Mandalorian Lore - Tumblr Posts

New Chapter Posted! Travel Buddies

WOOOOOOO *screaming in delight* It's been a crazy year and then some. I'm pleased to announce that after months and months and months of writer's block, I have finally posted a new chapter to continue my Mandalorian fanfic on Ao3.

Chapter one, for those who are new to the story:

You go on a rant about how rich Mandalorian history is (and why the Kryze sisters suck) and after explaining all of the above, you get a "but it's not canon" 😑😑😑

Satine Kryze did not unite Mandalore.

The Mandalorians splintered into different factions to oppose the pacifistic New Mandalorians during the Mandalorian Civil Wars, since the pacifistic ideology embraced by the group was an attempt to erase their heritage: the honorable warrior ethos (the Resol’nare) that had been the cornerstone of Mandalorian culture for centuries. Satine became the leader of the New Mandalorians, likely due to belonging to a family her faction regarded as nobility.

Eventually, the Mandalorian Civil Wars escalated to the point that the Republic Senate felt it had to intervene. The Jedi Council fell under the authority of the Republic’s Judicial Department, meaning that the Jedi Council sending a team of Jedi (Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan) to protect Satine was, in effect, the Republic deciding which faction’s victory would be most favorable to the Republic. It wasn’t an attempt at mediating a solution for the warring groups; it was an endorsement of a future regime.

The alleged ‘peace’ that’s portrayed during the Clone Wars only exists because the Republic intervened on Satine’s behalf (via Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan), and thus promoted a New Mandalorian victory which resulted in True Mandalorians and Death Watch alike being exiled from the planet entirely. Satine didn’t unify anything. She took a position of authority over a wartorn planet whose core population of survivors was comprised of people that already agreed with her.

Hi there. We've briefly crossed paths before, but I see you're the resident Mando, so I have a question. I'm wondering how Mandalorian culture deals with mental illness, depression in particular. Would they write somebody off like 'haha you're weak, later loser' or would they be understanding of a person's struggles with their own mind and lend support to the fight, or something else entirely? Obviously not everyone would react the same, but as a culture on the whole, what are your thoughts?

There’s a short answer and a long answer. The short answer is that centrally to mandalorian cultural foundations, mental illness should be understood and not stigmatized, and the community supportive of the individual suffering. A community focused culture like those of the mandalorians is one of support, assistance, and understanding. The fact is, Mandalorian cultural foundations literally view struggle of all kinds as important to spiritual growth, as well as the physical and mental. The foundations explicitly venerate coming together as a community to support one another. It is, literally, in the Resol’nare.

While mandalorians are not all warriors, it’s no secret that a large percentage of their population work on battlefields or in war zones—enough for that to be a stereotyped profession. A society like this must learn to deal with all of the mental and physical disabilities that stem from such professions. Negative stigma is unsustainable—there is no way mandalorians, as a people, would have survived for so long as they did, and do, if they literally treated mental illness, such as depression, with the attitude of “haha, you’re weak.”

It’s just not realistic. It’s ignorant. 

The long answer is that because of ignorance and an obsession with harmful ideas of strength and weakness, and a complete misunderstanding of “warrior culture” on the whole in order to defend and prop up toxic ideas of strength and masculinity, the fandom pushes the idea that mandalorians would be intolerant of mental illness—when what we know about mandalorians blatantly expresses otherwise, if you know where to look.

So, let’s look.

Struggle versus Stagnation

The mandalorian creation myth, Akaanati'kar'oya, tells us of an eternal struggle between Kad Ha’rangir, the Destroyer, and the sloth-god Arasuum, Stagnation. During the time of the Neo-Crusaders, the creation myth was regarded not as just a story but a telling of factual events.

At the time, devotion to Kad Ha’rangir was expressed through ritual warfare — and it was said that a person is not a mandalorian if they give in to stagnation.

But, fandom often misses, overlooks, or outright ignores a major component of Kad Ha’rangir. They are not a destroyer god, They are a chaos god of change.

Kad Ha’rangir is not a Destroyer to destroy — They are a destroyer to clear out the things that would choke and trap you. Sometimes destruction is necessary for growth. Sometimes you have to cut out the parts of you, or your community, that is holding you down or preventing you from accepting change, from pursuing change, from growing and reaching your full potential.

