#Rogue One meta

[jyndor]

rebelcaptain week | day one: rebel

for today's prompt (significant moments/rebel) I decided to use newton's third law of motion to highlight two things: 1. how jyn and cassian are radicalized by how fascism and imperialism impacts them personally; and 2. how jyn and cassian's actions spark reactions in the other.

[nelkcats]

Danny is a meta Babysitter

Is not public information, but all Crime Alley know it, ¿the only rule? Don't tell the heroes

So, imagine the surprise when Roy Harper contacted him (¡¿cause Hood recommended!?)

[spaceorphan18]

Favorite Rogue Panels : Gambit (1993) #1

While not at all related, XMen 97 got me thinking of this panel. The first time Rogue says that she loves Remy out loud. (If I'm remembering correctly, forgive me it's been a while since I've read the early stuff.)

She's so unsure of herself, in a way, holding herself close because just saying it, admitting it makes her feel vulnerable. Rogue always kind of holds herself close. She can take hits from the heaviest of hitters. But breaking through and getting to her heart? It's like she has to physically comfort herself, shield herself, from what that statement means. But she is sure of the words she's saying. She is sure of what her heart is telling her as much as it scares her.

And the statement is so simple. Just a simple declaration of how she feels. Something, like touch, that can be so easy for other people, but not for her. But at this point she knows. She longs, she wants, she's deeply, deeply in love with Remy even here and it's just this fantasy that she doesn't think she'll ever have. Not with her situation. Not with him having a wife... Just a mockery of a dream despite her heart.

This panel is so melancholy and beautiful and just packs a lot in a very simple moment.

I love this moment so much.

[kacievvbbbb]

I need someone that believes in magic to get ahold of Batman again. He is an overly serious man that runs around in an admitted bat suit fighting a gimmick rouge gallery. And he is doing it because he sincerely believes in a better tomorrow and somewhere along the way we have lost the plot. Batman wasn’t created to punish the guilty that is actually completely antithetical to his beliefs he is not the fucking punisher.

Batman just like wonder woman and Superman primarily wants to save people! sure he doesn’t do it in a sunny way but that is still what drives him. Hell he even goes a step further and actually builds a case he’s not just waiting for criminals to commit the crime he is shutting down smuggling and trafficking rings foiling plots he is a detective! For Christs sake it’s what made him so unique and fun as a superhero.

Also His desire to save people is literally what compels him to adopt Dick, Jason, Stephanie. Cass because he wanted to give these kids a chance, to save them in ways 8year old him wasn’t. Someone who just wants to punish the guilty wouldn’t do that, And now they have turned him into a borderline physically and emotionally abusive absentee parent all in the name of making him an edge lord. Where is the heart! Where is the fucking heart in it all! Where are the kids and the bright colors and the zaniness. Let Batman and Gotham be FANTASTICAL! I’m tired of the greys and the browns.

I’m tired of “grounding a story” meaning sucking all the joy and color out if it. Also superhero stories don’t need to be grounded in your fucking abysmal reality they are literally superheroes they exist outside of reality, let them!

A story does not have to be joyless to have depth and it does not have to be nihilist to be compelling.

I am sick and I am tired of it. 😔

[inafieldofstarflowers]

I love Rogue One and I support the idea of Jyn and Cassian being in love on a purely conceptual basis (as in, I think they’re a good match), but I don’t on a story basis.

Jyn and Cassian definitely trusted each other deeply by the end of the movie. As they died, they found comfort in one another and the fact that they loved each other—because I think they did definitely love each other. But they weren’t in love, because they didn’t have the time for that. It’s part of what makes the end of Rogue One so devastating: they are providing others with hope by putting themselves on a path of hopelessness; giving the galaxy a future by sacrificing their own.

Jyn and Cassian may have had a future where they fell in love and stood by each other’s sides, where they had adventures and quiet moments together, but they gave up that opportunity so that others would be able to have futures of their own. The Death Star firing on the planet didn’t only kill them, it destroyed the things that might have been. And, I think, as Jyn and Cassian watch the wave of destruction roll toward them, they’re aware of that; they’re considering all of the things that will never be, and they’re mourning them; mourning themselves and each other and what they might have been together.

Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor might have been in love, someday, but they weren’t, because they didn’t have the chance.

