#anti mandoclones

[antianakin]

I'd love more fics where someone asks the clones if they identify as Mandos or something and the clones all go "No, those poeple SUCK, who would ever willingly be a Mandalorian??? All they do is kill each other and destroy their own planet. Even the supposedly peaceful ones are arrogant assholes. I'd literally choose to be anything else before I'd ever choose to be a Mandalorian."

More fics where the clones have spent so much time forced to be at war and enough time connecting with the Jedi that even the CONCEPT of being a Mandalorian sounds like a fucking NIGHTMARE to them. Imagine WANTING to be like the people whose whole core culture is about going to war and hating the Jedi? The clones can't relate.

More fics where the clones just AVOID Mando culture entirely. They don't speak the language because they just have zero interest in it, none of them like the taste of Mando food very much, and none of the little Mando traditions seem that interesting or compelling.

A clone sleeps with a sex worker one night and she tries to be seductive by using a Mando endearment she knows and it's an immediate turn off for the clone.

More fics where giving armor to each other isn't this huge meaningful thing. Armor gets lost and damaged all the time, so even if they gave it to someone as a gift, the chances that it would last very long are pretty minimal. The paint designs are meaningful as one of the few ways they distinguish themselves from each other, but it's not more meaningful than their hair choices or tattoos. They don't technically OWN the armor, but their hair and skin is attached to them, which actually makes armor LESS meaningful than hair choices or tattoos. They certainly don't try to marry each other with armor, armor is the most meaningless gift to give someone else. Giving armor to someone is a practical act, not a romantic gesture.

More fics where clones just... AREN'T MANDOS AT ALL. They're CLONES, they're their own distinct thing with their own distinct experiences that would coalesce into their own distinct traditions and cultures.

And more fics where the clones are actually influenced more by JEDI culture than they are by Mando culture because ffs there is not a single Mando character in canon who gave a flying shit about the clones or ever spent a single ounce of time with them, but there were THOUSANDS of Jedi living and fighting and dying with the clones for THREE YEARS STRAIGHT. There is NO culture they'd be more exposed to in a positive way than Jedi culture, and it is honestly criminally underexplored as an influence on clone culture in fics. Where are the clones exploring non-attachment as a concept and realizing that most of them ALSO have no real interest in marriage or kids? Where are the clones studying Jedi philosophies and finding a lot of comfort in them and passing them along to other clones and Jedi philosophies and sayings end up becoming really common among the clones? Where are fics where the clones become some of the most accepting and tolerant people specifically because they learned that from the Jedi?

The clones deserve to be more like the Jedi and deserve so much better than to end up Mandos. I cannot think of a worse fate for the clones, and they've already been through a lot of bullshit.

[lieutenant-teach]

Trying Karen Traviss 'Republic Commando' (critical)

I’ve read loads of criticism on Karen Traviss ‘Republic Commando’ books. Despite being weaponized with knowledge of her treatment of Jedi and Mandalorians, decided to read anyway, because clones! Though I’m in the camps of ‘anti-Mandoclones’ and ‘pro-jedi’, and from my previous reading experience I know my whole being protests when I see even an ounce of Jedi-criticism both in books and fics, I still thought – maybe, at least the plot will be interesting? And clones!

Well… I lasted about 10 pages (was reading from an e-book, so it’s hard to tell) of the first novel of the series, ‘Hard contact’.

I’d even ignore anti-Jedi stuff that starts from the very beginning – as if I would believe the Jedi would treat the clones as ‘created for war, so they must be used for war’.

First thing that started to turn me off – the treatment of common clones, ‘regs’. The main characters immediately began to smell disgustingly like The Bad Batch. They have special training, they see each other as ‘family’ – unlike these regular clones! They are even treated poorly by the ‘regs’, poor things! :(

The second – the language. A lot of Mando’a words that are referenced in the end of the book. Thanks to fics, I know several terms, but in next books I scrolled through – whole incomprehensible dialogues in Mando’a! Seriously?! 1st, technically uncomfortable, 2nd – disrespect to the readers.

And the main reason that made me delete all these books – it’s written boringly. Plain boringly. I guess it’s just her journalist-influenced style, but still – one more reason not to read her.

[roseaesynstylae]

When it comes to the whole “Mandoclone” thing, my headcanon/opinion is that some clones (SOME) are into Mandalorian culture and consider themselves Mandalorian, but many clones are into various cultures and consider themselves part of them. There are Corellian clones. There are Chandrillan clones. There are clones like Howzer who have been adopted by Twi’leks and consider themselves part of the culture. There are clones who have adopted Jedi beliefs and traditions. There are clones who have adopted pieces of Mandalorian culture (ie, jaig eyes) but aren’t otherwise involved. There are clones who have taken little bits from wherever they’ve been stationed and combined them. There are clones who make their own thing that isn’t really connected to a specific culture. There are clones who are deeply devoted to religions they found when they were on planets like Jedha. There are clones who get culture from other clones and pass it on. Yes, there are Mandalorian clones, but they’re a part of a melting pot whole, not the standard.

