detroitbydark:

Disney/Lucas Film rereleasing Republic Commando: This should shut them up.

RepComm fandom: Will someone ever rescue Sev?

Disney/Lucas Film: …

RepComm fandom: you know, the Bad Batch could always make a stop on Kasshyk… as a treat.

Disney/Lucas Film: You’re not getting more Delta.

RepComm fandom remains hopeful and offering up other avenues: So we figure season three of the Mandalorian-

Disney/Lucas Film: No!

RepComm fandom: how about the Bad Batch-

Disney/Lucas Film: No! Don’t you ever give up?

RepComm Fandom, cracks neck: we could do this all day.

Disney/Lucas Film: Bad Batch Season 2, we’re confirming Scorch is in the show!

RepComm Fandom: Can *he* go rescue Sev now?

Disney/Lucas Film: you’re not going to let this go, are you?

The Republic Commando books series mentioned hereandthere that Walon and Jango were closer than Kal and Jango ever had. This is even more interesting if we take into account that the same books made it clear that Vau openly cares only about Mird - and the strill “would defend Vau to the last. It always had.” and“had stood by him since boyhood” [True Colors] what at this point means literal decades now - while struggling with expressing emotions and pride toward his Delta boys (“They were the best special forces troops in the galaxy, and here Vau was, still unable to manage the thank you or well done that they deserved.”) even though he didn’t have much problem to admitting that in fact he did care for them to Etain (“Do you see your men as your sons?“ "Of course I do. I have no others.”, [Triple Zero]) or Kal (“Do you think he knew, Kal? […] Sev. I never told him I was proud of him, and I was. Did he know I loved him every bit as much as you love your boys?”[Order 66]). 

In True Colors, Walon himself admitted to “had little time for anyone else, regardless of species” with the exception of Mird, the men of the Grand Army and most likely Jango Fett, for whom he agreed to train army for around decade on Kamino, cut away from the outside world and maybe even Kal Skirata for whatever reason Walon decided to involve him into Jango’s secret project.

The Prima Guide outright described Vau as “borderline sociopathic” - although the little research I did doesn’t sound whole fitting with what we known about Walon (and to be honest, some symptoms/signs sounds more like Kal Skirata than him) but generally speaking, I think we could agree that Walon falls into Antisocial Personality Disorder and thus is not a person that easily forms relationships with other people - he cares about some, but is emotionally stunned, introverted, closed off.

He and Kal managed to bond over the common purpose of saving clone troopers and both went a long way from despiting each other to become close as one Mandalorian could be to another. Both are also influenced by their lasting traumas and the effects can be seen in how they interact with other people (Kal being protective of his “found family”, having some bias toward women and criminal tendencies, Vau not getting emotionally invested for most of time, struggling with putting positive emotions into words of praise for his boys).

Now, let’s talk about Jango. The same as Walon and Kal, Jango’s life was full of misery and hardship that at some (post-Galidraan) point transformed him into a man maintaining little emotional connection to other living beings. The most known exception to this rule was of course little Boba Fett.

The novelization of Attack of the Clones did not include much of Open Seasion’s backstory but all the same underlined Fett’s dispassionate nature.

Quiet moments within the tumult that had beenJango Fett’s entire life, surviving the trials of the Outer Rim alone practically from the day he learned to walk. Each trial had made him stronger, had made him more perfect, had honed the skills that he would now pass along to Boba. There was no one better in all the galaxy to teach his son. When Jango Fett wanted you caught, you were caught. When Jango Fett wanted you dead, you were dead.

No, not when Jango "wanted” those things. This was never personal. The hunting, the killing, it was all a job, and among the most valuable of lessons Jango had learned early on was how to become dispassionate. Completely so. That was his greatest weapon.

He looked at Taun We, then turned to grin at his son. Jango could be dispassionate, except for those times when he could spend time alone with Boba. With Boba, there was pride and there was love, and Jango had to work constantly to keep both of those potential weaknesses at a minimum.While he loved his son dearly-because he loved his son dearly-Jango had been teaching him those same attributes of dispassion, even callousness, from his earliest days.

