Name: Evren Jaira

Verd’ika Corps Member: 2015

Official Member of MMCC: May 28, 2022

Question 1:

Q: When did you join Verd’ika Corps (VC)? And what age were you?

A: I joined the Verd’ika Corps in 2015, at the age of 13 – just after Celebration Anaheim 2015, in fact! My history with the Mando Mercs goes back a lot earlier than that, though – it’s deeply intertwined with how I found Star Wars and grew my love for it. Around 2010, my parents took me to Disneyland for the very first time – a long trip from Australia! – and I saw the Jedi Training Academy, and decided I desperately wanted to be IN Star Wars myself! From there, after a lot of searching online, I found both the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion, and though I fell in love with them too I wanted to make my own little part of Star Wars – and when I found the Mando Mercs, it felt like I had found a new home. I was too young for a forum account of my own at that age, though, so I joined up almost as soon as I could! Celebration was the first time I met any other mercs in-person – and with fresh motivation and feedback, I finished my first kit before our local convention in June that year and did my first invasion with Sandhawk Clan!

Question 2:

Q: Why did you join VC?

A:  Joining the Verd’ika Corps meant that I had a lot of incredible opportunities available to me – from invading comic-cons to charity events, to even getting the chance to see preview screenings of new Star Wars by Disney Australia! It meant that even though I couldn’t go through the challenge of approvals for a few years yet, I could still be a member of the club – and over the five years I spent as Verd’ika before turning 18, I even got my parents into the hobby with me! My mother has a Jawa costume with our sister clubs and is currently working on an Ursa Wren to go with my (slowly-rebuilding) Sabine, and my father is slowly working on a Captain Rex from Star Wars Rebels. My Star Wars family grew beyond my blood family, too – as they say, family is more than blood! – and I was lucky enough to meet people from around the world who I love dearly to this day. It’s weird to start thinking of things in decades (I feel old!), but I wouldn’t have been able to meet the people I have in the last decade without the Verd’ika Corps.

Question 3:

Q: Do you think VC shaped you into the mando you are now?  If so, how?

A: The Verd’ika Corps not only shaped me into the mando I am now, but the person. For one, I get to make everyone around me feel old by reminding them I’m all grown up and responsible now (though I still seem to get adopted by the local clan whenever I travel)! What it really did for me though is that it gave me the space to be a Merc while learning what I wanted that to look like – the room to experiment with my kit and learn new skills (especially new technical skills!) in an easier environment than what a regular Foundling gets. I had five (and a bit) years to look at the costumes around me and make and remake things as I wanted, to learn the CRLs (and BRLs), to be as nitpicky and perfectionist about my own costume as I could be – to trust that when I put in my costume application, I had done work that I could be proud of, and then when I got feedback I knew what to do with it! Sometimes, being a Mythosaur Battalion member can feel a little weird – you’re not quite an adult, but you’re also not a kid anymore. You’re here, building your costume and learning these skills and trooping events because you want to, not because your family have brought you along while they troop. The Verd’ika Corps gave me a way to learn alongside adult foundlings while also recognising that there are unique challenges that come with being a teen!

Question 4:

Q: Was there a particular challenge you really enjoyed doing?  One you didn’t like as much?

A: I’ll admit, I was never the best at finishing the challenges set for us! Between time zones and school and a few other things, I forgot about them more often than not. Having said that, one thing I’m really proud of is that for my final high school ‘major project’, I completely rebuilt my armor from the ground up – I experimented with resin casting and coldcasting techniques, with new (at the time!) 3D printing techniques and software, and made my flightsuit from the ground up – with custom-drafted patterns! Of course, I wasn’t satisfied with it after I finished and I later remade a lot of it, but having a solid understanding of a lot of basic technical skills going into the class from what I’d learnt in the Mercs and as Verd’ika, I could begin to learn more advanced techniques!

Question 5:

Q: When you turned 18-year-old, when did you submit your application to join the Mandalorian Mercs Costume Club?

A: I turned 18 in November 2019, and I think we all remember how 2020 went! Unfortunately, I also was very sick throughout the end of 2019 and continued to struggle against then-undiagnosed chronic illness until midway through 2022 – and this delayed my application to the Mercs a lot. In the end, I was approved in April 2022 about two weeks after I had gotten out of a hospital stay – at Celebration Anaheim 2022, in fact!

Question 6:

Q: If you could go back in time would there be anything you would have done differently?

A: Applied earlier! In hindsight, I likely could’ve applied end of 2019 with the kit I had then – but I wasn’t satisfied with it and knew I could do better, so I spent the next few years making changes and upgrades when I could.

Question 7:

Q: What is your favorite piece of your mandalorian costume?

A: I have a little mesh goodie bag that I keep trophies in on my belt – credits, gemstones, that sort of stuff. Within it I also keep a few momentos that are important to me – a green gemstone shaped and polished into the shape of a kar’ta beskar I made with my ori’vod when visiting one year,  a painted chest diamond I got as a gift from another ori’vod, and a few other things I’ve collected over the years that remind me of the people who make this club so incredible.

Question 8:

Q: What roles have you served in to help other mandos?

A: I’m currently the Ruus’alor Sol’yc of Sandhawk Clan! I first stood for the role in 2023 – less than a year after I was approved! – and I’ve held it since! When I was younger, I also wanted to join both the Tech Team and the App Team – and while I’d still like to get more involved with the club as a whole, I want to give all of my energy to my clan at the moment so we can keep growing!

Question 9:

Q: If you could give any advice to the foundlings of the future what would it be and why?

A: Trust yourself. Trust the knowledge you have and trust that you will never stop gaining more, that you will never stop learning – and trust that that’s the case for everyone around you too, and that they can also learn from you! It can be tempting to rush straight to approvals – and truly, a kit is never finished and always has something new you can do with it! – but it’s okay to not be happy with what your kit looks like now and want to redo parts. At the same time, be proud of yourself and your work! This isn’t an easy hobby, and you’re running ahead of the curve here – remember, there are members a lot older than you struggling with the exact same stuff. Foundlings are the future, and it sure is cute to see a little kid in a bucket and armor – but you, here and now, are the next generation of the club and we can’t wait to see you join us as full-fledged members.