#mandalorian discourse

[phoenixyfriend]

Don't drink the propaganda juice, learn the actual makeup of Mandalore (hint, all characters of color either died 3-4000 years prior to canon, were introduced after people got mad about TCW's Mandalore being white, or are Fett clones).

Anyway, you can't arbitrarily apply the diversity beam to Jaster's Good Ol' Boys White Man Club and not Satine's We Have Three Character Models On A Shoestring Budget City.

[ranahan]

I’ve had a number of posts on my dash lately going “but did you know Jaster Mereel was a merc who killed people.” I’m more amused than annoyed, but I think this reads enough like a rant that I’m making this its own post rather than a reply to someone else’s. That being said…

Yes. I did in fact know this about one my favourite characters.

How is this any different than the faction of the fandom who simp after Darth Maul? Are they are unaware that Maul is a bad guy? Does it lessen their enjoyment of the character, or could it be that it’s an essential part of their enjoyment even?

Personally, the thing that makes this character intriguing to me is precisely the dichotomy between how he’s portrayed in the comics and also described as a honourable and pious person. There’s a pretty big gap between the reality or mercenary work and honour as we know it on Earth. So that raises all kinds of interesting questions: how would that even work? Or perhaps: what does that tell us about Mandalorian morality? And I find stories (and fanfics) that explore these questions compelling.

Similarly, the story where Jaster Mereel with his mercenary morals rules, is a more entertaining story to me than the story where Satine Kryze and her pacifism rules. Under whose rule would I rather live in real life? Kryze’s, of course. But this is not real life. Mandalore is a fictional place. Absolutely no one is hurt, if they are ruled by a bad guy.

Mandalore’s entire purpose as a fictional place is to create stories and do what stores do, whether that’s entertain, educate, engage or provoke readers. And I happen to think that stories with conflict are more entertaining. The story where Palpatine rules is a better story than the story where Bail Organa rules.

tldr: it’s not a bug, it’s a feature. Mereel is a fictional character, not a real person, so I score my enjoyment and what’s “good” by the metric of what makes a good story, not what I would like to happen in real life. Is Mereel a good person? Debatable. Is he a good character? To me, yes.

I feel like the fans who treat fictional characters like real people, are always going to be disappointed by the segment of fandom who don’t.

Not to say Mereel and Palpatine or Darth Maul are comparable (Mereel is more of a morally grey character whereas Palpatine and Maul are portrayed as simply evil). These are just exaggerated examples to illustrate my point. I’m similarly giving Kryze’s rule a generous interpretation to show my point does not depend on the relative morality of the characters.

[genetics4life]

If your actions contributed to the mass exodus of Pedro boy writers in the past 48 hours: I hope your botox migrates, you wake up with a sore neck every morning for the next 10 years, and you get audited on your taxes.

[beskarfrog]

i didn't expect it to be someone like you, i didn't expect you to be like me

[armoralor]

Emily Swallow’s face when d*nbo shippers in the crowd started yelling at Katee Sackhoff for saying Bo-Katan Kryze and Din Djarin have "no romantic undertones:"

Please don’t harass actors. Katee has been humoring inappropriate questions about a fictional romance for MONTHS. She has made jokes and played along to diffused awkward fan situations; ship what you want online but please don't bother actors with it (image from a different angle of this panel).

[rainybearstudio]

Been a hot minute! Coming back to my roots :)

rainybearstudio.com

[clonecaptains]

i hate seeing posts about people who aren't enjoying this season of mando as "not knowing how to have fun" no i know how to have fun, but i am allowed to be disappointed one of my favorite shows has taken a complete shift in a weird direction.

"must there be a plot?" yes actually there should be. and character progression. seasons 1 and 2 had both of these. even if the eps were just little side missions - din was getting closer to grogu etc. he had a mission to deliver grogu.

but now this season is barely about din, it's changed a lot of the narrative that's already been established and this season feels cheesy and campy and NOT in the fun campy way that star wars is at times.

believe me i WISH i was enjoying this season like i have the past two. and sure there have been a few things here and there in this season i've liked but it's all very random and still not compared to enjoying every single ep of s1 and 2.

[dindjarindiaries]

I kinda hate the outlook The Mandalorian fandom has gotten on season 3 now that we're about a year and a half out from its release.

There are people who absolutely adored it who are entirely free to feel that way, and there are people who didn't enjoy it and are disappointed by the storyline who are also entirely free to feel that way. For some reason, though, these two sides tend to constantly invalidate one another.

It's entirely possible to still love and adore a story while so many others didn't. And the opposite is true as well. Storytelling is subjective, that's the beauty of it, especially in a case like this where it's not harmful to have different interpretations.

So, if you loved season 3? I'm so glad you did, and I understand why! But that doesn't mean people aren't allowed to express their displeasure with it.

And if you hated season 3? I understand why, and I'm glad you're able to come to terms with it. But that doesn't mean people aren't allowed to love it.

It's complicated. We waited so long for that story, and having such a strong interlude in TBOBF in between really did make things weird, so of course it was going to be quite different from what many of us imagined. That worked for some, and it didn't for others. It doesn't mean we have to be going at each other's throats all the time.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that as a fandom, I really wish we could be better about respecting people's outlooks on this season and the future of The Mandalorian franchise. I sure know my opinion on the season has changed in very confusing ways over the past year and a half, and that's okay.

Please, especially in times like these, be gentle with one another. We don't know how much longer Din Djarin and Grogu's story will be told, and I want us to be able to enjoy this time spent with one another even if we all don't agree on how things have gone.

