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jadelotusflower · 3 months ago

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@ravenya003 I miss message boards for longform discussion!

I don’t think people realize how much of a relief it is to the brain to just accept reality instead of working around CGI and bluescreen all the time.

When they made it to Aldhani I was like finally, some good fucking locations! The Ferrix set was incredible - it had nooks and crannies! And a sense of physical and relational space!

But really, has anything bad happened to an important droid in a SW film/show? I can’t think of any. They're like the franchise equivalent of pet dogs: too beloved to get killed off in what's (on some level) a story for young people.

That's true, I suppose with Andor being billed as a "darker" take on Star Wars, and the knowledge that K-2SO was coming down the pipeline I expected B2EMO to be an early loss for Cassian in his journey - I was very happy to be wrong!

Watching people complain that it was slow to start with made me roll my eyes, as there’s not a single second wasted on this show.

I'm honestly baffled by the complaints of the first episodes being slow - so much happens! It's worth taking the time to introducing us to Ferrix, its culture and community, and its characters, given the importance it has in the final episode. Not to harp on the point, but from a modern perspective the first act of A New Hope is slow too - it's almost 20 minutes before we even meet our protagonist! But it works because it draws the viewer into an unfamiliar world and sets up everything we need to know.

This was also interesting to me; that the piecemeal nature of the Rebellion at this point is reflected in the uncertainty of Cassian himself: he doesn’t know what he wants or who he wants to be at this stage – the Rebellion grows in strength as he grows in conviction, which is a nice Doylistic mirror between the macro and microcosm – AND is further demonstrated in the opening title, during which the music becomes more booming and powerful and structured with each episode.

That's a good point, and perhaps also relevant is that many of the disparate rebel elements are motivated by very different agendas at odds over how and why they're opposing the Empire, while Cassian ultimately settles on the distilled and focused goal that will drive the Alliance to eventual victory: the destruction and defeat of the Imperial regime. Join or die.

This is why I’ve been a little on the fence about The Acolyte (admittedly I haven’t seen yet; I’m only responding to what I’ve heard) which seems to be about how the Jedi are deeply flawed and the Dark Side makes some good points.

Oof, The Acolyte is a whole other post! Without spoilers, the vitriol it has received is completely unwarranted, but it's not deserving of great praise either - certainly not as profound and nuanced as it thinks it is, as I had my fill of "what if using the dark side was justified, actually?" back in the legends eu. Ultimately it falls into the same trap as a lot of SW projects - interesting ideas, flawed execution.

I can easily imagine that Gilroy cut down on the amount of aliens that could have been involved, since he wanted this to be a “serious human drama.” Which… okay dude, but it’s Star Wars.

Yeah, I found the "human drama" thing a bit off because it implies the audience can't see through makeup or costumes to take non-human characters seriously, which is demonstrably untrue in this franchise perhaps more than any other.

And yet the Empire would have certainty been using alien slave labour every chance they got, and places like Coruscant should have at least had some alien extras in the background. And would it have killed them to have at least one person on the Aldani heist with antennae or an extra hand or something?

I actually think the perfect place would have been Narkina 5, if the floors were segregated between humans and non-humans (and perhaps even between male and female), which would have given even more power to the prisoners finding a way to communicate with each other, and ultimately all working together to escape in defiance of the Empire trying to keep them apart.

In many ways, this is a story of radicalization: how and why it happens, and whether it can be considered a good thing. We already know that he’ll eventually be all-in on this cause and that it will cost him his life, but that it won’t be a sacrifice made in vain. Hovering over this entire show is the question: “is it worth it?” For me, this tracking of an individual’s radicalization was the crux of his arc, and one of the main points of the show.

I appreciate your perspective! I do agree, I like Cassian's character, and his arc in the show, I just wanted a bit more from it - nothing big and flashy, but just a bit more interiority and meat to his development and evolution from a reactive character to an active one. I'm sorry to again bring this back to the OT, but we see Luke be radicalized from "I have responsibilities and there's nothing I can do about the Empire" to "I'm going to burn this whole system down" in ten minutes - obviously vastly different character and circumstances to Cassian for whom it was never going to be that black and white, but this season had 12 episodes, the equivalent of a film trilogy of runtime, so I'm just left with a feeling of what else? Again, this probably wouldn't bother me if there was another four seasons to build all these different characters and storylines that would coalesce over time, and you're probably right that with only one more season Cassian's full backstory will be the first sacrifice to the shortened runtime.

I often wonder how Luthen would have played if he’d been a woman or an alien or a person of colour.

Rather than every fanboy's favourite character, there would have been endless youtube videos about woke agenda and how Luthen emasculated Cassian or some other such nonsense.

I feel by the end he was deliberately positioned as a foil to Maarva, who was able to incite a riot without any deceit or manipulation, but by only speaking the truth, a point which may well come into play in the second season.

