#DIN IS A REBEL CONFIRMED | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

peppermint-toads · 2 years

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din djarin asks you said?? what about a raging hurt comfort. like brink of death, Din is distraught at the thought of losing you type deal, maybe you’re tortured and he can’t get there in time and then you’re in and out of consciousness and he’s FREAKING tf out bc he thinks he’s going to lose you and it’s all his fault. basically some real dramatic shit?

an: i got carried away sorry hope you like it, pre-grogu btw

cw: actual torture, blood, be warned, 1.7k words

He prodded your stomach again with his blaster, holding it there so the metal barrel dug into your flesh.

“Where is he?”

“I told you,” you sputtered through a mixture of blood and saliva. “I don’t know.”

You wheezed, gulping down burning breaths through impacted lungs. You were suspended from the ceiling, durasteel binders held up with a chain that was bolted above you. Your feet dangled above the cold, concrete floor of the cell. You pointed your toes as best as you could to take some strain off your shoulders and wrists.

There were two stormtroopers in the small room and what looked like a lieutenant. It was hard to see the markings on his uniform with your blurry vision. The troopers had already battered your face and body, your under eyes starting to swell and bruise. Your lip was busted and you could taste the coppery fluid coating them.

A Galactic Empire general was on the run, seeking refuge with the rebels. Mando had picked up the fob and brought the two of you to some dingy casino on Nar Shaddaa. You were sitting next to one door, Mando at the other.

“Eyes?” He asked through the commlink.

“Yeah.” You confirmed, swirling your drink around with your straw. You were dressed in your best clothes and nicest makeup, Mando had told you it’d help distract the runaway general. You were bait, essentially.

You spotted him, stocky build, stringy blond hair, droopy eyes completed with purple bags. You were ready to get it over with, tired and the constant clinking and whirring of slot machines was about to push you over the edge.

You definitely weren’t as sharp as usual. Mando had been running you around the galaxy for the past few days, which meant no sleep, little food, no showers. You could’ve collapsed face first onto the illuminated table if you wanted. But he had promised. As soon as the bounty was secured, you could return to the Crest and he would buy you colo claw fish, roasted porg, anything you could possibly want. So, you pushed through and did as he asked.

You guessed the Empire caught onto yours and Mando’s little sting operation and decided to interrupt. Blaster shots rang through the dimly lit casino and biotic grenades exploded the walls. Only one thought flashed through your mind: Mando.

You glanced around through smog and blaster smoke, searching for beskar. You saw him. There were four stormtroopers on him, he was struggling. You opened your mouth to scream for him, but the blunt end of a blaster was slammed into your temple, and you were crumpling to the floor. You had woken up in a fog hours later, curled up on a metal cot in a holding cell.

You barely had time to lift your head to your pulsing head before the trio was storming in and suspending you in the air.

“You don’t know?”

You shook your head, hair falling over your face.

The lieutenant glanced at one of the troopers and nodded his head toward you. They exchanged short, firm nods, and the trooper stepped closer to you. He pulled a black rod from his belt, and flipped a switch. You flinched as the end of it jolted to life with blue electricity.

It buzzed louder and louder as he got closer. You thrashed in your shackles, caving in your stomach as far away from him as you could. He pushed the prod onto your bare thigh and you yelped, nerve endings crackling and searing with white hot pain. You swung in the air until the other stormtrooper forcibly stabilized you.

“Where is the traitor?” The lieutenant’s tone was far more insistent now, he was growing impatient. There were so many things you wanted to say, tell him he was the one who scared him off in the first place, but you could barely even open your eyes.

The lieutenant nodded to the trooper again. This time, he shoved the prod onto your hip bone that was barely covered by your underclothes. Your throat strained with the high pitch screech you let out. The thin skin covering your bone was far more sensitive to the pain.

It went on like that for what had to have been hours, days even. The same questions, the same results.

Finally, the lieutenant signaled the trooper to release your binds, letting your wrists free. They had no reason to worry about you escaping, you were barely alive.

Your body smacked against the ground and you grunted. You lifted your hand to brush over your rib cage and winced. You definitely had a cracked rib or two.

You caught a glimpse of the rest of your body, hardly believing what you looked like. Each prod had left a red, blistering center with purple veins blossoming outward. You counted six, maybe seven of them.

You lie on the ground, staring at the grate on the floor that swallowed up your blood with a gross gurgle. Your eyes couldn’t keep up anymore, and the warmth of unconsciousness overtook your body, finally letting you relax.

You dreamt of fond things; finally getting the huge, warm meal Mando had promised, the safe whooshing of hyperspace passing you by on the crest, but most of all, Mando. You were running through a meadow on some sunny planet somewhere. He stood firmly planted in the tall grass that was swaying in the wind. He got closer, and closer, and closer. You could practically feel the warmth of his chest on yours until you were startled awake by the cell doors sliding open.

A stormtrooper was on you quickly, gripping your biceps and trying to pull you up.

“Get the fuck away from me! I already told you I don’t know where he is.” You spat, using the last of your energy to meekly flail and scream and kick against his white, plasticy shins.

“Mesh’la, it’s me. You are hurt.” You didn’t miss the way his hands trembled around you.

His voice sounded a little different through the helmet, but it was still his. The burst of adrenaline seeped from your body, and you slumped back against the floor, knowing you were safe again.

“You look fucking terrible in that.” You flashed him a weak, red-stained smile before your head thumped back against the concrete, and he fell to his knees.

He shook you, whispering your name, willing you to wake up. Your eyes rolled open for a second and you coughed his name back.

He flung you over his shoulder, and thankfully you couldn’t feel the way the plastic armor dug into your ribs and hips.

He carried you through the massive Empire ship. The hallways were all dark, and they all looked the exact same, but Mando managed to expertly navigate through them somehow.

You didn’t wake again until you were back on the Crest. You couldn’t really move. You stared straight up, met with the steel ceiling; you were on the floor. You turned your head, taking in a sharp breath as you did. Half of the med kit was strewn across the floor. You chuckled, it made sense. You were usually the one patching him up.

The bend of your elbow stung where he must’ve administered the bacta through an IV. The rest of your wounds were slathered with a layer of salve and covered with sloppy, rushed dressings.

You tried to sit up, but when your abdomen crunched you cried out. Mando had appeared by your side in an instant. He loomed over you, clad again in the beskar you were used to.

“You’re awake.” He stated, kneeling by your head.

“Thank you, for the,” you gestured towards your body, “patch up.”

“I used you as bait and you almost died. When I reached your cell, you were almost dead. If I had come one minute later, you would be dead.”

He said it like he was replaying the events in his head, confirming that he’d done what he’d done.

He’d like to believe he just didn’t want to be alone again after having you around for so long, that you were just another body aboard his ship. Really, though, the Mandalorian was growing to care for you, and it scared him.

“Mando it-it's not your fault.” You struggled to talk, still finding great difficulty in taking in a full breath. “I should’ve been more careful-”

“No.”

You recoiled at his tone.

“What did they do to you.” He demanded.

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“Can you be serious?” He begged.

That was the one time you felt like you needed to be strong for him, if you broke down, he would have lost it and you could feel it. You ignored your injuries as best you could, just talking to him, reminding him that you’re alive.

You shifted your weight to one elbow with a grimace, using your other hand to pull his bare hand close to your chest. Mando relaxed, feeling your warm skin and beating heart. You started to speak.

“After they left, the troopers and the lieutenant, I-I must’ve passed out. But, I saw you in my head, and I knew you were coming. I wasn’t scared for a second.” You smiled with fat tears welling in your eyes as you stared where you thought his eyes would be.

You pushed yourself to your knees, stopping midway to catch your breath. Mando had tried to help you up, but you pushed him off.

You wrapped your arms around his neck, leaning awkwardly over his body. Slowly, he lifted his hands to wrap them around your back. You melted into him and he held you tighter. The stabbing pain in your ribs and stomach meant nothing because he was holding you so close. He cradled the back of your head and pressed your cheek into his shoulder.

“I thought I lost you.”

It was a choked whisper crackling through his vocoder.

“I can’t do it without you anymore. I need you here.” He admitted.

You thought for a moment, that you heard him choke down a sniffle. And out of the corner of your eye, you watched a salty tear roll down his neck and bleed onto his cowl.

“I’m not leaving, Mando.”

You’re not leaving.

#mandalorian x reader #mandalorian angst #mandalorian hurt/comfort #mandalorian fanfiction #din djarin x reader #din djarin angst #din djarin hurt/comfort #din djarin fanfiction

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direwolfrules · 1 year

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Some more scenarios I would want in a Star Wars What If? series:

Confirmed Korkie Kenobi (because the only place this would get confirmed would be an alternate universe)

Instead of the Children of the Watch Din gets rescued by the Nite Owls

Obi-Wan falls to the Dark after Satine’s death

Obi-Wan falls to the Dark after Qui-Gon’s death

Obi-Wan as someone else’s padawan

Marshal Commander Fox of the 7th Sky Corps and Commander Cody of the Coruscant Guard

Anakin believes Fives about the chips (their existence, not the Chancellor being behind them)

Qui-Gon survives Naboo

Secret Rebel from the beginning Ursa Wren

Sidious dies from Dark Side corruption before he can enact his plan.

Coleman Trebor manages to defeat Dooku at Geonosis

Sar Labooda survives Geonosis (let baby Caleb have an aunt dammit!)

Sabine actually manages to destroy all the data on the Duchess the first time

Ezra’s second lightsaber is also a gunsaber

Dooku chickens out before he can kill Sifo-Dyas

Jango Fett survives Geonosis

The New Mandalorians are an actual entity in Rebels

Kanan realizes Leia’s Force-sensitive during “A Princess on Lothal”

The detonator remote works at Rishi base

Fives is the one blown up at the Citadel while Echo gets away

Someone other than Chopper follows Ezra to Tatooine

Crosshair’s chip malfunctions like the rest of the Batch

A different Bad Batcher’s chip activates

Force-Sensitive Jar Jar Binks

Mother Talzin makes a deal with the Jedi instead of the Sith

Marshal Commander Rex of the 7th Sky Corps and Captain Cody of the 501st

Bariss gets caught before she can successfully frame Ahsoka

The Death Star malfunctions upon its first full-power firing (Alderaan).

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magnoliabutters · 1 year

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• BROKEN PROMISES •

pairing: din djarin x (she/her, 18+) mandalorian reader

summary: does one feel relief or distrust upon hearing another mandalorian has graced navarro with their presence?

word count: ~3k

warning: 18+ content, mdni, adult language; canon related violence & action (pew pew), loosely following season 3; slow burn, upcoming series with eventual smut; tw - hints of alcoholism, self-degrading thoughts, etc.

reblogs, comments, & thoughts are greatly appreciated 🤍

note: trying something new and doing my best to stay realistic with canon. hope my fellow star wars and mandalorian friends enjoy! we find our characters at the beginning of season 3 ...

You feel honor in being a mandalorian. Your people may be dying off, spread as far as the stars in the galaxy, but they are taking out others ten to one. The purge is only temporary. A mere blip in the mandalore history. The Creed propels you forward with ease, strength, dexterity. This is all you have known. It is in your blood, and the blood of those before you. The armor strapped against your chest, filled with kinks and scratches, scream stories that your enemies will never share. Mandalorian pride is all you know. This is the way, after all.

After a run in with a rebel squad, your ship finds itself missing a landing pad. Your less-than graceful entry into Navarro is one for the books. Droids' eyes peer up at you, hesitant in your placement. There is no better parking than right at the front archway of the young city. You stand from your pilot's seat, carelessly pressing the button on your left. The door slowly opens, revealing the burning stench of the nearby lava pits. The smell only further confirms your location.

You make your way down the steps with your eyes set on those before you. Your hand ready by your holster, yet hiding behind your cloak as usual. The element of surprise is always at your advantage, despite your beskar chest plate and crimson helmet. "A fix, mandalorian?" the short droid shouts your way. You throw credits in its direction, never wasting your time with something as useless as eye contact. "Back right pad and the nav system," you announce. "I'll be in the bar. Find me when it's done."

Immediately, the sanctuary's change resonates with you. Karga's done well in this sector. The previous dirt path now rattled with stone. Vines and brightly colored flags fill the freshly painted white walls. Even the people appear happier, welcoming - almost as though they have been paid to do so. It feels disingenuous, but you have also been told that paranoia is one of your most pronounced attributes.

Entering a town’s dining area is almost always a show of looks. Every patron sizes up the individual, creature, or machine that walks through the front doors. For Navarro, it means taking your first glance at the competition. Who will get the highest bounty? It will easily go to whoever has the most beskar armor no doubt. Navarro may be making its way to a trading post, but it will always have its roots deep within the Guild.

“Take a seat, anywhere,” the bartender yells out. You peer over the hall. Two bounty hunters rest in the back corner. A mother and child to your right. Nobelmen, who you assume are anything but, sit at the high tops. Their eyes drawn to you, particularly your chest. You often have to remind yourself that the armor is what draws attention before punching your fist through anyone’s skull.

“Spotchka,” you say as you point towards a table against the wall. The blue iridescent drink now your primary source for hydration. Life is easier to float through when you are intoxicated half the time. How are you expected to complete your bounties sober? “Must be a special day,” the purple-skinned individual mutters before slugging the jug of blue hell onto the table. “Special?” you ask, barely attending for an answer. You reach for the cup he sets before you before popping the cork off the jug. “Yeah, two mandalorians in one day. High magistrate must be throwing a party,” he adds.

Now that catches your attention. Your movements stop suddenly. It makes the man jump beside you, hesitant to your next move. “Another mandalorian is here, in Navarro?” you ask, slowly looking up to him. “Y-yes, he just walked by with the high magistrate and-and a child,” the man shares, taking a step away from you. Your gaze falls to the surface of the table as you attempt to understand the information presented.

You have not seen another mandalorian since the armorer denied you. The word “apostate” leaving burns in your mouth, like sipping on battery acid. You did what you had to. The old ones knew it too - knew that redemption may be needed. Little did they know that the great Mandalore would become inhabitable. Therefore, any hope of redeeming oneself is quickly put to rest.

Your mind races, as the bartender hesitantly returns to his post. Your grip tight against the neck of the bottle, but your eyes focused in front of you. You came here for work. The last thing you need is an actual comparable competition. Let alone, one who will share your current status with those of the Guild. Without a mandalorian’s wage, you will get next to nothing from a bounty. Offered scraps and disrespect. You can feel the blood in your cheeks. Your nostrils flared as you think of the possibilities.

Navarro is burned. No - you do not have a choice. You will not be able to pay for your ship's repairs. You will be stuck here. All your credits gone to lodging, to food. Always in debt. No! You slam your fist onto the table, drawing the attention of those around you. But let us not pretend you care about them. You stand and furiously walk from the room. You must find this mandalorian before they find you.

Standing back on the main road, you desperately look for some indication of where to find the Magistrate. You settle for a vendor alongside the path. Your voice harsh when you ask, “Have you seen the mandalorian?” The human jumps at the sight of you. This seems to be a common occurrence in your presence. Confusion across her face as she takes a long look at your armor. “Is that a trick question?” she lazily jokes. “There’s another,” you reply with a monotone.

