#ME AND MY MANDALORIAN DIASPORA

[certified-anakinfucker]

WHERE IS MACE WINDU

[weepingjedi]

Din Djarin and the Mandalorians themselves just hit so differently when you’re part of a diaspora. (Spoilers for S3ep2)

They way Din tells Grogu that Mandalore is the home of their people (him fully considering Grogu as a part of him is also just so beautiful we love character growth) is so reminiscent of my grandparents telling us how their home countries weren’t just theirs but were our home.

Din confessing to Grogu that he’s never been to Mandalore despite the fact that being a Mandalorian is integral to his existence is eerily similar to 1st and 2nd gen kids admitting that they’ve never been to their families’ homeland.

Bo-Katan showing Din around and explaining the history and culture of Mandalore is just a diaspora kid being in their ancestral land for the first time and being shown around by someone who actually was raised in the culture/country like some tourist.

But you want to know what really killed me? What looked me in the face and said “This is a personal attack specifically just towards you”??? The moment where Din points to Concordia and tells Grogu, “I grew up there.” So close to Mandalore, yet it’s not. As a latina (specifically being Mexican and growing up in the Southwest), knowing that you’re surrounded by your culture, you barely speak the language, and geographically you’re so close to your homeland, yet you will never truly be from there?

In other words, Din “no sabo kid” Djarin teaching his adoptive son about their culture is peak Star Wars.

[limnsaber]

Mandalorian Slash Fic Rec List - DinLuke Volume I: Big, Medium, Heartfelt and Solemn

Hello!! Welcome to the first volume of Mando Slash Fic Rec- Dinluke! This is a collection of Dinluke fics that have a notable wordcount and fics that have a more heartfelt/solemn tone, sorted under headings that make the most sense to me personally. For reference, 🔐 means a restricted work and 💜 means an personal favorite. Check out Mando Gen lists I, II, and III. Please enjoy and give love to our cherished fic authors who we owe so much to!! -Yours, Limn <3

Big and Long and Impressive

💜 The Wanderer and the Seer by @kevystel (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Ensemble Cast, Mandalorian Politics, Original Mandalorian Characters, Mandalorian Culture, Diaspora, Teen, one of my favorites!!, 98k)

Din Djarin is temporarily relieved of a single dad's responsibilities, only to be saddled with the much greater responsibilities of Mand'alor. Temporarily. Hopefully. This is not the story of a great man becoming king; it's the story of some dude finding his place in the galaxy, freedom, and personal happiness through having some goddamn decency and good manners. Also the power of love, or whatever.

finding the lost and losing the found (series) by deniigiq (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Ensemble Cast, Mandalorian Politics, Romance, Family Dynamics, Political Alliances, Teen, 35k)

“So you’re not stealing my ship?” Mando said. “What do I want with your ship?” Luke demanded. “I don’t know. I don’t usually ask,” Mando said. (Luke tries to help his student stay focused on his studies by helping his student's father. It's harder than it looks.)

A Near-Mythological Event by SybilStarnes (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Ensemble Cast, Force Sensitive Din Djarin, Mand'alor Din Djarin, Living Waters of Mandalore, The Mandalorian Darksaber, Explicit, 116k)

Desperate to rejoin The Tribe, Din Djarin (with Grogu) travels to Mandalore to seek the Living Waters. Once they're in the caverns below the destroyed mine, a cave-in cuts off their exit. Grogu calls for help, and the legendary Luke Skywalker responds.  Cleansed by the Living Waters, Din returns to his Tribe to reswear to the Creed. He discovers it has new members, attracted to a Child of the Watch bearing the Darksaber. Meanwhile, Luke has offered to help Din learn to use the weapon. The Mandalorian finds himself on a new path, one that draws him deeper into Mandalorian politics and closer to the Jedi.  With the help of several guest stars, including one fat and sassy Force ghost, Din struggles to free Mandalore from Imperial dominance.

All the pretty places that feel like home (series) by SunshineAndaLittleFlour (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Ensemble Cast, two dangerous warriors coparenting a tiny frog, Explicit, 73k)

“Would you be more comfortable if I called you something else?” Luke asked, and it should have been teasing, but it was genuine, the soft freedom to be who he wanted in this place. And that careful gift, that offer of being who he wanted, uncontrolled and unfettered, filled Din with a lot of hope and a little bit of terror. Who was he without the creed? His people? Who was Din Djarin, standing in the halls of someone who had once been his people’s greatest enemy? Din shook his head, hearing his own breathing echo inside his helmet. “No. You can,” he faltered briefly, then took a deep breath. “You can call me by my name.”

buy a big house where we could both live by @villanellve (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Ensemble Cast, Post-Canon Fix-It, Slow Burn, Mature, 73k)

Din trails behind them and reminds himself this is temporary. He’ll make sure they get to the temple safe, and once he’s sure that Luke agrees to continue training Grogu, he’ll leave them. Grogu reaches up with his hand to tug at the edge of Luke’s shirt, and Din’s fingers flex at his sides. This is the way, he tells himself.

🔐 Get Back Homeward by berryfunkedup (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, POV Alternating, Jedi Tradtion & Culture, Clones, Getting Together, Teen, 42k)

Luke is at a stalemate with the New Republic in the aftermath of everything he lost in the war and his inheritance of the Jedi’s legacy. Din seeks his tribe and takes bounties, living according to the Way. And Grogu and the Jedi are not part of the Way. But he is definitely not the new Mand’alor, no matter what Mandalorian tradition about the Darksaber says. After Moff Gideon is assassinated while held in New Republic custody, Din and Luke must work together to clear the Mandalorians from blame and uncover the real culprit. Along the way they encounter terrible politicians, fights over naps, old secrets, and just maybe, find their way forward.

Medium and Impressive

parry, parry, strike by @alchemyalice (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Leia Organa, Post-Season 2, Teen, 18k)

“Oh? What are you, their king?” the Senator says sarcastically, and then freezes at the same time Din does. “...No,” Din says. He does not sound convincing.

I have made this place around you by HeadOn_HelmetOff (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Dialogue Heavy, Early Relationship, Introspection, Teen, 25k)

“Do you know who you are, Din Djarin?” Survivor of Aq Vetina. Mandalorian. Bounty hunter. Apostate. Father. Mand’alor. “...No,” he uttered. Luke nodded sagely. “Then that’s what we’ll focus on first.”

💜 A different kind of blood by HeadOn_HelmetOff (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, The Armorer, Paz Vizsla, Good Parent Din Djarin, Good Teacher Luke Skywalker, Pre-Relationship, Mandalorian Culture, Jedi Culture & Tradition, The Mandalorian Darksaber, Teen, 25k)

A slight twist on events in Ch. 5 of The Book of Boba Fett: when Grogu is afflicted with visions of his father injured on Glavis, he and Luke make a decision that will greatly influence Din Djarin's journey toward redemption and reconciliation with the survivors of his covert.

where the spirit meets the bone by @ebonybow (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Developing Relationship, Intimacy, Canon Divergence, Explicit, 28k)

He dreams of his head feeling too-heavy on his shoulders, his helmet filling slowly with water. - Din navigates new feelings regarding his creed, himself, and a certain Jedi.

pluck a heartstring, duck for cover by owlerie (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Canon Divergence, Mand'alor Din Djarin, POV Alternating, Touch-Starved Din Djarin, Slow Burn, Sparring as Flirting, Mature, 28k)

“He's a bit of a sex icon, your Mandalorian," says Leia over breakfast the next morning, nose buried in a sea of taxation reports. Luke promptly inhales caf three inches up his airway and doubles over hacking gracelessly. “I— wait— he's not my Mandalorian," he chokes out, to which Leia raises a single dubious, well-groomed eyebrow.