That, to me, is so horrifically tragic: a doomed love story, not the kind where love leads to death or despair, but the kind where death and despair prevent the love from blooming.

[brilliantfantasticgeronimo]

if i had a nickel for every time the doctor got taunted by a horror Entity after revealing deeply personal, lore-heavy emotions they hadn't processed up until that point. i would have 2 nickels. which isn't a lot but it's heartbreaking it happened twice.

[jojo-schmo]

A confession🌟 (Part 2)

(Part 1)

(Part 3- Final)

[beforetimes]

tbh i think after logan resets the past at the end of days of future past and wakes up in this timeline that's better than he could ever imagine it'd be very hard for it to settle in his mind that this is real and he gets to keep it.

like, after decades of living in a dystopian hell he's not going to wake up in seemingly in paradise without having some sort of ptsd or residual nightmares from before where all his friends died horrible deaths that he couldn't stop. i feel like to him, scott and jean would feel more like ghosts than people for a good while because if we're operating under the assumption that days of future past happened in the same timeline that the original trilogy happened in, it would've been about half a century since logan had last seen the two of them alive and well. i feel like to him it would be similar to knowing you're dreaming and waiting for the other shoe to drop the whole way through.

and then after that there's the fact that he has no idea who he is in this timeline now—that's what i feel was implied, anyway, with how he woke up years in the future and couldn't remember anything past 1973. but he still has relationships built up with the people there and he's an entirely different logan than the one who woke up in his place. so i feel there would be some fumbling there as well, to figure out those relationship dynamics again. unless you just want to assume that things went about the same as the og trilogy minus the plot of the last stand.

idk! i feel logan wouldn't bounce back as fast as it seems he would. think he would have nightmares and be overly-wary and always feel like he's on the cusp of losing this too good to be true world he's stepped into. but i also feel he would soften some of his rougher edges—in the og trilogy he seems more like a flight-risk than anything, still bouncing from place to place and coming back to the x-mansion for a few people, but here he would stay for more than just jean and rogue—clings on for all the kids he couldn't save the first time and the allies who became close friends over the course of them living out that first dystopian future only he remembers. just thinking out loud

[mearchy]

Just cannot stop thinking about how every important beat of Andor and Rogue One is a direct rebuke of the jedi and their light side/dark side code. Anger can be a righteous force for good, love can shine a light in the dark, attachment can be the driver behind the greatest compassion. People are entitled to their rage, and in fact without it may never save others, may never break free from the chains that bind them. That doesn’t mean that the force isn’t there! The force is so so present in andor even though they never outright recognize it! But it does not need to have the clear cut dichotomy that the jedi imposed on it. Senator-organa on here posted a quote from the rogue one novelization where Baze says outright that his anger, contrary to jedi beliefs, is what gives his shots the power to strike true, and i can’t stop thinking about how that applies to virtually every protagonist character arc in Rogue One and Andor. It is anger and hope that compel them to make great change and great sacrifice. One can argue that virtually the entirety of the prequels and TCW served as an illustration of the jedi doctrine being a huge element of their eventual downfall, but never has the message been so clear, so nuanced, or so compelling. I’m just. ahh

[lokittystuckinatree]

Ok our fandom has been circulating theories on the identity of Rogue. I’m curious what you guys think

[psychoblush]

I think what Andor does well and what sets it apart from the rest of the Star Wars universe, is that it’s very literate about how entities like the Sith and Jedi ultimately uphold or bring down societal structures. The emperor can have as many superpowers as he wants, but at the end of the day, the empire is nothing without its bureaucrats, its administrators, and its military and prison industrial complexes. In a parallel vein, it represents the triumph of the rebellion as something that happens less because a farm-boy had divinely-ordained superpowers and more because of its ability to mobilize effective civil resistance. To pit characters like Luthen and Mothma against the emperor; to contrast them and to draw comparisons, and on a certain level, make them equals, has nothing to do with their ability to use the force. It’s about their ability to wield apparatuses to reshape the galaxy in their own designs.

The will of the galaxy through the force is ever present of course, but there’s something much more empowering about such a supernaturally oppressive figure such as the emperor being toppled by the chess moves of normal people. It makes me think that we don’t need Skywalkers to solve our problems, we need mobilization of ordinary folks. Its a rejection of great-individual history and an endorsement of solidarity.