“I’m not sure if I know,” the woman stalls. She reaches for her fruit basket. Her free arm shrugging. “I’ve been selling all day.” You sigh, an involuntary roll of your eyes to go along with it. Humans are always so predictable. You quickly reach into your satchel and drop credits into her hand. “The mandalorian,” you repeat. The woman smiles, cheek to cheek. A sour sight. “Town square,” she says pointing off to her right. “There’s a statue of an IG droid. That’s where I saw him last.”

You nod, walking off. The information was weak. Not at all worth what you paid for, but you figure that was the best you would get with the time crunch you were on. The street is bustling with people. Busier than you remember. Twice as annoying. You find yourself regretting the choice to find work on this planet. Of all the systems, you chose the one that a mandalorian had already laid claim on. Maybe you did deserve the title of "apostate."

“Mando,” the strong voice rips through the crowd. You immediately turn to see Greef Karga with his magnificent floor lengthed robe across the town square. The glistening grey of beskar armor shining back at you. A full set. You cannot help your gaping mouth at the sight. This individual is more than just a mandalorian. You could clearly see it, even with their back turned to you.

A Phoenix rising against their back. Whistling doves upon their cuff. The armorer has taken great care of this one. Jealousy stings at the back of your throat. What did they have to do to get a full set of beskar armor? You know how far you went for just your helmet and chest plate. The sorrow it’s memory causes you. This meant that they were a threat.

You decide that the best course of actin is to continue observing. It appears their business with Karga is complete. Maybe they will leave the system soon. You adjust your stance to find more space amongst the crowd. Your vision blocked between hurrying peoples. With another step, you see a dome like shape floating beside the mandalorian.

In that moment, you remember the child. A foundling, no doubt. You have heard rumors of a mandalorian bounty hunter who claimed his bounty as his own. You thought it was just a story. A funny one, seeing the juxtaposition of the statement. Mandalorians breed nothing but success, yet this one fails and fails again. Failure, yet with a full set. Curious.

As the high magistrate walks away, the two trek down a side road. You assume back to their ship but follow loosely behind to ensure their departure. The mandalorian seems to be talking to his companion, the child. As they turn a corner, you see the large, pointed green ears of the foundling. It is amusing to think of how a helmet will rest upon those wings. Will the armorer make one special for you, little one? you think to yourself. A smile broadening across your lips.

Body language may not be one of the options for your optics, but you can read the happiness in this particular mandalorian’s step. Happiness is not something you find common amongst your people. Not lately that is. A bond lives between these two. It may not be physical, but you can feel it from yards away. It’s strong, unmoving, relentless. It reminds you of your connection with your mother. The thought wrinkles your brow. Another strong reminder that happiness is not well known by a mandalorian. Yet here one is, happy as a jawa with parts.

Rounding another corner, you allow a few other individuals to walk before you. The distance building between you and the pairing, strategically. However, when you turn the bend, you lose sight of the individuals. Your entire body freezes. Eyes raise up to the roofs of the buildings around you. Pins and needles ridge throughout your skin. All the citizens are gone and you have easily walked into a trap. Maybe the armorer was right about your new title.

A blaster presses harshly against the back of your neck, just below your helmet. “What are you after?” a deep voice flows from behind you. Your hands slowly raise. “Who says I am after anything?” you ask slowly. The sides of your eyes follow your cuffs. The light beside your flamethrower blinking, ready when needed. “Is this how you treat your kind?” you muster. The barrel still tight against your skin.

“You were the one tracking me,” the man bellows. You hear a gurgle of a child behind you. A smirk pulls on the side of your face. “The foundling. Do you intend to raise him according to the Creed?” You tilt your head as you take a small step forward. Your hands remain high as you turn to face him. The blaster now pointed at your throat.

The familiar beskar helmet staring back at you. You find an old sense of comfort within the reflection of yourself. You missed your home, your people. Regardless, you were not going to further your embarrassment by staying under someone else’s gun. With a swift movement, your helmet plows against his. A large clang is heard throughout the neighborhood.

The man stumbles back before raising his blaster towards you once more. Your arm swings through his grasp, dropping the weapon onto the floor. You thrust your fist at his face only for it to be swiftly blocked. An uppercut falls against your stomach, carefully placed between your armor. A groan of pain falls from your lips.

Frustration fills your body. The title reeling in your mind. Your fist flies through the air, landing against his lower back. Another fist falls between his ribs. A grunt escapes your lips, this time fueled with anger. You rev up a kick, aiming it for his chest plate, but the mandalorian finally wises up.

He catches your foot, throwing you down onto the ground with full force. A fast glance up and your anger is recharged. You watch him reach for his holster. Quickly, you extend your wire and wrap it around his wrist. With a strong pull, his arm is pulled from its socket. He steps forward, off balance. You swiftly roll closer to him, kicking your foot out. His legs fall from under him as he smacks firmly against the hardened surface.

You furiously crawl over to him. Your fingers curl in the cloth behind his armor, pulling him closer to you. Suddenly, fire bursts through his cuff against your helmet. The heat burning at the metal immediately drops sweat from your pores. With your surprise at his disposal, you pull away enough for his fist to explode against your side. In tandem, both your and his wrist are pressed against the opposite’s neck - beneath one's helmet. The fire readily set between the two.

Heavy breaths are expressed against the notable mandalorian helmets. The awkward silence of a draw between two always leaves you in discomfort. Your entire body weight upon him. You rapidly push away the enjoyment felt when acknowledging his body beneath you. Both of your fists never leaving their spot, never relieving the pressure.

With a slight twist of your head, you add space between his fist and the skin of your neck. His allowance of your movements grants the pull back of your own fist from his throat. You gently push up, retreating back into a crouch beside his resting and hesitant body. You note the sudden crowd circled around you two. A mandalorian fight - usually one would need to pay for such high stakes combat.

“I’m here for work,” you share. You extend your hand out to him. He reluctantly takes it as you both support each other standing up. “Didn’t need another complicating that.”

With a quick movement, the man retrieved his blaster back into his holster. Your eyes watching him closely. A true mandalorian would never disgrace a draw, but nonetheless you are ready. “No need to worry,” he starts. “I have my own business to attend to.” With curiosity, you peer around his body and note the sweet green ball of innocence staring back at you. “Yes, I see,” you smile. A small hand raises as you wave back at it.

“A foundling acquired within a bounty,” you state, returning your gaze towards the blank helmet. “Curious place to find such a sweet thing.” The mandalorian steps to his left, blocking your view of the delicate soul. A frown forms upon your face, not that he will ever see it. He is protective of the foundling, as he should be. "This is the way," you mutter begrudgingly before turning around.

"Wait," the man hurriedly says. Your body pauses, slowly turning back. "I came to Navarro to find another of our kind," he states quietly. His body language timid. The hairs on the back of your neck stand tall. "An apostate." Without a moment, your blaster is pointed at his face. His hands raised defensively. A mild murmur escaping the foundling. Your heart hurts knowing that you have caused it concern.

Your breath harsh and heavy. It sightly fogs your optics. Your grip tight against your blaster. Your finger at the ready against the side of its barrel. Still unsure of whether or not a pulled trigger will be needed. "What need do you have for an apostate?" you ask harshly. "The armorer," he starts as he steadily approaches you. His hands still raised to the sides of his helmet. "She told me of your title and where to find you." Your heart races as your arm's stance weakens.

"What need do you have for an apostate?" you repeat loudly. The words firmly annunciated upon your lips. You will not ask again. "I, too, am an apostate," he states with a hitch to his voice. The manner of which he speaks of it confirms his title. The nervousness, the embarrassment, the disgust of the words falling from his mouth. You know better than to ask him what he had done to deserve such a title.

"Do you seek redemption?" the mandalorian asks quietly. His hands lowering as he takes another step before you. You promptly holster your blaster, keeping your eyes to the ground. "Redemption is impossible," you mutter under your breath. "If you believe that to be true, then why do you still wear beskar?" he brutally asks. The words harsh within your ears. You pick your head up in disgrace. "The Creed is all I know," you seethe through your teeth.

"How do you seek redemption?" He asks. His stance vulnerable, yet steady. An underlying trust rests between you two. The mandalorian way. But here he stands, testing you. "Bathe in the Living Waters," you answer reluctantly. You have done it once before, as a child. "Yet, you look for work in Navarro," the man states with a careless attitude. Almost as though he looks down upon you. That fire builds within your chest once again.

"And how might I bathe in the waters of a dying planet?" you spit out. It pains you describe your home in such a manner, but its current state is inhabitable. Mandalore is too far gone, but you will never take off your beskar. "Mandalore is not dying," he says quietly. His head lowers almost as though he is steadily observing your reaction. Your body stands still, immediately deflecting his hope inducing statement. "I have an artifact, recently taken from its surface," he continues.

Your eyes watch as he slowly reaches into his satchel. Your hand instinctually held against your blaster's holster. The mandalorian reveals a green crystalized fossil with a clear mandalore inscription. "Redemption is possible," he says as he hands the artifact to you. The crystals harsh and prickly against your gloves. The words reflective of the books you once read as a child in the great library. "The armorer tasked me to find you," he states. You lift your chin to watch him in shock. "So that we may both be redeemed for our broken promises."

Hope, a fluttering feeling. Something that you struggle to recognize. It has been some time since it has been sincerely expressed within you. You stare into the empty face of the mandalorian helmet before you. Your eyes fall upon the beskar present within all of his armor. You note the sigil of the mudhorn on his right shoulder. He watches as you rake over his pieces. He can imagine the thoughts flooding through your mind.

"I am Din Djarin," the mandalorian states plainly. Your attention is immediately called as you follow his voice. "Lara Fink," you reply courtly. A fake name you graciously give to those who fall under unfamiliar. "This is the way," he states before nodding forward. He begins to walk past you. The child floating alongside him. Those big brown eyes peering right back at you. "This is the way," you mutter as you follow along.

note: thank you for reading! hope you liked it! your thoughts and feedback are greatly appreciated! i cannot wait to hear what you think!

• nav • no-no plagiarism • one shot • requests open •

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hobbitkiller · 5 months

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I really hope we get to see Sabine and Bo-Katan interact in some way in the Mandoverse.

I can only imagine how many conficting emotions they must have. Do they blame each other for the purge? Themselves? Does Sabine feels as guilty for giving Bo the Darksaber as Bo does for accepting it? How does Bo feel about Sabine becoming a Jedi? Was Bo the one who confirmed the Wrens were dead? Why were they on Mandalore and not Krownest?

My head canon is that Bo-Katan sees Sabine as a potential heir. She seemed willing to back her claim back in Rebels, and Sabine would be one of the better people to keep an eye on Grogu after she and Din are gone.

But, I can also see Bo as feeling Sabine betrayed Mandalore by giving her the Darksaber and then going back to the Rebellion.

I just really want more—comics, books, TV shows, I’ll take it however I can get it.

#sabine wren #sw rebels #bo katan kryze #ahsoka show #ahsoka series #the mandolarian #mandoverse #dave filoni

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yoditorian · 18 days

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Lacuna - The Rewrite - Part 2

din/gn!reader

i split the original chapter into two upon rewriting, which is why the second half is missing

original part 2//series masterlist//main masterlist

word count: 3.1k // warnings: some swears, too many italics, that's literally it tho, still 18+ no babies

“-wiped out, no one survived.”

“Well, someone did.”

They’re arguing, still. And you’ve been delivered five meals since being directed into the small office for questioning. So it’s been at least a day, almost two. Probably. The voices in the hall fade, they must be off to discuss your situation with someone who might be able to make the decision. They’ve already searched you and your pack - already confirmed you’re not a spy for the Empire - so what’s the hold up?

You don’t hear a set of footsteps approaching the door, too wrapped up in your own anxieties about what might happen if they don’t let you in. Which is probably why you jump half a foot in your chair when the door slides open. It reveals a woman, dark hair and sharp features, deep green flight suit tied at her waist. She’s pretty, although she’s clearly not sure what to make of you just yet as she eyes the binders at your wrists.

“What do you do?” She asks, arms folded as she leans against the doorframe. You don’t answer straight away, not sure if it might be some kind of test, but at least she doesn’t look overly annoyed that she has to repeat her question to get an answer.

“Pilot, mechanic, fucking janitor - whatever, honestly.”

“Triple threat,” Her voice is even, but she’s fighting a smile that gives her away immediately. Not a test, then. “What kind of experience you got?”

Shara has to admit that the rumours of a surviving member of the Corellian spy ring had piqued her interest. Jet fuel runs in the blood there, it’s a safe bet that whoever the generals had spent the better part of forty eight hours grilling has more than enough experience to hop straight into a starfighter. And with heavy losses in recent months, pilots are something the Rebellion is desperately short on.

So she isn’t shocked when you start listing every planetside transport, every planet hopper, cargo freighter, gunship, and starfighter you’ve ever worked on or flown. The list is extensive, impressive honestly. It dwarfs the experience of many of her colleagues, and Shara can’t help the thrum of excitement in her veins. Not only are you an experienced pilot, but you’re a mechanic - a scrapper, the rebels need more scrappers. Too many politicians, too many people who are far too used to having every resource in the galaxy at their disposal. It’s a glimmer of hope, she realises, in a night becoming all too dark for anyone’s liking.

“So, you can fly anything?” Shara asks, no longer hiding the wide grin on her face.

“Anything.”

You’ll fit right in, she decides - there and then.

And you do, you slot in like you’ve lived your whole life orbiting Yavin.

They drill you like there’s no tomorrow, you’ve got the deep muscle aches to prove it but it’s thrilling. Your back hurts and it’s everything you ever wanted it to be. Where the Corellian spy ring was all sneaking and secrets, the Rebel base on Yavin IV is a full scale production. Every daylight hour is spent running the same manoeuvres in the main four fighters - before you know it, you could fly any one of them with your eyes closed. Despite the pain and the exhaustion and the repetitive nature of the training, you love it. But you’ve got your eyes on the prize.

A coveted position in one of the primary starfighter squadrons has conveniently opened up, its previous placeholder reassigned, and you’re not the only one who’s sure that the fourth bunk in Green Squadron’s barracks has your name on it.

“I know I don’t see you coming for my track time.” Shara Bey’s voice is loud and clear over the buzz of the hangar, and you can’t keep the smile off your face despite the ache deep in your bones.

“Maybe I am, are you finally gonna do something about it?”

Shara launches herself at you the moment you set your datapad down, a boisterous laugh echoing off the ships. You’re steadily climbing the ranks in training, the years of experience already under your belt make you more confident in the cockpit than the other new recruits and you’re not afraid to pull a stunt or two. A flawless dead drop recovery had earned more than a few nods of approval from some of the qualified pilots. Although the Commander overseeing the recruit training made it clear that it was definitely what landed you with patrol maintenance duty on top of your usual drills in the first place.

“I talked to Draven.” She says, and your stomach flips. You’re leaps and bounds ahead of the other recruits, for sure, but nobody seems to want to sign off on your training. There’s always something about required hours or simulation times or more drills. You’re starting to get the feeling that, while you’ve got enough support from your would-be colleagues, no one in command wants you in the air at all.

