touchstarvedasclones

[touchstarvedasclones]

Q: One thing i wanted to know was whether or not the Clone Commandos undergo the same training as Mandalorian supercommandos would. Meaning would a Mandalorian recruit be taught more than a Clone Commando or would Walon Vau etc hold back on some things for cultural reasons?

A: You'll note there's a reference to Kal Skirata teaching the lads things that weren't in the book - bar-brawl tactics. (You see a lot more of Kal's unique approach in RC:TZ. And Vau's.)

That's a clear indication that each instructor brought their own style to the training they gave their squads. On top of the core military training that all clones had, the Cuy'val Dar (and you'll see hard numbers about them in the GAR article and RC:TZ) each instructor added all their own skills plus core commando training.

And there was a degree of cross-training - commandos would often be taught certain subjects by instructors who weren't their company sergeant. (Like the Sullustan cryptographer in RC:HC.) But the bulk of their time was spent in close contact with their individual sergeant, who had an enormous influence on them, exactly as a parent would.

But don't make the assumption that all Mandalorians soldiers are supercommandos. I have no idea where that came from (I know someone quoted a source) but it wasn't in RC:HC, nor do I agree that they were all Supercommandos by definition. (The numbers were too high, I think.) Once you read my definitions of Mandalorians and how they operate, that'll make more sense.

So...Vau and Skirata aren't Supercommandos. They're special forces soldiers with very individual skills, and they have murky pasts even in Jango's opinion. Both of them have very strong views on Mandalorian culture, and Skirata in particular is a traditionalist. (Remember this when you read RC: TZ.)

A minority of the Cuy'val Dar weren't Mandalorian, and it shows. When Dar refers to the instructors who didn't care what clones felt and treated them much as the Kaminoans did, this was who he was referring to.

By and large, the Mandalorians see the clone commandos as Mando men. It's embedded in their culture to train sons as warriors. So they make terrific training sergeants.

Sadly, Jango couldn't find enough of them to fill all the Cuy'val Dar posts. It meant that most of the seriously bad (and loyal) Mandos were out of circulation for years, remember.

Republic Commando: Triple Zero Q/A (TheForce.Net Message Boards (2005))

[touchstarvedasclones]

Mandalorian Rank Q/A (Star Wars.com, 2005 (Archived))

Q: One thing I was wondering... how would you say "Sir"? I was thinking adika would work, but that's more of a pet name than a term of respect, right?

A: Yep. If you call your boss adika, you better know him really well...

Mandos have a problem with rank. They have a long list of rank-equivalent words, because they needed them to work in various armies, but a has a Mandalore and... well, that's it. They don't use "sir" easily.

They reckon they're as good as the next man; they're informal and they don't like long chains of command. There is a phrase for sir, but it's the more like the "sir" you use if you're working in a shop or waiting on tables. It's almost cheeky, too.

So a Mando would be inclined to use a descriptive instead - exactly like "Sarge" or "Boss" or “Commander". You see that in the way Darman talks to Etain sometimes. He defines her - and himself - by role. The lads aren't really that deferential to officers.

Q: I think that, in ways, Mando rank seems more functional and less... well, "cultural." It's not there as a status quo so much as as a means of functioning. It's only there 'cause it strengthens them.

A: Exactly. They're not status-conscious in the sense of caring about how many stripes or pips someone has. They just want to get the job done. Ironically, they're more co-operative than the average, because they see the objective and then work out what they have to do to achieve it.

Some people enjoy a process for its own sake (classic bureaucracy) and some see process as the means to an end. Mandos are generally the latter type. And because they are self-selecting and not an ethnic group, they attract and retain people with that mindset, and reinforce it.

From an organisational point of view, they would have to have some sort of command hierarchy - the equivalent of platoon sergeants, commanders and so on. That doesn't mean they have those ranks formalised; it looks much more to me like they'd say, "Oh yeah, Atin's good at the stratgeic stuff - so he's leading us, then."

They need to be able to communicate and deploy. It's not that they don't have any chain of command, just that it's not formal and central to their existence, as it is in most armies. You don't hear Mandos talking about their promotion prospects.

And you don't hear much about Mando secretaries of state, cabinets, treasury ministers, bureaucracies...they just don't take well to big organisational structures. They're nomads.

They're used to fighting in any number of armies. They just slot in where needed without much effort.

