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Oh, I wouldn’t say he got clean away. Y’see, while you folks were getting shot at, Lobot and I had the city’s financial computer transmit a change of private account on Aargau. We transferred the captain’s last illegal deposit, along with complete information on where it came from, to a different account. One set up by a rather severe fellow named… Vader!

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"Polish cavalry 10th-20th centuries" - Postage Stamps, Poland 1972

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Ancient Mandalorians + complaing about/disliking Neo-Crusader armors from Knights of the Old Republic and Knights of the Old Republic: War

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Jaster Mereel's Supercommando Codex - source material

The History of the Mandalorians (2005)

Jaster Mereel, a deeply pious human and extraordinary soldier, immediately noticed a deep-seated dissatisfaction in the hearts of many hard-boiled Mandalorian. As a former Journeyman Protector, Mereel brought a strong ethic that extended far beyond the limited Mandalorian ideology of fighting for credits. His prowess in combat earned him the respect of his peers, and when Mereel fought tooth-and-nail to became reigning Mandalore and unite the disparate clans, his ideals became the foundation for a new creed: the supercommando Codex. Not all agreed with Mereel's ideas, however. Many bloodthirsty and amoral Mandalorians resented him, having enjoyed the unaccountability of their mercenary lifestyles. Among them was the soldier Vizsla, who gathered the dissenters into a splinter group, the Mandalorian Death Watch. Mereel's suppercommandos, in turn, recast themselves as the True Mandalorians, and total war ensued.

The New Essential Chronology (2005)

The Battle of Galidraan marked the end of the Mandalorian Civil War, a conflict between True Mandalorians and the Mandalorian Death Watch that had been sizzling for over a quarter century. Following the Mandalorians' extinction of the Ithullans a century and a half earlier, some clan members had expressed a desire to shed the amoral ways of the "Mandalorian Mercs". Eventually, the charismatic Jaster Mereel came to lead the clans as Mandalore, and set down an idealistic code of conduct in the Supercommando Codex. A Mandalorian named Vizsla attracted followers fond of the old ways, who formed the Death Watch faction. Armed conflict broke out approximately 60 B.B.Y.

The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia (2008)

From Jaster Mereel's Entry (vol. 2):

[...] When Merel was elected the leader of the Mandalorian Mercs, it was believed that Vizsla decided to split off from the group and form the Death Watch. In response, Mereel declared that his followers were the True Mandalorians. Vizsla tried to destroy the True Mandalorians on Concord Dawn, but Mereel and a small force managed to survive, thanks in part to the efforts of a young Jango Fett. The Mandalorians regrouped, but Mereel felt pressure from hard-liners like Montross to eliminate the Death Watch and reestablish the superiority of the Mandalorians. It was during this time that he created the Codex, the new tenets and canons of supercommandos who followed him into battle. He also appointed Jango Fett as his choice to succeed him as Mand'alor.

Supercommando Codex Entry (vol. 3):

Supercommando Codex This was the name used by Jaster Mereel to describe the set of tenets and canons that he developed to oversee the new Mandalorian Mercs several decades before the onset of the Clone Wars. The codex was created to define the rules and roles of his new supercommandos, in an effort to unite the disparate clans of Mandalorian Mercs under a single leader. Although many followers of the Mandalorian codes agreed with Jaster and the codex, many others - Vizsla and Montross among them - broke away from his band in protest over the new rules.

Galaxy at War (2009)

The roots of the Protectors stretch back to Jaster Mereel's formation of the Mandalorian Supercommandos (Mando Ori'ramikade). During the Mandalorian Civil War of 60-34 BBY, the Protectors' ranks were split into two factions: the rebellious Death Watch and the reformist True Mandalorians of Mereel and Jango Fett. The True Mandalorians met their end at the Battle of Galidraan, but ther moral teaching, embodied in the Supercommando Codex, inspired many back on Mandalore.

The Essential Guide to Warfare (2012)

In the last century before the Battle of Yavin, two new Mandalorian movements arose. The mercenary Jaster Mereel, who became Mandalore in 60 BBY, sought to reinstitute the warrior codes. His True Mandalorians were opposed by mercenaries who argued that the way to restore the clans' honow was to topple the hated New Mandalorians and repay the Republic's savagery in kind. This group became known as the Death Watch.

+ bonus, Jango Fett and Tor Vizsla opinions on Jaster Mereel's idea of honor, as presented in Death Watch Manifesto (published as part of The Bounty Hunter Code: From the Files of Boba Fett, 2013)

[...] Other disagreements soon followed. Some of the Faithful, the so-called True Mandalorians, wanted to dictate how all of us should earn credits for ourselves and our families, and they sought to supervise our conduct in a hostile galaxy. The wiser among us understood that in times of war it is only the ruthless - those who free themselves of the traps of pity and vacillation - who survive.

