En las ruinas de mi alma estará mi final

‘It’s hell, Kryze. Why would anyone want this?’

–

“Fresh coat of paint”

I was a foundling.

When Din tries to give Grogu to Omera, to Ahsoka, and even presumably to Boba (if only for a hot minute there), there is no sense that Din is expecting to ever get Grogu back. There is no expectation. This mirrors real-life scenarios with real-life foster parents. Most children who are waiting to be adopted will be placed in a foster home, and when it is time to be adopted, that relationship is going to be ultimately severed with those temporary caretakers.

In many cases, the adoptive parents will maintain distance from the foster family in order to help prevent confusion or pain for very young child. And even while contact may be kept for a time, it will often not be lifelong and will taper away as the years go by.

Traveling with me… that’s no life for a kid.

The stress of being a foster parent is enormous. Despite what media often depicts foster homes as being commonly emotionally or physically abusive (which is itself a disgusting representation that I’m not going to get into), foster families of today are vetted thoroughly and provide displaced children with a stable and kind environment. Even when an adoptive family is found, adoption can take months to years, and a foster family provides a child some kind of normalcy until they are ultimately adopted.

You must go. A foundling is in your care. By creed, until it is of age or reunited with its own kind, you are as its father. This is the Way.

I feel like Din’s status as foster parent is one of the most inspiring elements of his character. He suffered so much, despite knowing what he would be giving up. When Luke comes to their rescue at the end, the goodbye between Grogu and Din is bittersweet… but ultimately both Grogu and Din demonstrate that they always understood the temporary nature of their relationship.

I’ve seen him do things I can’t explain. My task was to bring him to a Jedi.

One thing to consider is that children awaiting adoption are commonly placed with people of their own race and culture, wherever possible. I feel like this is much the same with Grogu himself, who is able to communicate with Luke and Ahsoka, but not with Din. In a way, it’s like fostering a child who speaks a different language from you. When the episode with Ahsoka revealed that Grogu could communicate, I found myself wondering at how isolated he must have felt to be without other Jedi for so long. I feel like it mirrors Din’s feelings of isolation without his covert to return home to. They are both torn away from people who share their respective cultures, customs, and languages.

Then Grogu may choose his path. If he reaches out through the Force, there’s a chance a Jedi may sense his presence and come searching for him.

The show made no secret that a huge element to why Din gave Grogu up was that he could not understand Grogu’s powers, and Din fell ill-prepared to deal with a culture so separate and removed from his own. Potentially, yes, Din could raise Grogu as a Mandalorian. But in doing so, Din would be robbing Grogu of his culture of birth. Given how deeply Din feels about such things, I am not surprised that he ultimately decided to give Grogu up.

He wants your permission. He is strong with the Force, but talent without training is nothing. I will give my life to protect the Child.

One final thing to note, and something that specific to Grogu but sadly often doesn’t happen to foster children in real life: Grogu was given a choice. Din could have chosen to keep him. He could have chosen to tell Luke to leave. But he didn’t. When Grogu left, he walked to Luke of his own volition. He chose to reach out through the Force to find him.

Grogu had agency in this situation, which I also think was also a brilliant show of how mature Grogu was, despite what one might think at first glance, and how alone he must have been without anyone to hear his voice.

Like, Luke in A New Hope was baby af. He was a child. Even in the Empire Strikes Back, what a little guy. A tiny fellow.

Then boom, Return of the Jedi, and Luke is smiling and like “Tell these Ewoks that you are their God and that if they do not release us, you will be Angered…” He is in all black, he is missing a hand, he has gone off the rails conpletely. He’s like “How will I tell Leia that we’re siblings? …Oh! I know! Riddles!” Luke Skywalker gets struck by Force Lightning like nine times and still gets up and drags his dad’s lifeless body out. There were moments one might look at him and think, “no, ur wrong, he still babie” but you are the wrong one! He goes into Jabba’s Palace and straight up stands there smiling and threatening him the whole time. He’s standing on a plank over the Sarlacc and he’s still like “So this is how you’d like to play :)” Luke straight up snapped, he got spooky by the end of the og trilogy.

