#kaminoan culture

[archeo-starwars]

The Tale of the Aiwha Pod translated from Kaminoan by Ryan Kaufman

[lightsaber-dorphin]

I had some thoughts!

Kaminoans start counting at zero like programmers do. They add one if they want to know how many of a thing there are. It is added at the beginning or the end depending on a mix of personal preference and where on Kamino someone is from.

When clones count on their fingers they tap their thumb against their fingers. No tap is zero, pointer finger is one, middle finger is two, etc.

Kaminoan: Phonetic Inventory and Counting System

While discussing clone things with @daitoshi​, they offhandedly mentioned the weirdness of the number of clones in a batch (and incidentally the general structure of the GAR). Apparently this was all the inspiration I needed to decide I was going to create base-4 counting system for the Kaminoans. 32 clones per batch seems pretty random, but it is just 2 x 16 (2 x 4^2), so in a base-4 system, it’s no more random than say 200 (2 x 10^2) is in base-10. Base-4 also ties in thematically with DNA irl, so that’s fun for a bunch of cloners!

I’ve put together a guide to my process and rules for the enjoyment of all. And by enjoyment, I mean frustration because this counting systems it incredibly upsetting.

Keep reading

[darthkote]

As I watched the final episode of tbb, many things stood out to me, but one in particular was when Nala Se was leaving Omega for the final time.. you can obviously see they both have some emotional connection to one another, but Nala Se doesn't even offer a hug before departing.. either this shows the Kaminoans are heartless, or they just simply don't show emotion or love physically (my personal vote goes toward the latter, as Nala Se clearly cares for Omega).

Ofc this is just one Kaminoan, but I get the sense many wouldn't be very touchy-feely / emotionally intelligent / or generally open to the idea of softening their hearts. Imo this is cultural and social as well as tied into the economy they have (ahem, capitalism). The heightened consumerism, greed, and the ache to continue profiting at the expense of others.. it often overpowers the will to do the right thing.

idk, just some food for thought

[astheforcewillsit]

In which the Kaminoans provide a miseducated version of what and who the Jedi are, and the clones realize that at their core, the Jedi are religious monks.

Cultural misunderstands are bound to ensue due to this.

(based of the scene where Obi-wan and Anakin bow to Echo and Fives after they join the 501st)

(original ao3 link)

The first time Obi-Wan bows to Cody, he does so low and Infront of the men. All of the men. It is not a simple incline of his head. It is a slow, low dip.

Ancient practiced movements, just as Qui-Gon had taught him.

They had had saved his life. Again And he is truly grateful. He is still unused to a war like this. His very essence as a Jedi protests his involvement in it.

But he moves only by the will of the Force, and it has brought him to such a moment like this.

Before he completes his gratitude, he is stunned by a collective gasp amongst the men and an arm on his shoulder. The Force tells him it is one of the younger men.

There's a sharp reprimand from Cody, and the arm is off, though the Force is still disturbed

(The touch had not bothered Obi-Wan, in between droids and separatist leaders, it has been the kindest touch he's had all week.

It doesn't bother him, the touch of the clones. He enjoys their presence. Though he can feel the fear palatable through the Force. He hopes that one day they'll be less terrified of him. That they will know him for the human he is. Force knows the damage the Kaminoans have done to the reputation of the Jedi Order.)

Cody steps up as Obi-Wan rises--clearly the action disturbed the peace.

"Sir, I-"

"Clearly I have done something to offend you." He straightens himself, "I apologize."

Cody looks scandalized. This is not going well.

He hesitates. His Commander is still a Labyrinth. He looks at the face of Jango Fett everyday, though he sees none of the darkness clouded in those eyes. With Cody, it's almost fear.

"Sir, there is no need to apologize to us. it's just..."

"it's a sign that we've done wrong and have to ask for forgiveness, usually done by subordinates--cadets to the Kaminoans or the bounty hunters that trained us. When you did that, well...it looked like you thought you did something wrong, that maybe you were asking for forgiveness or was ashamed," another clone (Boil, Obi-Wan reminds himself, the "shiny" who touched him) supplies with some distaste, "doesn't mean the same for you sir?"

Obi-Wan could confuse them, because technically Jedi do bow for forgiveness too. But not in shame, never. He decides to keep it beginner level friendly today.

"I am expressing gratitude. You saved my life," Obi-Wan responds as if it is the most obvious thing, "Though If I have done anything wrong, it has simply been confusing you all. I will not bow if it makes you all comfortable."

His culture is important to him. It his his blood and his soul, but these men are not here with him of their own accord. These men are making sacrifices just by being alive, Obi-Wan could stand to be more like them. Though his heart pulls at the thought of abandoning something so natural to him.

"No sir, that is not necessary," Cody seems to relax in front of him. His anxiety has dissolved into gentle waves in the Force, and instead Obi-Wan senses a small bit of curiosity.

It reverberates through the company.

"Should we..."

"Oh Force no, if bowing has been negative to you please do not do it on my account. And I will alter it," he makes an example, inclining his head just slightly and putting a hand to his chest, praying he doesn't offend, "I am grateful to you all, and I endeavor to show it."

"Only what you're comfortable with, your culture is sacred to you, I know this," he adds, "and if you never tell me anything, I will be okay with that."

"Can you...can we learn more. The kaminoans didn't tell us you did that, they didn't tell us you were...priest--"

"Monks," Obi-wan corrects and smiles at the clone who asked, Waxer the Force tells him, "And I will till you all you want to know about the Jedi, if you feel comfortable telling me about who you are."

There's reluctance in the Force. They may not be Mandalorians, but they carry the secrecy of their beliefs with them. He doesn't blame them. They have so little that belongs to them, the clones. Why give what scarcity they own away to the man who they were handed to on a silver platter.

The Force radiates skepticism, but also trust.

Good, the gap is slowly bridging.

[fanfoolishness]

I like to imagine that in the future, people remember the clones. After Palpatine falls for good on Exegol, imagine an explosion of freedom and knowledge in those days after the final defeat: imagine archaeologists and scholars plumbing the depths of Imperial and First Order records, trying to figure out what had happened so it could never happen again. And through it all they find the clones’ story woven into everything, until a new field emerges of Clone Studies, a loose alliance of military history buffs and research biologists and anthropologists and ethicists.

They catalogue the Kaminoans’ research; they review the clone memorials on Coruscant, on Zeffo, monuments as large as a massive wall or as small as a quiet statue, from people throughout the galaxy who were grateful for what they did. They study the great tragedy and betrayal of the chip, finally understanding the scope of Palpatine’s plans and bringing them out into the open, sharing the truth that the clones never chose to betray the Jedi Order and Republic they had served faithfully. They study old war vids and oral histories from people of long-lived species or whose grandparents remembered the clones; they build, memory by memory, a sense of the culture, the camaraderie, the brotherhood, the loyalty. They collect vids of battle songs and in-jokes and an interior language shared among them, springing up over the years.

They find and list their names, self-chosen or given by their brothers: Rex, Fives, Howzer, Echo, Tup, Gregor, Wolffe, Cody, Boil, Waxer, Cut. They study the clones whose differences defined them and knit them into a family whose ties could not be broken, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, Omega. They study the discarded who nevertheless still had value - 99, Emerie, the clones who were culled in infancy for being wrong. There are specialists who devote their entire branch of study to the only male unaltered clone and his infamous exploits throughout the galaxy, so alike his father’s. They study the years of the clone rebellion, a fight that paved the way for the next wave of fighters and the next after them.

The clones are gone. That is undisputed. Their kind came for a little while, and then vanished, burning brightly; their tale was a tragedy, but one unique in all its seeming sameness. There are conferences and holovids and books. There are debates and research firing up young scholars about a time only their great-grandparents can remember.

In the future, after all the clones are gone, there are still stories.

[squidsponge]

Nala Se didn't wear her headpiece back in the earlier seasons when she was working off-planet. Maybe it's a status thing in Kaminoan culture, or simply an atypical part of a Kaminoan medic's outfit (if these are medics), looping back to it being a status thing.