[lieutenant-teach]

Wandering around the galaxy, ex-Commander Cody and little Din Djarin meet an unexpected adversary, and Cody learns about a new burden he acquired unknowingly. 2/3 part (1 part), (part 3).

Cody enjoyed the planet Trask - being away from the Core Worlds, it remained unscathed by the Clone Wars; being small, not densely populated and lacking valuable resources, it wasn’t occupied by the Empire that aimed at most important and valuable planets and systems. No matter how much Cody disliked the Outer Rim for its mostly criminal population and their shady occupations, now he was glad to catch some breath in there.

Especially while he had a kid on his hands.

Din turned out to be a not very problematic child, though quite different from the cadets on Kamino. Not physically trained, which is a huge minus when you’re on the run. But, like a cadet, he didn’t complain about lack of comfort and stability in such life, though Cody tried his best to provide him with food better than rations. Regrettably, it required more sallies on the surfaces of various planets, thus it was more dangerous for both of them. Cody shuddered from a mere thought what the Empire would do if they were caught.

Apart from physical comfort, Cody attempted to give at least a little bit of emotional comfort to the kid. At times Din woke up crying, and Cody held him until the boy fell asleep again, exhausting himself from tears. At these moments Cody felt like breaking apart a bit every time, pressing Din to the chest, listening to his occasional whimpering in his sleep. The kid deserved a normal life, not all of this disaster happening to the Galaxy.

He felt both proud at a little brave cadet and bitter at a child forced to grow up too quickly when Din asked to teach him shooting.

They’d spent several days in the town in some kind of a ratty tavern, avoiding unnecessary questions and suspicions, as they easily passed for a father and a son due to similar complexion and hair and eye colour. Cody worried that he would be recognized for his distinct face, but not yet – the locals had never acquainted a Jango Fett clone before, and all the Republican propaganda portrayed troopers only in full armour, a very clever way to erase personalities. Though he continued to pull down the hood when walking the streets – just in case.

When one day they met someone from Cody’s past. Or, more precisely, from Kenobi’s past.

Cody felt someone was watching them. So did Din – the boy was glancing around nervously and squeezing Cody’s hand tighter. Cody lowered another hand near the blaster; if the follower was daring enough, they’d shoot right in the centre of the market brimming with unsuspecting citizens. And then he recognized a face in the crowd, watching him like a hawk. He raised an eyebrow, the person nodded to the street corner nearby, inviting for a talk.

– Where did you take the kid? – she attacked him with a low voice as soon as they turned the angle. Din hid behind Cody at the harshness.

– Hello there, Duchess Kryze, - Cody answered curtly. – I deserted.

– And still wearing their armour? – her hand was hovering over her own blaster, her posture tense as a nexu ready to strike.

– Better something than nothing, - he shrugged. – Why are you here? – He thought with regret that they’d have to leave the planet – if he met Bo-Katan Kryze, an heiress of Mandalore, who knows who else might hang around there.

– Why should I believe you? – she gripped her blaster, ignoring his query. – Who’s to say you don’t want to… - her eyes widened, she even took a step back. – How did you get it?!

– What? – Cody was taken aback, then he moved his free hand that wasn’t covering Din to the hilt of a saber on his belt.

– The Darksaber. How did you get it? – she hissed, her face twisting with anger.

Losing the blaster while fighting off the pirates intending to ransack your ship and sell the kid you take care of into slavery wasn’t fortunate. There were just too many for one man, as tough as Cody was – if not for Din’s shout ‘Cody! There!’ and him throwing something he dug seconds before from the mud. First Cody thought it was some dagger, but when the air hissed and enlightened with a brilliant black blade shining white on the razor-sharp edges and producing threatening buzz – he realized it was something different. Lucky him, he still remembered several lightsaber-wielding lessons General Kenobi gave him back during the war.

The saber was heavier than the General’s, almost non-cooperative, his first swings were clumsy and messy. But Cody knew he had to protect the kid, and with each movement the blade became lighter and lighter.

Still, Cody preferred non-Jedi weapons. So after fighting he disengaged it and clipped to a familiar spot on his belt – again, just in case of an attack. There weren’t many helpful blades conveniently lying around and waiting to be picked up during a skirmish, after all.

– Found it, - he shrugged again, playing nonchalant, mentally working out the ways of retreating.

Bo-Katan squeezed the fists, she was burning with barely controlled rage, though Cody couldn’t understand the reason. He remembered vaguely it was some Mandalorian weapon of historical significance – maybe, that was why she was so unhappy? She wanted a part of her culture back.

– You have no claim to this sword! – Bo-Katan raised her voice, then caught herself at a possibility of attracting unwanted attention of the passers-by and continued a bit softer: - This is a Mandalorian weapon, not designed for such like you! You have no right to wield it!