Heartfelt and Solemn

crystals in the current by @willowcrowned (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Romance, Family, Luke Skywalker's Jedi Temple, The Force, Teen, 22k)

Luke gets the message from the child in the early evening. It’s spring on Yavin, and the wind smells like the glowing purple blossoms that cluster in the corners of old rooms and spring up through the pavement. The air is heavy with twilight, the orange-violet of the sky creeping its way down, filtering through the new-leafed boughs and down to where he’s sitting under a tree. or Luke takes Grogu, but the sundering on the lightcruiser isn't an ending; it's a beginning.

Timshel by skywalkers (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Force Visions, Hurt/Comfort, Order 66 (Star Wars), Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together, Teen, 5k)

“I think there’s something I can do to help him. A technique I could try.” Luke says. “I could use your help.” “What do you need?” Din says. Anything, he thinks. Anything. “I think he would be more open to the process if you do it as well.” Luke’s eyes, keen and ever-blue, that have the impossible ability to find Din’s own behind his mask every time, meet his own. He looks unsure. It’s not something Din ever thought he’d ascribe to Luke Skywalker. “But the process can be...intense. I understand if you don’t want to do it.” Din flips it over in his mind for a moment, considering. He’s not exactly sure what Luke is asking of him. But what kind of an example would he be if he asked Grogu to do something he refused to? And, looking at Luke, how could Din refuse him anything? Not that he could ever say that. Din nods. “‘Course. Show him there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

resonance by pixie_rings (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Kyber Crystals, Planet Ilum, Gen, 10k)

Rebuilding a dying Order is never easy. While exploring the ruined planet Ilum, Grogu gets a calling, and Din and Luke reflect on their son growing up - with and without them.

the unbearable loneliness of distant stars by Liathejedi (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Grogu, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling in Love, Teen, 10k)

Din wonders when the Jedi became Skywalker, and when Skywalker became Luke, or when the lines between stranger and friend had blurred and left him standing in an unfamiliar ship, folding bare hands around a man he barely knew and feeling like his breath had been lost to the stars. A Jedi and a Mandalorian face down the ashes of the Empire and learn what it means to rebuild a broken people.

Mand'alor, The by scheidswrites (Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Study, Grogu, Bo-Katan Kryze, Gen, 3.5k)

They called him Mand’alor the Reclaimer, Mand’alor the Unifier. Some have started to call him Mand’alor the Vanished. The rumors run rampant that he is dead.

[ranahan]

The Mandalorian Proletarian Uprising

Disclaimer: this post is 100% headcanons. I support your fandom-ordained right to make whatever kinds of headcanons and interpretations you want, even if they annoy me. That being said… I have some of my own.

You know how there’s a fraction of fandom who hold that the Old Mandalorians were a warrior elite who were oppressing the masses, and the New Mandalorians were the people rising up against their overlords? At least I’ve been getting those posts on my dash.

And at first I was annoyed, because that’s mushing together two completely different periods of Mandalorian history. And I have a half-written essay in my drafts about the demographics of historical warrior societies and how Mandalorians aren’t all warriors, actually.

But then I changed my mind. Because you know what? The Taung do seem to have been exactly the kind of bastards who committed several genocides and enslaved entire planets to their war machinery, either as soldiers or for churning out weapons and ships in factories. And yes, they do seem to have held that only Mandalorians had real souls. And that one had to be a warrior in order to be a Mandalorian, and the plebs aren’t mentioned. Which absolutely does make it seem like they were an oppressed and possibly (probably) an enslaved class.

So instead of brushing all that under the rug and crying about how my favourite blorbos aren’t imperialist assholes acshually, let’s say all that bad stuff happened. Let’s engage with it. Because there could be an interesting story here—good stories are all about conflict, after all.

So when did the people rise up?

So the first question is to ask when. And this is the part where I’m going to swerve left from the narrative I presented at the beginning of this essay. Because those genocidal warrior elites that annoy some fans? They were Taung. Who went extinct near four millennia ago. So that rather pushes back the date of our uprising.

Unfortunately it doesn’t seem like the masses rose against their evil overlords during the heyday of the Taung—they seem to have been going strong right up to the Battle of Malachor V, after which they are supposed to have gone extinct.

But then I remembered this little aside in this other headcanon essay of mine (which is also a good background to my headcanons):

As an aside: do you think the Mandalorians had a civil war afterwards? Now that these armies non-Taung Mandalorian warriors settle on Mandalorian worlds, where the previous non-Taung populations were little more than slaves? Did they fight it out or did they open up the clans again, for anyone willing to join?

So what if they did fight it out? Imagine this:

The Mandalorian Uprising after the Battle of Malachor V

The aftermath of the Battle of Malachor V is said to have been 300 years of diaspora and disarray for the Mandalorians. Let’s imagine what might have happened during those years:

The Mandalorian Empire has swept through the galaxy, gobbling up worlds and turning them into cogs for its hungry war machinery. Citizens of conquered worlds have two choices: join the Mandalorian armies or become a slave in their factories churning out ships, weapons, and munitions. The first option is presented as a chance to become a Mandalorian warrior yourself, to become one of the elites and find fame and glory and gold on the battlefields. The truth is that most of the press-ganged soldiers are little more than canon fodder.

The Mandalorian plague has seemed like an unstoppable tide, but suddenly Malachor V happens. Entire Mandalorian fleets have been vaporised, along with the Mand’alor himself and his top brass. The tide turns. The Mandalorian succession is in the air; their leadership in disarray. The Republic starts swiftly taking back the recently conquered worlds. The Mandalorian armies splinter.

And now many soldiers leave to find their fortunes among the wider Galaxy. But more of those ragged armies limp back to the Mandalorian home worlds and what territories they can keep a hold of. And now they try to settle down to governing them, according to their ancient laws and practices.

Only during the Mandalorian wars, the Mandalorian armies have grown exponentially. And they were grown almost entirely from the non-Taung populations. At the start of the war, clear majority of Mandalore’s citizens were Taung. At the end of it, they’re a small minority.

Many newly-minted Mandalorian warriors do buy into the warrior elite’s way of life—it benefits them, after all. But there are still huge tensions between the wish to return to the ancient ways of the Taung and the need to change how their society works in order to adapt to their completely different demographics. And maybe that tension holds for a while, maybe even decades. But eventually it snaps and a civil war boils over, because the warrior elite—now a small minority—cannot suppress their conquered masses forever.

And maybe that’s another reason why the Taung went extinct. They can’t have been all present at Malachor V, so I’ve previously suggested that they were effectively absorbed into the population, until a multitude could claim Taung ancestry, but there were no pureblooded Taung left. But maybe that extinction was helped along by the guillotine à la French Revolution. Maybe their oppressed subjects finished the job.

And unfortunately—like is often the case—it’s not just a single civil war. Like is won’t to happen, many people try to climb to the top and become the new king to replace the old one. So for decades or centuries, the Mandalorians suffer intermittent power grabs and uprisings, until they eventually settle on a new form of life and government.

Effects on Mandalorian culture

So why didn’t the Mandalorian culture go extinct? A large part of that is because the oppressed people, after throwing down their oppressors, adopted their customs as a mark of their new station in society. For better or worse, they too have been living in Mandalorian society and those are the customs of the free elites they know. If their own customs have been sufficiently suppressed, it might be only culture they know. This is not unusual if you look at irl history either.

