#yes this is about the Mandalorian season 3

[corazondebeskar]

besties I am NOT okay

[itsagrimm]

mandalorians really see the most dangerous, absurd animal to have around and go

💕That's my new pet. 💕

[cienie-isengardu]

Jango Fett: Open Seasons, issue #1

Hey, kid.

We'll make sure the boy gets home.

Answer me, or your kid will be wearing your brains.

Jango Fett: Open Seasons, issue #3

I'm right here, Mandalorian!

Send the Jedi to Jango's camp [...]

Jango Fett: Open Seasons, issue #4

Fett?!

Hope is overrated, boy.

You're tough, Fett. And determined.

Feeling queasy, Jango? [...]

[indistinctchatt3r]

[gaeasun]

That episode actually scared me a bit.

Because it really shows how easy it is to be gaslit.

A lot of characters said in the episode the New Republic wasn’t affecting them much differently than the Empire. Did they feel the same earlier? When the Republic became the Empire? Did they even care as long as they weren’t the ones being noticed or affected by empirical tyranny?

What the Empire and the New Republic did have in common is they were big. Too big. A trillion people on Coruscant alone, and Dr. Pershing was only one person. His HR officer was a droid, which adds to the facelessness of the New Republic because even thought they (we assume as the audience) actually care about the people they cannot take care of them all.

There’s only one person who really talks to Dr. Pershing. And she convinces him to cross tiny lines without even realizing he’s done so. And once each line is crossed it’s easier for him to cross the next one in service of a larger goal. It’s just a box of biscuits. It’s just a train ride. It’s just going a little outside the area. It’s just taking some equipment no one else is using.

And then by the time he realizes what’s going on, it’s too late. It’s too late for Dr. Pershing. Because he’s not the only one who’s crossing the little lines in service of a larger goal.

But the thing for me is that I could easily see this happening the other way around. A scientist in the Empire, not knowing exactly what he’s doing but knowing he could be doing actual good. A secret rebel trying to convince someone to engage in little rebellions of his own.

How do you know who to trust?

[xxlumos]

This is going to be an unpopular post probably, hate post even, according to some of you. Yes I am a hater now.

Spoilers, kinda, for the Mandalorian season 3.

I kind of disliked the first episode of the new season. There I said it.

Alright, it is the first episode and sets the tone and story for the rest of the season. But after knowing the other two first episodes, this one falls flat, in. my. opinion. Remember that before you come for me.

And by that I mean the story, the dialogue, the setting, the colors, the cgi … it all feels so … “disneyfied”.

I know mando was always about side quests, and how that plot leads to another, but this episode had like no depth? “Oh I have to go there to get that? Alright!”. Also, I’m sorry, but the cliche catchphrases “Never trust a pirate” made my eyes roll. And I know we love fan service, trust me I do too, but I can’t hear “This is the way” anymore.

I know it’s a “kids show”, and the mouse tries to make merch off of everything, but knowing how good season one and two were, I have to say I am disappointed. Still gonna watch the whole season though.

[avarkriss]

Out of context spoilers below:

[bingusoclock]

episode 22 spoilers!

*rant ahead, tread carefully*

Listen, listen, listen

I said last week that I’m tired of Bo-katan being the focus of this season. It doesn’t make sense, story-wise, for her to be the main focus.

Din’s character is so special because he’s walked many paths, interacted with so many people and sought to protect what he cared about. He’s so fucking mandalorian that it hurts. He’s struggling with the idea of leadership, but he’s more than capble of leading people. (hestiant leaders do be some of the more capable ones uwu)

Bo-Katan, I feel, makes an okay leader. She wants to reclaim mandalore and shit but yknow what? That’s not what mandalorians need. They need a sense of unity, sure, and reclaiming mandalore would do that-- at the cost of a lot of lives. I feel like her arc of loss and reclaimation just goes to show she didn’t learn anything except being a little more tolerant. (I could be reading this wrong, though.)

Also, I feel like they’ve nerfed Din? Like, my metal man kicked ass in the previous seasons. He took down everyone in the prison break episode through wit and skill. He’s incredibly capable and has won maybe one fight this entire season. I personally feel that he’s being downplayed for the sake of bettering Bo. (That is absolutely not to say she’s not badass in her own right). 

