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gingerlurk · 2 months

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Lovers' Crest | Chapter 19: The Bloodied

Din Djarin x f!Reader

Masterlist

Summary: In this time and place, as war descends, it all changes.

Word count: 5.6k

Warnings: 18+ MDNI, slow burn, non-canon (the Razor Crest never gets destroyed, it also gets upgraded with a cabin), post season 3, Big Epic Battle, return of the Razor Crest 💙, violence, blood, passing allusion to post-traumatic stress, ho so much action, and so much lore bullshitting just go with me here.

A/N: The walker described in this isn’t any specific canon version. Somewhere between an AT-AT and an AT-ST let’s say. I dunno, picture whatever you want. Thanks for reading!

The room fills for the final muster.

It’s a scene similar to the first time you’d been in here, but now you’re witnessing it from the other side. Armoured and armed soldiers file into the chamber, an audience gathering before the conflict begins.

This time though, rather than hiding in the shadows by the forge, you’re among the congregation, seeing the Armourer up front waiting as everyone files in. You stick to the back, find yourself shuffled along a row to stand uneasily by Fennec Shand. She leans a shoulder against yours, a gesture of staunch reassurance.

We got this.

Your eyes move over the backs of many helmets, scanning until you spot him. The man you miss more than you would breathing air must have been first in here. Front and centre, Din stands with his back to you and just a little side on. From your vantage point, you can make out the edges of the familiar heat sig sensor on his helmet’s right side. You can’t see any of the T visor, so he wouldn’t spot you staring at him unless he turned full to the right.

He must know you’re in here though. Whether he cares or not, you have no clue anymore.

Over the many broad shoulders between the two of you, you can’t tell if Grogu is with him.

Still, you whisper a silent entreaty, ‘please let them both be okay…’

Footsteps and shuffling whittle down to silence. Everyone waits. The striking figure at the front of the procession pushes her shoulders back, runs a gaze across the crowd, and speaks.

‘War is here,’ she says. ‘And we are ready.’

The room fills with the beating of wrists. You and Fennec join in, tapping your comms cuff to your new wrist guard. As the sound fades to quiet again, the honorary battle commander continues.

‘We stand on the frontlines to defend our homelands. Mandalore. Concordia. Every place Mandalorians have come together to build a future. Every place the old, dead empire has tried to take from us.’

You can tell her words are meticulously chosen, because the room swells with an earnest pride and a thrum of determined energy.

‘As the Watch,’ she continues, ‘we’ve nurtured foundlings, raised warriors, and preserved our cultures. We have long held true to the words of the Creed. And it has led us through the dark. Now, we each of us have stood in the Living Waters. By the miracle of liberating Mandalore, we grow brighter. The bonds we forge and the strength we gain from them will continue to lead us.’

‘And it is with this revival that we must learn to reach into new space. We honour the Creed, as it speaks of ourselves and our past.’

She reaches behind her and once again draws out that familiar device. The one containing the texts of the Creed, its originals, its translations. The controlling lore of the people collected here. She places it down on her table.

‘Yet we have come to learn that there is more to our ancient Way than we knew. Now we have learned that the Creed goes further. It speaks of our future. And with the royal Clan Kryze guiding us, we have the way forward to meet it.’

The air pulses like a beating heart. The flames of the forge dance across the ocean of beskar. Everyone holds.

‘Bo-Katan Kryze is our leader, and she is also our guide, it is time we followed her on the path to walk both worlds. Each and every world.’

You’re puzzling over what this reverent monologue could possibly mean – what worlds? – when the woman standing before her people does something that beats the breath from your lungs and sends dizzying electric shocks through your body.

The Armourer, the devout and steadfast leader of almost every person in this room, reaches up and – with a soft hiss that echoes over the hushed crowd – lifts her helmet up, and off. An angular face, large eyes and a wide mouth. She nestles the golden mask under an arm and watches.

It remains deathly quiet for a long, agonising stretch.

Slowly, just one at a time, and then a few, and then everyone in the place is lifting their hands to their own faces. The air is filled with the sounds of unclasping, pressure releasing. Beskar sings against itself as removed helms are cradled and caressed in gauntleted arms.

You look side to side with eyes wide and mouth agape, in crude contrast to the stoic and steady facial expressions of those around you. The unknown features of people you’ve lived and worked with for weeks are still and focused. Like they knew. Like they were prepared.

Then you’re searching. Over the arms raising and heads shaking out hair and sweat, you strain to see it. The helmet you’d held between your own hands and the man behind it. But he’s obscured. Too far away. You’re just not tall enough. Desperate, you raise onto your toes, craning your neck over the crowd.

‘Here,’ Fennec grabs your wrist and drops to a knee. You gawk for a second but she smacks her thigh with the other hand. ‘Up,’ she mouths.

This is ridiculous but you don’t even pause. You accept her boost, grasp her shoulder and let her hoist you up above the heads of the group. Fortunately everyone is distracted, some unspoken rule that no one looks around rippling across the congregation. They all stay focused front and centre, where the Armourer looks at each and every one of her people in turn.

Not at you yet though. From the very back, toppling a little, shaking violently, you sweep your gaze over to the spot you know him to be standing.

And you see it. You see him.

Dark curls. Damp and sticking to the nape of his neck and around his right ear.

Huh. He has dark, brown hair. The sight slots into the image you’ve tried to hold in your head all this time. The sketch you’d traced out with your hands.

Din is holding eyes front as well. All you can see of his face is the slight edge of a sharp jawline and nose. The fuzz of a scruffy beard. Hardly enough. Not enough.

Despite yourself, knowing it to be futile, you will him to look around. Look, I’m here, Din. Please, I’m here.

But you have to drop down before the Armourer, or anyone else, spots you. Giddy and a little nauseous. The grip on your forearm tightens as Fennec stands again. She leans in.

‘See what you needed to see?’ she asks.

You just let out the breath you’d been holding, hold up a trembling hand and stare hard at it. Try to steel yourself.

You hadn’t. Not at all.

A long, high-pitched siren cuts into the reverie that had engulfed the room, sweeps across the people who had just taken a step to change forever.

The Armourer speaks, clear voice projecting to every corner of the room, ‘Go, and bring glory to Mandalore.’

The whole room moves as one, helmets going back on and everyone proceeding to their assignments. Perfect, regimented, united.

Fennec Shand claps a hand to your shoulder and peels off, going to her mission, whatever that may be. Jolted back to reality, reminded of your mission, you cast about for Ari Wren, knowing you have to follow her into whatever comes next – no matter what. You spot her helmet first as it lifts up and over her head, spy just a hint of short cropped blonde hair as the mask locks back into place. She sees you too and strides forward.

‘This way,’ she instructs, fully composed like she hadn’t just uprooted her whole identity. ‘Stick with me.’

You let her guide you, all the while still looking back over your shoulder, just trying to get one more glimpse, one more look, just one.

You don’t see him again.

The first phase of the attack is nothing more than a battle of attrition. The enemy throws waves of ground troops at the Mandalorian defences. You stick with Ari Wren, barely holding onto awareness as pure adrenaline and instinct course through your veins and grant you unimaginable speed and strength.

‘Stay in step,’ she yells.

Shoulder blades pressed to the hot metal of her jetpack, you move as she moves. Your footwork is doing double-time to keep up with her rapid twists and lunges, the sword and shield seemingly featherlight in her hands. Each time laser fire comes at you, she’s there – shielding and deflecting.

In turn, you incapacitate anyone that gets under her guard. The close quarters lets you take soldier after soldier by surprise, sending them screaming to the ground clutching at ruined limbs.

The two of you make your way across what’s become the battlefield, move through the acrid air and across the ash-soaked scorched earth. Smoke rising all around, you position yourselves in the anticipated trajectory of their ultimate weapon. It hasn’t emerged over the embankment yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

You remain dimly aware of the rest of the battle – cover fire soaring overhead, the other fighters moving in your forward lines, and a pitched dogfight rending the sky above. But for all the chaos that has erupted since the imp forces descended, the world may as well be you and the Mandalorian yanking you out of the path of an oncoming pulse blast.

But then disaster strikes. It’s your fault. A trooper comes at your duo wielding a bayonet-clad phase rifle, the long nasty blade on its barrel glowing red hot with energy. They lay down attack fire on approach and, as Wren deflects each shot, move in to take a swipe with the sharp, searing edge. Your companion bats it to the side. She brings her own sword around fast, but the enemy manages to parry, twisting side-on.

Seeing an opening, you duck under Wren’s extended arm and take aim at a kidney. But she wasn’t expecting it and you’ve moved under her centre of gravity. You stagger each other and the split second of imbalance is enough for your foe to rend a long slice up Wren’s outer thigh, carving a line along the outside edge of her beskar.

She falls to a knee, then slumps back with an agonised cry. The assailant squares up as you stumble to regain balance. Before you can do anything, he’s drawing his rifle up to your face.

