#except for andor and everything coming from it

[cintasvel]

Why I think Andor S2 ultimately fails Vel as a character

What it says on the tin. Let's go.

Wait!! Quick disclaimer: I have nothing against Faye Marsay as an actress. She did a phenomenal job as Vel, and any and all criticisms are very much directed at the writing, and not Faye's characterization of what little she got. Give that woman an Emmy. In fact, give her two.

Ok, now let's go.

Two key aspects of Vel are established very quickly in the first season of Andor. The first: she's stepping into the role of a leader, determined and takes no shit. The second? She's in love with Cinta. it is only with Cinta that we see the real Vel, her fear, her love, come to light. In Aldhani, she's fierce and doesn't let how scared she actually is show until she's alone with Cinta. It is Cinta's presence that calms Vel to give the go-ahead. It is Cinta whom Vel mirrors, out of love and admiration for everything she represents.

It's compelling, then, as we move past the Aldhani arc, that we learn more about Vel and her reasons for doing all this. Vel's rebellion isn't just about the Empire. She's Mon Mothma's cousin, and through Mon, Leida, Perrin, and the show's depiction of Chandrilan society, we learn that Vel is considered an outsider. She's not married, has no interest in it, and is largely seen as a bit of a spinster. Perrin makes a comment that all the good ones are gone now at her age (Vel's age is never established, but I assume she's in her early 30s personally), which makes her unmarried self stick out like a sore thumb. Cinta later confirms this by saying Vel is 'a rich girl running away from her family'. Not only is she fighting for revolution, but also actively trying to keep far away from the heteronormative society that she's come from because it is stifling her! Not being able to be your true, authentic self is oppression. It's what makes Vel choosing the rebellion, choosing to fight instead of staying neutral and relying solely on her family's wealth, so interesting. And yes, being a gay woman is a vital part of her character. No, I don't care if Tony Gilroy says otherwise. I won't touch too much on that, but i recommend @chipthekeeper's great post about Vel + being a gay woman and its significance to her character.

Now, by the time Andor s2 kicks around, Vel isn't in too much of a different mindset from where we left off in s1. She's chosen the rebellion, and now has experience under her belt. Her introduction in s2 reminds us of two things: she's got her own personal rebellion to deal with (aka being a gay woman in the heteronormative society of Chandrila) and her and Cinta's relationship is on the rocks because Cinta puts duty above her. We see the effect of this on Vel, who is understandably heartbroken that she and Cinta are on two different wavelengths and has to deal with her niece being sold to fund the Rebellion she is part of, while also being there for her cousin, Mon Mothma. This takes a turn when Vel later sees Cinta taking away Tay Kolma, and the two share a look. Now, two things are essential to Vel here, but I'll focus on the most obvious: Vel's crash-out. After seeing Cinta, Vel looks out of the window (every Velcinta fan knows how important windows are for these two) and sighs. Everyone, except Mon, is joyful in comparison as they sip wine and toast this heteronormative union. Vel yearns to have her own happiness with Cinta. However, as we learned earlier, she isn't the only one yearning for this. Cinta looks back at Vel after she walks off. This is important to establish because it's vital to demonstrate that the two are mirrors of one another and that Cinta also wants to be with Vel. It also keeps on theme for the two: they rarely look at one another at the same time, which is heartbreaking in of itself. The lead-up to the events of their next episode together is obvious: the two want to be together, but Luthen, Kleya, and the mission are keeping them apart. Again, this isn't different from S1.

The two reunite on Ghorman and declare that ultimately, they are on this mission together because of each other. They no longer want to be part of Luthen's games, they both know that they don't matter to him in the long run, that they are only valuable to him when they are apart. But to them? The only thing that matters is one another. Now, as rushed as this arc was (I could have done with like, at least 3 more episodes with Cinta alone, just saying) it did give us a clear vision of their 'hope' for the season: the two of them together, fighting for their future and the Rebellion. This is Vel's (and Cinta's) ultimate goal; this is what she aims for.

Right. You all know what happens next. Cinta is killed via a stray bullet to paint the picture of another 'how senseless, how tragic' death, and also hammer home that the Ghormans are out of their depth. This is, despite already being established, like, a whole two episodes ago, but whatever; that's not the point. This is a particularly cruel death, because Vel gives a monologue that, while beautiful, seems to put the blame on not just Samm, but herself. She wanted Cinta on the mission. Cinta was only here because of her. Tony Gilroy wanted to give Vel baggage, and by god, this was the only way he saw how. Worse still, Gilroy has the gall to say he treated them the same as any other couple, but do either Cassian or Bix get killed or face any negative repercussions from killing Gorst? For daring to work together and be in love? Of course not. Only Vel, who dared to want and love Cinta, gets punished by the narrative.

Now we reach the heart of why Cinta's death, unfortunately, marks the beginning of the failure to tie up Vel's character in a way that, befitting the other endings of the characters in Andor S2, feels hopeful and, as such, feels like a failure to Vel as a whole.

After Cinta's death, Vel gets four scenes at most, and none of them are utilized in service to her character's development. The closest thing that actually does serve her in some way is her conversation with Bix, where Vel tells Bix that she's been grounded because she was becoming too reckless. Yet another moment of 'cool, I'd have liked to have seen this instead of it being inferred to.' Regardless, it establishes that Vel is going above and beyond in missions to the point it's borderline suicidal. But again!!! This is only momentary. Her following few scenes are to highlight Melshi (yes, the gun scene is very nice, and I can see the argument to it being a callback to Aldhani and the officer's reminder that if you're carrying a gun without regulation makes you a fucking idiot, but come on, it's to introduce Melshi), encourage Cassian to reunite with Bix, and remind Kleya that she's not alone, that she's got friends everywhere.

On the surface, all of these aforementioned scenes are good. I won't say I didn't enjoy Cassian and Vel toasting the people they lost; that was a great moment -- and I will never ever get over Faye Marsay's outstanding acting, from the throat tremble at hearing Cinta's name to the clear disdain in her eyes at the mention of Luthen. But it leads me back to what I said before: these scenes are in service to Kleya, Cassian, and Bix. To me, Vel felt like a megaphone to give off advice, and it hurt me because Vel shouldn't be a tool to be used. She's one of the main characters.

That said, I'm not too surprised Vel becomes underutilized after Cinta's death. Because Cinta's death is ultimately what leads to my main problem with Vel after s2e6. The problem with getting rid of Cinta for Vel's development is that, ultimately, it rends Vel's in two. The reason for this is that Vel and Cinta weren't just a couple. They were narratively built for each other. As I've previously established, Cinta is the ideal that Vel strives to live up to. Cinta is the hardened rebel, a survivor of genocide, someone whose entire society and culture have been stomped on and left behind by the Empire. She has nothing to her name but anger and her desire for revenge. She's in the Rebellion because there is no other choice for her. Vel, on the other hand, is a wealthy socialite with a family, something Cinta doesn't have. Vel joins the Rebellion because she cannot stand the injustice that the Empire brings. Vel chooses the Rebellion when many others in her position do not. While there are some CLEAR differences between Vel and Cinta, under the Rebellion? They are equals who challenged and bettered each other. Cinta was what Vel needed to see. But as it turns out, Vel was the reminder for Cinta that the fight means nothing if you've not got something to fight for.

Ironically, in making Cinta a tool to give Vel 'extra luggage', Andor S2 makes Vel less of a character and more of a weary operator pushing buttons to get 1) the plot going or 2) stick the knife in deeper to give more depth to Cassian and Bix's relationship, solely because by association she knows what it's like to be part of a 'right person, wrong time' relationship. Because yeah, let's have the lone queer in the Rebellion act like a suffering mediator of a heterosexual relationship. Masterful gambit, Mr Gilroy. It's not like we could have used that time for Vel to do literally anything else. It wouldn't have made Cinta's death any better, but I'd have at least liked to see Vel's grief play a significant part in her so-called arc. Instead, Vel becomes a passive character, and while I can see the argument that Cinta's death is the catalyst that forces Vel to mature and become a hardened warrior, stepping into Cinta's shadow and effectively becoming Cinta to keep her alive (yet another example of mirroring, btw) I ultimately find it contradictory to what Andor builds up about Vel.* Yes, Vel is fighting the Empire because she believes in what The Rebellion stands for, but it's also for a better tomorrow with Cinta. That's like, established in S1. So for Vel to be effectively punished for that feels like the weirdest condemnation ever. Oh Vel, you dared to love someone? Here's your reward: the tragedy of all tragedies. While other characters' arcs continue, Cinta's death puts a full stop to Vel's story. And I do mean Vel's story; I do not mean Kleya's, Mon's, or Cassian's. Vel's story. This essay is not about the future for Vel after the Andor S2 credits rolled; it is about what I'm being directly shown by the text. I am not interested in fanon interpretation of what happens with Vel afterwards.