I feel like the intention was to have Din grow into someone who could be capable of wielding the darksaber. Why give it to him in the first place? Why show him not being able to wield it, if not to give him development? Sure, there’s still a few epsiodes in this series, but I don’t feel like he’s going to have that kind of development then. I think now, the intention is to have Bo become the mandalore and reunite the mandalorians and yada yada. 

I don’t know how to feel about that decision, if I’m going to be honest. I do think the vantage point of her walking both worlds is a valid arguement to her being the next mandalore. But at the same time, I really enjoy the perspective that Din has to offer as a mandalore. Someone who cares deeply for their culture, foundling, (who, might I add, is force-senstive, binding two opposing cultures the jedi and mandalorians), and represents what it is to be mandalorian. (Not born, but adopted into the culture.)

[ragnarssons]

i love being chill in my little corner of the internet. like i honestly do not care about how filoni and favreau are gonna re-connect s3 to s2 when they reunited grogu and din on tbobf... i just honestly do not care, i just want to see them again.

[elliewillicms]

losing the idgaf war on the mandalorian

[pavloving]

mando thoughts part 2

[vertiska]

Everyday i'm more and more convinced that some star wars "fans" don't even like star wars. Recently I went to youtube to look for videos about The Acolyte bc i've been enjoying it so far. Only videos I could find had some sort of "Disney ruined Star Wars" or "The Acolyte is a total disaster" and I'm just tired. Every time I'm trying to enjoy star wars content there's some toxic "fanboy" hating on everything that I enjoy in the newer content and saying that if I like it I'm worse of a fan. I know that some shows have their problems but it's sooooo much better to watch the content without someone screaming in my ear how bad it is. Yes, most of my favourite characters are women, I enjoy The Acolyte, Mandalorian season 3, Ahsoka series, and even quite enjoy the sequels and yes I have my own opinions on them but I'm not gonna harass the actors who worked on them unlike some people... Anyways have a nice day/night and enjoy star wars however you want.

May the force be with you🫡

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

The more I think about it, the more I’m starting to get what Favreau and Filoni are doing with season 3 of Mando. It feels like they’re going for the angle that Din and Bo need each other in order to unite the Mandalorians. Bo can be the “face” since she has the name recognition, the Mythosaur knowledge, and the blessing of the Armorer. Din can be the “tool” since he wields the Darksaber and he is a great symbol of what Mandalorian unification could look like. Yes, he’s extremely devout, but he truly believes in the Way and it’s been shown that he can rally the Mandalorians behind him, like Paz Viszla agreeing to fight for him despite their animosity.

But neither of them can unite the Mandalorians on their own. Bo doesn’t have the Darksaber and she doesn’t inspire as much loyalty as Din can (her people bounced after she lost the Darksaber). Din doesn’t have the leadership skills or the desire to even be the leader. However, working together, just imagine how much they can accomplish. I think that’s why the show is really emphasizing their partnership. Sure, you can also read into this from a romantic angle which a lot of people are doing, but that doesn’t necessarily take away from the main point that Din and Bo need each other to unite their people.

I think you can also see this in how Din and Bo interact with each other. Bo respects Din since she sees him as a “true” Mandalorian due to his devotion to the Way and she also sees him as a good person based on his dedication to Grogu and the Watch. Din respects Bo as a leader and an ally since he came to her for help when it came to exploring Mandalore, and he even offered the Darksaber to her without hesitation.

The story angle is good. My problem is that Favreau and Filoni are padding the season out with random subplots and detours that it feels like Din and Bo aren’t getting enough focus, when their partnership IS the main point of the season.

[itberice]

People are being too hard on The Mandalorian Season 3

Season 2 wrapped up the story on which the show was built. Having Din win the Darksaber was a way to establish the new direction of the show. Din winning the Darksaber was hugely important to his character. He learned so much about the Mandalorians and his culture after he got it. That was major for him.

Yes, Season 3 has spent time with other characters to build a new world. The writers needed time to put the pieces into place and to build up new conflict.

