#weaving narratives 🫠

[kaffilatte-moved]

💚 bought new candle with green blue flame + matching candle holder bc im WEAK / they still wield so much power over me it’s crazy / STREAM MY ALBUM 💚

[hapan-in-exile]

Reader Response

Question about the use of Mando lore in my fic Hapan in Exile

@bbyanarchist asked the question:

I’m really curious - so in this fic, Mando wouldn’t take a riduur bc it’s against his creed? I’m not sure I’ve seen it like this before where he wouldn’t take a mate. My understanding from Mando culture is that partners and children (foundling or blood) are very important and integral to the creed

Thanks so much for asking me about this! I spent so much time working on the smut in A Loving Feeling that I didn’t make it clear anywhere that I’m deviating from the show (in as much as the show explains anything about “The Creed” 🫠). I hope the depth of my discussion below doesn’t exceed the scope of your curiosity. 

The short answer is that it's tied to *my interpretation* of Mando’s role in the Tribe. 

This interpretation is entirely mine. It's not based on any "official" SW canon. It's motivated by my desire to explore the Mando we meet in Season 1—the period when my fic Hapan in Exile is set. I’m interested in why, prior to the final episode, he doesn’t seem to have any clan affiliation and has never taken on a youngling/foundling apprentice before now. 

In my fic, I am interpreting that this is tied to his role as a member of the Fighting Core. So it's not that Mando couldn’t take a mate or have children in the future (and I’m definitely not asserting that Mandalorians do not take mates or have children). However, the role Mando occupies within the Tribe when we meet him in Season 1 prohibits these roles of formalized kinship. It's not until the Armorer confers the status of clan leader on him (Clan Din) that he earns this right. Without that, he’s just Mando. 

I haven’t tackled my Mando’s background in great detail yet, so I’m glad you asked this question. I hope this will give you some insight into what’s coming in the series. I’m really excited to delve into his adolescence as a foundling and envision the parental figures that influenced him. I hope readers enjoy that I weave the past and present narratives together.     

I’m deriving my understanding of Mandalorian culture from SWTOR lore because I find the show’s exploration of the Death Watch/Children of the Watch to be deeply unsatisfying.

I prefer SWTOR lore to Filoni lore!

SO much of the tension in this show is invested in the religious tenet that Din Djarin cannot remove his helmet, and yet we’re never given a compelling explanation as to why? Adherents to this Creed are characterized as religious zealots. Okay, that sounds fascinating. What are their unique doctrines or texts? Within this small fundamentalist group, we also have a distinct sub-group, the “Fighting Core.” Tell me more! Do they have unique roles, practices, and/or tenets within this social order?  

None of this gets worked out in the show. There is no internal logic. It's all very inconsistent and contradictory. I want to answer some of those questions with my Mando!

An example of something I struggled with (which I swear is relevant) is the revelation of Din Djarin’s name. When I started watching Season 1, I assumed the helmets were part of this broader subsumed identity—like no names, no familial ties, no hierarchies. In episodes 1-3, the Covert doesn’t use names, not even amongst each other. Just Mandalorians. I thought that was very cool! Radical collectivism! And it made sense to me as an extreme reading of the first “action” in the Resol’nare. 

I’ll pause to clarify that Mandalorian lore is represented across a variety of formats in the Star Wars franchise. I honestly have no idea what is considred canon at this point, but my introduction to Mandalorian traditions was playing SWTOR: Star Wars the Old Republic. For any readers not familiar with that game, a very dreamy Mandalorian named Torian Cadera breaks down the Resol’nare (Six Actions) for you:

Wearing armor.

Speaking the language.

Defending yourself and your family.

Raising your children as Mandalorians.

Contributing to the clan’s welfare.

When called upon by the Mand’alor, rallying to their cause.