Another part is that large parts of the Mandalorian armies (the cannon fodder) joined in on the fight. And many of them had been living as Mandalorian soldiers for years or even decades. It is their way of life too now, for better or worse.

The Mandalorian culture survives, but it is completely transformed. Anyone can be a Mandalorian now, regardless of blood. The old gods are abandoned in favour of belief in shared oversoul. Old philosophies and values are reinterpreted, and conquest is abandoned in favour of survival.

One of my favourite fanons is that Mandalorians have an abiding hatred for slavery. But I never knew how to justify it. And this here could be where it started—this slave revolution on Mandalore. Henceforth no Mandalorian would ever be a slave again.

And this could also help explain one of the dichotomies of the Mandalorians: how are they such consummate soldiers, yet have such problems with being governed? And this could be where the ethos of accepting no overlords could have been born. Mandalorians know having a tighter chain of command would make them more effective—but they also know what it would cost. And they would never take that bargain. It’s forged into the very soul of their national ethos, just like liberté, égalité, fraternité is forged into the French: Vode An.

Vode An makes for such a good working class motto, doesn’t it?

tldr:

Yes to Mandalorian peasant uprising against their warrior-elite overlords. But make it happen after the Mandalorian Wars, not in the modern days. Although you could certainly still see some ripple effects, internal tensions and biases to this day; just look at USAmericans, slavery and racism.

As always, this is just one possible way things could have gone down (and of course there can be more than one civil war in a people’s history). But I rather like it because it could explain some of those seemingly incongruous parts of the Mandalorian culture.

[frownyalfred]

Am I the only one who sees serious parallels between the verd’gotten and the bar mitzvah ceremony? I don’t know if it’s the fact that the age for both is about 13 years old or the new clothing items and responsibilities overlap?

You're not the only one!!

I've ranted about this before, but I have had a sneaking suspicion that some, even if only a little, of Mandalorian culture is based on Judaism. Some similarities many folks other than me have pointed out include:

Diaspora culture/trauma (Canon Mandalorians were pushed out into the galaxy after the destruction of Mandalore's inhabitable areas)

Tradition/culture/language being passed down from parent to child (very similar emphasis in Judaism)

Verd'goten or Mandalorian coming of age ceremony, paralleling the Jewish bar/bat mitzvah where children become legal and/or cultural adults in their community

Tensions between different movements (Traditionalist/Death Watch characters versus the more liberal New Mandalorians as a metaphor for the Jewish struggle between orthodoxy and reform movements, for example)

Themes of forgiveness and justice (repaying a debt, etc) are similar in both cultures

Language -- some mechanics in Mando'a somewhat resemble spoken/written Hebrew

"Not gone, merely marching far away" i.e., no explicit Mandalorian heaven or afterlife, paralleling the Jewish concept of loved ones living on not in heaven/etc but through memories, etc

I'm sure there's more I'm missing, but these are just a few I can think of off the top of my head.

[tessa-quayle]

spotlight on the OFC

(fanfiction recommendations) :)

the reader insert, the second person, the y/l/n convention (which, for me, can disrupt the text and i haven’t gotten used to it - not criticizing those who do it - i'm the problem, it’s me 🤪) are all the rage in fanfiction.  i get the immersive appeal, and many of the fics i love and enjoy employ the second person.  

richly drawn original characters draw me in and capture my attention. I appreciate how creative folks get with their OFCs, the headcanons, and how they have fun showing off these OFC’s quirks and strengths and interior lives and histories.  it’s a joy to read.

here are a few great OFCs in the Pedro Pascal Character universe.  the stories are engaging and this is a fairly diverse list of OFCs (by that I mean race/ethnicity, life experience, nationality, disability).  as always, each author issues their own warnings.

listed in alphabetical order by writer:

@iamskyereads - Ezra (Prospect) x OFC Beatrice 

ongoing series (Compulsion).  love the sci-fi world-building in the first chapter. Beatrice is a sharp and compelling protagonist who’s suffered a traumatic brain injury and has PTSD.  

@intheorangebedroom - Frankie (Triple Frontier) x OFC Gabrielle 

complete series (Pleased to Meet You).  angsty intercontinental love story between everyone’s favorite pilot and a cool French woman.  the descriptions of different cities are vivid.

@jazzelsaur - Frankie (Triple Frontier) x OFC Ellie

complete series (Between the Raindrops).  the slow burn here is a smolder in the best sense.  Elliot (Ellie) is a widow who lives next door to Frankie.  the weight of grief and angst in this series is remarkable. 

@jomiddlemarch - Joel (The Last of Us) x OFC Grace

loose-fit series (On Call for the Apocalypse).  crossover with Ted Lasso.  set in Jackson WY between seasons 1 and 2, Grace is a snarky doctor (scratch a cynic, find a romantic) hanging out with Joel and Ellie  (format better on AO3)

@julesonrecord and @lunapascal ( @stardustandskycrystals) - Dieter (the Bubble) x OFC Andie 

ongoing series (Curls).  we’re rooting for Dieter and Andie amid all the drama and shenanigans surrounding a pregnancy and a wedding.  this reads like a novel you finish in one sitting.  

@ladamedusoif - Mr Ben (SNL) x OFC Lydia 

ongoing series (Visiting).  Lydia is a European art historian who goes to teach at an East Coast liberal arts college and meets the dashing Mr Ben.  delightful and smart (and I'm not just describing Mr Ben).

@radiowallet - Marcus (We Can Be Heroes) x OFC Amy

ongoing series (Eyes Open).  Single parents Marcus and Amy find love in the workplace, HR be damned.  Amy contains multitudes and the portrait of her as a mother is especially real and sweet.

@whatsnewalycat - Din (Mandalorian) x OFC Charlie

ongoing series (Passenger).  Gritty, dark, cool AU where Din Djarin is a trucker/bounty hunter and Charlie is making her way west.  this fic has a lot of postmodern energy.

@yespolkadotkitty - Pero (Great Wall) x OFC Jade

complete series (Fighting Blind).  Fun, winsome adventure between a museum curator and our favorite Spanish warrior.  Love the time-travel element, the nod to the Asian diaspora, and the rich world-building.  This series is stay-up-past-your-bedtime reading.

feel free to share your fic recs and favorite OCs/OFCs (your own and/or others)!  ❤️

[laiqualaurelote]

because I like to sort things as a form of procrastination, I sorted my fics into niche themed collections of three or more:

wibbly wobbly timey wimey - fics with time travel, contains Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries/Doctor Who, The Umbrella Academy, and Dead Boy Detectives

the play's the thing - fics involving the theatre, contains Avengers, Good Omens, and Ted Lasso/Station Eleven

when there's no more room in hell - fics with zombies, contains Great Expectations, Kingdom, and The English

Subtle Asian Traits  - fics featuring Asians in diaspora, contains Rivers of London, Shang-Chi/Black Panther, and The Mandalorian

Headlines, Deadlines - fics with journalists, contains Daredevil/The Punisher, Hamilton, Ted Lasso, The Magnus Archives, and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries

anyway it's quite intriguing to me to see what tropes keep cropping up in my fics; wonder what other themed collections I could cobble together? fics set in the 1920s? fics with detectives? fics with spies? fics that are workplace comedies? fics set in London (a good third of them, tbh)? many possibilities!

