Non Sequitur But Not Arbitrary @themudpiesareinbloom - Tumblr Blog

my other grounding technique is remembering that the earliest abolitionists & the earliest suffragists had no proof that the world would ever make possible what they fought for and indeed many of them did not live to see it come to pass. and yet they did not succumb to despair so it would be disrespectful to their memory to let it overtake me

elwenyere

Oh and that post-credits scene is so much - SO MUCH - of what I love about Andor, because it’s not just a gut punch; it’s also a promise. Cassian helped build the thing that will kill him, but at the same time he was also building the skills and commitments he’ll use to take that thing down. It’s not just Cassian who’s doomed by this narrative: the Empire is as well.

“It cracks,” Nemik wrote. “It leaks.”

wondersmith-and-sons

funniest bit about the Aldhani arc is how Cassian shows up and is immediately the most observant person in the camp but he somehow missed the memo that Cinta was a lesbian until Vel literally death glares at him for flirting with her girlfriend. he truly contains multitudes i love him so much.

lovepersimmin

"on the surface, andor is unremarkable. yet, it wasn't about telling a story about him, but through him. cassian is used as an anchor for other people's griefs. luthen's angst. mon mothma's fears. bix's pains. b2's struggles. maarva's sacrifice. dedra's determination. syril's insanity. nemik's hopes. kino's realizations. all of these characters are evolved through the use of cassian as a refracting lens. cassian may seem one note to the song of others, but his job was never to be the leader. it was to inspire others to lead."

spaceman on youtube just summed up why i love andor, why andor is SO GOOD, so perfectly in this video essay

i would quote the entire thing but instead i encourage you to watch the video (it's only 15 minutes long). i think spaceman puts into words why myself and so many others have gone absolutely batshit over andor and what we mean when we say that andor is the best piece of star wars media ever made.

sticks-and-souls

I am completely moved by the fact that Nemik’s description of how both oppression and rebellion manifest are effectively the same despite being at opposite ends of the spectrum. I’m talking about control versus freedom and the comparison of these two lines:

“It’s easier to hide behind 40 atrocities than a single incident.”

Versus

“Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy.”

In the first, it is the deluge that is numbing and exhausting but in the second, the deluge becomes a movement. Every act of rebellion inspires more and more acts, and the true beauty of Nemik’s vision of rebellion is that it’s not coordinated. It’s entropy, it’s the call of freedom inside every individual, it’s every individual that becomes a collective. The constant rain becomes a flood that lifts all ships.

Oppression is exhausting but rebellion can exhaust oppression right back. And Nemik’s vision is so inspiring because he specifically identifies why the collective is the more powerful force.

For the Empire to have such tight control, it has to act as a single entity, but we’ve seen the internal discord in trying to exert control throughout the entire show, from the rivalry between Dedra and Blevin, all the way down to Dedra having to constantly repeat to the Ferrix ground unit that she wants Andor alive. These are the leaks and breaks that Nemik refers to. Oppression is constant effort; freedom is innate. And where the Empire is a single entity, the frontier of the rebellion is everywhere.

And what a message for a show to have in this era.

transmalewife

I think this shot sums up everything that's so great about andor

We don't know who any of these people are. they don't have names, most of them don't even speak. They aren't important to the story. and yet, twice, the breakneck pace stalls in the middle of a desperate, tragic action scene, the music quiets, and we get these long shots of people watching the eye. because they do matter. the fight, the rebellion is for them. The characters who die in those fight scenes die for them. for their right to practice their religion, to appreciate the beauty of nature, to live in peace with it and each other.

A worse show could have taken a concept like the eye and used it to boast their cgi budget, make it nothing more than a cool light show. but we already know you can cgi anything. I'm not a toddler, I don't watch media to see pretty colors on a screen. And they are very pretty, but I'm glad we only get a few seconds of the sky, and most of the time, it's just a blurred backround behind characters. instead, we get to watch it through their eyes. We see their reactions, we see them fall silent, and smile, and cry. we see dhanis and imperials stand side by side in peace, even if just for a moment, as they share in the beauty and significance of this event. and that makes it real. makes it worth fighting for.

There are no colors and shapes you could put on a screen beautiful enough to make the audience believe in the importance of a made up celestial event and religious ceremony. We were told about it 2 weeks ago, we can rewind and rewatch it as many times as we want. we have not waited 7 years to see this, we have not climbed mountains to reach it. but these people have. for them, it's real. and through them, it becomes real to us.

galaxyothoughts

I See What Maarva Meant About Cassian

When she said he would be an unstoppable force for good when everything he needs to know and everything he needs to feel finally pull together.

This man

This man who, when pushed into a corner, scraping by and living just outside the law, living his little old sketch life just trying to stay alive and take care of his family, somehow manages to catch the attention of one of the biggest orchestrators behind the galactic-wide Rebellion.

This man who, with no better prospects, reluctantly acquiesces to participating in a massive heist of 80 million Galactic Credits for the Rebellion and then is a major reason why they actually pull it off and one of the only ones to make it out alive.

AND THAT WAS ALL WHEN HE WASN’T FULLY ON BOARD WITH THE REBELLION.

So what about when he’s finally stirred up to really want to rebel himself? When it’s no longer just anti-imperial sentiment but pro-something bigger than himself? Even pro-rebellion?

HE’S REALLY JUST OUT HERE DOING WHAT HE’S DOING AND BEING HIMSELF AND SAYING THOSE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS THAT FINALLY CAME TOGETHER AND THIS JUST—

INSPIRES others to not just come around to supporting the idea of rebelling against the Empire but to give their lives in rebellion against the Empire.