The crest is part of Lama Su's head, so it seems like not all Kaminoans grow them, but this fellow seems a fair bit younger.

And to @randomlothcat, yes, this indeed was our unnamed couple being afraid of Fives, and as much as I have beef with Kamino, their pearl clutching and his protectiveness is actually so endearing.

Is this the steamy workplace love affair for the ages that Star Wars has been missing until now? Did they just expose themselves? Does it matter to either of them in this moment?

Also Kaminoan romances are officially canon, so we can infer from this that they would have been many of the clones' first exposure to what a romantic relationship might look like, which is a groundbreaking revelation.

New Clone Wars OTP just dropped.

[kookyburrowing]

Different Languages AU Part 1: Wait, Fuck, They Don't Speak Basic?

First things first motherfuckers, let’s get one thing straight: Basic as a language does exist in this AU!  It’s just less common outside of the Core/Mid Rim.  SO.  What does that give us?  Well, it gives us way more interesting conflict, for one thing, and for another, so many languages.  Let’s get crackalackin! 

In the Outer Rim, Huttese is largely The Language To Speak.  If you don’t speak Huttese, you might as well just hurl yourself into the nearest bottomless pit now and save yourself the time and trouble.  Even in the Core and Mid Rim, Huttese is a very common language just because of how useful it is if you ever find yourself in the Outer Rim.  Most bounty hunters (i.e. Jango Fett, just for one completely random example) speak Huttese fluently, alongside their native languages.  Naturally, then, this is a language Anakin is very familiar with.  In fact, when he became a Jedi, it was the language he knew the best, and most people thought his speech was stilted in Basic because of this.  He spoke Basic maybe once every month on Tatooine—can you blame him?  

In the Mid Rim, each planet has their own language and conversations between diplomats are typically done as they are on Earth—via interpreters, to avoid any misunderstandings.  Padmé, for instance, does speak Basic, but that is the language she would use in the Senate, not on Naboo.  The same goes for Palpatine, but we’ll get to him in a minute, because he sucks and I want to not talk about him for as long as I feasibly can.  

The Core means Basic, Basic, Basic, because of just the sheer number of people making it necessary.  Coruscant is a weird case because of how communities develop there.  Since it’s kind of like a gigantic version of a modern city (I’ll use NYC as an example because I know it the best), it’s broken up into enclaves.  Cultures clump—it’s a thing.  Some neighborhoods in NYC are predominantly Jewish, some are predominantly Italian, the list goes on.  The same goes for Coruscant, although on a supersized scale.  There’s some areas where non-Mandalorians need not apply, some where everyone is a Twi’lek or Togruta, some where everyone is a Mirialan, et cetera.  Also, Coruscant dialects of certain languages are very much a thing.

Anyway.  Let’s talk Kamino, because that’s why I started this to begin with!  

Jango Fett is a Mandalorian.  He’s also a bounty hunter.  He’s from Concord Dawn and was a True Mandalorian.  Therefore we can guess he probably at the bare minimum speaks two dialects of Mando’a (Concord Dawn, True Mandalorian) Huttese, and has at least passing Basic.  He probably speaks more than that given how well-traveled he is, but those are the ones I can name for sure.  So Jango Fett, who speaks Mando’a and Huttese and Basic, encounters Count Dooku.  Count Dooku is from Serenno, but he was also a Jedi, so he probably speaks Serennese, Basic, Huttese, and a few more.  He may even speak Mando’a, but his dialects wouldn’t be likely to overlap with Jango’s.  Count Dooku tells Jango to go to Kamino and let them clone him in exchange for an exorbitant amount of money.  Jango does, because Jango is a thinking human being and thinking human beings under capitalism do not turn down exorbitant amounts of money in exchange for what amounts to (at most) being a three or four-time sperm donor.  

And on Kamino, our intrepid Mandalorian encounters something a bit weird.  The Kaminoans, being that they are an extremely isolated species and thus have absolutely no reason to have developed humanoid vocal chords, have to rely on droid translators.  Cool!  This means Jango can speak to them exclusively in his native language (Concord Dawn Mando’a), and they can speka to him exclusively in theirs, and everyone’s largely happy.  Jango negotiates the finer points of the contract, acquires an infant who he names Boba, and calls up some old friends (and acquaintances) to teach the clones to kick ass.  He informs them they don’t have to worry about speaking Basic, so they don’t bother speaking Basic.  

Thus, we have our setup.  The Kaminoans have no reason to make the clones speak Basic because literally none of these outsiders are bothering to inform that oh yeah there’s this whole common language thing going on, and said outsiders have no reason whatsoever to tell them because it would ultimately just be an inconvenience.  They’ve got a good thing going, and Jedi are required to speak more than one language anyway.  The clones can definitely find at least one in common!

So the clones learn to speak Mando’a, understand Kaminoan, and speak and/or understand one extra elective language.  Most pick something weird because they can—everyone around them speaks either Mando’a or Kaminoan so why would they bother with languages they don’t care about, like Basic?  Unfortunately for the Kaminoans and the trainers in equal measure, they do also realize that in order to express themselves in private they need their own universal language, so they acquire one.  They just call it clonespeak to keep things simple, and for most of them, that’s their native language.  They feel most comfortable speaking in it because that’s the language they associate with safety and with their siblings/parents.  

Thus: the predicament.  

Obi-Wan arrives on Kamino.  Obi-Wan is a Jedi.  Obi-Wan speaks Basic. 

Uh-oh.  See, Jango is out of practice—the Kaminoans can’t make those noises.  Boba’s language skills begin and end with Mando’a and some random bits of clonespeak right now—he’s kind of conversational with Huttese but every once in a while he just throws in a Mando’a word or an idiom in clonespeak and Jango has to take a minute to breathe lest he slam his head straight through the wall in frustration because he doesn’t understand clonespeak.  And so much performing of charades, many awkward moments, and exactly one sentence in Basic later, Obi-Wan is heading back to Coruscant with several questions. 

First: why the fuck did Sifo-Dyas order an army who didn’t speak Basic?  No one knows.  No one can find any records of this order, for one thing.  No one knows who Tyrannus is, for another.  

And second: what languages do the clones speak?  Obviously, Mando’a is amongst them, but Jango’s extremely intensely staring son also spoke another, infinitely weird language and no one can find any record of it, and not even Jango seemed to understand him.  Do they understand the Kaminoans’ clicking noises?  Are they just mute?  Is it constantly Shut The Fuck Up Friday up in there?  What is going on?  

The Council loses their collective minds.  Shaak Ti is about ready to haul ass across the galaxy to collect these poor, lost young men—Plo Koon is right there with her.  Yoda is—well, Yoda is swearing loudly in several dead languages right now.  Mace Windu, ever the voice of reason, just has one thing to say: how about they meet the clones, first.  Before they panic.

In the face of this intense, all-consuming, glorious sensibility, the Council collectively shuts the fuck up.  They decide to let things run their course.  

And then Geonosis.  Quickly, Yoda collects several hundred clones, manages to communicate to one of them—who speaks a really weird, ancient, and fucked up dialect of Basic that could basically scan to Elizabethan English, and whose name is probably Kowalski—what he needs, and that one tells an older, larger and more intimidating one.  Then that one yells a lot in a language Yoda has never heard before, and several hundred clones are suddenly hauling ass into gunships.  

Enter one Anakin Skywalker and one Padmé Amidala, who are about to acquire some friends, none of whom understand a word they’re saying.  They fuck some things up, get strapped to some poles to be devoured by Space Beasts of some sort, and then escape.  

Battle of Geonosis happens.  Mace Windu quickly discovers that the answer to the question what do the clones speak is effectively every language except Basic, and the answer is also supremely inconsistent.  He is Suffering.  He is Experiencing The Horrors.  Obi-Wan is likewise fighting for his life because he speaks a fancy-ass dialect of Mando’a that the clones don’t understand.  This is because they, like normal people, don’t talk like dignitaries on diplomatic missions.  