*That's not even mentioning that I don't find it compelling for a white character to step into the shoes of the only queer WOC.

Anyway. This leads me to my conclusion on why Andor S2 fundamentally failed Vel. While Cassian walks off to his death, we get to see what the other main characters are doing by the end of S2. Kleya loses Luthen, but gets a sense of peace and fulfillment in knowing their hard work paid off with Yavin. Bix loses Cassian, but gets a baby to highlight the hope of fighting for the children of tomorrow (and you know I have opinions about that too). Wilmon gets domestic comfort with Dreena. Mon can be herself FULLY as the leader of the Rebellion, hopeful of a future where the empire is gone.

So, what's Vel's hopeful ending? Her commitment to the rebellion? The rebellion that she was already committed to even back in S1? That's Vel's ending? That's Vel's hope? Not the relationship she dreamed of with Cinta? I love Mon and Vel's relationship, and Vel reaching out to Kleya to show friendship is hopeful within itself, I acknowledge that. But again, particularly the latter, these moments are not about Vel. None of them represents Vel's own personal rebellion. Surely people realize how weirdly slanted that is towards your only alive queer character? Every other ending has a hopeful sheen to it except for Vel's. And I'm what, supposed to be happy that she's alive? Now don't get me wrong. I am! But Vel's arc being what, a lesson to always put the Rebellion first, to never want anything but the fight? That's the lesson you wish to teach those who care about Vel to take from her arc? It makes zero sense.

So, yes, Vel's arc of fighting for a better tomorrow with Cinta is crushed for no real reason, because Vel doesn't get the room to even grieve for Cinta afterward. Doesn't get the chance to even figure out who she is without Cinta before S2 ends. She ends up traumatized with grief and the future title of being the Last Survivor of Aldhani. And it just falls flat. It doesn't feel hopeful. It feels insulting. Oh, you've made the remaining queer character in your cast stuck with the most miserable ending out there?

This has never happened before. Ever!

[commandsir]

happy may the fourth with tears in my eyes

[jyndor2]

okay forGET the pre-andor cassian backstory being stolen from us, whatever. EVEN with the kenari backstory, even with ferrix, IT MAKES NO SENSE for cassian to "need" someone else to make him commit to the rebellion.

jesus christ just age his ass down in s1 to 16 or 17, have all of these arcs occur shortly after he joins up for real (17-19) and then it sort of works better.

the cassian we see is EXHAUSTED. holding on desperately to hope because he has been following orders, orders when he knows they're wrong as jyn says, for so long that he has to literally have a DEEPLY pivotal moment in the eadu rain to cleanse him of his "sins" and tranform into a new man, a man who rejects orders when he thinks they are wrong. THAT is why that scene is so powerful! because everything about cassian in rogue one leading up to that moment screams exhaustion and desperation.

it's bad enough that with the retcons in s1, cassian is basically a middle class guy (even if he is a refugee) talking down to a literal former child soldier who is homeless at 16, who has been let down by the rebellion time and again. for him to do that when he is supposedly way older than jyn when he FINALLY commits to the rebellion?

forget how insulting it is to have bix caleen, a literal crack comms girlie and mechanic (both skills that are seriously necessary in revolutions), basically play housewife the whole season except when she's being sexually assaulted, getting high and randomly having her girl boss 2015 era bad bitch scene that makes NO sense for her either. but to have CASSIAN, a literal indigenous refugee of genocide "need" to have anyone else explain to him the necessity of revolution (aka s1) or to have anyone force him to commit to revolution is not only insulting, it DOES NOT TRACK WITH ROGUE ONE AT ALL.

it turns him into a guy who actually is completely wrong for snapping back at jyn on eadu. in the scene, they are both wrong and both right - and they are lashing out in a moment of vulnerability and honesty. it should be a massive payoff after 24 episodes of a cassian andor prequel.

i'm not worried about MY enjoyment of rogue one after andor because i'm in the rogue one fandom - ignoring dumbass canon is like rule #1 of this fandom lmfao. i can handwave and ignore a lot of nonsense. and I will - already to me this shit is cassian as a teenager, fuck it. but I wonder if when andor fans begin to do the marathons of andor into rogue one, if we might start to hear more conflicting feelings on how smooth the transition from the show to the film is.

there are people who have never seen rogue one and who are waiting to watch it when andor ends. i mean i feel for them tbh because i doubt the payoff is actually going to work as well as it did pre-andor.

jyn and cassian are the heart of rogue one. i happen to think that it is a love story, as it clearly was always INTENDED to be one, but even if someone doesn't think that... it's clear their relationship is the core of rogue one. unless the final arc sticks the landing and jyn erso starts to haunt the narrative again (because where the fuck has her presence been in s2??? s1 had her all over it) i feel like the sudden connection between jyn and cassian is gonna come out of left field for more casual viewers of rogue one after andor.

i still have not finished this arc but i will be tonight. and im sure im gonna be mad lol

[tobiasdrake]

Here we are at the end of Andor. And my opinion of it is pretty simple. I think the show is really good at talking about the politics of fascism and insurrection.

Where this season excels is in the big moments and the political speeches. It's things like the Ghorman Massacre or Luthen teaching Kleya how to be an operative. It's moments like Mon Mothma's speech to the Senate, where she addresses the Senate and says, "Donald Trump is plunging this country into a fascistic hellscape while FOX News erodes the very concept of an objective reality. You, the person sitting here watching Star Wars: Andor, you have to be responsible for pushing back against this."

The show has a lot to say, and what it has to say is extremely relevant to this moment in history. It is a very good at being a powerful political manifesto that wears its themes on its sleeve.

What it's not so good at is... doing things with the characters it has. Holy shit, do I need to vent because when the show wasn't giving political screeds that I like and agree with, it was such a fucking mess.

Here, at the end of the line, I feel confident saying that they have utterly failed to make Cassian seem like the character from Rogue One. The show is too enchanted by that moment when he decided to defy orders and follow his heart, which was supposed to be a moment of character development.

But they've backwritten it into the show as his defining character trait. The Cassian of Andor is a loose canon who undermines everyone all the time. He hates the Rebel Alliance and is only here because his girlfriend dumped him, and all he does is play cards with his buddies, steal ships, and get in arguments over whether or not Tony Gilroy's OC is the greatest character ever introduced to Star Wars.

He has two separate arguments about that. It's crazy how much the last three episodes are just about what an amazing character Luthen was. Like, the parts with Luthen and Kleya's backstory were actually really good but then the next two episodes just will not stop talking about how Luthen is a Great Man of History, singularly responsible for the very existence of the Rebel Alliance.

Everything good that ever happened in the Star Wars Trilogy, they owe it all to Luthen Thunderdick who descended from on high and made the Empire tremble with his mighty footsteps. It was all him and nobody else. For decades, he was the guy, and there was nothing he couldn't do. Except kill himself effectively.

At the same time that the show can't shut up about how great Luthen is, I was genuinely stunned that Luthen's big confrontation with Dedra consisted of him passively slitting his own gut and hoping for the best. Luthen really struck me as a "Killing myself in a giant explosion to try and take you with me" sort of character, but apparently the big 'out' he had decades to plan for himself was to just quietly die in front of Dedra and hope the Empire will let him.

Cassian and Bail later talk about how Bail being a "Go down swinging" sort of guy makes him like Luthen. And. Like. Yeah, I would have thought Luthen would go down swinging too. So weird that he didn't.

Honestly, it would have been fine if Dedra was killed like that, too. Because the show had nothing else for her to do. She was just sort of fired from the plot right after that. This is another place where the politics are strong but the character work sucks.

Dedra's ultimate comeuppance for everything she's done this season comes in the form of Lonni stealing her access codes offscreen somehow. That's it. That is what undoes her. At some point between episodes 9 and 10, Lonni somehow acquired the ability to access her files. We never saw it happen, only heard him talk about it to Luthen afterward, but that offscreen occurrence so minor that it wasn't worth showing is the moment that seals Dedra's fate.