– I don’t have any ‘claim’, and you’re scaring the kid, - Cody intoned his ‘commander’ voice that some especially impressionable troopers called ‘regal’. Din mumbled ‘I’m not scared’ from behind his back and stepped a bit forward as if ready to confront Bo-Katan by himself. She threw a dirty look at the boy and turned her attention to Cody again, looking at him with thinned lips and narrowed eyes.

– According to an old Mandalorian tradition, whoever wields the Darksaber has the claim to the Mandalorian throne. But only in case of an honest fight.

– Duchess, I never intended to get involved in Mandalorian politics, - Cody felt an unpleasant feeling that despite his wishes he was getting tangled into something quite unsavory. – You can take the saber and overthrow your Governor Saxon or whatever, I’m not a part of it. – He knew this woman wasn’t sharing the peaceful policy of her sister, but frankly (and quite meanly) Cody didn’t give a flying kark about Mandalore. He knew these people had always had civil wars now and then ignited by their biggest ruling clans, and it couldn’t be worse than the Imperial occupation now. He even felt pity for Mandalorian citizens if all they wanted was to live in peace. Although, New Mandalorians were a very fresh change as per info he read, but the peace historically never lasted long on Mandalore.

But also there was one thing that turned almost all the clone troopers off while mentioning Mandalorians.

– I cannot just ‘take it’, - Bo-Katan spat and raised her chin proudly. – A true Mand’Alor must win it in a battle. Fairly speaking, I even feel insulted challenging such a disgrace to a Mandalorian. Dar’manda.

– Disgrace? – For one small second Cody’s stomach fell of rising fury born out of utter hypocrisy of this woman who had her opinions shared by all her compatriots. He didn’t even notice Din flinching as his voice dropped so low it was freezing cold as Hoth. – Did I ask to be created like this? Did any of us have any say in it? You dare to call me ‘soulless’ – where were you? – He stepped forward almost menacingly. – Where were you all, when millions of Mandalorian clones were being created and used in a war and discarded when ‘defective’, used as chipped puppets to kill the Jedi, who actually cared about us? So noble, so proud, so honorable Mandalorians – did you care about us? We, born Mandalorian, were never ever considered by all of you even as sentients, much less a part of you. We protected you – and you call me ‘disgrace’? Just because we were unfortunate enough to have some Mandalorian as our donor?

Bo-Katan clearly never expected such harshness and such words, moreover, it never ever crossed her mind – she even backed a bit, looking at Cody with surprise.

– You say this sword makes me your king? – Cody grabbed it from his belt and squeezed in his hand. – Who would even want to be your king? A people, who cannot live peacefully even on their own planet! Tearing themselves apart time and time again because of what – difference in traditions? At least we had a community – we, ‘disgraces’, as you love to call us.

Bo-Katan blinked, as if really seeing Cody for the first time. Cody exhaled sharply, only now realizing he was shaking with helpless rage – of unfairness, of disgust, of all this pain never noticed by the Republic. He steadied himself, composing his expression again. Glanced at Din, who was looking at him with a weird mixture of compassion, fear and determination. 

– Take the sword, Lady Kryze, - Cody held out the hilt. – I reclaim my responsibilities that I obtained unknowingly.

– I cannot, - she didn’t hold out her own hand. – Challenge is obligatory.

– Then let the Empire and its minions continue ruining your people. Whatever, Duchess, - he threw the Darksaber into the mud to her feet. – I’ve said my piece.

[antianakin]

So the Jedi who left the Order to be a Mando and then came back from this post is around during the Clone War and ends up in charge of a battalion and maybe a couple of clones express interest in what being Mandalorian was like and if they could talk about it and the Jedi goes, "Yeah sure, it fucking sucked, they all HATE each other unless you're in the right group or the right family or whatever. And of course all Mandos hate anybody who ISN'T Mando because obviously everyone who isn't a Mando is untrustworthy. The food stinks, the planet's destroyed for at LEAST several more generations, and they're all pretty arrogant blowhards. They have some nice stained glass, but honestly if you like art, you can go to plenty of other planets and find beautiful art, the stained glass isn't THAT good."

The clones dutifully pass this along to other clones in other battalions and eventually all the clones know that Mandos just kinda suck. It makes sense, Jango sucked and he was also Mandalorian, so it's certainly not a shocking revelation. Now they know, and they can move on with their lives.

[antianakin]

I'd love to see more people coming up with explanations for how Cody got his name that have nothing to do with Mando'a at all or even with Mandalorians of any kind. If anybody has a favorite or fun headcanon for how Cody got his name that NOTHING TO DO with those things, let me know!

[antianakin]

The Mando fan instinct to see any random clone act the bare minimum level of friendly towards a child and go "OMG it's the Mando adoption gene!" is so funny to someone who remembers most Mandos have ended up really shitty parents in canon and that Mando bullshit has like next to no impact on the clones' culture and personalities in canon.

