#dr-mando-on-call

[thirstworldproblemss]

No Mando Monday today? 😢

Uh... 😅🤦‍♀️

Well, there was supposed to be...... but I appear to have accidentally queued it up to start at 10pm instead of 10am! Oops.

Sorry, anon friend! Sorry, folks! 🙈

Thank you for trying to remind me, 'nonny, but unfortunately I've been busy with other things today and didn't check in with tumblr until just now. At this point, I think it's a bit late to start 10 hours of mando content (and 10pm is definitely too late!), so I guess we'll have Mando Tuesday this week instead! See you tomorrow!

🧡 twp

[lurkingshan]

A Time Called You: A Great Reminder to Go Watch Someday or One Day 

This past weekend Netflix dropped a new kdrama called A Time Called You in its entirety, and I became particularly interested in watching it as soon as I realized what it was: the Korean remake of Someday or One Day I knew had been in the works for awhile. If you’re not familiar, Someday or One Day (SOOD) is a beloved 2019 Taiwanese drama that is widely considered to be among the best dramas the country has ever produced (there is also a 2022 film version of the story, but that’s less relevant to this post). Now, I love Korean dramas, and I know that countries remaking each other’s best shit is very common in the Asian media landscape, but I couldn’t help but feel protective of the original work and a bit resentful of the choice to adapt something that was so original and unique and specific and put that generic kdrama sheen on it. Taiwan has a small film industry, and this is one of its jewels. We didn’t need Korea’s take on it.

And having watched the adaptation in full now, I am feeling pretty justified in that initial feeling. Let me just say upfront: A Time Called You (ATCY) is a perfectly good drama with a solid cast and competent storytelling. Had I seen it absent the knowledge of what it was adapting, I probably would have liked it a lot. But I have already seen and loved Someday or One Day, so I feel compelled to break down why it is the better version of this tale, both for my fellow SOOD devotees who are wondering how this adaptation stacks up and for folks who have only seen the kdrama in the hopes that you’ll decide to watch the original. As usual, I did the most, so reader be advised that this is long (tagging @troubled-mind as promised and @smittenskitten because I saw you were looking for a comparison of the two dramas). TL; DR: if you liked ATCY, or have seen neither version and are wondering which to watch: go find Someday or One Day, because it’s an overall superior and more satisfying execution of the same story.

The Vibe

Let’s start here because it’s the most obvious and immediately striking thing as someone who has seen both versions. SOOD has a bit of a rough and unpolished feel, which makes it feel more grounded in reality (important when you are getting into fantasy elements like time travel but you still want the characters to feel like real people). We open our story in 1998 in a record shop with a young girl playing Last Dance by Wu Bai and China Blue, a 1996 mando pop rock ballad, and thus setting the tone—this will be a somewhat raw and bittersweet story about grief and hurt and longing that will invite us to wallow in our feelings. And that melancholic vibe stays throughout the drama, even in the explicitly happy scenes, because you are always aware that the joy you are seeing has already been lost. 

By contrast, ATCY feels… emotionally flat. Don’t get me wrong, it is a very faithful adaptation. The early episodes are practically a shot for shot remake of the original drama. But it’s too polished, too shiny. The filmmaking is bog standard kdrama fare; everything is soft focus and warmly lit and too beautiful and consequently nothing feels real. It feels right in line with the standard aesthetics of recent mainstream Korean dramas, and that choice undermines the emotional weight and grit of this story.

A great example of this can be seen in the way the two dramas handle the iconic scene where our female lead runs in the rain, looking back over her shoulder to smile in delight at the male lead before continuing on her way. This is a moment of realization for him about his feelings for her—one he will later immortalize in a painting that becomes part of the mystery of the past she is trying to unravel. In Someday or One Day, this scene takes place on a regular street, in the utterly mundane surroundings of their everyday lives as they walk home, and she runs down the middle of the road as puddles gather in the uneven pavement; in A Time Called Love, they are in a picturesque park for this scene, surrounded by green and encased within a grove of giant trees, and she runs right down the middle of a tree lane that looks like it came straight out of a fairytale. One story is very much about a love grounded in a reality we can recognize; the other is pure fantasy romance.

The Music 

I already mentioned the song that anchors the Taiwanese drama above. Last Dance is hugely important to the story, both thematically and as a plot device, and in its ability to set the mood and tone of the drama. 

The Korean remake similarly uses a real 1996 ballad as its main song and time travel mechanism: With My Tears by Seo Ji Won. And, uh, the vibe is a bit different. 

Discerning listeners might recognize this as one of the many classic love ballads performed by our favorite doctors by day, rock stars by night over on Hospital Playlist. It’s a perfectly fine song. But it sets quite a different tone for our story, doesn’t it? It also is meant to be a song that a teenage boy is hankering to listen to on cassette, and listen, I wasn’t living in Korea in 1996. I have no idea how culturally accurate that may be. I’m sure there were in fact baby Lee Ik Juns running around trying to get their hands on this cheesy love song. But the edgier sound of Last Dance definitely sounds more in line with something the teenage male lead would listen to and what the music is meant to convey. And frankly, since we hear this song about 30 times in the drama, it matters that Last Dance is just an objectively better song. 

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, because beyond the classic song each version chose to use as its centerpiece, there is also a stark difference in the quality and tone of each drama’s OSTs. Here is a compilation of the Someday or One Day tracks, including the utterly gorgeous main theme by Shi Shi. The music is hugely important in the Taiwanese drama and is used to set the mood as well as emphasize its themes, and the tracks feel specific to this story.

And here is a compilation of A Time Called You OSTs.

If you’re familiar with kdrama OSTs, you will recognize most of the artists on here, as well as some new covers of old songs. And again, the vibes are quite different. Whereas SOOD was very intentional and specific in its music choices, ATCY just sounds like every other kdrama. There is nothing on this tracklist that stands out or evokes the kind of feeling that the SOOD tracks do.

The Main Couple

The name and timeline situation in this show makes this section unnecessarily difficult, so let me just make a little reference sheet here: 

Someday or One Day

Alice Ke plays Yu Xuan (2019) and Yun Ru (1998)

Greg Hsu plays Quan Sheng (2019) and Zi Wei (1998)

A Time Called You

Jeon Yeo Been plays Jun Hee (2023) and Min Yu (1998)

Ahn Hyo Seop plays Yeun Jun (2023) and Si Heon (1998)

All of the actors here are seasoned and very good at their jobs, so I am not casting shade on any of them—they are executing their performances based on writing and directorial choices. But I cannot deny that the Taiwanese version of these characters are more compelling all around. In SOOD, the main characters have a real spark; despite the melancholic undertone of the story, there are moments of genuine joy and when they connect with each other, you feel why this bond is strong enough for them to find each other through time and despite all the trauma they endure. In ATCY, however, the characterizations are muted.

This is most evident in the difference between Quan Sheng/Zi Wei and Yeon Jun/Si Heon. Greg Hsu plays Zi Wei as magnetic, playful, mischievous, utterly lovable, and very intense about his feelings for his lady. He has a real joie de vivre about him that clearly brightens up Yu Xuan’s life considerably, and his devotion to her is not just shown, but deeply felt. Experiencing their memories, you understand immediately why Yu Xuan can’t move on from his death; he was the joyful, relaxed counterpoint to her more ambitious and serious personality. Si Heon, though? He is a nice dude and a generous partner and he is very good looking. But he doesn’t have the playfulness or the intensity that his Taiwanese counterpart does. His personality is just more moderate all around. One great example of this: upon discovering that he has traveled forward into the body of the person that would become Yu Xuan/Jun Hee’s boyfriend, Zi Wei (in Quan Sheng’s body now, are you still with me?) actively decides to find her, love her, and try to solve this time loop quagmire they are in; Si Heon (in Yeon Jun’s body) waits for a moment of fate to give him a sign, and only makes the decision to pursue Jun Hee after running into her by coincidence.

Similarly, Jun Hee is not quite as spunky and sassy as Yu Xuan and Min Yu is not as dark and awkward as Yun Ru; when Jun Hee travels to the past and takes up residence in Min Yu’s body, the differences between the two characters she is playing are not as evident. In SOOD, I could tell at a glance who is in Yun Ru’s body; in ATCY I need more context to be sure. Where Yun Ru had more of an edge, Min Yu simply reads very shy. It’s not as compelling. One scene that really stands out as an example of this: when Yun Ru is pretending to be Yu Xuan in 1998 and looks in the mirror to practice smiling, it looks downright creepy and sinister; when Min Yu is masquerading as Jun Hee and looks at herself in the mirror, she just looks awed and happy, if a bit awkward. It’s subtle, but it changes the way you feel about the characters. 

The difference in Jun Hee and Yeon Jun’s characterization also affects the couple chemistry, which is just not nearly as strong in ATCY. The characters are more muted and thus the expected sparks are more like smoldering embers. The relationship feels cozy and warm and nurturing, but it doesn’t feel vital. It doesn’t feel like the kind of relationship you would fight through time or break the rules of the universe to return to. I recall gasping or crying or laughing out loud throughout SOOD because I was constantly taken aback by Greg Hsu’s arresting presence and the chemistry he and Alice Ke generated was just emotionally riveting. When Yu Xuan told Zi Wei (as Quan Sheng) that they were officially together, that man literally jumped for joy and shouted out his love for her; Si Heon (as Yeon Jun) reacts to the same moment with a quiet smile and a hug. When Zi Wei saw Yu Xuan in Yun Ru’s body again in the finale, he knew instantly that it was her and the smile overtook his face as he reached for her; Si Heon initially called Min Ju’s name before getting closer and taking several beats to realize it was Jun Hee (ruining this iconic moment is perhaps this remake’s greatest sin against romance, my god). 

Everything between the couple in SOOD was just more, both in happiness and in despair. I liked Jun Hee and Si Heon, and Ahn Hyo Seop and Jeon Yeo Been are very competent actors whose performances I have loved in other dramas, but they didn’t achieve that level of chemistry here, the writing and directing choices worked against them, and I didn’t feel that same desperation for them to figure this out that I did with Yu Xuan and Zi Wei. 

The Story 

The Korean version is a very faithful adaptation overall (I haven’t mentioned Jun Jie and In Gyuk because his character and story is more consistent across the two shows), but does make some small tweaks to the story, some of which seem to be out of necessity due to a shorter run time (one episode and a couple hours total less than the Taiwanese original) and some just… because? The shorter amount of story time does lead to them having to cut corners on some aspects of the mythology and time travel lore, making it all a bit less clear for folks who don’t already understand what’s going on, and they put in a few nods to typical kdrama tropes like amusement park dates and hand of fate stuff that we really didn’t need—they are already trapped in a time loop together, we get it!

ATCY also messed with the timelines and ages for reasons I don’t really understand and that don’t really track. In SOOD, Zi Wei traveled forward from 2002 to Quan Sheng’s body in 2010, met Yu Xuan, and then died in 2018. In ATCY, Si Heon traveled forward from 2002 only to 2007 and did not die until 2022—but the relationship dynamics are all the same. It made sense for a young couple who had been together about 7 years and who were in their mid-20s to be having the kind of relationship problems they did—fighting about prioritizing careers and time abroad and whether it was time to get married. But a couple who has been together nearly 15 years? Who are in their mid-30s? They would have already been married probably and had a couple kids to boot. The choice to change the timeline like this had me scratching my head and accomplished nothing for the story. 

