Index All Helmet, No Head - The Mandalorian Discussion Group and Index---New stories, new discussion--9/2!

Howdy, fellas. Is Challenge 1 still going on?

 

Well, since we don't have voting on our fics, the deadline can be neglected in that case.

Thus, the challenges are still open, so go ahead and add your late entry!

To be honest, I'd have said "Yes" anyways, because I'll say anything that enriches the amount of Mando fanfiction.

 

I agree with trying insert real ideology or philosophy into fiction or make fiction fall into line with real beliefs is a foolish notion. Well, unless there's an obvious real-world influence for that fictional element. If there was one for Mandalorian, I don't know what it is.

However in the absence of a stela with the Mando version of Hammurabi's Code, it's a good exercise for writers and roleplayers a like. It puts more thought and a degree more of realism into characters and the author's take on Mandalorian culture.

As an athropology major, it's also a fun way to daydream during a boring lecture.

I tend to disagree with disruptors being on the black list amongst Mandos. Weapons of mass destruction? Sure, as browwiw said, they just demean the culture as a whole. However, disruptors are only illegal in some star systems under the New Republic. The Empire seems to have restricted them further perhaps just to elite Imperial agents. Who knows what the GA has made in regards to disruptor law.

Mandalorians accept wholeheartedly using flamethrowers. It's a stand-by addition to their armor. As an off-hand comment Jaing says in Sacrifice that Mirta best be sure she gets the flamethrower when Boba keels over. It's pretty flippant remark, but also shows that Jaing thinks the flamethrower is best piece of equipment Mirta could get. Knowing Kal Skirata, Jaing would have become a paragon of Mando culture. So his estimation that flamethrowers are a-okay with Mandos says a lot.

Flamethrowers are a nasty weapon. They're great for clearing out enclosed places, but getting torched by a flamethrower is a horrible way to die. Getting hit square on by a disruptor bolt would be really painful as your molecules exploded, but it'd be quick. As that gout of burning fuel hits you from that flamethrower it's going to take you at least a few seconds of agony to die.

So why are disruptors so likely get you an instant death mark while flamethrowers are waved through the same check point?

 

You got a point there with the flamethrower. But then again, flamethrowers are rarely used, and most of the time against a big bunch of enemies. You won't waste fuel for a single X-Ray, unless he's a tough opponent and/or you're "dueling" with him.

I can see disruptors used mainly in assassination business. You won't be giving the guy you're to assassinate a chance to fight back, anyway. I have to admit, playing Jedi Outcast and Academy, the Tenloss Disruptor was one of my favorites, but mainly because it was the only proper sniping weapon in the game. But somehow it just feels brutal blasting an enemy to nothing but molecules, and then there's still the "No disintegrations, please." thingy.

That's how I see it as well, and a disruptor fits well into that category, assassinations being the exception. In KotOR II, there was a weapon called "Mandalorian Disintegrator", which was the most effective "blaster" for a reason. But there's still the flamethrower, which doesn't really fit into all that. Maybe it's just me misjudging the "value" of a disruptor rifle

Yeah, when I think of HC again, that does apply to Hokan. But then again, he's more of a sociopath and may be interpreting the Mandalorian ways in a wrong way. But you can have Hokan types anywhere, not just with Mandalorians, and even Walon Vau probably fits into that category.

I still think you can't state a Mando's moral virtues for all of them, it really depends on the individual. It can't be denied that they are an intimidating culture, but they're not ruthless and brutal, at least not to an inhuman extent.

 

Hey C_F, hope you don;t mind me throwing down my two cents.


Personally when talking about Vau and Hokan, there's really no comparison. IIRC, Vau became a Mandalorian of his own accord (rebelling against his parents or what have you), Skirata kind of viewed him as a wannabe.

But, Vau despite his mean streak, did care for his men. he raised them as his father had him (who wasn't Mando). He practiced tough love to a degree beyond most Mandalorians to be sure, but all signs point to a father just as proud as Skirata.

Hokan, on the other hand, not only was he defining Mandalorian tradition to fit his own prejudices and physchotic beliefs, but he was essentially going against everything his people stood for. I realize he was a rejected Death Watchman, I still believe the essence of Manda culture rang true in both groups. True Mandalorians wanted to fight for neccessity, while the DW wanted to just flat out conquer.

I think neither group would want to be associated with the bio-weapon Hokan was hired to ensure was guarded to fruition, regardless of the views of most Mando that the clones were darmanda Vau was training his men to survive (was his methods brutal - yes), while Hokan was working to wipe them out. Just on that aspect alone, I think Vau would be a canidate for Mandalor by comparsion to Hokan.

 

Sorry to interrupt the flamethrower discussion, but I've started a story about The Battle of Malachor V, with POV characters from both sides.

The Mandalorian POV characters are Mandalore the Ultimate and Canderous Ordo, but I used a lot of other characters (Mandalorian and Republic both) from the KotoR games and comics, especially the Mando ones. Enjoy.

 

We've only seen flamers used by Boba and Jango. Canon support in the modern eras for other usage comes from the Corporate Sector, but they use it for crowd control. Ain't that nice?

The "No disintegrations" was a warning to Boba, but of course he's never been stated as a good example of Mando-hood. About the Mandalorian Disintegrator, that's KotOR: Sith Lords era kit. I figure that most Mandos don't use disruptors because they are a lot of trouble. Customs officials, law enforcement to be sure, but also the slow refire rate and if I remember right limited range.

*shrug* I think the answer to a lot of Mando morality is "do the Five Actions, be civil to Mandos, and do cause the kind of trouble that drags us all in with you."