The Mando fan instinct to see any random clone act the bare minimum level of friendly towards a child and go "OMG it's the Jango Fett Mando Adoption Genes" is so funny to someone who remembers that Jango Fett is someone who intentionally created several MILLION offspring just so he could sell them off as weapons. He gets ONE CHILD out of that bargain. I'm not sure I'd count that as an instinct towards adopting tons of children, personally. The enslaving of like 99.99% of the children he could claim as his sort-of outweighs the acquisition of the one.

[antianakin]

Mandoclone fans: The Jedi MUST call the clones "vod/vod'e" or it's disrespectful because this is their CHOSEN NAME for themselves.

Same Mandoclone fans: The clones will exclusively refer to the Jedi as "jetii" and use the terms tubie/cadet/shiny instead of youngling/initiate/padawan, despite the fact that the Jedi would never call themselves by any of these terms. The clones also continue to refer to the Jedi as "Generals" in a post-war fix-it AU regardless of whether the Jedi even ARE Generals anymore or how comfortable the Jedi are with the titles.

[antianakin]

Literally why the fuck would a clone consider their helmet to be their "real face"?

They only JUST started being allowed to paint their helmets with individual designs after the war began, none of the clones who show up to Geonosis have anything that looks particularly unique (there's a few clones with different colored paint, presumably to denote rank of some sort, but the design is always the same even if the color isn't). So if they DID start thinking of the helmets as their "real face," it would be a pretty new thing for them and not one with a ton of history behind it.

And even after the war starts, it's ONLY once you leave Kamino that you get to have a helmet or armor with any kind of personalized design, the uniforms we see the Domino and Bravo squads wearing aren't personalized at all (again, there's color differences in order to denote which squad you're a part of, but nothing personalized to the actual clone themselves). So they wouldn't exactly have any sort of tradition of feeling like their helmet is their "real face" since most of the time, their helmets are intended to look just as identical as their regular faces.

Also, the clones would still primarily only have a "real face" later in life, so what does that say about how much time they spend without a helmet with a design? We know they take on their own NAMES before they leave Kamino, so it's not like they don't have identities, they just don't have a "face." They don't even get given a "real face" upon graduating and getting assigned somewhere, they have to wait until they're not "shinies" anymore before they get more personalized paint jobs. If the helmet were really their "face," it seems more likely that they'd want to let the new soldiers paint it as soon as possible instead of making them EARN the right to an identity. It just feels so nonsensical.

We also see the clones taking their helmets off pretty often, certainly any time they're not actively in danger or on a mission, and sometimes even then just to make communication with someone else easier (especially if that person ISN'T wearing armor, like the Jedi). Aside from one moment in the pilot episode with Yoda and the three clones with him (which would fall under the category of still being in danger and on a mission), we never see the clones reluctant to take off their helmets or having to be asked to take them off when interacting with others. That moment also emphasizes for the clones that their armor ISN'T who they are, and that their humanity is something inside of them, but that they shouldn't feel the need to hide their faces simply because they're identical to someone else's. And if we assume most Jedi probably had similar moments with their own battalions, a LOT of clones would likely end up actually learning NOT to associate their identity with their armor and be much more comfortable with their faces showing.

In fact, there's a whole DIFFERENT moment a few seasons later where Rex is speaking to Krell and he takes his helmet OFF to emphasize his point about the clones being men, indicating that the helmet actually makes them more FACELESS and therefore easier to see as closer to machines/droids than real people. It's the face UNDERNEATH the helmet that makes them human, not the helmet itself. They might all share the same face, but that face is the one that shows emotion, that can cry, that can smile, that can speak, that can connect with someone else. Regardless of how many other people share it, that's still their real face, not the cold emotionless helmet that too often gets used to pretend the clones aren't people at all.

[antianakin]

"Removing a Mandalorian identity from the clones entirely does them just as much of a disservice as saying they're ONLY Mandalorian"

Does it though?

Does it REALLY?

Where in ACTUAL CANON do they ever discuss being Mandalorian at all?

Where in ACTUAL CANON do they ever mention WANTING to be considered Mandalorian?

Where in ACTUAL CANON do they ever speak Mando'a?

Where in ACTUAL CANON do they ever discuss having a connection to Mandalorian culture?

Where in ACTUAL CANON do they ever mention a preference for Mandalorian (or even just spicy) food?

Where in ACTUAL CANON do we see them ever trying to make connections with other Mandalorians on the basis of a shared heritage/culture?

Where in ACTUAL CANON do we see them trying to learn more about Mandalorian culture?

Where in ACTUAL CANON do we see them practicing any of the more well-known Mandalorian traditions?

Where in ACTUAL CANON do we even see them treating things like their armor the way we see Mandalorians treat their armor?

Literally, if you are not DEEP in the lore or in the fandom, and all you knew about the clones came from their ACTUAL CANON CONTENT, you would never ever know there was any sort of connection between the clones and the Mandalorians at all.

What IS important to the clones' identity is the war/being soldiers, the Jedi, and being clones/their time on Kamino. THOSE are the things that get brought up over and over when we do explore the clones a little more in ACTUAL CANON CONTENT. You CANNOT remove those things from them without removing incredibly vital aspects of who they are.

