#aithnesroses

[thefrogdalorian]

Hi Spud!

Spreading joy into people's inboxes like little boops is a really lovely idea. Somebody could be having the worst day and suddenly it's made a little brighter with a lovely message in their inbox, which is a really beautiful thing! Of course, I wanted to spread this joy back to you as well!

I absolutely love the aesthetic and theme of your blog, and the image of Din with a little frog on his shoulder never fails to make me smile! I also really love your writing style, your stories on ao3 have so many unique and creative ideas. They always leave my heart feeling full! One that really stood out to me was "The Meiloorun Fiasco", which is now one of my favourite dinbo fics!

I remember a while back on discord you said that you're a Coldplay lover too! Your taste in music is amazing 🎶 I also remember you said you were at the same Coldplay concert as me last year in June, and I find it crazy how you can be standing in the same room/stadium as someone and then suddenly find them online in the same fandom as you. Coldplay have some dinbo songs too!

It's always a pleasure to read your posts and interact with you, and I'm very happy I found this corner of the internet. I hope you have a great evening and an amazing rest of your week! 🫶

AWWW this genuinely made me smile so much! I've barely had a chance to check tumblr properly until just now (been busy by my standards ahaha), but my heart did a little jump for joy when I saw you'd left this in my inbox and I had a massive smile on my face while reading it!

I'm glad you like Din and his tiny froggy friend heheh. I keep thinking I should change my theme up a little bit but I'm too emotionally attached to it now. Plus he suits pink so much!

I'm so glad to hear that you enjoy my writing! I honestly have 0 thoughts, head empty about 99% of things lmao but I get random bursts of inspiration sometimes. Especially with the Meiloorun one. It was so silly but also so much fun to write! And I'm so glad that you enjoyed it!

YESSS you also have great music taste! Our stats were so similar, I think The 1975 were up there too👀! I mean who doesn't love Coldplay?! They're so iconic and I'm so glad I got to see them last year. I went to some great concerts last year too and also have some cool ones lined up this year (including Taylor WOO!) but they will take some beating. They put on such a good show! And YESSS the Dinbo songs. I always think of them when I listen to Sparks :')

It is so weird to think we were there singing along to the same songs and then we found each other again online. Very glad our paths crossed like this. Maybe one day they will again. Who knows!!

Anyway, thank you for sending such a sweet message back to me. I was not expecting that at all, but it means the world that you took the time to spread some kindness back to me. You're a gem and I hope you are having a lovely weekend!🥺💖

[newpathwrites]

20 Questions of Writers 📑

Thank you so much for the tag @djarinmuse !

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Technically 19, but several of those are Mandomera week drabbles that I posted separately.

2. What is your total AO3 word count?

140,976

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Mandalorian only

4. Top Five fics by kudos:

A Marriage of Convenience

Linked

A Marriage of Convenience Ending #2

A New Creed

A Marriage of Convenience Ending #3

A bit repetitive...

5. Do you respond to comments?

Always.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I have no angsty endings. Either it ends happy, or it doesn't end at all (like I will simply never write an ending, it goes on and on...).

7. What is the fic you wrote that has the happiest ending?

All happy endings. Happiest? Probably a 3-way tie between A Marriage of Convenience, A New Creed, and Arms Wide Open.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

No, I've been fortunate so far.

9. Do you write smut?

Rarely, pretty non-descriptive and minimally explicit. It almost always has some sort of asexual spectrum undertones to it, too. See question #16.

10. Craziest crossover?

I haven't done any crossovers.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I hope not. If so, I remain blissfully unaware.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, and honestly, I don't think I'm capable of doing such a thing.

14. All time favorite ship?

My first and favorite ship ever is obscure - Colleen and Andrew from Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman. I think I enjoyed that Andrew supported Colleen's plans to become a doctor and appreciated her skills in a time when women were not respected in medicine. Guess what I do for a living...

15. What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The only one I may not ever find the motivation to finish is Trusted Friend which I started for a DinBo challenge - it's a stretch for me because it's planned to be a very smutty, friends-with-benefits kind of thing. It's just not quite as personal to me as my other fics which are more based in my own experiences.

16. What are your writing strengths?

For sure nonsexual and nonromantic intimacy. I started writing to represent the diversity of asexual and aromantic experiences which I don't see in this fandom, and I think I do it pretty well. My fics run the gamut from conventional romantic/sexual relationship to QPR to platonic partnership, and they all have some basis in my own life (or my own fantasy scenarios).

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I definitely rush to get it out once I start writing, and I feel some of my fics read a bit choppy. I also tend to go too heavy on dialogue.

18. Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I personally find it a little distracting, so I don't do it. Just an occasional Mando'a endearment.

19. First fandom you wrote in?

The Mandalorian

20. Favorite fic you've written?

This is hard, but I have to say A Marriage of Convenience which depicts a non-sexual, intimate QPR. This was my first fic which I literally wrote during a time of crisis IRL to portray the kind of marriage I wish I could have had (if I'd understood my aroace identity). I've explored so many aspects of asexuality in particular in that fic, especially relating to physical intimacy, and I've gotten amazingly satisfying feedback on it. I even wrote two alternate endings to explore how sex might fit into that relationship structure which was a really fun exercise, too.

That was fun!

Low pressure tags - sorry if you've already been tagged on this! @the-kittylorian-writes @sytortuga @grogusmum @aithnesroses @court-jobi

[thefrogdalorian]

He really was beaten up so badly! Din walks back across the Juggernaut so wearily and groans in pain when he takes a seat, my heart aches for him each time. He was so determined to get his boy back!

When he removes his helmet, I feel like he should look way more beaten up than he does.... rather than just having ever so slightly messy hair.

BUT I'm not complaining. It would have been too much like Ch8 and it's nice to see him not close to death... 👀

I was watching Chapter 15: The Believer yesterday and something stood out to me that I guess I'd never really thought about before...

When the Juggernaut is getting attacked by the Pirates, we see several shots of Din struggling without his armour. It's a new way of fighting for him and he struggles to adapt at first.

He quickly rallies and skilfully fights them off, though. But more pirates soon appear and after fighting them off, Din is thrown backwards. He sees several pirates approaching.

Din lies down in defeat, powerless to fight them off without his armour or weapons. Knowing his death is likely imminent, without hope of survival.

Instead of giving up and accepting defeat, he does not allow himself to wallow in despair and mystery. After sighing deeply he steadies himself and gets right back up:

Facing down death as the pirates approach, he does not show weakness or fear.

He doesn't allow himself to be cowardly, or dwell on his likely impending doom and the fact he has failed in his quest to rescue the child he loves so much...

Instead, Din stands there with his fists up, outnumbered and without weapons, prepared to fight to the end even in the face of certain death...

Fortunately, of course, the TIE Fighters appear to save the day and Din succeeds in his quest to rescue Grogu and, well, you know the rest.

But I think this little moment in one of the best episodes is such a good insight into his character.

Standing up with his fists clenched like that, outnumbered and hopeless but refusing to accept defeat is perhaps one of the most Mandalorian things he's ever done. Yet only a few minutes later he removes his helmet and that act leaves him rendered an apostate in the eyes of his people. Told he is a Mandalorian no more, even.

It's kind of heartbreaking because he really did not deserve to be told that. Mandalorians are proud warriors, who never give up. Being a coward is the worst insult in Mando'a, their ancient language. Here, Din showed that he is nothing of the sort.

Din Djarin is as honourable a Mandalorian as they come.