Moving on!  Obi-Wan gets assigned Alpha-17.  Alpha-17 is a demon.  Actually.  He probably speaks Basic but refuses to out of spite.  This is the biggest asshole to ever stomp his way into a Venator and terrify Anakin Skywalker into cowering submission.  (He may even be why Anakin behaved like that as Vader.  We will never know!)  Like most clones, Alpha-17 speaks four languages.  Clonespeak, Mando’a, Kaminoan, and Huttese.  In that order.  So he has no real trouble communicating with either Anakin or Obi-Wan.  

What he does have, though, is a surplus of kids.  Like it or not (he insists he doesn’t) they are his kids, and he wants them to have a shot at having a moderately tolerable existence.  Enter everyone’s favorite group of six weirdos: Wolffe, Ponds, Fox, Bly, Cody, and Rex.  

Wolffe is easy.  He’s horrible with languages, and so gets sent to Plo Koon, who speaks through a translator anyway.  Add Mando’a to the translator, and bang!  Easy.  Done.  They understand each other perfectly.  

Ponds is also easy.  He, being sensible, learned Basic, so he goes to Mace Windu, who is equally sensible (and grateful for the easy transition).  

Fox, who is a scheming little shit and also just so happens to speak Naboo, get sent to Coruscant.  The Chancellor can’t get one over on him if Fox can understand every word he says, and most Senators have protocol droids with them for translation anyway.  

Bly speaks Ryll, so she gets Aayla Secura.  Again, easy.  

Cody, on the other hand?  Cody speaks the same languages as 17.  Cody has a favorite younger brother who needs guidance.  Cody, therefore, gets deposited with Obi-Wan, and Rex?  Rex gets Anakin.  

But the issue with Rex is he and Anakin have no language in common.  Rex’s elective language was Togruti, and like the rest of his batch he also speaks Tusken sign.  Because his batch are a bunch of assholes who wanted an extremely private way to talk.  

So.  Anakin and Rex start off the war with no way to communicate!  None!  Literally not one language in common!  

And they do try to communicate—via charades, via text, et cetera—but they don’t really have access to translation software on a regular basis and thus things become complicated.  

Things are made even more complicated by the fact that Rex, like Wolffe, is shit at language learning.  Anakin, who isn’t, could try to learn clonespeak, and does!  But when you can’t communicate with the person teaching you it is immensely slow going.  

And thus, our premise is complete.  How do you run a war with someone you can’t talk to?  

Well, it depends.  If you’re Anakin, you say, maybe I can figure a way around this.  

If you’re Pong Krell?  

I dunno man.  Yell?  Yeah, that sounds about right. 

[roseaesynstylae]

A Collection of Posts about the Jedi, Part 1

I am pro-Jedi and interested in worldbuilding. Here are some a lot of posts I've found on Tumblr. Some are long, some are short, all are interesting. Hopefully you'll find them helpful, inspiring, and/or useful. There's also my collection of fics, My Favorites of Jedi Appreciation.

They're not really in any order, but they are roughly grouped by subject.

Edit: I'm just going to keep updating and organizing this with any interesting posts I find.

Here is Part Two, as Tumblr made me split it.

Jedi Defense

why the jedi couldn't walk away from the republic

Debunking more myths in the GFFA: the Jedi and the clones.

Mace Windu

before the acolyte releases

agape love

i would not want a romantic relationship if i was a jedi

the jedi did everything they could

jedi are aro

When a Star Wars writer engages with the material but not the narrative.

jedi and attachment

jedi and attachment 2

jedi and dbt

in defense of the jedi

the je'daii order

shmi skywalker adhered to the jedi code more than anakin ever did

Attachment Theory and Master Yoda - the Jedi Way to Security

The Parallels Between Antisemitism and Certain Arguments Against the Jedi

Jedi do not steal children

Some basic points to remember

Color and Jedi

Jedi as peacekeepers

Three flaws in the Jedi order you can concede

in defense of the jedi 2

The Jedi Council were reasonable in the Wrong Jedi Arc actually

The Jedi are not out of touch

An analogy

A defense of Ki-Adi-Mundi

Every instance of touch between a Jedi and another physical being

Jedi are allowed to visit their families

Jedi are allowed to leave the order

Jedi do not steal children 2

Kanan and Hera are not against the rules

Mace and his troops

Jedi do not steal children 3

Why the Council couldnt've prevented Order 66

1000 Jedi isn't a lot

The Jedi aren't corrupt & slavery isn't their fault

Padme, the Jedi and slavery

Prosset Dibs is a moron

"Jedi-Friendly" bashing of the Council is not a thing

Yes, the Jedi have flaws (everything has flaws)

Jedi and compassion (+ Ki-Adi-Mundi)

Mace Windu is a compassionate person

The Jedi aren't eugenicists (that's the Kaminoans)

Padawans are not child soldiers

Debunking the lightsaber vs bullet thing

Legends!Luke is not better than the PT Jedi

Jedi Culture

psychometry

jedi culture

martial arts

jedi-as-family

Guide to Jedi Ranking Terminology

jedi "labels"

jedi melting pot

jedi gifts

jedi healers

jedi culture 2

young jedi

jedi and taxes

jedi sects

jedi weddings

jedi robes

jedi order corps and subdivisions

jedi order bureaucratic structure

Jedi robe significations

Jedi clothing

Jedi Temple Guards

Jedi culture 3

Feelings soaking in

Jedi and teaching

Jedi are empaths

Bag of flour and the 212th

Plo Koon

Jedi debates

Jedi views on blood ties in Lucasfilm canon

Other faiths in the order

Jedi meeting their bio families

Different adoption scenarios

Jedi music

Telekinesis

Jedi healers

Jedi and emotions

Padawan attire and conduct

Jedi younglings

[star-farer]

I've been looking at pins of the clone cadets, and I noticed that Mox, Stak and Deke's outfits all have 5-digit numbers along their collars.

Not too certain about these numbers, but from what I could tell with a lot of squinting is:

Mox: 57843

Stak: 53911

Deke: 52289

My theory is that, being a younger generation of clone cadets, these are their CT numbers. It makes sense for the four-digit CT numbers to run out eventually and younger gen clones to be assigned longer CT numbers instead. (do note my knowledge on clone culture is particularly limited)

On the other hand, these are, presumably, the outfits they wore as prisoners and test subjects on the former Imperial Lab on Setron, so it could be identification numbers assigned to them as prisoners instead of their CT numbers.

Either way, I find it peculiar how neither Crosshair nor Omega - as a matter of fact, none of the test subjects on Tantiss Base had numbers of any kind on their white outfits, clone or otherwise. By otherwise, I mean the children in the Vault - Omega's outfit is originally that of a scientist with the familiar Kaminoan patch on her sleeves, but the second time she's taken to Tantiss is as another test subject and her outfit is the same as any other prisoner there.

Of course, there's always the possibility of a hidden easter egg in these numbers, and given how the Bad Batch is chockfull of them, I wouldn't be too surprised.

Anyways, what do you think about all this?

[fanfic-obsessed]

Eldritch Everyone

I have read fantastic stories where Obi Wan/ the Jedi are Eldritch creatures and other stories where the Clones are Eldritch, because of Kaminoan experiments. Let's merge the two with a twist. 

The twist is they are different types of eldritch beings who do not know the other is Eldritch. 

As always disregard any established lore that contradicts this. 

With the clones it is because of Kaminoan experimentation. It will never be quite clear what the Kamnioan’s were trying to do…or if they accomplished their goal. But the Kaminoan experiments on the Clones (with the exception of Boba Fett) genome connected with…something beyond. Something they had no idea what to account for. 

For the Eldritch Clones I am taking heavy inspiration from the incomparable Quarra’s The Force of my Love.  The Clones are a hivemind, existing paradoxically as part of the hive and individually all at once.  Their forms are nigh on indestructible and mutable, meaning they can shapeshift (they, in fact, make the choice to keep Jango Fett’s face and shape as their ‘main form’-partially due to spite, partially because the Kaminoans expect it). They are able to travel instantaneously to any clone that is part of the Hivemind(by contrast this instantaneous travel is limited to only to other members of the hivemind).  Unlike Quarra’s clones they cannot tell the difference between Sith and Jedi(for reasons that will be elaborated on later). They have eidetic memory which, combined with the hive mind, means that what one knows all of them know and none of them ever forget.  This version of the clones have no particular connection to Mandalorian culture, nor any other culture, save perhaps the Jedi (The propaganda that they are created for the Jedi still exists and frankly pales in comparison to how awesome the Jedi actually are). 