The breaking point came nearly three decades ago, when the Faithful made a terrible error, choosing Jaster Mereel as the True Mandalore. Mereel had been a lawman, a Journeyman Protector on Concord Dawn, until he murdered a superior officer. Wracked by guilt, he concluded that the flaw lay not in his own heart but in the universe. Unable to contain his own passions, he sought to eliminate them in everyone else. His blinkered view of Mandalorian honor would have reduced the Faithful to mere hirelings, helpless against the Faithless.

[Fett's comment written on margin] These are lies. Jaster sought true honor, not the right to ignore laws and moral codes. Vizsla’s Death Watch was nothing but a license for murder - Jango.

Sources:

The History of the Mandalorians by Abel G. Peña; published as part of Star Wars Insider #80.

The New Essential Chronology by Daniel Wallace, reference book.

The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia by Stephen J. Sansweet and Pablo Hidalgo, with contributions from Bob Vitas, Daniel Wallace, Chris Cassidy, Mary Franklin, and Josh Kushins, reference book.

Galaxy at War by Rodney Thompson, Gary Astleford, Eric Cagle, Daniel Wallace; a supplement to the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition Core Rulebook published by Wizards of the Coast.

The Bounty Hunter Code: From the Files of Boba Fett by Daniel Wallace, Ryder Windham, and Jason Fry; reference book.

The Essential Guide to Warfare by Jason Fry and Paul R. Urquhart; reference book.

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Reptiles and Amphibians - Postage Stamps, Poland 1963

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Thorgal - Postage Stamp, Poland 2022

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🎶music shuffle game🎶

rules: shuffle your 'on repeat' playlist and post the first 10 songs (alternative: post top 10 of your songs of like last couple of months), then tag 10 friends to do the same

got tagged by @popiellart, thanks!

Paint it Black - The Doors

Hymn Watahy - Percival Schuttenbach

Zaprzepaszczone siły wielkiej armii świętych znaków - COMA

Tot Musica (Uta's song from One Piece Red) by Ado

Full Moon Chant - Heather Houston

Halele - Laboratorium Pieśni

High Hopes - Pink Floyd

Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi (Orff | Carmina Burana)

Oi Šermukšnio - Ugniavijas

Enemy - Imagine Dragons & J.I.D.

tagging: @zlukaka, @luffik, @animeftw10, @blue-mint-winter, @erenaeoth, @thendstartsnow, @mahiyana, @ everyone that feels doing the meme :)

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"Adventure," Anakin said. The boy rode beside Obi-Wan on the carapod. Vagno was taking them across the valley, around several of the tall, river-carved pillars, toward a narrower and darker cleft on the southern side. "Is adventure the same as danger?" "Yes," Obi-Wan said, a little too sharply. "Adventure is lack of planning, failure of training." "Qui-Gon didn't think so. He said adventure is growth, surprise is the gift of awareness of limits." For an instant, Obi-Wan wanted to lash out at the boy, strike him across the face for his blasphemy. That would have been the end of their relationship as Master and apprentice. He wanted it to end. He did not want the responsibility, or in truth to be near one so sensitive, so capable of blithely echoing what lay deepest inside him. Qui-Gon had once told Obi-Wan these very things, and he had since forgotten them. Anakin stared at his master intently. "Do you hear him?" he asked. Obi-Wan shook his head. "It is not Qui-Gon," he said stiffly. "Yes, it is," Anakin said. "Masters do not return from death." "Are you sure?" Anakin asked. - Rogue Planet by Greg Bear

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Mortal Kombat 1 Behind the Scenes AU: Even I’m not so treacherous

Author’s note: Titan Shang Tsung shares with confused mortal Shang Tsung some details from the past timeline(s).