Internal memo penned by Hali Ke, senior research geneticist, Kamino, 27 BBY(source) also points out Jango’s disdain for human relationship and his asocial yet complex nature: 

I have now logged many sessions with our prime clone Jango Fett, and concluded that he embodies his species’ contradictions. He is a killer many times over, ending the life of others without hesitation if paid to do so, yet his anger was obvious when I suggested he lacked morality. He is one of the most able, competent humans I have ever observed, remaining calm in situations that would leave most organics helpless with terror. Yet he witnessed horrors in his childhood that he will not discuss, and around which his mind has constructed apparently impenetrable barriers.

Jango is given to solitude and affects a disdain for human relationships and connections, yet when he agreed to help train our army, he immediately summoned a band of mercenaries who shared his background. And, of course, there is the matter of his fee: Jango seemed barely to care for the considerable sum of five million credits, but was adamant that we create an unaltered clone of himself, whom he now refers to — without a trace of self-consciousness — as his son. I have seen him return to Kamino after killing men for credits, wash the blood out of his starship’s hold, and an hour later be gently talking and playing with young Boba.

(The other trait often mentioned by sources was Jango’s anger that kept him going on despite all tragedies that happened to him, but that deserves a separate analyze in regard to Vau’s training methods and Atin)

There is no one right way for a human to deal with trauma and people process their emotional and psychological problems in various ways. Walon and Jango learned to close off, to cut away the unnecessary emotions and keep to minimal human relationship with exception to Mird and Boba, respectively. 

Considering how much Kal was an emotional, extrovert-type of person with strong opinions he liked rant about compared to the two other Mandalorians, it is no wonder that Walon and Jango had better understanding going on between them. Of course, the sources are insufficient to say for sure why and how close they were in the first place but considering the fact that Vau helped Fett to pick up the training sergeants (and by logic, needed to be one of the first if not literally the first to be contacted by Jango), I think it is correct to assume Walon had Jango’s trust and was privy to some of inner matters in regard to clones. 

The Republic Commando book series put a lot of blame on Kaminoans for clone troopers’ misery, which in itself is true of course. But the additional information put in the game (loading screens) brought an interesting matter to consider. 

According to Taun We, Jango insisted to continue training despite significial fatalities so the “weak” clones could be eliminated. Jango’s true goal was to create a capable army so when the right time comes, Dooku and his Sith Master could destroy the Jedi Order. Walon Vau did not know it then and connected the dots after Order 66 was issued by Chancellor Palpatine. 

He however could be privy to Jango’s demands to keep the deadly exercises running without regard for clone troopers’ safety. On one hand, Walon understood the necessity of danger, as he said himself: 

On another note, Jango’s insistence to “culling the weak” could be also the vital factor why Vau was so harsh with his trainers and pushed them beyond their limits. Though I do suspect, he may not tell Skirata about Jango’s personal contribution to the deadly program - yes, Skirata was angry at Jango for selling his genes and not caring for the clones beside Boba but the book series did not seem imply that Mandalorian in question was aware of this little detail? Otherwise Kal and Jango could be on even worse terms.

One thing that always struck me about wording, either in POV paragraphs or the Vau’s arguments with Skirata, is how often his commandos are described as “survivors” - or generally speaking the emphasis is on “alive” rather than just the best soldiers. Like Walon really prioritized their survival over the performance.

Skirata gave him the palm-down gesture: Leave it. “Stay useful, Walon.” He beckoned Jusik and Ordo to follow him. “And I hope that Atin’s moved on too, because I won’t stand in his way now." 

"How far is too far, Kal? Can you answer that? How far did you go?” Vau called after him. “I made that boy a warrior. Without me, he wouldn’t be alive today." 

With him, Ordo thought, Atin very nearly wasn’t.

[Triple Zero]

or

[Etain]  turned to Vau. "Do you see your men as your sons?" 

"Of course I do. I have no others. It’s why I made them into survivors. Don’t think I don’t love them just because I don’t spoil them like kids." 

[Triple Zero]

or

The Sickener, they called it. One more endurance test to make sure they could face conditions that would break and kill lesser men, crawling through a ditch filled with rotting nerf guts. 

But there were more tests to come. A night out in Fest-like temperatures; no sleep for three days, maybe more; scant water, a full sixty-kilo pack, and blistering heat; and a lot of pain. Pain, pitiless verbal abuse, and humiliation. A captured commando could expect brutal interrogation. They had to be able to cope without breaking, and it took some imagination to test that to the limit. 