Din Djarin, straight off the back, is kind of intimidating. He is a man in full armour who hunts people and freezes them in carbonite and appears behind their shoulders when they least expect it. But, after Grogu shows up, you probably think “this man is weak to this baby, he will become soft” but no! The opposite happens!

I’m talking about episode 6. The Prisoner. I have wanted desperately to talk about this for days, but have only just found the words to do so. Let me explain.

Din Djarin is filmed and edited like a horror movie villain. Like a supernatural force of evil who stalks his prey. Straight up like a slasher villain out of the eighties. There’s hints of this beforehand, what with Din appearing behind a guy in the very first episode, and the fact that he has been shot point blank (many times) but no matter how many times he falls, he always gets back up. Okay, that’s all fine and good.

But episode 6 goes beyond that. He stalks a bunch if assholes through flickering red lights. He splits them up, he takes them out one by one, and the last person standing manages to get out, thinks they’ve escaped, only to die (technically) at Din’s hand anyway. He is straight up a horror movie villain I don’t know how else to explain it, he is a horror movie villain.

Don’t take this the wrong way. Being spooky and intimidating isn’t a bad thing, especially not in Star Wars! Luke Skywalker and his ability to say terrible things while smiling, Din Djarin and his predilection for appearing right behind someone, these ar egood things. I like these things a lot. I love these. I love that Luke is the cutest little scary fella in the galaxy. I love that Din is the most awkward little scary fella in the galaxy. I think it’s great.

Why do I bring this up?

Well, for one, I have been trying to word my view on Din Djarin for days now. I love this man, I have to mock him or I’ll feel incomplete. And I think it’s a disservice to pretend that Luke isn’t a person who most people in the Star Wars universe think about and shiver. Don’t get me wrong, I love sunshine boy Luke, but he isn’t really like that, at least not by this point in the series. He just strikes me as the type of person to say incredibly dark, deranged things with a blank face, then smile at cute kittens. Luke is messed up, and we should talk about it more because it’s very interesting to explore the various ways he’s messed up.

But for another, I am a big fan of Din and Luke being buddies who go absolutely anywhere and scare the shit out of people. A Mandalorian next to a Jedi Knight? Two people who eat Storm Troopers for breakfast?? Can you imagine how much the fragments of the Empire that are still left are quaking??? Those two would go absolutelu anywhere and the anyone on planet who ever sided with the Empire would give themselves up or run, immediately.

Like, Din singlehandedly took out that whole troop on Nevarro. All by himself, he shot out all of the Storm Troopers and everyone inside and I like to think there are whispered stories about him similar to the ones about the Boogeyman.

Now, I know Luke didn’t actually kill the Emperor and Darth Vader, but does anyone in universe know that? Or does everyone think that Luke not only blew up the Death Star, but he also murdered the two head honchos and came out completely unscathed? Luke is definitely a boogeyman.

You're an average Imperial, or an average Rebel.

You watch the Death Star blow up. You are told that the Emperor is dead.

You see Luke Skywalker land the shuttle and walk out with the very dead body of the most terrifying man, monster, legend the Empire has ever known . . .

And give him a fucking funeral.

Just.

Think about that.

It's uncanny-valley behavior to anyone with no context for it, and no one but Luke and Leia and Han have any context for it.

Just. This wide-eyed baby Jedi who showed up fresh off of Tattooine and one-shotted the original Death Star a couple years ago is now an eerily-calm young man with a cyborg hand and a laundry list of superpowers---

and he takes the body of his rival, the Emperor's feared second in command, back down onplanet and burns it on a pyre.

w h y ?

It's almost a Lovecraftian brush with the scope of the unknown. That the scariest man in the galaxy has been killed, and his body claimed by his killer, not for desecration or as a trophy, but for care and reverence---from, to all accounts, the man who killed him.