The Jedi are Eldritch through their connection to the Force, which is sentient (by certain definitions) but so utterly alien to anything on the mortal plane that there is no direct comparison. Now it needs to be made clear from the first that it is not just Force sensitivity that makes one Eldritch, the connection to the Force is just not strong enough.  There are additional rituals that the Jedi, and the Sith of Old, go through to become what could be considered Avatars of the Force (specifically the Light Side for the Jedi). These rituals were passed down from before the split between Sith and Jedi.

I say Sith of Old here, because Bane, in creating his rule of two, did away with many of those rituals (never realizing their worth) because several of them required more than 2 participants.  There are three rituals in particular that apply here. First is a ritual to allow oneself to fill completely with the Force (making themselves, for a lack of better terminology, larger than their mortal forms), which Bane kept as he believed it simply made one more powerful (and could be accomplished alone). The second ritual, also one that Bane kept, helped to hide the Banite Sith from the Jedi(it also disguised what was happening to the Banite Sith due to the first ritual, even from themselves), though that had always been a side effect of the ritual, not its intended purpose; this ritual is the reason that the Clones cannot sense Jedi and Sith seperately. The third ritual makes one a conduit of the Force (letting the Force pass through oneself) which Bane did away with. It is important here because mortal beings are not meant to be filled to the brim with the Force, without the release valve of the second ritual it causes them to rot from the inside out.   This is important because by the old definition of Sith, the Force Cult that has dedicated themselves to being the Avatars of the Dark Side of the Force, there has not been a Sith since Darth Bane (barring one exception) and why the Banite Sith tend to rot while still living, the longer they are immersed in the Dark Side.  Dooku did not rot because he had done the rituals as a Jedi, though he had not dedicated himself specifically to the Dark, so he never took on the title of True Sith. Ventress, through her training with Ky Narec, had also completed most of the Jedi rituals, meaning she was not a Sith but as closer to it than Palpatine. It was actually Maul who, in growing up submerged in the Dark like he had been, accidentally completed a version of the lost second ritual, and became a True Sith in the old meaning of the word. 

These rituals are meant to immerse a Force Sensitive in the Force itself, giving the connection more strength than it would have otherwise.  The Force abilities that we see the Jedi, and the Sith use, are because of the Rituals and why those that do not go through either version have much subtler/weaker abilities. It also means that the Jedi (and the Sith of old+Maul) give off the eerie impression that, no matter the size or species, they are somehow so much larger than they appear. That there is something beneath their skin trying to get out. Also being plugged directly into Force in the way that they are skews the way they view reality.   It can be hard for the Jedi to connect with beings that are not at least a little Force Sensitive and the Jedi care deeply, but sometimes cannot see what the actual problem is (saying ‘there is no death there is only the force’ is not meant to be a trite saying nor do many of the Jedi quite understand why it is not as comforting as they think it is).

At the beginning of the Clone Wars, both the Jedi and the Clones hide their eldritch nature from each other. Both groups had experienced how showing their nature to the wrong people can break minds and they had no wish to hurt the other. 

The first sign that something was…strange was how in sync both groups were.  The Jedi marveled that the clones never cringed at the sight of them (and that which moved under their skin when they lost focus). The Clones were ecstatic that the Jedi never questioned when they had knowledge they should not have, nor the few occasions when multiple clones spoke from the same mouth.  

Nat born officers would make comments, not directly but meant to be overheard, how the Jedi Padawans grew more ‘other’ every time they visited the Temple on Coruscant. The clones would only stare blankly, to them it seemed like the Padawans were simply growing into themselves. 

Various Jedi and clones began to fall into love (Familial, romantic, sexual, platonic, and other).  It is Depa Billaba and Gray who first confess, and in confessing reveal their respective natures (Depa is the one who made the first move-as soon as the Clones knew of the Jedi’s nature they each sought out their Jedi).

The main reason that Jedi do not get in romantic relationships with non Force Sensitives (and Padme has no Force Sensitivity) is that theri nature pushes them to connect at the deepest level they can with their loved ones.  This can mentally damage non Force Sensitives.

For Obi Wan, if Cody had not confessed, Obi Wan never would have.  He had tried, before, to have romantic relationships with non force sensitives. A few times he had even managed to deny his own nature until the relationship dissolved naturally (Obi Wan, like most Jedi could be…odd, even when trying to fit in). It had become clear through his life that it just was not worth the pain to act on those kinds of feelings.  The knowledge that Cody could bond with him fully, was interested in him both romantically and sexually was a joy. Obi Wan was not even off put that by dating on clone, he was in affect dating all of the clones at once (who were also dating other Jedi)

Sometimes the Clones and Jedi switched partners. For instance Mace Windu, who was primarily dating Ponds, loved the Theater, which Ponds was ambivalent about but Bly also loved the theater (which Aayla actively disliked). So Bly and Mace had a standing monthly date night to a variety of theaters all over the galaxy, and at least once a year end up acting in a performance. Or how Fox was one of the only Clones that was not bored stupid at the Anniversary Ball, a pretentious event of a small but rich mid rim planet to celebrate the ratifying of a treaty, that Obi Wan is required to go to every year (even the years he was actively at war). So Fox is Obi Wan’s date, while Cody and Vos (who primarily dated the Coruscant Guard), would use the night to break up some kind of ring(slavery, drugs, smuggling, etc.)

Rex found that he fit neatly into Padme and Anakin’s relationship, somehow providing a stabilizing influence on their bond.  Padme and Anakin had bonded after the first battle of Geonosis but it was a case of Anakin being young and stupid and reckless, and Padme not actually understanding what Anakin was talking about when he tried to explain the risks (She thought he was saying that it might hurt her, and she was reassuring him that she trust him to be careful. He thought she was saying that she knew about the risks and was Force Sensitive enough to not be harmed).  There was already some damage done to  Padme’s mind (mostly in terms of willpower, personality, and impulse control) by the time Rex joined the bond, and not all of it was correctable, but most was. 

It is not the Jedi and the Clones that disrupt Palpatine’s plans (though the chips never worked, so eventually they would have). It was Dooku, Ventress, and Maul. Maul was the first True Sith, though it was accidental, in almost 1000 years. Dooku knew what it meant to be Jedi/Sith in the original sense and could tell that Palpatine did not. Ventress, like Dooku, had gone through the Jedi versions of the rituals (those rituals may have been passed down since before the split, but time had caused a bit of difference).  Because Palpatine has the deeper connection to the Force but not release valve, for lack of a better term, he is more immediately powerful but in the long run is doing far more damage to himself than he realizes.  Sometime before Maul would have gone after Satine, he encounters Ventress, who recognizes him as an actual Sith and brings him to Dooku. 

These three decide that they are going to destroy Palpatine (for being a Pretended Sith) and rebuild the actual Sith Order with the full Sith rituals. Maul is a bit surprised to realize that he, by himself, is more than a match for Palpatine (Since this was the man that had tormented him since childhood; he always had the picture that Palptine was bigger than life). Dooku then publishes all of the wrong doings he knew of from Palpatine’s entire circle-CIS and Republic alike- (and he knew about 80% of what was eventually uncovered). Then all three of them fuck off to Morriban to begin their research into resurrecting the Sith Order. 

The Jedi Order and the Clones collectively decide to let them, on the basis that at least they know where the three Sith are and it keeps them busy.