‘N--!’ Your cry is cut off by the soldier in front of you jerking sideways, a violent twist as he drops dead to the ground. Behind him, two more troopers are sprinting toward you, weapons drawn. But again, first one then the other jolts as if struck and falls.

Whirling and twisting, scanning the perimeter, your eyes finally look up and you see it. The long barrel of a sniper rifle and the curved sights of the assassin’s helmet peak over the far ridge.

Fennec Shand.

You stare for a moment until Wren barks your name. It pulls you back and you see you’re being surrounded by a rank of attackers, all sporting savage-looking shock batons. Some are already being taken out by Fennec’s pinpoint cover fire. But if you don’t fucking move soon, you and Wren are doomed.

One of the squad lunges in to attack.

Reaching back, the gaffi stick slung across your shoulders swings free and you connect it with the on-comer’s chest plate, the slugged end caving it in and sending him flying backwards. You spin to slice the barbed spear across another’s throat, blood making a crescent streak across the air.

Fennec hits one in the knee and, as he drops, your weapon rises to meet his face. The helmet shatters and your blood roars.

One after another, you never stop rotating. Cries of pain from your weapon and grunts of shock from the impact of a rifle blast work the group circling you down to the ground.

When it’s clear, you look back to Fennec, hoping she can see your nod of acknowledgement through the scope. She raises an arm to you.

Then you fall to Wren’s side, where she’s gripping her wound and cursing in fury.

‘Wren,’ you start, dropping your weapon and trying to assess the damage. ‘Hang on—'

An ear-splitting siren rips the air apart. Its meaning runs your blood cold. The walker is incoming. Wren tugs at your arm, a ‘help me up’ gesture. But you shake your head, lay your own hands over hers at the top of her thigh where blood spurts from the edge of the armour plate.

‘No, no,’ you urge her back. ‘Don’t move.’

‘Have… to…’ she grits through her helm. But even the small movement she just made causes red to well between your fingers.

‘Shit!’ you cry. ‘Gods, Wren. Hang on… Help!’ You look around frantically, yell into the deafening chaos of battle. ‘Help!’

Hells, think clearly, would you? You shake yourself and smack your comms. ‘I need help! Wren is down.’

Within moments, two Mandalorians have landed on either side. One, in medic garb, shoves you aside and begins to tend to her leg. They tap the ground to indicate she needs evac and you hear her grunt in abject frustration. Tries to wave them off.

‘No…’ she moans. ‘Need to…’ She tries to sit up but jolts with a cry of agony. She grips a fist tight before shaking herself and slapping her own comms, muttering into her helmet. You can’t hear who she’s talking to – why is she on a different comms channel?

Another siren has you whirling, then craning your neck up, back. A huge mechanised leg raises over the first fortifications only hundreds of feet in front of you, stomps down with a thundering crash.

You cradle your ears. Terror shoots through you. Whipping around, you look for another jetpacked fighter who could get you up there. Someone, anyone. But they wouldn’t know where to place the charges. How to time it. You sense your plan being blown to hell and panic sets in. This is it – that thing is going to wipe you all out.

Another gargantuan limb brings the monster closer and sends a garrison into full retreat. The horrifying sound of the thermal cannons warming up fills your ears with a sickening buzz. There’s no way to stop it. You look up to the heavens with defeat heavy on your chest.

That’s where you see it. A pinprick at first, but growing larger. The gorgeous old gunship streaks across the sky, threading the needle through cannon fire and laser blasts. In a sharp nosedive, the Razor Crest is on full burn on its approach to you. It turns to make a low bank and passes over your heads. A figure drops from the hold, in a rapid descent to the field of battle not far from you.

Din hits the ground with a forward roll and releases a salvo of his whistling birds into the waiting war troopers. He’s incapacitated them in a matter of seconds as you sprint toward him. Up and fighting any and everything between the two of you, he makes his way to meet you in the middle. You can’t stop yourself from barrelling into him.

He just plants a hand on your waist and pulls you close, ‘Hang on!’ he yells.

You wrap your arms around his shoulders and try to stifle your cry as his jetpack engages and rockets you both upwards, soaring toward the body of the walking terror. Nothing but empty air below and laser fire raining all around, you bury your face into his neck. Through the haze of fear and adrenaline, you feel him pull you tighter.

The underside streaks toward you. He manoeuvres to ascend up the thing’s body but, just as you come level with it, the rockets on Din’s pack cut out. Suspended in the air, weightless for one terrifying moment, a scream begins to bubble up as you anticipate a precipitous drop.

But Din fires his whipcord ahead, planting its grapple at the top and swinging your bodies into the side of the massive unit. He twists his weight so he lands squarely against the side, shielding you from impact. Dangling together from the façade of the stalking, swaying machine, he nudges at you.

‘Climb!’ he yells, urging you upwards.

‘Your jetpack!’ you shout back. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘I’ve got it, just climb now,’ he pushes. You reach up and grab the whipcord. His free hand helps you along, grabbing your legs and heaving upwards to give you purchase. You don’t know how his shoulder isn’t being torn from its joint, but he seems to be holding on. So you grit your teeth, ignore the cord cutting into your hands, and climb.

You hand over hand with the cord and plant your knees into the vertical surface. Push every shred of fear away and focus on what’s in front. Halfway up you glance back and almost scream again. Hundreds of feet below, the monstrosity steps through more barricades, nearing the centre of the fray. But you also see Din, who’s holding fast, looking up, watching you. You turn around and keep climbing.

The second you reach the top, the whipcord whizzes back. You’re already scrambling toward the pilot hatch when Din’s voice crackles over your comms piece. ‘Just like you planned – you take the personnel, I’ve got the undercarriage.’

Gods, so he had been listening.

Wind whips your face and the roar around you is deafening, but you get to the hatch and pop a thermal charge into the lock. Crawling back and shielding your head, you wait for the ‘croom ’ then leap forward, grip the edge of the opening, and swing yourself inside. The smoke and noise from the explosion has stunned your cabin buddies. They only manage a short shout of alarm before both find their necks snapping at unhappy angles.

You surge onto the portal, jabbing at controls and resetting target maps. The walker groans under the strain of turning 180, but the cockpit’s sights swing around until the advancing forces come into view. You set the target locking system and throw the lever into full drive before sending a quick blaster shot into the control panel. The guns below the cockpit begin a continuous barrage. You watch for a moment as squadrons scatter and tanks implode.

You back away and make for the hatch. Scrambling up onto topside, you hit comms.

‘Din!’ you cry. ‘We gotta go! Din?’

Instead of a reply, the Mandalorian rockets up over the edge and plants his feet metres from you. He strides forward, holding one hand to his helmet, shouting at R5 to bring in the Crest, and reaching his other arm out to you.

You don’t pause, moving in and resuming your grip on his shoulders. He holds for a second, then you’re fighting panic again as you launch upwards. This time though, you manage to keep your eyes trained down.

You see the walker, marching back into its own lines, sending explosions into troopers and hovercannons. Then, perfectly timed, the detonators Din planted on the underside go off, buckling the legs and sending it tumbling into the central armoured column.

Good.

Then your vision is obscured and your momentum arrested. You start in alarm before making sense of the scene. The Crest has sailed elegantly into your line of ascent and Din has cut the jetpack, landing you both on the aft entry of the old gunship. It’s a heavy impact and the only reason your knees don’t collapse is the strong hold he has on you. You both stumble back into the hold of the ship.

As soon as you’re steadied, he lets go and makes for the cockpit. You give in to a brief moment of uninvited despair when he looks over his shoulder and barks, ‘C’mon!’ Then you’re following.

You allow yourself little beats to revel in being on the Crest again, but not for too long. The janky locker door that never quite shut all the way. The peeling paint on the ladder. The access panel that always flickered and whirred. Gods, you’d missed it so much.

As you enter the cockpit, Din is taking his seat and engaging the controls from R5. You spot Grogu tucked in his pod, which is securely strapped into his flight seat. He looks over at you and waves his arms, burbling in excitement.

The seat on the other side, your seat, sits empty.

Your heart aches at the sight.

As if the ship senses it, the Crest groans and lurches nose down for a moment, forcing you forward. As Din rights its moorings, you flop back into the chair.

‘Get strapped in,’ he yells over his shoulder. He punches at the controls and brings the ship around to witness the skirmish taking place in the sky. The cockpit’s windows afford you a view of the aerial battle, so high up you can see the curvature of this moon and the combat below looking like a crawling insect colony. The fighters up here are intercepting and taking down enemy craft on approach, preventing any from breaking through to attack ground forces.

‘Just in time,’ Din says. ‘The Guild has arrived.’

‘Oh shit,’ you say, pulling the straps around and craning your neck out the window. You spot it. A hefty old transport frigate, Leaf Ghogal’s little army of bounty hunters, plugging a descent toward the edge of the fray, getting ready to drop a mess of bloodthirsty fighters right into the thick of it.