“I told you I would!”

“I know, I know. But look, if I ask it’s more like an endorsement.”

“Shara-” You’re talking over one another, but not missing a single word. It’s a talent that leaves the commanding officers astounded more often than not.

“He said he’d think about it, which in command language means no-”

“Tell me there’s a but.”

“But,” She grins widely, “He told me if you get this next info grab done, he’ll put in a good word with my commanders. And my commanders know I’m not going in the air unless you’re at my nine o’clock.”

Shara’s been far more welcoming than just about everyone since the moment she’d rocked up to your interrogation room and asked about your experience. And, over the moon to find you wandering around the halls and out of the binders, she’d spent the whole of your first night curled up in your bunk in the recruit barracks - recounting every little bit of drama she could think of. By the morning, you know who was dating who, who wasn’t happy about it, which crews were rivals, and which held the fastest course runs. Hers, obviously .

You weren’t as forthcoming with your own journey, only mentioning that you’d run with some rebels for a while on your home planet, made a few detours along the way - she didn’t seem too surprised, and you wondered how much of that she knew already. Ran’s voice, still, in the back of your mind reminding you that everybody has an agenda . But her eyes were so open, so kind, you’ve yet to see that slip. Shara Bey might be the first genuinely good person you’ve ever met.

“And Kes’s crew is due to swing by tomorrow, in case you’ve changed your mind.” She winks, although she already knows you well enough to know you won’t take her up on the offer.

It had come up that first night, somewhere along the way, when she’d started lamenting about the pitiful state of the dating pool. Not something she had to worry about anymore, thank God, but a nightmare nowadays if you were after anyone who didn’t have history with someone in their own crew. She was happy to get her boyfriend to set you up with one of his friends - Pathfinders, never on base long enough to establish a history with anyone, fine enough to pass the time, and strong enough to manhandle you a little. If that’s what you’re into.

You’d still been a little wary of sharing too many details about your history, something about how you weren’t interested muttered in the dark over the quiet breathing of the other new recruits. You could only tell her that you didn’t expect to see him again. He’d gone home, you didn’t even know where home was. She’d understood, with an arm around your shoulders and an attentive ear if you ever wanted to share more, although she made it clear that the offer of a muscular pair of emotionally unattached Pathfinder arms was always open.

It’s close to a year since you got scooped up by their spies for asking about the Rebellion, but Shara’s never failed to make it seem like much longer. Like you’ve been best friends, sharing lunches and secrets on the landing pad in the shade of her A-Wing for your whole lives. Even now, she’s looking at you like she knows you - backwards, forwards, sideways, inside out. Truth be told, she kind of does. It’s a closeness you’re sure you’ve never had with anyone, and you know you wouldn’t give it up for anything.

“Someone came here last week having never left his planet before and they put him on the training roster. You’ve logged more flight time than any recruit I’ve ever seen and we didn’t even have to teach you in the first place. I know you’re Draven’s golden child, but he can’t keep you on the ground forever, kid.”

“You can’t call me ‘kid’, I’m older than you.” You laugh, shoving her shoulder with your own.

“You’re ruining the moment.” She winks, pressing a kiss to your temple before she waves at a commander calling her name and makes her way to her ship.

The datapad beeps a reminder from its resting place on your tool trolley, you need to pack for your intel grab. It shouldn’t be a long trip, Draven had assured you, a simple in and out: information in exchange for protection and transport to the base. Protection and transport optional. He makes the hard decisions, you’ve learned during your time running the smaller missions for intelligence. The more important runs get given to rebels like Cassian Andor and the group of mercs you’d seen filing into the command room a few days ago. It was an odd combination, seeing people like that somewhere like this, and you know you shouldn’t have stared but you couldn’t help yourself. Weapons strapped to every empty space on each body, armour and clothes on a number of species from all across the galaxy. One of them had looked jarringly like you, although you hadn’t really gotten a good look at their face before they’d disappeared.

Just this mission, and you’d be in the air next week. Hopefully. It’s enough to get your feet moving towards the barracks to pack.

You only need the basics, a change of clothes and some medkit refills. Just in case. Except there’s still an empty space when you zip it shut, sitting heavy between your neatly folded shirts and the top of the bag, and you keep looking at your blanket. It gets cold in hyperspace, a voice in the back of your mind pipes up, and you decide that’s good enough reason as any to fold it in alongside your supplies. It smells solidly of the clean soap of your bedsheets, his scent - Din’s scent, a mix of metal and warmth - had faded before you even plucked up the courage to go looking for the Rebellion, all those months ago. You still hold it to your nose for a moment, just to check, before it too gets folded and laid in the top of your pack.

Now you’re ready.

Din isn’t overly fond of Nevarro. It’s not an unbearable heat, the dry plains are to thank for that, but he’s not a fan of days where the wind picks up and carries the sulphur of the lava fields under the lip of his helmet. The covert welcomed him back, more or less with open arms - though he’s not sure if their ever-dwindling numbers might have had anything to do with the warm reception. He hadn’t let them go without a cut of his pay for every job he’d done for Ran, always sending something back to the foundlings, so at least he hadn’t totally abandoned them. The Armourer decided he should be their beroya , their bounty hunter, and within days he found himself tracking a quarry in a system he’d never heard of. It was easy, really, to take the skills he’d garnered all his life and apply them to this. Paz had laughed with the familiarity of an old friend and told him that if a skinny thing like Din was their beroya , they were all fucked. So at least no one was openly angry that he’d left them.

The guild rep slides a puck across the table, metal scraping against the stone, and the blue hologram flickers. The human man staring back at him is unassuming, but the notes suggest otherwise. A former senator’s assistant, with strong connections to both the Empire and the Rebellion. Din nods, flicking the puck off and tucking it into his pocket without another word.

His loyalty is to the covert, to the Mandalorians. It always has been and it always will be. This is the way. But one mention of the Rebellion has his mind surging back to thoughts of you. Everything in his life seems to. Every time he sets foot on the Crest all he can see is you, bent double with your head in an access panel and a greasy rag tucked into the back of your pants. He’d see the sun and remember how you always used to turn your face to it, just for a moment, whenever the team ran jobs planetside. You’d never told him where you came from, but Ran had let bits and pieces slip over the years. In the looming shadow of the Razor Crest, Din wonders if you ever made it off the station. If you decided to drop everything and find the rebellion, the way you said you would when you were half asleep on his chest, your mind fucked out and hazy. He hopes you did.

The tracking fob brings him to a semi populated planet, somewhere near the border of the Unknown Regions. Vast swathes of land and water are completely uncolonised, left to nature, only a few cities dotted here and there over the whole planet. The bounty is evidently in possession of some brains, having chosen a mid-sized city to get lost in, and Din is almost disappointed that he knows it won’t take long. Wishes he’d picked a different puck, a little further away. Just to keep his mind occupied and out of more dangerous territories.

He stays vigilant, but pays no mind to the beeping of the fob on his belt. He can steal a moment, he thinks, to take in the area. To live the life of some extravagant explorer in his mind while he does a little recon, the life he might have led before it was cruelly snatched away in seconds on Aq Vetina. The last thing he expects to see when he walks into that crumbling little cantina is you.

Din spins on his heel and is out of the door almost as soon as he enters, slipping down the alley to the side of the building to catch his breath. He’s fairly sure you don’t notice - but his mind is reeling, echoes of the vows he swore as a child and the Armourer’s words swirl in his ears.

His loyalty is to the covert. His loyalty is to the covert. His loyalty is to the covert.

But he only sees you. The way you always had time for him back on the station, how you told the others where they could shove it but always gave him a smile. You went above and beyond to help him without complaint when he asked, only ever got snippy with him when someone else had pissed you off first. He still remembers the way you felt in his hands, how you sounded, how you tasted. He still thinks about it on quiet nights, more often than he should. This is not the place to remember, there’ll be time for that later, although his body needs another minute to be completely convinced.

All he feels is guilt, once the blood comes back up to his brain. Guilt over the covert, over his vows and his creed and his people. But what’s more convincing is the guilt he has over you. Over how he just walked away, left you sleeping, and took the ship you’d spent months working on. Even if you were the one who told him to take it. You’re beautiful, still. Of course you are, you always have been to him.

You notice when he walks in this time.

The sunlight streaming in from a window catches on the glass of his visor and your heart jumps into your throat. You don’t know if he’s spotted you yet, as he takes a seat at a table by the door angled away from you. Logically, you’d say it could be any Mandalorian. But you spent countless hours studying the way he moves, you had to know his gait to know if walking around a corner would get you killed or not. It almost had on more than one occasion. You could recognise his footsteps anywhere.

The untrained eye would think him relaxed, as relaxed as a man in head to toe armour can be, but you know better. There’s a tension in his shoulders, the same he used to get when Xi’an made another move on him with that grating giggle or Qin handled a blaster too roughly. His hand sits on his thigh, fingers splayed, ready to find the smooth contours of his blaster at any moment. Ever the soldier, never quite at ease. Apart from the last time you thought you’d ever see him, it seemed.

He leaves before you’re even done with your drink, sitting there for barely five minutes when he throws a couple of credits on the table for a drink he didn’t buy and stalks out. You sigh and down the rest of your drink, hoping it’ll quell the nausea rising in your stomach. It doesn’t, but you follow him out all the same.

You’re sure you were right behind him, weaving through the slowly emptying streets as the sun sets and the chill of the night begins to settle in, but now he’s nowhere to be found. Until you feel a set of eyes land heavily on your shoulders. You turn, slowly, and catch a glimpse of where he ducked into a narrow alley. The city’s full of them, but you’re certain he hadn’t been there when you passed it.

A long moment passes when you’re swallowed by the shadow of the buildings towering either side of you, a moment where he just watches you. You can’t deny you’re watching him too, carefully surveying his armour for new nicks and scrapes. There’s more than you’d like to admit to caring about.

“What are you doing here?” He breaks the silence, the tension, first. You shrug.

“Working, what are you doing here?”

Din holds a small round disk in his palm, arm stretching out towards you as the holo flickers to life and you’re faced with your contact for the intel drop.

“Working.”

Fuck.

And that’s when a really, really bad idea starts to take shape.

i don't have access to my old taglist forms anymore so feel free to message or drop me an ask if you want to be tagged in future :)

#summary is i love shara bey and i want to be her best friend end of chapter #lacuna #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian x you #din djarin x reader #din djarin x you #star wars fic #the mandalorian fic #liz does words

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fandoomrants · 7 months

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Soo, I don't wanna be too grim about it but since we don't see lots of characters in the sequels whereas it would have made sense to see them there, I'm starting to think maybe some of them would be gone by the time ep 7 takes place.

Of course, the first one that would come to mind would be Ahsoka, and the finale of the Ahsoka's season might be giving some explanation for her absence. I have this theory she might not be coming back at all, even if it doesn't necessarily mean she's gonna die.

I hope Sabine comes back, tho. But I think even if she's alive during the events of ep 7, it doesn't make too much sense for her to show up as she's not exactly a powerful Jedi and she just started using the Force but she's not shown as someone who is strong with the Force. (Which I wanna see the explanation of because following this logic, anyone could be trained as a Jedi and eventually learn to use the Force.)

The (remaining) Ghost crew and some of the other rebels can be easily explained by being there but not being shown because they're not too relevant to the story.

And same goes for most of the characters from the Mandalorian and BoBF. They basically have nothing to do with the rebellion and the Jedi stuff. Except Grogu, ofc. But we already saw him training with Luke and deciding to return to Din where he started training as Mandalorian so maybe he won't become a Jedi at all, and is gonna remain (hopefully safe) with his dad.

And there's Jacen for whom everyone is a bit worried after getting the confirmation that he is Force sensitive but after the ending of Ahsoka, I really hope that he won't go to Luke. I want Ezra to train him. That would be great, considering how Ezra was trained by his father. It'll be *chef's kiss*. Still, there should be some explanation for him not showing up too.

And now comes Ezra, who is the main reason for this post, in fact. He was introduced in Rebels as an extremely strong with the Force boy, he was trained, and he's maybe currently one of the strongest remaining Jedi, alongside Ahsoka and Luke. So it would make a lot of sense that he'll be there, now that he's back.

And here comes the grim part. We saw Ezra sacrificing himself more or less when he called the Purrgils, and we saw him returning once again with Thrawn. We know Thrawn's a big threat to the Galaxy but we also know he's not in the sequels or even mentioned so most likely he's defeated before that. And here comes my theory how these two's paths are always crossed.

So, what if in order to defeat Thrawn and get rid of him forever, Ezra sacrifices himself again, this time dying. What then???

#star wars #ahsoka #rebels #ezra bridger #sabine wren #rant #the mandalorian #din djarin #grogu #din grogu #ahsoka tano #ahsoka series #thrawn #grand admiral thrawn #sw ep 7 #star wars sequel trilogy

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starnerd1 · 1 year

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Part 2 of the "Book of Bo-Katan Kryze"

So, this will end up being 3 parts. I originally thought it was only 2, but as I put this together today it seemed to naturally end where it did.

This isn't really so much Bo/Din, since it is part of the 'in between season 2 and 3'. It's getting Bo-Katan off Gideon's cruiser and explains how/why she is alone in Season 3. Hope you guys are okay with that.

If you haven't read part 1, here's the post.

Anywho, hope you guys enjoy and would love to hear what you think.

The Book of Bo-Katan Kryze

In 3 parts

Part 2: The Lesson

In the end, the Republic allowed Bo-Katan to keep Moff Gideon’s lite cruiser. It was a tense negotiation, occasionally turning into a shouting match about past hostilities between Mandalore and the Republic, Imperial atrocities against Mandalorians and reparations owed, and accusations about Bo-Katan’s personal intentions until Cara finally dropped Luke Skywalker’s name. The Republic Officers sputtered in shock, dismissing the claim out of hand.

“Did you see the Dark Troopers in the corridor?” Cara snapped, pointing at the mass of droid parts outside the Command Center. “Crushed, twisted, sliced in half?” The Captain’s look of doubt faltered slightly. “Guy dressed in black robes,” Cara continued, stepping closer to loom over the officer. “Wields a green lightsaber. Travels in a beat-up old rebel X-Wing with a blue R2 unit?” Cara Dune, former shock trooper, one of the last survivors of Alderaan and a badge carrying Republic Marshall had an imposing presence. Built as though she was meant to arm wrestle rancors, the Captain finally relented under her glare and qualifying descriptions. The woman looked on the brink of dragging the officers out to the hallway by the scruff of their uniforms and rub the droids in their faces. She would have made an excellent Mandalorian, Bo thought with a satisfied smirk.

“If it was as you say,” the officer said, “then it can be confirmed on our way to the Hosnian System.”

“No,” she protested. “I will not allow you to take my ship parsecs away from where I need to be!”

The Captain glared at her. “It’s not your ship yet, Kryze,” he snapped back. “And in the extremely remote chance the Republic even allows you to keep this ship, it won’t be until after we get all the data on this so called ‘Imperial Remnant’ you people keep claiming is still operating.”

