#with so much capacity for long and dedicated character study based fics

[thepucegoose]

it’s fundamentally so funny to me that after a year of not finding anything as good as starsky and hutch to devote all thoughts/time/attention/love/affection to i ended up watching sports night like oh i get it you just want that traumatised adhd bisexual jewish new yorker with a dead close relative whose sudden and traumatic death he erroneously feels responsible for and who’s in love with his best friend the repressed minnesotan who is also in love back and they’ve had ten years as coworkers and best friends in a very intense and codependent partnership in a high pressure work environment and there’s so much repressed sexual tension and internalised homophobia and biphobia to process and work through as well as fraught and difficult relationships to masculinity further perpetuated by their jobs and sexualities and also if they were to be together and discovered they would lose their jobs and entire way of life in a very high profile fall from grace and this adds further tension and heartbreak to their relationship and their relationship is so messed up through this repression that it really has the capacity to fuck them and their relationship and their lives up and there’s big “it’s not gay if...” vibes and also the minnesotan was married to a somewhat cold and unsympathetic wife for a fair portion of these ten years but heaven knows he was in love with his best friend for this lol so who can blame her tbh and god they can be such jerks but their actions are so painfully understandable given the context of their situation and also there’s canonical basis for fics where they’re dads and also where they have complicated and difficult relationships to their own dads and their relationship together is so caught up in their jobs and this is Unhealthy but they can’t imagine not working together and their workplace is like a family with love and support and a very strong father figure boss who takes no shit but loves these boys and there are a lot of good excuses for roadtrips and crappy shared motel rooms and there’s some fun lampshading in the show where they do acknoweldge that their relationship could v easily be seen to be vaguelly gay lol and maybe one of them is deep in the repression and using heterosexual relationships to reaffirm his sense of identity in the face of his feelings for his partner and best friend and he’s earnest and sweet and so So dumb and maybe the other is more conscious of his feelings for the other and has resigned himself to long term pining and trying to distract himself by serially dating women and he struggles with his mental health and burnout and this all culminates in a big fucked up act of self sabotage where he hurts the other as bad as he can in a rash and impulsive but probably forseeable act that represents the undercurrent tensions in their relationship throughout the show and like, maybe they’ve been fucking this whole time but still persuing relationships with women or maybe they’ve always known what was between them but just recognised and understood that they couldn’t risk acting on it and maybe that’s never even said it’s just known and unacknowledged and left as a bittersweet thing that can never be or maybe they once did act on it ( in minnesota) and then agreed that it couldn’t happen again or maybe they know they’re in love but think it’s unrequited or maybe they haven’t even recognised it in themselves yet but like, whatever it is that’s happening it’s fraught and desperate and absolutely heartbreaking like wow okay guess i have a type lol

[vvitchering]

Did anyone ask me to write a whole essay about how Din’s creed and armor read as a metaphor for asexuality to me? No. Am I going to write an essay about that exact thing right now because I do this literally every time I find a new character I really like? Absolutely. 

(Disclaimer: I’m writing this based on my own feelings and experiences with being ace. Asexuality exists on a spectrum and not everyone experiences it the same way. I’ve chosen to interpret the character through the lens of my own asexuality. I in no way speak for all ace people, I’m just one nerd with a dusty English degree, a keyboard, and a hyperfixation)

So I started out just wanting to word vomit some character study stuff about Din because I want to eventually write fanfiction and I never feel comfortable just jumping in until I’ve thought long and hard about how I feel about and understand the characters involved. And then I got to thinking about how relationships are explored in The Mandalorian and something stuck out to me. The show never forces or even bothers to introduce romantic bonds as necessary to their main character’s development. Rather it chooses to focus on Din’s familial relationship with Grogu as the bond that saves Din from his loneliness and aimlessness. 

But I want to dig into that lack of romance a little bit and I want to do it through looking closer at Din as a character. What strikes me as interesting is he isn’t presented to us as the typical “lonely hero” archetype you’d see in Star Wars (or anything else, actually) He doesn’t seem to have much personal investment in his profession. He’s a bounty hunter because its a way to hunt beskar and a means of income for himself and his covert. That’s it. He doesn’t have any particular passion or interest in hunting and fighting, it just happens to be that, as a Mandalorian, he’s a trained warrior. Not a TON else you can do with that as your only skillset. 

We also establish early on that he’s a lot more sensitive and emotionally vulnerable than he lets on. He bonds with Grogu almost immediately. He doesn’t even hesitate to shoot IG-11 through the head when it threatens to kill the baby. This man saw an unattended infant in danger and said “it’s free real estate” and became a dad. 

So we KNOW he has an incredible capacity for compassion and affection almost from the get-go. And that’s reinforced time and time again throughout the show by his willingness to help literally anyone who needs it, regardless of the benefit to himself. So why don’t we ever see a romance?