How far is too far, Kal? 

Vau was much more detached about handing out all that punishment than Skirata could ever be. It was very hard to hurt your sons, even if it helped them survive the unsurvivable.

[Triple Zero]

or

 ”I raised you to survive. Don’t humiliate me by going soft.“ [True Colors]

or

Skirata remembered it, and didn’t want to. It was training that had to be done. It broke his heart, but it was going to be all that stood between those boys and death sooner or later. They had to be able to face the unimaginable, and-yes, there were even worse things than charging a line of droids with your comrades. 

    There were the things you might have to face alone, in a locked room, with no hope of rescue. 

   Maybe Vau was right. Perhaps trainees needed to be brutalized beyond the point where they were just brave, pushed into a state of existence where they became animals intent only on survival. That was how Vau had nearly killed Atin. It was why Skirata had then gone after Vau and nearly killed him.

[Triple Zero]

or

Vau wasn’t used to anything other than instant obedience from his squads. He’d drummed it into them on Kamino, the hard way when necessary. Skirata thought you built special forces soldiers by treats and pats on the head, but it just produced weaklings; Vau’s squads had the lowest casualty rates because he reinforced the animal will lo survive in every man. He was proud of it.

"You did,” Boss said, “but you look like you need a hand. Anyway-you’re not our sergeant any longer. Technically speaking. No disrespect… Citizen Vau." 

    I was hard on them because I cared. Because they had to be hard to survive. Kal never understood that, the fool. 

    Vau still had trouble breathing some days thanks to the broken nose Skirata had given him. The crazy little chakaar didn’t understand training at all.

[True Colors]

or

Sev rumbled again. "I still reckon he killed Ko Sai. And I still reckon he got her research, and that’s why he killed her, to shut her up. So yeah, I’d bet on him finding a way to stop us aging so fast.”

Scorch suspected that Vau was as deeply involved in the death of Kamino’s renegade cloner as Skirata; he was still fiercely loyal to Vau, because the man was the reason Delta were all still alive today, one of a handful of squads that had survived intact since the Kamino days. Vau raised survivors. [Order 66]

Walon Vau’s methods were brutal to the point he was sometimes called Old Psycho. But, at the same time, he is so far the only one Mandalorian sarge we know about whose whole batch survived training on Kamino up to battle of Geonosis - and then, somewhere to the first year of anniversary of mentioned battle, lost only three men (Atin’s original squad).

“I’ve lost just three men out of my batch, Kal. That tells me a lot about my methods." 

"So I lost fourteen. You making a point?" 

"You made yours soft. They don’t have that killer edge." 

“No, I didn’t brutalize mine like you did yours, you hut ‘uun.”

[Triple Zero]

According to Making the man: selection and training [Star Wars Insider 84], the single training sergeant had either 25 or 26 squads (four members each) under their supervision.  Which means that Walon trained 100 or 104 commandos for 8 years and either none died [according to Triple Zero] or only three cadets died [according to Hard Contact]* in the harsh program nor he killed anyone accidentally during live ammo training (like Skirata did). Additionally, the same article stated that half of 10.000 clone commandos died in the first few months of the war, “largely due to being deployed initially by inexperienced generals as infantry troops rather than as Special Forces”.  Considering all of this, Vau’s record is pretty impressive if all his squads (beside Atin’s original one) survived intact the worst few months when many other commandos died. 

Of course, we can’t forget his methods alone were brutal and Atin got some of the worst of it:

“Vau nearly killed me, so when I finally got out of the bacta tank, I said I’d kill him one day. Fair enough, yes?“ [Triple Zero]

and how Walon pushed harder those who seemed to him not good enough:

“Look, if Vau felt you lacked the killer edge, he’d crank it up a little. He’d make you fight your brother. We had a choice. We could fight each other until one was too badly hurt to stand up, or we could fight him.” [Triple Zero]

Walon’s brutality and its effect on his boys deserved a separate analysis so for now, important is how Jango was all for “curling the weak”whileVau was set on to raise survivors no matter what. If Vau was privy to inner matters concerning clone training - and Jango’s part in that - I think it is safe to assume he trained his boys in a way they could pass Jango’s high standard and demands.