But neither of those things are the change to the story that is weighing on me most. That occurs in a very small and brief backstory for the real Yeon Jun, where the drama introduces an original character who has no counterpart in SOOD: Tae Ha. 

In SOOD, the real Quan Sheng is a closeted gay teenager who meets a tragic end: he confesses to his crush, gets brutally rejected, then gets bullied when the crush tells others about his sexuality, and ultimately decides to walk into the sea in an attempt to end his life, a choice that leaves his body in a coma until Zi Wei’s consciousness takes it over. In ATCY, this backstory changes and Rowoon is brought in for a brief but impactful cameo as Tae Ha, Yeon Jun’s cram school friend. We see that the two have mutual feelings for each other but are both struggling to confess. One day as they are driving together, they finally explicitly acknowledge their feelings, holding hands and smiling at one another—and then immediately get hit by a Truck of Doom (easily one of the most tired kdrama tropes), Tae Ha dying on impact and Yeon Jun ending up in a coma with Si Heon’s consciousness eventually taking over his body like in the original story. 

Now on first glance, you might be inclined to give the show some credit for including a new gay character and giving the original Yeon Jun a happier experience with his crush. Explicit gay representation? In a mainstream kdrama? Still very rare and a big deal if done right. But if you think for a moment longer you’ll realize we can’t give the show credit for this, because this is a textbook execution of the Bury Your Gays trope and the narrative punishment that befalls gay characters who act on their attraction. Essentially, what the Korean remake did here was reveal these two characters are gay, killed them both immediately after they decided to pursue a relationship with each other, and then had the het male lead character take over the body of this gay man and use it to enter into a relationship with a woman. Some aspects of this plot were present in the original tale, but this choice to add an additional gay character only to kill him and tie it to their moment of acknowledging their mutual attraction? Made it significantly worse. It was badly done and I will not applaud the drama for representation when they did it in such a cruel way. 

The Ending

SOOD ends on a hopeful but somewhat ambiguous note, with Yu Xuan in 2020 finding a way to go back and save Yun Ru (and Jun Jie by extension) and then breaking the time loop, sacrificing her relationship with Zi Wei in the process even as it breaks her heart (because the only way for them to meet and fall in love in 2010 was to stay in the loop). She sacrifices their romance, and all their memories together, because it’s the right thing to do—she inadvertently destroyed Yun Ru’s life with her time traveling, and she couldn’t live with that knowing there was a way to fix it. We are left with a broken time loop, original teen Zi Wei meeting child Yu Xuan again in 1998, and the hope that they will find a way to make their fates align again and be together without time travel complications. It’s just the right bittersweet touch to end the story on; their previous relationship was lost and their sacrifice was real, but there is hope for another version of a happy life together, someday.

By contrast, ATCY goes for a more explicit happy ending: Jun Hee makes the same choice to go back and save Min Ju, and to break the time loop and sacrifice her relationship with Si Heon, but in ATCY we then jump forward to 2011 to a happy epilogue to see Si Heon and Jun Hee meet as adults. And look, I love a happy ending! But what I said above about the sacrifice Yu Xuan and Zi Wei made in SOOD really resonating because of its bittersweet ending? That’s absent here, because ATCY decided they needed to put a bow on it and reassure us they would get back together. ATCY was just never willing to let us stay in the grief or commit to the darker and sadder aspects of this story, and as a result, the whole thing loses some of its impact.

[dumbbitchenergy17]

Clan of Three - Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: The Passenger

Plot: A Mandalorian, an infant with a history of the jedi, and a teenager with similar powers with an undiscovered lineage. An unlikely group to travel the galaxy together.

Word Count: 4.4K

Pairing: Father Figure!Din Djarin x Platonic!Teen!Reader

Warnings: fighting/violence, small injuries, some wholesome moments

------

The largeness of Tatooine was something you would never get used to, just as far as the eye could see. You entered a canyon traveling quickly to it so you could make it to Mos Eisley before dark. It was so sudden the bike slammed into a tripline flipping forward. All the items and yourselves go flying into the air. Din can stabilize himself with his jetpack but you and the child hit the ground rather roughly. A hand rips at your hair dragging you across the sands as you kick out trying to slow him down as you see Din fighting two bounty hunters.

“Mando!” You cry out and his head snaps to you hearing your cry of pain instantly fighting harder against the two hunters. You see the bounty hunter holding you pull out a large knife and bring it down to your chest. You kick your leg up knocking it out of his grasp. His hand lets go of your hair and you spin around pulling your blaster out and shooting him in the chest. A pair of arms wrap around your waist pulling you two your feet and you move to attack when you feel cool metal pressed against your neck.

“Drop the blaster.” His breath is hot against your ear as it digs sharply into your skin and you drop the weapon, he turns you around and you see Din with the child and his blood goes cold seeing the blade pressed against your neck.

“Wait! Don’t hurt the kid. If you put one mark on her, there’s no place you will be able to hide from me. We can strike a bargain. There’s a lot of value in this wreckage. Take your pick. But leave the girl.” Din says gesturing at the armor he had just collected and the hunk of krayt dragon meat. He gives you a look not to move when he sees your free hand slither toward your saber. The bounty hunter points with his free hand at Din’s jetpack and he nods sliding it off his back and placing it in the sands and stepping back. “Okay. Here. It’s yours. Take it. It’s okay.”

The bounty hunter seeing that Din wasn’t going to risk getting you hurt pulls the blade from your neck and you strike, your hand grabs the saber igniting it and jabbing it behind you feeling it quickly glide through the body. You move away seeing a stab wound in the bounty hunter as he lies dead. You turn off your saber bringing your hand up to your neck feeling the irritated skin from the blade.

“You okay?” Din asks coming to your side and looking over you and you nod, “Yeah..yeah I’m good.”

With the speeder destroyed you had no choice but to make it on foot, Din carrying most of the cargo you had the duty of holding your bag with whatever else you could hold in as well as the child. Crossing the dunes and canyons until you had painstakingly made it back to Mos Eisley well past nightfall the three of you entered the cantina. The cantina was filled with people drinking or gambling and that’s where you found Peli playing sabacc with an insect-droid-looking person,

“I don’t know. Looks like someone’s gonna be goin’ home empty-handed,” She says to her opponent then noticing the three of you there, “You finally found a Mandalorian and ya killed him?”

“He wasn’t Mandalorian. I bought this armor off of him, though.” Din explains and Peli hums looking back to her game, “What’d that set you back?”

“Killed the krayt dragon for him.” Din says as if it wasn’t a big deal and Peli gives him a look at his nonchalant attitude, “Oh. Is that all?”

Din laments, “He was my last lead on finding other Mandalorians.”

“Okay. Well, you might be in luck. Dr. Mandible says he can connect you with someone who can help you if you cover his call this round. It’s what he said.” Peli says pointing at the person across from her as Dr. Mandible holds his cards up.

“What’s the bet?” Din asks knowing he was going to lose something to gain something.

“Five hundred.” “That’s a high-stakes game,” Din says and Peli waves him off,

“Hey, he’s on a hot streak…” Din sighs pulling out a bag of credits and tossing it onto the table, “Is the pot right?” The two bring down their cards Peli yells in joy seeing her having the winning hand.

“Ha! Idiot’s Array! Pay up, thorax!” She cheers scooping the credits to her side of the table and Din felt swindled.

“I thought you said he was on a hot streak?” Peli continues laughing rubbing it in Dr. Mandible’s face. “Oh. stop your cryin’. You’ll rust. All right. He says the contact will rendezvous at the hangar. They’ll tell you where to find some Mandalorians. That’s what you wanted, right?”

“Yes.” Din nods and Peli stands pocketing her winnings, “All right, well, stop your mopin’. More importantly, did you bring back any of that dragon meat? Better not have any maggots on it. I don’t like maggots.”

Back in the hangar most of the stuff returned in the Crest as Peli cooks the large hunk of meat using a ship engine the droids rotating the meat. “Hey, don’t overcook it, Treadwell. I like it medium rare! I’m not some Rodian, for crying out loud. All right, here’s the deal. A Mandalorian covert is close. It’s in this sector, one system trailing.” Peli explains as Din listens.

“Are they the ones that left Nevarro?” He asks and Peli shrugs, “Don’t know. All I know is that the contact will lead you to them.’

“How much will it cost me?” Din already thinking of the price this would be.

“Well, the great news. It’s free. Aside from a finder’s fee, of course.” Peli says and you could already tell there was some not-good news,

“What’s the not-great news?” You ask and Peli shrugs you off,

“Nothing. It’s all great.” She says and both you and Din give a skeptical look. “Okay.”

“However, there is one small skank in the scud pie.” She says and Din gives her a look, “Which is?”

“The contact wants passage to the system.” Peli says and Din is so sure about this contact, “Do you vouch for them?”

“On my life.” She holds up her hand promising and Din has no choice but to agree, “And… no hyperdrive.” This quickly makes Din refuse.

“You want me to travel sublight? Deal’s off.” Peli follows after Din as he goes to the Crest with you beside him, “It’s one sector over.”

“Moving fast is the only thing keeping me safe.” Din explains and Peli begs, “These are mitigating circumstances.” Entering the hangar is a frog lady strapped onto her back a canister with some liquid and what looks like eggs,

“What do you mean ‘mitigating’? I’m not a taxi service.” “I know, I know, I hear you. But I can vouch for her.”

Din looks at the item on her back, “What’s the cargo?” Peli speaks to the Frog lady with some croaks and she responds before turning to you two.

“It’s her spawn. She needs her eggs fertilized by the equinox or her line will end. If you jump into hyperspace, they’ll die. She said her husband has settled on the estuary moon of Trask in the system of the gas giant Kol Iben.” The Frog Lady looks at her canister with a loving look at her future children.

“She said all that?” You ask and Peli shrugs waving you off, “I paraphrased.”

“Is she sure there are Mandalorians there?” Din says he did not want to go on this mission if there is no reward in the end. Peli nods translating the Frog lady’s words, “She said her husband has seen them.”

“Do you know the husband?” Din asks and Peli shakes her head, “No. I met her ten minutes before you walked in.”

“I thought you said you vouched for her on your life.” Already exasperated by the idea of this random stranger with him. “What can I say, I’m an excellent judge of character.” Having no choice, it was either to find this information himself which could take longer, or complete this risky request. Soon the four of you were on the Crest, the child in its hammock in the hull you had settled yourself on the small cot all cleaned up from the krayt dragon. Your weapons resting in your bag under your cot as you flip through the pages of the old jedi texts.

“Now, I’m gonna ask you to stay strapped in whenever you’re seated. Traveling sublight is a bit dicey these days. Whether it’s pirates or warlords, someone either ends up with a nice chunk of change or your ship.” Din explains in the cockpit putting in the coordinates of the location, traveling sublight would be much slower than in hyperspace. The Frog Lady makes croaking noise buckling herself in but Din couldn’t understand her, “I don’t speak whatever language that is. You speak Huttese? So, I’m gonna hit the rack. I’ve set the nav for our course. It’s gonna take a while. I recommend you get some rest.”

Din exits the cockpit heading down the ladder and sees you already asleep in your cot, the book barely held in your hand. He slowly removes the book from your grasp seeing the unfamiliar words in some passages but some Basic. He didn’t dive further placing the book under your cot and grabbing the blanket covering you as you curl into your small bed. Moving to his secluded bunk opening the door not spotting the child in their bed when he hears a sound. Turning spotting the child with his hand in the canister an egg in his hand as he shoves it in his mouth.