“‘So called’?” Cara repeated incredulously. “Look around, dingbat!” She gestured to everywhere in the ship. “You’re standing in a skriffing Imperial Lite Cruiser! Stormtroopers and Imperial officers manned this ship. There are Tie Fighters in the hold! Dark Trooper droids scattered in pieces. Weapons! If this isn’t enough evidence for you to prove that the Empire is still hanging around, what do you need? The damn Emperor to walk into your office?”

Bo-Katan needed this ship. Her people needed this ship. The Darksaber out of her grasp, her only priority now was securing a battle-ready cruiser that could be the heart of her burgeoning Mandalorian fleet. “Fine,” she growled out. “We’ll go to the Hosnian system. Make your contacts. You can have whatever data you want. But I want this ship. We got you Moff Gideon after you people supposedly already executed him and a high-ranking imperial researcher,” or whatever the hell Pershing really was, “This ship - is mine.”

She left Koska and Cara to deal with the republic officers, taking a seat at a damaged terminal to finally get the weight off her injured leg. They had treated it with a bacta plaster and while the pain was gone, the slow healing made her leg stiff, and the knitting skin tightened uncomfortably with each step. Bo stretched her leg out in front of her, closing her eyes with a deep breath. Three days ago, she thought she was at the brink of the first real victory in her quest to unite Mandalore. Din Djarin had handed her Moff Gideon on a silver platter, and by proxy, the Darksaber. He had the ship’s location. Provided formidable allies to create a real strike team and they sliced through those storm troopers like soft bantha cheese.

But then it all went sideways.

She would never, ever, shake the image of Din Djarin walking onto the bridge holding the Darksaber. Had a black hole appeared beneath her feet to suck her into oblivion, it would have been a better outcome than seeing this Child of the Watch limp through the door with that blade.

Taking a deep, shaking breath, Bo leaned over, elbows resting on the edge of the console, hands on her face. The man had no idea what it was. He didn’t know what it meant. Attempting to simply hand it to her, as though it were nothing more than any other kind of weapon. But he didn’t care. He genuinely didn’t care. His foundling, that strange-but-adorable-little green kid, was the only thing he wanted; the blade held neither significance nor importance to him, even as a devoted member of an extreme fringe of the Mandalorian Creed.

Her mind seized at an idea, heart clenching before plummeting into her stomach. How many of her people either didn’t know, or didn’t care, about the symbolism of the Darksaber? Her current circle of Mandalorians did know. They were members of some of the oldest Houses. The members of the Clans left from her efforts before the Purge, who stayed with her despite her failures. They cared. In fact, it was one of the most important things to them. But how much would it matter to coverts like Din’s and other Mandalorians in exile who didn’t have the same deep, generational ties to Mandalore? Who were never told the story?

The Darksaber was the heirloom of House Viszla. The symbol of the Secret Mandalore.

Of the True Mandalorians.

Of Death Watch.

Unwelcome memories threatened to overtake her until she heard the name Skywalker and Organa from across the room. She used the pain from the sudden return to her feet to wipe out the last dregs of bad memories and walked back towards the group of stunned Officers and a very smug, satisfied looking Cara.

“Ship’s yours,” Cara said when she saw Bo heading their way. “Apparently Luke Skywalker is not only our Jedi rescuer, but also the brother of Senator Leia Organa.” She said this with such pride, as though Bo should be aware of who the Senator was. The confusion must have been revealed in her face, because Cara continued with, “Princess of Alderaan. Daughter of Bail Organa, who founded the Rebellion. I met her before,” she added, with a side glance to the Captain. “She’s one badass woman: personally helped bring down the second Death Star with the ground assault on Endor which killed the Emperor. Directed a lot of the cleanup of Imps afterwards.”

“Sounds like someone I’d get along with,” said Bo.

Cara beamed. “Oh yeah, you would. Anyway, she says Luke already told her about the ship and the Moff and that the Mandalorians should be compensated for their service in apprehending Gideon.” She was milking this tale. The smug satisfaction was dripping from every word, directed at the very annoyed Captain. It was infectious and Bo reveled in it. Nothing like sticking it to these hapless New Republic types.

“Not so fast, Marshall,” the Captain cut in. “The Senator said we still get all the data and will strip the ship of the Tie Fighters. Once we get to Hosnian Prime, you’ll be sticking around for a while as this place is searched from top to bottom.”

“Mandalorians have no use for Tie Fighters,” said Koska. “Take them.” She looked satisfied with the deal. Even nodded approvingly at Bo. Maybe there was a chance she wouldn’t hold the loss of the saber against her. Maybe this ship would be enough of a balm that they could continue towards their goal.

The journey to Hosnian Prime was long enough that it did seem to thaw Koska’s anger. Conversation returned between the two and turned to plans for the future. How this heavily armed ship could be a major turning point in their efforts to reunite more Mandalorians and make gains to reclaim their ruined planet.

It may not have been home to all Mandalorians, but it was the heart of all Mandalore, its culture, its strength. Reclaiming it was just the first step to restoring their place in the galaxy. And the first step for her own redemption.

-----------------------

Bo-Katan had never been to Hosnian Prime. Too far into the core for her liking. It was one of the few Ecumenopolis worlds in the galaxy and having never been to Coruscant for any kind of comparison, she decided she didn’t want to ever step foot on another one. The great city domes of Mandalore were suffocating enough for her, yet somehow the scale of a planet made it that much more suffocating. The only thing she wanted was to get the hell out of there. She remained on her ship as much as she could while she waited for Axe Woves and the rest of her group to join them.

The observatory deck became her new home, of sorts. There was nothing here of interest to the Republic so she didn’t have to worry about being interrupted or bothered by complaints of “obstructing official business.” Cara Dune’s farewell came in the form of a nod across the landing bay as she marched Gideon to waiting security forces. That was an ally Bo would not forget. Good in a fight, loyal to her friends, and willing to break the rules to get things done.

It took nearly two weeks for the Republic to finally relinquish the ship to her. Long enough for her small group of two dozen Mandalorians to arrive, to make plans, and look forward to a brighter future.

She should have known better.

------------------------

Mandalorian instinct and senses were without rival – outside the Jedi or other hypersensitive species. Theirs was a skill: trained, honed, perfected, and bred over thousands of years and hundreds of generations. Looking out one last time to the bright lights of the Hosnian city from the observation deck, Bo-Katan felt the danger before it walked in the door.

The tension that washed over her the moment her people reached her was tangible. It crawled up her spine and gripped her stomach.

Turning to face the group, Bo braced herself for the fight to come. No special power was needed to deduce what Axe had done. While at first, when he discovered she not only didn’t have the Darksaber, but allowed Din to walk out unchallenged, he was furious. He couldn’t believe she would back down so easily. After all the planning and effort and risk they had gone to for her, for the mission, she didn’t even bother to try to fight Din for it. But after she explained the situation, how she could not have possibly challenged Din Djarin for the saber – weak, injured, and exhausted as he was – and retained any honor for such a victory. The victory was this ship. It hadn’t been the goal, but it was a damn sight better than what they had before and lent them far more strength as a group than a single weapon every could.

He seemed to accept that. Even joined in the strategy and planning for where they would take this prize next.

Seemed to.

Before, Bo had reveled in the smug satisfaction of an ally. Now, she was enraged by it.

The smug, arrogant smirk on Axe’s face was as provocative as Boba’s, but this was so much worse.

This was personal.

“You have something to say?” she asked flatly. Several of the members frowned deeply. Eldar, Nu, Kast – Mandalorians she had known and fought beside for over a decade, friends, now looked at her with angry disappointments. Even disgust.

“You had the Darksaber in your grasp,” Axe said coldly. “Right. In. Front. Of. You.”

Bo narrowed her eyes, one hand resting on the grip of a blaster, her body raging with anger. “Not in my grasp,” she snapped back. “Taken out of it by the Mandalorian. The one we met on Trask. The one who helped us steal the freighter.” She was seething. Rage boiled in her blood. Axe didn’t listen to anything she had told him beyond not possessing the saber.

“You could have beaten him.” There was a special kind of pain that accompanied Koska’s angry rebuke. Bo’s gaze locked on hers. She couldn’t believe it. The woman had witnessed it. Saw everything play out right in front of her and yet still…still? “That Child of the Watch would never have been able to best you.”

Bo stared. The boiling rage turned to ice. “Beaten him?” she repeated incredulously. “Beaten a man who had no will to fight – a man weakened and injured from fighting a Dark Trooper, Moff Gideon, and the surrender of his foundling? You would have me dishonor the Challenge by attacking a weakened opponent?”

Several people’s expression changed, their stances off kilter in doubt. No, there was no honor in such a challenge. To Challenge an opponent already beaten was nothing but cowardly. Weak. It was clear that neither Axe nor Koska told the rest of them that particular detail.

“The honor was in the blade,” Axe countered angrily. “The Darksaber is the only thing that can claim leadership of Mandalore. The only thing that can unite us all!”

Stunned into silence, Bo struggled to even take a single breath. The only thing…Now it was all out in the open. The man she counted as one of her closest friends, who she had trusted with her life on more occasions than she could count, her ally, her confidant….he didn’t believe in her. His loyalty was not to Bo-Katan Kryze, heir to the Mandalorian throne, not to Mandalore, nor to the Mando’ade. It was to a weapon.

A stars damned weapon.

“Then why did you follow me without it?” she heard herself ask, breathless. “After all these years, Axe Woves, after the battles, failures…after the Purge, after I lost the saber, why did you stay by my side?”

The briefest flash of doubt flickered across his face before he replied, so dismissively, “Because I believed you would get it back. Clearly, the years just made you too weak to do it.”

She was a hair’s breadth away from pulling her blasters and shooting him. She could have, easily. Should have. But at least a few of those former allies standing with him would have killed her and somewhere in the depths of her shocked consciousness was a voice that was determined to live for the future of Mandalore. Bo-Katan Kryze could not throw her life away in such a place, for the likes of such an unworthy coward of a man.

It was not the Way.

There were no friendly faces in the group before her. Just hard, angry, dismissive people. Each betrayal broke her. Each one enraging.

She used that rage. Used it to harden her face, stiffen her posture, and relax the grip from her blasters. It was not enough to find her voice. Only enough to shove through them and out of their presence.

Axe had flown her Gauntlet to this cruiser. She took it back. Ignored the Republic officers’ outcries against not following protocol to leave the ship or follow proper procedure to leave orbit. She set the hyperspace computer coordinates to Kalevala. As the stars stretched blue, turning to the familiar view of hyperspace, Bo-Katan finally found her voice.

She crumpled to the deck of her ship. No strength left in her legs to hold her up. Her body wracked with angry, furious sobbing that robbed her of breath.

#the mandalorian #Mandalorian #Bo-Katan #Bo-Katan Kryze #Star Wars #Star Wars fanfiction #Mandalorian Fanfiction #BoDin #bo katan kryze x din djarin #bo katan x din #Din Djarin #What happened to Bo's allies #part 2 of 3

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hermitdrabbles56 · 2 years

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Coffee and Bones: also known as Twilight has stiff joints and should not be given caffeine on an empty stomach.

"You…okay there buddy?" Wars asks tentatively as he watches the rancher warily.

Twilight was currently staring at his slightly trembling hands. Trying to figure out why it felt like his heart was pounding and his chest and back felt tight. Was he breathing alright? Or was he starting to wheeze? Maybe his head was feeling a little weird too, and it felt like he'd been running a marathon with his body ached but didn't all at once.

He licks his lips a bit and swallows slightly before settling on an answer. "I'm fine.."

He'd slept in, that had to be it. Everything felt off whenever he slept in, and he hadn't moved yet aside from sitting up. So that was also probably it. Right?

"You…don't look fine.." The Captain says worriedly. "Are you feeling ill?"

Was he?

Maybe a little when he woke up. He was so hungry his stomach had started to burn with rebelling acid. He'd woken up about half way through the second shift last night and had not been able to go back to sleep for a long while because of heartburn.

His own fault really for forgetting to eat a real meal at lunch, and they'd just had something small at dinner because it'd been a shit day and Wild was out of commission. So shoving some hardback and water in his mouth at four in the morning before trying to go back to sleep probably wasn't the smartest decision? But it was better than nothing.

Plus Four had given him something to drink and a muffin when he woke up. So that couldn't be it right? And actual breakfast will be ready soon. So it'll be fine.

"No..not ill. Just out of it." He says softly.

"...then why are you shaking?"

"That, I'm not sure." He says with a small hum.

"Hey Four?" Wild's worried questioning tone draws Twilight's attention as he finally looks away from his trembling hands. "What was in the cup you gave him?"

Their smallest looks up from his book and gestures to his own cup. "My morning black tea mix, he's usually up when I am so I just made a cup for him like usual when he did finally wake up. Just, helps with functioning and everything in the morning and it tastes better than coffee."

"Ahhh, that would explain it." Wild says with clarity.

"Explain what?" Wars asks worriedly.

"Caffeine on a very empty stomach." Wild clarifies.

"Ohhh…yeah..yeah that sounds accurate." Twilight murmurs with a tired tone as his stomach even roils and burns slightly as if to confirm.

"He ate with it though?" Hyrule questions.

"Oh sweet summer child, you eat like a bird. So you'd be able to survive off a muffin and a cup of something. This guy? He eats like a bear preparing for hibernation." Wild explains. "So he's got a caffeine high running through him mixing with an encroaching bought of the hangries."

Hyrule just gives a grimace as Twilight gives a small hum of confirmation. Rubbing at his forehead a bit. The realization hitting him that someone else needs to eat too.

"I'll be fine, but I should probably take care of Epona.." He murmurs as he stiffly moves to get up. Ignoring how his knees and shoulders pop and crack in the process. Something else he usually deals with before the others are up.

"Sweet mother of Din, what the fuck did you do sleep like a pretzel!?" Wind exclaims.

Twilight just manages a small chuckle as he gives himself a moment to make sure he's got his balance. "No..just slept."

"Yeahh..I uh, I already took care of Epona when I realized you were still asleep. So maybe just worry about readjusting your skeleton?" Wild suggests with a concerned grimace.

"You couldn't have told me that before I got up..?" Twilight groans slightly.

"That wouldn't have fixed the bones problem…besides it's not like you're going to have a chance when no one else is standing here for a good couple of hours so just. Crack your limbs alright?" Wild sighs.

Usually, Wild and Four are the only ones who have to endure his morning routine. Aside from occasionally the very concerned old man. So the confused looks from the other five are rather warranted.

Twilight gives a grunted sigh then looks over at a still sleepy Sky. "Cover your ears."

The chosen hero just gives a small nod and does so. They learned early on that poping joints makes his skin crawl, and can even make him feel sick to his stomach. So they try to spare him as much as they can.

Starting at his feet and moving up Twilight carefully flexes, twists, stretches and slightly rotates all the joints in his legs and feet. Getting a chorus of pops and cracks, but also relief as the pressure and tension is released. He then plops down on a log so his legs won't give out as he works on his arms, and shoulders. Followed by slowly twisting and bending as far as he can to get as much of his back as possible.

A shiver runs down his spine and his ears flick and twitch as he manages to get some decent cracks out of his neck that reverberate into his skull. He even manages to pop his jaw a bit as he finally cracks and massages his stiff fingers until they're loose.