To be clear, as far as I know, the Resol’nare is never referred to in SWTOR as “The Creed” or “The Way,” so I’m not claiming it’s referenced in the show. The fact that none of the characters EVER speaks a word of Mando’a is probably evidence that it's not canon. (The principle of fundamentalism as a religious practice is to adopt originalist belief systems, so I honestly don’t understand how the writers constructed a sect of “religious zealots” who don’t incorporate the ancient language of their people. I personally love that the fandom leans so heavily into the Mando’a as a corrective to this!)

I watched most of Season 1, thinking “The Way” was based on the Resol’nare, especially since adherence to the Six Actions is how you become a Mandalorian in the SWTOR game. I thought the tenet of “wearing armor” had been taken to an extreme interpretation by this sect of Mandalorians portrayed in the show. No names, no clans, no individuals—I have become the armor; I am Mandalorian. I thought that was brilliant!     

Okay, so obviously I was wrong. In the last episode of the season, Mof Gideon reveals that our Mando is Din Djarin. (Makes absolutely no sense that a nomadic cult would register their adopted children with the government they are in open revolt against…but I’ve ranted enough). I expected the type of reaction from Cara/Greef that we later get from Mayfeld, that because his anonymity had been violated, they would assure Mando they’d never tell anyone about his true identity. Instead, when he reconnects with the Armorer, she immediately starts referring to him as Din Djarin, using his name in front of outsiders despite the fact that this revelation did not happen in her presence. That's super inconsistent from a writing/plot perspective, but I wanted to give the revelation deeper meaning.

My lore theory

I interpret her use of Din Djarin’s name to be tied to Mando’s shift in status since this happens in the same scene where the Armorer confers his clan affiliation and signet. Prior to this moment, Din Djarin has no clan and no name. In his first interaction with the Armorer back in Episode 1 she asks about the signet—a sort of “are you ready to take on more seniority/begin to craft your legacy” question. Not yet, he says. Soon, is her response. In the final episode, after seeing Mando take on the role of protector for the Child, she deems him ready and makes him clan leader—a clan of two—and uses his name, Din Djarin. 

My fic takes place before these events in Episodes 7 and 8, so my Mando has no name, clan, or status beyond his role in the Fighting Core. I envision them as paladins or Fianna, like the Mandalorian Crusaders.  

Again, this is entirely my interpretation.  

But I honestly don’t think Clone Wars or Dave Filoni know what the Mandalorians who joined the Death Watch/Children of the Watch believe, either. That’s probably why “The Creed” and “The Way” are never recited or explained in the show. And that’s obviously intentional. We get this build-up in the Season 3 premiere when we get see the initiation ritual. It’s like, yes we are going to watch someone swear the Creed, finally! 

“And the words of the Creed shall forever be forged in my heart…” 

Bitch! What are the words?! Someone fucking tell me already!! Also, this is the only religious ritual we see, and not one word of Mando’a is spoken?!

I get why its left vague. Its much easier for the writer’s future plot/character development to be able to have the Armorer say some shit like, “According to Creed...” and then, whatever follows that pronouncement, the audience cannot say fuck all about it since we have no idea what “The Creed” actually entails. Like being baptized (born again!) in the Living Waters. Okay, sure! Why not? 

What I want to explore through my own lore

But, hey! This means I, as a writer, can also make “The Creed” and “The Way” into whatever I want. It’s rooted in the SWTOR Resol’nare but I’m also taking some liberties.

However, I do want to strive for internal logic and make it impactful to my characters and their relationship development. Here are some of the dynamics I want to explore that framed my interpretation of Mando’s orthodoxy. 

An understandably popular trope in Mandolorian X Reader fic is Mando getting the reader to convert so they can marry and raise Mandalorian babies. (Torian also wants to convert you!). But I want to make this a little more complicated beyond the reader making the choice to convert. I want Mando to work through some challenges first. What emotional and social order issues does he have to sort out before he can make that offer to you? What does it take to earn his change in status from "Mando" to "Din Djarin"? 

What does it mean that Mando is clanless? Why wasn’t he formally adopted into a clan? How do clan affiliations work within the Tribe? This is something my Mando has to sort out before he can take a mate/children. 