Dedra going to the prison from season 1 is a strong political point about the way the cruel and unforgiving systems of fascism will devour and destroy their own without hesitation or remorse. She is ultimately crushed under the very machine she worked so hard to help build.

But as a final resolution for arguably the central antagonist of the entire series, it has the same energy as if she were just suddenly dragged away by mountain lions. A bad thing happens to her because the show is over but it doesn't really connect to anything the principal characters are actively doing.

Luthen should have just blown them both up and saved us all a lot of screentime that could have been spent writing a satisfying conclusion to the character journeys we've been following.

I also found it unsatisfying when Syril, horrified by what he's contributed to, exited out into the crowd of Ghormans during the massacre... Only to suddenly spot Cassian and suddenly just turn into a Physical Threat Boss Fight. A violent orc who overpowers Cassian with his incredible accountant might.

But at least they had the Ghorman dad be the one who shot him. Dedra didn't even get that much. She was just dragged away by mountain lions because Lonni did things offscreen between episodes.

It's kind of amazing how this show is supposed to be the prequel for Cassian Andor, a ruthless killer first introduced executing his own informant for the "greater good" of the Alliance, and the most involved he is with the ultimate fate of any of the show's antagonists is getting his ass beaten down by Syril Karn just before someone else shoots him.

Cinta Kaz is the character most poorly served, of course. They brought her back just so they could bury the gays and, by Tony Gilroy's admission, give her girlfriend Vel some emotional baggage. Vel then does not do anything for the rest of the show. That's basically where her character ends.

Bix also got hit pretty hard. Allegedly, she does missions for Luthen and then is dedicated to the Rebel Alliance. She's in it for the cause. But she only gets to go on one mission and that's to get direct revenge on the guy who traumatized her. Apart from that, all she does onscreen is mope around about Cassian and then dump him because a random Force seer told her that he needs to be single for Rogue One.

Literally wrote a fucking psychic into the show to walk up to her and go, "Whoooo the Force tells me that Cassian has a GLORIOUS DESTINY that you can watch on Disney Plus, and you aren't part of it. Get out of here before they fridge you, girl!"

I'm not even going to touch that final scene of her with a ten-foot-pole. I will say that it's kind of gross that she "chooses the Rebel Alliance over Cassian" not by dedicating herself to the cause but by dedicating him to the cause while she retires to go raise his kid. It's kind of gross that they wrote "choosing the Alliance over Cassian" to mean that.

Not like the Rebel Alliance themselves are good for anything. Disney's been assassinating the Rebels for years due to a fondness for renegade protagonists screaming "SCREW YOU, MOM, I'M DOING WHAT'S RIGHT!!!"

Star Wars: Rebels depicts the Alliance fingerwagging at the Ghost crew and telling them, "DO NOT go try to liberate Lothal! Liberating worlds from Imperial control is NOT what the Rebel Alliance is about!" But then the Ghost crew do it anyway because fuck those useless cowards.

Rogue One depicts the Alliance fingerwagging at Jyn Erso and telling her, "DO NOT go try to steal the Death Star plans! Resisting the Empire is NOT what the Rebel Alliance is about!" But then the Rogue One crew do it anyway and drag those useless cowards reluctantly into helping.

With that in mind, Andor is at least consistent when it has Rebel leadership making a big stink about how Luthen sucked and the Death Star intel is wrong and we should just shove our thumbs up our asses and do nothing.

Until Draven realizes that the plot of Rogue One has to start somehow so he does a complete 180 and gives Cassian an important mission, even though they all hate Cassian for being a loose canon renegade who doesn't play by the rules.

Disney just does not like the Rebel Alliance as an organized resistance movement.

Oh, and let's talk about Wilmon. Wilmon gets an amazing moment in episode 6 when Saw Gerrera radicalizes him to the cause. Again showing the political strengths of the show, Saw gets to deliver an amazing speech about how you have to be a little crazy to be a revolutionary, and it gets Wilmon so fired up he exposes himself to gases to join Saw in the madness. He is IN IT now, ready to GET CRAZY AND DO SOMETHING.

The rest of Wilmon's story for the season is that he gets a girlfriend. She seems nice.

That's it. Wilmon's done. Nothing more for Wilmon to do.

Kleya, a character who gets to eat so well in episode 10, then suddenly gets written bewilderingly in 11. She sends out a signal for evacuation because she has vital intel she had to endanger in order to make up for Luthen's random bout of incompetence. Then, when evac arrives, she inexplicably starts an argument with Cassian over whether Luthen is the greatest character ever to grace the face of Star Wars and refuses to be evacuated.

Fortunately, she wastes so much time that the Imperials show up and knock her out with a stun grenade, which also hits Cassian but he shrugs it off with his raw manliness. This allows Cassian and K-2S0 to have a kickass fight scene and then drag Kleya to evac before she can wake up and start weirdly resisting again.

K-2SO's really just here to make witty banter (which he succeeds at) and to have a fight scene where he storms the safehouse to rescue Cassian from Kleya's random bout of stupidity. I honestly don't know which is my favorite bit of choreography.

One Imperial raises a gun at the identifiably hostile droid but doesn't pull the trigger while K advances into grappling range and kills him. The other Imperial, watching this, raises his gun and doesn't pull the trigger until K advances into grappling range and kills him too.

K-2SO, famously killed by blaster fire, slowly advances into grappling range on a guy who shoots him in the chest. The blaster shots glance harmlessly off of K-2SO's invulnerable chassis.

K then uses that guy as a human shield to block enemy blaster bolts, even though it was just established that he's invulnerable to them. So I guess that part was just for shits and giggles.

Either way, at least K did get to be funny. I do feel like this is the same character from Rogue One. So there's that, at least.

But overall... yeah. Andor makes for a really good manifesto that really captures the moment in history in which we are living in, but is not very good at telling a story.

[rapunzellovesbooks]

At the same time, she clearly cares about him. She defends him from his mother and strikes a deal with her. I imagine Dedra’s love language naturally involves expressing power in some way. Yeah. I mean, Oscar Wilde has that quote: “Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power.” Ultimately, they come together both desiring power and to capture Cassian. Dedra becomes an object of his fixation about power. He was like, “Oh my God, you’re a member of the ISB, I want to be you, but I also think I want to be with you, and I also kind of want to be inside you?”

INSIDE YOU?!!!

[thevalleyisjolly]

Thinking about how many of the main characters in Andor Season 1 are, from their perspective, living in different stories and genres. Syril is the classic disgraced detective obsessing over the failure of his last case. Dedra is the brilliant lone career woman in a high-pressure male-dominated workplace. Skeen, Nemik, Taramyn, Gorn are the unlikely band of misfits attempting to pull off the heist of the century; Vel and Cinta are embroiled in espionage intrigue with Luthen. Mon Mothma's deep in the midst of a political thriller, complete with the trope of a troubled home life. Kino and all the prisoners of Narkina 5 are caught up in a grim prison drama.

Part of the brilliance of the show is that it embraces each of these characters as the protagonist of their own narratives. Dedra is very clearly an antagonist to most of the other characters, but in her interactions with her colleagues and Syril, you can sympathize with how she is dismissed and put down and harassed. Syril's scenes wouldn't be out of place in a detective show - the lone officer, demoted from his position, waking up every morning to a depressing house and a mindnumbing job yet continuing to pursue his self-identified duty with a relentless sense of righteousness and persecution. Mon Mothma's story tangentially intersects with Cassian's, but both enriches and is enriched by the contrast in perspective - the broader context of galaxy-wide politics with the immediate realities that people live with, including for Mon herself through the impact on her family life.

And then we come back to Ferrix. Maarva, Bix, Brasso, Bee, Wilmon, the Daughters, the Time Grappler, the whole community. Where the season starts and where the season ends, with a call to fight the Empire and a community that answers. A community full of different people with different motivations and methods and views and yet maybe that's the point of the whole story. Even though on an individual level, characters might seem like they're in different stories or genres, facing their own challenges and seeking their own goals, everything occurs under the context of Imperial fascism. No one can escape it, no matter what story they think they're in or how big or small their role in it.

Syril and Dedra aren't just lone agents dismissed by their superiors, they're people embracing a fascist system and doing everything they can to uphold it despite how they themselves have been treated by that system. The Aldhani team, Mon Mothma, Luthen, their enemies aren't really the garrison at the dam or the ISB's surveillance or the endless rebel infighting; they're only the immediate faces of the Empire's oppression and division. The Narkina 5 prisoners aren't just trying to live. If all they wanted was to stay alive, they could have continued working until they died. It's the Empire who is responsible for how they're being treated, and they'd rather die trying to take them down.