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Israel Story

“I honestly think that it’s adorable that you actually believe these children’s stories. But there is nothing magic about the waters.”

“Without the Creed, what are we? What do we stand for? Our people are scattered like stars in the galaxy. The Creed is how we survived.”

-Bo-Katan Kryze and Din Djarin, The Mandalorian Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore

When I was thirteen, my grandparents took the family on a big anniversary trip to Israel.

As a Jewish American kid in the early 2000s, growing up where there weren’t a lot of other Jews and spending my summers at Reform Jewish summer camp, I was told a lot of things about Israel. The big thing was always that Israel was important – that it was our home. That I should go there, and that when I went there, I would have an amazing feeling of connection, and I would know that it was my home.

So, as a recent bat mitzvah, I was excited about this trip. I was ready to go to Israel and have my big moment of feeling connected with the world.

I remember standing in the airport in Tel Aviv, minutes after stepping off the plane, and asking my dad, “When does it start to feel like Israel?”

Because it didn’t feel like Israel. It felt like an airport.

And then we stepped out into Tel Aviv, and rode around on a bus, and it felt like a city. I’d been to cities before. It was cool to see the street signs and graffiti were in Hebrew and Arabic just as much as they were in English, but it was a city.

Over the course of our trip, we went everywhere we could possibly go. We floated in the Dead Sea. We climbed Mount Masada. We saw the archaeological sites at Megiddo. We went to Caesarea, and Ein Gedi, and Yad Vashem, and Tzfat. We rode camels, we ate falafel, we learned just how unbreakable Druze glass is.

And, again, it was cool. I enjoyed the trip. It was beautiful everywhere we went, and we were surrounded by history everywhere we went. I remember thinking that the dust of history was gathering in my boots, because this is a place where people have lived for as long as there have been people.

But I kept waiting for it to feel like Israel – to have that big magical moment of connection that everyone said I would have – and it just wasn’t happening.

Then, we went to Jerusalem. And I thought, “Okay, here it is. This is where I’m going to have my big moment.” We went to the Western Wall, the last remaining piece of the platform that surrounded the ancient temple, the holiest place any Jew could visit in the world. I saw people there, pressed against the wall, eyes shut, in fervent prayer, clearly feeling something amazing. I walked up through the crowd in the small women’s section of the wall. I found enough space to reach forward, and I put my hand on the wall.

It felt like rock.

I remember thinking, “What is wrong with me, that all I feel is rock? Where is the connection I’m supposed to feel?”

And then, on our last day of the trip, we went to the Diaspora Museum (Beit Hatfutsot, now called the Museum of the Jewish People). It’s all about the Jewish people – our exile from that part of the world, and all our journeys since then. I’d never seen such a comprehensive look at the diversity and history of Judaism before. I’d certainly never been to a museum before that provided such an honest critique of the United States – it’s where I first learned about the SS St. Louis.

There was one room in the museum that caught my attention. I don’t know if it was a permanent installment or a temporary exhibit; I haven’t been back there since. In the room, there was a screen on the wall, rotating through pictures in a slideshow. Some of them were drawings, while others were photographs. All of the pictures were of the insides of people’s houses – their kitchens and dining rooms. Each picture was labeled with a place and a time. This was Poland, this was Spain. This was the fifteenth, eighteenth, twentieth century.

These pictures were from all across the world and all across history. And, in every picture, three items were circled in red: the challah loaf, the kiddush cup, and the Shabbat candlesticks.

As I stood there, watching these pictures, it hit me – slowly, and then all at once – that I had those things in my house. I was connected to every single place, and every single time, all across the world, all across history.

That was it. That was my moment, the completely mind-blowing and earth-shattering realization. That connection through tradition – that’s what it meant to be a Jew. I felt then a supreme sense of belonging, of being grounded, of being a part of something so much bigger than myself – something that mattered, something that was made of love, something that could never die. That realization has stuck with me ever since.

I told this story on TikTok on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Chapter 18 of The Mandalorian aired, and I marveled at the serendipity. I’ve talked here before about the connections I’ve noticed between the Mandalorians as depicted in this series and Judaism. We too were scattered. Our holy sites were destroyed. We are diverse, and disparate, and faced with the question of what to do now, in a world that hates us, hurts us, and demands that we too become hateful and hurtful. And we are united – we are grounded – we are able to survive because of the stories, the traditions, the rituals at the heart of our people.

[fanficmaverickpodcast]

Hi there! I stumbled across your podcast when I was rooting around in Tumblr and it has been one of my best accidental finds! I love the concept and the fact that I get to listen to many of my favourite authors talk about their work. You are wonderful for creating an initiative like this and I will be steadily making my way through your list of episodes ❤️

I have two questions that I was hoping I could ask you about. There’s absolutely no pressure to respond to me if you’d rather not.

1) I wanted to know if you’ve had any POC creators on the podcast? I am particularly interested in their perspective on fandom, so I did a tag search but it didn’t come up with anything - although Tumblr is known notoriously for being wonky with the tag searches.

2) Would you be open to having POC writers on your podcast anytime?

Again, I’d like to stress that you absolutely don’t need to respond. I’m sure you get a lot of asks and I don’t mean to take up your time. Once again, love what you’re doing, and I wish you all the best with everything! Thank you for your time ❤️

Thank you so much for reaching out! My favorite thing is people accidently discovering the podcast out in the wilds of Tumblr lol. I am so happy you found it, and so glad you're loving all the fanfiction conversations we've had with amazing creators!

I'm a big open book and all questions are welcome, so I'm really glad you asked! Technically speaking, there is a POC person on every episode, and it's me. I am 1st (and 2nd) generation Chicano. Admittedly it isn't something I talk about very often on the podcast. I think I mentioned it exactly one time during the first Mandalorian episode.

Several of my past fanfiction writer guests have been POC! I won't point out most of them by name without consent, as most of those episodes were focused on the fandoms and fanfictions of those writers and not on POC perspectives specifically, but one I can mention is the episode with DragongirlG. That was our first episode for The Untamed fandom, and DragongirlG offered to give us some thoughts on the fandom as someone who is Chinese diaspora, for which I was very grateful!

I have never outright asked any POC guests to give POC perspectives on fandom without them offering first simply because, at times, it can be an emotionally heavy topic and I don't want any guest feeling obligated since it is nobody's job to educate us.

That being said, if anyone else wants to offer to give POC perspectives on fandom for the show, I welcome that opportunity! We don't shy away from anything on FFM so long as my guest is comfortable and wants to speak about it. POC fanfiction writers are always, always welcome on Fanfic Maverick.

Thank you again for the ask, and keep on rollin'! All my love!

[robinade]

Mandalorian Obi-Wan

Winner from my ask-meme poll was a request for 1k of this!

FYI this isn't a young Obi-Wan is raised as a mando (which I have read and enjoyed a lot of!). I was more interested in what it would take for Obi-Wan as an *adult* Jedi to get drawn into mando culture. Unrelated this is also my slut!Obi-Wan manifesto.

Official summary is TBD but the general idea is that Obi-Wan needs to take up the armor he once wore temporarily as a teen on that mission to Mandalore. That means finding an armorer, and results in getting involved with the mando diaspora on Coruscant.

Fic snippet:

The spire where Dooku is being held has had the turbolifts switched off, for security’s sake. 