Only then can he finally breathe better as his body is left with just a light aching from head to toe, and the burning hunger in his stomach.

"..Well then….I now understand why you're so good at knowing how to fix our joints." Legend says with audible sympathy pain.

Twilight just lets a small tired hum. "Mhm…experience sure does help.."

"That's fair, but now, maybe try eating something.." Wild sighs as he hands the rancher a big bowl of warm homestyle potatoes and meat. A perfect and filling meal that makes everything so much better as soon as it settles in his stomach.

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hyrules-warrior · 1 year

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Well that Ahsoka trailer pretty much confirms my belief that Season 3 of Mandalorian is nothing by trying to promote and set-up Ahsoka. Also full of Rebels cameos to get people excited and get new people watching it so that everyone wants to watch Ahsoka. I mean Ahsoka looks great and I’m excited, I’m just sad they chucked Din Djarin into the garbage and used his show to promote another that he won’t be part of. Why can’t we have shows just doing their own thing? Why does one have to suffer to get people to watch another?

#season 3 has been garbage #and promoting Bo-Katan so she can tie into Ahsoka #just fuck Din Djarin I guess #I miss the mandalorian #season 3 is not the mandalorian #the mandalorian #ahsoka #disney +#star wars #jedi #grogu #din djarin #sabine wren #bo-katan #rebels #star wars rebels #mandalorian

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leofrith · 1 year

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I saw that a lot of people hated the latest Mando episode but I'm not sure why? It didn't seem to contribute much to the story, like I'm unsure how it developed the characters or relationships, but I wasn't thinking "man this is terrible"

i mean. i think you pretty well answered your own question since the whole point of a show, a movie, a book, whatever is to tell a story of some kind. even episodes that qualify as "filler" will contribute to the story in some way, even if it's not in service of the Big Main Plot. whether in terms of character development or the development of relationships between said characters, filler episodes do serve a purpose, just not in a show that has 8 episode seasons that range anywhere from only 33 minutes to an hour, in which there has been more time and attention paid to meaningless action set pieces than, i dunno, actually developing the characters in any way?

and i disagree with you in saying that this episode didn't contribute anything to the story because it did! din has now given the darksaber to bo-katan! something that was previously established as being impossible because it must be won in battle! but hey, here's a stupid loophole we just came up with to justify wrapping up the "din as a reluctant leader" plot line in the most boring fucking way possible (also, we basically lifted it from rebels. sorry!! we don't do originality here).

honestly, it's really not just about this last episode. this episode was fucking bad, but for me it's just the final straw after a season (more like two, because s2 as a whole wasn't this bad imo but it still wasn't much to write home about either) of mostly awful, incoherent writing. it was 45 minutes of shiny colours and celebrity cameos that felt made to distract viewers from the fact that they have no fucking idea what they're doing with this show (and they have explicitly confirmed that they don't).

pretty well every remaining plot thread from last season has now been resolved in the most boring, narratively incoherent ways possible. din and grogu are separated? let's reunite them on a totally different show between seasons instead of actually exploring how their time apart affects them in any way that is remotely interesting!! gideon has been arrested by the new republic? no!! he actually escaped off screen almost immediately and who knows when we'll actually address that!! din has the darksaber but doesn't want it and bo-katan does want the darksaber but refuses to take it? we've just made up this insane loophole about how bo-katan saved din which means the darksaber should be hers, rather than exploring any of din's internal conflict as a leader or his external conflict with bo-katan over that title. etc etc.

they're even dragging out things that have already been resolved!! like din's dislike of droids, which was ostensibly resolved at the end of season one when ig-11 saved his life, but for some reason came back even stronger than we've ever really seen it in this episode. and for what? the comedic value of watching him kick droids and drop zingers such as "you had me at battle droids"? this show is incapable of resolving any of its plot lines in a satisfying way and is now retreading things that have already been addressed. and they're doing it with a $15 million per episode budget. there are people who are starving, jon.

i'm not even going to get into how shitty the politics of the show are because other people have already articulated that in ways far better than i am capable of, and i also really don't expect amazing political commentary from star wars to begin with. but they apparently can't even manage the low, low expectation of "show that tells a coherent story" for fuck's sake. because the whole show is just a product placement for toys and merch and other star wars shows. so i don't know what i expected.

#i had no expectations and yet i'm still disappointed #if i sound angry it's not specifically directed at you anon lmao #this probably isn't all that coherent but i truly do not have the energy #and also have roughly 182769469124 things i would rather dedicate my time to right now than thinking about this shit show #anyway this is probably the most i'm gonna say on the matter #because i'd rather think about things that don't make me feel annoyed and miserable #answer #anonymous #mando spoilers

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vanishedangels · 1 year

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Castles on the sand

Blame it on the storm Sequel

Summary: After the storm that brought them together ended, rebel pilot Luke Skywalker and bounty hunter Din Djarin started a long-distance relationship. It gets more and more complicated when they realize they're developing deep feelings for each other.

Pairing: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker

Characters: Luke Skywalker, Din Djarin, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Wedge Antilles, Xi'an (Star Wars), R2-D2, Paz Vizsla.

Rating: Mature (+18)

Tags: Canon Divergence (AU), Long-distance Relationship, Post A New Hope (Star Wars), Fluff and Angst, Protective Din Djarin, Tumblr Prompts.

Chapters: 2/3

Navigation: <- Previous Chapter • Next Chapter ->

Part 2 of Wonderwall series

Excerpt:

"I wish you can stay a little longer." He absentmindedly said.

"You know I can't." Din answered soothing his hand on his back. "Maybe we can meet somewhere else next month."

Luke hummed.

"Since it's my birthday." Din casually added, making Luke sit up swiftly on the floor.

"What?" He was blushing sightly, realizing that he didn't know Din's birth date.

"Or maybe not." The mandalorian stated and he sounded a little disappointed.

Chapter 2: Without labels doesn't mean no strings attached

The Razor Crest was slowly holding a special place in Luke's heart, his blue eyes were roaming the ceiling while he was resting his head on Din's chest plate. He moved, slowly, to push up onto his elbow, Din's visor followed his moves, until it was fixed on Luke's face.

"Din?" He asked leaning his head on his knuckles.

Din hummed.

"Nothing." He shrugged looking down with a frown on his face.

"Luke, I know what's on your mind." He sighed "Ask me about her."

Damn! Din was always a step ahead of Luke, in some ways, he reminded him of Leia, they were both very smart and their intuitive understanding of Luke's feelings made him so vulnerable around them.

The blonde nodded pressing his lips together "Did you have a relationship with the twi'lek, Din?" He asked under his breath, afraid of Din's answer but he needed to know, desperately.

"Yes."

Luke's heart sank and he swallowed around the lump in his throat.

"But it was years ago. It's in the past now, Luke." Din added tilting his head like if he was trying to ease Luke's visible discomfort.

"How did you two meet?" He tried to sound not affected at all but he was hating the woman a little more, he didn't know it could be possible until Din's confirmation.

"Twi'lek healing baths."

Luke's eyes widened pulling back a little and Din propped himself up on his elbows "It's not what you think." He said leaning in close to Luke "I was there for a job, she helped me localize the target, then she introduced me to her brother and we kinda started working together. I did things, uh, jobs that you will find questionable."

Luke's stomach turned, again, this was a part of Din's life that he wanted to ignore but he needed to love every aspect of him. Love? That word again. He bored into Din's visor and put a brave face on it, trying to ignore that Din had a troubled past that he didn't know about "What happened to her brother?"

Din shrugged "I left him behind and saved my skin. We were involved in pretty bad things but I drew the line when he started hurting innocent people only because he could. I wanted to stop him, so I did it."

The air returned to Luke's lungs, he was now feeling relieved, he always thought that Din was indeed a man with a kind heart, the fact that he put an end to the twi'lek's cruelty only reinforced the good concept he already had of Din. Or maybe he was just idealizing him.

"What about you, cyar'ika?" Din asked him stroking his cheek "Have you been in a relationship before?"

Before. That word coming from Din's lips made Luke's heart run fast, even when Din asked him not to label whatever was going on between them he used the word relationship to refer to them indirectly. His eyes glistened, a shy smile appearing on his face.

"No, never." He licked his bottom lip and Din ran his thumb over it afterwards making him sigh out of delight "I had crushes on people though." Din nodded encouraging him to keep talking about it. "Biggs. He was my best friend when I was growing up on Tatooine." He didn't look away from Din trying to find any sign of distress, deep down he was aching for any display of jealousy and possessiveness coming from Din, but the mandalorian didn't make a move and didn't say a word, he kept cupping Luke's face tenderly. "And, uh, Leia..." He added and Din withdrew his hand from him.

"Organa?" He asked in a high-pitched tone making Luke startle.

"Yes!" Luke answered defensively with a scowl on his face "What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing it's just-" Din chuckled "I don't know, when I saw you together, the day I met you, you two gave me these siblings vibes." He laughed softly behind his helmet "I'm sorry, but that's what I felt." He soothed his hand on Luke's arm.

Luke frowned "That's weird, siblings?"

Din nodded "Now that you mention Organa, how much longer we have, mesh'la?"

Their time together was coming to and end again and Luke's heart was breaking in two "A couple of hours." He sighed.

"What do you want to do?"

Luke's eyes traveled him from helmet to boots, he smiled thinking that Din looked always breathtaking lying next to him, even with all that beskar on him. Then the idea of running his hands all over Din's naked chest popped into his mind "Kiss me?"

Din groaned.

"But first..." He said as his trembling fingers found Din's chest plate unfastening the straps and Din clutched his hands, Luke looked up at his visor as confusion crossed his features.

"No." The mandalorian uttered "Please don't, cyar'ika."

"No?" Luke asked under his breath.

"No sweetheart, I can't." He answered caressing his knuckles.

Luke sighed deeply, feeling stupid and thoughtless "Your creed, right, I'm sorry." He apologized but he couldn't help feeling rejected.

"No, it's not that." Din moved to hover over him, his knees at both sides of Luke's hips, leaning himself on his hands, staring at Luke's eyes "Putting these on again will take a lot of time, if something happened, if someone broke into my ship, well, it's a risk I won't take, it's different when it comes to the helmet, I can put it back on in a second and I'm ready to protect you, cyar'ika. I won't put you in danger, not even when I'm dying to feel you against me."

"Din..." Luke sighed as a flutter of electricity ran all over his body, he stroked his man's arms choking with emotion, he tried to control himself, since the idea of Din putting him before his own needs was overwhelming and enticing. "I can protect myself, you know?" He managed to say avoiding the real subject, was Din telling him that he loved him between the lines?

Din hummed "Yeah, but beskar deflects blaster shots better than flesh, Luke." He laughed. Oh his laugh, Luke was taken aback by Din's beautiful, alluring, deep voice, and hearing him happy was something else entirely.

I think I love you too.

With every encounter Luke became more fond of wearing their blindfold, he loved the way it intensified his other sensations, heightening the experience of giving himself to Din. He was breathing heavily listening to the beat of his own heart, so clear and overwhelming as Din was unbuttoning his black shirt, he sighed feeling how the mandalorian brushed his fingers against his shoulders, exposing the skin burning under his touch. The lips of his man on his chest while he was finally peeling off the shirt, Luke was digging his fingers into Din's scalp, stroking his curls, gently bringing him close to his face, breathing deeply, he smiled, he could smell Din's skin, spicy and warm, as his mouth found his neck, pressing open-mouthed kisses, trembling beneath his lover's body. Two hours, two hours to live a thousand lives, two hours to love Din without restriction.

Luke's mouth fell open as he was feeling Din's lips around him, his lover head's between his thighs, the patched beard chafing the skin of his inner thighs deliciously, his fingers finding Din's hair, twisting and pulling a little. The mandalorian's name falling from his lips when the vision of Din emerged through the purple haze catching him off guard. Luke frowned as his hand tensed up against Din's hair, he thought that the visions had stopped, he never suspected that not only they would return but also clearer and more complete than ever.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed slapping his hand over his mouth, covering it completely. The vision was definitely spellbinding. He could see Din's arms wrapped around his legs, then the vision vanished.

He felt Din's lips retreating from him then he heard him clearing his throat.

"What is it cyar'ika? Should I stop?" His hoarse voice and his hand, curled around his thigh, squeezing a little, making Luke shudder.

Then the vision popped into his mind again, Din's brown eyes boring into his soul, his dark hair plastered to his forehead, with his bottom lip glistening, the skin of his arms and shoulders glowing in sweat and Luke was repeating to himself as a mantra You can't control this is, Luke. You can't control this. You're not breaking his creed.

Luke swallowed, drawing his hands down to caress Din's shoulders only to feel the hard beskar of his pauldrons under his hands, still in his mental image he saw the way Din's bare upper body reacted to his touch, his muscles flexing and relaxing under the soft tanned skin, so inviting, and Luke couldn't help but give himself to the tingling warmth building in his lower belly. He withdrew his hands from Din slowly.

Although he had no control over the force, he was certain that his desire to feel Din's skin against his own was triggering the visions.

"No." The blonde said out of breath "Don't stop Din, please." He ran his hands through his own hair now, overwhelmed and even with his eyes shut behind the blindfold he could still see the image of his lover, the way a lopsided grin crossed his face before bowing his head as his mouth returned to Luke.

"Din..." He moaned, shamelessly basking in everything his man was giving him.

After he returned to Hoth, Luke was feeling more relaxed and easygoing, he was spending more time with his mates again, just the way he used to before meeting Din.

"Did he dump you, Luke?" Brando asked from the other side of the table, he nodded laughing.

The blonde took a sip of his spotchka, then put the glass down, licking his lips, smiling "You wish, Brando." He retorted making the rest of the pilots laugh.

Killian slapped Brando's shoulder mockingly.

"Yeah, yeah, right." Brando grunted "Have you even seen his face?"

Silence.

Luke looked around.

"Oh, man, that sucks. I heard that he's a weird mandalorian, the kind of mandalorian that can't take off his helmet ever. I thought they were a myth, children's stories." He chuckled.

Luke pressed his lips together, shaking his head "Why do you ask? Are you trying to get one for your own?"

"He got you, Brando!" Wedge exclaimed, the complete squad bursting with laughter.

Brando narrowed his eyes tilting his head, arms crossed over his chest "Yeah, laugh, but think about this, what if the day comes and you're kissing him for the first time and he's not only terrible kisser, but also he can't make you feel a thing."

If only Brando knew. Luke looked down thinking that he wouldn't say a word about the big concession Din made by allowing Luke to kiss him, therefore he remained silent. "I'll tell you what-" He finally said "If that happens I would definitely give you a chance." He mocked "Till then, I'm still out of limits for you." He chuckled.

Brando nodded, raising his glass at him "That hurts, Skywalker, but thank you anyway."

Luke breathed in and out relieved, satisfied, knowing that he could manage Brando's advances now, without Din's help, he smiled thinking that Din would be so proud of him.

When he was walking towards the showers he put his hand in his pocket to pull out his com and realized its light was flickering.

"Shit." He muttered looking around. He was alone, so he considered that it was safe to play the message, he was sure it was Din's.

"Cyar'ika, I'm traveling now, please, com me when you get this."