It looks a lot like love, but then why kill? Killing looks a lot like hatred, but why claim and care for the body?

What is Luke Skywalker, who does such contradictory things, who owns, so tenderly, the body of the enemy he vanquished---and one might notice that the Emperor, Vader's lord and master, is casually abandoned to spacedust; what calculated insult is this?

Fandom tends to view Luke Skywalker as a golden retriever twink with magic powers, but in-universe his record is impressive and scary (especially if you’re the bad guy). And that ep of Mandalorian showcased that version of him perfectly: him cutting his way through all those Death Troopers with apparent ease, fully cloaked in black, the corridors around him dim and ominous. It was very Vader-esque, and as an in-universe character you have to be wondering if this guy is here to help or if he’s just gonna keep cutting his way through all of you.

Din Djarin is obviously competent and badass, but fandom tends to view him as world-weary dad just trying to do what’s best for his kid and avoid the universe’s attempts to make him a main character. But as phoenix points out, The Prisoner gives us an idea of how other people see him, and it’s legit terrifying.

[Here] Alcoholic!Danny saves Jason Todd from a mugger and gives up alcohol to be a big brother.

[Here] Alcoholic! Danny confronts his stalker, buys chili dogs for his new little brother, and kills a pedo in that order.

[Here] Going Sober!Danny meets Batman, and then gives his new little brother an apartment and tells him he can go to school.

So Danny has teamed up with different Captain Marvels over the years (either via clockwork shenanigans, or the Dp universe is simply older then DC) and Billy has memorys of this badass Ghost coming to help his predecessors out of tight spots.

Billy brings him up offhandedly in a JL meeting and jokingly calls Danny his dad. (Oh that reminds me of when Phantom went all dad mode and stopped this powerful mage from killing me a few hundred years ago)

The JL finds some ancient pots or writings describing Phantom as a benevolent god. They connect the dots.

A demigod calling a being described as a god their father? Checks out.

The league really needs help with something or someone world ending (probably darkseid) and they are out of all options so they tell Marvel to call his dad. Even Bruce and Constantine are onboard because a being described as benevolent that is apparently one of the most powerful leaders dad is certainly the safest option then whatever else they have at the moment.

Billy internally freaks out and tells them he needs to go to the Rock of Eternity to call him because he lives in a another dimension/universe and it’s just safer contact him there. Billy books it to the rock sifting through memorys, spell books, and desperately asking Shazam for help because none of his predecessors ever contacted Danny he just showed up.

Billy eventually finds something to summon Danny and does so, not before getting some food as offering of course. Danny shows up either and a adult or a Elterich being because it’s just easier to have adults respect you when you look like that rather then a 14 year old.

When Danny sees Billy he’s instantly like ‘is that a 12 year old!?’ Because his powers as the ghost king and or being considered an ancient let’s him see through the magic that is Caption Marvels form. Billy tells Danny about the situation and Danny is concerned.

Depending on how the writer wants the fic to go Danny’s reaction would probably be either ‘I must help him at all costs because he’s like I was after the accident’ or ‘he’s way to young to be fighting such powerful beings, who do I give a piece of my mind to!’

I've noticed a pattern when it comes to DC x DP crossovers where when the Justice League has to deal with anything involving the Danny phantom world They are out matched and outclassed in every way.

I know most people in the DC x DP fandoms haven't ever picked up a comic, or watched DC media that wasn't animated (or sometimes haven't even watched Danny phantom) in their lives but at some point it gets ridiculous how incompetent the regular JL is made when it comes to combating the supernatural. 

And as an all-things DC enjoyer this hurts me.

Like Superman, multiple times in the past has gone up against ghosts, ghosts like beings, and ghostly Abilities using his powers like for example:

Superman was able to freeze Ghost Soldier, who could turn intangible, using his freeze breath.