But Din seems unfazed. It puzzles you for a second before he flips the cockpit comms on and speaks to someone on the other end.

‘You’re up,’ he says.

‘Copy that, Mando my man,’ comes a reply – a painfully familiar voice. ‘Our frenemies will be taking a one-way jump to buttfuck nowhere in 3- 2- get goin’ hahaha.'

Still eyeing the transport a ways off, you have a perfect view of it shuddering for a moment – the hyperdrive straining in the high atmosphere. With a massive shockwave, it shooms into nothingness. The energy fallout from its rapid departure collects the edge of a soaring tiefighter, taking its portside wing and sending it careening to the ground.

‘Woo! Two fer one!’ The disembodied voice hollers and it hits you.

‘Wha— Torre? ’ you sputter.

‘Hey dove,’ Torre’s voice echoes around the cockpit. ‘You made it.’

‘What are y-- what is-- what?’

‘Making up for my bullshit, hon,’ he says. ‘Or a little of it, at least.’

Din interrupts, like you aren’t in a full tailspin over this little fucking alliance going on right now.

‘Another mercenary outfit inbound,’ he says.

‘On it,’ Torre chirps, the clacking of keys being hit in rapid succession accompanying the transmission.

You start to say ‘where?’ but Din just points. Another transport carrier trundles just behind where Leaf’s ship was. Your eyes track it as the Crest banks across the range. Huge, fit to carry upwards of two hundred combatants. Worlds, you think. If they land it’ll be a bloodbath.

But Torre’s counting down again and the boat – blip – bends out of existence. Just like that.

‘That’s cleared,’ Din says.

‘Roger, roger,’ Torre responds.

This is too surreal. ‘Torre,’ you shout. ‘ What-- why are you doing this?’

A long sigh slips from the speakers.

‘Your Mando came and got me,’ he tells you over the comms. ‘Told me about how that fucker Cephlate used me. And how he got to you. Fuck. For that, and for the rest… Well, ‘m sorry.’

A beat of quiet as you absorb that. Then the Crest chimes in with its alert system, alarms blaring around you.

‘And speaking of the Devil,’ Torre says. ‘His craft is inbound.’

‘What?’ you yelp. ‘Cephlate is here?’

‘Indeed,’ Torre answers you. ‘Got his private little army in on this shitshow.’

Ice slides up and down your spine and sends cold shards to your extremities. The freeze of a carbonite unit crawls over your skin. Him. Your side aches right where your scar has steadily faded away. But it now throbs as if fresh. Your face, where he’d held onto your chin and threatened you, burns.

The only thing stopping you from succumbing to wild panic is the T visor that’s swung round to stare at you.

‘He’s not gonna touch you,’ Din snarls low. ‘Ever again.’

You lean into your chair, breathing deep into your belly as he turns back to the ship’s controls.

‘What can you do about it?’ Din asks.

‘Not much, I’m afraid. I’ve tried hacking in but he knows my tricks. All I can give you is something to aim for.’

A string of data rolls across the Crest’s targeting system, forms into a ship holo. An ugly, heavy-duty gunner-craft. Cannons and railguns weigh the beastly thing down. The holo rotates to reveal a glowing patch on the underside. Small and tucked against the exhaust latchings. You lean forward to get a good look at it.

‘The stitch that will unravel his shields,’ Torre explains. ‘Aim for that. And he’ll be done.’

‘Okay,’ Din says. ‘I think you’re good then.’

‘Copy that.’

‘You gonna cause trouble?’

Torre’s chuckle rumbles over the speakers. ‘No worries there,’ he says. ‘Old mate Greef here hasn’t taken his pistol’s sights off me for a single second.’

‘I’ve got him, Mando,’ the high magistrate’s voice follows on. ‘We’ll take him back when the fight is over, won’t we IG?’

‘Bye then, dove,’ Torre’s voice sinks into you. ‘I’ll always be sorry.’

The transmission cuts.

Distracted by the insanity of what just happened, you miss Din’s question. He’s fiddling with settings on the HUD and, at your silence, looks back.

‘Huh?’ you ask.

‘I can’t aim for something like that and fly at the same time,’ he says. ‘So which do you want to do?’

‘Which do I--?’ You notice for the first time an addition to the instrument bank next to the flight chair you’re buckled into. A set of ship controls, twins to the ones Din’s got a hard grip on up front. Protruding just within reach.

‘Had to get another ship mechanic to help install it, ‘m sorry,’ he says, watching you. ‘It was fiddly. The Crest did not want to cooperate. But we did it.’

‘Wh--,' you’re speechless. You reach over and they glide easily outward so you can orient them in front of you. Giving each an experimental twist, you feel the hefty tilt and take in the trigger buttons just by where your forefingers rest. ‘Oh wow… Din. But- I can’t--’

‘You can,’ he says. ‘I know it.’

Aware you can’t waste time on doubt, you heave a deep sigh. Looking at the ship holo, at the tiny opening Torre’s given you, your fingers hover over the triggers. Something inside you makes the choice.

‘Aim,’ you say. ‘I’ll aim.’

Nodding, he spins back around and flips a switch. The controls under your palms hum with energy and a HUD blinks in front of you. The Crest shudders as its weapons system primes itself.

Hells, how are you going to fucking do this.

‘I’ll draw him onto us, tell me when you’re ready and I’ll give you an opening,’ he says. Without further ado, he pulls his own controls back and the Razor Crest soars.

How are you going to do this.

The Mandalorian pilots his ship through a mess of crossfire and the occasional spacecraft trailing smoke and plummeting to the earth. The menacing looking ship of the outer-rim warlord comes into view and Din positions the Crest right in front of it, racing ahead and catching the enemy crew’s attention. Pulls serpentine manoeuvrers to dodge the laser fire that begins a bombardment.

How are you—

Static crackles over the comms and the sickly, savage voice of the figure you’ve had nightmares about fills the space. Delighted, arrogant and bloodthirsty. Cephlate waxes lyrical about finally having the opportunity to ‘destroy you Mando, and all you hold dear’.

But you’re barely taking it in, fixated on the targeting system and trying to fathom how you’re going to do this.

How, how, how—

Spiralling thoughts are interrupted by a feather-soft tendril of energy nudging at the edge of your mind. It swirls against your consciousness and seems to await permission.

You look over at Grogu, whose eyes are shut tight and hands twitch with power. The sense of connection within you grows brighter, promises aid. Begs entry.

‘Ready?’ Din calls.

‘We have this,’ you shout. Looking at the child, you let him and the Force flood your mind, whip through your senses and snake into your arms and hands, held firm on the controls. They hum harder, some awareness deep in the bowels of the ship slips into you, a quiet there you are, where have you been? You set your shoulders and shout, ‘Now!’

Din hurls a lever back and reefs on the controls. The Crest drops into a free fall. The rear thrusters cut and tip the boat so you’re looking up into the sky. Laser fire passes overhead as does Cephlate’s ship. The glint in the underside, the break in the shield, is plain as day to your heightened senses.

You, Grogu and the Crest lock onto it and your fingers move of their own volition, releasing a single pulse that streaks ahead. Where it hits home, exactly on target, a burst of crackling, festy grey energy widens from the spot, shimmering over the whole ship. The entire shield system drops away in a few heartbeats.

‘No!’ the warlord bellows. ‘You--!'

Din smacks the comms to another channel over the top of his cries. ‘Move in,’ he commands whoever’s on the other side. To you, ‘Keep firing!’

You’re already setting up to unleash an angry broadside along the bottom of the vessel. He hauls the thrusters back on and gives you a perfect bank for the barrage to take out its engine array. When the Crest clears the front of the ship, it wheels around and you can take aim at the top-mounted cannons.

You see several other Mandalorian jets and fighters move in weapons free, your little T-Wing among them. It and the rest send explosions to impact on all sides of the vessel. Your ship makes another turn and you get to pass again – feeling feral, you zero in on the bridge and send the bow of the ship up in flames.

It’s not long before the monstrous dirigible is listing, tilting away from the centre of the fight, toward the chordal coast where the imps’ forward party had been encamped. It disappears over the rim of the small mountain range bisecting the landscape. Moments later, a spectacular explosion reaches toward the skies.

You watch it as the Crest’s trajectory evens out, sails across the cleared air. You scan the radar, friendly craft soar around you.

Only the roar of wind and the groan of the ship fill the cockpit. You loosen your grip just slightly on the controls as a wide grin spreads across your face. You glance up at Din, seeing his shoulders steadily drop as he relaxes. You laugh.

‘Well that, felt incredible,’ you say. He starts to turn toward you.

A burst of static covers what he says back. A boisterous voice thunders over the speakers, declaring glorious victory and the imp forces scattering like baby womp rats, the jet-packed Mandalorians running them down with ease.