But you CAN ignore any kind of Mandalorian connection because, quite simply, IT ISN'T ACTUALLY THERE. What little you can claim to be there is BY NO MEANS anywhere near as prevalent as everything else that has no connection to being Mandalorian at all. Remove the Mando'a, remove the spicy food, remove the "Mando adopting children gene" bullshit, remove the importance of the armor, and you never lose anything that truly makes the clones WHO THEY ARE. The only reason any of that seems important is because fanon/fandom have decided it's important to THEM because Mandalorians are popular in that area. But it has never actually been important to the way the clones are written in CANON.

So no, I'm sorry, but removing Mandalorian identity from the clones entirely is NOT actually just as much of an injustice as making them wholly Mandalorian. It just isn't.

[antianakin]

That's probably the only good thing to ever come out of Filoni not giving a shit about the clones as characters or telling their story! If he cared more, they'd be more overtly Mandos maybe, but because he cares so little and has relegated all Mando connections to a few minor design choices and nothing else, I am free to make the argument that it is not TECHNICALLY canon that the clones are actually considered Mandos in-universe or that the clones would actually ever consider THEMSELVES Mandos in-universe.

Like, on the one hand, I wish we got more clone-focused stories, for sure, but on the other hand, I really don't want more clone-focused stories because at this point I feel like it'd just end up super disappointing and derivative. Maybe it's a good thing they're being left alone for now.

Listen, there is a difference between "The clones being Mandalorian is a headcanon that works" and "The clones being Mandalorian is the intended canonical reading."

Yes, there's a few extremely minor design choices that, if you are IMMENSELY familiar with Mandalorian Legends content and a very eagle-eyed viewer, seem to indicate a connection between a few of the clones and that identity (although at least one of those design choices is just a symbol for a Mando ship which could just as easily be a connection to that kind of ship rather than anything to do with it being Mando specifically).

But if you do not know these symbols by heart already and aren't specifically looking for it, you'll never notice that connection.

You know what WOULD have shown more of a connection between the clones and being Mando? Having the clones actually SAY SOMETHING about it when they're confronted with canonical Mandalorians. Rex and Cody (and several of their men) spend an entire episode on a Mandalorian ship surrounded by Mandalorians and never make a single mention of it. Rex and the 332nd all go to Mandalore to save it from Maul and there isn't a single indication that anybody involved considers there to be a connection between the clones and Mandalore. As far as Rex and the clones are concerned, this is just another mission and there's far more visual connection to Ahsoka than there is anything Mandalorian. And then Sabine meets Rex, Gregor, and Wolffe on Seelos and spends quite a lot of time working with Rex afterward and there's never any indication of them connecting over a shared Mandalorian identity.

You would think, if the writers wanted there to be a CLEAR OVERT CANONICAL CONNECTION between the clones and the Mandalorians, they'd have taken advantage of these multiple opportunities to do so, but they didn't. These were both shows for CHILDREN, they're not all that subtle when they want you to know something. If the audience was supposed to understand that the clones were Mandalorians, they'd have said so. You can argue that some of this is just because Lucas had Jango's Mandalorian identity stripped in TCW for his own purposes, but that doesn't explain everything in Rebels or TCW season 7 when Lucas was no longer that involved (and Filoni was clearly making changes to how the Mandalorians were being represented anyway, so if he WANTED to make the clones Mandalorian, he could've done so).

Being Mandalorian does not seem to be a specific ethnicity. Jango is played by someone who is Polynesian, but he's the ONLY Mandalorian we ever see with that ethnicity and there seems to be a wide variety of ethnicities among the people who do identify as being Mandalorian. Being Mandalorian appears to be more of a NATIONALITY. You are Mandalorian because you were either born within the Mandalore system yourself or because you are the child (biological or adopted) of a Mandalorian. The clones are neither. They are obviously not born anywhere near the Mandalore system and the only person who might be considered their "father" never acknowledges them as his children (depending on your source, he actually considers them basically chattel and not people at all). So the clones cannot claim Mandalorian heritage through the location of their birth OR through their parentage. Jango is not their father, he has never BEEN their father, and he would probably vehemently deny being their father if anyone had the ability to ask him about it.

It also feels worth nothing that, while The Mandalorian did re-canonize Jango's own connection to being Mandalorian, they did NOT make Boba a Mandalorian. Din straight up ASKS Boba if he's a Mandalorian and Boba says no. Boba confirms that Jango was a Mandalorian foundling, but he DOES NOT take the identity for himself. He uses it a little to convince Din to let him take the armor back, but that's more about appealing to DIN'S values than it is indicative of Boba's own. To Boba, it's important because it's a connection to his father and because, you know, it's his and it was stolen from him. It's not important for the reasons Sabine seems to lay out when she describes her armor as being a connection to 500 generations of her family or whatever.