My take was that Luthen was more rattled than he cared to admit by Maarva’s speech – like I said, here’s a woman that is able to incite rebellion WITHOUT any Machiavellian schemes, and – knowing she was Cassian’s mother – decides to let him go.

Interesting! I'll have to keep that in mind if I do a rewatch. There's something to be said of direct action as opposed to cloak-and-dagger scheming - both valid approaches, and both ultimately will be needed for eventual victory, and I wonder how much Mon Mothma will come to be a surrogate Maarva for Cassian, given we know she ultimately does tire of subterfuge and denounce the Empire in a call for open rebellion not unlike Maarva did (on a much larger scale).

It’s interesting, because I knew at least one viewer who disliked Rogue One precisely because of this mentality – the idea that the Rebels had to engage in underhanded tactics in order to secure their victory, when he believed that the OT was so based upon very “clean” black and white moral underpinnings that depicting the Rebellion as guerillas and saboteurs and assassins was undermining the story as a whole.

Huh, I mean the whole franchise opened with the rebels "striking from a hidden base" and the high body count of the Death Star blowing up (however mitigated as a military target/self-defence) - the Rebellion was always depicted as a paramilitary/guerilla force.

I can’t say I agree as Star Wars is very compartmentalized in a lot of ways, but I do enjoy the question it poses: it’s easy to make your life a sacrifice, but what if your morality/humanity IS the sacrifice?

It raises a lot of interesting questions, especially when the realities of the Rebellion and the ends-justify-the-means approach is the antithesis of Jedi philosophy, for which the Alliance ostensibly has respect (although "may the force be with us" is probably akin to "may fate go our way" more than anything else). Luthen and Cassian have the luxury (if you can call it that) of sacrificing their morality for the greater good while a Jedi couldn't because of the danger of the dark side. But it is compelling that ultimately Cassian does reject that approach when he disobeys the order to shoot Galen - it will be interesting to see how he gets from "all in" at the end of season 1 to this point in Rogue One.

RIGHT??!! I was rather baffled by this, as well as the actress’s interview in which she states the audience was meant to initially see her as the underdog up against the sexist work environment she was surrounded by (and subsequently root for her) only for her torture of Bix to make you realize “oh right, she’s a victim of sexism AND an evil imperial. You can be both!”

I've seen this take in fandom as well and it's bizarre! It's like there's this almost fetishization of competence that makes it commendable even when, you know, fascists doing fashy things are still bad no matter how efficiently they do them? It's not like Dedra was making seemingly innocuous bureaucratic moves with a reveal that they were anything but - she was explicitly hunting the rebel characters from the very beginning! We can appreciate her skill and strength as a character, but she was always positioned as villainous to me.

This show didn’t do Easter eggs, but I do like to think on some level they wanted to get in a “hitherto unknown familial connection between two characters” link as a homage to the Skywalker twins. And of course, the fact that it really doesn’t make much of a difference as to whether Vel/Mon were cousins or not was somehow very funny.

I was constantly anticipating a family reveal with someone, but it actually made sense to link in Mon and Vel as connective tissue with Luthen, rather than a hokey "surprise! they're siblings!" twist would have been.

I know I’ve said this to you before, but Rogue One itself had the perfect examples of this: the little cameo from C3PO and R2D2 was fine, because it made sense they’d be there and it was only a few seconds long, but earlier in the film everything grounds to a halt so they can showcase the two cantina aliens from Tatooine – which makes NO SENSE, because Jedha is about to be blown to smithereens! We’re just meant to point and say “hey, those guys!”

Not all fanservice is created equal.

Ugh, not only that, the cringe dialogue callback (callforward?) to ANH makes it so much worse, who was this even for? Although I'm sure there's ancillary material detailing how those idiots made it from Jedha to Tatooine somewhere.

Strange comparison, but it’s a bit like how the writers for the BBC Robin Hood were so eager to get rid of the old guard and shoehorn in their bright shiny new characters that they forgot to give anyone a reason to care about Kate, Tuck, Archer, Isabella, etc. They just plonked them in and hoped no one would notice they’d just thrown out everything we’d invested in for the past two years.

Oh, but Kate was ever so plucky, how could we not love her? /s

It reveals a fundamental lack of creativity. Even the fact that the whole reason they shoved Luke to that island in the ST was because they admitted to being unable to integrate him into the story without overshadowing the new characters - first, if that's the case, maybe that's a sign he should be central to the story, and second, if your new characters aren't strong enough to stand beside the old ones, workshop them until they are!

With so many nostalgia-fuelled properties it's interesting to see how few have threaded the needle between just giving the what you loved before, again and telling a new story - the failures seem to be conflating the two and telling the same story again with new characters, which doesn't really hit the nostalgia fix and that's why they slather it with easter egg window dressing.