Sometimes you have to clear the dead and the decay, violently, to allow life to flourish when it could not before.

“They served the god Kad Ha'rangir, whose tests and trials forced change and growth upon the clans he chose to be his people.”

— Vilnau Teupt, The Essential Guide to Warfare

Kad Ha’rangir was never about destruction for destruction’s sake. They were never about conquering. Huge chunks of mandalorian fandom can’t seem to wrap their fucking minds around that fact. They obsess over this misconception of “Proud Warrior Race,” completely misunderstanding Kad Ha’rangir and pushing a stereotype that just doesn’t fit.

And all this? Was explicit in the creation myth itself.

For those who would say they’re “outdated” and that mandalorians wouldn’t know about them … well, that’s not true either. The creation myth, Kad Ha’rangir and the original pantheon, was still known and discussed by Mandalorian academics as late as 24 ABY. So claiming ignorance won’t work.

This creation myth, among other myths and legends, are the very foundations and building blocks upon which the entire culture was born, they are integral to mandalorian cultural identity.

The parts of fandom who see the word “destruction” fixate on the aggressive violence inherent in the word, and that’s just … such a small, narrow view. It’s completely missing the point, usually in order to chest thump.

How is this relevant, you might ask. Isn’t depression (to use your example) idleness and stagnation?

Well, yes, actually, depending on how you might look at it. But that’s the point.

Anyone who understands depression from a place of education and not ignorance understands that depression is a sickness(and, lmao, mandalorians value education, so idk why the toxic parts of fandom are incapable of educating themselves and discarding misconceptions about mental health, but that’s an entirely different discussion). It can be treated, can be managed, can maybe even be cured in some cases, but it is literally a battle fought day in and day out against an invisible enemy.

And these kinds of battles are some of the most difficult to survive. How do you fight, and overcome, and survive, something you cannot see? How do you survive when it is your body that you are fighting?

Dealing with depression, fighting depression, surviving depression, is, in a way, the spiritual struggle against arasuum taken from an external form and brought internally—and there is no way that mandalorians, on the whole, wouldn’t be able to see its relevance or make that connection, ESPECIALLY considering the symptoms of depression.

And this isn’t even touching on other forms of mental illnesses—like PTSD, which is also heavily stigmatized in our society and carries that stigma into mandalorian “fans,” despite so many mandalorians being subject to violence and the potential of developing the disorder. 

A disorder which is so often co-morbid with depression.

For something that so many soldiers are at high risks of developing, and mandalorian fandom supposedly being drawn to the mandalorians due to their militaristic culture, it is mind boggling how the fandom treats depression, PTSD, and other mental health disorders / illnesses on the whole.

As I’ve said before: shabla mirsh'kyramude.

Add onto this the fact that mandalorians, in general, heavily practice adoption along the requirements of whether or not someone is mandokarla, or has the right stuff. What is often considered the right stuff?

surviving the impossible (often extreme violence or abuses)

displaying the potential for the incredible, often in a warlike setting

proving one’s self through extreme events

extreme devotion to family and personal code

I would be surprised if literally everyone adopted into the culture was perfectly stable and healthy. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb right now and say that anyone who says that, deserves a smack. In Legends, nearly every single goddamn example of adoption has been of someone who has been severely impacted by extreme circumstances and still survives—but is still clearly damaged by it, and struggles with it in whatever way they can.

And that struggle is venerated. Instead of stigmatized, they’re viewed through a lens of bravery, of courage, of atinla—a stubbornness to be admired and imitated, not a reason to be ridiculed and abandoned. 

Ultimately this all falls back into the toxic ideology that surrounds “strength,” which is unsustainable, and the stigma against appearing weak, which is, again, incongruent with actual mandalorian philosophy and cultural foundation.

Anyway, moving on.

Accessibility / Accommodations / Impact

Not solely mental health, but still relevant and still applies:

Parja reached up and patted [Fi’s] helmet. She’d painted it with the Mandalorian letters M and S for mir’shupur — brain injury — just like a battlefield medic might do for triage purposes. On Mandalore, the symbol functioned as a blend of a general warning to give the wearer a break, and a medal for combat service.