So if Boba, who DOES arguably have a claim to consider himself Mandalorian through his connection to Jango, does not actually consider himself a Mando, why would the CLONES automatically be Mandalorian? When they had the opportunity to explicitly make Boba a Mandalorian again, they chose NOT TO, so why would I ever believe that the intended understanding about the clones is that they are all automatically Mandalorian just because they happen to look like Jango?

If you want to headcanon the clones as Mandalorian, go right ahead, nobody is stopping you. But let's not pretend that it's CANON that the clones are all Mandalorian or that we the audience were expected to see them as Mandalorian. It is just as canon to say that they AREN'T Mandalorian and have never felt any connection to being Mandalorian as it is to claim the opposite. And there's a lot more evidence to support the idea that they're not.

[antianakin]

I feel like there's WAY more attention paid to armor than tattoos in clone culture within fandom and I think tattoos deserve more attention than they get (and armor less). Because yes, we do obviously see different armor designs and the like, but we also see a LOT of clones wearing pretty much the exact same armor design as a lot of other clones (the Doylist explanation for this is obviously that the animators weren't going to come up with separate armor designs for every single background clone, but I'm taking a Watsonian approach here), whereas any time a clone has a tattoo somewhere, it's never the same thing twice.

Armor designs are fun, they're nice, but armor breaks and gets lost while the tattoos are on their bodies FOREVER. We've also seen a few clones who have armor designs that match their tattoos, and I'm headcanoning that the tattoos came FIRST. So even some of the clones who we DON'T see have matching tattoos to their armor designs probably actually do somewhere. So like Waxer and Boil didn't just put Numa on their helmets, helmets get broken and destroyed, they got her face tattooed on their bodies somewhere, too. Rex has the shriek hawk eyes tattooed somewhere. Cody has the sunburst tattooed. If the design means something to them, it's been tattooed on their bodies, too.

I want more shared tattoos between clones who care about each other, too. Probably not the same as the one they have on their armor, but something else that's special to just the two of them. Fives and Echo could have a little domino tattoo somewhere to represent not just their bond, but their bonds to the rest of the squad they lost. Sometimes it's a memorial for someone they've lost, like maybe Jesse and Kix have a tattoo for Hardcase after Umbara, or Fox has one for Thorn after Scipio.

Tattoos are also a lot easier to hide and keep private from certain people if necessary, while armor designs are always able to be seen no matter what. So tattoos can be a LOT more personal than an armor design, too. They can represent terrible traumas or the deepest dream, something they don't dare even discuss with anyone else but don't want to forget. Clones with tattoos of coordinates to a planet they might one day want to call home, clones with tattoos of quotes that inspire them or maybe the last words spoken to them by a loved one or a promise made to someone else that they hope they can keep. Many clones have plant tattoos of some kind, the first flower or tree they ever saw, to remind them of the beauty that exists in the galaxy and what they're fighting to protect. Names are incredibly common tattoos once they've chosen it, either written out in letters or represented in an image somehow.

Over time, maybe in a happy fix-it AU where they have the ability to really let this develop, certain designs and patterns start meaning certain things to the clones and so they become shared across MANY clones as almost a shared unspoken language. A specific design might mean loss, or specific achievements in life.

Just... more about the tattoos in clone culture, they're SO underexplored.

[antianakin]

Okay so I will bring back Mandoclones for JUST A SECOND to present a scenario where those Mando trainers exist and Jango is more active in the clones' training and so when they finally start working with the Jedi, the clones all have the most HORRIFIC sense of mental health the Jedi have ever seen as a result of traditional Mandalorian attitudes towards it and general Kaminoan negligence.

The Jedi meanwhile are obviously the galaxy's most emotionally healthy people, generally, and their entire CULTURE revolves around positive mental health practices, it's almost literally in their blood at this point. They're intergalactic therapists, so when presented with several thousand men to lead who are all just... struggling SO SO MUCH with what's happening to them and around them, they step in.

The clones, obviously, are INCREDIBLY reluctant to admit anything's wrong at all, admitting to being scared or hurt or upset or anxious or worried would've gotten them pretty intense punishments from the Mandalorians which naturally would've led to some unfortunate attention from the Kaminoans. So they're not exactly inclined to talk to the Jedi about these things, either, expecting similar treatment.

But the Jedi pick up on this and figure out what's likely going on and basically try to start leading by example. They open up about THEIR fears and anxieties, they talk about how important their meditation is to them, they discuss Jedi teachings on letting go of fear and accepting change, they openly talk about how they speak to their mind healers after really difficult battles and how much it helps. They let the men see them cry sometimes, let their frustration with the situation be just a little more evident (but always trying to make sure the clones don't think that they're the source of the frustration), they complain about things like how endless paperwork seems and how annoying politicians can be. They bring on things the men can use for entertainment like books and sports equipment and some kind of craft item to keep their hands busy. Card packs start showing up by the dozen so the men can at least play card games in their downtime.