[short-wooloo]

I can't believe this never occurred to me

"The Strongest Stars have hearts of Kyber"

What happened when Starkiller base-formerly Ilum, a world rich in Kyber crystals, was destroyed?

It became a Star

Extra poetic considering context

Ilum was the world where the Jedi got the crystals to forge the weapons they used to defend light and life in the galaxy

The forces of the dark side (the empire/first order) violated and perverted Ilum, turning into a weapon that took lives by the billions and literally drained light from the universe

But with starkiller's destruction, Ilum was reincarnated, so to speak, it will sadly never be what it once was, such is the nature of the dark side, it twists, perverts, and disfigures what it touches, you can come back from it, but never as you were, and such is the unfortunate case with Ilum, but as a Star, Ilum takes on a new role, stars are the source of light

And from Light, comes Life

[spaceorphan18]

The Rogue and Gambit Project: Previously On X-Men... Rogue (Part 2)

Yeah... I can just tell this is going to be everyone's favorite entry of this project. ;)

As we move into the late-80s, everything gets just a little more complicated. There are now multiple X-Books going (thankfully, Rogue is just in Uncanny at this point), a ton of characters to service, and story lines that sprawl into big events. Rogue kind of... gets lost, a little, in the shuffle. But there are some notable things to point out -- and one big thing *coughmagnetocough* we're gonna have to address...

For the most part, during a majority of the run up until this point, Uncanny X-Men stood alone as the sole book to find the X-Men. Suddenly, there were a bunch more. New X-Men followed the younger kids. X-Factor brought back the original team. And now the books did big event crossovers! Which - has only made comics completely muddy sense! So, instead of picking out individual issues like episodes of televisions, I need to break this down a little more in chunks...

The Mutant Massacre (Uncanny X-Men 210-219)

Uncanny X-Men #213

This particular 'event' is something that is, unfortunately, going to come back later in a big way -- though for Gambit -- though that will have consequences for Rogue, too. But... we're a long way off from there. The quick summary is basically - a group of jerks called The Marauders decide to take out the Morlocks, a group of mutants who live in the sewers because they can't pass as 'normal' looking. And, of course, the X-Men need to stop them.

Rogue gets some decent panel time. But the biggest thing is that the X-Men are finally her home. Especially as the team begins to change in big ways, especially as she's a hero now, especially as she is more open about having a big heart, she takes being an X-Men seriously.

Uncanny X-Men #217

The other big thing going on is the changing team dynamics. A lot of the older faces have left the book. Storm is dealing with a loss of powers. Wolvie has his solo going on. Kitty and Nightcrawler have gone to the book Excalibur. The team feels like it's in constant flux (and will be until the somewhat reboot in the early 90s). Rogue is, thankfully, one of the constants. And because of this, we do get to see her more!

She doesn't necessarily get a ton of new character development. But she does get to have some interesting new dynamics. Psylocke is introduced! Dazzler and Longshot join the team! Havok crawls out of the woodwork to appear! And even Jubilee (though much later) makes an appearance - though Rogue has little to do with her.

The Fall of the Mutants (Uncanny X-Men 220-227)

Uncanny X-Men #222

The next 'event' is Fall of the Mutants. Through an uncanny (see what I did there) string of events, the X-Men end up in Dallas. The Adversary (a Strom villain, really) shows up and creates chaos in Dallas. In order to stop it, all of the X-Men 'die'. Except they don't - and are saved by someone called Roma (sigh, let's not get into /her/) and they can come back, but no one will know they are alive and no one will be able to see them in any kind of media. So.... basically, it's a way to keep the X-Men out of New York and away from X-Factor, because we can't have that happening too fast....

Again, not really a whole lot of single Rogue development, but she gets to do a lot of badass things, and she is on panel quite a bit.

The other thing to note is that their given a portal to go through - something called the Siege Perilous. I'm not going to pretend I fully understand what it is - but when you go through the portal, you get to be 'reset' (or you essentially die). I'm noting it now, because I'll become important later on.

Australia (Uncanny X-Men 228-238)

Uncanny X-Men #230

The X-Men end up down in Australia, hanging out there while having adventures for a while. Despite her basher attitude, Rogue becomes one of the softer members of the team. See - she's bringing a picnic to Gateway, the unspeaking Aboriginal mutant who is basically their transportation system. Ooff, comics.