— Republic Commando: Order 66, pp 39

Now, the Republic Commando series holds a kind of … contentious position in fandom, as I’m sure you’ve probably noticed. However, this is one of the things it does get right, as far as mental illness and disability is concerned. Yes, Fi Skirata suffered a traumatic brain injury in the line of duty, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is still just as much a mental health issue as it is a physical one. Fi experiences disorientation. He forgets things he feels he shouldn’t, struggles with words and speaking, and so on.

The sigil painted on his helmet is a clear, public, visible way to alert everyone around him, explicitly, what to expect so that everyone in the community can accommodate and assist him.

What people don’t understand when reading this scene, is that this is not something done if anyone suspects he would be at risk of being taken advantage of. He is in a predominantly mandalorian community, populated by mostly if not only mandalorians, with the expectation that the community will assist him as a rule, not an exception.

You don’t paint a goddamn sign that says BRAIN INJURY on someone’s helmet in a society that stigmatizes disability or weakness of any kind.

This sets a precedence, whether knowingly or unknowingly: mandalorians, as a community, will assist another mandalorian with a disability. If there was any risk at all, Parja would never have allowed Fi to wander around a busy town alone, much less paint a sigil on his helmet that would make him an obvious target otherwise.

Another thing: it is specifically a sigil written in the mandalorian alphabet, not arubesh, and it’s implied to be understood to mandalorians only, and not aruettise (unless they’re familiar with mandalorian cultural practices, and alphabet).

Why is this important?

It is because it is the biggest, clearest, loudest example we have that mandalorians display both badges as well as warnings through art and sigils on their armor. They give signals that this person is suffering x disability as a warning and a request for patience, assistance, and accessibility. That assistance and accessibility is expected of the community, not something done out of kindness or saintliness or good samaritan whatever the hell.

It is the rule, not the exception. It is the rule.

I’m repeating myself, but I’m trying to drill in this point because fandom fails to recognize something so little as so important, and it is important.

It is so small and easy to miss, but it completely decimates any foundation to the argument that mental illness is a weakness and that the sufferer should be abandoned. 

Putting aside however briefly the fact that negatively stigmatizing mental illness is harmful and puts real people at risk of real harm and danger, propping up the idea that mandalorians don’t deal with or address disability or illness of any kind in the face of the above is just … ignoring all of the creative potential for telling interesting stories—creating art, sigils, and armor.

Consider: art or sigils indicating:

autism spectrum

schizophrenia

PTSD

blindness

deaf or hard of hearing

etc etc etc

What is the point of writing a people who are as community focused as mandalorians, who have a huge population who deals with war as an industry, who has a huge population of refugees and forced migration, and then never having the courage to sensitively deal with the repercussions of these terrible things? Never having the thought to even consider what it means to carry a sigil of depression as both an indicator of needing assistance as well as a badge of honor for fighting what could be an invisible battle for years?

What is the actual point of maintaining a status quo of demonizing mental illness when mandalorians, as a society, have firmly flipped the bird at status quo time and time again in order to come together and support all members of their community — even fighting each other to do so? 

The toxic parts of mandalorian fandom is lazy. Do not accept that laziness, that inadvertent worship of arasuum, as fact. 

To put it crudely, they don’t know shit about shit.

Mandalorians venerate, give respect, give honor, to struggle. All forms of struggle. Even surviving, just surviving, is a struggle. 

No real mandalorian would abandon another to arasuum. 

haran- hell “The Fett name puts the very fear of haran up the aruetiise.” (Order 66)

jari'eyc-ugly (lit: wrecked)

nibral-loser "And you’re not strolling in your fancy Kuati park now, so shift your shebs, you lazy little nibral.” (Order 66)

bev'ikase- dicks/penises “What a bunch of useless bev’ikase.” (Order 66)

gett'se-nuts/balls/testicles “Besany, if he moves, blow his gett’se off." (Order 66)

osik-shit “Doesn’t that scare the osik out of you?” "About kama fashions or some such osik.” (True Colors)

osik'la-shitty “You didn’t think some osik’la Imperial encryption could keep us out forever, did you?” (501st)

mir'osik- dumbass, shit for brains “Nice shooting, mir’osik,” Darman called to the gunner from the 14th. (Order 66)

shab-fuck “Well, shab-face, here’s where you find out that trooper armor isn’t as hardened as Katarn kit …” “Who the shab trained you?” (Order 66)

shabla- fucking “Fi, I’m going to break your shabla neck …”

shabii'gar- fuck you “Shabii’gar,” Niner snapped, and tossed the comlink back at A’den.(True Colors)