Their army - for want of a better word - is what we call in business a "flat pyramid" - a very simple chain of command with a lot of people at the ground level and few on top.

They're so organised and disciplined as individuals that their main need is for communications and definitions of objectives, not control by officers. Their mode of combat is based on small groups (which are the most cohesive) that assemble into larger ones when needed. It's all about function, not status.

This explains why Jango can lay his hands on experienced sergeants for the Cuy'val Dar.

(Sergeants run armies. Many officers spend their whole career thinking that they're in command, and nobody has the heart to tell them otherwise. * ) A sergeant is one of those automatic human pecking orders that emerge - the dominant person in a small group.

The only status thing is Mandalore - and even then the Mandalore is accountable.

Q: Montross, wore silver armor with a blue outline- the same Jango wore later

A: I've never seen armour colour linked to rank. I do explore how Mandos choose armour colour in TZ and elsewhere, but it's more complex than that. Look at the RCs.

Most of them adopted the Mando tradition of individualising armour with paint. That says clearly to me that there was no true uniform and that colour did not indicate rank among Mando'ade.

Kal Skirata's armour is a certain colour for a specific reason that has nothing to do with rank, but about the mission he has set himself in life. (Colours have great significance for Mandos.)

Now, Jaster might well have tried to introduce more formality. It didn't get him very far, great guy though he was. Mandos are very much individual hunters bound by a common culture and who group up for the communal good when needed, but they like to maintain their individual and clan identities.

Anyone who tries to organise them formally might as well try herding cats. It'd be easier.

It's what's kept them alive. Fast, fluid, unpredictable, and unpindownable.

[touchstarvedasclones]

Captain Sexy- um Rex anyone?

Tysm for this beautiful commission. I LOVE him! @pinkiemme

[touchstarvedasclones]

One of my FAVORITE Star Wars TCW fanfic tropes is when they ham up these interactions:

Jedi: *says something wise about the Force*

Clone Troopers: ... wth??

[touchstarvedasclones]

“way to miss the point” no mako that’s mandalorian for he’s very cute

[touchstarvedasclones]

Idk where this came from tbh just felt like sharing my Foxiyo angst with the world 🫡

(I may have sketched this whole thing out before realizing that *that part* with Vader and Fox takes place on a ship, not on the ground… forgive me)

((Also please ignore any weird crops. I blame Tumblr’s image compression habits))

[touchstarvedasclones]

this is so shit bro

[touchstarvedasclones]

one star war viewing experience that i think has been totally 100% lost to time / cultural dominance: obi-wan being a mysterious and lowkey dubious figure in a new hope. he’s introduced doing this absolutely terrifying screech (which he never does again? before or since?), in a cloak with his face covered (classic villain coding, also very close to the emperor’s exact look) and this comes after a build up of him being some “old wizard” luke is told is dead, that he shouldn’t be going to see at all—and his dialogue only raises more questions than answers. a big part of it is alec guinness’ expert ptsd performance, of course, but there’s such a real strangeness to obi-wan’s debut. he’s a mentor, but he’s also a hardened warrior, also a deliverer of some incredibly ominous lines, also a disembodied voice, an undead, unkillable entity. i don’t think it was some accident that the “fake twist” used to hide the real twist in empire was that obi-wan killed luke’s father, is all i’m saying really. i think there’s an undercurrent in anh that, as the jedi/obi-wan/star war grew in popular culture and the light side/dark side lore got more ironed out, isn’t really accessible now. but it’s fun

[touchstarvedasclones]

Star Wars - Alien Archive: A Guide to the Species of the Galaxy

Deep in the stacks of the Graf Archive, an old traveller’s journal has been discovered and restored for public viewing. A long time ago this unknown traveller documented his stories about the many creatures found in each destination he explored, and includes famous movie locations such as the Mos Eisley cantina on Tatooine, Maz’s Castle and the holy city of Jedha. The archivist restored this journal and added facts and stats about the cultures, legends and famous members of over 200 species, including famous characters such as Chewbacca, Ahsoka, Wicket and many more. “Unable to authenticate the author, and therefore the accuracy of the stories within the journal, we have paired some of the content that has not been destroyed by age with data entries from our scientific records.  With details of over two hundred aliens from across galatic history, we are happy to restore this enigmatic journal for public viewing.  –Xoddam Lothipp, Deputy Director, Graf Archive” (aka, it’s an in-universe reference book, so it’s reasonably accurate, but some things may be added for artistic license or not wholly accurate, but from the POV of the “author” of the journal!  Which makes for a fascinating in-universe reference book!)