But it's because of Din's journey and actions that the Mandalorians are all coming together. It's because of his friendship with Greef Karga that they have a home. It's through his actions that Bo-Katan is on the path of becoming the Mand'alor. This is coming together because of him. He is a hero and his importance does not rely on holding the Darksaber.

The Armorer believes that Bo-Katan will be responsible for uniting the Mandalorians. Din's faith in the Armorer has never wavered, and so he knows that Bo-Katan will need the Darksaber. Of course, Din and Bo-Katan don't want to fight each other so he found another way. (And I could write a whole essay about how he has positively influenced Bo-Katan and helped her into the position to be a great leader).

He doesn't need the Darksaber to be a hero. He has never wanted to lead and be the one to which everyone looks. But he is right next to Bo-Katan. Working with her to unite everyone and create something new for the Mandalorians.

[djarins-cyare]

So it’s been a year…

One year since Disney released episode 1 season 3 of The Mandalorian

One year since I published chapter 1 of Be-All And Endor

I don’t really remember much of the first 20 weeks of that year, just that it was a flurry of proofreading and finalising and uploading (the hard parts) and comment reading and new friend making and massively appreciating (the wonderful parts).

Proofing and publishing 2 chapters a week with average lengths of around 10k words was exhausting. But for the first 8 of those weeks I had Din Djarin on the screen (intermittently *ahem* but this isn’t a post about the quality of s3) and for the rest of the year I had my readers leaving comments and sending messages, and it was… overwhelmingly the best year of my life.

I mean that. The best year. Ever. Because of you. Any of you, all of you, if you’ve ever even just clicked on my fic and given it chance, you’ve raised the hits on it. Even seeing that metric tick up has made me so thankful.

Because I didn’t think I could write. I always wanted to be an author but never believed in myself.

I did an English degree with writing in mind, but told myself nobody ever does anything with an English degree. I took creative writing modules, and when the published author who ran the class gave me scathing feedback, my dream fully died. I got an okay grade, hardly anything to be proud of, and I graduated and went to work in another industry.

I suffered from clinical depression.

One day many years later, I found a favourite author online and messaged him to ask when his fourth novel in a series was being published, and (emboldened by the anonymity of being online) cheekily offered to proofread it for him. Except he took me seriously and sent me the prologue to see what I could do. Like, for a real book you can buy on Amazon. After feeling sick for two whole days I went all Autistic Obsession on it and sent him back the most thoroughly proofed bit of writing anyone had ever seen. And I got the job. (I say ‘job’, I’d volunteered for free in exchange for the privilege of reading it in advance, so I can only ever call it semi-professional since I didn’t earn from it).

This, amongst other things, lifted me from my depression. I came off the pills and felt happier, more creative. Once the proofing was completed, the author encouraged me to write my own stuff, but whilst I’d gained some confidence… my brain was empty. I had no clamouring stories to get down on the page, no gems ready to polish.

Then in summer 2021, a friend sat me down and showed me the first 3 episodes of the Mandalorian. And my brain chemistry was instantly altered. I binge-watched the first two seasons, by the end of which I was unequivocally in love with Din Djarin, and then I binge-watched them again.

Around that time, I moved to a different country. Well, Wales is still the UK, but it’s a different country to England, and I was now 170 miles away from my friends. I went because as a single woman on a middling salary, London is too expensive to live in and having rid myself of an overbearing long term relationship, I was NOT keen to get into another one just to pay the bills. The pandemic meant I could work remotely, so I upped sticks and moved to Cardiff, resolving to visit my office in London (and my friends) once a month. It’s 2 hours by train, totally doable.

So what to do with all the spare time I suddenly had?

By Easter 2022 I’d started writing. 9 months later (yes, it’s my actual baby), Be-All And Endor was complete and I began publishing alongside season 3’s release.

Now… it has over 62.k views and 1.2k kudos 🥹🤯

Did I think it would be this popular? No way. I can’t even believe it now. I still see SO much wrong with it, which is why I’m still proofreading and editing it.