[ct-hardcase]

one thing I have noticed in the last few years of discourse about star wars canon is the attitude from some parts of fandom, where when people go "hey, I don't like this problematic aspect of canon/I don't like that this canon significantly contradicts the other", others will respond, stating that star wars is a tapestry of stories, and that it's fine, actually, because you can just take the parts you want and/or to just cobble one's own canon together from whatever.

this isn't bad advice per se, and if that's someone's preferred way of interpreting canon or dealing with discrepancies, I'm genuinely happy they reached that solution (hell, I even do it myself sometimes—rey mind-tricking finn and poe in the tros novelization is something I absolutely choose to ignore on account of it being ooc and not in the movie), but the majority of the time, I like treating canon as a puzzle that I can put together, and when some of the pieces simply can't fit right, or if there's blatant disrespect to the other stories in the tapestry (hi, caleb in tbb), I don't think it's wrong to be pissed at that and expect the corporate entity managing the product to do better.

[tiredofsatansbullshit]

luke: well this is what i think we should do,

boba: shut up nepo baby, we’re not doing whatever you say

bo-katan: hm, we should do things my way, we sh-

boba: you’re literally a nepo baby too, KRYZE

paz: didn’t you just inherit your fathers legacy, fett?

boba: oh you want to talk too VIZSLA?

fennec: you’re right, you’re all terrible. let’s let the himbo king make our plans

din: what’s a himbo and what’s a nepo baby

[tessa-quayle]

Pedro Pascal Podcast Interviews

These two interviews from 2018 and 2022 are lovely and showcase Pedro’s warmth, empathy, humor, and wit.  Russell+Robert (Talk Art) and Sam Fragoso (Talk Easy) do a stellar job engaging Pedro and asking insightful questions.  Topics range from art, cinema, his childhood, politics, and family (tw: grief, his mother’s death) to his years as a struggling actor and his current work at the time of the recordings.  You can listen on Spotify with a basic (free) account.  Each interview runs about 56 minutes.

Nov 2018: Talk Art interview with Pedro Pascal 

May 2022: Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso - Pedro Pascal, A Life of Dreaming

[buckybarnesss]

Sending this on anon -

I think there is a latent amount of misogyny in the star wars fandom that people aren't ready to face lol.

Like there was so much hate for RebelCaptain and Bix x Cassian (MechanicThief? Bixian?) After andor, and we were called homophobic for 'not wanting to ship' the mlm ships, and I'm like???!! First of all multiplies exist, and second of all, complex, dramatic, well written ships also should exist!

And I'm now seeing the same pattern where it's encouraged to ship Din with the men, but not with the women

I think that a lot of fans really need to look within their consumption and see if they're really looking for representation, or for Ken dolls they can experiment with.

DinBo is so fascinating and I really can't wait to see how they develop

oh y'all want me to get spicy. i'm gonna put his under a read more.

i don't even think it's latent. the female characters receive an excessive amount of hatred or are pitted against each other. i've been in fandom spaces a long, long, long time so i know it's sadly nothing new but people have a hard time accepting that not all the misogyny comes from men.

there is no quarter for woman characters like jyn erso and bo-katan. they will never please. especially when they may have possible romantic relationships with the male leads.

i have thoughts on the shipping atmosphere for the mandalorian and it's not positive.

i am very much a ship and let ship person. i prefer to stay in my lane and enjoy what i enjoy. no harm no foul.

but i do find it -- shall we say interesting -- that bo-katan and din have a multiple episode arc where they develop a deeper understanding of each other overcoming their differences from when they first met but is met with the attitude of ew no cooties. it is fine to prefer a more sibling dynamic between the two but some have been really nasty about others shipping it romantically.

i didn't even really ship it at first but it's grown on me over the course of the season. they compliment each other and have a lot of protentional to explore.

it's one thing to not like a ship but i've seen a lot of language that i consider problematic and outright anti behavior of labeling something you don't like with dog whistles of incest, grooming, toxic and disgusting when it's in fact none of those things at all. just say you don't ship it and keep stepping.

like, the most popular din ship over the past two years has been dinluke which is a perfectly acceptable ship but in canon they've exchanged like a handful of words in one scene. it's fanon.

the armorer and bo-katan has become a popular ship which is again built on a few interactions.

but somehow din and bo are terrible, no good and gross.

we don't even have canon sexualities for these characters and headcanons are not canon. hell, i personally see din on the ace spectrum and bo makes sense to me as bi but that's my headcanon.

this is also not dean winchester being based of a bisexual character and fifteen years of evidence of subtext or stiles stilinski's bisexual baiting by jeff davis on teen wolf.

i get the desire for more lgbta+ representation in star wars but a heterosexual relationship existing is not your enemy and if you think it is than you are part of the problem.

[beskarfrog]

[armoralor]

people obsessed with cishet ships: You see this character that's a man? Well, every woman around him is secretly in love with him. Each and every one want to settle down with him, buy a house, and raise a nuclear family.

normal fandom enjoyers: Sure, I guess. But maybe some of them are just friends? Like, platonic non-romantic companionship? Not all of those women seem to be interested in that kind of thing. Plus, what if some of those women are queer and trans; surly not all of them want to marry and have kids either.

people obsessed with cishet ships: Why do you hate women!?? Why do you hate mothers? You're such a misogynist for saying women can't be soft and motherly. Why does every women have to be a lesbian???? Why are you pushing an agenda? I'm going to throw up, this is so gross. You pointing this out is bullying!!!! And YOU'RE transphobic for wanting a character to be a lesbian. People who like shipping straight characters need to come together in SOLIDARITY because of these MEAN gays.

[rainybearstudio]

Ah, Bo, living everyone’s dream…

Contemplating taking a fic and making a lil comic out of it 🤔 I already know which one I want to adapt but it’s so freaking long that I’m hesitant to start. 😂 maybe some day. What do y’all think??

rainybearstudio.com