Let’s talk about when Kino Loy meets this unstoppable force for good. Let’s talk about how it drives him from “let’s just finish our shifts” to “let’s break every single one of these 5,000 men out of this Imperial prison.”

Let’s talk about how Cassian leads by example, by existing, by inspiring. Let’s talk about how he reads the dynamics and knows what person he needs on board to get everyone on board.

“Tell them what to do. It has to be you. Come on, Kino. You do this every day. Tell them what to do.” ~ Cassian Andor

Let’s talk about when Jyn meets this unstoppable force for good. Let’s talk about how it’s a major factor of what brings her from “leave me alone and just don’t look up” to “let’s steal the plans for the Death Star even if it’s a suicide mission because the Rebellion and the galaxy needs it.”

Let’s talk about how Cassian doesn’t need to be “the leader” to lead. Let’s talk about how he got an entire squadron of rebels ready and on board for this suicide mission before the council meeting could even finish saying “no.”

Let’s talk about how he couldn’t abide by the lack of action in the face of desperate need, and how he knew who to go to in order to get things done. Let’s talk about how he laid this team before Jyn because it was never about him leading and always about doing it for the Rebellion.

Let’s just talk about what a great kriffing character Cassian Andor is for a second, okay?

sticks-and-souls

The ISB is objectively evil but damn if they don’t do a good job of sprinkling in moments where you feel Dedra’s own struggle against oppression. Misunderstand me correctly, I do not condone anything she lives for or acts on, and her own privileges are aplenty.

But her genuine unease and fear when Syril stalks and accosts her? Real.

Her mentorship from a high-ranking male boss who sees her value in the workplace and lifts her up with his power? Real.

The subtle twist in her expression when she realizes her aide may be trying to usurp her? REAL.

She is a villain. She uses her own privilege to oppress many many others. But damn if you thought this show about oppression would let you out without an overt example that privilege is never all or nothing.

aeruthien

The subtle character building in Andor is just so good.

We get a sense of who these people are, what they have gone through and what they stand for through small gestures, expressions and dialogue.

Cassian of course is the main example of this. It might seem like we don't get much of our titular character. He is mostly quiet and doesn't have a robot to tell his thoughts to any more. But who he is and what he is thinking is very clear.

He is smart and a quick learner. He is a very good observer. Cassian notices things, in a way that makes it useful for later. He knows who uses which hand. He knows the unspoken rules of operating that cargo thing. He recognizes the device that Karis is using and shows genuine interest.

And that all makes sense. The first scenes we see of young Cassian is him observing the leader of the group of children and imitating her. And after he was abducted, he had to adapt quickly to a new environment.

And this isn't punctuated with a quip or a joke. Cassian doesn't wink and say "I'm a quick learner." We get shown this through his interactions.

He is also on edge and out of his depth, which he tries to hide, even if he calls out the others on being afraid. And again, this isn't thrown in our face, but it is through his behaviour. How he jumps when they touch him or his stuff. His disbelief at the holes in their plan.

And Cassian cares, about the group and the cause, even though he says he's only in it for the money. He accepts the apology. He praises Karis' model. He praises cinta's healing skills. He listens carefully to the philosophy. He gives suggestions but doesn't overstep boundaries.

And I love that so much

lcvenderblues

okay I think it was suuuuuuuuch a brilliant thing to have Luthen witness Maarva's posthumous speech and the uprising it caused; and his stunned reaction. and i don't think it's any coincidence that Maarva's speech stressed the importance of community, she herself having been a prominent and beloved figure within hers. Luthen is such a vital figure in the rebellion and he makes such crucial decisions and holds so many lives in his hands and seemingly discards them just as easily; and we already hear it from him earlier in episode 10, of the horrible actions he resorts to all for the sake of trying to create a better galaxy that he knows he won't live to see. but i think he forgets the side of rebellion that Maarva and Nemik both talk about, and that's so perfectly illustrated in this episode; the fact that rebellion is community. it is millions of "random acts of insurrection occurring constantly throughout the galaxy". rebellion can happen anywhere, can be done by anyone, even the most galactically 'insignificant'. rebellion is the decision to try. and I'm so curious to see where this takes his character in the next season.

jessescoldbrew

“And what do you sacrifice?”

“Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I’ve given up all chance at inner peace. I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts. I wake up every day to an equation I wrote fifteen years ago from which there’s only one conclusion, I’m damned for what I do. My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight they’ve set me on a path from which there’s no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down there was no longer any ground beneath my feet. What is my sacrifice? I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life to make a sunrise I know I’ll never see. And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice? Everything!”

Andor giving us some of the greatest dialogue in Star Wars ever put to pen and a hauntingly real insight as to the cost of revolution. The ugly, incalculable cost.

cal-kestis

ANDOR 10. One Way Out

toadlessgirl

Andor + Onion headlines, because it was either make memes or scream into the void some more.

ruescott

Brasso passing along Maarva’s messages to Cassian and giving Cassian the most heartfelt hug of all time, then putting on his uniform to honor Maarva’s memory, swing Maarva’s brick to kill some fucking fascists, fight through the crowd to scoop up Wilmon, and get him and a bunch of others on a ship to safety. literally who is on his level. who is doing it like him. sir I would die for you

wootwoothoot

Just realized why the colors of the rebellion are orange and white.

They’re fucking prison colors. The fucking rebels reclaimed colors the Empire uses to strip people of their lives and identities, and turned it into a symbol of motherfucking hope.

I love this fucking show.