And finally, maybe one trooper speaks up and says something like "That was a really rough battle" within hearing range of the Jedi and everyone waits to see what the Jedi's reaction is going to be and they just sigh a little and say "Yeah, it really was, I'll be glad to get to bed tonight" and the clones all relax just a little more. After that, more and more start vocalizing little things about how they feel, both positive and negative. The Jedi start suggesting using things like sports and creative projects as ways to release stress. One of the troopers asks the Jedi if they've read one of the books that was brought onto the ship and the Jedi says yes so they end up in a short conversation about it that leads to a lot of the men asking the Jedi about books they've read which leads to them speaking to EACH OTHER about the books they've read and sharing their opinions about what they liked best.

Slowly, bit by bit, the Jedi start unraveling the terrible Mandalorian and Kaminoan attitudes about mental health that the clones were forced to endure for so long. Slowly, the clones start letting go of that one piece of their culture the Mandalorians had deigned to share with them, and instead choose to embrace the Jedi's culture instead.

[antianakin]

You know what's something I wished fanon/fanfic/etc explored? The idea of clones, basically traveling the galaxy because of the war not only having their own traditions, but also picking up stuff and being taught things by various people they encounter. Not even necessarily like a culture/tradition. A planet's local militia taught a trooper how to weave grass during a long night waiting for orders.

Of course he brought this to his friends and now the whole battalion makes things from grass or leaves or thread. It's calming, it's fun, they experiment with materials.

The clones who've developed their own culture (not Mandalorian) but also enjoying learning and participating. Let them be happy and want to explore things beyond their DNA donors world. (I also enjoy the idea of them getting to relax and join in on fun, normal activities).

And the idea of different units having different traditions while also sharing them when they're deployed together is fun.

The idea of mindfulness being picked up from Jedi general's and everyone having a unique spin, either copying meditation or meditating while cleaning equipment.

Also I want people to appreciate the clones as their own people.

Yeah, I hardly EVER see the clones depicted as this really interesting mish mash of cultures due to potentially picking up a bunch of shit from civilian populations they meet and then just passing it around their own battalion which could then make it out to the GAR as a whole.

Weaving baskets is a cute one, it could also be something as simple as picking up new spices every time they land somewhere and so their food is this wild fusion cuisine of spices and maybe fruits/dried meats/nuts from all over the galaxy because they just pick up stuff that goes to the kitchens and the clones doing the cooking in the kitchens use whatever they've got available to try to make new dishes. And they end up perhaps getting really good at figuring out how to combine these different ingredients that, on paper, seem like they absolutely should NOT go well together and yet somehow they make it work. And so clone cuisine becomes its own completely unique thing. You could even compare it to Jedi cuisine where they probably end up combining things a lot themselves, but the Jedi would theoretically often have had more access to resources and time to learn whole dishes than the clones do so it's more that the Jedi prepare different specific dishes from a lot of cultures as opposed to the more fusion-style cuisine the clones have come up with.

Or games, it'd be so cute to have the clones picking up all these different sort-of idle games from different civilian children they meet, like gffa versions of hopscotch or hackey sack, maybe card games that aren't sabacc or board games that aren't dejarik but are more specific to this one planet or culture. Maybe the clones start coming up with their OWN card games as they go because they start getting bored of the few that they know and start getting creative from there.

And of course things like different styles of visual art like painting and tattooing and hair styles that they might pick up on and incorporate into their own style that either becomes very popular among the clones on its own or ends up sort-of hybridized and become its own unique clone specific spin on the artform rather than a direct imitation. Writing would be really cool, too, that they pick up things like novels or journals from different cultures and some of the clones start writing creatively and become really prolific among the GAR (and maybe the Jedi too) for their stories. Similar to before, they might start off sort-of imitating styles they see from other cultures, specific kinds of poetry or tropes, but then branch out and put their own spin on it or start combining different things they've learned from various cultures.

Some clones might end up sticking closer to one specific culture they've connected or that just matches their personal taste really well, while others embrace the fusion more, and everything in-between.

And of course we can bring the Jedi into it more, too, and have the Jedi constantly working to introduce the clones to more things, maybe things THEY know and love from various cultures that they think the clones would find fun or interesting. And not just that person's "birth culture" like Ahsoka teaching people about Togruta culture, but things from OTHER CULTURES that they themselves have experimented with and liked. Maybe Ahsoka has a Mon Cal skincare routine she fucking swears by, or a Zabrak meat dish that's her absolute favorite hands down because of how tender they cook it, or her favorite book is actually Rodian because she particularly loves Rodian romance novels. And she introduces the clones to THESE things as well because why wouldn't she? The Jedi have a smorgasbord of options available to them and their culture encourages learning and connecting as much as possible, something I imagine they'd do their best to pass on to the clones in any way available to them.