Surprisingly there is no(?) source implying Fett was displeased with Vau’s brutality - something Kal Skirata personally despited for years - even though we know Jango intervened in the case of Dread Priest’s secret fighting circle due to Mij’s complains. Quite the opposite, it actually looks like Fett was pretty impressive and satisfied with Vau’s results

Jango literally compared Vau’s Delta Squad to his own charges, the Alpha class ARC, who by design were supposed to be better than the commandos and who he trained personally which also raise a serious question about Jango’s own training methods.

The traits he praised, them being deadly, relentless, antisocial andaggressive makes it sounds like Jango and Vau had similar ideas of what the clone special forces should be. Especially the “asocial” is interesting, because this is a personal trait that Fett and Vau share but one that is not actually that good in soldiers. Of course, most squads will work alone, just four brothers against the world, but Triple Zero showed that melting two different teams for one joint operation wasn’t that easy task and Deltas for sure kept their asocial nature as much as it was possible through the whole war.

There is a lot things we don’t know in regard to Jango Fett and Walon Vau, but it seems that character-wise, they understood each other well and instead of blaming Jango for his approach to clones (curling the weak) like Skirata would do, Vau was willing to went a far way to ensure his boys will be ready for whatever Kaminoans (and Jango) had planned for them and survive no matter what, even if he alone died in the process.

Scorch slapped down his own curiosity and told it to behave. He didn’t care how Vau knew. He was just glad that he did and he trusted him, because Vau’s words always came back to him from those first days on Kamino.

Everything I do from this moment on is to make sure you survive to fight. Even if I don’t. [Order 66]

And this brings us to the one thing we know for sure about Walon’s feelings toward Jango. All the brutal training, all the need to create survivors so Vau’s batch will pass Jango’s high expectations and meet his approval may comes from this:

 "I let him down once.“ Vau would never shake off that feeling of having failed, the legacy of his vile father. He’d instilled it into his clones, despite himself. ”But I never let him down again.“ [Order 66]

**EDIT**

As was pointed out to me, Atin lost his first squad during training on Kamino according to Hard Contact:

Atin was holding his rifle carefully, a handspan clear of his chest. "I’ve been the last man left standing in two squads now." 

    "Oh.” Silence. Niner prompted: “Want to tell me how?”

“First squad tried to rescue me on a live range exercise. I didn’t need rescuing. Not that badly, anyway." 

    "Ah.” Niner felt instantly appalled at himself for thinking Atin didn’t care what happened to Darman. He was just caring too much. “My training sergeant said there was something called survivor’s guilt. He also said that in those cases, having you survive was what your squad wanted.”

My fault for not checking the first book and relying solely on Triple Zero although now I wonder if this some sort of divergence between both books or did I misread the text so bad…?

Guys, I need help in regard to the Republic Commando book series. For as long as I remember, I have seen fanarts and fanfics presenting Walon Vau with gold eyes. What is frustrating, for I don’t know where this comes from and I’m usually good at remembering / picking details about characters I care for? Like, is that a fact from the books or someone’s headcanon spread widely around??

I reread a lion share of Triple Zero a few days ago and there was no information about the color of Vau’s at all and the only golden eyes are Mird’s one? But since I was reading the official Polish translation, I checked the original introduction of Walon and again, did not see any information about his eyes besides they were “slightly narrowed”.

Vau was settled in one of the deeply upholstered hide chairs with the strill draped across his lap on its back, all six of its legs flopping in an undignified sprawl while he scratched its belly. Its huge fanged mouth was slack, tongue lolling, and a long skein of drool hung almost to the floor. Its body was a meter long, lengthened by a whip of a tail covered in more loose skin.

   The strill was still prettier than Vau, though. The man had a long square jawed face that was all bone and frown lines, and graying dark hair cut brutally short. Faces rarely lied about the soul within.

and

Vau, apparently distracted, fondled its ghastly, stinking head, his slightly narrowed eyes revealing a doting affection that he never seemed to spare for any other living creature.

Skirata stood to leave, and Vau gave the strill a gentle shove to persuade it to drop to the floor. It complained in a gravelly rumble but settled at his feet, looking up at Skirata with red-rimmed gold eyes. Skirata’s hand was still cupped, arm at his side, in that way Ordo knew often preceded a fight.