Archer is a good example - they expected us to care about him because he was Robin and Guy's brother and this where I think a lot of nostalgia-bait fails. Being related to the OG characters isn't enough, there needs to be connection and core to the relationship. Generational storytelling can be powerful but not because of bloodline but because of familial bonds - we want to follow the next generation because we care about the characters and their continued journey. This is where the ST fundamentally faltered in framing the Skywalkers as a dynasty rather than a family.

Weirdly, one that has seemed to found a balance is Cobra Kai, which in many ways is Fanservice: The Show, chock full of silly callbacks with a slavish reverence to the source material. And yet that doesn't bother me so much, because they have managed to maintain and develop the original characters while building the next generation effectively. While the show is certainly not without its flaws, it does feel like the world and characters have progressed in an engaging way, we are seeing the next arc in the journey of these characters rather than starting over. We live in a world where the Karate Kid continuation was better received than the Star Wars one - if you'd told me that ten years ago I would have never believed it.

(I promise I did not bring up Robin Hood just to point out that the Aldani leader who led the pilgrimage under the Eye was the same actor who played the Abbott in the third episode of season three).

I did not notice that! I'm definitely going to have to rewatch in the leadup to season 2.

So I finally watched Andor...

...and naturally I have thoughts (hey, it’s me). Maybe they're belated, seeing as this show was released almost two years ago, but I've been on the outskirts of the Star Wars fandom for a while now. This in and of itself isn't usual - I tend to drift between my core fandoms in phases, but since TLJ the GFFA hasn't really been a pleasant place to be so I haven't really had a reason to drift back to it for any length of time.

Which isn't to say I've avoided Star Wars altogether, dipping in when something piques my interest like Obi-Wan Kenobi (which I liked aspects of but ultimately felt like just a setup to the show I actually wanted to watch), and have absorbed some of the rest through cultural osmosis. Andor is a show I've been meaning to get to for a while, although it has been praised to the point of being overhyped (and there was a whiff of Not Like Other Star Wars to the critical reception) so I was concerned it would not meet expectations.

But I was pleasantly surprised as how much this show felt spiritually and aesthetically in tune with the original trilogy, and especially A New Hope, as opposed to Disney!Star Wars. Even if the tone and content of Andor is very different, it feels in conversation with the OT in a way the rest of Disney’s output has not - building on the story we already know, rather than trying replace or rewrite it as something else.

Aesthetically, we have the 70's vibe of the set design and costuming in middle-class Coruscant, the stark white jumpsuits and surrounds of Narkina 5 evoking Lucas's early film THX-1138, even the way we are plopped right into the middle of the story with very little exposition, but still eased into the narrative is very reminiscent of the first act of A New Hope. Thematically, of course we’re seeing the Rebellion in its earlier stages - small disparate cells of seditious activity directly acting against Imperial interests that will become the somewhat ragtag but nonetheless organised and unified Alliance.

While Star Wars was a cinema pastiche throwback to Flash Gordan serials and Campbell’s hero’s journey as an antidote to the grimdark antiheroes of the 70’s, in many ways Andor brings things back full circle to the grit of neo-noir. It holds a mirror up to the OT and lets us see the other side of the coin - and the full cost of victory. So many people have to die for Cassian to make it to the Rebellion - just like Cassian himself will die for the Death Star plans to make it to Leia, like Obi-Wan will die to ensure those plans make it to the Rebellion, and squadrons of rebel pilots will die so Luke can ultimately destroy the Death Star.

A stone is dropped in a pond, and we see the ripples but the stone itself sinks.

Overall thoughts

Tony Gilroy is the showrunner here, a veteran screenwriter notable for the Bourne films, and we can certainly see this influence at work. He also wrote The Devil’s Advocate, which is by no means good but I do enjoy in all its ott mythological monologues-and-accents glory, and seminal romcom (of my childhood at least) The Cutting Edge. He also wrote and directed Michael Clayton, which I have not seen but was nominated for several Oscars, including Original Screenplay, Director, and Best Picture (Tilda Swinton won for Supporting Actress).

Of course he's also a credited screenwriter on Rogue One, and I understand his contribution was mostly to the infamous rewrites/reshoots. I desperately want to read a full breakdown/bts of what went down with that film (well all of Disney-led Lucasfilm really) and see the deleted/original material, because I am fascinated. It's also interesting to note that Gilroy took over showrunning duties from Stephen Schiff pre-production. The show does very much feel like Gilroy wanted to make his own stamp on the Andor character and use him as a vehicle in his spy-thriller/political intrigue wheelhouse.