Luke's eyes widened, he ran to the hangar, dodging people in his way.

"Watch out, kid!" He heard Han yelling but he didn't stop, his heart was in his throat, he was blinking back tears. This was the first time Din asked him to com him, Din was definitely in danger, a sharp sense of dread invading his whole being.

He climbed into his X-Wing and closed the transparisteel canopy, his breath coming uneven as he hit Din's comlink.

Please, Din. Please, Din. Please, Din.

Din answered.

"Luke?"

"Din?"

Silence.

The blonde leaned forward clutching his com device "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Where are you?" He could feel a fat drop of cold sweat running down his back.

"I'm, ah, I'm alright."

"What happened?"

Din hummed "I just wanted to talk to you."

Luke frowned "Why?" He sputtered still thinking that something terrible was happening to Din, maybe someone captured him and now a knife was pointing at his throat while they were talking, maybe some imps got him.

"I'm sorry, if this is not a good time-"

"Wait." Luke cut him off, he scratched the back of his head with his free hand "What? So you are okay?"

"Well... Yes."

Realization hit Luke hard "And you wanted to talk with me..." He said under his breath feeling a little stupid as a goofy smile appeared on his face.

"Yes." Din insisted.

Luke leaned back in the seat not believing his luck "Hi Din." He chuckled.

"Hi cyar'ika."

He wouldn't miss the chance "So you commed me because you were missing me or-"

Din chuckled deliciously "Right." He said making Luke sigh. "You're gonna love this, I dreamt about you, Luke. It was a little weird though."

"Really?" He arched one eyebrow "Tell me about it, Din."

"We were in the Hoth base, you were sitting on my lap, we were sitting across from your squad mates at that large table. You were wearing that black shirt and those brown pants you wore when we met on Nevarro the last time."

Din was killing him.

"From one moment to the next I wasn't wearing my chest plate somehow, and I unzipped the upper part of my flight suit, then I untucked your shirt from your pants, exposing your small back a little, carefully, so nobody around us could notice. Then I brought you close to me, pressing our bodies together, skin-to-skin. You were sighing with every move of my chest and I was groaning as your warmth drove me crazy. The thing is the guys around us kept talking not even realizing we were starting our foreplay, that had me going so badly. That's all I remember."

Luke's eyes were fixed on the com device, he was gaping, utterly dumbfounded.

"Luke? Are you there?" Din waited patiently for his answer.

"I think I need a moment, Din."

The escapades were surely exhilarating, but nothing compared to what Din coming back to Hoth made Luke feel. Every time Leia hired Din, Luke pretended that his man was coming home. Hoth, where everything started.

As many times before, Din was sitting on the floor of the Razor Crest leaning his back against the wall. Luke was sitting cross-legged beside him.

"Luke, I brought you something." The mandalorian said resting his forearm on his knee.

"Power converters?" Luke narrowed his eyes smiling "I mean, since you promised that like ten months ago." He chuckled.

"I said that maybe I could bring some power converters, that's not a promise, Luke." He sighed.

"I know." He said shrugging one shoulder "I know you keep your promises. I was joking."

The mandalorian nodded reaching a hand behind himself, pulling a vibro-knife from his utility belt, Luke frowned smiling.

"Din, is this a vibro-knife?" Luke beamed taking the blade from Din's gloved hand.

"Yeah, I hope you like it."

"Thank you, Din! I love it! Was this yours? Please don't tell me you spent a lot of credits on this." Although Luke didn't want to sound as if he was rebuffing his gift, he knew how hard Din worked in order to provide to his tribe.

"Wasn't mine. My tribe leader forged it. I asked her to forge it for you." He shrugged "Is not beskar though, but it can cut a droid in half."

Luke's heart skipped a beat as he was staring at Din astonished "Your tribe leader? For me?" He was babbling.

"Yeah, I didn't tell her it was for you, she only knew it was a gift, she didn't need to know." Din said as he rose to his feet "Come on Luke, I'm gonna show you some moves." He insisted tilting his head. Luke craned his neck to look at Din, his blue eyes glistening.

Din was a strict trainer, Luke was peeling off his waistcoat as he started sweating exhausted, but he was totally committed to the task, learning how to use his new blade properly.

"Remember, your hand firm and away from your body." The mandalorian said standing beside him. "This is not a blaster, this is a close range weapon, your body and your mind need to understand that."

"Like this?" Luke asked focused on his stance and the way he was wielding the blade.

Din nodded with his visor on Luke's outstretched arm, hands on his own hips "Good lunge." He encouraged Luke making him smile.

That evening Luke was curling up on their blankets facing Din, resting his head on the mandalorian's arm. Eyes half lidded, he yawned stroking Din's chest plate.

"I wish you can stay a little longer." He absentmindedly said.

"You know I can't." Din answered soothing his hand on his back. "Maybe we can meet somewhere else next month."

Luke hummed.

"Since it's my birthday." Din casually added, making Luke sit up swiftly on the floor.

"What?" He was blushing sightly, realizing that he didn't know Din's birth date.

"Or maybe not." The mandalorian stated and he sounded a little disappointed.

Luke licked his lips, crossing his legs, shifting a little to look at Din's face "No, no, I mean, I didn't know it was your birthday. I'm such a mess, kriff, I never asked you about it, oh, Din." He was feeling guilty.

"Don't worry cyar'ika, now that I think about it I don't know yours either."

"But I should have known that, that's something a bo-" He trailed off blinking. That's something a boyfriend should know, he nibbled on his bottom lip, looking at Din through his eyelashes, hoping he would overlook what he almost said. He closed his eyes when Din caressed his cheek softly.

"Well, are you coming next month?" Din asked and the blonde sighed relieved, luckily he missed the way he trailed off, or maybe he was making both a favour by not saying a word about Luke's slip.

Luke leaned into his touch "I wouldn't miss it for the world." He kissed the hill of Din's hand, lips curling up into a smile "Nevarro?"

"No, a better place this time." He said making Luke look at him and raise his eyebrows "Some place that would make your black shirt and brown pants justice." He chuckled and Luke shook his head slowly, with a knowing smile on his face.

The days between Din's last visit to Hoth and Luke's next escapade found the blonde traveling through the galaxy alongside his good friend Wedge. He returned to the rebel base a cicle earlier. When his X-Wing entered the hangar he spotted Leia by the Millennium Falcon, by the time he jumped off his ship he cast a glance at her, the princess was staring at him, arms crossed over her chest, with a scowl on her face. He started closing the distance between them.

"Where's Antilles?" She asked arching her eyebrows.

That was a fair question, Luke didn't want to worry her therefore he answered as fast as he could "He's totally fine! He's just patrolling the end section of our route." He forced a smile at her.

"And why are you here and not with him, Luke?" She tilted her head, her eyes on the X-Wing "Is your ship damaged?"

Embarrassment was taking Luke over "It's, um, it's not that, I needed to come back earlier." He could notice the way impatience crossed his friend's features "I'm meeting Din, it's his birthday."

His words made Leia's eyes widen, her lips parted, she looked astonished and Luke needed to look down in order to avoid her gaze "And you left your partner alone? Gods, Luke! I understand that this is important to you but we're risking our necks here, how could you leave him alone?"

She was right. Was Luke being selfish and reckless? Since Din came to his life his priorities had changed and, what for? Even when he was sure about his feelings about Din he only kept finding that he was dancing to the mandalorian's rhythm. He thought back to Din's words over the last year.

"Don't label this, it wasn't fake then and it's not real now, and you know that."

"My people are waiting for these credits, they depend on me to survive, Luke."

"We should take one step at a time."

Was Luke investing in their relationship more than Din? Was Luke putting his goals and beliefs aside while Din was doing the right thing, respecting his commitment to his people? And here he was, standing before Leia, realizing that maybe he was throwing away his work, the rebel alliance's work.

"I know, I'm sorry, I put Wedge in danger. I know you're right." He said shrugging.

"I don't want to be right, I want to be wrong, Luke." Leia said shaking her head "I want Antilles to come back safe and sound." She clicked her tongue "Where are you going this time?" She asked and her expression softened.

Luke hesitated for a moment and then he thought that this was Leia, she should know about his whereabouts if something happened "Glavis Ringworld."

Leia narrowed her eyes "Weird."

Although Luke had never heard about Glavis Ringworld, he searched for information about it. It wasn't a planet nor a moon, he was surprised to learn that it was actually, a space station.

"Have you been there, Leia?"

The princess shook her head and pressed her lips together "No, but I know is just a place of transit, where you also could find entertainment." She looked at one side as Han was walking towards them with a smirk on his face "But here's the man that surely knows that place like the back of his hand." She snorted and turned around walking away as Han was shrugging staring at Luke.

"What place?" He asked Luke.

"Glavis Ringworld." The blonde said under his breath as if he was sharing a secret.

"Oh!" Han straightened his back and raised his eyebrows "Good place to do naughty things." His lips curling up.

"Naughty things?" Luke frowned.

"Yeah, there're night clubs and motels, I met some nice ladies there." He chuckled resting his hands on his hips "So, why were you guys talking about that love nest? Is Leia going there?" His face contorted.

"She's not-she's not going there." Luke sighed as his cheeks were now flushing.

"So? Who's going?" He insisted but Luke ignored his question walking towards the barracks "Hey! Kid! Who's going there? Who's gonna be pounded like there's no tomorrow? Huh?"

The elevator was taking him to the top level of the space station, just like Din specified the last time they chatted. Luke looked down straightening the cuff of his yellow jacket, his heart was pounding against his ribcage, Glavis Ringworld was something else entirely, people of different species walking up and down, just like back on Tatooine, but, unlike on Tatooine, they were having fun here, he relished in the sound of music and chattering at the distance. Luke was still dumbfounded by the sight of the space station, he couldn't wrap his head around that he was walking and standing on his own feet on an open-looped ring artificial world.

When he left the elevator he could feel all eyes on him, he kept walking avoiding their gaze, looking down and quickening his pace. He chose a table, with a booth, and sat down smiling a little thinking that Din would appreciate it.

He was enjoying his spotchka when two men approached him, his blue eyes switching between them. His lips parted slowly when he realized one of them looked like Din, but this one couldn't be Din, besides his eyes were a little different, not as kind and pure as Din's, still his forehead furrowed staring at the tall man who was now leaning forward to look straight into the blonde's eyes.

"I've been looking at you for a while now and I think you look a little lonely, mind if we join you?" The man said with a charming smile.

While the man was really good looking and interesting, Luke smiled shaking his head "Thank you but I'm waiting for someone."

"Of course you are, but we can keep you occupied till then if you want to, pretty boy." The man chuckled leaning back making Luke feel uneasy.

"I'm not interested." He retorted sipping his spotchka, he put his glass down "I told you I'm waiting for someone."

The men looked at each other and shared a nasty smile, the Din lookalike leaned his hand on the table "We're not leaving, sweetheart." He deadpanned.

"He told you he's waiting for someone." Din's voice making Luke flinch, his blue eyes sparked with happiness when he could finally see his helmet between the two men's heads.

They turned around facing Din "And who's this, pretty boy?" The man asked casting a glance at Luke over his shoulder "Your bodyguard?" He laughed.

Din didn't make a move, his visor was fixed on the man's face. Luke stood up slowly.

"Don't worry, mandalorian, we didn't touch one hair on his pretty head." He laughed tilting his head to one side and his friend followed him while they were walking away "Poor man, just imagine being in his shoes, being paid to witness how some random guy enjoys fucking that pretty little thing."

Luke could notice the way Din's chest heaved, he closed the distance between them and put his hand on his chest plate "Poor them." He said purring with a playful smile on his face, looking up at Din's visor, his face so close to his helmet "Just imagine being in their shoes and witnessing how my mandalorian dance with me all night long."

The rumble inside Din's chest came out as a chuckle that weakened Luke's knees effortlessly "What if you make out with your mandalorian as well?" Luke nodded with sincere eyes, not looking away, he shivered when he felt Din's gloved hand against the back of his head and the cold beskar against his forehead.

"Hi Din." He sighed encircling Din's waist with his arms "I missed you."

Din hummed running his fingers through his hair "I missed you more, cyar'ika."

"Happy birthday, babe." He whispered and Din's fingers stopped, Luke frowned pulling back a little not understanding what was going on "Din?"

"You called me babe?" The mandalorian asked in a low voice, making Luke swallow hard and squeeze his eyes shut.

Fuck! He overstepped.

"I-I'm, I don't know why I called you that, I'm sorry." He managed to say as he opened his eyes.

Din groaned pressing their foreheads together again "Don't be sorry, call me that. Please cyar'ika, I want to hear you saying it again, over and over."

Luke's heart fluttered, he sighed deeply "Babe." Din chuckled. "Babe." He said moving his head a little to press a kiss on his visor "Babe..." Din drew his hands down and squeezed his waist.

Happy birthday, love.

Din was staring at him while Luke was savouring a batuu-bon, his plump lips covered in white chocolate mousse while his blue eyes were glistening. He licked his upper lip clean, resting his bare forearms on the table, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the ends of his blonde hair curling up graciously, he looked like an angel under the warmth lights. He looked at Din sideways smiling, holding a fork between his fingers "What is it, Din?" He smiled as the corner of his eyes crinkled.

The mandalorian looked around and then at him again "Look at you, Luke. Everyone is looking at you."

Luke leaned back leaving the fork on the table.

"I think I'm the lucky one here, huh?" Din added chuckling.

Luke's hand found Din's and he squeezed it gently, reassuringly "Oh, no, I'm the lucky one, Din." He said as fast as he could, Din looked down at their joined hands on the table.

Din shrugged one arm and looked at his face again "Come on, cyar'ika, since day one people think I'm your hired gun, your bodyguard." He chuckled "This is just a fluke, and no matter what, I'm okay with that."

The words coming from Din made Luke's heart sink, he caressed Din's helmet tenderly, reverently. A fluke? How could Din be so clueless, so wrong? He realized that Din was being self-conscious for the first time since they started their relationship and while he was desperate to see Din jealous, this was heart-rending. He considered telling Din how he was feeling about him but he knew that it wasn't the right time to do so, therefore he smiled and leaned in closer to him to nuzzle his neck "We're tied to each other Din, I'm not going anywhere, this is not a fluke, I choose to be with you, you're the one I need." He chuckled trying to hide the way his voice was breaking since it took all his strength not to tell him that he was falling for him, he couldn't say the word love but at least he could show him how much he wanted him.

Din tilted his head down when Luke rested his cheek on his pauldron, he hummed "Wanna dance, Skywalker?" Luke's lips curled into a smile.

They danced to the music holding each other, Din's arm on his small back as Luke was running his fingers across his shoulders and nape, Luke was sparkling, laughing graciously, spinning around smiling, the artificial light playing with his hair, making his eyes sparkle, Din encircled his waist with his arms and rested his helmeted chin on his shoulder, sending shivers down his spine "This is the first time I celebrate my birthday since I was a little kid." Din said and Luke froze. His stomach clenched as he thought back to the day Din told him about his parents' fate, knowing for sure that he hasn't celebrated his birthday in decades, presumably since he lost his parents and now, he's celebrating his birthday with me... Realization hit him as Din sighed bringing him out of his thoughts. "I'm-I'm so glad you're here, and I'm so glad you're the person I'm sharing this day with, Luke."