Did they take Dooku up to his cell first, Obi-Wan wondered, or did they make the ex-Count ex-Jedi climb the stairs the whole way? Possibly one would be too out of breath to manage any type of escape attempt, because Obi-Wan himself is drawing on the Force just to keep up appearances. The Temple guard escorting him doesn’t seem to be having any problems, featureless and unperturbed in their hood and mask. Obi-Wan finds himself ruefully self-conscious of the sweat dampening his back and temples. 

The guard takes him to a point perhaps midway up the spire, judging by the occasional view out to the Coruscant skyline, and through multiple sets of blast doors until Obi-Wan is face to face with Yan Dooku, apart from the orange energy shield in between them. 

He’s a pale-skinned human, with piercing eyes under thick-set eyebrows and a hawkish nose. His hair is cropped short and with a neatly trimmed beard, both going white with age but, like many Jedi, Dooku carries his age lightly and stands straight-backed and tall. Handsome, in an austere way. His broad shoulders narrow to a slim waist and his short black tunic does little to disguise a pair of well-formed legs. The most notable thing about his appearance, apart from his height, are the Force suppressing cuffs that shine at each wrist. 

He might even be taller than Qui-Gon was, Obi-Wan thinks with some asperity. What is with this lineage and their unnecessarily tall humanoids? Even Anakin is likely to outgrow him, judging by the size of the boy’s hands and feet. 

“Grandmaster,” Obi-Wan says with a polite nod. “I understand you were asking to speak with me?” 

“Padawan of my padawan,” Dooku says formally. “Yes, I do wish to speak to you.” Interestingly, he doesn’t show a hint of deference. They might as well have bumped into each other at a restaurant, for how little attention Dooku pays to the fact that he’s in a cell. 

“Why me, if I may ask? It does seem odd that you want to speak to someone you’ve never met rather than your own master,” Obi-Wan says mildly, as if the answer really isn’t that important to him. In point of fact, Yoda had been so shocked at recent events– Palpatine’s murder, Dooku’s confession– that he had stepped down as Grand Master of the Order. Dooku’s silence on his motivations certainly wasn’t helping. 

“Does it seem odd?” Dooku replies evenly. “It is not my intent to be secretive.”

Considering Dooku refused to talk to anyone, including his judiciary-assigned defendant, Obi-Wan doesn’t dignify that comment with an answer and merely raises an eyebrow. 

“It was a calculation, as in my current position I have no leverage but information. I didn’t think the High Council would be favorable of me speaking to you unless curiosity made them desperate,” Dooku explains. 

Obi-Wan has to concede the point, having been present during much of the Council’s deliberations. He wasn’t on Coruscant when Dooku was first remediated to Jedi care– Judiciary forces not being sure they can keep a powerful former-Jedi like Dooku contained– but he’d been in meetings with Master Windu and the Council nearly since the moment he landed planetside with Anakin. 

At first, Obi-Wan wasn’t sure why. He’d never met the man who trained his master, since Dooku left the Jedi order to become the Count of Serenno about the same time that Qui-Gon accepted Obi-Wan as his padawan, so he had no insight as to why Dooku would choose to assassinate the High Chancellor. Then it was revealed to him that Dooku had asked for Obi-Wan by name– no wonder the Council had grilled him mercilessly. Frankly, If Obi-Wan had been anywhere in the system (instead of wading through knee deep mud on a mission close to the outer rim) he would be under suspicion as an accomplice to be sure. 

Obi-Wan eyes the other man, standing calmly with his arms crossed. Was it luck, or did Dooku deliberately wait until his grandpadawan had an airlock-alibi? Obi-Wan would assume he was thinking too highly of himself to consider such a thing, but then Dooku asked for him specifically… 

“The fact of the matter is, Knight Kenobi, that the Sith were not destroyed on Ruusan, as the Jedi believe. They lived, carrying on their plans for the defeat of the Jedi and subjugation of the galaxy in secret. The downfall of the Republic would not come from an overwhelming outside force this time, but from the cancerous spread of darkness within.” Dooku’s tone of voice is serious, almost lecturing. He doesn’t sound like a prisoner. Instead, he sounds like a politician, or perhaps a scholar. Albeit one whose curriculum has driven him to madness. Sensing Obi-Wan’s doubt, Dooku harrumphs at him. “You doubt my words?”

“I think those who seek darkness are bound to find it, grandmaster,” Obi-Wan says truthfully. “Whether that is Sith or otherwise remains to be seen.” 

He expects annoyance from the other man, but instead Dooku smiles thinly. “You are cautious. That is good. Still, whether you believe me or not, the Sith line of Darth Bane continued unbroken… until now, when I killed Darth Sidious, who was the apprentice to Darth Plagueis. The line of Bane ends with me, for I’ll not train another.” 

Obi-Wan stands still as stone, inwardly reeling. What a statement to make! First to claim that Chancellor Palpatine of all people was a Sith lord– and it could only be Palpatine, for Dooku so carefully arranged the murder to affect no bystanders; even the chancellor’s guards were incapacitated by the planted bomb rather than killed. And then for Dooku to name himself among the Sith as well? Was he meant to take this nonsense seriously?

“It’s a very interesting claim to make to be sure, grandmaster,” Obi-Wan says thoughtfully, stroking his beard with a recently formed habit. “You might try to plea that you were saving the Republic with the death of Chancellor Palpatine– a chancy matter, unless you have some sort of evidence. But then to also claim to be a member of our old enemies, the same as the chancellor, rather detracts from that statement, don’t you think?”

Dooku deigns to snort at this comment. “I have no interest in saving the Republic. The governing body has grown rotten and the powerful take what they want from the weak and rarely do they suffer repercussions. No, I think the Republic deserves what Sidious had planned for it. A civil war the likes of which hasn’t been seen in a millennia,” Dooku says, looking off into the distance as if he’s imagining it. “The bloated corpse of the Republic would shake itself to pieces and from the rubble a new empire would emerge.” 

Obi-Wan is finding it all too easy to imagine, unfortunately. The tensions between different systems, the conflicts between the outer rim and the mid, the Corporate sector expanding their territory and the Republic always conceding ground, the Hutts and the pirates branching out along further hyperlanes– and the Jedi, often scrambling from emergency to emergency and rarely able to impact genuine policy change that could bring peace that lasts longer than a few months. 

“What about the Jedi?” he asks faintly. 

Dooku brushes some unseen lint off his tunic dismissively. “Stagnated and chained to the Republic’s dissolving throne. A war would force the Jedi to change… or die. I was hoping for the former, of course. But if the Order could not adapt, well, I’m not sure it would deserve to remain.” 

Obi-Wan puts a hand over his mouth, feeling ill. He knew intellectually that Dooku had fallen, but now he can feel it in the casual disregard for life. No– there has to be more to it. There has to! If Dooku was truly lost to the dark, why had he worked to avoid any collateral damage in his attack on Palpatine? A planted bomb had ensured that Palpatine’s guards weren’t able to help him, but while there had been injuries there were no other deaths besides the obvious one. And he had stepped down from the role of Count months earlier in favor of his sister, so that kept Serenno from being implicated in the murder, much like the Jedi and Obi-Wan himself were able to be dismissed from being involved. 

“Why change your mind?” Obi-Wan desperately wants to know. 

Dooku glances away from Obi-Wan, looking awkward for the first time. “I received a visitation from Qui-Gon’s spirit,” he admits. “For a man who focused so much on the present while alive, his spirit has developed a strong sense of prescience.”

“That’s impossible,” Obi-Wan snaps. 