This era is kind of setting up two things - Inferno (which we'll get to in a second) and The X-Tinction agenda. Rogue ends up getting a mini-arc here with Wolverine, where the two of them end up in Genosha -- an island where mutants are basically chained up and caged. Unfortunately, it's implied that Rogue got a little ruffed up during her stay, thought at least Claremont (I think it was him) came out and said that she was not sexually assaulted here. Ooff, comics again. But Uncanny X-Men 235-238 has some great Rogue (and Wolverine) in it. Because of this, though, the Carol Danvers Psyche kinda takes over for a while, and Rogue becomes buried.

Inferno (Uncanny X-Men 239-243)

Uncanny X-Men #240

I need to take a second and talk about how during a lot of this run Dazzler and Rogue remain at odds with each other. Part of it has to do with their past, but part of it is over... Longshot. Ooff, girl needs to have a real romantic interest and fast... ;) Also, can we take a second to appreciate how 80s that outfit is?

Uncanny X-Men #242

Out of all the late 80s events, Inferno is my favorite. It's the batshit crazy tale of an ex-wife who wants to get revenge on her ex-husband, who left her for his dead girlfriend, and decides to take down an entire city by making a deal with a demon, while using her own child as a hostage. It's bonkers. But we're not here to discuss the many loves of Scott Summers ;)

Honestly, Rogue doesn't do a whole lot in this one. She gets to knock some people out. She gets knocked out. And... that's about it. Still a great read though.

Through the Siege Perilous (Uncanny X-Men 244-247)

Uncanny X-Men #246

Rogue doesn't really get to last long in a post-Inferno world. She gets to waffle a little between Carol and her own psyche. This practically gets me because the entire time she's been around so far she only has kissed to steal people's powers. Never a kiss for love. And it's a shame they were going to kill her off without letting her get one.

Uncanny X-Men #247

During a fight with Master Mold, Rogue gets tied up and sucked into the Siege Perilous, where she essential dies. And that's it! That's her story. The end...

Kinda sucky, right? Not exactly a satisfying way to end her.

Well... an entire year is going to go by in the real world before she gets to come back...

Before get to her return, though, I would like to say this. There are a ton of great panels and moments that I didn't document for this project. I really do recommend, if you have the time and means, going through and reading all of Claremont's original run. There are some really fantastic stories - that hold up relatively well all things considered. And while the Rogue development is slightly stagnant, our girl gets some truly wonderful things to do. It's definitely a full on recommendation from me.

The Savage Land (Uncanny X-Men #269, 274-275)

Rogue Pre- and Post-Siege Perilous

Alright, so let's talk about what happened in that year. The X-Office was beginning to change. Chris Claremont was beginning to near the end of his iconic run. The 80s faded into the 90s. Artist (and infamous) Jim Lee was taking over the book. The style changed - and everyone got to be a bit more sexified. The line up became really messy as there was a new X-Men team nearly every issue. And a rather handsome thief from New Orleans made his debut. (But we aren't going to talk about that yet ;))

Uncanny X-Men #269

Rogue returned through the Siege Perilous buck naked (seriously) and clean slated. All the voices in her head were gone, all her extra powers were erased, and, some would say, she got a new personality.

She was still sassy and brassy but now we got to add demure sexpot into the mix, who wears skimpy clothing even though she still can't touch anyone. And -- this is somewhat a set up for what happens next.

But first... some context. After Rogue makes it back from the Siege Perilous (and after some stuff with the Shadow King) the Carol Psyche was ripped from her own and two bodies emerged out. The not real Carol attacked Rogue and Rogue made her escape through Gateway, and ended up -- not in Genosha where the rest of the X-Men were dealing with the X-Tinction Agenda crossover (Rogue gets to sit that one out) nor out in space where the X-Men will land next, but in the Savage Land.

And you know who's waiting down there to help her out?

Y'all knew this was coming guys...

Magneto.

Buckle in, kids, we're about to talk about Rogneto.

Uncanny X-Men #274

Fun fact: This is the first issue where Rogue and Gambit are in the same issue. However, Remy is out in space while Rogue is suck in Antarctica with Magneto. And, look guys, none of this is that bad...

When Rogue first arrives down in the Savage Land, she is pursued by the clone/body/psyche of Carol, who is trying to kill her. Magneto stops Carol and outright kills her. He also kinda kills other people, too. Great start for this romance, right?