A professional proofread/edit takes a long time, and if you’re wondering what I’m doing to it, it involves the following:

Checking for things like clichés, non-inclusive language

Checking all adverbs to see if a better word can be used (e.g. ‘bellows’ instead of ‘shouts loudly’… adverbs usually end in -ly and it’s not good to overuse them)

Rephrasing any passive sentences (simply put: ‘the ship is flown by Din’ is passive; ‘Din flies the ship’ is active)

Reducing average sentence length (shorter sentences are easier to read)

Going through every single damn polysyllabic word (e.g. anything that has more than 3-syllables) and seeing if a shorter synonym can be found (this helps the rhythm, as too many long words slows things down and can make readers stumble… and I use them a lot 😖)

Checking the 50 most frequently used words and seeing if I can find synonyms for those (helps give more variety in the language)

Ensuring Din’s name isn’t overused or underused, and adding epithets (e.g. ‘the hunter’ or ‘your Mandalorian’) where it’s overused but it’s too confusing to just say ‘he’/‘him’

These are the big things, but there’s more too - I’m streamlining decisions I made to use certain phrasings throughout; tweaking Din’s word choice here and there to ensure his voice is captured the best way possible; revamping some of the photos. And with all the tiny tweaks, it’s slowly padding things out too… when publishing was done it was 393k, now it’s 403k, although it’s not extra content as such, just better described.

I’m up to chapter 13 so far, and I’ll probably be doing this for another 2 years to get through all 40, because (a) I want to write other things too so that slows down the proofing, and (b) I so badly want to be proud of this project… everyone’s telling me I should be, and I am in a way… but it’s more gratitude to others than pride in myself… and I feel like if I get this proofing done and finally have a story I’m truly happy with, I can at last let myself be proud of what I achieved here.

I confess, I’m so envious of those who can post something without obsessing over it. I know it’s a facet of my autism, and I’ve long since accepted that my neurodivergent brain will not let me be cool about things other people are cool about. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that I should turn it to my advantage, so okay… I’m gonna make this fic the same quality as a published book on your bookshelf. And meanwhile I’m gonna enjoy and love all the fics that people can write and publish with far greater speed than I can, because the greatest thing about this fandom is that every contribution is worthy of appreciation, no matter the author’s experience or writing method. Quality fic isn’t synonymous with proofreading, and I hope it’s clear that I’m describing my obsession with perfecting my own writing, not other people’s. I’ve read so many amazing authors on here, and I want them all to know how much I love their work (any recs are from the bottom of my heart).

So anyway, this long and rambling post has turned into something unintended… I guess you now have some insight into my mind and the origins of Be-All And Endor and the future of it. Not what I meant to do, but I’ll leave it in for context.

Because the real reason I started writing this diatribe was because I wanted to express my true and undying gratitude to everyone who has ever read, commented, or left kudos on my fic over on AO3, and/or messaged me, followed me, interacted with me, or reblogged my masterlist here on tumblr 🧡💚

I know I am insanely lucky to have received the level of support I have, and I don’t take that for granted at all. I want to give back to this fandom, and I love reading and reccing other people’s fics, meeting new moots, and hopefully soon I’ll be publishing new fics for you all to read too. Fresh material is percolating, so it won’t be too long now.

So thank you to everyone who reads this post, you’re the absolute best and I love you more than I have the vocabulary to describe. Please accept a grateful forehead kiss instead 💋

[jedi-enthusiast]

Ok, I know that I already reblogged @antianakin's post about why Anakin didn't need to murder an entire Tusken village because 2-3 of them killed his mom (original post here), but I just feel the need to talk about one of the most damning examples of why Anakin has no excuse for that response.

Post Order 66 Jedi/Clone interactions.

Let's just say, for the sake of the argument, that the entirety of the Tusken village--including the literal babies and children--all took part in the torture/murder of Shimi Skywalker. No exceptions.

Anakin's response to his mother's death is to murder everyone with no remorse or a second thought. Even when he confesses what he did to Padme, the RotS novel clearly shows that he doesn't actually feel bad about what he did. Most of his worry is about what others will think of him and, ironically, about how he's a "good Jedi" that should be better than this.

Now let's move on...