You listen, fidgeting a little as a weird pang starts to bother your side.

The comms cuts to reports of mopping up but Din turns it to low, moving dials and flipping the landing gear into standby.

You keep your hands on the gunner grips in case any last-minute moves are needed, but try to sit up a little straighter to stretch out the tightness that is drawing your abdomen into a knot. The tension of the fight setting in, maybe?

Din leans back. ‘Guess we can head in,’ he says, moving to turn to you again. Your heart beats harder, damn near straining against your chest. ‘And maybe we can t—’

‘Ebbe!’

The tiny, panicked shriek from Grogu causes you both to whip around to him. Your concern twists your guts. A strange nervous vibration is working its way up your spine, into your skull and clouding your vision. Your mouth is filling with icy shards and your ears start ringing.

‘Grogu?’ you say. ‘Baby, wha—’

‘No!’ Din surges from his chair.

‘Is he okay?’

‘Oh Gods, no, no, no!’

That’s when you realise that he’s not lunging at Grogu but toward you. And Grogu is fine, but he’s pointing to your middle with fear-filled eyes.

Din kneels before you and chants your name. ‘Hang on. Please just, hang on, love. Stay, stay with me, hey! Stay with me!’ His confusing demands grow fuzzy and further away as he talks.

You finally look down. The haze and hot tendrils clawing at your eyes make it hard to see, but that’s definitely something sticking out of your stomach. You move a hand to it. It’s hot, and vibrating with a quiet menace. Your fingers come away bloodied. ‘Ohhhh wha…’ You fade out.

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Forgive me.

Thank you so much for reading this weird little story.

#din djarin x you #din djarin x reader #the mandalorian x you #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian #din djarin #din djarin/reader #din djarin/you #the mandaloria/reader #din djarin x f!reader #the mandalorian x f!reader

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flilisskywalker · 1 year

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This is a Mandalorian season 3 finale rant (There might be cursing because I need to vent my frustrations)

Yeah, I really hated the season 3 finale of Mando. It’s the most boring, uninspired poorly directed, written and edited Star Wars in a fucking while. Easily the worst episode of Star Wars television as a fucking whole to me

what the fuck happened

It's sad because I was enjoying this season, but holy shit, for a show that was always good because of its emotional beats, they sure missed a lot of them (Unless your name is Grogu, of course, ops. Din Grogu urghhhhhh). It was so fucking emotionless and fucking anticlimatic.

I have to be honest

I don't care that much about Grogu. “But the show is about him.” He is not the main relationship that Din has in this season! That is Bo-Katan. It's ridiculous how these characters have grown close to each other since the Mines and the writer finds the most emotionless way to reunite them again and split them again and the director just doesn't extract fabulous performances of them as well and the editing just chooses the most uninspired shots.

It fucking bothers me the most is that this show is so concerned with what's coming next that they are forgetting what makes Star Wars so fucking cool: The relationships. Bo-Katan and Din have been saving each other's asses, sharing different perspectives to each other, swearing loyalty and they don't even get a goodbye scene.

“Maybe because they are not saying goodbye.”

BULLSHIT.

It's like you get The Force Awakens with Rey and Finn becoming friends, but without the moment that solidifies the bond from Rey’s part, which is when she says: "We'll see each other again. I believe that. Thank you, my friend." Was it so difficult to have them aknowledging the journey they went through together before they went separate ways? I just don’t get it how you miss such a simple and obvious emotional beat like this.

It doesn’t fucking stop there. Of course.

Bo-Katan does not seem happy at all when she lights up that Forge. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I WONDER WHY. Could it because a fucking tin man who promised to serve her until her life was over is not fucking there? And people will say “You’re delusional.” No. This woman was flirting with him two episodes ago, she’s been looking at him since the Mines in a way that she does not look at any other Mandalorian (and you all can deny it however you want, but the way Katee is directed in those scenes just don’t lie) and they just make him go away.

You fucking with me? You gotta be fucking with me.

And you think that’s all?

Hmm. Not really.

Ragnar loses his father, who was also clearly the Armorer's favorite son and there’s no reaction, no aknowledgement of his death. Instead we got a whole "take the creed" scene, like, godamnit, have some fucking compassion for crying out loud.

Moff Gideon destroying the darksaber is so awful. It doesn't work as a symbolism because he wanted that thing. It should've been Bo-Katan who destroyed it and that would pay off Din's line about the sword not being what determines who she is as a leader.

Oh and Gideon dies, but not really because we know characters don’t really die in explosions in Star Wars and it’s so. fucking. ridiculous. What a moment this would be if this kill belonged to Bo-Katan. Because... I don’t know, the whole season is about her.

*takes a deep breath*

I fucking hated this episode.

*takes another deep breath*

Wake me up when Din and Bo are a duo again and they are allowed to have their romance.

This finale was so not the fucking Way.

Not even in Star Wars TV. Probably easily my most hated piece of a Star Wars media. “You are a Rise of Skywalker enjoyer.” I AM. Because you know, for all its flaws, at least that films understand emotional bits and this finale just doesn’t.

#the mandalorian #mando season 3 #dinbo #moff gideon #bo-katan kryze x din djarin #din djarin x bo-katan kryze #din x bo-katan #bo-katan x din #din x bo #bo x din #star wars #rant

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ooops-i-arted · 8 months

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Rewatching BoBF because I really do enjoy it and it's a favorite of mine, but now it also just makes me sad because THERE WAS SO MUCH POTENTIAL.

First of all, that should've been saved for season 3 and not shafted Boba and Fennec/Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen in their own show. That was bullshit much as I loved the episode.

But imagine if they'd taken all the plot threads in that episode and actually explored and developed them.

Din is clearly suffering from missing Grogu, and conflicted because he knows Jedi are supposed to "forgo attachments"* and Grogu is with his true people/culture now, but also misses him so much and still wants to take care of him and be his father. This is a potential character conflict as Din struggles to support doing the right thing for Grogu with his own feelings of attachments that just gets brushed aside, first when Ahsoka tells him "Naw, don't go see him" and then again when they're hastily reunited.

*This is a Filoni thing and not accurate to the films, Jedi are allowed to have connections to their home life and culture, it's just that they can't use their love of that to overwhelm their duty to Do The Right Thing.

If we add episode 6 to the mix, we don't get to see Grogu train or have much conflict/development himself. He doesn't really get an arc about choosing Din, it's just a cheap cliffhanger. His flashbacks and training are shallow and pretty much just Easter eggs. ("Look it's Order 66 again! Look it's Jar Jar's actor! Look it's one of those laser balls like in ANH!") There could have been more depth to them, like recalling Order 66 and possibly linking his trauma to being a Jedi whether he likes it or not, or other trauma he faced between Order 66 and now (like how did he end up with the Niktos?) and showing that he still uses thoughts of Din to calm himself and still needs his father - he's just not ready for Jedi training and he still needs time to heal emotionally and be a kid. Hell, LUKE could've gotten a beautiful arc where he tries to rigidly hold himself and Grogu to what he thinks the prequel-era Jedi Order were like because he has unfairly placed so much pressure on himself as a teacher and Grogu as his first student, and then instead realizes he's bringing them both down and not doing right. Luke decides he needs to do more research of the old Jedi and possibly ultimately make his own path for the New Jedi Order, and instead offers Grogu the choice between him and Din freely, acknowledging he may not be ready to teach Grogu after all but willing to do so if that's what Grogu needs. Writing wise this would also be smart - Grogu chooses Din for now with the door open to send him back to Jedi training if you take the story that direction again, but you still got you Money Making Merch Duo back together.

Back to Din, we could've started him truly embracing the role of father to Grogu after their reunion, the two of them choosing to make a family together instead of a quick adoption ceremony after a season of Din calling him ward and sending him to training with no prep.

Din isn't great with the Darksaber in this episode, but he seems to want it. He learns its history. He makes an effort to use it and start training with it. He gets feisty when Paz challenges him for it. Even if he doesn't feel totally ready for all it symbolizes, he wants it in BoBF. Why did he suddenly give it to Bo? Because Favroni made him, that's why. Imagine if instead Din looked at all these groups of Mandalorians infighting - Bo and her posse, loners like Sabine and Boba, the Children of the Watch - and thought, imagine what we could do against people like Gideon if we worked together. We have had two season of Din collecting unlikely allies - a rebel shock trooper, an Ugnaught farmer, Guild leader turned Magistrate, a Tatooine mechanic, a deadly assassin, a simple man making his way through the universe, a disgraced Mandalorian princess and her lackeys - and gotten them to join his cause and led them into battle. He is a leader! He has it in him! And "reluctant leader being the best leader" and/or "leader who cares about his people over a throne" is an age-old trope that Din fits perfectly. He could've had an amazing arc of lone bounty hunter to apostate to Mand'alor.