(like I said, the golden eyes are in the sentence describing Mird)

I did not have a time yet to fully reread the next parts of the series, just did a quick search for words like “gold” and “eyes” via electronic version and I can’t get to the roots of the problem (but then again, .pdf can be unreliable source) With is frustrating as hell so I would really appreciate the help; don’t need the exact quote (although it would be pretty nice), just need a hint which books I should closely examine.

(Golden eyes just don’t suit Vau in my mind at all I guess, this is why I need to know for sure if this true and comes from books or is just a fan-canon that somehow got so popular everyone takes as a fact? It killing me guys, help!)

I’m deep in research mode so I’m currently digging a lot of Clone Wars-era source materials at once and along the way it hits me the funny realization about Mandalorian training sarges. Like, I knew this fact for years, but having this knowledge collated with other data makes it plainly visible how Clone Commandos were special compared to common troopers and ARCs. Not only in how their training was structured differently but also they are like one of few clones who actually get officially their (nick)names way before it became the norm (with a clear Jedi influence there).

I mean, Legends sources, especially around 2002-2005/6, were quite consistent that before Geonosis, clones rather did not have a proper (nick)name. Kaminoans considered names to be a weakness - something that changed after Jedi and clones started working more closely together and ARC-17 took over training the future clone officers (x). This approach against names (individuality) mostly touched the common troopers (mass trained) but also Advanced Recon Commando (personally trained by Jango Fett). And then we have Mandalorian training sarges like Kal Skirata and Walon Vau - men with a very different training methods and approach to their trainees - who apparently decided to fuck that rule on the spot.

As Prima Guide states, Vau literally gave his Delta Squad - and logically assuming all subordinates - nicknames (or a full Mandalorian name, at least in case of Atin) so they have a sense of uniquenessandimportance

which is pretty much the opposite of what Kaminoans originally wanted.

So it is really hilarious in insight, because whatever we could say about Kal Skirata and Walon Vau - and there is plenty to say about both - they came to Kamino, got bunch of little clone cadets who were meant to be obedient and expendable and totally disagreed with Kaminoans take on clone troopers individuality and were like,

No names for clones? We are gonna fixthat.

And this is both sweet and hilarious at the same time.

Sweet because even if names were clone commandos’ private secret, something to share only with the closest brothers and training sergeants (x), they had the names, identity, something personal and just theirs outside of Kaminoan control.

Hilarious because trust Mandalorians to be a bunch of stubborn individuals who most likely were the biggest thorn in Kaminoans side for like eight to ten years (and Jango apparently not helping much in that regard).

There are plenty of good and bad things I could say about Republic Commando books but one of my favorite parts of the series is the plot twist of Kal Skirata’s recruitment into the Cuy'val Dar - the training sergeants recruited personally by Jango Fett to train clone commandos on Kamino. 

Majority of the recruited people in fact were Mandalorians but apparently out of 100 needed people, Jango managed to hire only 75 of his “compatriots” while 25 were (foreing) specialists. The Republic Commandos: Order 66 even mentions the possibility of Jango’s problem with finding enough Mandalorians for the jobs:

The four Mandalorians exchanged a few words and disappeared. Without his helmet systems, Scorch couldn’t overhear anything at that distance. “Why did Fett recruit any non-Mando sergeants at all?”

Sev shrugged. “He said it was for the skills mix, but I reckon he just couldn’t find a hundred Mandos to front up for him.”

From the Imperial Commando: 501st we known that Jango hired Isabet Reau and Dread Priest who in mentioned book joined Death Watch and tie-in source material, Bounty Hunter Code, strongly implied that Jango was familiar with their mindset by wondering if the Death Watch Manifesto was really written by Tor Vizsla since it sounded more like something Reau and Priest would say. Yet despite the ideological conflict between Mij & Skirata clan and these two Mandalorians, there is little to none(?) hints that Jango despited Isabet or Dread on personal level or had doubts about hiring them (the only one conflict I remember was Jango’s intervention that put to the end Priest’s Battle Circle, after Mij reported it Fett and that happened at least some time after hiring the man).