[Earlier posts, from #1 to #184] [Mileena’s illness, p. 1] [Mileena’s illness, p. 2] [New year, new me!] [Saint Valentine] [A better timeline?] [A better timeline?, 2] [Why every Shang Tsung is obsessed with Sub-Zero] [The Soul Trick]

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Obi-Wan listened to the steady rhythm of the boy's breath. Anakin had been exhausted by the day's events and was sound asleep. His face, gently outlined by the soft luminance of the cabin's blue emergency lights, was young and perfect and quite beautiful. Obi-Wan lay back on his couch, both hearing and feeling the tingle and thrum of the hyperdrive. They were well away-yet Obi-Wan felt a distinct unease. There was something about this mission-a simple adventure, really, a journey to the far reaches of the galaxy to make contact with a planet that apparently was unknown to the Republic and to the enemies of the Republic. He had been to regions outside the reach of the law often enough. The mission was not, of course, without its dangers, but they would be far from the immediate dangers of Coruscant. Perhaps what bothered Obi-Wan was that he would be entirely in charge of Anakin. In the Temple Anakin had been surrounded by many Jedi and Jedi auxiliaries, including the staff, who had taken some of the burden off Obi-Wan. They had played the role of family, and Anakin had eaten up their attention. The truth was, Obi-Wan was not sure he was up to the task. Obi-Wan tended to arrange his thoughts and his life in orderly rows. Anakin Skywalker kicked those orderly rows asunder whenever he could. - Rogue Planet by Greg Bear

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Prehistoric animals – dinosaurs, Postage Stamps - Poland, 2000

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Anakin hurried home, feeling frightened. Just after sunset on Tatooine, Mos Espa reached its busiest peak, as people came out of the buildings into the cool night air. He watched for seekers behind him, and for Sakiyan trackers in dark clothes. But he'd taken some precautions. He'd smeared himself with a hubba gourd. That would mask his scent, even from a Sakiyan. He reached home without incident. Once inside, he found his mother working on a droid for her friend. She glanced up at him. There was more than suspicion in her brown eyes. He saw pain and fear. "Did you hear the news about your friend Pala?" she asked. Anakin's heart thudded in his chest. "What news?" he asked. For a minute he imagined that she would tell him that Pala had been caught. "Gardulla the Hutt is searching for her. She and some other children tried to help free some of Gardulla's slaves." She didn't ask if Anakin was one of those children. But her eyes bored into him. "They weren't Gardulla's slaves," Anakin said. "They're just poor kids that Sebulba stole from their parents." "Do you have any money?" his mother asked. "No," Anakin said. "I gave it all away." She nodded, then went back to work on her droid. She knows, Anakin thought. My mother knows that the slaves are collecting money to help smuggle Pala off-planet. He wondered how many times before she might have given money to help win someone's freedom. At that moment, he felt as if he loved her more than ever before.

- Episode I Adventures #6: The Hunt for Anakin Skywalker by Dave Wolverton, 2000

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Fossil Animals - Vertebrates, Postage Stamps - Poland, 1966

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Geras to Kitana: Your mother cared for you above all.

Meanwhile in Sindel's ending as she slams into Kitana's face with her knee: Mmm whatcha say?

Lol what?

Original Sindel and even the one from an alternative timeline of MK9 (before resurrection) were willing to sacrifice herself to prevent Shao Kahn from conquering Earth and other realms. Though she left baby Kitana at Shao Kahn’s mercy, we can assume she cared deeply for her daughter as it was the only way to protect her and other realms at the same time. The Emperor was bound to win 10 Tournaments to conquer Earthrealm while he couldn’t kill baby Kitana for political reasons.

The problem with MK11 is that Sindel’s character was turned upside down for no real reason, maybe beside some shock value. But as was mentioned by MK9’s BIO, she was enslaved by Quan Chi’s magic during her resurrection so there is a great chance that MK11’s Sindel and her backstory is the fabricated version implanted into her - at least as long she was not brought into the story from the entirely different timeline. 

One way or another, I would argue that even the evil Sindel still cared for her daughter, as can be seen in the way she talks about Kitana

"In the beginning... Shao Kahn invaded Edenia, murdered my husband, Jerrod, and forced me to be his bride. That's the story, but it's a lie. One I told, lest I lose the faith of my subjects, or of my daughter, Kitana. The truth? Jerrod was weak. Destined to fail. By betraying him, I gain a better lover and the ultimate weapon... A conqueror to unite all realms and put them at my beck and call. Then Kronika upended history, and I found myself confronting a future in which I'd been dead for centuries. My so-called family had failed me in every way. Kitana broke my heart worst. Instead of uniting all the realms, she sought to liberate them. As if the Wastelands' savages could ever be more than serfs! Ever the caring mother, I had to discipline my little princess. And after that, I had to discipline a Titan... Now I have defeated Kronika. Outgrown Shao Kahn and Kitana. I have no more family. No more rivals. No more gods. I sit above them all, on a throne that unites all realms... and all realities. Whoever you are, wherever you are, when you are before me, kneel. For I am Sindel, Empress of Time, and you exist only to serve me..."