Ne shab'rud'ni! - don't fuck with me!

shebs,shebse-ass,asses “Dar! You’re going to be as wrinkled as a strill’s shebs if you stay in there much longer.”(501st)

mir'sheb-smartass “Okay, mir’sheb, you got a better idea?” (True Colors)

Nar'sheb!- Shove it up your ass!

Kovid lo'shebs'ul narit!-Put your head up your ass!

Kote lo'shebs'ul narit!-Shove glory up your ass!

motla'shebs-A rat's mott's ass "The Grand Army didn’t give a motla’shebs about how clones liked to be addressed, on the record at least." (True Colors)

sheb’urcyin-ass-kisser "Sheb’urcyin … aruetii.” (501st)

shabuir- fucker/motherfucker “As long as it’s not some Death Watch shabuir.” (501st)

shabuire-fuckers/motherfuckers"“And I just want to remind you shabuire that I’ve played meat-cans before.” (501st)

shabu'droten- fuck everyone/ a collective of fuckers “Shabu’droten,” Skirata muttered, and walked away. (Triple Zero)

Sooran, shab-suck on it/that (sooranir (verb) means “to suck”)

usen'ye-piss off/fuck off/go away “Usen’ye.” It was the crudest way to tell someone to go away in Mando’a" “And you lot can clear off. This is trooper business. Get lost! Usen’ye!” (Triple Zero,True Colors)

MANDALORIAN LORE OF THE DAY: SW NOVEL-CANON FOUL LANGUAGE (PART 1)

THEYRE DONE!! young jango got his brand new beskar'gam, ready to fight for his new buir

alt caption "hey guys look at this stray i found lol i'm gonna adopt him, he can shoot"

Boba Fett carries on this bit of his father’s Mandalorian roots. The Slave One is the only home he needs.

MANDALORIAN LORE OF THE DAY: DAILY LIFE AND DEATH

Sources: The Mandalorians: People and Culture (Star Wars Insider #86), Comic Image: Jango Fett: Open Seasons

“Don’t puff yourself, space bum!”

– Boba Fett, 3 ABY

Star Wars Newspaper Comic Strip: “The Frozen World of Ota.” July 10 and 20, 1980. Writer: Don Christensen. Illustrator: Russ Manning.

jango asking for a clone of himself so he could see someone with his face grow up happy...

thank you tv tropes for the best headcanon in the star wars universe

Im so happy that i found this. On one hand i wanna read it so bad, but on the other hand i have a mind of doing my own version of this and dont wanna accidentally plagarize this GLORIOUS person. The moral dilemma of fictional academic nerdery.

Send help

Children of the Warch/Nite Owl Headcanons

Despite beliefs parents, spouses, and children are allowed to see your face

Medics, of course, are allowed. However, they don’t unless absolutely necessary and will prefer they just have lift the edge of their helmet

None of the Nite Owls really know this because, to the tribe, it’s not important or necessary to voice as it was their business

When babies are first taken in or borne, the parents are very secluded so they can spend as much time with their children out of armor (includes helmet as those taking care of the baby, found/birthed the baby and therefore adopt the baby), skin to skin

When it comes to babies, the adoption process is more so 'i found a baby and now i am their parent in every way' no real adoption like with the older kids since the babies won't remember

The adoption rites are still said, just much less fanfair than with the older kids

This is also true for any new foundlings that need the contact, true for all ages though not a requirement

For babies, this period lasts about 8 months, then when out either parent is with the child without chest armor which lasts until they’re about 16 months

When children come to the tribe, they have little with them so what they do have is kept safe and in tip top shape

When they first arrive, foundlings are given essentially a deep clean by those that found them (they usually become their parent)