Tack on to that an arc of personal identity as a Mandalorian. Instead of Din going to the Mines in 2 episodes as if checking off a list of boxes, we got a deeper dive in his character. Maybe he bathes in the waters of Mandalore as the Armorer requested and realizes he doesn't feel any different. Maybe exposure to different Mandalorians makes him realize there's more than one way to follow the Creed, and that's okay - and that's what makes him a good leader because he accepts all the little subcultures in the Mandalorians. He puts the helmet on and keeps it on again because he chooses to, because that's what works for him, but no longer chastises those who don't and realizes that he doesn't need the Armorer's approval or word of law to be Mandalorian. Maybe the Armorer herself learns to be less strict and rigid, or realizes Din is the leader who can get their homeworld back. When they meet again not as a member of her covert or someone under her "rule," but as equal leaders with mutual respect.

Another side thought, but imagine if they'd gone ALL THE WAY with Din being an apostate and the Armorer had made him leave his beskar. Unarmored Din must relearn his entire fighting style, struggle with feeling exposed and shamed with no helmet, reach emotional rock bottom and still come out on top by proving himself worthy, not just to the Armorer, but to himself. (I figure this will never happen since they need Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder to be able to physically be Din to do stunts and to help out the filming schedule since Pedro Pascal is so busy, but I do think the concept is cool and would've been some amazing, especially with Pedro's acting.)

#WE COULD'VE HAD IT ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL #im so salty i can taste it #MY BOY DESERVED BETTER I LOVE DIN SO MUCH #the mandalorian #bobf #anti filoni #anti favroni #din djarin

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djarintano · 9 months

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i cant get over how they really thought mando s3 would to over well. there’s just no real way they actually thought most viewers gaf about bo katan enough for her to take the leading spot and din djarin (the actual main character) having no arc, growth, or anything of purpose.

it’s just so baffling to push aside the main character in favor of another character who had only been in a total of 2 episodes before this season. i’m so serious when i say i’m not interested in seeing bo katan or really any of the mandos in s3 ever again. after 3 shows of absolute shit writing i just have had enough with her in particular lmao. like i’m sick of things happening to her with no build up and the viewers are just supposed to roll with it. a character across three different shows and in each show she’s fighting someone different to become mand’alor. ENOUGH‼️‼️‼️

and i think the part that made s3 even more grueling was the complete lack of chemistry din and bo had. i was excited to see s3 to see DIN, and to see how his story would progress - he had no progression, and most of his scenes were with a character who he has no chemistry with. i’m not even talking about romance because i don’t think that’s what they were trying to do in s3 at all, they didn’t even have chemistry as friends. their scenes made me feel uncomfortable af and by episode 6 I was skipping around the episodes to avoid the awkward scenes.

in the end the entire season felt awkward because this show has always been about din djarin and grogu first and foremost, and they were both noticeably pushed to the side this time in favor of a character whose had their chance multiple times. if they want to focus on bo katan, then they need make a show about her and not just decide she’s the main character now on another character’s show. and i need people to stop with the “the mandalorian was never about only din djarin/it’s called the mandalorian not din djarin” bullshit because y’all know DAMN WELL din djarin has been the lead since s1. it opened with him and has followed HIM since. even in s2 when a bunch of characters were introduced, it still felt like it was his show and he had an actual arc. it wasn’t until s3 when he was noticeably not the focus anymore.

anyway. i’m happy s3 ended with him not bothering to say goodbye to anyone and just going to nevarro with only grogu so they can start nazi hunting for the new republic. this allows them to more easily get involved in thrawn’s mess and the ghost crew. i much rather him just interact with ahsoka, hera, sabine, zeb and ezra instead tbh like for one i already know din has ACTUAL chemistry with ahsoka and their scenes don’t make me feel uncomfortable so that’s already a plus. and then grogu can be BFFs with jacen or something. just don’t try that shit you did in s3 ever again jon favreau im so serious

#the mandalorian critical #anti bo katan #s3 was such a massive waste of my time

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trashquisitor-shirozora · 1 year

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I keep feeling like I’m taking the mandalorian s3 way too seriously when I get mad about what’s happening… but I just can’t help how upset it’s making me 😭 I stopped watching after episode 2 but have kept up for the most part. Going through the mando tag here on tumblr is so surreal because there are people actually thinking the direction makes sense and that DinxBo is a natural next step?? Anyway, I really appreciate reading your thoughts on how it’s all going. Makes me feel like I’m not alone in this!

(I hope you don't mind me lumping my response/thoughts re: your ask in here too, @just-prime, since uh there are a lot of spoilers in it and I'm not sure it's a good idea to make it public)

You have every right to be upset. This is a show you invested in, a show that sold you a story of a lonely Mandalorian bounty hunter and his Force-sensitive child in a post-war galaxy. It gave you story beats and the promises of adventure, trials and tribulations, and self-discovery in the micro and the macro. There was a road map in all the ways Din discovered and challenged himself as he gave up basically everything he ever knew about himself, his covert, and the galaxy to keep the child safe and get him to his kind. There was a story to be told here in Din taking his helmet off in front of other living beings to save Grogu and in Din winning the Darksaber from Gideon despite Bo-Katan's best efforts to get it back.

I wonder how much of this was corporate meddling to keep raking in the money (KKKennedy, is that you and your white girlbossing ways again?), how much of it was success getting into Filoni and Favreau's heads that they think they can turn bullshit to fucking gold, and how much of it was the game plan to MCUfy Disney Wars. This is fascinating the way that the Sequel Trilogy was fascinating, in that somehow, both times, Disney fucked the fuck up.

People will take what they want from whatever they're consuming. It is what it is. I quit after the season premiere because i hated the short runtime, the cramming of three different potential subplots into thirty fucking minutes, the ridiculousness of all three subplots, and, most of all, the desecration of IG-11. I read elsewhere that the season premiere was a hit! People liked it! They were excited by it! Good for them! I'm glad they got something out of it. People got paid and put hours, blood, sweat, and tears into producing this show and I would want for them to know that their efforts were worth something.

But it is so hard to ignore how increasingly inconsistent, aimless, illogical, and bewildering the the entire season has been. We have now seen 7 of 8 episodes and even the 7th episode, supposedly the "best of the series", got a ton of complaints on a storytelling level. I read elsewhere, both on tumblr and twitter, that this season is now very plot-driven rather than character-driven when previously the show was extremely character-driven. Season 1 happened because Din couldn't leave Grogu behind in Imperial hands and thus uprooted himself and his covert with his decision to go back for the child. Season 2 happened because Din was now searching for Grogu's kind while we the viewers knew that Gideon was alive and well and likely still hunting for the child. Season 3 - and I'm saying this as someone who'd been reading reaction posts, summaries, meta, discourse, etc, instead of watching it because I love myself enough to Not Do That - doesn't seem to have that. It really felt like the story beats, wherever the fuck they were, felt more like "now move from Point A to Point B in order to get closer to Point C". They needed to check things off on a list in order to prepare for the MCUfication of the Disneyficaiton of the OG Thrawn Trilogy, something that I know a lot of people want... but at what cost?

I really hate how likely it is that the show is going to push DinxBo on us and I really hate how much people are expecting it and dreading it. I hate the compulsive heternormativity and the expectations and dread that come with it. I hate how it ruins characters and stories. If you like this ship, good for you. Don't talk to me, I don't care.

This really feels like watching The Last Jedi all over again. I was sold on Finn and Rey as co-leads only to be told to my fucking face that white neo-fashy Kylo was now co-leading because for some reason Rey got it into her head to save him? Meanwhile Finn got tazed and shoved to the side in a tone-deaf subplot with Rose, and Poe turned into a bizarre caricature who needed to be taught lessons by older white women. Like, sorry but I can't unsee this shit. I can't undo the betrayal I felt at the bait and switch of the ST.

And now it happened all over again with The Mandalorian. I'll give it one thing: When Din and Greef first encountered the pirates on Space Renn Faire Nevarro, I got those space western vibes again. And for those few seconds, I felt hope that the previous however many minutes were just a rough start and we're back to space westerning our way to Mandalore. That hope died real fast, didn't it? Fuck me, I guess.

I've started using Tumblr's tag tracking feature to keep tabs on the more critical Mandalorian tags. I'll add them to this post so that you can use them yourself. There are also a lot of interesting coversations happening elsewhere by various blogs. You might have to get creative with your tag searching. Just know that just as many people are out there happy with this show, there are just as many who are dissatisfied with it. That's usually how it goes, but man I can't remember the last time I saw a bunch of the fandom community turn on a show/movie/book series the way we've done with The Mandalorian. It's a damn shame because deep down, a part of me is desperate for it to find its feet and get good again. But honestly, with all the announcements that came out of SWC 2023, I think that ship has sailed and the best thing to do is take all the good you can find from it and mold it into your own sand castles.