“No, no, no! That is not food. Don’t do that again. Nap time.” Pulling the child away closing the canister, grabbing the child bringing him to his bed before he two settles into the bunk to get some sleep.

A loud beeping sound draws you from your sleep and you slightly sleep up rubbing the sleep from your eyes. The beeping only gets louder as you pull yourself out of the cot and the noise seems to wake up Din who comes out of his bunk both of you entering the cockpit.

“Razor Crest, M-One-Eleven. Come in, Razor Crest. Do you copy?” A voice comes through the commons as Din quickly gets in his seat while you remain standing.

“Are those X-wings?” You ask seeing the two starships flanking both sides of the Crest.

“This is Razor Crest. Is there a problem?” Din says holding his hand out for you to be quiet.

“We noticed your transponder is not emitting.” One of the pilots says.

“Yes, I’m pre-Empire surplus. I’m not required to run a beacon.” Din explains and it is quiet before they speak up, “That was before. This sector is under New Republic jurisdiction. All craft are required to run a beacon.”

Din nods even though they couldn’t see you guys, “Thank you for letting me know. I’ll get right on it.”

“Not a problem. Safe travels.” The pilot says.

“May the Force be with you.” Din says it so awkwardly and you give him a look as he holds his hand out so you remain quiet, “And also with you. Just one more thing.” The pilot says.

“Yes?” “I’m gonna need you to send us a ping. We’re out here sweeping for Imperial holdouts.” The pilot asks and Din responds quickly hoping they would just leave, he was cursing himself that if they just went through hyperspace none of this would have happened.

“I’ll let you know if I see any.” Din replies and it’s quiet before the pilot speaks up again, “I’m still gonna need you to send us that ping.”

“Well, I’m not sure I have that hardware online.” Din lies the slight panic in his veins, hopefully, this excuse will let them go, “We can wait.” The pilot says not willing to let them go.

“Yeah, I… Doesn’t seem to be working.” Din says and you hear the pilot sigh, “That’s too bad. If we can’t confirm you’re not Imperial, you’re gonna have to follow us to the outpost at Adelphi. They’ll run your tabs.” Din quickly presses a button sending the ping,

“Oh, wait. There it is. Transmitting now.” Suddenly some frantic croaking comes from the Frog Lady making you turn around and you try motioning her to be quiet, “Be quiet!”

“What’s that?” The pilot asks and Din whips forward to the comm, “Uh, nothing. The hypervac is drawing off the exhaust manifold.”

“Carson, can you switch over to channel two?” The other pilot speaks up and Carson responds, “Copy.” The two switch channels as you wait for any news the tension getting to you before Carson and the other pilot return back,

“Was your craft in the proximity of New Republic Correctional Transport, Bothan-Five?” Din says nothing before suddenly banking his ship down towards the nearby planet. The sharp jerk makes you slam into the wall.

“Mando!” “Sit your ass down, kid!” Din responds as you are rapidly entering the atmosphere, you bring yourself to your seat strapping yourself in, the kid was in his pram in the hull he should be fine.

“Razor Crest, stand down. We will fire. I repeat we will fire.” Carson yells as you reach the ground Din making some very quick manoeuvers in the canyons you could hear the ice scrapping against the ship hull as he tries to evade the X-wings.

“Come on, Razor Crest, don’t make us do it,” Carson yells out again. The crest twist to its side barely making it through the gap and breaking some ice in the process making it hit the ground and slide along the ground until it’s under a rock shelf. You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding in, as Din steadies his own heart seeing the two X-wings fly by having not seen where you were hidden.

“Let’s get off this planet,” Din says getting ready to take off part of the ship is stuck in some ice, and the sound of loud cracking before the ground underneath the ship disappears as you fall into a cavern. Your head slams against the wall and everything goes dark. You could feel the chill when you come to as the pounding in your head you could hear some voices as your vision slowly returns as well. A dark figure appears in front of you their hands grabbing your head,

“Kid…kid you okay?” Din calls out as your hearing and vision return and he’s kneeling in front of you looking over you.

“Din…What happened?” You ask looking around confused and he feels slightly relieved knowing you were responding, you weren’t bleeding anywhere just a hit to the head when they crashed into this cave.

“I’ll explain everything but I gotta find the eggs and the child,” Din says moving to the cockpit. Din was able to quickly find the child who had successfully eaten another of her eggs. It was growing closer to dark, and it was already cold as it was. You were so used to hot temperatures that the cold felt ten times worse.

“If you hadn’t guessed, we’re in a tight spot. The main power drive is not responding, and the hull has lost its integrity. I suspect the temperature will drop significantly when night falls.” Din explains the ship had a large hole in the side of the hull and he had placed some tarps over the hull, the stop the snow and some of the cold coming in but with no power that meant no heat. You blow some air into your hands rubbing them together, all of your clothes were designed for hotter weather with no sleeves and of thin material to help with the fighting. Din passes a blanket to the Frog Lady and some to you and the child. The child was cuddled in your lap and held close to you to preserve some heat. You took one of the blankets from the child’s pram wrapping him up tightly while you had one though not as thick as you would like wrapped around you.

“I’ll have a better idea of our prospects at that time,” Din says sitting down beside the corner you and the child had set up, he wraps another blanket around you seeing the coldness on the tips of your features. He pulls you into his side and you were never happier for someone holding you, the body warmth he was giving off helped greatly. The Frog Lady croaks insistently gesturing towards her eggs, “I’m sorry, lady. I don’t understand Frog. Whatever it is, it can wait until morning. I recommend you get some sleep.”

You curl up against his side the child cooing in your arms as you try to steal as much heat of the Mandalorian, his arm around your back holds you tight against him, “Get some sleep kid,” He says looking down at his two children making sure they were alright before worrying about himself. The cold was harsh but the heat you had gotten by being cuddled with two others made going to sleep pretty easily.

“Wake up, Mandalorian.” The droid’s voice startles Din awake his blaster is aimed at Zero but sees the Frog Lady standing beside the droid, he glances down at the two children still asleep pressed against his side, “This cannot wait until morning. Do not be alarmed. I bypassed the droid’s security protocols and accessed its vocabulator.”

“What the hell are you doing? That droid is a killer.” Din whisper shouts trying not to wake the sleeping children but still trying to make his voice clear and harsh.

“These eggs are the last brood of my life cycle. My husband has risked his life to carve out an existence for us on the only planet that is hospitable to our species. We fought too hard and suffered too much to resign ourselves to the extinction of our family line. I must demand that you hold true to the deal that you agreed to.” The Frog Lady’s words translated through the droid as she points at the canister holding her offspring,

Din sighs looking away, “Look, lady, the deal is off. We’re lucky if we get off this frozen tomb with our lives.”

“I thought honoring one’s word was a part of the Mandalorian code. I guess those are just stories for children.” The Frog Lady says and Din shakes his head holstering his blaster, slowly peeling you two off him before heading outside to begin repairs glancing back.

“This was not a part of the deal.”

Din was working on the ship when you woke up from sleep, the child was still cuddled up in your arm and you place him down in the pile of blankets. Finding your cloak to try to help slightly and you grab your weapons finishing by attaching your saber to your belt before heading out into the cold. You hadn’t seen Din in the cockpit or the cargo hull same with the Frog Lady with her eggs. The cold quickly nips at your fingers and ears and you spot some footsteps. You begin tracking them when a hand grabs your shoulder spinning you around and there was Din.

“What are you doing out here, it’s too cold for you to be out.” He says trying to bring you back to the Crest and he sees the child now awake out in the snow as well.

“Din, the Frog Lady, she wasn’t in the ship,” You say stopping him in his tracks and you point at the footprints leading off further into the cavern. Din grabs the child and the three of you set off following the footprints, eventually feeling the warm air as you enter a large cave, ice, and snow covers everything but in three large pools steams pour off it. One of them is the Frog Lady relaxing in the warm waters her eggs floating in the water as well.

“There you are. You can’t leave the ship. It’s not safe out here. Let’s gather these up,” Din says moving over to the mother as he opens the canister starting to put eggs but she tries pulling away, “I know it’s warm. But the night’s coming fast, and I can’t protect you out here.” Reluctantly the three of you carefully bring the eggs into the container not seeing the child wandering off toward a cluster of eggs. A faint rumble fills the air and you feel dread fill you as you pull away from the pools seeing the child standing over an open egg on the ground though this one a different species. Coming to his side you look down seeing him eating a baby spider inside. The rumbling fills the cave this much loud that Din and the others notice, the walls shake slightly and the eggs surrounding you begin to hatch releasing tiny white spiders, grabbing the child you step back slowly.

“Mando…” You call out as he sees the spiders crawling after you and a loud rumble fills the air coming from a larger cave enters a large white spider it was as big or maybe bigger than the Crest, some spiders are smaller than the child other’s bigger than a person.

“Go, go, go! Back to the ship!” Din yells firing his blaster before a spider could jump you, the large spider screeches as you clutch the child rushing out through the exit with Din and the Frog Lady with her eggs. The walls of ice and snow make this place a maze as you fire your blaster at any that draws close to you and the child. You could hear the large spider chasing after you through its large legs breaking through the ice from the roof. Dodging more spiders Din throws charges at the walls and the roof exploding the ice behind you all. Din now taking the lead as you follow after him firing at spiders all around you, reaching where the crest is quickly entering the ship, the Frog Lady with her eggs enters the cockpit, then you and the child, followed by Din. The damaged hull allows the spiders to swarm the inside of the ship. Din uses his flamethrower to burn the spiders coming through the door as he tries closing it. You fire your blaster alongside the Frog Lady at any spiders that break past Din. The dorms slam shut and he quickly moves to his seat, both of you strapping in you holding the child.

“Strap yourselves in. This better work. I’ve got limited visibility. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.” Din starts the engines the ship starts to ascend when the giant spider drops onto the ship forcing it down. Its leg smashes through the glass of the canopy when the rapid blaster fire comes from outside and hits the creature. The blaster fire seems to hit all over the ship and you see the large spider die on the front of the ship, its disgusting eyes looking down at you all. Din stands up and you go to move but he holds out his hand, “Stay here.”

Din exits the ship his blaster ready, the entire hull was covered in cobwebs and dead spiders. He fires at a lone spider trying to attack before he makes his way outside. Seeing the two parked X-Wings the pilots holding blasters, “We ran the tabs on the Razor Crest. You have an arrest warrant for the abduction of prisoner X-Six-Nine-Eleven. However, onboard security records show that you apprehended three priority culprits from the Wanted Register. Security records also show that you put your own life in harm’s way to try to protect that of Lieutenant Davan from the New Republic Correctional Corps. Is this true?” The pilot named Carson tells him his blaster is still in hand but lowered.

“Am I under arrest?” Din asks and Carson shakes his head though he would rather have the Mandalorian arrested, “Technically, you should be. But these are trying times.”

“What say I forego the bounties on these three criminals, and you two help me fuse my hull so I can get off this frozen rock?” Din asks and the two republic fighters put their blasters away,

“What say you fix that transponder, and we don’t vaporize that antique the next time we patrol the Rim?” The other one says before they climb back into their starships, and take off leaving the Mandalorian with the broken ship.

Din returned after taking in the damage to the ship, “All right. I’m gonna repair the cockpit enough for us to limp to Trask. There’s nothing I can do about the main hull’s integrity, so we’re gonna have to get cozy in the cockpit. It’s the only thing I can pressurize. If you need to use the privy, do it now. It’s gonna be a long ride.” You had gone down getting the child’s pram so he could rest while you grabbed whatever you need, you grabbed your bag bringing it back to the cockpit, after doing your last business until you reached a new planet Din had finished the repairs.

