#/Rebellion are built on hope/

[symphonyofsilence]

“Where there's life there's hope.”

Neil Gaiman, "The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes" // J.R.R. Tolkien, Appendices of "the Lord of the Rings "// Mumford and sons, "After the Storm" // Neil Gaiman, "The Sandman: Fables & Reflections"//Fifth Harmony, "That's My Girl" // J.R.R. Tolkien, "the Silmarillion"// J.R.R. Tolkien, "the Lord of the Rings" // Neil Gaiman, "The Sandman: Overture" // The Secret Sisters: "Tomorrow Will Be Kinder"// Dunya Mikhail, "America" // J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

[deadpoets]

DIEGO LUNA as CASSIAN ANDOR ROGUE ONE (2016) dir. Gareth Edwards

[fallenrocket]

When I rewatched "Rix Road," I couldn't stop wondering what folks in Ferrix must be thinking about Cassian now. This is especially true when, after breaking Bix out of the hotel and bringing her to the getaway ship, Cassian takes charge of everything. He makes sure everyone's accounted for and the ship is ready to go, directing Jezzi how out to get out safely and reassuring everyone. And keep in mind, this is just after he missed his mother's funeral because he knew that rescuing his friend had to take precedence over his own grief.

Because I keep thinking about the Cassian that most of these folks saw last, the one who went around asking for the favors, money, or alibis with the constant refrain of, "I really need this." The one who seemed kind of lost and was always getting into something or another, who worried Maarva when he stayed out all night. After all, the people of Ferrix haven't been following Cassian all season like we have. They don't know what he went through on Aldhani or Narkina 5.

So what the hell do they think of this steady, confident young man offering them direction and reassurance? Where do they think it came from? Did they know he had this in him, is he fulfilling the potential they always knew he was capable of? What do they think happened to him while he was away?

[vamprisms]

sith lords would call themselves dark empaths on tiktok

[andorerso]

Jyn and Cassian NEVER made a bad track. “Trust goes both ways.” BANGER. “Rebellions are built on hope.” SLAPS. “Your father would have been proud of you, Jyn.” Emotionally and sonically RICH. Don’t even get me STARTED on “I'm not used to people sticking around when things go bad.” “Welcome home.”

[invaderhogtwopointohno]

RebelCaptain Week 2024

RebelCaptain 2024 Week

Free Day: Hope

I believe that the reason that RebelCaptain and Cassian and Jyn's story is so powerful and impactful even all of these years later is that there are times in our lives when we don't know what to fight for. We don't know what purpose we serve. We are just in a void, looking around and trying to find a way through it- The timelessness of Rogue One is that everyone has a part that they play in the universe, big or small, we are all important, our stories are important and you don't need all of the answers to get through the day. Jyn and Cassian could've had an entire lifetime together, but they only got a few days, but they were able to make such a massive impact on the universe.

Jyn and Cassian's story is that hope is so much more powerful than anything else in the universe. Cassian had hope that what he did, even the worst of it, was for the sake of the Rebellion that he believed in. Jyn started out having no hope, just surviving and not caring about what happened next and ends up having complete faith that she was in the right place at the right time to help the next step in the Rebellion. While it was tragic, I truly believe that they were able to find hope and peace before the end.

[mcchi-ken]

A shell without a scar / At the end of time

(song is Thanatos by Soap&Skin)

[candiedstardust]

Taking deep breaths tonight and reminding myself that:

We have hope. Hope that things will get better. And they will.

Stay safe, my loves.

[copalcetic]

Thinking about Ahsoka, and why Sabine falls to Baylan's manipulation when he tells her to hand over the star map "for Ezra."

There's two meanings for that: do it because it will let you find Ezra, and do it because it's what Ezra would want. Baylan means the former.

It's pretty obvious it's not what Ezra would want, even if Sabine is too tangled up in her own attachment to recognize it. But it's interesting that no matter how many times Ahsoka warns Sabine that they might need to abandon Ezra for the greater good, she never does bring up Ezra's preferences. She never says that Ezra would prioritize galactic peace over his return, even though it's the one argument most likely to sway Sabine.

One of the parallels between Ahsoka and Sabine in Ahsoka is that they're both struggling to deal with the loss of people who were on some level their brothers. And Ahsoka's brother figure is Anakin. 

So of course it doesn't occur to Ahsoka to tell Sabine, "Think about what Ezra would want. Remember that Ezra chose his sacrifice." Ahsoka has trained herself never to ask, "What would Anakin do? What would Anakin want?" (She knows the answer: protect or revenge the people he loves and damn the rest of the galaxy to hell.) 

And that blind spot leaves Sabine wide open for manipulation by Baylan. Give me the map "for Ezra," he says, and—stewing in self-justifications built over ten years of mourning, the actual Ezra a distant memory—she does.

[sailorsol]

Have some inspiration in these trying times.

Princess Leia, The original badass anti-fascist space princess. Looked Darth Vader in the face and lied her ass off, then did the same to Admiral Tarkin.

What we should learn from her: Chin up, even in the very worst of circumstances.

OG Mon Mothma and the other rebel leaders. Gave up their cushy lives to support the Rebellion.

What we should learn from her: It doesn't matter how rich you are or even if you're a senator, there comes a point where you're going to have to make a decision to stand up for what you believe in and give up the comfortable life you've always known.

Wedge Badass Antilles. Stole a TIE fighter from the Imperial flight academy. Only person to survive a frontal attack on the Death Star twice.

What we should learn from him: Fight. Keep fighting. Even when you're old and gray, you can still fight.

#1 Space Dad who looked the Empire down head on. Risked his and his family's lives to protect people who couldn't protect themselves.

What we can learn from him: Help people who can't help themselves. Drive your speeder right up to the steps of the burning Temple and try to save a padawan. They don't have to be Your People for you to try and protect them.