 

Hey fellas, i thought you'd like to know that i just completed a short story taking place around the final days of the 212 Mandalorian Protectors campaign during the Clone Wars. Its a gritty story about four Mandalorian Protectors dispatched by Mandalore the Resurrector to take on a suicide mission in the heart of Mustafar that leads them to question the Mandalore's word, integrity, and sanity.

The fic is titled "Hell is for Heroes!" Hope you dig it.


http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/27467715/p1/?0

 

Commander5052 and The_Mandalorian_, would you mind if I add your stories to the index?

 

Nope, not at all. I'd love if you added my story.

 

Well, the SWAG is back and taking requests again. We must restrain ourselves and not deluge them with requests for custom Mandos and clone troopers. Must...fight...temptation...

 

I'm already on my way to place a request...

I have already some of my other OCs illustrated by great fan artists, and I actually encourage you to place Mando requests at SWAG. We're seeing far too less Mando illustration from the official side, so why not work against that?

So if anyone else's got his own little sketch of his custom Mando, or had it done by someone else, please don't hesitate to post it. It should serve as great inspiration for everyone.

 

Two new additions to the index, everyone!

Title: The Hunt
Author: whiskers
Characters: Mandalorian OC, other OCs
Timeframe: Legacy comics - 133 ABY
Status: WIP

Title: Hell is for Heroes
Author: The_Mandalorian_
Characters: Bruno Len (OC), Fenn Shysa
Timeframe: The last days of the 212 Mandalorian Protectors campaign during the Clone Wars
Genre: Action/Drama | One-Poster
Summary: This gritty Clone Wars tale follows a squad of four Mandalorian Protectors dispatched to the fiery volcanic planet of Mustafar on a suicide mission that leads them to question the Mandalore's integrity and sanity.
Notes: I've been dying to be a part of the Mando fic community, so here it is. My first Mandalorian Protector story!
Status: Complete

By sure to give those writers some cool feedback. And on a sidenote, the adventurous story of a certain Mandalorian bounty hunter/assassin/mercenary/gun-for-hire that has been on hiatus for over a year now has been updated. I'm sure everyone knows what I'm talking about. If not, well, then you better find out ASAP!

 

Thanks for the plug, Corri'ka.

 

I've never thought much about the Mandalorians until recently. Fett was a cool characters in the movies, but I never read the books that featured him.

That has changed. I am really enjoying Fett's story during LOTF. Are there any fics in the index that deal with Fett or Mirta, for that matter, during LOTF?

 

Yeah, my pleasure Qui'buir.

First of all, nice to have another new Mando fan here. Welcome, ner vod.

Regarding your question... none of the Mando index fics (the few that there are^^) are set in LotF, and so far Fett has only had a small role in my first short story. But that's NJO. It seems generally that the few members here are also OC writers as well, hence the lack of many canon figures apart from cameo roles.

I am, however, rather confident that there is a fic like you're looking for out there. I dunno if Fett himself has an Index, but I'm sure there is a LotF one. Maybe ask there. If there's neither, my bad... maybe I'm confusing that with the Legacy Comics Index, as I can't seem to find a LotF index right now.

Generally, we're trying here to keep Fett out of the picture as much as possible. He sure isn't a Mando role model, even though he's Mandalore. That doesn't mean that I discourage discussion regarding Fett and his Mandalore status here, I just don't want this to be a Fett index.

 

Thanks for the response, Corran. I appreciate it. I'll look about. So most of the fics posted here are KOTOR era Mandalorian fics?

That's a shame. I know little of the history, but I'm enamored of the Spartan-esque nature of the post NJO Mandalorians.

 

Not at all. Only Darth_Garak's stories are set there, the others are from post-RotJ (like those of Q_M and me) or set somewhere in The Saga or Beyond.

Well, the Mandos have been like that since before the Clone Wars. Since before Jaster Mereel, perhaps. So when you don't like KotOR, I think still most of the other fics should be worth checking out for you. Since there are only the few stories, I think every single one captures the aspects of Mando culture you're looking for quite well. Except the the four KotOR ones, which are just as good, but have a different kind of Mando, so to say.

 

I swear to Perun that if we get into that argument again I'm dumping you all for a Battlestar Galactica fan forum.

Seriously, though, I was never that much enamored with the KotOR Mandos. I appreciate what the game creators came up with (I'm still hoping for Karen to introduce the fight circle in the Rep Com novels. That seems like a perfectly reasonable way to deal with in-squad conflict...). I still hold the position that the Djun Mandos are self absorbed romantics that should come to grips with reality and go home and help their families and society recover.

 

That reminds me...

Not quite.

It's quite correct to insist that fictional religions and ideologies not be exact copies of those that exist in the real world, given that the universe that they exist in may be, and often is, entirely different in many ways from our own, but while the "fictional = inscrutable" argument might possibly carry some weight in other imagined societies, attempting to apply it to Star Wars is somewhat nonsensical, as there arises the problem that despite wildly divergent histories, canon sources continually depict most human cultures in the GFFA as resembling human cultures on Earth to the point where, so far as the Star Wars universe is concerned, the most logical conclusion would seem to be that there are certain constants of human nature that we can expect to be fixed and universal, whether humans themselves are the lone sentient race in their galaxy or merely one of many.

 

I didn't meant to upset you, browwiw. I was merely makeing an observation as someone not familiar with this corner of the SW universe. And, I liked it.

 

I wouldn't worry about upsetting Brow. Taking offence at the opinions of others is something in the way of a hobby for him.

Besides, I like it too.

 

Hello, QuietMando.

Your epic sure looks interesting, but I get intimidated by epics that are well on their way.

 

Hi! Welcome to the wild, wooly and wonderful world of Mandalorian mercs.

Well, I wouldn't worry too much about that. It's not going anywhere at the moment.