“Okay, repair’s all done. Let’s see if we can get this thing going once and for all.” He starts up the ship, only the cockpit pressurized as the ship shakily takes off the large spider still resting on the ship slides off as you exit the cave and so leave the planet and enter space. Din puts in the coordinates of the planet they were meant to be on, before settling in his seat, “Wake me up if someone shoots at us. Or that door gets sucked off its rails.” You give Din a look at his very morbid joke and the Frog Lady makes a noise of fear,

“I’m kidding. If that happened, we’d all be dead. Sweet dreams.”

The damaged Crest sets off into space, with the hope the four of them survive their journey to Trask. Everyone settles in their seats for the long and rough journey, as the child rests in his pram shoving another egg from the Frog Lady’s into his eager mouth.

[eloquentsisyphianturmoil]

There was a question about childbearing phases from @eri-pl concerning the possibility of their happening twice…

from my current understanding of elvish customs the answer is ‘unlikely’, but in terms of actual possibility it comes down to whether one thinks elves age in Mandos. If they don’t, then a Curufin who is likely at oldest no more than elvish 50 could have more children, as could any of his younger cousins. If they do age, however, even Turgon and Elenwe who likely did not take more than a valian decade while in the halls would find themselves about 60, the traditional beginning of ‘old age’ for elves, and the end of their fertile period.

So traditionally, the answer is ‘if elves age in Mandos they cannot have a second childbearing phase after release.’ But this may be a bit harsh, especially regarding the house of Finwë, who are powerful elves and likely able to extend their youth and therefore fertility until even age 96, so that it’s essentially possible for any character to have more children, providing they’re of noble/powerful descent.

From my personal and *subtextual* understanding of Tolkien’s texts (of which I have only read part) I wouldn’t call this typical elven behaviour, but it is physically possible and it doesn’t defy any ‘laws’, so to speak.

tl;dr do whatever you want with your fanfic, you are canonically protected.

[anonymousewrites]

Clan of Three (Book 1) Chapter Three

Father Figure! Mandalorian/Din Djarin x Teen! Reader

Chapter Three: The Decision

Summary: Mando gets his reward but finds he is unable to let go of what he lost.

            “Put up your hood,” said Mando as he opened the hull doors. They had arrived on Nevarro, and now it was time to deliver the assets (he had to call them that, calling them children made this feel amiss, and he had a job to do).

            (Y/N) nodded silently and pulled their head over their head. The shadows casted masked their eye markings that showed they were Ushti. It also hid the fact they were so young. They looked like a regular bounty. The Child couldn’t really be hidden, but he looked as much like a creature as a human so no one on Nevarro would give him a second glance.

            Mando led them down the gangplank and began the walk into town. Beside him, the Child whined as he sensed the tension and nerves in the air. (Y/N) put their hand on the cradle for a moment to quiet him before letting go.

            (Y/N) ignored the stares Mando was attracting and attention he subsequently pulled onto them. They gritted their teeth. They could feel the pity in the people’s gazes. “Oh look, another idiot was caught by the Mandalorian. Wonder how much they’re worth” their eyes screamed. (Y/N) hated it.

            They were almost thankful when Mando turned off the main street and led them into the back alleys. At least the stares were gone, but it also meant they were in a more dangerous part of the city. Undoubtedly, this was the area the imperial officers would be hiding out in.

            Mando banged on a door, and the Child whined, his ears flattening. (Y/N) could feel their hands turn cold as the blood rushed to their legs, the desire to flee the danger gripping them.

            The security droid stuck its eye out, and Mando held up his chain code. The droid scanned the device before retreating back into the wall and unlocking the door.

            The door slid open, and two stormtroopers stepped out. The Child’s ears flattened, and (Y/N) tensed as the troopers faced them. The men nodded and led the way in. The Child whined in fear, and (Y/N) hesitated, swallowing hard. Their gaze flitted to Mando as if wondering if he would force them to go, but they quickly averted their eyes. Mando had seen it though. The three of them walked into the building as one of the stormtroopers kept guard so neither bounty could make their escape before shutting the door.

            As the cradle floated along and (Y/N) walked beside it, one of the stormtroopers grabbed their arm. “Move it,” he ordered.

            “Easy,” said Mando sharply.

            “You take it easy,” said the stormtrooper.

            (Y/N) glanced at Mando, a slight thankfulness in their eyes. It had been a long time since anyone had defended them against anything, even something this small. The next moment, however, Mando saw their walls go up again as the door of the Client’s office opened and the stormtrooper pulled them in.

            “Yes!” said the Client eagerly, his own tracking fob trilling as the vicinity of the bounties. He stood and approached (Y/N) and the Child. “Yes, yes, yes.” He grinned down at the Child in its cradle before roughly pushing back (Y/N)’s hood to examine the bounties. “Ushti. I’ve never seen one.” (Y/N) cringed, but they couldn’t get away. “Are those real?” asked the Client, speaking aloud to no one as he roughly examined (Y/N)’s burnt orange markings around their eyes.

            Beneath his helmet, Mando narrowed his eyes and took a slight step forward. It wasn’t his place, but a part of him didn’t appreciate how rough the Client was with the teenager.

            “Y-Yes, Ushti clans are known to have such markings,” said Dr. Pershing, straightening from where he’d been scanning the Child to see its health and moving to check (Y/N). The Client stepped back to allow him to scan.

            “Healthy?” said the Client.

            “The Child is very healthy, and this one is adequate, just a bit underfed,” reported Dr. Pershing.

            The Client smirked in satisfaction of everything going according to his plan. He looked at Mando. “Your reputation was not unwarranted.”

            “How many fobs did you give out?” said Mando, his voice even but laced with irritation.

            “These assets were of extreme importance to me,” said the Client. “I had to ensure their delivery. But to the winner…” He picked up a camtono container. “…go the spoils.” He clicked a few buttons and opened it to reveal a stack of beskar ingots.

            Mando walked up to it and picked up a piece to examine it.

            “Such a large bounty for such small packages,” observed the Client.

            Behind him, Dr. Pershing was directing the cradle and the Child into another room. A stormtrooper roughly pulled (Y/N) with him after Dr. Pershing. The Child cried out, and (Y/N) winced, letting out a soft breath at the forcefulness. Mando’s gaze drifted to the kids as the door of the other room snapped shut behind Dr. Pershing and the stormtroopers.

            He was silent for a moment, looking back down at the beskar before looking up at the Client. “What are your plans for them?”

            “How uncharacteristic of one of your reputation,” said the Client. “You have taken both commission and payment. Is it not the code of the Guild that these events are now forgotten? That beskar is enough to make a handsome replacement for your armor. Unfortunately, finding a Mandalorian in these trying times is more difficult than finding the steel.”

            Mando was silent as he closed the camtono and picked it up. He turned and left without dignifying the Client with a response.

l

            “I believe it will work,” said Dr. Pershing. “I’ve measured the doses and prepared the instruments.”

            “Try it on the Ushti first,” said the Client. “Then, if anything goes wrong, we still have the Child.”

            “Yes, of course, sir,” said Dr. Pershing nervously. He walked over to wear (Y/N) lay strapped to a medical table and picked up a syringe. Taking their arm, he pushed the liquid into their vein. (Y/N)’s vision swam, and although they fought to keep their eyes open, the drugs overtook their senses, and they fell unconscious.

            Their fate had been sealed.

l

            “What caused this damage?” questioned the Armorer, gesturing to Mando’s damaged armor.

            “A mudhorn,” he responded.

            “Then you have earned the mudhorn as your signet,” said the Armorer. “I shall craft it.”

            “I can’t accept. It wasn’t a noble kill,” said Mando. “I was helped by enemies.”

            “Why would enemies help you in battle?” questioned the Armorer.

            “They did not know they were my enemies,” said Mando. He paused. “One did. They understood I was hunting them. They still helped.” He couldn’t understand why since they knew he was taking them to the Client, who was using them for something insidious.

            “An honorable enemy, then,” said the Armorer. “Since you forgo a signet, I shall use the excess to forge whistling birds.”

            “Whistling birds will do well,” said Mando. “Reserve some for the foundlings.”

            “As it should be,” agreed the Armorer. “The foundlings are the future. This is the Way.”

            The Mandalorians in the room spoke in tandem. “This is the Way.”

            “This is the Way,” said Mando.

l

            Mando, standing tall in gleaming beskar armor, stepped into Greef Karga’s bar. All eyes turned to him as he walked to Karga’s table.

            Karga smiled upon seeing him. “Ah! Mando!” He gestured to the people giving Mando sour looks. “They all hate you, Mando! Because you’re a legend!”

            “How many of them had tracking fobs?” questioned Mando, all business .

            Karga scoffed and grinned. “All of them. All of them! But not one of them closed the deal. Only you, Mando. Only you. And with it, the richest reward this parsec has ever seen. Please sit, my friend.” Mando sat down across from Karga. “They’re all weighing the beskar in their minds, but not me,” continued Karga. “No. I, for one, celebrate your success. Because it is my success as well. Hell! Even I am rich!” He chuckled. “Now, how can I show my gratitude to my most valuable partner?”

            “I want my next job,” said Mando. He needed to get this commission off his mind and focus on what he was good at—bounty hunting.

            “Next job?” asked Karga. “Take some time off. Enjoy yourself. I’ll take you to the Twi’lek healing baths.”

            “I want my next job,” repeated Mando evenly.

            “Sure. Fine,” said Karga, sighing, unable to understand why Mando didn’t want to rest on his laurels. “You hunters like to keep busy, right? Well, these are all far away.” He placed some pucks on the table.

            “The further, the better,” said Mando, examining the pucks.

            “Well, take your pick. You’ve earned it,” said Karga. Mando lit up a puck to examine the bounty. “Ah!” exclaimed Karga. “That’s the best one of the lot. A nobleman’s son skipped bail. Looks like you’re headed to the ocean dunes of Karnac.”

            Mando stood and picked up the puck. He paused as he took a step away. Unable to help himself, he turned back to Karga. “Any idea what they’re going to do with them?”

            “With what?” asked Karga.

            “The kids,” said Mando.

            “I didn’t ask. It’s against Guild Code,” said Karga.

            “They work for the Empire. What are they doing here?” questioned Mando.

            “The Empire is gone, Mando,” said Karga. “All that are left are mercenaries and warlords. But if it bothers you, just go back to the Core and report them to the New Republic.”

            “That’s a joke,” said Mando.

            “Mando, enjoy your rewards,” said Karga. “Buy a camtono of spice. By the time you come out of hyperdrive, you will have forgotten all about the kids.”

            Mando turned and walked away silently, heading to the Razorcrest. He remained subdued as he sat down in the pilot’s seat. Mando powered the ship on, but when he reached for one lever, he paused. The metal ball from its top was gone. He turned and saw it rested on the seat the cradle and Child had been on. He slowly picked it up and screwed it onto the level. As he shifted, a piece of metal dug into his side. Mando picked up (Y/N)’s dagger from his belt and gazed at it. The sunlight glinted off its blade, piercing him through the air.

            Mando shut off the Razorcrest’s engine. He couldn’t leave the Child and (Y/N) with the imperial warlord. He’d feel guilty forever. They were just kids.

l

            Mando stretched out on the roof across from the Client’s building, gazing through the scope of his rifle and using it as an antenna to listen to the faint voices within.

            “I don’t care,” said the Client. “I order you to extract the necessary material and be done with it.”

