I’m not Māori. I’m from the literal other side of the planet from Aoteoroa. So idk. It feels weird talking about it like I know anything about anything. But at the same time uh. Sometimes I feel weird when people talk about mandalorians as a great example of indigenous representation because the author who introduced a lot of the worldbuilding also wrote a mandalorian carrying out an extremely chilling example of assimilationist child abuse.
"We'll have to get you some armor when we get home," Munin said. "You need to learn to live and fight in it. Beskar'gam. The Mandalorian's second skin."
Falin slurped from the bowl. He was always hungry. The stew was more like a broth-no lovely fat dumplings like his mother made-and he didn't like the fishy smell, but this was a banquet compared with what he'd scavenged in the ruined city for a year.
"Don't want any armor," he said.
"You can do all kinds of things when you're wearing armor that ordinary folks can't do, Kal."
Munin called him Kal. In the man's own language, it had something to do with knives and stabbing. Munin had nicknamed him Kal because Falin had tried to stab him with the three-sided knife when they first met; the Mandalorian seemed to think it was funny, and hadn't been angry at all. But Munin fed him, and didn't hurt him, and in the weeks since Falin had been part of the mercenary camp, he'd felt better even if he wasn't happy.
Sometimes Munin called him Kal'ika. The mercenaries told him it meant "little blade," and showed that Munin was fond of him.
"I'm Falin," he said at last. "My name's Falin." But he was already forgetting who Falin was. His home in Kuat City seemed like a dream mostly forgotten when he woke up, more a feeling than a memory. His family had moved to Surcaris while his father did engineering stuff on the new KDY warships there. "I don't want another name."
Munin ate with him. When he wasn't shouting, he was actually a kind man, but he could never take Papa's place. "Starting over can be a good thing, Kal'ika. You can't change the past or other folks, but you can always change yourself, and that changes your future."
The thought grabbed Falin and wouldn't let go. When you felt powerless, the idea of being able to make the bad stuff stop was the best thing in the world, and he didn't want to feel this bad ever again. He wanted things to change.