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #the mandalorian #the mandalorian critical #mando critical #the mandalorian season 3 #mando spoilers #mandalorian season 3 spoilers #sorry this ask got a leeeeettle too rambly #but today was a helluva day between all the meta and discousre and being nearly triggered by gif sets from the last minutes #and honestly i just feel so disappointed and frustrated by the writing on the wall #to me it's also running into the same problem I had with Kenobi which was that there was a fixed point that neither show can deviate from #and I have no faith in Favloni being able to give us good storioes up until Filoni's movie comes out #I think a lot of other people have already said so much about various aspects of this show #and quite frankly I'd rather work on my fic now and try not to think that favs and I crossed brain wavelengths at some point in 2021

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third-generation-female-warrior · 1 year

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I am officially entering conspiracy theorist mode

They keep bringing up the fucking cloning in The Mandalorian and like, I keep loosing my shit, and now with what little we've seen from the leaked Bad Batch Season 3 trailer, I keep deluding myself into thinking Omega is going to be someone important in the Mando-verse.

Specifically, two moments make me think of this.

In the trailer, Omega is clearly being experimented on, and in that snippet where Emerie sticks something into the back of her hand, I think instead of injecting something, she's actually extracting her genetic material for cloning reasons. Plus, they've put a narrative emphasis on the fact that the Empire is wanting to "control cloning technology", so it leads me to believe that they are doing clone experiments on Tantiss (which we know because Sequels Palpatine bullshit stuff)

BUT, the other moment that made me think Omega is going to be important is that both Dr. Pershing AND Moff Gideon have mentioned the value of the cloning technology, but where Pershing mentioned Kaminoans specifically, Moff Gideon said "cloners". Moff Gideons lack of clarifying the Kaminoans almost makes me wonder if he's referencing the cloning experiments and clones on Tantiss.

I don't know what it means or how it even comes together, but basically,

Please please please please let Omega be in the Mandalorian. PLEASE give her that Ahsoka Tano-Level plot armor! Please let me know that she's going to survive Bad Batch S3 and be besties with Din!

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian s3 #the mandalorian spoilers #tbb #the bad batch #tbb omega #omega bad batch #bad batch omega #tbb season 3

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zoethebitch · 11 months

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alright I'm gonna talk about yellowjackets now I just think it was a dumb as hell decision to make Nat the leader out of nowhere when she has never believed in that shit the whole show she's been the pragmatic one like okay Lottie who's been the cult leader this whole time and is still a cult leader 25 years later suddenly doesn't want the guilt and responsibility of leadership but the girl who thinks this is all a bunch of bullshit does?? what was the point of the vision Lottie had where her therapist she was hallucinating turned into the Antler Queen like that was meant to be herself was it not?? there's no impact to that if it was just a vision of Natalie what is the point??

like there's other stuff going on in the episode that I did enjoy like Shauna going along with Lottie's bullshit and convincing everyone to just humor her to stall until the men in white get there and then she ends up getting selected for the hunt and they don't stop like she's expecting them to like the moment where she realizes they're not playing anymore and they are actually going to hunt her down and kill her like they used to do was great

and I don't even mind Nat's death that makes narrative sense to have her reverse the decision to let Javi die in her place! like good for her tbh she undid the mistake that's been haunting her all this time! there was no need to make her the Antler Queen on top of that with absolutely no build up it's a Rian Johnson ass misdirection that makes no sense and they did it just bc no one in the audience was expecting it.

anyways not to be like "guy who's only seen star wars watching another tv show for the first time - this is just like star wars" but they've also accidentally resolved all their plot arcs just like the season 2 finale of the Mandalorian and I feel like season 3 if there is one, is gonna be even worse bc they're not gonna know what to do.

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katy-89 · 1 year

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It's unreal the mental gymnastics people doing right now to defend Mandalorian season 3 handing Din's entire Arc to Bo Katan

“durrr well Din never wanted it anyway so yeah makes sense for him to give it to Bo”

LIES

Paz Vizla also wanted the Darksaber, he challenge Din for it and clearly it meant a lot to him too even noting his lineage to Vizla clan and how he should be the heir to the blade.

And Din Djarin who supposedly "Never cared about the blade" clearly cared enough to not give it to him and fought him to keep it.

Season 3 writing is bullshit, and completely contradicted all this set up.

#the mandalorian #star wars #din djarin #paz vizla #pedro pascal #meh i don't think i'm gonna watch season 4 #i'm so disappointed

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materassassino · 2 months

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7 for the Star Wars meme 🫖

7. Dumbest Star Wars moment?

Oh, there are so many! How to ever possibly choose?

The entirety of The Rise of Skywalker

75% of The Last Jedi

Season 3 of the Mandalorian but especially the episode with Jack Black and Lizzo and also Din just... handing Bo-Katan the Darksaber? When it was explicitly said it doesn't work like that?

So much of Book of Boba Fett, but shout-out to the stand-mixer riders (the mods)

Most of Ahsoka but especially the fact Sabine isn't dead despite being STABBED IN THE STOMACH BY A LIGHTSABER and also SACRIFICING THE GOOD OF THE GALAXY FOR ONE FUCKING DUDE. If I were Ezra I'd be so fucking angry. Oh, and also making Sabine Force-sensitive?

The World Between Worlds which existed solely so Filoni could bring his Mary Sue back to life. Ahsoka should've died on Malachor and I'm convinced she did.

The Mortis Arc was pretty fucking stupid. It's so binary (in a gender way) and limiting to the Force? Like... wow Filoni you are so tiny-brained. You really cannot conceive of this all-encompassing mysterious energy as anything but a nuclear family of a dad, a brother (the bad one) and a sister (the good one)? Pathetic.

Trying to fit every single important even in Han Solo's backstory into ONE MOVIE

That time Mark Hamill posted pro-Israel bullshit and then had the fucking gall to post something for Indigenous Day the VERY NEXT DAY.

Reylo

Your Pal’s Star Wars Ask game!

#star wars #star wars ask game #pixie answers #i am nothing if not a hater

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rbblack · 1 year

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The biggest problem of The Mandalorian season 3 is that, if they want to tell a story that Bo-Katan is the chosen leader of Mandalore, they should've let Bo-Katan do all the things that Din did in this season.

She should be the one who found the children of the watch in the first place. She should be the one who bathed in the living water and put on the helmet ON PURPOSE to get the trust of the children of the watch. She should be the one who decided to help Nevarro and get that land for mandalorians. She should be the one who defended Din's right on the Darksaber (not just his right of being a Mandalorian) when Din was facing the insult from Axe. She should be the one who said "They will get along if they wanna survive". She should be the one who said "For thousands of years, we have been on the verge of extinction, and for thousands of years, we have survived". She should be the one who said "But it (Mandalore) was once green and beautiful, back when the songs were written." And after all these plots, Din could give her the Darksaber because he thinks she's a suitable leader.

But instead, we got a plot that says "we don't know how to do all these things without letting Din out of his character, because he's just too good and has a perfect story of Darksaber, so we decided we could just let Din do all these things as himself, and then give all his credit to Bo-Katan in a very ridiculous way. In the end, Din doesn't even need to be at the reborn ritual of his planet in person and absolutely doesn't need to get the credit he deserves. And we will put him back to being a ranger, so we could keep him as a character who could be summoned at anytime in our future Star Wars shows, because audiences love him and Grogu.”

All I can say is these are straight bullshits. They not only treat Din very unfairly, but also totally wasted Din's huge energy as a very unique character in the Star Wars universe.

I don't understand why they did this to Din. They even make him like an outsider of his own planet and culture and people after all he has done for Mandalore. All of this just made me angry and sad.

#the mandalorian #din djarin #baby grogu #mando and grogu #din and grogu #star wars #I'm just very angry right now #Unfairness #The Mandalorian Season 3 spoiler

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gaykarstaagforever · 10 months

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Here is an article from Variety about how the writers' / actors' strike will probably lead to Apple buying everything like Shudder, while CBS and Disney will continue to lose market share and money:

I post the link because I think the author is correct about the market impact, generally.

Now the problems with it.

1. Her premise is that the strike is hitting the billion-dollar content dragons "at the worst possible time," as they bravely fire people and purge IP to make more money for shareholders. The narrative that this is all some unfortunate act of nature is utter bullshit. They all did this to themselves, and are ONLY doing this to themselves because of greed and lies fueled by greed. Zaslav is the one who promised everybody that his company owning 47 others would lead to good times that will never end. That wasn't "market forces" or "the wind." This is Smaug laying upon his Golden Hoard, bemoaning the apparent death of the world because it isn't making any more gold for him to steal...because he's already stolen it all. Then set the mines on fire. What a shock that Variety, a trade publication, would pretend like the market leaders in that trade are downtrodden simpletons just tryin' to make their way through this mixed up ol' world. But they are decidedly not.