“You needn’t be upset about it, you were his first choice,” Dooku replied calmly. “But the Force is too muddled on Coruscant for him to be heard. He spent years trying anyway. And then he had difficulty finding you when you were on missions. The few times he managed it he was eclipsed by Skywalker’s power in the force.”

Obi-Wan couldn’t help but shake his head, refusing to accept it. “It’s a very interesting story, grandmaster, to be sure. You’re going to be locked up for many years– perhaps you can write novels to pass the time.” 

Dooku continued as if he hadn’t said anything. “Qui-Gon knew about the war that Sidious was planning, but more than that he could see the rebellion that came after, and the war after that. Whole planets obliterated! Their art and their cultures gone forever. The history of the Jedi lost, our artifacts destroyed or perverted…” Dooku trailed off, looking deeply troubled. 

Our artifacts, he said, Obi-Wan noticed. [insert more stuff here about what ob1 thinks about all this, and qui-gon’s ghost and stuff]

“I won’t allow it,” Dooku said finally. “Palpatine has been neutralized but there are still a few pieces still in motion that cannot easily be stopped. Knight Kenobi,” Dooku says formally, “there is an army being built in wild space that will determine the fate of the Jedi. You will be the one to find it, but you must take up your Mandalorian armor before you do.”

[thought-42]

It gets harder every year

Star Wars, 2050 words, Luke Skywalker, Ezra Bridger Luke has acquired a Mandalorian and is maybe panicking a little. It's fine. He nows a guy. Set in a universe where Ezra wound up in the Chiss Ascendancy post-Rebels and eventually he and Luke became like. Space internet friends. Don't worry about it. *

Luke Skywalker, pinnacle of Jedi calm and patience, only does four laps around the school while he waits for his comm signal to work its way through seven layers of encryption and a long string of relay nodes stretching across lightyears, vast and unknowable, between his current location and his target.

“No,” Laezra says as soon as he picks up. His little hologram is blurry and half a second out of sync with the audio, but Luke can still see the way his hair is flattened on one side and standing straight up on the other, and he's holding the comm in such a way that his (probably bare) chest is out of frame. There is, perhaps, a timezone issue Luke should have taken into account.

“You're so rude,” Luke says. “This could be an emergency.”

“Is it?”

“The point is that it could be. And you, my only peer, my only fellow Force user, you who stand in brotherhood with me against a harsh and uncaring universe–”

“Your sister exists and is literally a princess”

“What value does the royal title hold within the forced diaspora, really? Also the last time I asked if she wanted to meditate she threatened to tell someone I don't pay taxes.”

“That's an actual criminal crime, for the record. What kind of example are you setting for your students?”

“I have two students,” Luke says. “One of whom I'm related to. Besides, didn't you meet your master in the middle of a criminal crime?”

“It's not a crime if it pisses off the Empire,” Laezra says automatically, then, “Luke, please. I am so tired. There was a whole... thing. I haven't slept in my own bed for three weeks. My student had to use her lightsaber in actual combat for the first time. I had to side with my commanding officer against my mentor, even though the asshole was absolutely in the right, and I'm feeling some kinda way about it. Sometimes preemptive action is good, actually, but don’t tell anybody I said that.”

“Sorry,” says Luke. “Is she ok? Your student, I mean.” Laezra still refuses to tell Luke the name of his or his fellow Navigator Jedi's student, and wierd trust issues aside, it makes conversation grammatically difficult sometimes.

“Yeah. We're ok. We were both doing twelve hour shifts on the way home, though, because I guess ‘we aren’t Sky Walkers’ doesn’t mean ‘we aren’t Sky Walkers’ when the ship’s actual Sky Walker is made of germs and fever and barf. Then it becomes ‘jump-by-jump is so inefficient, this information is so critical, everybody’s so tired. Have you ever had the experience of getting nosebleed blood crusted in your beard? BecauseI don’t recommend it.”

Between Leia and Laezra, Luke knows enough classified information to sink two major governments. Or at least inconvenience them a lot. 

"Ok, ok, ok," Luke decides he's going to sit down on the grass,and only realises it’s still wet from the afternoon rainstorm once his pants are already soaked. “So. Listen. You know things.”

“Wild,” Laezra says flatly. “Is this how you write report cards at your school?”

Luke glares down at the little hologram. “You know things about Mandalorians,” he clarifies. He decides he's gonna stand back up, and while he's at it he may as well do a few more laps.

“I-- Luke. Luke you can't tell me I'm the only person you know who knows a Mandalorian. Who I am, just so we're super clear, still on pretty shaky footing with, given my whole... everything.”

Luke waves this off. He is very over Laezra having fucked off on actual Purrgils, never to return, less than a year before Luke discovered he was a space wizard and could have really desperately used some support in that from someone who wasn't a hundred years old and a friend of his father's. It's so fine. He definitely doesn't lie awake imagining being one half of a pair of Jedi, back when the Rebellion had felt huge and overwhelming and kind of terrifying. Some people blow up a massive space station/doomsday weapon full of living beings (twice) and hold their evil dad in their arms while he dies. Some people ride away in a burst of martyrdom on their bffs the legendary space whales. Some people live alone but for two little kids in the ruins of a temple that they call a school, desperately trying to rebuild an entire religious and cultural institution from barely legible texts and ghosts. Some people live in another galaxy and embark on exciting new projects for an alien government where they get to research brand new Force techniques and go on adventures and live in an apartment where they can just walk across the street and buy fresh pastries whenever they want to.

Jedi do not feel envy. Jedi do not feel resentment. Jedi are always well aware that the grass is perpetually greener.

“I have a Mandalorian now,” Luke says, instead of any of this.

“Like, you... have obtained one? Are you feeding them? They need so much exercise, I cannot emphasise this enough.”

Luke puts his comm on the ground so he can drop his face into his hands. “He gave me? His kid? But also I think he's the king of the Mandalorians, and he keeps stopping by for visits, and I don't want to mess up.”

“This is so much,” Laezra says. “This is so much. Luke Skywalker, are you crushing on the Mand’alor?”

“Calling you was a mistake,” Luke says.

“Calling me was the opposite of a mistake, oh my God. What House? What Clan? I ask like the answer will mean anything to me, but like..... it might.”

“His name's Din,” Luke says. “I don't know if I'm supposed to tell people that.”

“And have you and Din..... you know?”

“He doesn't take his helmet off,” Luke says, helplessly. “Except once, and I think that was... not ideal. For him.”

“But was it ideal for you– sorry, sorry. Ok. Was he an Academy kid?”

“I don't think so,” Luke says. “He barely knew anything about the war. He didn't know who I was. He has a lightsaber that he really doesn't want to have, though.”

“Wait. Wait. So he's like.... the real deal. You're having sexy parent/teacher interviews with the legit Mand’alor.”

“I'm not having sexy anything with anybody,” Luke says.

“That's so sad, my guy. But hey, keep on trucking. I bet you can seduce him with your farmboy charms.”

“His son eats frogs,” says Luke. “I caught him a whole bucket full to take with him last time Din came to take him on a trip.”

“You just. ...handed the Mand’alor a bucket of frogs and his kid? ‘Have a good time, gang!’ You’re my very favourite little guy, Luke.”

“I think most of them escaped inside his ship,” Luke admits. “Which, actually, let me tell you about his kriffing ship–”

“Why am I perpetually surrounded by pilots? Luke, look at me. Look me in the eye. I don't care about his ship. Tell me about his cute kid or his dick or the actual ass Darksaber. Do not tell me about his ship.”