His heart was running faster as he kissed Din's helmet wrapping his arms around his shoulders, he couldn't help but feel that Din was telling him that he loved him for a second time "Me too, Din, me too." He sighed, yes, I love you too.

Nevarro seemed as serene as the last time he visited the planet a year earlier, he didn't know why but Din wasn't inviting him over anymore, they kept seeing each other on Hoth or any other world, but not Nevarro, not anymore. That was why he came to the conclusion that this was indeed Din's home.

He commed Wedge "Changed your clothes, is not safe walking around in our flight suits." He shed his suit carefully inside the small cockpit of his X-Wing and put some civilian clothes on.

They roamed around the city for a while until Luke found the cantina where Din and him spend that evening so long ago. He nodded at Wedge, his friend nodded back at him and when they were stepping inside he caught a glimpse of a blue helmet out of the corner of his eye, Luke's eyes widened realizing that he found another mandalorian, but this mandalorian was already out of sight, disappearing between the people on the street. Luke touched his friend's upper arm absentmindedly and walked down the street in order to find the mandalorian.

They reached a crossroad "This way." Said Wedge tilting his head towards an alley, they were almost approaching the end of the passageway when a punch landed on Luke's back squeezing the air out of his lungs, making him fall on his knees coughing, his hands on the ground as he looked heavenward, everything became blurry. When he looked over his shoulder he found the mandalorian grabbing Wedge from behind pointing at his neck with a knife.

Luke, as reckless as he was, threw himself at them and the mandalorian let go of Wedge clutching Luke by his upper arms and hit his forehead with his helmet, Luke stumbled as the man was hitting a button in his vambrace and the blonde knew what that meant, he was almost dead, Wedge was still on the floor but he managed to sweep the mandalorian's leg making him fall against Luke, when the mandalorian pulled back the blonde was already pressing the tip of his vibro-knife against the man's neck.

"Move and you're dead." He said through gritted teeth. He was straddling the mandalorian now, he looked down at him realizing the man was huge, broad, even thicc. He swallowed through the lump in his throat not sure if he could walk out of this alive.

"Where did you get this?" He asked and Luke frowned.

"I need information about Din Djarin." Luke said instead.

The mandalorian grunted hitting Luke's back with his knee and clutched his arms as he rolled them over, now Luke was beneath him "What did you do to him? What did you do to him?" He kept asking "This is his vibro-knife!" He said trying to control Luke's hand as the young man was still trying to point the blade at him "What did you do to him?"

Luke was clenching his jaw, struggling to get rid of the massive man crushing him when Wedge pointed at the mandalorian's ribs with his blaster. The mandalorian froze.

"We need your help, I'm Wedge and this is Luke, please, we know Din, we're not here to hurt anyone."

The mandalorian stayed hovering over Luke for a while and then he fixed his visor on the blonde's face "You are Luke?"

Luke arched his eyebrows and then nodded, still shaken by their confrontation.

"Din's Luke?" He asked as he was withdrawing his hands from Luke's wrists.

Even as railed up as he was, his heart leapt in his chest when he heard the mandalorian calling him Din's Luke.

"Uh-huh." He managed to say sitting up on the floor, he narrowed his eyes "He told you about me?" He couldn't help but ask.

The mandalorian rose to his feet offering him a hand, Luke grabbed it and he stood up slowly, feeling a sharp pain when he breathed in, he took his free hand to his ribcage. "I only know your name, that's all he told me, well, that and that he's seeing you." The mandalorian said letting his hand go.

Luke's expression softened thinking about Din telling his friends that he was seeing him and he couldn't be more proud "And you are?"

"I'm Paz Vizsla."

Luke's eyes went round. The Paz Vizsla? The same that broke Din's heart when he was a teenager? Luke didn't know Din was still in contact with this man, his blood was boiling but he couldn't say a word, besides he was there only to know about Din's whereabouts. He wouldn't lose focus.

He nodded instead "Is he here?"

"Din? No." Paz shook his head.

"Do you know where he is?" He closed the distance between them staring at the man's visor.

"What is this all about?"

Luke looked down "I think something happened to him, it's been three weeks since he commed me and I sent him tons of messages, he never answered."

Vizsla shrugged "He tends to disappear from time to time, I wouldn't worry about it if I were you."

"No, you don't understand, this never happened before." Luke insisted "Please, anything, I need to know where he was going."

"Tatooine." The mandalorian sputtered.

Luke drew in a sharp inhale "Tatooine? Are you sure?"

"Listen pretty boy, you're pushing here, yes, I'm sure, I was the one who told him about that job, so yes, he was going to Tatooine." He said towering over Luke and he understood that he shouldn't push his luck, he had a lead and that was more than enough.

"Luke, this was a detour but we need to go back now, we can't go to Tatooine." Wedge said when they were approaching their X-Wings.

The blonde clutched his upper arm with a feeble smile on his face "You're right, we can't go to Tatooine, that's why I'm going there alone."

His friend shook his head slowly not breaking eye contact with him. Luke nodded.

While he was traveling through the galaxy Luke rubbed his fist against his eyes fighting the tears threatening to fall. Two days earlier he sensed through the force that Din was in pain, he couldn't understand the nature of those feelings until he came to the conclusion that this was another manifestation of their deep connection, he thought that the force has yet to fail him and that made his heart ache, he squeezed his eyes shut and the tears finally rolled down his cheeks "Hold on, love." He said under his breath "I'm coming."

#dinluke #din djarin #luke skywalker #dinluke fanfiction #castles on the sand fanfic #skydalorian

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nimata-beroya · 1 year

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MY THOUGHTS ON THE MANDALORIAN - Chapter 18 "The Mines of Mandalore"

Days late, but here it is my impressions about the latest episode. It was so great that reduced me to a screaming mess, especially with that ending. I still cannot believe it!

As I've watched the episode a few times already, this is going to be more my general thoughts on what stood out more for me than reactions to every scene. I should apologize in advance, because I'll get a bit rant-y on some points (about the fandom, not the show).

So, let's begin…

I love that Din did a pit stop in Tatooine and visit Peli (I love her so much). It was obvious that she was his go-to to find the circuit for IG-11. I've seen people complaining that that bit of trying to fix IG-11 in the previous episode is irrelevant now if Din was getting R5 anyway, and honestly, it makes me shake my head. Haven't any of you watched the trailers? We KNEW Din would fly the N1 with R5-D4 docked in the astromech port. It was obvious (to me, at least) that he was going to use him to navigate to Mandalore. Besides, astromech were made exactly for that function. IG droids were not.

I know that there's the thing about Din trusting one (1) droid, which gives all the feels, but that of bringing IG-11 back won't go to waste. I think IG-11 will be fixed anyway to be Nevarro's new marshal, which fits much better with his original function, don't you think? That'd be great because it'll mean we'll see him again and again as long as the show continues.

I wonder how many languages Peli speaks, because so far we've seen her speaking Basic, droid, Jawaese, Rodian, Frog, whatever it was Dr. Mandible spoke, and I assume she speaks Huttese too. She's a human universal translator!

And Grogu is going to say his first word this season and going to be dad, buir, or an equivalent. It'd be funny if he goes from babbling incoherently to perfect speech in a night. Extremely unnerving, but funny as hell.

Another thing I've seen in other reviews is that some people didn't expect Din going to Mandalore so soon. I was not among those. I think it's perfect. And for what we saw in the trailers, that should've been obvious too. People might think the footage in the trailers covers the whole season. I got news for you, my darlings: it does not. It covers only the first half of the season (just like it did in season 2). So, considering that, Din wasn't going the entire season going from here to there before getting to Mandalore. Remember that this season also is somewhat setting things up for Ahsoka and is upping the stakes. It's no longer only Din and Grogu anymore.

My heart melted completely when Din said "Our people" talking to Grogu about Mandalore. The whole scene is amazing. Not just because of Din including Grogu as a mandalorian, but also because we got more tidbits of his childhood. He confirmed what I suspected; that he's never lived in Mandalore, just in Concordia. And, we got a geography lesson, making canon that Mandalore and Kalevala are in the same system.

Grogu was a ball of anxiety the whole episode, first when Din sent R5 to get the readings, then when Din got kidnapped (me, too), and because of the bird-lizard thing that went after him. Poor baby!

But I can't help laughing at how fast Grogu convinces Din of anything. Repeated knocking or a whine is enough for Din to give in.

An episode where Din doesn't get his ass kicked is not a Mandalorian episode, and like in the premiere he wasn't, he got a double dose in the second 😆 And I like that he still struggles with the darksaber. We need Sabine to train him!

Live-action Mandalore, I love it. It's both beautiful and haunting, the way the crystallized rock resembles explosions. I love the design of the wreckage city, that you almost can see how it was before, especially if you've seen TCW and Rebels (mostly TCW, bc Rebels was set outside Sundari, and in Krownest).

What the hell was that thing that tried to bleed out? take bone marrow? from Din?! I don't know what it was, but first, it sounded a lot like Grievous; and I guess it needed Din's fluids to function/survive. All I know is that it was creepy as hell and well sure it didn't help Din and his trauma with droids.

Grogu being able to control his own pram is the best!. I thought at first that he was moving it with the Force (maybe for going forward) but then I realized there are controls for him in the front.

I must say that even when I'm not a fan of Bo-Katan, this episode made her bloom as an even more complex character. I love that for her. It's obvious that she has plenty of regrets for all she did in the past, but my beef with her is that, sure, she sees now all the mistakes that were made by all Mandalorians, but she hasn't spoken out loud of her part in it. She always speaks in general terms of Mandalorians but never say I did this, I was one of those, except to say I was the ruler and the Empire came and defeat me. She distances herself from her worst mistakes. Not that it isn't a normal human reaction, but it'd be nice having her owning her mistakes.

Putting my personal feelings about her aside, the scene of Bo battling that thing was awesome!!! So badass!!! The ease with which she wields the Darksaber is satisfying to watch. My favorite part is when she slides underneath the droid and cut it open. So cool!

It didn't occur to me until I heard it in a YT video, that when Bo says she didn't embarrass her dad when she took the creed might not mean that she usually displeased her dad and that specific day she didn't, which is how most people took it as. Maybe what she meant was that she DID take the creed while Satine didn't (because of her pacifist ideals), and therefore, embarrassing their father. That it's an interesting theory. I like it. It'd add more flavor to family drama (as if it didn't have enough of it 😆)

Deep down, I knew Din wasn't going to take his helmet off to bathe in the Living Waters, but he would take the rest of his armor, so he didn't sink, exactly like he did. That scene is both beautiful (as he recites the vow) and funny (the moment he sinks). Then fears hits, and I first wondered how he sunk so fast! The only explanation I can find is that the mythosaur pulled him under.

And OH MY GOD!!! The reveal of the Mythosaur was AWESOME!!! As soon as I saw the tusks, I lost it!!! This is when I became a screaming mess. I couldn't believe one of my wildest theories was true!! Since last year, when the Armorer said that the mythosaur would rise up to herald a new Mandalore, I had the feeling that Mythosaur were down in the mines, or at least one. I can't believe I was right!

#episode review #the mandalorian #mando spoilers #chapter 18 the mines of mandalore #din djarin #grogu #bo katan kryze

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blueaphelion · 1 year

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Now that I’m caught up on all the Star Wars visual canon (or whatever you’d call the movies and series), I’m starting to speculate more about the upcoming stuff, mainly The Mandalorian season 3 and Ahsoka.

I wonder if Sabine will show up in Mando S3, since it looks like it’ll heavily be about Mandalore itself. She hasn’t been with Ahsoka during the times she shows up in Mando or TBOBF, which could mean any of multiple things:

1. Timeline-wise, we haven’t gotten to the Rebels epilogue yet, which means Sabine is still on Lothal, and Ahsoka has yet to stop by. Maybe Ahsoka is doing some footwork on her own, until she gets some actual leads on Thrawn and Ezra. Since there haven’t been any leads on them yet, Sabine decides to go get involved with whatever is going on with Mandalore when she catches wind of it. This is also why Ahsoka’s clothing/design in the epilogue is so different from what we’ve seen thus far in live action. She hasn’t yet gone through whatever it is she has to go through to become what fans have deemed “Ahsoka The White.”

2. We are past the Rebels epiologue, but for Mandalorian political reasons Sabine has split off from Ahsoka to help her people while Ahsoka continues the search for Thrawn and Ezra, and that’s why we haven’t seen her accompanying Ahsoka in Mando/TBOBF. Whatever happens in season 3 happens, and then we hop over to the Ahsoka series for the storyline that focuses on the search.

3. We are past the Rebels epilogue, and Sabine is with Ahsoka, but for whatever reason we don’t see her the times Ahsoka is on screen. She could be on the same planet doing other things for their cause, or she could be doing mundane things like sleeping on the ship or something (lol).

4. Something else that I’m not thinking of that is totally different than any of the scenarios I described. (Because let’s be real, we can speculate all we want but in the end, the official writers often come up with stuff we never would have dreamed of.)

It really all depends on the timeline. From what I’m observing, the live action series have all been released in chronological order, since Mando S1-2 came first and then The Book of Boba Fett follows after both in-universe and by release dates. In the future, Mando S3 is next, followed by Ahsoka (from what I’m seeing? Neither have had official, specific release dates confirmed yet.) If that’s the case, the events of Ahsoka will take place chronologically after the events of Mando S3.

Also, they seem to really like having characters cross over from one show to the next, especially if they’re a main character in one show and are just a side in another. Because of this, it seems highly likely that Sabine will be in Mando S3, even if she’s only there for like an episode or two as a background character with only a few lines. I mean, she is a Mandalorian, and we have no idea if anything happened to her family during The Purge, or if Krownest was hit at all, or what that situation is.

Also, as someone who is a former wielder of the Darksaber, it seems fitting that she would run into Din at some point. Lots of very interesting things could happen with that, since Din will have then met two former wielders whom are very different from each other. Sabine even still has Ezra’s lightsaber, which could mean some very interesting scenes and conversations. Just sayin’.

At this point, I’m going to drive myself insane thinking about all the “what if’s.” There are infinite possibilities. Do I hope we see Sabine in Mando S3? I love her and think there’s interesting potential for her character there, so yes. Will I be surprised if she isn’t? No. Again, the official writers know more about where the story is supposed to be going than I do. All I can do is sit back and enjoy whatever ride they’ve created for us.

#star wars #star wars rebels #the mandalorian #ahsoka series #sabine wren #din djarin #darksaber #speculation #long post

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nikxation · 2 years

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I just want to look at the ways I think this fandom is misinterpreting Bo-Katan and try to address the hate against her that's basically always filling up the tag!

Essay under the cut!

Bo-Katan is not a good person, but she's also not the evil conniving villain that this fandom seems intent on making her.