2. Traditional or "Grandpa Media", your network television goons / Disney / Paramount, haven't been in a position to blow money on stuff that can't compete with offerings from Netflix or Amazon for like more than a decade now, yet they are continually eager to keep trying. So maybe stop wasting money on that? Like I don't believe you are in actual dire straights when you've refused to steer out of then for 12 years. And keep trying to build a house there.

Paramount should have given up on their grey water service ages ago, but are seemingly refusing to out of spite. The networks are spending tons maintaining free ad-supported services that are destined to never be profitable, because no one under the age of 70 is willing to put up with this goofy format to watch even more tepid CSI knockoffs.

Why are these companies investors allowing them to keep doing this? It is YOUR money they are flushing away on bad ideas, guys. This is why everything is a mess. It isn't because a staff writer wants rent money for churning out bad dialog for some shit G-rated fireman show only 6 dads watch. Again, you people fucked this all up from the front end.

3. If motherfucking Disney, with all of their billions and monopolization of IPs, haven't figured out how to make streaming work yet, they are never going to. At least not with this leadership.

You brought Iger back. He oversaw the first Disney stumbles into streaming, where they did whatever and it worked because they are Disney and people were willing to put up with whatever. That "successful formula" isn't going to work again. You actually have to fix that godforsaken broken POS app and put shows on it that aren't Mandalorian Season 3. And the confused old man who basically led to all this of happening in the first place is in no position to fix it.

4. The demands of the striking talent are not grandiose. They are asking for living wages and humane working conditions and being valued as creatives and artists by the corporations making billions from their work. Regardless of the market, this is baseline stuff they should have had already. The writer of the article knows this, but still seems to bemoan the timing, like this will hurt their chances of getting concessions.

Lady. They ALREADY HADN'T GOTTEN THE CONCESSIONS. When times were good. Obviously it doesn't matter, because the companies aren't interested in doing what is right. So what the hell does it matter?

Maybe kicking them when they are down, because they've already kicked themselves, is a better strategy. Because with all the talk of AI and CG doing everything, that is being said by people who barely understand what those are, who STILL NEED TO PAY PEOPLE TO DO THOSE, the cheat code they think they have to beat the system isn't a cheat code. ChatGPT can't make a show anyone with a brain would watch. And you have to pay people to composite actors in. And because you low-ball the rates for that, you're burning through the companies that can do that: they keep going out of business. This isn't sustainable, or even fundamentally doable.

The companies are wounded animals, and their fix for it is to chew off another limb. That isn't a position of strength. Striking writers can go get other jobs if they have to. But what is NBCUniversal if there are no new episodes of...let me look it up here...Chicago Med? They are an entertainment company. They can't transition into a lumber yard or something.

I realize they are owned by Comcast who has a monopoly on paid internet and cable TV in a bunch of US markets. But Comcast isn't going to keep them if they aren't profitable. They're all at risk if they don't settle with talent and make more shows thst someone, apparently, is watching.

#writers strike #streaming

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oonajaeadira · 2 years

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State of the WIP Address

It’s been a busy week of jetlag and meetings and just falling asleep at the keyboard. I’ve been a reader more than a writer this week.

Okay. I need to talk about Losing My Religion.

I miss writing for Din and I see a lot of people discovering the series lately and I feel really badly that I left it on a cliffhanger. I’ve been going through some mental stuff with that fic.

It was my first fic, it’s what brought me here and to Pedro, and I spent a lot of energy making it canon compliant.

Got distracted with some other writing.

TBOBF came and upset my original plans.

Spent time wondering if I should abandon it or try to work the events of TBOBF into it.

Opted for the latter and agonized over it.

Mando season 3 trailer drops and I realize that the only way to guarantee compliance at this point is to wait until that season is aired.

But I don’t wanna wait.

So I know what I have to do. I have to let canon go.

Thank you to the BFF and Hazel and Jen for talking me through my very silly mental hang up over this. In the end, it’s just fic, it’s just a story. And if it’s only compliant through season 2, well that’s fine. After all, that’s when I fell madly for Mando so in a way, it’s appropriate that it’s where the story diverges.

This is all to say that I can feel myself being pulled back into my Mandalorian bullshit and letting go of that constraint makes me feel light and airy about it. Sorry about the wait. It may still be slow going for a little while as I get through my latest bout of writer’s whatever.

Completed this week:

nothing. Sorry. It’s been a week

A list of what I’m concentrating on right now:

Thief x Locksmith 6 (currently sitting at 1K)

Dieter. INFILA Scene 4 (sitting at 1K)

The first of the Pats Kiss and Tell Sessions. (lightly outlined)

Losing My Religion Ch. 13 (outlined, but need to revert back to my original plan)

#state of the wip address

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fanfoolishness · 1 year

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All right, we have like 20 minutes before the Mandalorian season finale episode goes up, so here’s my wild-assed hopes:

Din torture scene. Din HELMETLESS torture scene?? Like, how could Moff Gideon resist? Will we FINALLY get to get inside Din’s head for the first time since The Mines of Mandalore?

I want Din to get rescued, but I don’t want the entire episode to be “let’s assemble the team!” We kinda did that in The Rescue and we know we have a team already mostly assembled. I mean, if Boba Fett and Fennec wanna show up for shits and giggles, I’ll allow it, but we don’t need like 3 scenes on team assemblage. Just get in there and get our man!

Gideon needs his ass handed to him, but he’s also so fun I don’t know that I want to see him killed. He really does chew the shit out of the scenery and I kind of love that for him. Maybe he gets away again and meets up with Elia Kane so they can plot their next move and lick their wounds. Or maybe he tries to go to her but she’s like “nah, I got a promotion” and she hangs up on his holo and turns around and BOOM, she’s working for Thrawn?? But literally please only spend a minute or two on that…

Because I need my boy Grogu to SAVE HIS DAD and kick ass and take names! I wanna see Grogu missing Din. I wanna see Din missing Grogu. I wanna see them reunite and NOT have their reunion be around a bunch of other people where they don’t get a chance to actually talk to each other. The BoBF reunion was sweet but too rushed and it was criminal we didn’t see Din and Grogu get to say hello/goodbye alone in The Rescue, even if the final scene was still beautifully bittersweet.

I want the Armorer (as long as she’s not evil, natch) to bless Din or otherwise make it clear to her tribe that there will always be a place for Mandalorians who walk the Way, but that they are no longer apostates if they do remove their helmets, especially if Din’s helmet is forcibly removed. The man does not need to go drown his ass again! I still would love to see Din comfortable removing his helmet around Grogu on special occasions. They can work around Pedro’s schedule with that still!

Who’s gonna drink the space whiskey with Din? I mean, I’m 99.9% certain it’s gonna be Bo, but while I very much like her I have no strong interest in the ship. I dunno. Maybe just Din and Greef. Or we could do like one of my fics and have it be Din and Peli! Yeah! LOL

I really don’t want to see Bo finally get everything she’d ever wanted and then get killed by Gideon or some bullshit >:( If Mand’alor the Reluctant had been the storyline all season, I’d be fine with that, but I really don’t want Bo to make a heroic sacrifice and then revert it back to Din because that would just suck for both of them. So please don’t kill Bo? AND OBVIOUSLY DO NOT KILL DIN. DON’T DO THAT. BAD. NO.

I want Bo and the other Mandalorians to be part of the rescue team, but I do not want Bo to be the first one to find him. That honor should belong to Grogu!

Just need Din and Grogu being father and son alfuckingready. How Din is still refusing to call Grogu his son I do not know. Even Paz managed it!!!!

Someone’s gotta tell Ragnar :( Maybe Grogu can sit with him or something :(

Din and Grogu. Come on. Really that’s all I need.

Well, that, and the Din torture. 😈

#the mandalorian #the mandalorian season 3 spoilers #the mandalorian finale #din djarin #grogu #grogu djarin #clan mudhorn

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thecleverqueer · 11 months

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There’s a rumor gaining steam that Morgan Elsbeth is a Ming Po (specifically one from that village on Carlac- the one that Death Watch destroyed in The Clone Wars episode “A Friend in Need” from season 4). Now, I’ll admit that I did bite and run with this when I first heard it.. because Elsbeth does sort of resemble one of the Ming Po, but the more I thought about it, the less it made sense… and here’s why I think it’s bullshit:

1.) The Ming Po were a peaceful people with no warriors. It is why Death Watch was able to easily run them over, take over and practically enslave them. Elsbeth is obviously a very skilled warrior if she was able to go toe-to-toe with Ahsoka in battle. Not to say that a Ming Po couldn’t be taught to fight, but my assumption is that Elsbeth is not much older than (or is only slightly older than) Ahsoka, and it would appear as if Elsbeth had been training as a warrior for at least as long as Ahsoka had (which was practically from birth).