The uprising on Rix Road brings it all home. After all the places that the season has taken us, all the challenges and arcs that these characters have faced, it comes back full circle to where we started - with ordinary people living under fascist rule. Some work with it, some against it, most try to keep their heads down and survive it. All alone in their personal stories and obstacles...except they aren't, not really. The Empire's rot is in all their lives. There is no escaping the reach of fascism, no matter what kind of life they try to lead or what decisions they make. Individualism won't save anyone - in fact, it's what the Empire wants. For everyone to feel alone, either singular and insignificant against an insurmountable force or otherwise striving endlessly to be the exception above the masses, the heroic underdog who overcomes massive obstacles (and everyone else) to save the day and get what they want.

Ferrix wakes up and in doing so they wake everyone up. None of them exist alone. Everyone is part of this, whether they are for or against the Empire. And when all these people and their stories come together, meeting, clashing, struggling, harmonizing... that's when a revolution starts coming into its own.

[ruby-red-inky-blue]

Carrie watches Rogue One (again) Pt. 1

okay everyone, let's get back to basics. I am rewatching Rogue One. (Pt 1 because this ran so long it was getting crazy)

Stuff I love:

god, the music, the music! Michael Giachino, you are a king among men. The title music alone??? is so great??? how you think it's regular Star Wars but then it's not, but the music still sounds so quintessentially Star Wars, it's so good

Baby Jyn's casting remains incredible. She is so cute, and she looks so much like Felicity Jones!

Jyn clearly remembering the "everything I do, I do to protect you" and yet not giving that any credence for the first third of the movie is such a good and realistic choice, and it shows her jadedness so well. I wouldn't believe him either, if everyone just kept fucking me over!

Little Jyn's hideout is so cleverly hidden, and really speaks to their preparation in ways that the fact they wait so long to leave the homestead do not. It makes little sense to me how long they are taking to get out of dodge, and that they don't even seem to attempt to have everyone flee together. But that also speaks to how ruthless and prepared her parents were at this point - and how shitty little Jyn's life must have been in the grand scheme of things, even while she had parents who loved her at that point. Her parents are hardened people already - Galen clearly prepared to stall Krennic to let them escape, Lyra choosing to try and take Krennic down with her instead of going quietly, even to stay alive for her child...

Little Jyn with the lamp!!! I will never EVER be over the parallels of Jyn with her little broken lamp and the warm light on her face, and then Jyn with the light on her face in the elevator. It's so neat!

JEDHA. Goddd. It feel so tangible and massive, those eerie statues/mountain ranges in the desert, even Saw's rebels - everything feels so grounded and vivid here, while on Andor, their hideouts often looked like a set to me, especially in S2.

Bodhi trying so hard to look brave will never not get me.

I have yelled about Kafrene so much in the past weeks I have nothing to add except to reiterate this: Cassian didn't need to comfort Tivik. He was, in fact, wasting valuable time in doing so. That's what got me the first time watching, how this act is at the same time so kind and so incredibly callous. Like, how cruel to lie to someone you know you're going to kill - and how kind to take a moment, even in that situation, to make sure that person is not afraid.

I love how defiant and steely Jyn is. I wish they had played that up even more, especially in the beginning of her interview. But I LOVE the steel that comes into her posture and expression the moment they ask about Saw.

"I found it!" and "I find that answer vague and unconvincing" are still so funny

They are so good at establishing Cassian as a very good manipulator and handler with really small things in this script. Like him immediately ceding to Jyn's challenge of "trust goes both ways" - he instantly recognises that she expects him to take it from her and that she plans to be difficult, and recognises that he will lose her trust and possibly her cooperation forever if he does take it from her (even if he'd, you know, survive that). So he just cedes it to her, without another word. It's such a good, calculated risk - because yeah, she might shoot him now, but he needs her to trust him, and stick with him, and he only has until they land to make that happen, and they're all toast if he fails. So it's worth the risk! And he sees that immediately! Even though Kay doesn't! It's so great.

Love that we're letting the camera linger on Draven just long enough to see his sad little head drop before he turns away.

Bodhi meeting Saw my beloved. Where are the gifs of this scene?? Where is this moment in the fandom because it is SO GOOD. He's so scared and so relieved and so annoyed at all the time they're wasting, and you can tell how underneath all that he's genuinely so proud and almost shocked that he actually did it, that he actually defected and made it all the way to the Saw Gerrera. That he did deliver Galen's message, like he promised! I love this man so much he means the world to me. I want to punch whatever Disney clown had him edited out of the thumbnail. Fuck you. Bodhi is such a good character.

"I defected, I came here myself, they didn't capture me!" "I gave it to them, they did not find it!" and that dirty look he manages to give the men who are holding him on his knees, handcuffed! He deserves the world!!! Do you not see that!!!

Gareth Edwards, king of SCALE. The shot of "look, a tie fighter! and holy shit, that Star Destroyer looks massive behind i - holy shit look at the thing behind that!!" This is how you Death Star!!!

Ben Mendelsohn. Krennic is so compelling to watch, in all his small-minded, cringey, petulant, grandstanding glory.

Jyn's flashbacks are so poignant, it never feels like we're wasting time with them.

Jedha City is such a cool design, and again the SCALE with the Star Destroyer towering over the whole city!!

Cassian's friendly little pat of Kay as he walks past him. They're friends!!! Was that so hard!!!

Jedha feels so real, the narrow streets, the bustle, and kids! There are kids, not plot-significant ones, just running around! And the street food vendours and the janky-ass holo projector giving out Bodhi's picture, every metal on screen has patina and rust on it and the stone doesn't look freshly scrubbed, it feels so lived in.

The street ambush on Jedha is filmed so well, it feels really threatening and chaotic.

Jyn, Kay and the grenade he catches remain the funniest thing in the world to me btw.

The Slap is very funny, yeah, but can we talk about Kay's posture when he barely saves the "These are... prisoners." Alan Tudyk really killed even in the smallest moments.

Chirrut going off on those stormtroopers is just a masterclass. I love how he uses his cloak to blind some of them, or kicks dirt in their face, just some really good use of the environment, such a fun fight sequence!

Also, Jiang Wen's delivery on "only dreamers, like this fool" just sends me every time, it's so good <3

we've all yelled about it for many years, but Cassian's pissy little smile in Saw's cave at the guards is still. Very good. Also though I will say this is the first of those rare moments where Cassian really is a bit of a petty bitch - not that it's not earned, he was just manhandled and locked up, but. My guy. You're a spy. I'm sure you expected this might happen. (I still think they played this trait up way too much throughout the show, but. It is in here! Just in little, blink-and-you-miss-it exchanges. I guess one could argue it's something he got better at over time?)

goddd the cross-cutting between Jyn and the Death Star and Galen's hologram is so so good, like this is essentially an exposition dump but you don't even notice because the visuals lare so stunning and Felicity is giving a masterclass performance

also man I will never get over how insanely gorgeous the destruction of Jedha looks, the symmetry, the eclipse, the colours!!! I love how they show all that incredible visual off and then have Krennic go "Oh, it's beautiful", when you realise he's looking at this like you are, like a guy watching a movie in a cinema, it's so good! He sounds so pleasantly surprised, oh look, it's efficient and pretty! It's so awful in how incredibly casual it is, and Ben Mendelsohn's delivery on that line is *chef's kiss*

Bodhi seeing the city blown up :(

Much as I have beef with Whitaker's acting choices in this movie, his very last moments are choice, and "Save the Rebellion! Save the dream!" does haunt me still, it's such a banger of a line.

Chirrut's quiet little "Baze, tell me. All of it? The whole city?" guts me every time. He's been so full of showmanship this whole time, he wasn't entirely serious for a single line of dialogue, and here he's so subdued. It's so fucking sad!!! This movie is so so good about emotional impact on their characters, in a franchise that has a, um... spotty history with that (side-eyeing Leia having to comfort Luke after watching her planet get blown up...).

Honestly we talk so much about the scenes in the shuttle scene from Eadu to Yavin, we don’t talk enough about the one TO Eadu. Bodhi’s little monologue and his moment of recognition for Jyn is so good! We did not deserve Riz Ahmed, he killed this role and nobody ever talks about it. Baze’s cynicism in this scene is so good, this movie just keeps giving you people at different stages of the rage-resignation-devotion cycle of resistance and meet each other at really different points of it is so interesting.