On one hand, it could be desperation that forced Jango to hire any available Mandalorian at that time. But here comes the funniest part: even with such limited human resources, Jango Fett didn’t really choose (and most likely didn’t want) Kal Skirata on this secret project.

“You never told me what you got up to on Kamino in the time before the rest of the Cuy'val Dar showed up,” Skirata said, trying to look as if he’d taken the outburst in stride. “So what else are you going to tell me?” Shab, they might not have been best buddies from birth, but they were as close as two Mando'ade could get. Vau owed him some honesty. “You were the galactic freestyle dancing champion, too?”

Vau didn’t meet Skirata’s eyes for a moment, but he glanced at Jusik. “I could have been at Galidraan, but I wasn’t, and I never forgot that. Not my fight. Should have been my fight.”

“And you could have been dead, now, too. Bard'ika, if you don’t know-”

“Oh, I know what happened at Galidraan,” Jusik said. “I know Jedi wiped out Jango’s entire army.” He paused. “And I know Jango killed Jedi with his bare hands, too, because I once talked to a Jedi who was there”

Vau nodded approvingly. “See, if you want to take out Jedi,” he said, “only the likes of Jango could really do it. Only his clones, trained by him, and by men and women like him. That’s why he knew it had to be done. He couldn’t take them all down alone, but he knew an entire army of Jangos could.”

Skirata thought of the abuse he’d heaped on Jango. He knew the man; he’d fought with him, in every sense of the word, and he’d also had comradely moments with him. The thought that he might have done him a disservice was one burden of guilt too many. He shut it out. If Jango had been playing the long game, Skirata had never caught a whiff of it. He knew it wasn’t all about the credits. He’d seen Jango cradling Boba in the early days, and that man wanted a son as much as any man ever had. So Skirata hadn’t looked for any motive beyond that. It was the only motive Skirata would have had.

“I stand corrected,” said Skirata. How do I apologize? Where do I even start, with the osik I have to deal with now? “So I was wrong about Jango.”

And now I know why Shysa wants Jango’s legacy to live on at any cost.

Vau shrugged. “I let him down once.” Vau would never shake off that feeling of having failed, the legacy of his vile father. He’d instilled it into his clones, despite himself. “But I never let him down again.”

“Don’t beat yourself up. I should have been at Galidraan, too.”

“I know,” said Vau. “That’s why I chose you for the Cuy'val Dar.”

Skirata grappled with the stomach-knotting realization that he really didn’t know Vau half as well as he thought he did.

He chose me. Shab, he chose me.

“Okay, Walon, answer me this, will you? No osik. Did Jango want me on the team?”

“We discussed all personnel fully.”

“Don’t talk like some shabla administrator to me. Did he want me?”

Vau wavered for a moment. Outbursts and wavering in one night; it was all revelations. “You know Jango. He could get his downs on people, and then he’d see sense. Does it matter a shab now?”

For context, Kal learned the truth during the time of Order 66 - which means 11 years has passed between getting the job and the current moment. Skirata spent eight years training  clone troopers on Kamino and for most of that time, he and Walon weren’t the best of buddies. His dislike of Vau was so strong that both men not only got into violent fights about how to train clones but came close to killing each other a few times. Skirata warmed up to Vau during the three years of Clone Wars when both Mandalorians put aside their differences and joined forces to save their former charges (and the few millions of the credits that Vau stole from bank on Mygeeto to help finance Skirata’s ambitious plan for sure helped a lot).

Which means that Vau for over a decade knew that he was responsible for putting Kal on Kamino where the man found a new family and purpose in life. Skirata saved the Nulls, yes, but in many ways, the little boys saved the Mandalorian over the years too. Vau had a lot opportunities to turn that truth into emotional blackmail or insult to hurt Skirata in their ongoing brawls and spats but for the whole time he endured Kal’s ire and sentimental twaddle about Jango or social injustices without giving any hint he was more involved in this project than any other training sarge.

And Vau told the truth to Skirata only after the man asked if there were more things he should know about Jango and/or training clones and the truth didn’t matter anymore.

What is both pretty impressive on Vau’s part but also ironic in the context of the books and the general idealization of Kal Skirata by almost all characters interacting with him. He is the “dad” to clones and other “strays”but he wouldn’t be part of all of this if Vau, for whatever reason, didn’t decide to drag him on Kamino, despite the Jango’s potential disapproval and then for decade did not even bring that matter even once? 