Every clone took part in Order 66 in some way.*

The clones murdered every single Jedi they could in cold blood (albeit without a choice), including the children, with only a miniscule few survivors. How many do we canonically have right now that didn't get captured and become Inquisitors? Obi-Wan, Quinlan, Cal, Caleb/Kanan, and Gungi are all I can think of at the moment.** That's 5 Jedi, out of thousands, that survived--and that's not even mentioning the destruction of their places of worship/cultural artifacts and the shitty propaganda spread about their culture.

* I'm not including the Bad Batch because, my own opinions about the show/characters/writing/etc. aside, we can all agree that the only reason their chips didn't activate was because they're Filoni's beloved OCs and he has a habit of trying to make his OCs "special" in some way.

** I'm not including Ahsoka in this because, like she says repeatedly as of Season 7 of TCW onward, she isn't a Jedi and doesn't see herself as such--and for the same reason I'm not including Grogu, since he's like...a Mandalorian apprentice now and not technically a Jedi. I'm also not including Luminara because she eventually gets captured and killed pretty early on and I'm trying to only include Jedi that are alive for a significant amount of time in the Imperial Era.

So, how do the Jedi treat the clones after they murder their entire family and destroy their culture? Let's look!

-----

Example One:

Obi-Wan Kenobi never learns about the inhibitor chips, as of current canon. He is 100% under the impression that Cody and the 212th (as well as all of the other clones) just up and betrayed him and the Order for no reason. He also watched the security tapes that, yes, showed Anakin killing children, but also would have shown the clones killing Jedi as well.

In the Kenobi show he runs into a clone veteran of the 501st--a veteran who, in all likelihood, probably stormed the Temple and was a part of its destruction.

Does he spit in the clone's face? Call him a murderer? Kill or harm him in any way?

Nope!

He gives the veteran some of his credits, even though it's made a point in the show that Obi-Wan is now working with limited funds and is very poor at this point in time. He doesn't have credits to spare and he is supposed to be looking for Leia, but he takes a moment to give some to someone who took part in the genocide of his people.

He also routinely thinks about Cody and the 212th in the comics! He remembers them fondly and still connects Cody to the feeling of hope, even though they tried to kill him! Even though he has no idea that they never wanted to!

-----

Example Two:

Kanan Jarrus/Caleb Dume knows about the inhibitor chips, but in Rebels it's made very clear that he thinks that it's just something the clones made up so that they didn't have to take responsibility for their actions.

In Rebels, Ahsoka makes the (objectively bad) decision to send Kanan out to find her "old friends" to help the rebellion.*** Kanan then finds out that her "old friends" are three clones, only after he gets there and sees them. He reacts in a panic and ignites his saber, clearly freaking out a bit.

*** I'll probably expand on this later, because I have a lot of opinions on this particular decision of hers, but anyway-

Does he try to hurt and/or kill them? Do they have to fight him off? Does he even lunge in their direction or deflect Wolffe's blaster bolt at him?

Again, nope!

He steps in front of Ezra in a defensive position and, when shot at by Wolffe, deflects the bolt into their ship. Then, when Ezra steps in and says that Ahsoka said to trust them, Kanan de-ignites his saber and they all have a conversation about them helping in the rebellion--even though Kanan clearly doesn't trust them at all and is dealing with his PTSD while being there. Eventually he even comes to get along with/trust Rex, albeit in later episodes.

-----

Example Three:

Gungi, in the Bad Batch, meets up with the Batch and immediately recognizes them as clones. Now, we don't know his opinion on them and their betrayal because it's never really expressed, but it's safe to assume that he has no idea about the chips (at least, until Tech tells him) and it's clear that he's very scared at that point in time.

What does he do?

He hides in the corner of the ship and is wary about the food they offer to him.

That's literally it.

And then later in the episode he works together with TBB and trusts them enough to let them help defend his village.

-----

So, even with most of the Jedi either having no idea about the chips or likely doubting that story, we're shown over and over again that the Jedi never seek revenge against the clones or try to kill them after Order 66. Even though their lives were ruined by what the clones did/took part in, they're never shown to be actively trying to cause them harm.

So there is literally no way you could possibly justify Anakin killing an entire village of Tuskens because of his mother's death, when--in arguably the same/a worse situation--the Jedi are actively shown not doing that.