[touchstarvedasclones]

[Image Description: Paz Vizsla drawn in the style of @magichandthing’s Clan Leader AU. He has fangs attached to his helmet and carries a very large weapon in his hands. One end is a mace and the other is a battle axe. His full sleeve, chest, and back tattoos are on display.]

This is my version of CL!Paz from @magichandthing Clan Leader AU. Paz’s Tribe lives near the sea, hence the Viking inspiration. <3

📚 My Master List 📚

[touchstarvedasclones]

Fox sometimes exhausted in ever sense of the word, will take some food from the mess, lather it across the paper plate, and eat the whole thing.

Plate included.

[touchstarvedasclones]

One of my favourite tropes in fanfic is the clones trying to get their Jedi to wear some armour. My friend however, suggested a very fun solution to the clones their issue.

Paint ball guns.

The clones start carrying around paint ball guns and try to hit their General’s and Jedi Commanders wherever they are exposed.

But just imagine they are in the middle of a meeting, and one of the clones just whips out a paint ball gun and tries to shoot their commanding officer.

“This wouldn’t have happened if you were wearing armour, sir.”

[touchstarvedasclones]

If Obi-Wan had actually stayed on Mandalore with Satine after the Civil War and left the Jedi Order, it would've made The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones peak comedy.

Like, Qui-Gon would still be sent to Naboo and end up on Tatooine, he'd still meet Anakin and take him back to the Temple. But, in this AU, he survives the battle on Theed and takes Anakin as his padawan. And the entire Order would be making jokes:

"Congrats on the new padawan! Hope he sticks around longer than the last one!" "We'll keep this one off the bodyguard missions, eh Qui-Gon?"

So one day little Anakin’s like "hey master, what happened to your last padawan?" And Qui-Gon's like "oh he ran off with a girl, yeah he's royalty in the Outer Rim now".

And it's all fine and dandy until Anakin’s nineteen and they get assigned to protect Padmé, and Qui-Gon takes one look at this kid's face and thinks "You've got to be fucking kidding me, this shit again??"

[touchstarvedasclones]

Palpatine: My boy, I'm afraid to report that Master Kenobi is very likely sleeping with your wife.

Anakin, who knows for a fact that Obi-Wan is sleeping with his Commander, a good chunk of Ghost company, the Organas and Quinlan Vos: ...where is he finding the fucking time???

Palpatine, oblivious: Oh I've heard from some very reliable sources that-

Anakin: *pulls out a spexcel spreadsheet, the 3rd System Army's shared spoogle calender and a calculator*

Anakin: Your Excellency. That's just. not logistically possible.

[touchstarvedasclones]

struck by the idea where, For Reasons, plan saddest desert hermit doesn't get off the ground and team proto-rebellion have to pivot and pivot fast.

chucking the conspiracy equivalent of a uey at 100mph on the highway, and everyone involved is sleep deprived, stressed as fuck, and experiencing y'know, several levels of Devastating Grief.

the person with the brain cell is bail organa, a man who in canon spends like 20 fucking years playing ding dong ditch with a genocidal psychic space wizard and his boss, an even more genocidal space wizard. This man is not lacking in gumption, one can say. he is possessed of life threatening amounts of chutzpah, one might also say, except that he spends twenty years winning the ding dong ditch match with, again, a genocidal fascist dictatorship which includes two genocidal psychic space wizards who literally know he was in tight with the genocided group of space wizards plus the [mumble] number of other murderous genocidal space wizards, plus the rest of the non-space wizard space fascist cohort.

So. What does a man with a spine of steel, a heart as big as a planet, and more gumption than anyone should possess do, when plan 'split up the kids and hide the most famous man in the galaxy on the saddest hell planet' is a no go?

lie. lie like a fucking rug.