And of course the Jedi, as some of the only people really out there with the clones and interacting with them regularly, get to be the first to BENEFIT from the hybridization that the clones utilize and get to see more about how these different cultures they've learned and appreciated for so long can be combined in such new and different ways to create something entirely unique and beautiful, so they get to enjoy these things all over again and it's AWESOME! New favorite noodle dish that combined fish from Glee Anselm and spices from Pantora and noodles from Chandrila, new favorite poem that has elements of Naboo and Ryloth in it, new knitted scarf that combined a knitting style from Lothal and a pattern from Shili.

And I've been going more for physical material things so far like food and stuff, but you can include things like slang they pick up from other cultures or maybe rituals of some kind they saw someone do that they asked about and got permission to participate in that they continue to practice afterwards because it's nice and calming.

The interesting part about the clones is that they don't have a "birth" culture to go back to. They were raised in a very sterile environment where everything they were exposed to was something very specific and aimed towards a certain goal. So they might have a favorite fighting move from the ones they were taught on Kamino or a favorite ship to fly of the ones they were taught to use for war, but it would be SO incredibly limited to what the Kaminoans wanted them to learn and not intended to become something the clones really connected to culturally. The Kaminoans themselves clearly HAVE a culture of sorts, they seem to share a style of fashion at least and probably an architectural style, but this isn't something that was passed on to the clones or that they would've been allowed to ever really participate in (beyond maintenance to the buildings, but they wouldn't have gotten a say in things like paint colors or additions to the building for cosmetic reasons, etc). And of course I don't think canon supports the idea that the clones really had a lot of connection to Mando culture and certainly nothing that supports the concept that they would consider it their "birth" culture. Jango barely seems to have passed any sort of Mando heritage on to BOBA, so it seems INCREDIBLY unlikely he'd have passed anything significant on to the clones he DIDN'T consider his son. And the Mando trainers are a legends thing these days, and were never canon anyway, so their exposure to Mando culture would be even more limited than their exposure to Kaminoan culture quite honestly.

All of which means the clones don't really have a firm basis of a birth culture from which to start on and then sort-of experiment out from. They're almost entirely open to whatever they discover or are introduced to in terms of culture. They're not Mando, they're not Kaminoan, they're their OWN THING and they can literally incorporate just about anything and everything into the culture they choose to build and that's SUCH a cool thing to look at and to explore and I don't know if I've really seen that much of it in fics. Especially via the Jedi who are their own massively multi-cultural society and can take the opportunity to really widen the clones' horizons in so many ways.

[antianakin]

Sabine trying to connect with Rex (and maybe Wolffe/Gregor) about things like armor and how important it is and is shocked to discover the clones Do Not Care about the armor. Rex has to explain that that's kind-of a Mando specific thing and the clones don't have it. He keeps his helmet because it's just practical to have some level of protection still, and he won't be able to get a better helmet elsewhere if he gets rid of the one he's already got.

Sabine asks about how Rex earned his jaig eyes, and he just shrugs and says he thought they looked cool when one of the other clones used it himself. She asks if THAT clone had known what it meant and Rex says no, that guy just thought it looked cool wherever he'd seen it, too.

One of Rex's bracers or a shin guard or something breaks during a battle and Sabine comes up to console him and Rex is just like "meh, they were shit anyway, if I could've afforded better, I would've tossed these things in a heartbeat."

Sabine asks if Rex is ever going to hand down his armor to someone else he cares about at some point and he just laughs and says he'd never saddle someone he cared about with this junk. If he cared about them that much, he'd just buy them new better armor.

She asks if any of the clones gave each other armor as a way to declare romantic intent or something like that and he says that since they had all specific battalion colors, that constantly swapping armor with people would sort-of ruin the whole point of having those colors at all. Also, they all had the exact same mass manufactured armor anyway and the chances of it being damaged beyond repair and just getting chucked into the trash eventually were pretty high, so all of the things that MAKE that gesture meaningful in Mando culture just don't exist or work for the clones to begin with.

Sabine asks if he'd accept a gift of beskar armor and he says yes because she's his friend and beskar is high quality material so he'd be an idiot to turn it down if she's offering it to him. But he'd also be just as partial to a new pair of high quality boots, or some interesting good food, or a piece of original artwork.

[antianakin]

Concept for a happy fix-it AU: clones having armor destroying parties.

I've seen plenty of people discussing clones PAINTING their armor during the war and that being a kind of social gathering, but what about after the war, when they've been freed/demilitarized and no longer NEED the armor at all?

Destroying the armor is sort-of like a big fuck you to the Kaminoans, it's a mass show of letting go of the war, and it's a symbol of the fact that they're more than soldiers. So many of them choose to move on and never do anything that would involve armor again. They have the entire galaxy open to them now, they can be and do ANYTHING. So a lot of them get together when freed to just... destroy the armor. Sometimes they just jump on it to crack it open, sometimes they'll burn it or put it in an incinerator, sometimes they use tools to break it into tiny shards, whatever.

A lot of the Jedi get invited to the parties as well so they can ALSO participate in the destruction of armor they never actually wanted to wear. It's an incredibly bonding experience for both parties.