            “He’s explicitly ordered us to bring them both back alive,” said Pershing.

            “There’s a spare for the reason. You have the Ushti, use them, and if they die, you have the Child,” said the Client. “Finish your business quickly, as I no longer can guarantee your safety.”

            Mando stood and retreated from the roof, going back to the door. He banged on it, and the security droid popped its eye out. Mando grabbed it from the side and twisted its scanner off. As the door slid open and stormtroopers rushed out, he moved around the corner. While the stormtroopers checked the perimeter, Mando circled around the building and placed a blast charge on the back wall. He took a few steps back and watched as it exploded and blew a whole for him to step into the building.

            The alarm blared, and stormtroopers rushed through the halls, but Mando dispatched with each enemy he encountered with Mandalorian efficiency. Finally, he opened a door and found the child lying on a bed. He cooed up at Mando, who scooped him up. That was one kid down, but he still needed to find (Y/N).

            The next door he kicked down, a stormtrooper raised a blaster, but Mando shot him quickly. Pershing was in the room as well and flinched, drawing away from the medical table where (Y/N) lay unconscious with a black imperial medical droid (also used for torture, reports said) hovered closer. Mando shot it down without a second thought.

            “No, no, please, no, no!” babbled Pershing, frightening of the bounty hunter before him.

            Mando threw him to the side and raised his blaster before looking at the unconscious Ushti teen. “What did you to do them? What did you do them?” he demanded.

            “I protected them! I protected them,” swore Pershing. “If it wasn’t for me, they’d already be dead! Please, please, please!”

            “How do I wake them up?” questioned Mando.

            Pershing raised a shaking hand and pointed at a button. “It-it should counteract the sedative!”

            “Get out,” ordered Mando, gesturing to the door with his blaster. Pershing didn’t hesitate to make a run for it. Mando leaned over and pressed the button as the Child cooed and reached for (Y/N). Come on, kid, wake up.

Taglist:

@im-making-an-effort

@gr33n-d00dles

@alexpangender

@painstakingly-juno

@treehouse-mouse

@theurbannoodle

@pedropascalsidechick

@dmitrytherat

[thefrogdalorian]

How can you still ship Dinbo when shippers have been so disrespectful to Katee AND she said it wasn’t going to be romantic?

Hello! I'm going to put most of this answer under the cut because it contains a lot of fandom discourse for one fine Sunday afternoon. But I wanted to give your question a full answer so I can direct any future questions I may receive of a similar nature to this answer because honestly, I am not a blog that revolves around shipping and I really do not want to be one! But thank you for asking a question without being aggressive, I am more than happy to answer :)

TL;DR: I hope the disrespectful idiots step on a lot of Lego. As much as I may share a ship with them, they do not speak for me and I cannot control their behaviour. I certainly do not condone it. Also, I ship Dinbo because I personally enjoy the idea of it and as much as I respect an actor’s opinion on their character, I do not necessarily have to share it. An actor should never be harassed for an opinion, that crosses an awful lot of lines that should never be crossed. I hate that that happened just as much as you do.

Ultimately I believe in ship and let ship. I stand against harassing real life people over fiction and more than anything: always always ALWAYS treat others with kindness!

Firstly, want to start off this answer by saying that I absolutely love Katee, she’s great and she brought SO MUCH to the character of Bo. I am thrilled she was able to portray her in all her forms, we're so lucky. To make such a successful leap from animation to live action is testament to how talented she is as an actress and I feel like she deserves so much more praise than she gets. It’s sad because in all of her comment sections after Mando S3 there were endless disgusting 2% jokes after ONE tiny comment she made on a much longer podcast appearance where she shared much more interesting stories. I think that was maybe the same one as she spoke a little about Dinbo but tbh, I haven't actually watched it because I can't stand podcasts... they make me cringe 😭

Anyway, those basement-dwellers focused on borderline sexually harassing her because of how attractive she is to them, rather than appreciating her talent. That just… absolutely sucks for her. I feel terrible for her. It was so widespread too and lasted for months… really hard to watch, tbh. But as far as I’m aware, it wasn’t Dinbo shippers that were leaving those comments.

Now, that’s not to deny that Dinbo shippers have taken things too far at some point, I’m sure they have! It wouldn't be the first time shippers in a fandom have crossed a line and sadly, it won't be the last. But I personally didn’t see it because I try and stay out of fandom discourse as much as I can. I really only have the energy and appetite to interact with the chill, respectful people on my little corner of the internet. If I ever saw anything that disrespected her, I would 100% call it out.

However, I do know there was that one panel appearance where people booed her or something? Ngl, I never watched the clip because just hearing about it made me cringe too much… (wow I really have a low tolerance for these things). I think, though, that it is a case of entitled assholes being entitled assholes, regardless of what they ship. It isn't a ship that makes them behave that way, that's the excuse, but really it's their idiotic, selfish nature. I think it would be a shame, then, to tarnish entire groups of people who might be enjoying a ship in a perfectly respectful way with that same brush, I don’t think that helps keep fandom spaces kind places to be. Absolutely screw all the people who have been disrespectful to Katee, I don’t condone that AT ALL. But equally, I am not responsible for actions of everyone who happens to ship the same thing as I do.

As much as I admire Katee and she absolutely DOES NOT DESERVE ANY NEGATIVITY FROM FANS, she is an actor at the end of the day. An actor’s opinion on a character is exactly that... their opinion. They portray them as their personal interpretation of the character and how they’re directed to, of course. I'm not arrogant or deluded enough to believe I know more about Bo-Katan Kryze than the person who portrayed her. I don't at all think that, but I think I can still disagree with Katee's opinion because, y'know, I'm human and humans don't always agree on everything.

The great thing about media is that audience can come away with a totally different view of the same character. Once the work is out there in the world, it takes on a life of its own, for better or worse. Sometimes beyond what even the creator intended originally. It’s like, for example, after you finish reading a book and you discover that other readers interpreted the exact same words in a completely different way. Some of those opinions you might agree with or entertain, some you completely disagree with and wonder how the hell they can even think such a thing. A portion of such interpretations probably aren’t even what the author intended, like this golden piece of tumblr history: the curtains were fucking blue.

This kind of thing has happened to me with my own writing before! People thinking a plot will go in a completely different way to what I intended. It's always a strange feeling, but as long as you don’t berate the author/fellow readers with different opinions, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to draw your own conclusions about it. After all, art is meant to be interpreted in many different ways. That’s the beauty of engaging with and creating art, to me.

At the end of the day, we're all bony sacks of meat with our own individual lizard brains and it would be boring if we all thought the same! Of course I still respect Katee’s opinion. If she says she wasn’t playing Bo to have romantic feelings towards Din then I’m not going to say she’s lying or get frustrated at her! That’s genuinely how she played it. Equally, it won’t really change my opinion because I know what I, personally, believe I saw in their interactions! Katee is more than welcome to share her thoughts, I would never think that she should stay quiet because I disagree with what she said… but equally I don’t have to let her words stop me from shipping something I enjoy! Plus I don’t think any of the cast know how Mando will end. Maybe they have some general plot ideas set out but nothing is final yet.

Ultimately, I’m equally happy for Din to end up with Bo or another love interest, if it makes sense for his character and feels right for the story, as I am for it just to be him and Grogu. The love he has for Grogu will always be the most important thing in his life. Loving a child like that changes you as a person and I love that we got to see how he evolved into a much better man because of it. Not to be a simp or anything but he truly is the best man in the world and I love him so much my chest aches.

A final point: I think if we just took actors and creators’ words as gospel then fandom would ultimately become a much duller place to be. Speculation and shipping are FUN (when done respectfully, of course). There’s so long to wait between seasons that if I just watched Mando repeatedly and never considered a different way to view the story… I just think it would be boring for me, personally. Enjoy the show however you want, watch it and interpret it however you want...but equally I will do the same! If you don’t share my ships and headcanons then that’s totally fine, as long as we can both respect each other and not lose our humanity.

Like I’ve said before, I welcome ALL Din ships and headcanons for Din or indeed for any characters. We may disagree on some of them, but ultimately, I am not right and you are not wrong… we’re all just nerds on the internet. And I’ll always try to make my blog a friendly, welcoming place to be for anyone who stops by, I really take that vow to you and anyone reading this very seriously.

I hope that answers your question and you can see where I’m coming from. I'm glad to have said my piece and I think any future questions I get like this, I'll just direct to this answer because it really sums up how I feel.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I just wanted to end this with what I said at the beginning: ship and let ship, don’t harass real life people over fiction and treat others with kindness… that’s my philosophy and it’s one that I’ll always stick by :)

[setokaibapetty]

Fic Friday 5 + 1 Roundup: Mando Gets His Guy

Whoops, it was a bit heteronormative of me to do an OC snagging a popular male character, in the month of Pride no less, so to make up for it have some fics where the Mandalorian gets the guy. I mean he's a great bounty hunter so he usually does but, in this case, a romantic partner is what he gets.

Into the Unknown (AO3) - "Strange semi-sentient swords capable of hurtling people through time are no basis for a system of government. But the Darksaber isn't sentient enough to care about that."

A Simple Thing (AO3) - "Boba Fett likes to be in control. Din Djarin feels more out of control with every passing day. Giving control over to Boba would make both of them happy. Din just doesn't understand why that has to be so complicated. (Or, rebuilding an entire culture is hard. Boba helps, more or less.)

A Softer Epilogue (AO3) - "Branching off from the end of The Mandalorian season 2, an alternate future for Din Djarin, Grogu and Luke Skywalker. Along the way they discover what it means to build a family, a community and a legacy."

Cin Vhetin (AO3) - "Dr. Pershing takes a chance on the Mandalorian, the Asset, and (eventually) himself."

Sauntering Vaguely Upwards (AO3) - "Life goes on after Din is rescued by a group defecting death troopers. This is a direct continuation of Halfway Between the Black and the Grey by UFOtofu. Which is a reimagining of Lady Irina’s Ice and Luck. Because fanfiction of fanfiction!"

Bonus: Treasured Tribute (AO3) - "Instead of calling for a teacher at the Seeing Stone of Tython, Grogu Sees a chance to change everything. He’s thrown back in time, but his buir Din Djarin is now a teen with dim memories of their shared past, so that’s an unexpected complication. Clear across the galaxy, Obi-Wan Kenobi has just volunteered to serve as the tribute demanded by the Mand’alor, for the Order’s actions at Galidraan and the disappearance of his son, Jango Fett. This is not quite the past that Grogu remembers, but there is still a chance to change everything."

[sailforvalinor]

I saw you post on seasons 1 through 4 of Dr. Who and I wanted to know more about your accidentally Christian pile. What are some other works do think unintentionally emphasized Christian doctrines or morals?

Ooooooh, really good question!!

So the first thing that comes to mind here is Marvel’s Agents of Shield--each season has it's own story arc and themes, so it's hard to pin down just one thing here, so I'll just talk about a few. I'll talk about the obvious one first: Season 3 in particular has a lot of Christian imagery (though in this case, it's definitely on purpose). You see a flash-forward of a cross necklace at the beginning of the season floating in a spaceship in space right before it blows up, and then you watch as that necklace get passed around from person to person, knowing that whoever ends up with it at the end of the season is going to die. I won't spoil anything more, other than to say that it results in quite a bit of Christ/crucifixion imagery and themes.