[syn0vial]

Mand'alor the Pretender, Mand'alor the Resurgent: Boba Fett as the Leader of the Mandalorians in the Expanded Universe

Hello everyone! It's Syn with yet another Expanded Universe deep-dive, this time into the reign of Boba Fett as Mand'alor as portrayed in Boba Fett: A Practical Man and throughout the Legacy of the Force series of novels. Fett was indeed made Mand'alor some decades after the events of the Original Trilogy and this post will examine how he became ruler, his actions as leader, and how his reign connects with Mandalorian mythology regarding the relationship between Mandalore the planet and Mand'alor the ruler. I hope you enjoy!

Heir of the True Mandalorians

To understand how Boba Fett became Mand'alor, it's important to first understand his family background. Indeed, Boba was not the first Fett to be named Mand'alor; his father, Jango, also held the title during the tumultuous Mandalorian Civil War. Specifically, Jango served as the Mand'alor of the True Mandalorians, or Haat Mando'ade, a Mandalorian faction established by reformer Jaster Mereel that emphasized honorable conduct and strong community bonds. They were opposed in the civil war by the Death Watch, or Kyr'tsad, a Mandalorian splinter group that espoused ideals of Mandalorian supremacy and rule by brutality. The True Mandalorians would later be massacred by the Jedi in the Battle of Galidraan, and Jango, the sole survivor, would largely withdraw from Mandalorian society and quietly abdicate his claim as Mand'alor.

Despite their relatively short span of existence in Mandalorian history, the True Mandalorians had an outsized effect on Mandalorian cultural identity, with many Mandalorians adopting their tenets and valorizing their struggle against both Death Watch and the Jedi. Furthermore, as Mandalorian society became more suppressed and scattered following the Imperial occupation of Mandalore during the Galactic Civil War, some looked to the history of the True Mandalorians as a source of national pride and a symbol of renewed Mandalorian unity and prestige.

One such believer in the True Mandalorian cause was Fenn Shysa, who served as Mand'alor during and after the Imperial occupation of Mandalore. Widely adored for his charm and affability, Shysa nonetheless was determined to see the true heir of the Haat Mando'ade take the throne: none other than Boba Fett. Despite Boba's status as a Mandalorian being contested by many clans due to what was perceived as his dishonorable behavior, failure to uphold the Resol'nare, and the fact that he'd never completed his verd'goten due to his father's premature death, Shysa believed that Boba could serve as a powerful symbol for both the scattered Mandalorian people and the rest of the galaxy as both the heir to the True Mandalorian cause and a notorious warrior the galaxy-over.

Unfortunately for Shysa, Boba had no interest in taking up the mantle of Mand'alor. In light of Boba's unwillingness, Shysa pursued other leads for potential heirs of the True Mandalorian title, including Jango's sister Arla (who unfortunately had been rendered mentally unfit after her prolonged and torturous captivity under the Death Watch) and even one of Jango's clones, Spar, whom Shysa may or may not have presented to the galaxy as Boba Fett himself.

Yet, Shysa would eventually get his wish, though at a very high price. With a bounty placed on his head by Boba's former tutor, the Kaminoan Taun We, Shysa would come face-to-face with Boba himself on the planet Shogun. Despite being hired to kill Shysa, Boba would, due to events that are never fully explained, end up on the same side as him against an attack of Sevvet mercenaries. With the two of them overpowered, Shysa sacrificed his life to protect Boba and ordered Boba to kill him and take his place as Mand'alor. Indebted to Shysa for saving his life and unwilling to let him fall into the hands of the notoriously sadistic Sevvets, Boba would honor both of Shysa's requests.

Though it cost him his life, Shysa would see his ambition through in the end: the heir of Jango Fett now held the title of Mand'alor.

The Pretender Years: Mandalorian Deception During of the Yuuzhan Vong War

Boba's first test as Mand'alor would come fairly soon after he had taken power: an invasion by an extragalactic army known as the Yuuzhan Vong. These invaders intended to conquer the galaxy and either destroy, convert, or enslave all sentient life within it—but to do this effectively, they needed help. Namely, they needed denizens of their target galaxy to help them gather intelligence and do sensitive infiltration work that they themselves would be unable to carry out. For this, they approached a peoples whom they had found to be notorious for their mercenary natures, led by a man equally notorious for working with the worst of the worst: the Mandalorians and their Mand'alor Boba Fett.

While meeting with Boba and his second-in-command, Goran Beviin, aboard one of their ships, the Yuuzhan Vong commander Nom Anor presented their terms: work for the Yuuzhan Vong or be exterminated. Anor also made sure to present Boba and Beviin with two prisoners they had already taken, a Human and a Twi'lek male, outfitted with gruesome, surgically-implanted torture devices to demonstrate what would be in store for their people should they resist.

Deciding then and there that he despised the Yuuzhan Vong and that he'd do whatever was necessary to destroy them, Boba feigned indifference and, much to Anor's surprise, demanded a higher price: amnesty to the entire Mandalore sector, both during and after the invasion. Finding himself unable to sway Boba despite his repeated threats, Anor eventually agreed to the deal, buying Boba and Beviin much-needed time to prepare the Mandalorian people for their great deception.

The Mandalorian people would pretend to be traitors to their galaxy, serving the Yuuzhan Vong as spies and mercenaries—and all the while, they would sabotage the Yuuzhan Vong and funnel intelligence regarding their movements and tactics to New Republic command.

Under Boba, the Mandalorians would keep up this facade for much of the war, their intelligence proving instrumental in combating the invaders even while much of the galaxy believed them to be conspirators with the Yuuzhan Vong. Only towards the end of the war did their deception become known to the Vong, who responded with vicious, razed-earth attacks on the planet of Mandalore, not only killing its people but also carpet-bombing much of the planet's surface and poisoning the soil in an effort to render the planet uninhabitable.

Despite the heavy toll taken by the Mandalorians during the war, with their help, the galaxy was able to turn back the Yuuzhan Vong invasion and emerge victorious—though the challenges facing Mandalore and its people were still far from over.

Mandalore Resurgent: Post-War Aftermath and Policies

Following the war against the Yuuzhan Vong, Mandalore would find itself in a precarious position. With a third of its population destroyed, its industrial infrastructure in shambles, and much of its arable land poisoned, it was unclear whether the planet could even support its surviving clans. In addition, the Mandalorian deception that had proved so instrumental in turning the tide against the Yuuzhan Vong had worked a little too well; most of the galaxy still viewed the Mandalorians as traitors who had only turned against their Yuuzhan Vong handlers at the last minute. As a result, Mandalore was offered no aid whatsoever from the Galactic Alliance (formerly the New Republic) following the war in spite of the planet's dire straits.

Faced with these circumstances, Mand'alor Boba Fett pursued policies focusing on the internal restoration of Mandalore, including:

An immediate order for two million Mandalorians living in diaspora to return to Mandalore to help rebuild the planet. All returning Mandalorians were eligible receive an allotment of land, provided they agreed to restore it. Boba knew this was possible because he had seen Beviin, a farmer by trade, restore the land on his own farm.

Mandalore's official neutrality in the ongoing civil war between the Galactic Alliance and the Corellian Confederation. Individual Mandalorians were free to offer their mercenary services to whichever side they wished, but it was to be understood that Mandalore itself had no official involvement in the dispute.

The increased importation of food to Mandalore to feed the population until such a time that the planet's farming and infrastructure could sustain itself once more. Both Fett himself and the chief of MandalMotors would donate heavily to pay for these imports.

In addition to these policies, Mandalore would also benefit from a lucky break discovered more than a decade after the end of the Yuuzhan Vong war: a massive motherlode of beskar unearthed by the Yuuzhan Vong's extensive bombing of the planet. This discovery was extremely significant following the Imperial occupation of Mandalore, as it was believed that the Empire had completely strip-mined the planet bare of its beskar deposits. With both sides of the galaxy's newest civil war scrambling for weapons and armor, this newly discovered beskar would prove a massive economic windfall for the struggling Mandalorians, and also serve as the catalyst for MandalMotors creating the first-ever beskar-plated starfighter, the Bes'uliik.

Mirrored Destinies: Connection to Mandalorian Mythology

As an ending note to this lore post, I'd like to share a piece of Mandalorian mythology and how we see it exemplified in Boba's rule as Mand'alor. According to this belief, the fate of Mand'alor the leader and Mandalore the planet are inextricably tied; the two are synonymous to the point where, if something happens to one, whether for good or ill, one expects to see it reflected in the other. And this is absolutely the case in Boba's story.