First off, she was young and really fucking stupid in Clone Wars. Does this erase the fact that she did a bunch of terrible things? Hell no. But the fact is, in her mind, she had a choice: 1) give up on Mandalore's warrior history that she believed in and join Satine, or 2) embrace that warrior history. And because the True Mandalorians were wiped from existence, that became a choice between the New Mandalorians and Death Watch. There's this implication that she was young when she joined, because she was very much embedded in Death Watch when we first meet her in Clone Wars, and she's only, like, 20. She made a shitty choice, and because of that choice (and I'm sure what amounted to quite a bit of grooming from Pre Vizsla, because hello, the Duchess's very own sister on his side, that's too good to pass up) she did some really fucking terrible things.

She spends the rest of her life (thus far up until what we've seen) trying to atone for that choice and those horrible things she did.

And before I get people saying "she's a terrorist, you can't forgive a terrorist", I'd like to point out that you also can't forgive a murderer, and your favorite characters who are "good guys" certainly have done quite a bit of killing. Maybe some of the people they killed were bad guys and maybe some of them deserved some kind of punishment, but if you're trying to equate this to real world morality, can you truthfully say every person your "good guy" killed deserved to die? How many dead stormtroopers were people like Finn who just needed a way out? And I hate to tell you, Din isn't exactly a great guy either. I love him to death, but bounty hunting is a dirty and fucked up profession. I would not doubt he's returned some escaped slaves and done other fucked up shit over the years. Hell, they basically admitted to it in the Prisoner episode. The "good guys" aren't pillars of morality.

Equating real world morality to fiction doesn't always translate 1-to-1. Your fave is a murderer, but that doesn't bug you. Hell, let's jump fandoms for a second. How do you feel about Marvel's Loki? Man literally tried (and halfway succeeded in) committing genocide of an entire race. But now he's reached anti-hero status? Where's everyone saying he's horrible and deserves to rot because of what he did to Jotunheim? The morality doesn't equate because it's fiction, and it's a lot more interesting to start out with a fucking terrible character and watch them grow into something better and more complex. Bo-Katan was part of a terrorist group and spent years trying to make up for that and to be better. The point is it's a character arc and she's seeking redemption, and that's interesting. And she is changing for the better, even if she's not perfect.

Please go rewatch Rebels, the Mandalore arc. She refuses the saber because she doesn't think she's worthy of it. She doesn't try to fight Sabine for it. She doesn't want it. She knows and acknowledges the horrible shit she's done and doesn't think herself worthy because of that.

It takes convincing on Sabine's part, and proof that the rest of the clans are behind her, for her to take it. And she takes it in Satine's name and honor (which is basically a confirmation she is no longer under Death Watch), under the hope of restoring Mandalore and freeing it from the Empire.

If y'all wanna talk technicalities, that "well she didn't have a right to the saber because she didn't win it in combat in Rebels"... Remember that, technically, it then would still belong to Maul. Because Sabine didn't win it off Maul, she stole it. And now Maul is dead by Obi-Wan's hand. Sabine only "wins it" off Gar Saxon later on, and even then, the "chain" back to Maul is still broken, and technically Ursa was the one to kill Saxon. So, the whole "winning it by combat" thing is basically screwed over at this point, Sabine has no intention to rule Mandalore and is just trying to find someone she thinks could.

At this point, the darksaber is a symbol, a symbol of unification and of strength, of a return to power for the Mandalorians. And even if Bo-Katan didn't win it in combat, the fact of the matter is that she had the backing of all the clans anyways, so ultimately it doesn't matter. The point of winning the saber in combat is to show strength and "earn" the respect and loyalty of the other clans. She does that without the fight here, and that's the point. It's honestly a lot more meaningful than if she won it, because she got the backing of the other clans without having to beat up a fucking teenager.

Which is gonna lead us into The Mandalorian S2.

It's been 10 years since the events of Rebels. A lot has changed. Namely, Mandalore is fucking... gone. Utterly destroyed. The Book of Boba Fett gave us that, showed us how fucking horrible it was. There's very little, if anything, left.

Take a look at Bo-Katan with that in mind. Here's a woman who was trying to free her people, to make her planet strong and united again... And it all blew up (quite literally) in her face.

Also, I'm going to make an assumption here: She didn't lose the saber to Moff Gideon, it got stolen from her or taken in an unfair way. I don't buy the idea that he beat her in a fight 1-on-1, I really don't. So yeah, I'll go out on a limb here and say that, yes, she was correct in saying the saber rightfully belongs to her.

So, what do we see in The Mandalorian when we meet her?

We see a woman, meeting a man from the fucked-up religion/cult that she broke off from (because yes, the Children of the Watch are a cult y'all, and I will happily go off about that too) and spent years of her life trying to distance herself and make up for her time in. He comes asking for her help, proceeds to claim that she isn't a Mandalorian (which, she's more Mandalorian than he is, she's actually been on the planet and knows her people's history, something that Din doesn't have because, again, raised by a cult that hid that knowledge from him, but I digress). So, here's a guy who's a pseudo-member of the people who are now basically her enemy, asking for help, and she decides to help him if he helps her first. But again, she doesn't trust him, he's Death Watch, so she doesn't tell him the whole plan, only what he needs to know that she knows will get the job done. It's shitty to do, but honestly, it's fair when she has absolutely no reason to trust him. Especially given that her main goal is getting the darksaber back, something that she would have reason to believe a pseudo-Death Watch member would know about and try to take if they knew she was after it. She keeps him in the dark because she doesn't trust him and is right not to. Din outright tells her he is Death Watch even if he doesn't know what that really means.

(And, to be fair to Din, I do believe that, if he knew the real history of Mandalore, he'd get the hell away from the Children of the Watch because that history doesn't align with his morality. He almost borders on being very True Mandalorian-esque, which is maybe why he gets on so well with Boba, a man raised by the last True Mandalorian, but again I digress).

Bo-Katan has no reason to trust Din, and she has no way to gauge how much he really knows without possibly screwing herself over and giving up info that, to her knowledge, he might choose to act against her on. She has no way to know his intentions, and so she has to do what she thinks is best to accomplish her goals. And you know what, she is completely in the right in the way she acts towards Din. We tend to forget how bad Din looks from an outside perspective, because he's our protagonist, he's the "good guy", so we forget the optics of what he would look like to someone like Bo-Katan. To her, he has the potential to be very bad news.

She is an antagonist against Din, and for good reason, but she is not the villain. I have a sneaking suspicion that, in S3, Din will get the full story and then they'll end up as true allies. That teaser trailer was playing into the "Bo-Katan bad guy" idea way too much, it feels like a red herring. And to be honest, if they go that direction, I really think it would be a disservice to her character and all the growth and shit she's gone through. But then I hear Katee Sackhoff talking about Bo-Katan and discussing redemption and growth, and I have hope they'll do good by her character.

She's gonna do whatever it takes to accomplish her goal, and her goal is to reclaim Mandalore, 1) as a "fuck you" to the memory of the Empire, because Lord knows she is angry and vengeful af about what happened on Mandalore, and she has every right to be, and 2) to reunite her people and help rebuild. She might do kinda shitty things to reach that goal, but at this point, it's basically all she has, and again, she's vengeful af, so you know that's driving her too. Every time people call her power-hungry, I swear they haven't seen Rebels because her entire arc completely obliterates that argument. She did not want it until she realized that the Mandalorians united under her, and she saw the future she could help build as their leader. She was never grabbing at power for the sake of grabbing at power. The only reason she's so gung-ho on the saber now is because Mandalore and the Mandalorians are in shambles and they are in serious danger of being wiped out altogether if they don't get their shit together. She wants to see her people strong and united again, and that is totally fair.

Which then leads to the question of why she doesn't take the saber from Din when he offers it up. To be honest, I think it was a little bit of a plot-circle on the part of the writers, but I'd also like to present this idea: she knew the optics of taking it from Din would be bad. It's one thing to take it from Sabine, a teenager, with all the other clans on her side and pledging loyalty. It's another thing to take it from Din, a full-fledged warrior who won the saber back from the Empire in a fight, with no outside-clan backing. That reads very bad and could lead to two very possibly bad outcomes:

1) The clans find out she didn't win it back, and she loses a certain amount of respect, not because she did it twice, but because the second time she did so without direct backing. Mandalore is already splintered and falling apart. It's a risk to hope that they'd be willing to unify under a ruler some might find "illegitimate". She can't afford that, she needs as many people on her side as she can get because... there aren't very many of them left. She needs to win it back from him fair and square to make sure she's in the right position politically to reunify Mandalore.

2) They hide it and pretend she won it instead of Din. Which might seem doable, except for the fact that now, everyone in that room would have leverage on her. And that is dangerous for someone looking to take back and rule a race like the Mandalorians. That's serious blackmail material. And she has no reason to trust the other people in that room (except for Koska). And even outside of her perspective, I could see quite a few people in that room choosing to use that against her. Maybe not for the most nefarious purposes, but using it all the same. And at that point, if the other clans found out through that means, that's grounds for serious trouble. Because not only would she be "illegitimate", but now she was blatantly lying to them. Whatever peace and unity they had going would immediately fall apart.

She's not in the wrong to decide against taking it, in believing the best option is to eventually challenge him for it. And honestly the fact that she doesn't challenge him right away, that she lets him leave with it and go about his business, means a lot more than people are considering. If she was this power-hungry person that people are claiming she is, she would have challenged him right then and there, or right after Luke left with Grogu, when he was weak and exposed and still injured from the fight with the dark troopers and distracted and, honestly, probably a pretty easy target. And you might say "Din had allies in that room, she'd be dumb to fight him". If she challenged him to a 1-on-1 and he agreed, Cara and Fennec and everyone would back off and let him (even if Cara maybe argued against it for a second). He would have to agree to the fight for it to be legitimate, and I highly doubt Bo-Katan would go for the kill either way, she seemed genuinely shocked when Maul killed Vizsla, which makes it seem like killing the loser isn't standard practice (ie. Sabine also not killing Gar Saxon) unless you're just... a shitty person or someone from an opposing view (ie. Jaster getting killed).

But she doesn't challenge him, she lets him leave. And that's telling in a way that she's not just... looking for power. And, yes, she's annoyed by the turn of events (it certainly throws a wrench in everything she's been working towards).

She will challenge Din, I know that for a fact. But I think, first, Din needs a lesson on what it means to be Mandalorian (what it really means, not that false shit the Armorer fed him). And then he needs to decide what kind of Mandalorian he needs to be, and I'd bet that it's going to align with a lot of Bo-Katan's goals and ideology (hence, she's going to realize he's not really Death Watch, not in the way that matters, and that maybe he's trustworthy). And I think there's a fair chance that Din will win the fight, and Bo-Katan will honor that.

(Whether Din becomes Mand'alor is up in the air at this point, count me as Interested and Excited to see.)

I am not saying Bo-Katan is a perfect character and the pillar for morality. She has done some fucked up shit. She still does some pretty shitty stuff. But overall, her character arc is one of redemption and fighting for her people. Her goals are good and right, even if her methods aren't always the most savory (I'm talking lying to Din and similar things). But Mandalorians have always been a bit brutal and slippery, it's not totally out of character.

I'm not saying you have to love her as a character. Hell, I'm not even saying you have to like her. All I'm asking is that you stop just... blatantly calling her evil and pretending she's this two-dimensional simplified version of herself. She's complex and has a pretty crazy and interesting arc, and all I'm asking is that she gets the same treatment that other characters like her (ie. Loki) get. It's... shitty to see a post about her and go into the notes and just see... mountains and mountains of hate on her. I resent the fact that the first thing I saw when I heard about the S3 trailer was... someone ragging on her and calling her a villain. It's missing such a core piece of her character and rendering her down to something that she isn't, and it's aggravating when you're someone like me who really likes her as a character and is just... tired of the undeserved hate she gets, when there are other characters out there who have done worse and gotten praised for the redemption they fought for.

It's okay if you don't like her. Just... stop filling her tag with hate. Try to look at her from the lens of someone just... trying to preserve what's left of her culture and people and doing whatever she needs to do to make that happen.

If anything, remember that she and Ahsoka are still associated in some positive way, enough so that she knew where Ahsoka was and told Din to say she sent him, which would entail Ahsoka trusts Bo still. If Ahsoka still trusts her, maybe trust Ahsoka's judgement?

Final things to address:

Her calling out Boba and being derogatory towards him and clones: Not a great thing of her to do. Again, definitely not a perfect character. But she was correct in saying he isn't a Mandalorian, and we don't know what kind of shit Boba has done and how much of it she knows about. For all we know, Boba was hunting Mandalorians for the Empire and she knew about it. We don't know that whole story. Again, a lot of this comes down to the fact that your faves aren't necessarily good people. Boba certainly wasn't. In fact, he was the definition of a secondary villain (because remember, in ESB, the bounty hunters are bad guys, and Jango wasn't really a good guy in AotC either), all until he took a tumble into the Sarlacc and got his ass humbled by the Tuskens. And heck, on the flip side, there's a chance she has no idea who Boba is, and to her, he is just a clone that somehow got his hands on Mando armor, which isn't really something Mandalorians are a fan of when their armor is so sacred. We don't know. I'd love if it's addressed some way in the future (maybe Bo discussing with Din that he's associated with Boba?).

Her not honoring Maul winning the darksaber and claiming a non-Mandalorian can't be Mand'alor: We knew from the get-go that Maul and Death Watch were both planning to screw-over the other for their own gain. I'd bet they each had an idea that the other had the same mentality. They didn't trust each other and were right not to. She knew he was bad news and wanted no part of it. She didn't have the best intentions initially, the Mandalorians are proud people to a fault (Din was willing to kill Cobb to get the armor back), they value their heritage and unity as a people. Maul was not a Mandalorian. Didn't take a Creed or wear their armor or follow any of their principles. He was someone Death Watch was using, they never expected him to go after (and win) the throne. For all intents and purposes, Maul was 100% an outsider, and Mandalorians are not fans of outsiders, let alone outsiders having power over them. Hence, Death Watch split in half. Half of them honored the old traditions and followed Maul, the other half didn't. And, lo and behold, he used his power over them to take advantage of them and then leave them when it was convenient for him. Wow, great leader there, great thing the rest of Death Watch trusted him and followed him. Bo-Katan was right to not trust him and to want him gone. He's literally a Sith Lord, expecting him to be good for their planet and people would be... stupid. It might have been a different story if he took a Creed and at least pretended to become a Mandalorian, but he didn't. Remember, Bo-Katan was (begrudgingly) willing to let the Republic invade to get Maul out. Part of it was because he was an outsider, but the other part was because he was Maul, the Sith Lord who would for sure use them and destroy them and not care about the repercussions. It was him she wanted out, and she was willing to let other outsiders in to accomplish that.

TL;DR: I mean, Bo-Katan is really just a more nuanced and complex character than fandom likes to make her out to be, please just read the essay, I swear I make some good points, the biggest one being that Rebels has the biggest instance of her character growth and everyone just tends to... ignore it in favor of ragging on her. There's a lot to it, I can't sum it all up in a short paragraph, hence the essay, sorry, I just have a lot of thoughts on it.

#thank you for coming to my TED talk #it's okay if you don't like her #at the very least keep it out of the tags ya know???#that's how we treat ships we don't like... why can't we do the same for characters???#star wars #bo katan kryze #the mandalorian #clone wars #the clone wars #tcw #death watch

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