/

Uncanny X-Men #274

Anyway, he supposedly helps her heal (and eventually she'll get her Carol powers back - but at least not with the added Carol personality.) And apparently there's some kind of spark? I mean, honestly, to me it looks like he's hurting her, but their both mostly naked so this is hot, right?

Unfortunately, while this "spark" isn't anything compared to the raging fire that's about to happen in a few issues, it's going to have an effect that won't fully be put out until a bazillion years later in X-Men Legacy. And, well, this is a part of her story.

Uncanny X-Men #274

There's really not much that happens in this issue other than these panels that I'm showing you. We get a lot of inner monologue from Erik, but really nothing to show what Rogue is feeling. I realize there's a kind of grooming aspect you could place on it here, but this all happens over days, and I barely think it's any time to make any sort of real connection good or bad? It's just kind of here... being awkward...

And you know, admittedly, that bottom right panel is very pretty. That's probably the nicest thing I'll say about something Rogneto related.

Uncanny X-Men #275

For anyone who wanted Rogue with a naked Magneto, here ya go! ;)

Uncanny X-Men #275

There is a whole plot that I've been kind of ignoring - about Zaladane and her bonkers plan to take over the Savage Land. No need to worry - Magneto is going to murder her, too. And thus we get to see the biggest issue with Rogue and Magneto. They honestly have nothing in common. Sure - Rogue was a villain for a short time, and I could (maybe?) buy it back then, but all of this feels like they wanted to give Magneto a hot chick to hang off him for a few issues. Their ideologies are just too different for this to ever make any real sense.

And if that's your thing? Sure go for it - I'll never tell anyone who or what to ship. But it does nothing for me. (Sorry :/)

Uncanny X-Men #275

And this is where it ends. Really guys, I showed you all the big hits, there's nothing, really, that happens with Rogneto during this except the alleged 'spark'. Oh, and the fact that Magneto was fine letting Rogue die while he dealt with other things. Romance for the ages guys.

Magneto is going to go back to being a villain. And Rogue is going to make her way to Muir Island, where her life is about to really, really change.... ;)

But first, let's talk about Gambit...

[allthoseotherworlds]

An Aroace Doctor Reading of "Rogue"

Disclaimer: I am not interested in proving what's "canon". I do not believe that canon exists. I am interested in formulating a reasonable reading of the episode wherein the Doctor is aromantic and asexual, and fundamentally believe that such a thing is possible in basically all contexts with enough determination. If that's not your thing, that's fine, but I don't need to argue in the replies about how this isn't canon). Also if it sounds like I'm arguing with someone, I promise it's probably not you, hypothetical reader, but the ghost of 2015-ish and the mean voices it left in my brain

I finally watched Rogue! It wasn't as bad as I was worried it would be, from an aroace perspective. I think I can reasonably view it as a combination of my already-established beliefs that:

The Doctor likes it when people like them, and does not like being rejected. How they handle this varies wildly - from preemptively rejecting people, to hiding everything so people can't reject them, to being aggressively fun and charming and interesting, which seems to be the fifteenth Doctor's approach. This approach from the fifeenth Doctor in particular can come across as flirty even in contexts where it clearly isn't meant to be, I think because many people aren't accustomed to that level of genuineness and exuberance from a relative stranger

The Doctor, at least recently, does not like outright rejecting people who are sincerely interested in them, probably due to the previously-mentioned desire for people to like them

The Doctor does enjoy banter, including banter that can be read as flirting, because banter and wordplay are fun

The Doctor does not view kissing the same way humans do, perhaps partially because of the touch-telepathy present in Time Lords, and tends to relate to kissing (even mouth kisses that humans would view as romantic) as a general expression of strong emotion or a telepathic tool rather than a strictly sexual or romantic thing. The Doctor is generally aware that kissing is romantic for humans, but how much they internalize this varies (see: the tenth Doctor remembering that kissing can be viewed a certain way and warning Martha they don't mean it that way, but not realizing it's so deeply ingrained in contemporaneous human culture as romantic that she won't be able to just turn it off in her head)

With that in mind, here's my personal take:

The Doctor is suspicious of Rogue, but also thinks he's interesting and aesthetically attractive ("hot" - a word that aroaces can also use without proving we're not aroace)

The Doctor banters with Rogue, enjoys the banter, and is friendly and charming to him because they want to learn more and because banter is fun. They don't trust him at first, but enjoy interacting with him.