“It's very bad, though. It’s a bad ship and he should feel bad about it, he lets his child ride around in it, and I know for a fact his fuel injectors were recalled–”

“So were you hoping I'd... know the Mando dating cheat codes, or something?” Laezra says loudly.

Luke frowns. “I want to get to know him as a person. I'm his son's teacher. It'd be inappropriate for me to ... do anything. I'm just hoping I can maybe be a bit more culturally sensitive.”

Luke's only ever seen one propper, full-colour picture of Laezra that isn't a blue light holocall; there’s a holo on General Syndulla’s desk of a grinning teenager, limbs gawky and eyes that reminded Luke of the feral tookas he was never allowed to take home during trips into town as a kid. Even so, it's easy for Luke to picture the other man sitting in the dark of his bedroom, shoving his hands back through his hair as he groans. Luke wonders if he's the kind of person who needs to have everything unpacked and in its place when he comes home from a mission, or if he's more the 'dump bag and clothes on floor, fall face first onto nearest flat surface' type. It's probably a weird thing to wonder, but it's the sort of thing Luke knows about all his other friends.

“Ok. Luke.” He drops his hands from his hair and leans in close to his comm, so the top half of his face is all Luke sees, weird and disproportionate as the camera tries to compensate. “I bet you've probably been reading a bunch of old Jedi books or scrolls or cave paintings about the danger of attachment. Maybe your ghosts have lectured you. But that's what they are. Ghosts and old writings. You're starting something new. And-- Kanan. My Master. He loved somebody very much, and she loved him back. And he was the best Jedi I can imagine.”

“You can just say it was General Syndulla,” says Luke, who has only ever seen one mention of attachments in the documents he’s recovered, but doesn’t want to devalue what Laezra is trying to tell him.

“Ok, yeah. They loved each other so much, and I never once saw it interfere with Kanan’s dedication to helping others. To making the galaxy a safer, kinder place. If anything I think she made him better. And vice-versa.”

“I just meant,” Luke says carefully, “that I wouldn't want to risk things not working out and Din not wanting to leave his son here anymore. There's nobody else who will train him. But I’ll keep the other stuff in mind.”

“I have so many things I definitely  don't actually want to say to Ahsoka,” Laezra mutters. “But oh boy am I thinking them.”

Luke presses his lips together. He doesn't know if Laezra knows who Vader was when he was a Jedi. Doesn't know if it'd mean anything to him even if he did know. “She's got some pretty compelling reasons for the choices she makes, he says. "I don’t agree with her, but… I mean. Anybody can become dangerous if attachment gets possessive, but you've gotta admit Force users are especially risky.”

“People just keep making bigger guns,” Laezra points out. “How are they any less dangerous?”

“A gun can't get inside your head and change how you feel. It can't make you do things you wouldn't normally do.”

“Ahahaha,” says Laezra, and his hands go back over his face as he leans away from the camera. “You don't need The Force for that one, either.”

Luke winces. “Anyway,” he says, because he knows most people don't actually want to talk about their feelings, even if that seems super counter-intuitive. Whatever. “How do I become friends with the Mand'alor?”

“You keep saying it and it doesn't get any less unhinged. I don't know. You're already taking care of his kid, and you value family. You're highly skilled in combat. There's really no secret trick to it, just... be a person.”

“I've tried that,” Luke says. “I'm so bad at being a person around him though.”

“Does he like art?” Laezra asks, with a sudden burst of gleeful intensity. “Luke does he like art, this is important. I can tell you so much about art. Do you want to know which chemical combinations are the best for neon colours and also timed explosions? Do you want to know about historical graffiti culture throughout the Outer Rim? Do you want to know how to use the remaining art from the various Mandalorian factions to construct a sociopolitical thesis on their people with a focus on military tactics?”

“You know what," says Luke, "I think I hear the kids calling me.”

“Coward,” Laezra says immediately

“Go back to bed; say hi to your student for me; may The Force be with you bye.”

Laezra is still swearing at him, laughing,when Luke clicks the channel closed.

Luke, with all the dignity befitting the last Jedi Master, opens his notebook and writes 'Ask if he likes art.'

[mormon-character-tournament]

Group One, Round One

Character info, provided by submissions, under the cut

Din Djarin (Headcanon) Din Djarin ("Mandalorian" or "Mando" for anyone who hasn't achieved Lv10 friendship with him) was adopted as a child into a very orthodox sect of Mandalorians shortly before the Galactic Empire razed Mandalore and sent its people into diaspora. In the present, he works as a bounty hunter, and a particular bounty has put him in the path of a young force-sensitive child he has to protect from harm. We love a family-oriented man who is devout to a faith with strict rules and a peculiar dress code that other people keep denigrating as a cult!!

Colin Hughs (Headcanon) Colin is a gay football (soccer) player from Wales. He's a talented player and a delight to be around, but is often sidelined. He knew he was gay from a very young age and eventually came out to his football team, who were all very supportive. I'm pretty sure his boyfriend made a comment about him not drinking caffeine and my brain went ooh why not, Colin??? And it was for football reasons but I've decided he's Mormon and that makes me happy because I love him

[fanfoolishness]

Rewatch of the Mandalorian Chapter 21, the Pirate:

Don’t smack talk Greef’s fashion sense!

“He shot first” heheh

aww Greef is starting to get worried

Dammit Nevarro! Just when you were looking more than ever like Los Angeles with those little purple flower things and all the ficus trees!

Nevarran fashion is a lil… medieval? Fancy hats.

I need to download the song for the New Republic bar because it lowkey slaps

It’s this guy! Captain Teva! His casual outfit is pretty cool.

For everyone who has seen Rebels, I wish you a very happy Zeb

Dammit Coruscant. Why do you have a brutalist sector?

Oh THIS BITCH awwww NO Elia Kane you just need to not be here, dude

But Tim Meadows my beloved!!! I had no idea he was in this season! I enjoy his vexation

Elia Kane quit stalking people you freaking creep! I hate her, she’s so good at this.

Love her evil-ass music too. Stop being eeeevil

And then Solas the protocol droid led Greef Karga the Herald to a hidden castle in the wilderness after the fall of Haven/Nevarro — oh wait, no, my Dragon Age feels go over there

Seriously, the Nevarrans look like Catherine, Called B-Wing

… I don’t remember how Carson Teva knew that Din knew Greef, really, but he’s so likable I don’t mind

Who you calling “blue boy”, PAZ???

R5 vindication! And also getting back at Din ahahaha

I cannot help but adore the Mandalorian Talking Hammer, that is so perfect for them

“The foundling in your charge” fuck, Din, you should be saying “MY SON” you fucker

“I’m in no position to ask” he asked, Darksaberwieldingly

“Our children” WELL YOU’RE GETTING CLOSER ANYWAY

I really thought Paz was gonna go off and then he did and I was like “ho shit, Paz character development? All righty then!”

What stake did the Armorer have in this? She didn’t try to sway them one way or the other? Does she have an ulterior motive?

Grogu still comes for every mission, yesss

Love Bo’s speech! All right, while I miss Din tremendously this season, I’m loving the season of Bo on its own merits. Also, how weird is it to see the Armorer in a ship? it’s like when your companion NPC moves from their place on the map and you know a great cutscene is going to begin

Poor lil broken droid :( Mean pirates! And they fucked up the school again :(

It’s the Mandalorian - bitch you thought hahaha

I need more smug motherfucker Din back in my life, I beg you

Wish we had more weird accents among the Mandalorians. Bo’s is pretty Standard, Paz and the Armorer are weird and flat and formal, and Din has some of that as well. But like, if they’re a diaspora, I wanna hear some variation!