Other than this, there's a lot about the redemptive power of love (Fitzsimmons my beloved), individual guilt and how to handle it, how to let go of shame, the inevitable defeat of evil--I know there's more, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. (AOS girlies/gents, feel free to chime in!) Additionally, one of the main characters explicitly a Christian, and while he's not portrayed perfectly, he's never ridiculed for it by the other characters or the narrative, which is a breath of fresh air. There are of course some things I don't approve of (prepare to have your skip button ready once or twice in the earlier seasons), but it's still a fantastic show, and by far the best show Marvel has ever come out with.

Harry Potter’s a pretty obvious one—Harry has to sacrifice himself and be fully willing to die to kill Voldemort, the fight with the basilisk in Chamber of Secrets has some Biblical parallels—but I’m fairly certain that these themes were deliberate, so I suppose they don’t really count. But they do to me, so 😂

Star Wars is another big one for me—of course, a la George Lucas’s original vision, SW is much more directly influenced by Buddhism, but I find that it often can’t help dipping into Christian themes. I find this is especially true with anything that has Dave Filoni’s name attached, likely because he in turn is pretty influenced by Tolkien and Lewis (Ahsoka is meant to parallel Gandalf, the World Between Worlds in Rebels was inspired by The Magician’s Nephew’s Wood Between Worlds, etc). Mandalorian season 3 in particular blew me away—baptism! Redemption! Rebirth! Mandalorian denominations/sects! Seriously, I was expecting them to come down hard on the strange rules that sect holds themselves to and for Mando to completely reject them—but they didn’t?? It was SO fascinating.

Kingdom Hearts is probably one of my favorite demonstrations of John 15:13: “greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Otherwise, I can’t really think of any super prevalent Christian themes I noticed, but that one is just so strong and so important to the themes of the series, I couldn’t not mention it.

Final Fantasy XV has something similar going for it—although what I’m going to say has MAJOR spoilers, so if don’t want to be spoiled, go ahead and skip this (and play the game because it’s great—but Noctis having to willingly sacrifice himself by sitting on a throne in order to purify his kingdom is as blatant as you get. For crying out loud, he’s called the One True King. However this only holds true for the base game—the dlc’s (except for Episode Prompto, but that’s just because it doesn’t really apply to that plotline, also it’s incredible) and the novel in my opinion kind of ruin it.

Legend of Zelda is an interesting one, because it is of course heavily inspired by Shinto, but a few Christian themes sort of snuck their way in there. In Skyward Sword (oh and spoilers for Skyward Sword). Hylia, though certainly not meant to be a direct Christ figure, chooses to be reborn as a Hylian (basically a human) in order to save her people. The difference here is that Zelda does not know that she’s Hylia, and she never regains her goddess status (at least presumably until she dies of old age), but it’s an interesting parallel nonetheless. Also, there’s a famously creepy cutscene in Twilight Princess where we get the story of how the Twili were banished from Hyrule for dabbling in dark magic, and the sequence has always reminded me of the Fall.

Those were just a few that I thought of off the top of my head—I’m sure there are more, but that’s all that’s coming to me at the moment 😂

[lightwise]

Ahsoka Show Episode 1 - Spoilers/Thoughts

I have several important thoughts that I will be giving their own posts, but below is a rundown of my thoughts watching the first episode of Ahsoka last night.

As a background for my thoughts on the show going forward: Ahsoka is one of my favorite characters (aside from the Bad Batch). Her and Obi-Wan, equal and forever embedded in my heart. Her journey as Anakin's padawan, the lessons she learns throughout the Clone Wars, her strength in choosing her own path and figuring out who she wanted to be and what she stood for, her consistent pursuit of the light and truth and justice, but from a caring, empathetic, and compassionate heart, are traits that I always look to as inspiration. (My tagline Daughter of Light comes from a pin design of Ahsoka and Morai that the incredible Pinbutlersco created). I have enjoyed Rosario's portrayal of her in live action so far, and have been both eagerly hoping for and also extremely nervous about this show. I don't think there's anything that could ruin her character, but it is nerve-wracking to have a beloved fan favorite in live action when she has never been showcased there in the extent of what she is normally capable of in animation. Plus, the live action shows have been hit or miss lately except for Andor, and my hopes have been lower since Mando season 3 came out. I think I've accepted at this point that animation has a stronger pull on me than live action does at the moment, so that of course will inform some of my reactions.

As for the Rebels characters, I love them a lot. I just rewatched some of the essential episodes and was crying in almost every single one. They just tug on your heartstrings as a little found family almost immediately, along with how essential they are to the rebellion and the ways that the show explores the Force, familial and emotional bonds, and inner struggles. That said, Rebels is not my favorite Star Wars show, and therefore my understanding of Hera, Sabine, Ezra, and even Thrawn, is not as in depth or as emotionally entangled as Ahsoka or other characters. Therefore, if you want to take my opinions on them with a grain of salt, please do so ;).

And of course all of this is simply my personal opinion and reaction to watching the show as it comes out! I don't know yet if I'll end up doing any heavy analyses like I do for TBB but we shall see :)

Alright, all of that out of the way...let's see how the first episode turned out! (Episode 2 will be a separate post bc this is hella long already and you are a gem if you've read this far! <3)

SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT! DO NOT SCROLL IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED THE EPISODE YET! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

That opening crawl is super cool, and it's not a Star Wars opening without a good pan over an amazing ship out in space.

*sigh* I really don't want to be negative right off the bat, but these New Republic uniforms 💀 come on guys. It's one thing to try and show that the NR doesn't have a lot of resources/is brand new, but you could at least make them look lived in for the universe. It seems like this is the main spot where the length of the budget for costumes was apparently the opposite of a CVS receipt. Idk. Not a great look. And the ranking buttons 😭

Baylon and Shin showing up to free Morgan was obvious but still very cool to see them get the best of everyone on the ship. Baylon already has his hallway moment and we barely know them. Also RIP to Captain Hayle, he had the right idea to not trust them, maybe just not the right idea to go out and meet them.

Interesting that Hayle calls them Imperial "trash". We saw this in Mando season 3 with Dr. Pershing too...how the reintegration of imperial-aligned people back into society certainly wasn't helped by the prejudices of those on the "right" side. No matter how right or righteous you or your cause is, treating others with the same evil you claimed to be fighting against is never okay.

Also also, I still love those ridiculous elongated egg helmets of the Rebellion and the New Republic.

There's a lot of nice little touches, like the burn mark on a guy's thigh from a lightsaber wound or the lock to Morgan's cell spinning as Baylon uses the force to open it.

I immediately thought of the Mortis gods when Ahsoka steps into the temple and begins to unlock the pillars, with the figures and the map etched on the wall. I also appreciate that Dave let this scene take time to play out. Yes also Indiana Jones yes also Kurosawa yes also Treasure Planet.

Capes on assassin droids. Spooky. And did they sound slightly like Kylo Ren's modulated voice? Lol. And Ahsoka's "ahh shit" face when she realizes they're about to set off an explosion is pretty great.

HUYANG! HUYANG! HUYANG!!!! He's BEAUTIFULLLLL. I seriously can't believe how good he looks! It's also not a Star Wars show without a snarky droid keeping everyone in line, (or attempting to) and surprisingly it's not just Chopper. New fave for sure. David Tennant the man you are.

"Let's just say I didn't follow standard Jedi protocol"

I have to admit that I was hesitant about MEW for Hera but I'm liking her so far (costuming, not as much. The contacts and makeup and length of her lekku are throwing me a bit). I was surprised that she assumed Thrawn died in the battle of Lothal.

Ryder Azadi!!! and Jai Kell! So cool to see them. "Get out there and say something." "What?!"

Love the badass entrance for Sabine. The sass in this show is top notch. Also the blend of sound effects and soundtrack is really good, especially in these scenes.

NEED. LOTHCAT. NOW *grabby hands*

Unfortunately the recording of Ezra didn't do much for me. He looked pretty awkward and I would like to see how Eman portrays him in a live scene. I think again the costuming felt off rather than lived in/formed to the person wearing it.

OKAY WHOA HOLD UP NOW. Morgan is a nightsister??? A survivor? That's a rare rare thing. It will be interesting to see where Dave is going with this.

All of Ezra's helmet acquisitions strewn around the tower.

I'll be saying it more times than this, but Natasha is impeccable as Sabine. Both this current iteration of Sabine, where she is mourning and isolating herself, as well as channeling all the badass, artistic, creative, loyal, caring, snarky, cut to the chase versions of her from Rebels.

Natasha and Rosario convey SO MUCH in their silent glances to each other before getting down to business.

I kind of love the domestic intimacy of Ahsoka throwing her cloak over her bunk and grabbing a mug of tea before they sit down. Like they've done this a million times before.

I will comment on the "Master" "I should have made a good Jedi" "force sensitive Sabine?" track in episode 2.

I knew that map was doomed the second Sabine absconded with it lol.

The little "purrup" from the lothcat as it jumps off the table 😻

LOL Ahsoka being so annoyed at being in the Master position instead of being the difficult apprentice herself. Also the obvious guilt she still carries :/ "Sometimes the right reasons still have the wrong consequences." Oooof.

Not the cat signaling the presence of intruders

Again, Sabine is badass and incredible. Her athleticism and Mandalorian training is showing through. But girl maybe put on some armor??

Okay, don't take my tone the wrong way here (there will be a separate post about this): I HATEDDDDDDD the lightsaber stab. Hate hate hate. I swear they have got to STOP having people survive lightsaber stabs to the gut area. Just no. Pick any other body part to wound/end a fight with. Qui-Gon and Satine are rolling over in their graves 💀

Finally, I want to LIVE inside those credits ❤️ ❤️ The typography and design and colors are beautifulllll. And the score is of course stunning.

Overall, really great intro, it's amazing to see these characters in live action. A few qualms but I'm looking forward to where this is going.

[evaarade]

There's this idea that Satine had something to do with why Mandalore was so human and white and that she must have surely done something Horrible because Mandalore was so diverse before...

...but that's fanon.

Yeah, I'm finally approaching this topic people.

I will keep it short people: Mandalore wasn't that diverse.

The whole idea that it was is from Fanon.

The only time Mandalore was diverse was during the Legends Old Republic Games and new material from Disney, otherwise? Majority was White and Human.

"Oh but Jango is a Mandalorian-!" He was one of the few people of colour in Legends - and wasn't considered a Mandalorian until Jaster adopted him, btw, following what Travis said - And was later made a Mandalorian again by Disney. In Lucas Canon, meanwhile, he wasn't BECAUSE George Lucas himself didn't consider him a Mandalorian, he just saw him as a guy who gained the armour Somehow, it was like assuming someone with a T-Shirt with the USA flag was USAmerican.

Is it shitty of him and Travis to make it so that Jango wasn't a Mandalorian at all/wasn't a Mandalorian before he was adopted (even when he was born in Mandalorian Space)? 100%, but you have to remind yourself that if the creator won't acknowledge something or has a different idea, then their creation will follow what they decide, hence why Almec said Jango wasn't a Mandalorian, hence why until Disney acknowledge it no one that was Mandalorian could call Jango a Mandalorian.

If you want a in-universe excuse, then think maybe that Jango lost his citizenship because Mandalore didn't want to be pulled into the war between the Republic and the Separatists, and having the dude who while having been the base to the clone army of the Republic, had ended up siding and dying for the Separatists (we know he didn't for them, but the Separatists would 100% turn it that way) which makes it so that both sides have a reason to possibly consider Mandalore as an enemy. So Jango had to go

It sucks, yeah, but Satine has Nothing to do with it, Mandalore from the TCW was merely a victim of this idiot decisions + GL wanting to have 'nordic people' + low budgets + whitewashing already happening in the show (points at the clones).