Consider: when Boba first becomes Mand'alor, he finds himself leading a planet still recovering from Imperial rule. It is largely believed to have been robbed of its defining resource, its beskar, and thus, its soul has been stolen. Similarly, Fett himself is perceived to have "sold his soul" to the Imperials. He is the heir of the Haat Mando'ade, someone who is meant to embody the Mandalorian ideal as expressed by his grandfather Jaster Mereel, but that hope for him appears to have been in vain. He is isolated from the Mandalorians and has spent much of the past few decades at the beck and call of their enemies. He, like Mandalore, has enriched the Empire at the expense of his people.

Then, the Yuuzhan Vong War happens. Mandalore the planet is poisoned and no longer self-sustaining. Coincidentally, soon after the end of the war, Fett finds out that he is dying of a terminal genetic illness due to his cloned DNA. Both he and Mandalore are dying together.

But he doesn't go down without a fight. He learns to rely on others, such as Beviin, Mirta, and the other Mandalorians. With them, he is able to find a cure and begin the process of recovery. And, just like its Mand'alor, Mandalore is able to come back from the brink by the same means. It needs others to care for it, to restore it. Only then can it become a viable homeland once more.

Finally, after all that misfortune and suffering—because of the misfortune and suffering—both the planet and the man are revealed to not be so bereft and without soul as originally thought. In the crater of Yuuzhan Vong desolation, a new motherlode of beskar is found. In the midst of illness, war, and grief, something like a true Mandalorian is found—someone who cares for his people, his clan, and his planet. Both Mand'alor and Mandalore thus go through an arc of loss, desolation, interdependence with others, and finally, resurgence and rebirth. In this way, Boba Fett embodies the myth of the inextricable connection between Mandalore the planet and Mand'alor the man.

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

Thinking about fanon tropes I am now intrigued by the concept of a culture clash between clones and jedi about medical ethics and bedside manner.. I doubt the jedi would go in for the kind of medical abuse bullying that’s so popular in fanon medics, (yes i have beef with this), as i feel like having respect for patient privacy and autonomy is the kind of tradition they might have, just a th0ught, but certainly that doesn’t sound like something the clones would have experienced on Kamino growing up. ..now, i think there is more than one way this could affect the clone medics- do they replicate that with their own patients, are they covertly helping their bros to hide medical issues that could have consequences- it’s a fun thing to think about, considering that at a baseline they are taught that their bodies and the bodies of their patients are weapons of the state and their job is to maintain the ‘equipment’, with all that entails, but then there is clone solidarity, the potential to protect each other from the kaminoans and trainers- and then of course the push for individualism, the things that they are learning out in the field- but that doesn’t mean they would encounter revolutionary ideas like patient consent or whatever, so what would a shift like that look like in practice-

But to bring it back, that culture clash concept, it might not even happen, or barely, simply because the idea that ‘medics outrank everyone’ would be an actual thing in the GAR is, er, lol, and there is no way, as far as I’m concerned, that a clone medic would go ahead and medically bully a jedi general even if they were in the habit of doing so to their fellow clones. Well, probably. On the other hand, lol. How about this: clone medic, trying to be helpful, goes out of his way to hide his jedi’s injuries, because what if gets demoted? What if they cut him up for parts? (okay that’s maybe hyperbolic) Sir upon my honor in this medbay we NEVER report potential disabilities. Here’s something for the pain and a brace you can hide under your clothes.

[jedi-enthusiasm-blog]

I’m sorry if this has been asked, but what Jedi (besides Yoda) represents the best of what a Jedi could be in your opinion?

That's… a complicated question 😅. Very hard to answer, considering I love them all 💕.

The answer is that… well, the best of the Jedi is the Order itself. I know it sounds ridiculous but… they are all awesome 😍.

Shaak Ti is… the clones' mom, basically (or close enough). She also took ✨baby Ahsoka ✨ on her akul hunt. She's kind and compassionate, she stands up for the clones and doesn't stop pushing the Kaminoans until she saves Fives' life (who at the time was believed to have gone rogue).

Plo Koon adopts/mentors every curious being he comes across (which we stan) ♥️, and loves the clones so much. Do you still think about the "we are supposed to be expendable" "not to me" exchange, or ✨baby Ahsoka✨ trusting him immediately because she knows he's safe to be around? Yeah, me too 🥺.

Ki-Adi Mundi is the most stern out of the Council (save for perhaps Mace), but that doesn't stop him from goofing around with the kids (Anakin and Ahsoka) and caring a lot towards his men (and people say he's an emotionless robot and proof of everything wrong with the Order 🙄).

Mace Windu walks close to the Dark Side every day yet chooses not to Fall every single time ✊. He has a temper, but keeps it under control and doesn't let his anger outweight his kindness. In TCW he's shown putting himself in danger for his men in nearly every moment he's on screen, and is even compassionate towards Boba after he's killed his men 🥺. He loves the Republic, loves Depa, and holy fuck he defeated Sidious!

Even Ima-Gun Di, the guy who's literally named "I'm gonna die 😂", seems to be a good Jedi. He's close with his men and dies protecting Ryloth (the Twi'leks owe him their planet, their freedom and their lives!).

But the Jedi who exemplifies the best of them? It's tricky, but I'm gonna pick Obi-Wan and Luke.

Obi-Wan remains kind and compassionate even after his whole family, culture and way of life is burned to the ground by the men he fought three entire years to protect and his Padawan/brother at the lead. He, even when dirt poor, gives some money to a veteran of the 501st! Anakin's legion! The same legion that stormed the Temple! This man is amazing 😍🥹.

And Luke 🥹, what hasn't been said about Luke? He overcomes his difficulties, he finds a present to stand on, he sacrifices himself to save the Rebellion and his father, his kriffing Sith-Apprentice-Jedi-Killer-Emperor's-Fist father, and he succeeds! He tells the Emperor to fuck right off and that he's a Jedi and will die a Jedi before he becomes a Sith. He offers Jabba the Hutt the opportunity to surrender and get out of the situation without bloodshed.

But anyways 😅. Luke and Obi-Wan are, along with Yoda, the representation of the best of the Jedi, but everyone else is not so far behind (except Anakin and Ahsoka).

[kotemf]

Happy Holidays!

For the dream fic under the Christmas Tree: I would love to read something about how the clone cadets spend Life Day(/Christmas) on Kamino! I'd love it to be focused around the command batch (Fox, Cody, Wolffe, etc.), but to be honest, any clones will do <3 Enjoy writing and I can't wait reading what you'll come up with!

So excited to fill this prompt! I love baby clones but you probably know that... I hope you like it.

You can read this on Ao3 too.

Click the 'keep reading' button to unwrap your gift!

The clones on Kamino weren't taught much about nat-born culture. They were only learning the stuff that they were going to need, such as biology of the species they may encounter, how to address both Jedi and civilian officers and such. Culture has never been deemed useful by the trainers nor the Kaminoans. It wasn't like they were actually going to meet anyone off the battlefield. They weren't going to need to know culture.

That didn't mean they weren't interested. Especially Cody and Fox loved anything nat-born, nat-born stuff was cool. They would absorb every single information the trainers had given them and then try to outdo each other in their knowledge.

Somehow, though, they have never heard of Life Day.

25th of December was just a day for them, a day like all the other days. There were no days off on Kamino.

They started their day with a long jog in the cold rain, then trained some, then Fox stole a trainer's coffee and they had fun observing him looking for the stolen cup of the brown liquid. After that they had a class and had to write an essay on Nautolan anatomy before they could have dinner and finally, finally go back to their room.

They normally spend the time in their room before they went to sleep studying for their classes or practicing new moves. On rare occasions, they would sneak around Kamino looking for the defective cadet Cody took under his wing.