Diego giving a fucking masterclass in the background at his communicator station too with next to no words. Yeah, if you got nothing from this character in this movie, it’s because you weren’t looking at the screen, sorry.

The mirroring of this exchange with the hangar scene later is so juicy, I’ll never be over it. And again, there’s a way to read an allusion to an SA victim’s type struggle in there that I’m not even sure was intentional but it means so much to me. But the way Cassian, very gently but with so much cynicism, immediately says she has no chance because she doesn’t have any concrete evidence and her word won’t be enough, and how it doesn’t matter if he believes her because he’s “not the one you’ve got to convince”… and then, when Chirrut says he does believe her, he dismisses that with a snide “that’s good to know”… yeah.

But crucially, whether intentional or not, the scene isn’t just that. It also works on its face, as political commentary on how the Rebellion is entrenched in allegiances and factions and paranoia and has become too big to act on hunches and that is almost their downfall. Because they will discount a terrible warning and almost throw away what eventually paves the path to victory because that warning comes from a person who isn’t one of them – even before the council does, Cassian, far and away the highest-ranking Alliance member on this shuttle, rejects it out of hand. It might be true but if there isn’t any proof it doesn’t matter. Jyn and Cassian have neatly traded places: First it was him wanting to act and projecting urgency and her being too cautious and not passionate enough about the issue to act, now it’s the other way around.

This whole harping on about proof, and how they’d believe her with proof, and how Cassian lets Jyn believe that they’re going to get her father for that proof is also so crucial for her reaction later to Cassian attempting to shoot Galen. I get how this went over some people’s head, frankly, it’s a little brief to really stick and there’s a whole big action set piece in the middle, but it’s so neat really. It’s not just that he tried to kill her father, it’s that they came all this way for his information and yet Cassian seems so hell-bent on following his orders he almost sabotaged his own mission completely (at least from the POV of someone who fully believes Galen at this point). His orders aren’t just morally wrong at this point, they’re also tactically wrong from Jyn’s point of view – because she believes her father, so she correctly realises destroying the Death Star now is a higher priority than neutralising a potentially interchangeable scientist who may build another threat later.

People bitch about this script so much, and honestly maybe I’ve just seen the movie too often at this point to judge how it flows because I’m so familiar with all the parts of it. But I think the writing is incredibly tight overall – the main arcs are all beautifully rendered and intertwined and reach satisfying conclusions, with no large logical gaps or thematic breaks. Maybe I think so highly of this movie because I care a lot about narrative structure and maybe less about ideal pacing for a blockbuster, because the distribution of time to the individual plots probably is a little weird at times, but that never bothered me. 

Stuff I never noticed before:

just how hardened the Ersos are, even in baby Jyn's earliest flashback on Coruscant!! The expressions on their faces, the way they act around Krennic even here... just this brief scene got me so intrigued I am finally picking Catalyst back up again.

Cassian all but admits he (or at least the Alliance) are responsible for Tivik! He tells Jyn "He has just gone missing, his sister will be looking for him". Not "His sister is looking for him and has told us he's gone missing." He fully admits he doesn't know this from her, he is warning Jyn that stuff may get hairy between him and Tivik's sister. I never caught that before lol

Questions:

Does Krennic believe Galen about Lyra being dead? I could read it either way, I wonder what Mendo believed when he played it.

I always thought it was odd that Jyn went with "Saw will be pissed if you kill me because I'm Galen's daughter" instead of "because he raised me". I guess it's her being cagey about her own connection to Saw? But it's such a gamble, she can't even be sure if Tubes knows who Galen is!

Quibbles & Complaints section:

I will say, Jyn getting liberated from Wobani is edited pretty choppily. There are a lot of cuts and they don't quite line up, it is a bit annoying to watch. But always worth it for the queen of my heart bashing Melshi in the face with a shovel. He really doesn't deserve it, but it's still glorious.

The Yavin hangar looks somehow less real than almost all the other sets, and I cannot place my finger on why. Maybe the weirdly uniform way the vines grow on the pillars. It's much better in the later shots, so maybe it's the lighting, too.

This is so nitpicky, but Diego's line read on "When was the last time you were in contact with your father?" always bothered me - he's shaking his head in the middle of the sentence, and it feels so inorganic to what he's saying? It's not a sarcastic question, or a leading one, and even if it was the headshake would go at the end - and it messes with the vocal delivery, too. Again, this is so so nitpicky, but in my perfect world they would have done another take on that lol

Some of Felicity's earlier reads on that scene also feel like they were dubbed over in post, or were mixed differently than the shots of everyone else - they are kind of off in cadence or volume for how far away she is from Cassian and the face she's making. I think some of these WERE re-shot, and you can tell. Again, super nitpicky, but I think the movie lost some people right here and they decided "oh this isn't good" - it's not super bad, but there's a weird uncanny feel about it.

It's kind of annoying how the conversation keeps switching and switching, Mothma and Cassian and Draven all finishing each other's sentences, and the way they're positioned around the table makes it really difficult to tell who Felicity is emoting at sometimes. Much as I love Cassian in this scene, I feel like maybe Draven and Mothma should have done the talking here, and switched off at a more organic point. I love that Mothma gets to talk a good deal, and I do love to joke about her and Draven being an item or otherwise weirdly in sync, but it is odd that they are literally talking like they are reading off the same script here. Or Cassian could have done the talking, and Draven watched from the shadows, looking progressively unhappy with the orders Mothma is giving to Cassian and Jyn, and then go after them on the airfield and give his conflicting orders. I feel like that would have felt far more natural than the weird "I get a line, you get a line" thing they're doing - and also we could have cut less, because. Boy.

The whole scene feels very choppy, it's so needlessly cut together for a stationary conversation. Again, I know why - they changed a lot of the dialogue in the reshoots, but. Idk. Just redo the whole scene. These really short shots are a little odd, like for example earlier when Mothma is talking the camera keeps jumping to different distances away from her, but it's a stationary camera every time, it feels strange on a subconscious level.

Forest Whitaker overdid it. There, I said it. I thought he was stellar in Andor (all script-based issues aside), but in Rogue One, he's... a bit much. Like, give us 20 percent less and it'd be perfect.

Bor Gullet my detested. This scene is so goofy and tonally off, and it would have been such an easy fix to remove it! Just have Whitaker re-record one line and have him say "lock him up" instead. Riz Ahmed doesn't even need to FILM anything new, he can do voiceover over the fucking phone if he needs to because they already had the bag over Bodhi's head. Bodhi still has reason to panic - he defected, he did what he was told, why are they locking him up? Does this mean they don't believe him? Where are they taking him? Then you cut the Bor Gullet nonsense and boom. All done. Maybe you can imply he did get, you know, conventionally tortured, but even if you don't - Bodhi in the catatonic state he is in when Cassian, Chirrut and Baze find him is perfectly sensible without that. He thought they don't believe him, he thought it was all too late, he thought he would never get out of this place again, he's a civilian, that would fuck him up! And he saw his city blown up with heretofore unknown weapon power, he has plenty of reason to be off kilter for the rest of the movie!

They really had something with only showing Tarkin from behind with his reflection in the glass!! Why didn't they stick to that!!! Like, does he look shockingly decent for what it is? Yes, but the dead shark eyes are horrifying, and I think his mouth isn't moving right, either.

For the first thirty minutes, Felicity's performance doesn't really click for me - at least not when she's speaking, there's something so prim and soft-spoken in the way she talks even in the first few scenes in Jedha City that seems kind of at odds with the character. I feel like Jyn doesn't quite lock in until Saw's rebels throw the first grenade (which seems fitting lol).

It's a little goofy how Saw's rebels swarm the transport going "Kyber! Kyber!" and nothing else. Like if they were speaking a foreign language and all we understood was kyber, that'd be fine, but make it complete sentences! I have a feeling maybe this was also added later, because people missed the (admittedly extremely brief) glimpse of a kyber crystal in one of the tubes they're taking out.

Cassian's "cracking" the door lock on Saw's cell is so dumb and funny, like the man just wiggles a wrench in there, that simply cannot be how that works lol

[laneboyheathens]

Glad I found you! I’ve been meaning to get into melshian. They’re a cute couple. Any recs?