It’s because he’s Mandalorian. More specifically, it’s because he’s the type of Mandalorian who vowed to live by a creed that prevents him from showing his face to any living being. On the surface, this could potentially cause issues with finding love and intimacy because it physically prevents him from being open with someone else. A relationship with him would mean accepting that you will never See the person behind the armor, and I can see that being uncomfortable for a lot of beings. 

If you dig some more into that, it comes down to there probably not being a ton of people out there willing to make the compromises Din would need to comfortable and happy. I believe he’s been burned by this exact situation in the past, judging from his interactions with Xi’an in The Prisoner. Presumably they had some sort of entanglement when they worked together in the past that ended in some bad blood. She belittles him for his dedication to his beliefs, embarrasses him, and plays into Mayfeld’s childish and invasive questions. 

We’re only ever given this as an example of a past attempt at some kind of relationship, and it ended, and ended badly, because he was unwilling to ignore his beliefs and boundaries for a partner who mocked him for both. 

So it’s really no wonder we get that amazing scene with Omera in Sanctuary. He’s clearly thought about staying with her, someone who has been kind to him and Grogu, and who could maybe come to truly love him. But even she still expects him to simply “pack away” his beliefs in favor of her companionship. The way his voice cracks and shakes, the way he so resignedly (but still so gently) grips her wrists to pull her away from taking his helmet off, that’s a man who had maybe dared to hope for a second that he’d found someone who would respect his choice to keep his face covered. It’s other things, too. It’s his dedication to his quest to both protect and reunite Grogu with his people, first and foremost, but there’s definitely some personal turmoil in that scene as well.

Conclusion: Din is someone who canonically struggles to form romantic/intimate relationships with others because of the creed he’s sworn and the armor he wears. He’s made attempts that have blown up in his face (Xi’an) and while he still allows himself to fall just a little bit for others when they’re kind to him, it’s always with the knowledge that it won’t work out because they see his boundaries as surmountable or conditional (Omera).

If that doesn’t read as an asexual experience, I don’t know what does. 

(I also want to talk about ship stuff now so if you’re not interested in me talking about Dincobb you can peace out! Otherwise, you made it this far, might as well keep listening to me ramble lmao)

This entire examination is also to work out why Din/Cobb works so well for me as a ship and it 100% has to do with how the fandom has interpreted and written Cobb in their fanfic. Overwhelmingly I have seen people write Cobb as incredibly understanding and accepting of Din’s choice to cover his face. He totally lacks the expectation that someday his affection will be enough for Din to forsake his creed, which is novel for Din. 

Here’s this person who not only takes the time to get to know him as a person, fight by his side, and trusts him implicitly, but he also doesn’t come with the usual stipulation that his love is conditional based on Din’s willingness to compromise his boundaries for him. I LOVE that one of the most popular tropes for this ship is Cobb willingly blindfolding himself so that Din is able to remove his helmet and relax around him without violating his beliefs. I LOVE that there are so many fics where Cobb cooks him dinner, understands that Din can’t eat next to him, and sits down on the other side of a closed door so they can still eat together. Cobb respects Din, respects his boundaries, and Din is able to pursue a more intimate connection with him because of that allowance and acceptance, and on his own terms.

As someone who has always struggled to find a relationship free from the expectation that I must somehow trade my identity and comfort for love, this ship just hits different, okay. 

[jojotier]

What do you think of tsurumi and his general appeal? I really like him as a villain and I admit that he's a charming character but the people who worship him and say he did nothing wrong (even as a joke), honestly make me very uncomfortable.. I mean he's so awful and manipulative and abusive, and seeing people completely dismiss this behavior really irks me

This is gonna be split into two sections: What I find appealing about Tsurumi as a fic writer, and why canon both appeals and sickens me, since it’s being misinterpretted so heavily

1. In Fanfiction and AUs

I like him better in aus, to be honest. He’s really goddamn fun to write and read. I think me and fizzyspines are the only ones writing him as a villain in fics, but by God is it fun to slowly build up the tension and the plans, slipping that little niggling feeling of, “what if he’s telling the truth? Should we as an audience trust him and doubt the main heroes?” It’s an exercise in persuasion- through Tsurumi, can I as an author persuade the audience that these fucked up means are justifiable, or hell, even morally correct, to the ends? (They never are.)

And of course, because I am stupidly fond of this bastard, despite how much I hate him, there are a few aus I have where he isn’t a villain at all- he’s just a wacky extra, going through intense therapy and occasionally popping in to say hi. Aus like the modern au with Tsukishima having a dog sees him as settled down and working through shit, slowly working his way back to being somewhat like he was when he took on the name Hasegawa, and in the two theatre aus I have/share, he’s a Shakespearean method actor who uses his experiences and brain trauma to breathe new life into his performances.

He does have a certain versatility to him if you take the time to work out his backstory in different aus and provide support systems which keep him from becoming violent or mad with power. The best way to differentiate a villain Tsurumi and a normal-dude-going-through-some-shit Tsurumi is the true power that they hold- if he’s in any military position or guard post, he’s likely to become powerhungry, because he has the taste of holding power over soldiers/civilians/prisoners/etc. If he’s, say, just some actor who is dedicated to his craft and rose solely on his merits, he doesn’t really have a need for that power, and can thus be somewhat tamer.