They would do all of that had Alpha-17 not been waiting for them. "Finally." Their older brother looked at them. He didn't quite smile, Alpha never did that, but the corners of his lips did curl upwards a little bit. That was about as rare of a sight as a sunny day on Kamino.

"What are you doing here?" Cody asked carefully.

"I just wanted to wish you a merry Life Day, vod'ike."

"Life Day?" Fox asked curiously. "What's a Life Day?"

"You've never heard about Life Day?"

"No!" The cadets shook their heads simultaneously. There was a lot of things they didn't know, they were still one of the younger batches. Why was Alpha so surprised that they didn't know anything about this Life Day?

"Well, we'll have to remedy that. Who wants to hear a story?" Alpha asked. They all did but Fox was the only one who dared to come close to Alpha-17 and settle on his lap. He was the only one of them who wasn't terrified of the older clone. While Alpha hasn't ever done anything to them, they had seen him mad and he always looked so distanced and never smile so they were just careful. But Fox wasn't. He sometimes even went to Alpha for hugs!

"Tell us Alpha, please!" Fox begged for them all.

"I'm starting, Fox'ika, okay?" Alpha took a deep breath and then started talking. About a Wookie legend that supposedly happened many, many years ago. It started with a prophecy that a strong warrior who will save the Wookie planet Kashyyyk and the day that the warrior was born became a day celebrated as Life Day. And after this warrior died because of some bad Wookies, he became so famous in the entire galaxy that the day he was born became a holiday celebrated in the entire galaxy. It was called Life Day, for reasons not even Alpha fully understood. And it was celebrated on 25th of December.

"So Life Day has almost passed and we didn't know about it?" Cody asked, shocked.

"Don't be dramatic, Kote. You still have the entire evening to celebrate," Alpha assured him.

"But didn't you say we were supposed to give each other gifts? We don't have any gifts." Bly worried.

"Don't worry about that. The gifts can be something small, like one of the better ration bars. Or it doesn't even have to be a material object. You can just tell your brothers how much you like them and how much you appreciate their friendship as a gift."

"Well, I like you a lot Alpha and you are my favorite ori'vod," Fox informed him as he went in for a hug. And... well what could it hurt to join the hug, right?

Bly was the first one to join in. Then Cody and then eventually Wolffe too. And they found out that Alpha-17 indeed didn't bite. The hug was nice and warm, just like Fox said. They should've believed him.

"I have something for you, ad'ike."

"Really, Alpha?" Cody asked. He expected Alpha to tell them something similar to what Fox had said to him, that they were good vod'ike or maybe that he liked training with them.

To his surprise, Alpha pulled actual gifts out of his belt pouch. "These are some traditional Life Day treats. I had them smuggled in so no one can find out about it, okay? It'll be our little secret."

"We won't tell anything," Bly promised as he peeked inside of his little package. "They look nice. Much better than ration bars."

"They are."

"Thank you, Alpha!"

"No need, you deserve a little treat," their older brother assured them.

"But we don't have anything for you." Fox realized.

"Don't worry about it, ad'ike." Alpha smiled at them as he got up from where he had been sitting on Wolffe's cot. "You already gave me the best Life Day present I could ever ask for."

"That was weird," Wolffe voiced what they all were thinking.

"Did he just... smile?" Cody needed to make sure that he didn't just imagine that. Alpha never smiled, not really. Or he apparently did now because his batchmates saw it too.

"And what did he mean by 'the best Life Day present he could ever ask for'? We didn't give him anything. Maybe a headache. It doesn't make sense," Fox complained. He hated it when things didn't make sense and, unfortunately for him, many people seemed to not make any.

"I don't know. But we could have some of the candy he gave us," Wolffe suggested.

"And then we can write each other a letter about the good stuff they did during the year and then give it to each other as gifts, like Alpha said but better." Cody had an idea.

"Let's do it."

[clone-wars-retteyo-au]

YOU. YOU GET ME.

Canon genders the clones, both individually and collectively, pretty aggressively. They're men, brothers, boys, sirs. Omega is notable for being the "female" clone, to the point where she's not recognized as a clone in a meaningful way.

But the clones grew up without gendered social groups! Despite how clones are gendered by external factors, gender is functionally a nonentity in their lives until they meet civilians, and civilians do a load of other weird shit anyway.

So why do they still use gendered language?

My argument is that feminine language isn't used as a gendered form of address, but as a form of address that reflects a specific kind of power dynamic and relationship between parties.

Given the structure of the clone army, the only people a vast majority of young clones interact with who could insist on being called ma'am are exclusively kaminoans.

The kaminoans view clones not as autonomous subjects, but as property. They have and expect complete control over their lives and actions. Incidentally, the female kaminoans we see (such as Nala Se) tend to demonstrate an even more proprietary perspectives on the clones.

You can question a sir, like your superiors or trainers, at your discretion, but you can't question a ma'am. A sir is someone who has power over you, but is somewhat responsible for you. The have personal accountability to you in some way. Sirs are responsible for men under them. A ma'am is someone whose power over you is absolute, an authority without accountability, who is not beholden to you but that you must obey. You are tool or a number to a ma'am.

And when you bring clones out into the wider galaxy, I'm not sure anyone would figure it out that quickly.

Say you're a new jedi general. You meet your men, and they address you as "ma'am". Maybe you correct and move on, figuring that they've grown up surrounded by thousands of identical men and aren't great at guessing genders based on social and appearance cues. Scuttlebutt has your forms of address spread through the men by the end of the day, and you don't think about it again.

The clones, on the other hand, take this correction as he/him jedi stating that they want to work with them and suppourt them despite having so much power over them, which fits with both what they know of the jedi and, most often, their leadership style.

She/her jedi (see Shaak Ti especially!), clones maybe treat a little more as absolute authorities. This gendered divide in behavior gets met with, "hm, maybe they're just not used to women." For many jedi, they eventually switch to calling them sir as well, especially as they build rapport.

For Shaak Ti specifically, she is an absolute authority as the representative of the Jedi on Kamino, not just as a figurehead but as a decision maker and educator. Even as the clones grow to trust and love her, she's a relatively distant and all-powered figure. She has near total authority over them, and clones might ask for help or suppourt, but there's no social obligation for those requests to be met, she's just kind. It's compassion, not duty.

Senators, there's a good mix of different factors that make it confusing. "Senator" is always an acceptable form of address if you're not sure how'd they react, even if they should be ma'ams by default, but they're either trying to build rapport for some reason or genuinely want to work with you when they say to call them sir, regardless of the actual power dynamic at play. The she/her senators that respect the clones are in the same boat as Shaak Ti: Padme Amidala may care about clone rights, but I am still just one of hundreds to her and she has no personal accountability to me. Her position is such that she should not and cannot owe me anything. Same with Riyo Chuchi, Mon Mothma, etc. etc.

And a civilian that insists on being called ma'am or sir is going to be an asshole either way, and they technically have power over clones without personal accountability or responsibility for them. It works.

Finally, Palpatine.

He's a slimy rat fuck who pretends to be affable and kind, so of course he's going to laugh and say, "Oh, no, call me Sir!" when you call him ma'am. He is not personally accountable to you, and he does not care about you, but it helps his image and it helps him manipulate people to pretend, so of course he's making you use sir to build false intimacy despite the fact that he's the ma'am of ma'ams, both in power gaps and lack of accountability for his treatment of clones.

So having clones using sir vs ma'am not as a reflection of gender but as a reflection of power? Yeah, I think it works.

[vodika-vibes]

A New Partnership

Summary: You’re a wanderer. You travel from planet to planet, searching for adventure. And so, you’re not unused to finding interesting things. However, when you stumble on a cave on a planet so far from the core worlds that you might as well be in a different galaxy altogether, you find something…odd.

Pairing: Pre ARC Trooper Fives x GN!Reader

Word Count: 1740

Warnings: None, really. Fives calls the reader Pretty at one point.

A/N: My husband's work took them on a field trip today and it, quite literally, sounded like hell on earth to me. So I had time to write this. I hope you all like it. As of right now, I'm not planning a sequel.