Once it's been established that the Doctor is not the enemy here and they can work together, the Doctor is a) charmed by Rogue's proper admiration of the Tardis, and b) sympathetic to Rogue's Tragic Backstory. The Doctor's probably projecting a little at this point because "Bounty hunter who's lost people and is working to do something he thinks is helpful but maybe isn't for a mysterious boss" probably resonates for "Ex-Division-Operative/Ex-Time-War-Participant" reasons, even though they are deeply Not Acknowledging that they have issues, no thank you.

Near-kiss in the Tardis happens because of the Doctor's deep lack of personal space and generally being more accepting of touch in this incarnation

Nothing needs to be explained with the dancing/fake fight/fake marriage proposal, except the Doctor's "Oh shit" reaction to the proposal, which to my mind is that of someone reliving all the other times people have had Romantic or Sexual feelings towards them and it has caused Problems that the don't reciprocate in the same way, even if they care a lot. Also the Doctor's total lack of prior trauma around losing people or being rejected because they are Perfectly Well Adjusted Now

The actual kiss happens because a) Rogue needs to distract the Doctor and kissing is distracting, and b) the Doctor isn't averse enough to touch in this incarnation to dislike kissing on principle I think, and emotions were running high enough that I think they can appreciate it from an emotional/telepathic perspective anyways

The Doctor is sad when Rogue is lost because a) the Doctor hates losing people in general, b) it's another person sacrificing themselves to save the Doctor or their friends when they couldn't, and c) they did care about Rogue and saw potential in him to both grow and learn more and to be a fun person to travel and argue with

Other thoughts about the episode!

I'm glad Ruby didn't actually die this time, but this is a lot of almost-deaths for her now. Makes me nervous!

I really liked the designs for the Chuldur! It was neat that they all looked slightly different but recognizably the same species

I definitely feel like they left this hanging on purpose, and we'll probably revisit Rogue and/or his boss at some point. Whether or not I'll enjoy that depends on how they handle it, probably

(My actual hot take here is that I think Jonathan Groff is just okay, and although to quote my mom "Ncuti Gatwa could have chemistry with a popsicle", Jonathan just didn't feel like he had much chemistry with him to me I'm sorry. Even setting aside my canon-divergent bullshit he's just not as compelling to me as I think he is to other people. I think conceptually though it's fun to have a human from the future around)

I am such a sucker for scenes where someone does a medical scan on the Doctor and is like "Oh shit" so that was very fun. I also enjoyed seeing the Doctor described as a shapeshifter.

I really loved the scene at the end where the Doctor and Ruby are reunited properly and hug and she kind of calls them on their "I'm totally fine please ignore all the traumatic things that just happened" routine! It was lovely, and I really think their dynamic is coming together. Ruby was also great in her scenes with the lady whose name I forgot who went through a breakup.

[aroaceleovaldez]

You have no idea how surprised I was to see you in Alabaster tag. I guess I'm just used to see you with meta (which are always a delight to read btw)

What are your opinions about Nico/Al and Percy/Al

Do not let my meta fool you I am a rogue demigods fan first and person second. I love Alabaster. I do not interact enough with the rogue demigods/Titan Army side of the fandom for the amount of thoughts I have about them 😔

As for Alabaster ships - I have heard much about Nico/Alabaster and I think it's very fun and cute. In my Nico Ship Survey it by far swept for most popular Nico/Minor Character ship. I generally think Nico/Minor Character ships tend to be very fun and interesting, I love the minor characters, I love the rogues, and throwing Nico with another rogue and/or another chthonic demigod is always very [chef's kiss] for me.

As for Percy/Al, well. I did fully intentionally make my Alabaster design mirror my Percy design.

(My main reason for doing so was cause I thought it'd be funny for Al to hate Percy and then to learn that Percy also has a streak in his hair in the exact same spot and get SO pissed that Percy not only ruined his life but is also stealing his brand.)

But yeah I think it's very interesting! I love Percy getting to interact with demigods outside of the camps and I am always down for more rogue and/or Alabaster content. And again, nudge the chthonic demigods together, hell yes. No pun intended.

I just think Alabaster is neat. Let him do whatever he wants forever.

[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.