Oh and before anyone brings up the True Mandalorians, they were also white and human when they appeared in Legends.

"Jango was whitewashed in those comics-" and he and his clones were also whitewashed in the TCW, if you are going to forgive the True Mandalorians and headcanon them to be very diverse simply because Jango was whitewashed in those, then you Have to do the same with the New Mandalorians who were in the show with the whitewashed Jango clones and racist caricatures of species.

Either the whitewashing of the New Mandos can be excused because Jango himself was also white washed just like in Open Seasons thus Mandalorians are very diverse in both sides, or Jango stays whitewashed in both versions and both the New Mandos and True Mandos stay white and human.

You can't chose to apply rules only to some people, you have to be fair about it.

TL;DR: The New Mandalorians are whitewashed but not because Satine did something but because of the creators decision; you either redesign them to be more diverse following what y'all do with the True Mandos (who were white and human in their canon) or all Mandalorians, including True Mandalorians, are white and human.

[awholelottayeehaw]

Mando Finale Thots (Spoilers Below Cut)

I was honestly disappointed with the Season Finale. Was it fun? Sure. Did it have everything I ever wanted for Din and the gang? Almost. But this is why I can't be happy with what we got:

What happened to Paz?? If he died this heroic death why was he never brought up again? I'm glad his son got his baptism finally but like... what about his dad's funeral?? You're telling me that Din wouldn't be mourning the loss of his childhood rival?? Either Paz isn't dead and will make a return next season in a villainous role or the writing was weaker than white people's tolerance to spice

What was the point of the Dr. Pershing episode?? It took precedence over the premiere AND the finale yet nothing came of it?? That whole episode could've been a fucking email if it wasn't that important to the season's overall plot

What happened to the armor the Armorer gave to Grogu?? It was never brought up again and you can't tell me Season 2 and BOBF Din WOULDN'T have been sobbing under his bucket upon seeing it. Also, who bathes Grogu?? Din is a parent is he allowing his son to be a stinky stank and that's how he never saw the armor?? Whack.

How could the darksaber, an ancient indestructible weapon that is capable of slicing through beskar... be defeated in a Ghetto Stomp. Either that wasn't the real darksaber or they got lazy and tossed a major SW artifact out the window because it no longer serves them and they wanted the easy way out hoping no one would notice

Why was everyone suddenly okay with Bo-Katan?? She's a racist terrorist who not once had gone in depth or atoned for her war crimes and I'm genuinely disturbed that people chose to forget that. It's like cheering on Hitler because you liked him as a person outside of his political beliefs. I wanted Bo's redemption to be fulfilling while holding her accountable cause like what the actual fuck how is anyone okay with Bo's leadership after so many failed attempts and lies

The build up was to show that Gideon is so full of himself he had to clone himself?? I doubt that was the big reveal, what they saw in the lab on Navarro wasn't Gideon. I refuse to believe they needed Grogu just to make a more OPed version of Gideon. Gideon isn't stupid why would he clone himself with powers he doesn't have when he knows he'd just overthrow himself? That was bait and I'm not buying that or that he's dead that was a clone

Whomst the fuck wasn't watching Grogu and how did he manage to save Din without being detected????

The Mythosaur deserved better. I'm glad it's getting it's centuries long nap in, but I still refuse to believe the darksaber or Din being a himbo was the reason for her seeing it and then barely remembering to mention it again in the end like if it doesn't come back I'm suing Disney

Why was Din made out to be such a damsel until it was convenient? You're telling me this man easily passed out sinking to the bottom of a historic well despite knowing how to swim and his armor being canonically light, but was able to take down half an army by himself?? Din in the finale was the Din I knew who would never have perished from just being a dumb ass not watching his step. Even Grogu conveniently using the force after refusing to all season felt cheap and you can't change my mind

It's great Din adopted Grogu and all but he still hasn't called him his son?? Just his apprentice?? We spent three seasons with everyone else calling Grogu his son and Din his father but the titular character can't?? Where was that cuddly fatherhood from season 2 and episode 1 of this season? He's been treating Grogu like a nephew at most and I just... give me my space dad back

And why did they name drop Dooku but not Satine? What were the stakes? Why is there a season 4 when there's nothing that really needs to be said or done? Going back to the space western season 1 and 2 promised is fantastic but like... at what cost? Are they going to pretend season 3 never happened? Will it all be a dream? Will the peace be destroyed and Din and Grogu need to save Mandalore themselves and the galaxy with the friends they made along the way???

[nimata-beroya]

MY THOUGHTS ON TBB 2×14 "Tipping Point"

I don't know how articulated I'll be in this review. After watching the episode, I'm unwell to say the least. And it all started by seeing the thumbnail for the episode! Whose idea was that? I want to have words with them! I hadn't started watching the episode, and I was having a heart attack already.

It's so good how everything that has happening to this point is fitting like a puzzle. Despite how some people think, the build-up in this season has been spectacular, and now we're seeing the payoff. I told myself a few days ago that today I'd write the Mando review first today, since I didn't last week and TBB season finale is next week, but here I am, doing the opposite because this episode was so freaking good.

So, here are my thoughts and reactions…

It's so good to see Howzer!! You wouldn't believe the noise I made when I realized it was him. Fortunately, I didn't wake up my sleeping family with it. And it was not just him!! All the boys are back!! So good to see Rex, and Echo, and Gregor and new clones!! Yes yes yes!! And the strategy of docking the ship as a distraction while the rest breaches through another place is fantastic!! all the assault to the imperial ship was amazing!

Exciting 5 minutes of interlude were great but going back to Mt. Tantiss. Back to worry about my boy 😩 And there he is! Noooo, what are they going to do with him?! Oh, Force! More clones.

I love Crosshair's "What is it to you?" and "Wrong" with the right amount of disdain and animosity. Sass away, my boy!!

Hemlock might've gotten a tiny itsy bitsy possibility to make Crosshair contemplate the possibility to cooperate with him if he hadn't said that clones were property. Because at first, Crosshair wasn't sure what the doctor's deal was, and he was wary of him, but the second Hemlock said property of the Empire obliterated the infinitesimal willingness Crosshair could have to help him.

And I must say that after the lieutenant taking the first place from Krell as my most hated character in SW, Dr. Hemlock is turning into a strong contestant. Kudos to Jimmi Simpson for making that soft-spoken voice as creepy and terrifying as it is.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! DON'T TORTURE HIM!!!!! MY BABY NOOOOOOOO!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

OOOHH! Coruscant again!! RIYO!!!! WOOHOO!!!

You need someone to decrypt those files? yeah, Echo knows a guy!! A bespectacled one that's living momentarily on Pabu 😉

STOP TORTURING HIM!!!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭 My poor boy!!! Oh shut up, you karking stormtrooper!!

YES!!! BABY YES!!! kill those mudscruffers and don't you DARE to listen to her! Crosshair, shoot her NOW!!!

YES!! Now run!

Side note: Did you notice that Cross blasted the Stormtroopers, but he just stunned Emerie? I'd not have minded if he had kill her but I guess it shows his honor. Despite she was torturing him, he wouldn't kill her because she... was unarmed or had been nicer to him than the rest?

Come on come on!! Get out of there!

Ha! even drugged and barely able to stand, Crosshair wipes the floor with all these stormtroopers. Good for him

OH YES!! Send a distress call, YES!! OMG OMG OMG OMG!! He's warning them 😭😭😭😭😭 My baby knows there's no escape for him and tries to warn his brothers anyway 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I'm bawling my eyes out here. He keeps protecting them despite everything that has happened among them.

GRRRRR!!! I want to kill Hemlock so much!! 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪 I want to make it painful and last for a good while.

Ok. The batch is still living the good life in Pabu and Echo is coming! And my boy Wrecker is enjoying life as he should and deserves.

🤣🤣🤣 Flying lessons with Tech and Omega. Tech is getting a little of his own medicine. He's feel what have felt when he does one of his moves. I think Omega will be/is even more deranged piloting that he is.

Echo is here! Echo is here!!! awwwwwwww Omega jumping to hug him 💙💙

ok watching this going back and forth between exciting/happy things anywhere in the galaxy to stressful and scary Mt. Tantiss makes me feel like an emotional yo-yo. AAAAGGHH!!

😒 tarkin had to appear in this episode too? not fun, but nice way to hint the title of the next episode.

Just by Tech's tone through the comms it's easy to know what he found, it's not good (even if I already know it's absolutely NOT good)

YEEEEESSS!!! YES!! YESS YESS YESS!!! Now that you know Crosshair is there, go rescue him!!!! go go go!!

Oh, my! Wrecker assuming (correctly) that Cross turned on the Empire. That's my boy!! 🥹🥹

Yes!! Cross' message got out! At least the enough to warn his brothers (And hey! Yet another parallel to Kallus, both sending a cutoff message with just enough info to be a good warning)

Hunter has a point!!! From all they know, it perfectly could be a trap. WE know it's not, THEY don't. And I will slap anyone who says anything against Hunter because of this. By the time I'm editing this post, I've already seen a few talking about it, and it makes me shake some people! Hunter's question is 100% valid. I mean, do you remember what happened the last time?!

And the fact that he's having doubts doesn't mean he won't do anything, because as soon Wrecker asks what can they do to make sure, you can see the cogs in Hunter's head turning to make a plan. He's not dismissing the issue, just he's being cautious, which is 100% normal in him.

Oh no!!! 😭😭😭😭😭 Haven't you torture my boy enough?! LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!! I'm crying here, but I cannot help but be proud at that face Cross made. Gawd! The determination to say nothing. He won't break that easily.

I got the feeling Emerie will help Crosshair sometime in the next 2 episodes. Am I crazy to think that? I mean, she seems to treat him better than anyone else (if you ignore all the torture that is) and that last look she had, I don't know. Seems she's not so onboard with Dr. Hamlock anymore.

This episode wrecked me. I'm in shambles! I think the last time I was like this was the episode when Cross lured the batch to Kamino last season, but unlike then, I'm not sure how all this will turn out. I'm terrified of what will happen next week. Last season, I was relatively chilled because I was 99.95% sure nobody was going to die in the finale, which turned out to be true. This time, I'm not so sure. There are too many ways this could go wrong, and I don't want bad things to happen.

Also, I'm trying to keep my hopes low for the happy endings I foresee, so if things go sideways, my disappointment is less. but I wonder if wanting having the batch all together, safe and happy is too much to ask?