Apparently, Walon and Jango discussed all personnel which may as well mean not only a person’s fighting skills or field expertise but also psychological matters (being cut away from the “living world”, maybe even the side-effects of training literal little kids into killing machines for hated Jedi Order / Republic?) and it seems Vau needed to argue for Kal’s sake before Jango actually agreed to hire Skirata.

What in itself:

↪  shows that Walon to some degree could influence Jango’s decisions - or, alternatively, out-stubborn Jango Fett what is pretty impressive feat on its own too

↪ raises a question how close they truly were, since Jango chose Vau way before the rest of Cuy’val Dar showed up on Kamino. I don’t think it would be a mistake to assume Walon was one of the first Mandalorians - if not literally the first one - picked by Jango.   

Kal himself wasn’t really fond of Jango Fett but respected him as a very skilled warrior (and most likely he wasn’t the only one Cuy’val Dar to feel like that about the former leader of True Mandalorians, as was hinted in the Order:66, “The Mandalorian training sergeants handpicked by Fett hadn’t all been fond of him, but they respected his prowess.”). Quite likely the dislike could be a mutual thing and Kal had a complicated relationship with Walon and yet Vau seems to maintain his relationship with Jango and Kal despite whatever was happening on Kamino and was in that regard like, the less problematic of their trio and maybe worrying about others the most? 

Like, seriously, this scene really put upside down what we knew about the dynamic between these characters and showed Walon Vau in a totally new light for me. It also makes me laugh everytime I think about how almost everyone has this weird soft spot for Skirata while Jango apparently did not want Kal on his team and to be honest, I feel solidarity with Jango in that regard.

(The whole situation also puts hiring Priest and Reau in a totally different light, but that is a matter to discuss in another time).

badwriterpositivity:

50 Questions to ask about your romance

1. Why do they care about each other?
2. Why should your reader care about them?
3. How do their friends feel about their relationship?
4. How do their families feel?
5. What do they dislike about each other?
6. What do they argue about?
7. What do they do together?
8. How often do they have sex?
9. What is their sexual dynamic?
10. Who initiates sex most often?
11. How physically affectionate are they?
12. How do they act in public Vs in private?
13. What is their favourite kind of kiss?
14. Who gets their way most often?
15. Where was their first date?
16. How often do they go on dates?
17. Do they live together?
18. How long was their flirting phase?
19. How do they sleep when they’re together?
20. Who is the most clingy?
21. Do they steal each others clothes?
22. What petty opinions do they not agree on?
23. Why did they choose each other?
24. What is their biggest problem?
25. How do their jobs/education affect their relationship?
26. Do they share the same music taste?
27. Why did they meet?
28. If they aren’t together yet, why not?
29. What if the biggest challenge they have to overcome?
30. What is their most noticeable physical difference?
31. What are their opinions on marriage?
32. What are their opinions on children?
33. Is their relationship healthy? Why/why not?
34. How do their past relationships affect them?
35. Do they love each other, or are they in love?
36. Why should your readers root for them?
37. Do they both put an equal amount of effort into the relationship?
38. Who do they turn to when their relationship has problems?
39. Who does the most mundane household tasks?
40. What do they do when the other is mad?
41. How do their flaws clash?
42. Why do you enjoy writing them?
43. What small quirks do they like about each other?
44. What would a stranger think if they saw them out together?
45. How do they show the other that they love them?
46. What made them fall in love?
47. Have they ever took a break?
48. What was their biggest fight about?
49. What do they give as gifts?
50. Any random question you want!

Feel free to use as an ask meme!

Enjoy! Some are integral to writing, some are just good to enhance their dynamic :)

Republic commandos novels redraw

Don’t mess with Vau

Original picture below

‘Vau and the Kid’

“Scorch is about twelve years old. He’s also twenty-four, measured in how far along that path to death he actually is, which is the only definition I care about. He’s running out of time faster than me.” - Walon Vau

Probably one of the most heartbreaking quotes in the Republic Commando novels and just highlights the harsh reality of clone life spans. Walon knew that his Delta boys would probably all die before he would.