This includes getting their clothes washed, washing their hair twice (sometimes three) times, skin is scrubbed, lotion, and clothed in spares, and finally put to bed

Sometimes the kids come with pets (though very rare) and those are given similar treatment depending on the species

All in all, the Watch has the three shriek hawks, two nexu, eight massiffs (coming from two adults so far), three strill, and four anooba

Ragnar came in with a baby strill named Lord (he tried to change the name but no dice)

Lord was bathed after Ragnar, then deflea’ed and dewormed by the medic

Lord has been adopted by all foundlings and has taken the role of Guard dog, including all the commands and mannerisms that come with (though a sucker for belly rubs)

Bathing is important for bonding as it establishes trust and safety for the child, showing that the parent will always love and protect their foundlings no matter what state (mental or physical) they are in

Ragnar is the oldest of the younger group and took on the leader role

There are older teens who’ve completed the verd’goten and are considered adults but mostly teach youngers' kids

The teenagers oppose the Nite Owls the most and, while the most inexperienced of the adults, enjoy causing the most trouble with their youngest

The Nite Owls don’t have nearly as many young foundlings, their youngest is 15. The Children of the Watch youngest of the adults was 14, their actual youngest is 10 months old.

Younger groups age is from 0-13, then 14-20

The youngest enjoyed the new addition to their older siblings they could annoy; especially since the new teens had no idea what to do with them

Many times the kids will be all over the them. The moment they sit down, they have two children climbing on them (hanging over their legs, grabbing their head or arms, laying over their back, on their feet) but otherwise totally ignoring them unless addressed

The Nite Owls either have no idea what to do or don’t care enough about the tribe to care. The adults of the Tribe think it’s hilarious and that it builds character

They’re reasoning is that ‘if you don’t have the spine to tell them to get off of you, you don’t have a spine at all’

Eventually a nineteen year old takes a kid climbing over his face and throws him to the floor, and yells ‘get the hell off me you leeches!’

The child laughs, yanks his leg out from under him, climbs over to their face, slaps their cheek mockingly and says ‘bout time you grew a spine, grew a set of balls too! Congrats! You're no longer a spineless worm!'

The nineteen year old is then quasi adopted by this weird child and secretly enjoys it

A surprising amount of young Watch children quasi adopt the older kids from the Nite Owls, the Owls are confused and don’t really know how to stop it and those who have tried are told to stop by their teens

The peace between the two groups is actually pretty stable in day to day life

Though, some Owls still take issue with the Watch and avoid them, that number is few

After Paz and Axe become riduur, there is even less tolerance by either group for those people so many keep their negative opinions to themselves

Another factor is their pets

Obvi, the Tribe has so many pets and animals that are very well taken care of. Surprisingly, the Owls also have a few pets (but again not as much as the tribe)

The animals each have their roles and enjoy getting pets from literally anyone. Though, most will only respond to attack/work commands coming from a certain few people

Many of the massiffs will lay around and cuddle with the youngest of the children, though a majority only listen to the Beastmaster and her two apprentices

However, with each new litter, half of the pups are given to those couples with the youngest or most vulnerable children

All of the animals are incredibly well trained and well behaved, with even the biggest and most dangerous Anooba still fully trusted around babies (the only outlier being the bird things)

Many of the animals are purchased/found as babies since they respond the best to training

When the Nite Owls animals meet the Tribe's animals, it goes well

Though the Owl's are a little older and calmer, generally receptive to children and people playing with them but prefer to lay around and sun bathe

The Nite Owls' have one strill, three akk dogs, one massiff, and two anooba.

The pets are loved by all the young children and spend a lot of time around the younger kids, due to instincts or the fact the kids come to them

the Owls don't have a Beastmaster like the Tribe and so their animals are used to being more separate and with their owner than hanging around so many different people and animals

they also aren't used to working in a herd but many choose to just keep their animals with them rather than the group

Though, the owner of the massiff (who is about 22 year old female) does keep it with the other massiff and gives open permission to use it to help with breeding new puppies when the time comes

All the aminals in both groups only know Mando'a commands, though they know 'good *insert pet name/gender*' and stuff like that

(whether they know that or they just go wild for the pets, no one will ever know)