Thank you for giving me this delightfully indulgent opportunity to gush about all of my favourite Melshian fics. Given I have read every (yes every) fic in the tag (and then some) and enjoyed ALL of them, I do encourage anyone to check out whatever piques their particular fancy, however, these are my favourites and some good starting points to 'get-into' the ship!

Melshian Fic Recs

The Boarders of Infinity 24k E

If you only read one fic on this list, it has to be The Boarders of Infinity by the talented @tellallthetruth-but-tellitslant Starting in Narkina 5 through to a canon divergent ending of Season 1, wobbly builds this wonderful and tender relationship between Melshi and Cassian. Funny, sexy and sad, I have come back to read this fic over and over (and its sequel The Warrior's Apprentices which includes my all time favourite line in Chapter 3).

Turn The Page 20k E

"When they meet after years apart, Melshi finds Andor has forgotten everything except him." Another wonderful and tender fic from wobbly, with a reunion, recovering from injury and amnesia Cassian, once again this one makes my heart ache.

Mirror 9K T

Another reunion fic that jumps back and forth between Yavin and post-Narkina/Niamos time. @faceofpoe succeeds in making me deeply melancholy as Cassian and Melshi toe the line between platonic and something more. The line “If I’m being entirely honest, I never really figured out how to do… any of this… again either.” has been stuck playing on a loop in my head since I first read this. Angsty, tender and bittersweet. (Another honourable faceofpoe fic has to be Double 3k G for beloved Melshi POV <3)

A Rock In The Water 9K M

Taste_is_Sweet is one of my favourite authors, and I deeply adore all of their Andor fics (One Bite at at Time is MY all time favourite). Set sometime before the events of Rogue One, Cassian receives some news while on a mission and takes it very badly. Heavy angst and heavy themes handled very well in a way that makes my heart hurt about them. TW Attempted Suicide

something beautiful 3k M

"Melshi loves Cassian; Cassian needs Melshi. All the way to the end." this is a very apt title because this fic really is something beautiful, the narrative construction and the poetic nature of love and need. And oh they are so doomed by the narrative (oh my god they were doomed by the narrative).

hope springs eternal 3K G

Missing scenes from Episode 11, featuring nerve damage, touch-starved Melshi, cuddling and hope. Very soft, tender and full of comfort, a really lovely Gen entry on this list.

Observer Effect 2k E

By the very talented @bright-thorn in which Melshi and Cassian overcome the limitations of prison life by having a long distance (six foot of electrified floor) relationship. With a angsty gut punch at the end that kills me every time.

The path will follow you 7k T

"Stationed on Dantooine a few years later, Private Melshi finds a part of his past converging with his future." I deeply enjoy each and every one of @p-paradoxa 's fics, but I keep coming back to this one. Reunions and farewells, reintroductions and "He could find his way back, but he couldn’t stay." <- losing my mind actually!!!

take these embers; burn with me 3k M

Melshi needs a haircut and is also No.1 Cassian Andor simp. So many excellent excellent Melshian tropes and headcanons in this one I adore it <3

Aller-Retour 4k T

@elwenyere is a wordsmith genius and has written many many of my favourite Melshian fics, but Aller-Retour holds a special place in my heart and on my re-read list. Comfort and stolen intimate moments, this really is everything I love about them as a ship (and they were doomed. oh my god they were doomed.)

Subsection: AUs

(it could be wrong) but it should have been right 6k E Omegaverse

@thevalleyisjolly *pointing* that is my very good friend who's fics I love and adore and who never fails to make me feel completely insane always and forever. AJ's Omegaverse AU of the time on Niamos is a wonderful, funny, and insightful exploration into agency, desire as an act of rebellion, the socio-economic implications of secondary sex/gender under Imperial rule. It's got it all! I highly recommend reading, even if Omegaverse isn't your usual cup of tea, this one is something special. (and if Jynmelshian floats your fancy What Is This Feeling? Is so so excellent I am gnawing on the doorframes shouting from the rooftops EVERYONE READ THIS!!!)

Pierce the Skin 71k (WIP) T Vampire AU

Another fic from Taste_is_Sweet which I devour with reverence every update because I am first and foremost an absolute angst loving goblin. Still set within the Andor timeline, Cassian and Melshi have a meet-ugly that almost kills them both, and then they keep meeting, again and again. Vampire AU my beloved, fundamentally changed my brain chemistry forever and I am constantly thinking about it.

Subsection: Life-Affirming Sexual Encounters

All of these hit a specific vibe of comfort and reclamation of self through sex, these bitches are touchstarved and I re-read these frequently.

Together, We Made It 3k E

meeting place 2k E

Shorelines 4k E

I would also be remiss not to mention that Whatever Happens Now: Melshian Zine comes out on 22nd April, with the theme reunions and farewells, and I will be absolutely going balls to the walls about all of the amazing fics that are soon to be dropping! @melshianzine

Thank you for the ask and for giving me the opportunity to gush about everyones work! This is by no means an exhaustive list, and every other fic in the tag is excellent and I hope you all know I cherish each and every one of them <3

[antianakin]

Honestly really enjoying the new Andor season, but it's really interesting to have more information and learn that groups like Saw's or Phoenix Squadron are the exception to the rule when it comes to having supplies and being organized and on task. I think they're building up to Mon's speech and fleeing + the rebellion uniting and makes the scene where people show up more impactful.

Much like the last ask I answered about Andor, I don't think that's quite what I took from the story or where I think it's going. I don't think Mon Mothma's story is going to be about her coming in to save a rebellion that has no idea what it's even doing, nor do I think we were supposed to understand that this is the norm for the rebellion.

Luthen is running things right now, he and his assistant are keeping tabs on everything, they have plans upon plans upon plans for all of their agents. He's connected to a number of the different groups out there, too, like Saw and Maya Pei.

I've seen a bunch of people talking about how the story wasn't intended to show us that these people had no organization or sense of direction, but that they were lost without their LEADER. And so the connection I'm seeing being made by some other people is that this is a foreshadowing of Luthen's death and the ways in which the rebellion might be lost without him, which will be part of what pushes Mon into taking his place. This isn't a role that Mon perhaps ever wanted or a role that only Mon Mothma could ever take on, but she happens to be the right person in the right place at the right time to keep the rebellion from splintering in his absence. Much like with Cassian at the end of season 1, I think they are pushing Mon to a place where she has to finally make a choice between the life she's been leading and committing more fully to the rebellion. Her daughter's married and hates her, her husband barely tolerates her, her politics aren't going anywhere, and then Luthen dies and she's got very little left to stay for anymore, so she can finally make the choice to be honest about her loyalties and leave it all behind to do what needs to be done.

There's a lot of places in Star Wars where we see the theme of passing the torch. The first time it happens is when Obi-Wan dies and passes it to Luke in A New Hope. We also see it in The Phantom Menace when Qui-Gon dies and passing on the responsibility of training Anakin to Obi-Wan. And of course in Rogue One, the whole theme of the story is about passing on this one important message from one person to another. From Galen to Saw to Jyn to Leia. Everyone on Scarif, everyone in Rogue One, sacrificed themselves so that someone else in the Rebellion could keep going and finish the job. There's similar concepts in Andor, as well, with Maarva's last speech inspiring the people of Ferrix to fight back and Luthen's speech about the different needs in the Rebellion for people who work in the shadows so that other people can be heroes everyone remembers.

And that's what's so impactful to be about all of it. A LOT of people who choose to rebel against the Empire will never see the end of it. In fact, the only person in this entire show who we know for certain will see the end of the Empire is Mon Mothma herself. But Mon Mothma could not have done it by herself. Mon's efforts would have been for nothing if people like Luthen, and Cassian, and even Saw Gerrera weren't doing years and years of work on the ground to build up these different rebel cells who were bringing together people and resources and going out and inspiring even more people to join up. Mon Mothma's big speech that brings those cells together would have done exactly nothing if everyone else hadn't already been doing the work to HAVE those smaller rebel cells exist in the first place. It isn't Mon Mothma who truly created the rebellion, she's just the one who gets to make that last big speech and create an ALLIANCE, so she's the one whose name gets to be remembered.

But a lot of other people worked to keep that torch lit before it got passed to her, and they're important to remember, too.