One of my favorite tropes is “noncombatant citizen nevertheless rises up to defend their homeland”, and Kowakian monkey-lizards pointing out an ambush was a cheesy lil slice of delight

Paz how are you seriously so LARGE

High Magistrate Greef Karga, you are so cute and I love you

I do really love how Nevarro has been a touchstone for the entire series, and love seeing how it’s evolved over the years. Things like that are some of my favorite things about this show.

The Armorer wishes to speak with you. Here, let me accompany you to this extremely tense and dangerous music, I’m sure everything will be fine

The Armorer is… getting emotional? Reminiscent about Mandalore? I’m scared and so intrigued!!!

The sassy and scary way she asked “Do you respect my station?” And her “Remove your helmet,,.” I am… alarmed and aroused

This music is so calculating! So very Luke, join me!

Wait, Paz isn’t in on this plan? Interesting, I had assumed he was in the Armorer’s pocket.

I am hopeful for Bo because I do think she’d be a great leader? But also frightened because who could trust the Armorer in that moment? (I mean, aside from Bo who 1) I’m sure respects Armorers and 2) doesn’t know her well and 3) is seeking a home… and this is how smart people can get sucked into cults!). It could go either way, I suppose. Are she and Din finally gonna have the epic duel? I can’t see Din’s heart being in it, and I also don’t want that to happen until he’s actually competent with the Darksaber and learns why it’s been fighting him. I just need Din, Din, Din!

But this episode has me much more intrigued and curious about where the season is going, so I’m excited for next week!

[ranahan]

Middle-Mando’a creole hypothesis

Mando’a is said to be designed to have simple grammar so adults adopted into the culture can learn it easily. But natural languages aren’t designed—that can’t be the in-universe explanation (unless the Taung were doing something real funky). However, creole languages do exhibit simplified grammar (compared to the parent languages) and Mando’a grammar does in fact fit well with what we know about grammars of creole languages.

There is a ready-made in-universe historical reason for why this would have happened too: the Neo-Crusader movement. Within the space of few decades, the Mandalorians went from primarily Taung to the Taung going virtually extinct, clans becoming multi-species/human-dominated and accepting any worthy warriors. Following the Mandalorian wars was also some three centuries of disarray and diaspora. No wonder there was a break in the transmission of the language from the natively Mando’a speaking Taung to their new recruits. That’s the reason that would explain the creolisation. The lexicaliser/superstratum would be Classical Mando’a and the substrata would be the various languages of the peoples conquered/absorbed into the Neo-Crusaders (probably including but not limited to Early Modern Basic and Huttese).

Creolisation would neatly explain not just the “easy to learn” example, but also how Mando’a came to lose it’s verbal conjugation system and replace it with simple prefixes/preverbal auxiliaries.

So my new favourite headcanon is that Modern Mando’a started out as a creole (but has since had enough time to reacquire some features not encountered in recently creolised languages). I like this idea because it gives me lots of ideas for how to interpret and extend the existing language in ways that aren’t just “standard English word order because it’s easy to learn”, but SVO because that’s overwhelmingly the most common word order in creole and pidgin languages. And that tense system? They might actually be relative anterior tense/perfect aspect & relative posterior tense/prospective aspect, not absolute past/future (which would by the way probably be really common misunderstanding viz. Basic and L2 learners). Not that it makes that big a difference, but the exact nature of Mando’a tenses is something I’ve been thinking about and this fits the ideas I’ve had.

[deniigi]

2, 5 (it’s called a flush), and 36

2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?

Lol yeah guilty as charged. Honestly I'm disappointed that Hijinks and Shenanigans isn't higher.

5. What do you wish someone would ask you about [insert fic]? Answer it now!

Oh man for "It's Called a Flush" I sort of whish that folks would ask me why I was so set on building out the covert(s) like I did. That mostly happened because I am really frustrated with the way that people portray the covert (and that may include Canon, we will see in season 3) as these like, oppressive spaces. It sort of makes me think about how frightened people are by the idea of face and head coverings and how those things must be a symbol of oppression and a stifling community. And it's just like, no. Examine your biases.

I like that Din is religious. I like that he's part of an orthodox community that I don't really understand and I think that it would be really cool if Mandalorian belief systems were varied and dependent on the geography and cultural spaces around them. Mandalorian culture as a diaspora culture is fascinating and the people taking part in it can run the gamut of silly to stoic to extreme. I just really hate the language around coverts as "cults" and sought to humanize them in this fic by showing how Din is part of a much bigger community of people who just want to keep their culture alive.

36. Do you visualize what you read/write?

Oh I'm a big visualizer. It makes it hard to write sometimes because I can see the scene percectly in my head but I only have so many words and if I repeat an adjective (because I don't know another way to describe the thing I am imagining/seeing) in a fic I want to throw myself into the open ocean.

Warring needs, etc. If I was more skilled with visual storytelling, I would illustrate most of my fics.

[weathernerdmando]

just. look. look. 

regardless of what i didn’t like about how they got to this episode at times (my main gripe is that i still think the saber handover was stupid. 

but yknow what bo did earn it in the end for me, not bc of combat bc she’s become someone who isn’t just the person we knew from rebels and clone wars running off spite and anger and some level of pride, she’s someone who’s seen the worst, learned her faults and worked to change for the better in the best interest of her people, not becuase she thinks she needs to lead them, but because they deserve better regardless of who gives it to them. Enough blood has been shed by their own and she’s tired of it and if that means she has to work to get it to stop, then she will. and she’s not alone anymore in that goal!!!!!) 

just. just. 

the mandalorians getting to go home at the end. that’s a diaspora coming home. that’s a diaspora who’d been driven out and hunted getting to go home. finally, after giving up all hope of a return, they got it back!!!!!! 

they got to relight their Forge - the Heart of their culture. They got to take their Creed in the Water. They have their home back and they’re there as one group (the Old and New Ways and the Choice to follow one or the other, whichever the person in question feels is right for them!!!!!!), and they’re about to be able to teach their kids their ways in peace, and safety, they’re going to be able to stop worrying about having to hide - they’re home. 

they’re home!!!!!!! they’ve retaken their planet. they’ve gotten it back. and it’s got green!!! it’s got green! outside the domes! they’ve only managed green again when they’ve stopped trying to kill each other, stopped trying to spread conquest, but instead they were together, working for a mutual goal of survival. working towards unity. they got to go home!! and they’re going to encourage the planet to thrive, they’re going to raise kids (and warriors!!) there! 

the planet got a cin vhetin!! and din! and bo! and the Armorer!! are going to be the ones to ensure that they get to keep it!! 

din’s back to being able to be a provider for his people and his kid!!!!! and he won’t be the only one anymore!!!!! because they have so many of them and they don’t have to hide anymore!!! 

the amorerer is going to hear the sound of the forges manned by many hands once more. there are going to be foundlings who get to learn the art of forging their armor on the Great Forge itself!!!!! 

The kids are going to get to train in their ancestoral homelands and they’re going to get to hear the sound of armor in the halls it was forged in!!! the food is going to be cooked from it’s native ingredients!! not just rations anymore but feasts full of the various foods that Mandalore is known for! they’re going to get to sing their songs and dance their dances in the halls of Mandalore!!!

Mandalorians are stronger together!!!!!!!!!