So yeah, in MK11, Sindel’s love for Kitana it pretty fucked up and twisted either by her natural evilness or Quan Chi’s magic, but it is not like Geras lied. He saw enough timelines to know that Sindel cared for Kitana at some point, but as he used the past tense, this may not be true at the present time due to many factors - some even beyond Sindel’s control. I guess the corruption overtook Sindel to the point, she did not care anymore for anyone.

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Episode I: Journal of Anakin Skywalker by Todd Stasser

I also had a secret. But mine was private. It had to do with the dreams I had. My dreams were different from the dreams of other kids I knew. Take my friends Kitster and Seek, for instance. They both wanted to be pilots like me. But they dreamed of leaving Tatooine forever and never coming back. I dreamed about leaving, too. But I would come back. As a Jedi Knight. I dreamed about leading a slave rebellion here on Tatooine. I dreamed of holding a lightsaber, and of driving every last Hutt, criminal, and bounty hunter off this planet. But I had another secret as well. A dark secret. It was about the way my dreams always ended. It was a secret that frightened me, one I could never tell.

Star Wars Episode I Adventures #5: The Ghostling Children by Dave Wolverton

He stopped at a pile where an old Jawa silently leaned on a crooked stick. Its gloves were wrapped around the staff.

At its feet was an odd assortment of items - shiny blue stones from the edge of the Dune Sea, polished bones of Krayt dragons, a rope woven from bark. Among some pieces from old blasters Anakin noticed a very strange cube that looked to be far, far older than any piece of equipment that Anakin had ever seen.

He picked it up. The cube was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, like a large dice. Intricate designs showed on its face, but the designs were so worn that they could hardly be recognized.

On one side of the cube, it looked like a picture of two Jedi Knights, fighting with lightsabers.

Another side of the cube showed a volcano. A third side was so worn that he couldn't tell if it had ever had a picture. A fourth side revealed a star map, with instructions on how to land on a certain moon. The fifth side was also worn smooth. A last side showed a lamp with a knife blade through it, the symbol of forbidden knowledge. All along every corner of the cube was writing in some language that he couldn't decipher.

Anakin imagined that tens of thousands of people must have touched this cube over hundreds or thousands of years.

He hefted the cube, thinking that it was some sort of storage container. But it was so light that it had to be empty.

Yet, when he squinted, he could feel… well, there was something inside. Something … evil.

The cube had no latches on the outside, no locks or hinges that he could see. Anakin could almost imagine that the cube wasn't a box at all, but some component to a machine whose purpose was forgotten ages and ages past.

"For you, very cheap," the old Jawa said to Anakin.

"What?" Anakin asked haltingly. The Jawan language was very hard to understand.

"Very cheap."

"But I don't want it," Anakin said. "I was just looking." He glanced toward home. It was getting late.

"Three wupiupi," the Jawa offered, twisting the knob of his cane. It was exactly the amount that Anakin had in his pocket.

"No," Anakin said. "I don't even know what it is."

"Three wupiupi is a small price to pay for knowledge," the old Jawa said. Under his gray-black hood, the Jawa's eyes gleamed.

"No," Anakin said. He started to put the cube down, but couldn't. What if it really was evil? What if it was dangerous - like a bomb or something? By just leaving it, he could be setting a trap for some unsuspecting person. It really was better to take the thing. Maybe Watto would know what it was.

In the deepening shadows, he took out his last three credits and handed them over to the Jawa.

Star Wars Episode I Adventures #6: The Hunt for Anakin Skywalker by Dave Wolverton

Anakin rolled over on his bed and felt the strange cube in his pocket. He took it out and laid it in the cubbyhole above his headboard.

He fell asleep with his clothes on.

In a dream, he was in a huge room, shouting for help. He banged on the walls, trying to get out. He thought it might be Gardulla's fortress, but the high walls were square, and the roof had no transparent dome overhead. He wasn't at Gardulla's. He was inside the cube!

He could see no doors or windows, no way to escape his prison. "Help me!" he cried. "Help me get free!" He pounded on walls of cool gray metal.

"No one can help you," an evil voice whispered. "No one can help you. You must open the cube!"

"How?" he shouted. "How do I open it?"

"From the inside," the mysterious voice whispered.

Anakin started, found himself awake on his bed. It was late at night. The mysterious voice was ringing in his ears, and his heart was pounding.

He'd heard the voice, he felt sure. It wasn't a dream. It had been too real to be a dream.

But in the darkness he couldn't detect any movement nearby. No one was in the room with him, hovering above his bed.

From memory, Anakin tried to recall where the sound had come from.

The voice had spoken to him from above his bed, he was sure. It had come from the cubbyhole.

He reached up, felt for the strange cube that lay there. He grasped it in the dark and felt its square edges. Somehow, he was disappointed. He'd thought that maybe it would have opened itself, like a flower blooming. But it was still closed.