2.) Ahsoka mentioned to Din that Elsbeth’s people were massacred during the Clone Wars, and that it fueled her rage. The villagers on Carlac were spared. Ahsoka saved them. Granted, Death Watch still occupied the space on Carlac, but aside from Trilla (the girl that died in Ahsoka’s arms… you know, the one that she, in perfect Ahsoka fashion, had so much more chemistry with than Bonteri in that episode) the rest of the villagers survived. I’ll be honest, I hate that episode. I had to look this fact up. It’s on the Star Wars data bank website. Which leads me to point #3.

3.) If she were a Ming Po from that village on Carlac, this would mean that Ahsoka saved her life. So, it wouldn’t make any sense for her to harbor animosity towards Ahsoka. She literally liberated their village. She saved countless lives.. just her and R2 (as Bonteri looked on being an absolute fucking moron). Why would she want Ahsoka dead? Even if she was one of Thrawn’s lackeys… it makes no goddamned sense. And, that leads me to #4…

4.) Why would she intrust a Mandalorian (a damned Mandalorian hog-tied directly to the former Death Watch no less) to go and take Ahsoka (the girl that single-handed saved countless lives in her village) out? I don’t understand. Death Watch did the massacring. It would take more explanation than he truly has time for in an 8 hour series with so much other shit happening.

I think Elsbeth is going to have a compelling story, and it would not shock me if it was tied into The Clone Wars show directly. I think a more compelling story line may tie her to Raydonia, the village that Maul destroyed. After all, Ahsoka did just sort of conveniently let Maul off the hook to while attempting to save Rex at the end of the Clone Wars. With Maul’s tie to the Mandalorians, it may also explain why she holds a spear capable of slashing through their armor. But, who knows? I guess we’ll all find out together.

#ahsoka series #ahsoka tano #din djarin #morgan elsbeth #star wars theories #the clone wars #sw tcw #this just doesn’t make sense

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galactic-pirates · 8 months

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I live blogged episode 3 of Ahsoka.

In which I am afraid despite my best of intentions I ranted a little bit. I am trying very hard to reserve judgement as I love these characters so much. My beloved Ghost crew! But there are things that are bugging me. I try and balance it with what made me laugh and what I loved because at the end of the day I do love Star Wars, probably why it infuriates me so much sometimes. I am invested and I want it to be amazing and I guess I don’t always vibe with choices that were made.

And I am very not vibing. I believe my exact expression was that I’m going to die mad about it. Reminds me of that Knives Out meme people did for Picard season 3 of “it makes no sense!” and then the movie quote followed with “compels me though” and for Picard season 3 it got changed to “and absolutely does not compel me” because well yeah. And I am feeling that a bit. Not to the same extent by any means. I am still feeling much more positive about Ahsoka show - at the moment at least. There is still plenty of time to disappoint me further.

So yes. My liveblog!

What even is this “Sabine is a padawan” plot? Searching for logic, can not find. I hate it, I really do. Sabine is a Mandalorian and that is enough, being herself is enough. The whole “your skill with a weapon comes from being Mandalorian and that isn’t enough” (aka tap into the force and be a Jedi) is just insulting. is it true that Jedi win against Mandalorians? Yeah. But Jedi power and skill can’t win everything either. I really thought that part of Rebels, and the Clone Wars to be honest, was showing that different warriors were stronger together. That there will be fights where they need each other, as one has strengths to compensate for the others weaknesses and vice versa.

Kanan said Sabine was very closed off to the force. Yes the force flows through all living things but for most they can’t touch it. If Sabine had that potential Kanan would have known and yes I am repeating this point because I am going to die mad about it. Why can’t they spar together as Jedi vs Mandalorian? Why can’t Sabine partner with Ahsoka on this mission without all the Padawan bullshit? If they do desperately wanted to show Ahsoka as a mentor then hello they do have a force sensitive/potential future Jedi around - Jacen Syndulla. I had hoped Ezra would come back to train him but if Ahsoka started him off that would have been cool too.

Just what is the point of trying to make Sabine a Jedi? And why is it taking up so much screentime? I’m crying. I just really don’t get why Ahsoka is pushing Sabine to use the force if she can’t. I know from the trailer Shin Hati says “you have no power”. I initially took so much comfort from that as I assumed the photos of Sabine with the lightsaber didn’t mean she was turned into a Jedi /sigh. But if Sabine really doesn’t have the force then really what is this Jedi bullshit? Jedi are not just lightsabers, the force is a whole thing. If she doesn’t have it then she can never be a Jedi!

The way Mon Mothma stayed silent and looked so uncomfortable during that confrontation. I get she has to juggle politics, and also Hera really did point out the ugly truth everyone was ignoring, but ugh. Reminds me of the Mandalorian episode where that rich guy was “empire? Republic? What’s the difference?” as he was in power no matter what. Also the whole head in the sand “we don’t want war”, like nobody does and sure people are tired but ignoring unpleasant reality just allows the bad guys to get ahead. The time to prepare is before it really gets bad. Very Neville Chamberlain of them. I wish Mon Mothma had spoken up, at least said something. It feels like she’s had to make too many compromises to be Chancellor and is a toothless tiger. I can’t help but think Bail Organa would have done better. He too would have stayed silent but it would have been a considered silence, and when he spoke there would have been conviction and it would have been persuasive not a milquetoast “we have to confer” aka they are going to walk all over me. But then as strong as Mon Mothma was, she was always hesitant. Her whole thing was “it’s too soon to unite, too soon to launch an offensive, I shouldn’t have acted/spoken” etc. and in Rogue One she was all “let’s wait”. Somebody else always has to force the issue.

Jacen!!!!! OMG yay. Gasps ahhhhhh he has green hair! So why is the Lego minifig wrong?!? That’s annoying. It’s darker green than Hera’s colouring sadly but it’s still green!! And he has a version of Kanan’s shoulder pauldron, and he wants to be a Jedi!!! THEN WHY IS SABINE DOING THE JEDI THING?!?!! Seriously so mad! I just don’t understand why Ahsoka even agreed to train Sabine as a padawan in the first place. It makes no sense. Like spar sure. Kanan trained Sabine for the darksaber a bit. Learning a weapon is not the same as a padawan/Jedi.

“I don’t need Sabine to be a Jedi. I need her to be herself” - then why are you pushing Jedi training?!?! 😭😭 seriously I am so mad about it. The funniest thing though when Sabine was trying to summon that cup and it didn’t move - I have done that! Seriously I do that all the time. Hold out my hand, will whatever to fly into it and of course it never so much as twitches. So in that I can relate, hilariously.

The space battle was fun. I am simple sometimes and I love how the ship spins. I would have thought Sabine wouldn’t have been so excited shooting ships down as she was in the gun on the Ghost a lot and TIE Fighters fell to those guns like rain. But hey maybe it’s been a while and adrenaline so it was cool. I laughed that Ahsoka’s space helmet had individual pockets for her montrals/lekku. It was fun her going out to defend the ship. I remember Kanan doing that a couple of times. Looks like Ahsoka’s suit was New Republic issue. I guess maybe they gave her the ship for Jedi work?

I gasped and screamed. Purrgil!!!! Oh they are definitely in the right place.

“We almost died multiple times” “ah yes standard operating procedure” and they shared smiles and I also laughed. That was a good moment.

Something I noticed today which I hadn’t last week was the theme. It feels similar in tempo/rhythm to the Mandalorian. I guess that makes sense thematically, as it ties in for the “New Republic” era and I think there’s going to be a ‘crossover’ movie eventually.

I am really not sold on this “other Galaxy” business. The unknown regions as they have been known or wild space, would have been enough. Thrawn novels established that hyperspace travel there is difficult. Really does feel like reinventing the wheel.

I am trying so hard to reserve judgement. I know I spent a lot of this liveblog ranting. Sabine as a Jedi IS super bugging me and I hate it. But also however good Sabine’s actress is I really wish this was animated. Hera is growing on me a little but Ahsoka? No I miss animated Ahsoka a lot. The characters being animated weren’t lesser in any way, that’s how I fell in love with them as characters. I couldn’t have had more feelings. Live action is cool but so is animation. Live action is not better. So yeah there’s that old itch of a resentment of “wish it had been animated” to go with my frustration on the story issues. But it’s episode 3 and there’s… how many episodes? Google says 8.

There are 8. That means we have had 3. Oh for the love of… I really really really hate it when shows do this. Star Trek Picard season 3 sucked in oh so many ways which included a structural pacing problem. They spent way too many episodes not really getting into the problem and then suddenly ahhh it was a rush rush jam-pack, no time to properly explain or develop anything, downward whoosh to the end. At 3/8 episodes we are approaching the midpoint but from a storytelling POV we are still in Act 1.

Right ok, reserving judgement. Let’s see the entire story first. These are my beloved Rebels characters. I adore them. Why have we not seen the Ghost yet? There should have been more Chopper. But hey! At least we saw Jacen and he has green hair. The Ghost is definitely something to look forward to seeing. Can we get a Rex cameo? Would love that.

#star wars: ahsoka #ahsoka spoilers

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