Mando is a member of the Fighting Core; does that mean there are other “cores” within the Tribe? We have an Aromorer, so I think the answer is yes. Or at least there seems to be some division of labor based on skills. I want to explore how my ofc/reader’s role of “Healer” fits into this Covert's system. Does Mando hope to find a place for you in the Tribe?

My ofc/reader also lost their family at a young age to be raised/trained in service. I want to explore how these shared experiences connect them despite their circumstances being so different. How does your background help you better understand Mando in a way others can't?     

Thanks so much for your question, @bbyanarchist! As I said, I hope this will give you some insight into where I'm going with the series.

[daisychainsandbowties]

4, 7, 21, 22, 33, and 40 from the writing asks? 🥰

4. do you have any OCs? Do you have a story for them?

i have a lot of OCs actually because i have three novels i’m bouncing between. one is around 110k (almost done) and another is just 40k (almost at the second act) and then the third is like 10k and i’m still feeling out my guys in that one. but all my OCs have pretty solid backstories and i do actually plot out my novels because it’s a different arena than writing fic (no existing characterisation to fall back on, world i have to make myself, expectations about structure are largely different).

the novel i’m working on now is about a space racing polycule that’s like enemies-to-lovers in one direction, friends-to-lovers in another and jealous-to-oh i can be in love with you too l, asshole. in another direction. the OCs in that are pretty fleshed out at this point. one is this ship mechanic who talks as though she only vagely understands how to and also could get a phd in aeronautics if she wanted but she’s like. sorry i’m too busy being in love with my best friend 🥰🫶

i want to talk about my boy levitas again but we’d be here forever

7. your favourite ao3 tag?

i looked through my bookmarks and apparently it’s some variation on characters recovering from Bad Things that Happened. makes sense for me i suppose. i am very drawn to how we can come back from dark places. this is why i write about the mechanics of light so often i think. but yes. it’s cathartic to me in a very special way to see characters survive and get fat and go grey and fall in love again despite despite despite

21. Can you accurately predict how long your fics are going to be? If you can, what is your secret?

only with oneshots. so, for oranges are the only fruit and orbital mechanics and this red rock and pokemon au i knew almost exactly how long they would be. maybe it’s a function of short stories and the technical landscape of them. i’m not certain. i tend to simply feel a sense of inevitability about those ones.

for longer fics absolutely not. demonstrably not as we all probably know i tend to let those get out of my hands. i don’t treat them like novels so they become almost serialised narratives to me. they’re done when they say so and it’s never clear when that will be.

22. What is it about watching the same two idiots fall in love over and over?

oh, um, i think what is appealing to me about this is the certainty of it. i like knowing that they will fall in love, i like knowing that things will be okay. also it’s loving the characters individually and being interested in how and why they fall for each other. how much can i change them until they don’t fall in love anymore? how far can i push them before they are not the same character?

i read fanfiction when i’m unsteady. when i can’t sleep or when i’m sad or when i’m hopeless lonely sore tired trying to do something other than cry. and it’s like. here are dozens of stories to the tune of “well, of course they fall in love. of course they will be happy.” it’s a way to come close to being loved yourself. i have a handful of fics that literally saved my life and i like to examine why. what did i need from them? was it the comfort of something melodiously repetitive? was it hope, the actualising touch of the other who is not other because they love you? i don’t really know why it is so life-reacuing - these stories about love over and over, again and again, but i’m very glad they exist. 💕

33. Give your writing a compliment

😭bdsm torture scene where you force me to internalise a compliment 🥺🥰🫠💕

i suppose i like how i can put a theme inside of a certain um… distance of prose and sort of weave a theme around that and come back to it again and again. like an epiphany in language. i like that. it’s very difficult.

luckily 😌 Amber would NEVER ask me to write a 9-word fic because she knows i would find that terrible. nigh impossible. a biteable offense. unless 🧐😳 that was your plan all along?