[99tech99]

random krennic office(s) head canons!

i think krennic’s “main” office would be on coruscant, likely in an isb building. i really dont think think he would even use very much since is is off planet so much for stardust. even though the rest of the isb buildings are sterile and white, krennic would OBVIOUSLY have to redo his office. i think he would be perfectly capable of designing a stunning interior, but he would also be more than able to pay for someone to design it for him. i think he probably did the first overhaul himself, since he is a perfectionist and control freak, then as he gained more wealth and became busier and spent less time in the core, he probably paid someone periodically to update, though never completely redoing his original design.

in terms of decor and layout, i actually always pictured something pretty close to palpatine’s office. very large, multiple rooms, definitely a fully (over)stocked wet bar, excellent views of of the skyline, mostly dark neutrals with a bold accent color.

coming from a mid rim planet and having to compete with families of ancient wealth and influence like the tarkins, i’ve always felt it was essential for krennic to become extremely well educated in arts and culture (so freaking excited this was semi-confirmed in andor 😅). i feel like he would have started teaching himself these areas since he was accepted into the futures program, so by now he would likely have a fairly large art collection. not sure about a huge portrait of himself tho 🤣🤣

his office would have small foyer off the entrance from the main isb hallway with a cape, sorry coat, closet. sitting area with the wet bar. his actual desk would be in another room entirely. like most important people i know, his desk would be facing AWAY from the huge windows in his office, so that anyone meeting with him is going to be reminded how powerful he is, gazing out over the tops of the highest levels of coruscant.

now that im fantasizing about being his secretary, i mean now that im wondering about krennic’s secretary’s role, i cant decide if her office should be in krennic’s, or just outside. while krennic could just enter directly into his office through a private door with his code cylinders, she would probably have an adjoining office where she could access his without entering the hallway. but someone to see krennic would first have to go through the secretary’s office. and no one is getting through the door connecting her office to his without going through her. (and shes tougher than she looks, so bullying and threats arent going to work, tarkin. the director is busy, so you can just take a number. asshole.)

even though i gave krennic a coruscanti apartment, he almost never goes there, even when he is on planet. his office would have a private bathroom and sleeping quarters connected to his inner office. he is efficient and extremely busy. he wouldnt want to have to commute across the planet if he didn’t have to.

now his office on the death star would be very sleek, minimalist, industrial. shades of dark greys and blacks only. (except his desk would be under lit with green the same color of the death star lasers) the classic oblong white lights in the walls. still huge panoramic views of space. same amenities as his coruscant office, but we are on his death star. HIS achievement, not yours. his weapon. we aren’t here to impress underlings or the simpering core elite. this is a military battle station. we are here for power and destruction. everything feels imposing and cold. i do think that beyond his desk office, there would be another sitting area, the bathroom, the bar, and an actual bedroom. these areas would likely be slightly softer in design since he lives on the death star for months at a time, and no one (almost no one 😏) besides krennic would ever need to use these areas.

finally, i had reader give krennic a super star destroyer for his birthday (here if anyone is interested)—i think his office on The Director would be very similar to his office on the death star, but reader would have decorated it for him, so i feel she likely added a few more feminine touches. maybe some white and gold. marble and dark wood surfaces instead of all metal.

@sparklebunny57

[perfectmanisperfect]

well i did my post andor rewatch of rogue one and let me tell you. it does nothing for me in changing my enjoyment of rogue one. doesn’t even really enhance it for that much either. at least in regards to cassian like he’s not the main character of this movie and i enjoy it just the same without thinking about andor. rogue one is jyn’s story and the movie does that quite well and rewatching just reinforces that. makes me love her more than i already did.

what it does enhance is all the background characters. i’m looking at mon mothma completely differently and thinking about how kleya and vel are on yavin 4. AND MELSHI. everything i love about andor revolves around everyone but cassian himself. and i don’t even hate his entire characterization in andor which i’m sure someone will think reading this but when i watch rogue one honestly cassian is like in my head the least compared to the rest of rogue one crew. like i feel like i got what i wanted from him back in 2016 and now with andor it’s wanting me to recontextualize all that but i can’t because rogue one feels the same to me except maybe even more depressing.

this doesn’t even make sense and i can’t properly say what i’m thinking without coming off as completely andor hating which i’m not i’m just andor critical. but there’s also so much of that show i liked so i don’t know why i can’t put the two together. maybe i don’t want to. i like rogue one just as much as i did in the theater in 2016 when it was second star wars film in theaters i ever saw and i said holy shit star wars is so fucking cool. and if andor makes watching rogue one for you so much better i’m glad! i just can’t figure out why it doesn’t for me. but i’ve always put rogue one on a pedestal and will continue to do so because at the end of the day star wars is a fictional universe and i can have whatever opinion i want and so can everyone else.

[andorology]

Sanguinity: Chapter 11 a rebelcaptain regency au

Jyn could have sprained her neck from how quickly she turned her head to the source of the voice—Cassian’s, she instantly knew. Her already aching back slightly seized in the motion, which made her quietly hiss. 

The solicitor was already halfway through the flight of stairs when he spoke, and had since then, now under her watchful gaze, picked up his pace so he could reach her sooner across the distance.

He was eager to speak to her.

_________

After Jyn saves his sister from a near-fatal accident, Cassian decides to finally say something to her. The conversation that follows, however, is not what either he or Jyn expects it to be.

You can read a preview of Sanguinity: Chapter 11 below the cut and read the rest on ao3! Rating T.

Now that her adrenaline had faded, Jyn began to feel her weariness take its effect on both her body and spirit; carrying Kerri took its toll on her every muscle, and the dread of it was a more than strenuous mental exhaustion. She desired nothing more now than to be home and take a much needed rest. 

James had offered to walk her home, but since their houses stood at distant opposite ends from Lah’mu Hall (and she knew how tired he must have already been, too) she thought it best for them to go separately. 

They were already at the base of the stairs of the lobby when they had agreed upon this. James was the first to leave, and soon Jyn was left alone.

Because she had been intent on Kerri and Kerri alone the first time she entered Lah’mu Hall, this would be the first time she would have the chance to really behold it. Never had she ever imagined her first time coming here since its being sold away to the Andors to be under such circumstances. It gave her a sense of vague sadness, as opposed to the comfort she had assumed she’d feel, now that she was back within its halls again. 

As she walked the length of the foyer towards the door, she could not help but notice every detail that surrounded her. Everything looked quite the same from her childhood, except in the parts where it no longer did; despite all of it being familiar to her, she also saw that it was no longer the same house she had grown up in. She saw where the Andors had since placed their own touches in the arrangements of the furniture and the decorations, noting, with a curious attention, how they seemed to like the color blue in particular. In several shades it stood out to her eye—in the draperies that mildly fluttered in the breeze, the flowers in vases lining the walls, or the accents of the carpets that ran down the length of the floor. 

The assortment of the space, in its totality, was nothing of the grand sort—but still, it had a harmony that made it all look ultimately refined. From purely a perspective of taste, Jyn did not find herself averse to it. 

When she reached the large round table just before the door, she noticed its centerpiece, which appeared to be a life-size sculpture of a cat made of white plaster. Stepping closer, she made out the words sculpted in the plaque at its base: 

Kaytoo, on his third birthday, 1717.

Just then, a cat, whose likeness uncannily matched the one on the statue’s, sauntered out from behind a pedestal by the door. Jyn blinked—she did not expect it to be stark black, nor to have gray eyes so vibrant they were almost white. She soon knew that it was indeed the same cat, for just dangling below its neck was a silver tag, attached to a yellow collar, that spelled out the same name on the plaque.

Kaytoo the cat stopped to sit on the floor just a few paces in front of Jyn, then tilted its head at her curiously.

It tickled Jyn’s intrigue to discover that the siblings owned a house cat—and a strange-looking one at that. For a few seconds, the feline maintained its stare at Jyn—which, the longer it was held, she realized seemed to be more and more discriminating towards her. Then, as if sensing her growing tension, the cat’s mood instantly changed to caution. It quickly stood on defense, let out one loud hiss at her, and began to sprint away behind a corner.

What an incredibly odd cat. Jyn decided that she did not like it.

“Do not mind him. He’s not very friendly—at first, at least.”

Jyn could have sprained her neck from how quickly she turned her head to the source of the voice—Cassian’s, she instantly knew. Her already aching back slightly seized in the motion, which made her quietly hiss. 

The solicitor was already halfway through the flight of stairs when he spoke, and had since then, now under her watchful gaze, picked up his pace so he could reach her sooner across the distance.

He was eager to speak to her. 

[karrashifts]

Answering your Shifting Questions pt2!! ˚₊۶ৎ˙⋆

.ᐟ ᢉ𐭩 What does a day in your fame DR look like?

