead pulling you into a crushing hug before bringing his forehead to rest on yours. “Thank you, cyar’ika. Somehow you still manage to surprise me.” Before you, there had never been anyone in his life who actually cared after his happiness, and it still gripped his heart in joy every time.

You leaned in to kiss him firmly. “You’re welcome, Din. I’ll take that as a high compliment. By the way, we’re going to eat very well tonight.”

____________________

It was one of the most delicious meals you’d ever had. Din, so accustomed to tasteless rations for many years, couldn’t hold back groans of pleasure as he sampled the gourmet items you’d purchased for the occasion. “Holy kriff, cyar’ika. This is the best food I’ve ever had in my life. I won’t ever eat a ration pack again.” His tone put you into a fit of giggles - such exaggerated exclamations being rather out of character for your overly serious husband. The alcohol probably didn’t help…

You looked at him with a funny expression for a moment before bursting again into a fit of alcohol-addled giggles.

Now he was laughing, too, but he really wasn’t sure what was so funny. You were just being so… exuberantly joyful tonight. “What?” he finally asked.

You regained your composure eventually, still hiccuping a bit with laughter. “Well, traditionally the food was meant to be aphrodisiacs… Though now I think it’s more about sugar and expense… and less about the intimacies that follow…”

“So it was originally meant to be… a sex holiday?” He was completely serious in his inquiry, but even he could see the humor in it then… especially for a couple who had no intention of ever partaking in that particular activity. “Maker…” he huffed. “Will we be able to control ourselves in bed tonight?”

Your eyes went wide at his dry joke before you were both lost to a fit of hysterics. Maybe you needed to indulge in the expensive spotchka more often - even if just to see him laugh like this.

____________________

“Wow… these are really good…” Din exclaimed, sucking on a piece of hard candy, a rare delicacy for him. “Grogu would love these.”

You nodded, humming in agreement. “I got a little box for him, too. It will keep until the next time we see him.”

“What was that for?” you asked, grinning at his unexpected show of affection.

He shook his head slightly, like he couldn’t find the right words. “I just… I really love you. That’s all…”

You smiled at him broadly. “I love you, too, Din.” Reaching a hand to run through his curls, you added, “Happy Love Day, sweetheart.”

The buzz of alcohol still lingering in your systems only increased the adoration and softness radiating between you in that moment. Without taking any more time to consider, you took action. You quickly leaned into him and brought your mouths together in a deep kiss.

Din was taken aback for a second, as you typically discussed these sorts of intimate activities ahead of time - but he wasn’t complaining. He always enjoyed this sensual kind of closeness with you - free of pressure and always respectful of his own limitations.

But he couldn’t stop himself from making one more dry joke at the expense of this odd holiday tradition you’d introduced him to, as he slid your bodies down onto the mattress and brought one hand to run up and down your back. “I don’t need to worry about wandering hands now, do I, cyar’ika?” he asked, mumbling against your lips. “All those aphrodisiacs we consumed at dinner haven’t gone to your head?”

You pulled back, huffing at his humorous dig at the admittedly silly tradition of your home planet. “Din…” you started, tapping his chest playfully. “We’re doing it our way. Let’s just enjoy this for a few minutes before the alcohol puts me to sleep.”

“Well said, cyar’ika,” he replied, smiling, bringing his lips back to yours. “I like our way.”

If this was what the holiday could have been like in your youth, you might not have hated it so much… Who needs romance when you can have companionship and affection without those strings attached? Certainly not the two of you…

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Thanks for reading!

#din djarin fanfiction #the mandalorian fanfiction #aroace din djarin #asexual din djarin #aromantic din djarin #aroace original character #a marriage of convenience #newpath3432

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