"Did you say something?" he whispered to the cube. "Did you talk to me? Are you trapped in there?"

He listened hard, and this time he thought maybe he could hear the voice answer. Or maybe it was more of a feeling that there was an answer. Yes. I called to you.

"How can I let you out?" Anakin whispered.

From the inside, the voice seemed to whisper.

Anakin held the box up and squinted at it. He wasn't sure if he really felt an answer. Was it possible that he could open the box, that he could find a way to open it from the inside?

And if so, what would the box contain? A tiny alien perhaps, some creature so small that it could live for a thousand years trapped in that box, trying to get out.

It seemed only barely possible.

I'm going crazy, Anakin thought. That is what's giving me these dreams. I'm caught in a trap, and Pala and all my friends with me. No wonder I'm dreaming about being trapped inside of boxes.

Yet even as he considered these doubts, he noticed that the cube was warmer than the night air, as if it generated a tiny amount of heat.

Live creatures give off heat, he realized.

Rogue Planet by Greg Bear

Anakin dreaded sleep. It seemed, in his dreams, that something inside was testing him, something very strong, and it did not care whether it was loved or feared.

***

"I seek to escape pain," Anakin said. "My mother-"

Mace lifted his hand, and Anakin instantly fell silent. "Pain can be our greatest teacher," Mace said, barely above a whisper. "Why turn away from pain?"

"It… it is my strength. This I see."

"That is not correct," Obi-Wan said, placing his hand on Anakin's shoulder. The boy looked between them, confused.

"How is it wrong, teacher?" Mace asked Obi-Wan.

"Lean upon pain like a crutch and you create anger and a dark fear of truth," Obi-Wan said. "Pain guides, but it does not support."

Anakin cocked his head to one side. He seemed slight and even insubstantial among these Jedi Knights, all this overwhelming experience. His face collapsed in misery. "My most useful talents are not those of a Jedi."

"Indeed, you throw your spirit and your anguish into ma chines and useless competitions, rather than directly confronting your feelings," Mace said. "You have cluttered our Temple halls with droids. I stumble over them. But we are away from the crux of our present matter. Try again to explain your error."

Anakin shook his head, caught between stubbornness and tears. "I don't know what you want me to say."

Mace took a shallow breath and closed his eyes. "Look inward, Anakin."

"I don't want to," Anakin said breathlessly, his voice jerking. "I don't like what I see."

"Is it possible you see nothing more than the tensions of approaching adulthood?" Mace asked.

"No!" Anakin cried. "I see … too much, too much."

"Too much what?"

"I burn like a sun inside!" The boy's voice rang out in the chamber like a bell.

***

Anakin felt as if he were inside a gigantic colony of myrmins.

Then he felt the voices of the seeds. They are afraid. The heat is baking them. Their shells are crisping.

Most of the heat rose in rippling sheets of air, but as the fuel blazed and embers settled out, the seeds were being roasted like sugar hulls in a campfire.

Perversely, Anakin shivered as if with cold.

Obi-Wan put an arm around his shoulders. Anakin saw that his master's face was beaded with sweat. He, too, could feel the seeds in the fire.

"Something wrong?" Vagno asked, his face glinting and flowing in the yellow light from fire, as if he were part of the blaze, a stray ember given human shape. He walked around them critically.

"We're fine," Obi-Wan said.

But Anakin did not feel fine. He wanted to curl up and hide, or run, but he knew the seeds no longer had legs, no way of escaping, even if they wanted to.

"I've never lost a client. No fear, no fear," Vagno said.

The seeds were afraid but did not move under their burden of embers and flame. Theirs was courage, and also an awareness of fate or destiny.

The seeds were not nearly as intelligent as a human-they did not really think for themselves-but inside of each was the potential for awareness and intelligence. The fire was bringing that awareness to the fore.

This will happen to you.

Anakin gasped. He was not dreaming.

This is your destiny, your fate.

Obi-Wan had said nothing. Anakin knew where the voice was coming from, whom it belonged to, but could not believe what he knew.

There will be heat and death and resurrection. A seed will quicken. Will it burn or shine'? Will it think and create or be ruled by fear and destroy?

And then the voice fell silent.

Obi-Wan's arm tightened around Anakin, as if he would protect the boy. "The wave is not what we expected," he said.

Anakin stared into the flames, his inmost self suddenly calm. The seeds were changing. They were no longer afraid.

Clone Wars (2003)

Anakin's Vision on Nelvaan

The Clone Wars (2008)

Anakin's Vision on Mortis