This is super hard to answer since everyday looks different just like they do here. Currently I am mostly at home and planning my wedding so I get up late, do chores, maybe stream live on Instagram and then do some planning. Sometimes I go out with friends or my fiance but as of right now my life is rather calm.

When I am filming thats of course entirely different and I usually have to get up early to go to set, get my makeup done and start filming. It usually only lasts till the afternoon and i'll either get food somewhere or go home to cook.

Especially with scheduled interviews and events everything can always differ but these are the two normal types of days I can think of during non filming and filming period.

.ᐟ ᢉ𐭩 Which Gong Yoo is your favorite and why?

For context — Gong Yoo is my s/o and I shift to him and his characters in multiple different realities.

In my DRS themselves i cannot really pick a favorite since i scripted i forget about other s/o's once i get to a DR. I really only ever have eyes for the one currently at hand. In terms of this reality i would say that all of them are pretty much the same except for some personality traits, age and styling choices, making it hard to pick one. I do think that Gong Yoo himself in my main dr (my adult fame dr) is probably the dearest to me since he was the first and without his acting skills and roles I wouldn't even have started shifting to meet the others. I've also just been dating him the longest and I think he knows me the best.

.ᐟ ᢉ𐭩 Are there celebrities or people that ended up being rude? Ones that you didn't expect to be?

Hell yeah. I recently made a tik tok about this but plenty of celebrities really just keep their image up infront of a camera. Especially middle aged men. Johnny Depp, Chris Evans or Lee Byun Hun have all not been the nicest and are rather arrogant. On the other hand I've especially made bad experiences in the music industry. My DR currently faces the most drama with Taylor Swift but Chappel Roan and Chaeyoung from Twice are also kinda meh.

.ᐟ ᢉ𐭩 Is there anything about the film industry that is largely different?

Well to begin with Star Wars is obviously entirely different. The clone wars are a live action show filmed and realeased in a span of 17 years with the actors growing up on set. Therefore a lot of other shows haven't gotten released. The sequels also followed the plot of legends and only now shows such as Andor or Ahsoka are releasing since the clone wars have ended.

Marvel is also slightly different since Infinity War and Endgame were pushed together and released back to back in 2 years. Therefore everything got was sorta earlier in time.

Aside that singular movies and shows were realessed later/earlier/not at all etc & of course a lot of the casting isn't like it is here.

.ᐟ ᢉ𐭩 Any unexpected friendships?

YES PLENTY!!! The first one that comes to mind is Florence Pugh. I never really thought of her before shifting to this reality but since I directed black widow we grew super close and meet up a lot. She's genuinely one of the famous people that I feel like either isn't way too mature & serious but also not too childish so shes super fun to be around.

Aside that I am friends now with many people all around the industry because I often develop friend crushes for people I didn't even know existed but they js seem so cool ugh.

x mary

[rantsandreblogs]

I just finished watching Andor, and while I generally adore the show I have to admit I have….issues… around Bix.

spoilers ahead

The whole series meditates on the cost, sacrifices, and traumas that both are cause and the price for rebellion. And, at the end of a show where the audience goes in knowing the title character will absolutely die immediately after the final credits, they also needed a bit of hope for life after the fighting ends. So I completely get why the show would use her the ways it did.

But I still hate it.

First she becomes the vessel for all the major victimization. Tortured horrifically. Nearly raped. The one suffering from the most overt case of PTSD. Self medicating by becoming a drug addict. She largely becomes the designated broken one.

Now, she is permitted to fight back. She kills the almost rapist, for instance. And her later taking out her torturer is played as her reclaiming her power. She is breaking free of the darkness that had swallowed her up, in order to take action and….

Play housewife to Cassian. Her roll becomes his support. His advisor. His conscience. His comfort. And also his anchor, not merely keeping him from being lost, but holding him back.

So what is she to do? Why leave him, of course. The classic sacrifice so many women in old novels and movies make. I leave you for the greater good. Tradition said relationships and the heart are everything to women, their battlefield, so it was the ultimate price they were allowed to pay.

I say ultimate, but obviously they could die. So I guess they could have gone for totally cliche and had her throw herself in front of a shot meant for Cassian. Thank goodness they did that and didn’t end her story on some even more irritating cliche, like, oh, say having her be secretly pregnant when she left and….

Oh.

So her story ends holding (presumably) Cassian Andor’s baby. Because of course it does.

Stories are full of this. The male hero goes off and dies heroically, but the audience takes comfort in the fact a woman was knocked up first.

That makes it okay? Is the heroism for a good cause or to save lives not enough? Does a life have no meaning through what is done, only through procreation?

Obviously it works for lots of people. I remember coming out of Titanic and hearing a woman complaining bitterly that Rose wasn’t pregnant with Jack’s baby. Lots of people love this stuff.

But I don’t. The dead dude’s baby thing always irritates the hell out of me. I don’t know which bugs me more, that is suggests the man’s death isn’t so horribly tragic because of a baby or a woman’s greatest roll is to give birth to the hero’s baby. I hate it.

I suppose the crux of my problem with Bix isn’t any of these things in isolation, but as a collection of traditional woman’s suffering.

Suppose it was a man who was tortured, sexually assaulted, becomes paralyzed by PTSD, spends time as a drug addict, recovers through vengeance but then channels the regained strength into being a house husband and support for the woman, who he then leaves so she’s free to focus on fighting, and has the woman’s baby in secret ** while the woman dies. Would Bix as a man bother me as much?

But Bix isn’t. She’s a woman enduring womanly suffering I’ve seen to much of. So, despite understanding why the series needed a character or characters to go through all this, it bugs me.

The series is one of the best shows I’ve seen in years, and is disturbingly (and wonderfully) relevant, but for me Bix’s season 2 story is like a rock inside a pair of boots. The very perfection of the fit makes the hard thing underfoot feel worse.

Now clearly, most folk don’t feel this way. For others it’s unfinished business, which doesn’t both me. (In reality no one’s “storylines” are all tied up with a bow. For me it just makes it all more tragic and real.) But if you love the show “except…”, well, I get it. It’s like an ingredient in a dish that didn’t suit your taste, pineapple on your pizza or caraway seeds in your bread. Mine just happens to be Bix.

**Not even just a man being trans or some outrageous science fiction or fantasy explanation would be needed. Our modern world has theoretical options. The woman could have had her eggs frozen and a surrogate used. I dunno.

[intermundia]

idk how many of you guys are watching the bad batch, but i just wanted to write an open letter of recommendation begging people to give it a try. i admit the first time i tried to watch it, i quit after a few episodes as uninterested. i'm not a big found family adventure kid show person, i had trouble getting into the first season of rebels as well for similar reasons. however, i tried again and fuck am i glad that i did. you have to have the first season to fall in love with the characters and build the depth of the relationships, so when the breaks bad later, it really fucking matters and hurts. the scope of the show unfolds like a flower into the whole of the empire. it has just transcended itself and built up to a third season that actually rivals andor in richness and commentary to me except it's children in prison and hunted down. the animation is sublime, the huge environments and the light and smoke and grit of everything, the aliens and cities and planets, to me it is a strong argument in favor of animation being the ideal storytelling medium for star wars. the action grabs you and holds you, the combat is captivating and tense. the plot delves into the empire and the force in such a fascinating way, like we are actually getting the linking material between phantom menace's mention of midichlorians and the survival of the emperor into the future of the sequels. there are cameos from old beloved characters, but they do not distract and do not feel gratuitous, just richly embedded in the tapestry of the galaxy. the bonds of love and betrayal between the clones, brothers fighting brothers, the fate of the clones after the end of the clone wars, it's fascinating and heartbreaking. idk it's just so heartening to me as a fan to know that there is still good star wars being made, like it's everything i wanted it to be and more, and it's not done, so i'm just at the edge of my seat honestly to find out how it will end and i want everyone to know that it's good, so fucking good, im dying, come join me in hell pls

[robotsandramblings]

the absolute WHIPLASH i got from rewatching the Rebels episode with Mon Mothma and her aide Erskin 🤯

step 1: watch Erskin in Andor

step 2: rewatch Rebels S03E18, see Erskin

step 3: lose my mind as i hear a very familiar voice coming from animated Erskin's mouth. why does Erskin sound like Neeku from Resistance?????????????

step 4: realize that Rebels' Erskin & Resistance's Neeku share a voice actor, Josh Brener.

Andor AU where everything is the same except live-action Erskin sounds like Neeku