2. Overall and In Canon: the Problem with Trying To Excuse Tsurumi’s Behavior

Honestly, Tsurumi is… an interesting case for me- mostly because, in most other respects, I positively love the 7th Division and the characters within. Everyone knows my stance on Koito and Tsukishima already (namely, I love them), but people tend to be a bit surprised when I say I love Nikaidou and Usami too, and Edogai (I’ve made peace with it) as well. Even Maeyama, as short-lived as he was, lives on as the extra of my heart. I even like Tsurumi as a character on his own, because he’s a Damn Good Villain.

But by God do I hate Tsurumi-and-the-7th. Especially in canon.

You’re absolutely right about that abusive, manipulative behavior, and not only does it irk me when people completely gloss over that fact- it irks me when people act as if Tsurumi is Only That Way because of his brain injury. Newsflash, that’s not how brain damage works! Especially not frontal lobe damage! I’ve been studying this stuff for a while in school, and while it is possible for emotionality to change drastically as a result of damage, so many parts of the brain deal in emotionality that damaging just the frontal lobes isn’t usually enough.

Tsurumi shows far too much capacity for differentiating between right and wrong, is what I’m saying. It’s fairly obvious that he has a sense of what different outcomes will yield, and indeed, still has a goal that he wants to work towards. It’s important to recognize that the brain damage didn’t change his goals, and the reason why he acts the way that he acts is because he still has a lot of the personality that he had before the brain injury- he just has far, far less inhibition and more impulsiveness. 

It’s also the reason why, despite Sugimoto going into psychotic breaks, he still generally comes back to his sweet, fun self. And as much as I love Tsukishima, I know that his warning to not become like Tsurumi isn’t the reason Sugimoto is restraining himself. The reason is that, in the end, Sugimoto’s original personality remains. Likewise with Tsurumi- it’s just that Tsurumi’s base personality is that of a piece of shit. The way Tsurumi treats his men, like dogs he’s trained, pisses me off so so much, you have no idea.

And we know damn well that Tsurumi has always been up to this manipulative shit- after all, he took Tsukishima off of death row and likely still holds that little fact over his head. He lied about Igogusa being alive for 9 years- and instead of, say, finding anyone else to work with him as translators (as I’m sure there were MANY available in the army) and setting Tsukishima free with perhaps the offer of helping him fake his death to give him a new shot at life (unsure of whether Tsukishima would take the deal, but if Tsurumi ever offered it, it would have been shown by now) he more or less traps Tsukishima with him. 

And then, right as he’s about to be confronted and found out, he uses the fact that they’re caught in an explosion to his advantage as an “aha, have you now” moment- “I’ve saved you, you need me,”, that sort of message. And that proves that he’s been premeditating his colonizing of Hokkaido for a long, long time.

As for his appeal, I have to give credit where credit’s due- the guy is a master planner and a damn fun villain, and the way he plays off of other characters is great. He’s a fascinating character, because in a lot of ways, when he’s shown alone, he isn’t nearly as interesting- like when he’s standing over the floor of skins before Karafuto arc. It really does speak to how much of his behavior around others is calculated to be just so. However, to dismiss all of these parts, or worse- to say that he’s actively helping all the men he comes across- is to deny him a great part of his character, and glorify him into being something he’s not. Then, all that does is suck the life out of any character that’s even standing next to him, and ignoring all the wrong shit he does. 

Moreover than all of that… it’s incredibly dangerous thinking. It both demonizes those with brain trauma and strips them of their responsibility in equal measure- by saying that Tsurumi is just the way he is “”because of his injury!!! dont be so ableist and mean >:(” is to say that all people who have parts of their frontal lobes removed are going to become violent, genocidal sociopaths manipulating any person that may even vaguely constitute a loved one. 

To say that it’s because of his injury also denies that Tsurumi is a cold, calculating individual, and excuses all his shitty behavior as “oh, well, he just doesn’t know how to function properly!! It’s Alright, he Cares, In His Own Way”. No he does not. And the idea that “oh, he doesn’t know how to function properly” is a piss poor argument in the first place- just because someone doesn’t know how to act (or “make friends” or whatever- I’ve seen this argument used with Ogata too) does not excuse NOR EXPLAIN FULLY the behavior that they exhibit. If these characters do not have the capacity to act and function in ways that don’t hurt people, and if they are not reaching out for help in some way and are not trying to actively better themselves, then they have NO BUSINESS being around anyone.

And let’s face it- Tsurumi loves being the way he is. He’s not changing for shit.

tl;dr: Interesting character, too bad people use his brain trauma as an excuse for the atrocities he commits when the trauma isn’t what ultimately causes him to do abusive, manipulative shit. Tsurumi’s a piece of shit, but he’s a fun piece of shit