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You love adventure. The thrill of the unknown, the adrenaline rush when you stumble on danger, the delight when you uncover a cultural treasure for the native people of the planet— you love it all. 

It is what drives you. 

It encourages you to go further and learn more.

The Galaxy is so large and diverse that you want to see it all.

So, you’re used to seeing strange things. It’s normal for you to stumble over planet-wide conspiracies and to trip over criminal enterprises. In all honesty, those things are normal for you to stumble over.

You once landed on a planet that had been hidden from the galaxy by powerful force users and got stuck in a six-month ordeal trying to talk your way out of becoming a slave to the people who called themselves The Fair Ones. 

But this?

This is new.

Let’s rewind for a moment.

While rare, people can hire you to look into something for them, and that’s how this whole event started. A comm call from an old friend led you to a small planet on the edge of the galaxy.

There you found yourself a guest of a small community. The people are plant-based, a rarity in the galaxy in your, competitively small, experience, welcomed you with open arms and even had a massive banquet to welcome you to their home. 

As much as you enjoyed the banquet and the stories, there was no hiding the undercurrent of tension. The elders were tense and often spoke in hushed voices to each other. And the saplings rarely strayed far from their parents. 

You might not be a genius, but you don’t have to be to see that all is not well here. 

So you do some subtle digging. Do these people have natural predators that are posing a threat to them? Or, perhaps, there are hunters from other planets here to capture and enslave them?

The answer surprises you.

The Elder tells you that strange things have been happening of late. Weird noises in the middle of the night. Strange lights from over the mountains, where no one lives. And the local animal population has been decreasing. 

Another elder, this one a warrior, tells you that animal corpses have been found in the rivers and streams, and even the local fish are dying in the ponds. They tell you that there’s something in the mountains that is posing a threat to them, which is why they called for help.

Naturally, you’re happy to help. Whether it’s some kind of zoonotic disease attacking the local animals (which you aren’t equipped to help with, but you have friends who can) or it’s a more artificial threat (which you can help with) you’re willing to help.

So, you packed up some gear, loaded up your bike, and headed into the mountains.

Which brings you back to the present.

You adjust your stealth generator, to ensure that it won’t turn off at the least convenient time, and peer into the massive room beneath you. 

Finding a massive, modern, facility in the mountains isn’t weird. You find stuff like this all of the time. In truth, when you first found it, you thought that it was a facility owned by another tribe of the native people.

One that the small village you’re helping didn’t know about.

You’re wrong, of course.

You usually are, when you jump to conclusions like that.

The facility is Kaminoan in design. This makes absolutely no sense and is totally logical seeing as all of the people who work here are Kaminoan. Although, that fact twists it right back around to making no sense.

Kaminoans are meant to be on Kamino. In fact, the only time you’ve ever seen a Kaminoan is when the Kaminoan Senator makes speeches that you half listen to on the holo while traveling.

They’re notoriously isolationist. And, well, cloning isn’t exactly legal in the Republic. Even the Arkanians only get around it by cloning body parts for medical reasons, rather than whole people.

But, your wool-gathering isn’t getting you to the bottom of what’s happening here, so you slip into a vent and shimmy into another room. Hopefully, you can find a server room and get a map.

You…don’t find a server room.

A sudden drop that you don’t notice until it’s too late sends you tumbling down, down, down…until you fall through a vent into a large, dark room. A large, dark, cold room.

At first, you think it’s a freezer of some kind, but as you lift your flashlight and direct the beam around the room, your stomach sinks.

It’s not a freezer.

It’s a prison.

And all of the prisoners are frozen in carbonite.

Amusingly, your first thought is that this being a carbonite storage facility answers all of the questions that the village had. The noises are likely from the machines that hold the carbonite. The bright lights are probably from some kind of energy storage system. The dead fish and animals would be from any runoff. 

You can’t stop an entire facility on your own, though.

Your gaze slides across the rows and rows of carbonite. 

“I wonder,” you murmur to yourself, as you step toward one of the bricks, “who the Kaminoans are keeping here.” There don’t appear to be any names attached to the carbonite.

So, you pick one at random and start the thawing process.

The last thing you expect is for the carbonite to thaw and a clone to crumple to the ground. His hair has been shaved, and he has a five tattooed on his forehead.

Carbonite poisoning takes time to run through a system, time you don’t have. There’s no way no one detected you falling through the vents earlier. So you grab his arm and hoist him to his feet.

“Come on, pal. Let’s regroup.”

“—who—?” His voice is raspy, likely from disuse. How long has he been frozen for?

“Think of me as a friend.” You say quickly, “Cause, well, you’re in deep water friend, and I’m the only floatation device you’re getting.”

“...that’s a terrible metaphor.”

“Apt though.” You help him walk away from the door, towards the back of the room. There has to be a second way out, right? If this is where they do the freezing—

For once in your life, you’re actually lucky as you find a small door that is clearly labeled as an emergency exit. Even luckier, the tunnel that it leads to leads to a spot on the mountain not far from where your speeder is stashed.

A quick trip down the mountain, and an ever quicker conversation with the elder of the village that hired you, sees your clone friend whisked away to an infirmary, while you spend the next day explaining everything you found in the facility to the village elders.

It’s not until a couple of days later you see the man you rescued again.

You find him near your speeder, “I really hope you’re not trying to steal that.” You say dryly, “It’s kinda a shit way to repay someone.”

“Nah, I was just looking.” He turns to look at you, “I owe you my thanks.”

“Please. You owe me nothing.”

“You took a risk, saving me.”

“That’s what I do. I take risks for people I don’t know.” You toss your bag into the back of your speeder and make sure it’s secured down, “You’ll be safe here, they seem like a good sort.”

He frowns at you, “Where are you going?”

“Well, if they have one clone in cold storage, odds are they have more. So I’m going to use the back door and liberate a couple. I figure you want some of your brothers back, friend.”

“Fives.”

“Sorry?”

“My name. It’s Fives.”

“Oh. Fives then. Nice to meet you.”

“Same.” He pauses, “What if the longnecks are expecting you?”

“Then I’ll improvise. I’m good at that.”

“You’re going to risk your life for a bunch of strangers?”

“It’s what I do.” You repeat.

“You’re not going alone.”

You finally turn your head to look at him, “I beg your pardon?”

“I was an ARC and those are my brothers. You're not going alone.”

“You just woke up, are you even cleared to be doing stuff?”

“I did and I am.”

“It’ll be dangerous.”

“All the more reason for me to go with you.”

“You don’t have armor—”

“I borrowed a set,”

“Or a weapon,” You continue with a glare.

“I borrowed one of those two.” he folds his arm, “Look, like it or not, this is bigger than one person and you know it. You’re just being stubborn.”

“I’m not in the habit of putting other people in harm's way for funsies.”

“Neither am I. And you’re a civilian. So, really, I should be talking you out of this.”

“I’d really like to see you try.”

Fives sighs, “Look. That wasn’t me trying to challenge you. It’s not in my nature to let civilians fight for me. And my brothers will say the same thing.”

You twist your lips at the mention.

“Let me help you. I even have an idea for how we can save all of them at the same time.” He tempts.

“Fine. How?”

“We don’t thaw them until we get them back here. Carbonite bricks stack well, we can fit all of them in a trailer.”

“Move them like they’re merchandise?”

“It’s not ideal, but it’s better than trying to escape with people suffering from carbonite sickness.”

“...that’s not a terrible idea, I suppose.” You mutter.

“So…partners?”

“Mm…for now.” You offer your hand and he takes it, “Partners for now. But we’re going to readdress this after we save your brothers.”

“You don’t play well with others, do you pretty?”

You frown at him, “I play perfectly nice with others. I just don’t like being backed into a corner.”

He grins, “I’m going to make you trust me, you’ll see.” He releases your hand, “Now, I already borrowed a trailer from the village elder, it should be here soon.”

You sigh, “Alright, alright. Let me put my hitch on my speeder. The toolbox is under the back seat.”

“See! We’re already working well together!”

And you roll your eyes as you grab your hitch and move to the back of the speeder. This is either going to be great or terrible. You suppose only time will tell.

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