[the-heartstring-chronicles]

A mostly ( but probably not totally exhaustive) list of the fictional ships and familialesque bonds you will see on this tumblr

Character ships I LOVE

Elliot x Olivia ( SVU)

Picard x Crusher (ST: TNG)

Janeway x Chakotay (ST: VOY)

Odo x Kira (ST: DS9)

Michaela x Sully ( Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman)

Booth x Bones ( Bones)

Maria x Georg ( Sound Of Music)

Turnadette ( Call The Midwife)

Han x Leía ( Star Wars)

Pongo and Perdita ( Disney)

George x Doris ( Same Time Next Year)

Character ships I really like

Mulder x Scully ( X-Files)

Janine x Gregory ( Abbott Elementary

Ted x Rebecca ( Ted Lasso)

Riker x Troi ( ST: TNG

Diana x Matthew ( Discovery Of Witches

Ariel x Eric ( Disney)

Lady x Tramp (Disney)

Mary x Burt (Disney)

Character ships I am really happy about but not fic level invested in

Luke x Lorelei (Gilmore Girls)

Castle x Beckett ( Castle)

Olitz ( Scandal)

Jed x Abby ( The West Wing)

CJ x Danny ( The West Wing)

Mary Margaret x David (OUAT)

SwanQueen (OUAT)

Brittany x Santana ( Glee)

Josh x Donna ( The West Wing)

Raffi x Seven ( ST: P

Dana x Kevin ( Kindred)

Kurt x Blaine ( Glee)

Roslin x Adama ( Battlestar Galactica)

Fictional family/ familialesque bonds I LOVE

Shelagh and Sister Julienne aka Shulienne ( Call The Midwife)

The Golden Girls ( The Golden Girls)

Maria and the Children ( Sound Of Music)

Mando and Grogu ( The Mandolorian)

The TNG crew: ( ST: TNG)

Fictional family/ familialesque bonds I really like

Hank Sr and Booth ( Bones)

Rory and Lorelei (Gilmore Girls)

Max and Bones ( Bones)

Mr. Feeny and Eric and Cory ( Boy Meets World)

[clonehub]

so basically there is a book of bobba fett dlc for lego star wars the skywalker saga and the dlc is kind of bad. Both Bobba Fett and Fenec Shand are not in that dlc (kind of understandable because both of them are already in the game) but then there's no like no actual character that is from BOBF. The characters they choose to include was literally just Mando characters except Cad Bane and krrsantan. And idk it just feels really wierd to me. Like it kind of goes to show how badly BOBF was handled and Dave Felloni or Jon Faveru's wierdo insistence to fill BOBF with cameos and shit for mando that there was no other iconic characters they could have chosen for that dlc. The dlc was less Book of Boba fett and more just here's some mando characters that we didn't include in the Mando s1 and s2 dlcs that did show up in BOBF so we can pretend it's a BOBF dlc. The characters included were

Cad Bane Krrsantan The Armorer Cobb Vanth Peli Motto so like 3 of them were basically mando characters, Cad is basically a clone wars character though skywalker saga is not including lego star wars 3 clone wars, and Krrsantan was from Dr Alphra. it really felt like this dlc should h ave just been called Mando leftover characters DLC.

this doesn't surprise me. TBOBF is just one type of insult after another

[drwhitefox]

What if Ninjago characters were in Star wars? What would be their backstories and the colour of their lightsabers?

1) Lloyd grew up in Planet Ninjago with Wu after Misako abandoned him at three. They lived on that planet until Wu senses that the earth was about to blow up by Darth Garmadon (him not knowing they’re there), and Wu and Lloyd leave to find the remaining Jedi, aka the ninjas: Green Lightsaber… obviously.

2) Cole and his parents lived as famous singers and dancers on the planet Shintorou. Lily was a Jedi (Blue Lightsaber) but was kicked out of the Jedi Order for attachment to Cole after his birth and marrying Lou. After Order 66 (Cole was eight at the time) and losing many friends, she promptly faked her death and returned to the Jedi way. Cole lived with the guilt of thinking he killed his mother due to her attachment to him. A Year Later, Lou dies from grief and Cole is adopted by the Mandalorians as Foundling: Jedi Mando with Green lightsaber but later Darksaber.

3) Kai & Nya are exceptional due to their parents being the people responsible for the creation of Jedi’s lightsabers and instructions on the Kyber crystals and its planet. Both Maya and Ray disappeared one day, forcing Kai to learn the ins and out of a lightsaber but never learn to master it. Nya was someone who wanted nothing but to have an adventure but being stuck on a lifeless planet that was under imperial made that impossible until they met Wu: Kai Blue Lightsaber and Nya Yellow Lightsaber.

4) Jay grew up as a sky pirate under Ed and Edna after Lib (Jay's bio mom who has a white lightsaber) left him on Tattoine but was quickly taken because that place is a shithole. His adoptive parents may not have been bounty hunters. Still, Jay is…:Blue Lightsaber and gangster-ass Blasters.

5) Zane grew up in Tatooine as far as he knew, as he had lost his memory and lived with his “grandma and grandpa”. In actuality, Zane was one of the younglings (8 years old) during Order 66. Dr Julien and (old ice elemental master, Idk his name) created Zane and his brother Echo (a toddler) using force as IEM was very strong in the Force. During Order 66, Zane was among the children that were being slaughtered. His head was hurt, and he got amnesia. For survival, IEM's the parents took him and ran like hell into Tatooine: Lightsaber is currently unknown.

6) Echo, however, does not know anything as he was taken into his aunt (Dr Julien’s sister) and uncle's wings to Ninjago as a toddler, thanks to Zane and his fellow younglings safely hiding him away from where no Clones could find him. Because of the sacrifice of his brother and the younglings, Echo’s aunt and uncle sheltered him like a princess. Later, when he got older, he realised he was force sensitive and tried to practice, but his aunt probated him. Seeing this as another attempt to shelter and hide him, he lashes out and begins looking for people like him and finds Darth Garmadon and begins training under him: Red Lightsaber.

I have no clue what i want to call this AU as. But i really love the idea of Ninjago in Star wars universe. Ngl Lloyd bit was hard because there so many similarities with Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker with Lloyd and Garmadon… it was painful. I might change Lloyds backstory later.

[writingwintermoon]

Fennec.

Fennec Shand is handsome, clever, and rich, and rules the town of Mos Espa alongside her best friend, the Daimyo Boba Fett. Since consolidating their control of the sector, there has been little to distress or vex them.

Fennec-Emma AU, featuring Boba/Fennec, Jo/Drash, Din/Cobb, some slight Fennec/Bo-Katan, and implied Bo/Koska but now that I have the Nitearmor bug that may be included too 🤭 this is just an outline but these are two of my favorite things, Star Wars and Jane Austen lol

I highly encourage anyone who has not yet seen Emma. (2020) starring Anya Taylor-Joy to witness its excellence.

- (This is all because I accidentally put “I’ll dance with you, if you’ll have me” in another fic lmao)

- Fennec as Emma

- Boba as Mr. Knightley

- (they’re kind of both Emma and both Mr. Knightley, and also both kind of Mr. Woodhouse) (Boba moreso though)

- The people of Mos Espa are the broad concept of Mr. Woodhouse? Somehow.

- The Majordomo as Bartholomew the long-suffering manservant?

- Din as Harriet (Because he is The New Girl, & kind of also Jane Fairfax, because he is also Mysterious and That Bitch)

- Cobb as Robert Martin (he already is kind of Boba’s tenant farmer)

- Taanti as Mrs. Martin Senior

- The Tuskens who helped with the Kryat dragon as the Martin sisters

- the Armorer would be Mrs. Goddard…

- Paz as one of the schoolgirls (lmao)

- Drash and Jo as Miss Taylor and “Ms.” Weston

- Boba gives Drash away at the wedding and is beside himself with joy

- though he does do a bit of "poor Miss Taylor"-ing about how Drash is moving to Freetown

- Din asks, “Who cried most?” (it was Taanti)

- (Din wasn't there bc he had to go get the Armorer and Paz) (and I guess Ragnar’s there too)

- Peli as Miss Bates

- (and R5 as Mrs. Bates)

- (I’m thinking like the 2020 version where Mrs. Bates doesn’t talk at all until the very end and then won’t shut up)

- The other gotras would be the Coles etc

- The Modifier as Dr. Perry

- DENGAR AND MANAROO AS JOHN AND ISABELLA

- We can probably throw Bossk in there for no good reason for the Christmas Life Day dinner scene

- Highbury is Tatooine broadly/Mos Espa specifically

- The Palace is Donwell Abbey ... and also Hartfield

- The Parish is like, the abstract concept of (Bo-Katan's version of) the Mandalorian Way

- Brighton (or is it Bath he goes to??) is Mandalore?

- London is Coruscant ofc

- The Churchills’ estates are the abstract concept of the Jedi order

- Ford’s would be Garsa’s sanctuary

- BO-KATAN WOULD BE MR. ELTON (broadly)

- The portrait would instead be Bo-Katan suggesting to Din (& maybe Boba’s there too) that they make Fennec a cuirasse & new helmet (not of beskar, but at least in the Mandalorian style)

- Carriage scene, “I was flirting with Din for political reasons, for the darksaber! I was trying to get you to like me to get close to Boba! I don’t care about any of you, I only care about Mandalore!”

- All her other Mando gang would be Mrs. Elton, being kind of annoying and disrespectful & weirdly familiar to Mr. Knightley but also the best/funniest part of the whole thing

- Luke would also be both Jane Fairfax and Frank Churchill… Because he is Also Mysterious and That Bitch

- All the secret Jane Fairfax shit is Luke keeping all the Jedi stuff/his Skywalker backstory kind of secret

- Leia and Han as Miss Campbell and Mr. Dixon!

- the seaside incident = the Sarlacc incident???

- (I mean Han has saved Luke’s ass so many times—“that’s two you owe me, junior”)

- Luke letting Grogu go back to Din would be the pianoforte…

- GROGU IS THE PIANOFORTE

- Everyone (at least Bo-Katan) assumes it’s some kind of rescue mission or ultimatum by Boba but no, Luke let Grogu choose

- Luke did Din a great service!! (rescuing Grogu!!) (LIKE FRANK & HARRIET AND THE TRAVELERS)

- this situation would be the Travelers Incident (=> The Pity Dance) = Hearing Grogu's Call (=> Letting Grogu Choose)

- And then Boba (Mr. Knightley) can get over his dislike of Luke (Frank Churchill) since he helped Din (& Grogu) (Harriet)!!!

- any flirting with Fennec would be all Luke "I'm pure sunshine, charming naturally" Skywalker

- we shall have our ball indeed...

- Mr. Knightley sending his carriage would be Boba going to personally pick up Din, Cobb, Drash, & Jo from Freetown for their little event...

- Still need to include the Mr. Knightley singing with Jane scene

- ....but would this be Luke or Din as Jane?? 😱 THIS WOULD BE DIN, THEY'D BE SINGING A MANDO SONG

- AND BO-KATAN WOULD BE LIKE 😡 that should be me...

- The Strawberry picking outing at Donwell Abbey would be some kind of Mandalorian holiday…

- Boba just hangs out with Din the whole time, ignoring Bo-Katan, who is trying to set Din up as a governess/journeyman for her kind of Mandalorian (maybe even to help take care of foundlings??) so she’s heated

- Luke arrives late and is like 🤷‍♀️ I’m not a Mando, guess I'll leave

- Fennec is like, I’m not either, but Boba invited you to show favor to Grogu & by extension Din

- (He wanted to sit down with Din & Bo-Katan & Boba and explain about Tarre Vizsla, how Grogu can walk the way of the Mandalore while still following Jedi teachings, but the vibes are atrocious)

- He says, when I am missed… tell the others

- Fennec is like, okay fine, leave then

- Luke is like [shocked Pikachu face]

- Box Hill as a pod race instead???

- Fennec says something [unintentionally] nasty to Peli about how junk can still win

- It’s only funny when Peli says that herself…

- Of course Din takes Peli's side, so Cobb does too

- Even the Mods are like, be careful what you call junk...

- Badly done, Fennec!

- she sulks in the tower...

- Boba cheers Peli up by lettering her work on his “antique” (he grits his teeth when he says it ... but for real that ship has been around for a while lol)

That’s all I have for now, but I’ve been stewing on this for like a year.

@daimyosprincess @pickleprickle I feel like we are feeling the same wavelength here!