Bodhi Rook, who realized he had been led astray and ended up on the wrong side and fixed that.

What we can learn from him: It's easy to fall into a bad place, especially when you don't have a good support system. But there are people who will help you get out if you just ask.

Galen Erso, who did what he had to in order to protect his daughter but still risked his life to sabotage the Empire from within.

What we can learn from him: Don't always take someone at face value. Just because they look like they're working for the enemy doesn't mean they aren't doing what they can to help.

Finn, raised his entire life as a stormtrooper, who finally said enough was enough.

What we can learn from him: It doesn't matter how you were raised or who you were raised by, you can still choose to stand up and do the right thing.

Aleksandr Kallus, who bought into the Empire 10000% from the start. Did horrible things, including being responsible/complicit in genocide. Eventually realized that he had seriously fucked up and tried to make reparations.

What we can learn from him: Anyone can change. Anyone. No matter how many terrible things a person has done in the past, it all comes down to the choices they make moving forward.

[rapha-reads]

Me every year or so since 2016: gods damn, Rogue One fucks hard. Damn. Best Star Wars movie ever, no I don't make the rule.

And in the light of current events, you know, I feel like it's even more important to remember: the Empire will brand the Resistance as terrorists. It's your job to remember that rebellions are built on hope for the future of a freed galaxy. Don't lower your head and ignore the imperialist flags in the air. Pick a blaster and burn the fucking shackles to cinder.

Be one with the Force (collective solidarity) and the Force will be with you (collective freedom).

(Andor season 2 when?)

[amandamadeathing]

A play on "If you've ever wondered what you would have done if you were alive during [period of injustice] you're doing it now."

[motherofclones]

Hey, just to be clear, if you voted for the 🍇ist this is not a safe place for you. Get off my blog and do not come back.

[shu-of-the-wind]

i was reading song of silver, flame like night by amelie wen zhao over the weekend, and there's a line in it that i have been chewing like gum ever since.

here was the trick to surviving in a colonized land: you couldn't show that you cared. every [person] you came across would have his share of sob stories: family slaughtered in the conquest, home pillaged or plundered, or worse. to care was to allow a chink in the armor of survival. [...] in a conquered land, the only way to win was to survive.

i think this has been haunting me because i keep thinking of this, this language, this dagger-sharp cut of reality, in terms of star wars. because i always think of star wars. and i think about kassa, and jyn, and how they both refused to look up. simply living under the empire is enough of a fight. they cannot afford to make the moral choice. they want to live, and living is enough; living when the empire wants them dead, when the republic tried to kill them as children, is enough for them in those moments.

for so long all they can do, all they can dream of, is living. they can't afford to have sympathy for others even when it continues to creep in, because they are fundamentally good people trying to survive under the massive, titanium weight of empire. that means that they cannot afford to have morals the way that the rebellion demands. the people around them (and many of the viewers!) don't seem to understand this, and that's partly why cassian has been so woobified since andor came out. (which is something that annoys the living shit out of me, because it fundamentally disrespects cassian's existance as a refugee in hiding, a victim of empire and colonization. but that's another post.) you cannot afford morality under empire, because it will fucking kill you. they both know this.

which is why their choices in rogue one break my heart and uplift my soul all at once. because they know they're going to die. but they choose morality over survival, because it means more to them to die doing the right thing, than to continue to live under a system that denigrates their existences. they've walked with death since they were tiny babies, and in the end, they choose death, because morals cannot survive under imperialism. and that's why their choice is so powerful.

under empire, having morals, caring for the world around you, might kill you. but it is the greatest sacrifice you can possibly make in a society that tries to eliminate morality.

[follow-the-white-loth-cat]

I saw a Star Wars argument on Reddit (I know, off to a great start) where one of the things people were complaining about is that Thrawn isn't actually smart in Rebels - he's just the only one with common sense. I can understand why this is disappointing if you've read more Thrawn literature. But apart from the fact that Rebels is written with a younger audience in mind, I think it's actually the point.

Andor and Rebels really portray a biting image of the average Imperial officer - and by that I mean they're pretty stupid. Does it conveniently help the Ghost Crew get out of sticky situations? Did it help Cinta find the plant on Ferrix? Sure, but I think the point is actually to demonstrate what type of officers and officials the Empire encourages. They don't want officers who exercise common sense or logic; they don't want creative thought; they certainly don't want decision-makers who think for themselves.

Tyranny requires constant control over the population - but it also requires constant control over your own people. If every officer was taught to be like Thrawn, to analyze art and psychology and consider cultural context, a lot of them wouldn't be Imperials.

The "wiping the taste of Aldhani out" line really demonstrates that Palapatine's goal is still not for "his people" to rule the galaxy, it's for him to rule. Although officers like Thrawn and Dedra are crucial to the functioning of the Empire, it's a deep institutional force to get and retain officers who 1) will be deeply, deeply cruel and/or callous to the suffering of others, 2) will follow any orders in the hope of working their way up the ranks, and 3) are usually not the best independent thinkers. Contrast this with the Imperial propaganda machine that says they are recruiting the "best and brightest", and now you have a workforce with a major ego without any of the skills to back it up.

The reason Thrawn and Dedra are different is because they had to fight for their position - they were not naturally privileged in the Empire's system as an alien and a woman from a lower-status former job. Sabine was probably being groomed for a similar role, but like many of the actual "best and brightest" she left. Note too how Kallus becomes remarkably more competent and effective as soon as he divorces himself from the Imperial thought machine. The Empire lives because of the people who crawl their way to the top but would never, ever admit it because then the facade used to prop up the foundation of the Empire (people like Syril) would collapse.

[captora]

This was one of my inktobers for last month and I’m still so sad.