He could Freeze Zatanna's astral form

He was able to decimate the Phantom Stranger's physical AND metaphysical form.

He used his freeze breath to freeze the essence/spirit of H'el in time.

When the Fortress Of Solitude's security program projections were turned into ghosts, he could still blast them with his heat vision.

He withstood being stabbed through his heart and soul with magic a sword.

He tanked silver banshees scream (which affects the spirit) head on.

His super vision can also look past someone's body and mind to examine their soul.

When it comes to Wonder Woman her shield, blade, braces, lasso, tiara, and entire body are all blessed with the power of the literal gods there is no way she wouldn't be able to go straight up to a ghost and punch it intangibility or not.

Her lasso can even drag a soul out of someone's body if needed.

Same goes for Captain Marvel and his lightning.

All of Hawkman and Hawkwoman's armor (the little of it they actually wear) and weapons are made out of nth metal, which is a metal in DC that affects supernatural beings like ghost, zombies, vampire, Spirits, specters, shade's, werewolves, "the Lazarus demon" and reanimated corpses, just like any other creature no matter how strong.

Batman and Green Arrow have an entire arsenal made out of the stuff too, just in case.

In injustice both Green Arrow and Green Lantern have whole suits made out of it.

And even if you don't count injustice, (which is understandable) Green lanterns can easily have their rings copy the atomic structure of any thing they need (like kryptonite for example) and since their suits are made from their rings, they would still have no problem making a suit (or really any weapon they need out of the stuff).

Batman has a pair of gloves that John Constantine gave him specifically used to fight ghosts.

And it's been stated that the Batcave has supernatural barriers and wards to stop ghosts and stuff from getting in. (so no just casual walking into the bat cave).

And when it comes to the whole "ghost king summoning" thing I get it it's a fun concept to play around with, but the JL and JL Dark have so many other options other than to summon what they usually believe to be an interdimensional eldritch being into their world.

like the phantom zone projector something that was able to work on Mister Mxyzptlk a full-blown reality warper from the 5th dimension.

Or contacting the other supernatural experts that aren't just Constantine and Zatanna (which are usually the only contact for supernatural problems the JL has in most fic's for some reason).

Or batman just contacting the strongest supernatural being he knows, who without a doubt would come stop a major supernatural threat (as its usually depicted)

SPAWN. (The guys so op in supernatural power it's crazy)

There are so many other options than summoning the ghost king.

And in a lot of fic's the supernatural members (or just any member that would could help in a given situation) are off world (for some reason?) so they can't be contacted.

That just doesn't make much sense when the JL has the technology of so many advanced civilizations and individual people (witch some are said to be among the smartest in the universe) at their disposal, they should be able to contact their people halfway across the universe.

All of this is to say that due to widespread ignorance of the world of Detective Comics and the capabilities of its hero's (and sometimes Danny Phantom) that most DC x DP situations, stories, and scenarios end up with the Justice League a collection of the earths greatest hero's, being completely and utterly helpless and incompetent against any problems coming from the world of Danny Phantom (or just the supernatural in general).

This is to no one's fault of course, believe me no one knows all of DC lore and all it's details in its entirety.

Like maybe due to all his scraps and bumps as Phantom, Danny ends up getting EMT and Field Medic training or starts studying to be one. Cause hey this will be helpful later he just knows it. Plus he could go into medical engineering (or what ever the field is called that invents medical devices) with hi Fenton Mad Scientist smarts and hyoerfocusing on healing others instead of hunting Ghosts.

A few decades or centuries down the line, Danny is now ghost king and retired from Phantom. His advisors believe he needs a vacation. And ooh look what Clockwork found- a universe with heroes. So off he goes to DC universe.

Except, his core is demanding he help some way..but there are so many heroes. Perhaps instead of being a hero, he could help the heroes.

Inspired by a conversation with my boo on Zalo. They said that

Danny ghost sense come out looking like steam caused His breath is colder then the Air.