What's palpatine going to do? day one of the empire, his super awesome chosen one space wizard makeover project is still in progress and not yet wheezing his way into the galaxy's nightmares, and bail fucking organa strolls into the imperial senate with:

one (1) baby (female)

one (1) baby (male)

several (~20+) aides and various hangers on, including;

one (1) brown haired blue eyed man who could, if you squinted a bit, probably get third place in a general kenobi lookalike competition, were those now not super duper illegal

Sidious, of course, could be like A JEDI KILL HIM TRAITOR ETC, but, crucially, his wheezing attack dog is still on the lab table getting seven inches added to his height and cup holders installed, or whatever the fuck skeevy sheev added in as extras. Palpatine is an old guy who is still trading on being A Beloved Grandfather who was Reluctant To Take The Throne, and is still easing the galaxy into the whole, y'know, we're a fascist empire now, kneel or perish.

Palpatine, on day one of the empire, can't point at bail fucking organa and be like HABOURING A TRAITOR unless he is really, really sure, like 110% sure, because it's bail fucking organa and every goddamn senator will baulk like a horse at a plastic bag if he accuses, again, the senator of alderaan of high treason on day one of the empire.

A secret rebellion is fine, if not ideal; you can theoretically stamp it out, and, also, it's small, percentage wise.

The entire fucking galaxy thinking that, hey, if the guy in charge is going to go after fucking alderaan, what's to stop him going after us? bigger problem. huge problem. original trilogy kinda touched on that one. Day one of the empire, everyone is still basically on war footing, and fuck man, if alderaan is copping it....maybe this empire isn't great after all. maybe we can make our OWN empire, with a different emperor.

Would palps win? eh maybe. would it destroy all credibility forever and ever amen? yeah. the difference between a 'legally installed emperor' and 'a dictator we must overthrow' is how willing the galaxy is to lick boot, and there's not yet the fear of The Empire black bagging you to keep those tongues going.

so. palpatine can't say shit. palpatine can imply shit, palpatine can get his lackies to say shit. but, crucially, palpatine himself can't say fuck all about the goddamn kenobi lookalike that is now following after organa and wiping his kid's little butts and playing gofer and whatever else.

and what's more believable? bail fucking organa is hiding a traitor, or bail organa and his wife have a situationship with a guy who looks sort of a bit like a former general? the same kind of situationship that like, half the senate has had at one point or another with a guy (or guys) who looked sort of a bit like said ex-general. go to any high level business and/or political building, you'll find half a dozen guys who look vaguely like said hot ex-general, and many of them will have a more or less (often less) accurate coruscanti-ish accent. or will develop one.

(hey, it's a niche. gotta pay the bills somehow, and if you get the job because you dyed your hair and grew a beard, well, you're still using your political science degree, right?)

of course, that only holds for so long, but by that point it's been, y'know, a while. and that looks worse in a different way -- what, kenobi was fucking walking around in front of the whole imperial senate, and none of them noticed? absolutely not, all credibility is gone forever.

which means. that palpatine and the organas are stuck in a full on staring match about this guy who is 100% for sure not kenobi, because -- well. he can't be kenobi. becuase that would look bad. but also. it's kenobi. but also. it can't be kenobi.

(vader takes one look at this guy who looks like his master kenobi and then rolls his eyes, because he has already met aproximately 90,000 people who look vaugely like his master and he got very good at picking out how the newest one was not kenobi his master by the time he was a senior padawan.)

[touchstarvedasclones]

We don’t talk about Leia killing Jabba enough. Her grandmother and father were born into slavery. Her blood was that of the desert sand and the shackles of bondage. Leia was never more a Skywalker than the day she strangled her slave master with the very chains he used to bind her. The daughter of Anakin Skywalker was the one who killed Tatooine’s most notorious slaver, and I find that really beautiful.

[touchstarvedasclones]

R2-D2's favoritism towards Anakin is so funny like, he's canonically the most foul-mouthed, ill-tempered, grump old cat-coded droid. The cute appearance is only an illusion to lure you in just so he can tase you, and maybe also kick you from behind just because he wants to. Even the disney princess Obi-Wan loved by all animals on first sight doesn't get along with R2. But he just. likes. Anakin. He's the wingman, he's emotional support, he's a good helper in battle. He carries snacks and checks if Anakin is hungry. He looks at this also ill-tempered angsty goth kid and said, yep that's my bff. Meanwhile Anakin goes around saying things like R2 is such a sweetheart 😌he's a little angel he's literally the best buddy anyone could ask for and I will risk my life to save him. Everyone else just looks like the demon droid and be like what the fuck are you talking about.