Reading some of Gilroy’s comments around the series had made me wonder how much of Andor being reflective/referential to the OT was intentional (on his part at least), and arguably Gilroy did overwrite the character of Cassian Andor so…there’s nuance. But as a story, to me it felt in tune with what I love about Star Wars rather than at odds with it, and that's what I appreciated most.

But first things first. B2EMO made it to the end! Finally, my expectations are subverted in a good way, because I love this little droid with all my heart. There are several key elements of Star Wars to me that separate it from other sci-fi/space fantasy and that is Jedi, distinctive aliens, and sentient droids. Obviously there's no Jedi here (nor does there need to be), my issues with the lack of aliens I'll address below, but when it comes to droids B2EMO fits right in, and we can assume is a precursor to Cassian's relationship with K-2SO.

Overall I thought the show was excellent (with a few caveats). What's impressive is the sheer number of characters and plots interwoven together, every conversation servicing character, the overall theme or setting something up that will pay off later, playing with coincidence and fate (the will of the Force), the interlocking domino effect. Arvel Skeen recognising the tattoo on Cassian's arm leads to a conversation of his history, but also sets up Skeen later offering to take and split the haul with Cassian (and getting killed for it). The raid on Aldhani triggers the Empire’s harsh new measures that gets Cassian sentenced to six years in prison, but also inspires the rebellion on Ferrix (via Maarva). The Aldhani heist is a triumph for Vel, but traps Mon’s financial contributions to the Rebellion by the Empire’s crackdown on banking, leading her and her daughter into an unwanted family alliance.

I'm a big proponent of Star Wars Dialogue is Good, Actually - not saying there's not clunkers or stilted scenes (the PT moreso than the OT) but there seems to be this weird consensus that Lucas-era dialogue sucks despite being some of the most quoted/referenced movies of all time. Lucas was creating a modern myth, of course a lot of it is arch and operatic. I love the dialogue in Andor too - which rightly gets high praise, and while it's arguably tighter, in many ways it's no more naturalistic than that of the Saga with everyone constantly speaking in metaphor, it's just pitched differently because this is a different genre (and the acting is uniformly excellent because they are actually interacting with each other and being competently directed).

There’s layers of meaning in almost every scene and subtle moments of foreshadowing that I really enjoy - Karis Nemik muses on the role of mercenaries in a rebellion that must use every tool and weapon at its disposal, and obviously Cassian starts out as that mercenary who will be pulled into the wider struggle, but this also foreshadows the importance of Han Solo - at first only out for the promise of a reward but ultimately instrumental in bringing the Empire down. But it’s not because he’s treated as a tool - as the Empire treats its workforce as tools - but because he’s treated as worthwhile, he’s valued as a person. The Empire casts people out while the Rebellion draws them in.

We also see this in the arc on Narkina 5, and the Empire’s tightening grip backfiring against them. In order to force the prisoners to speedily produce parts for the Death Star they work in close-knit teams, creating a close camaraderie ultimately allowing them to escape - because when you turn people into cogs of a machine, the machine can be turned back against you. Contrast this to the jockeying over position and territory and power in the ISB - they serve the Empire, but never at personal cost.

We see the Republic of affiliated systems from the PT turn into an Empire of conquered planets, where local cultures are subsumed into homogeneous Imperial rule. Even Corpsec is replaced by Imperial oversight, and we know that the Senate on Coruscant will be dissolved completely in ANH. But ultimately this ferments rebellion and unites the outcast and oppressed - the Keredians on Narkina 5 hate the Empire for their prison polluting the waterways, and so let Cassian and Melchi go. Cinta’s whole family was killed by stormtroopers turning her single minded focus to destroying them. The people of Ferrix respond to Maarva’s call and riot against the Imperial forces even though it will mean violent reprisal.

The Empire forges the weapons that will be used against them. As Nemik’s manifesto states: “The Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.”

And yet we're not there yet - it's important that this is still a Rebellion and not an Alliance, a disparate collection of segmented sedition with a myriad of agendas we see run by Saw Gerrara, Anton Kreegyr, Luthen Rael. They won't be a genuine threat to the Empire until they join forces, share resources and intelligence, and unite behind a collective goal. Although there may be sacrifices in this as well - Separatists, Partisan Front, Sectorists etc mentioned by Saw will either coalesce under the Alliance to Restore the Republic or be driven further to the fringes.

The thrust of Nemik's manifesto is that freedom is a natural state of being, while oppression is unnatural, and even though Andor has nothing to do with the Jedi it nonetheless echoes their philosophy: that the Force is in a natural state of balance, while the existence of the Sith who tap into the Dark Side upset this balance. As we see in Return of the Jedi, the balance is ultimately restored by the return to that natural state buffeted by the most powerful forces - friendship, love, sacrifice - forces that ultimately drive Cassian as well. While much has been said of the moral ambiguity and nuance of Andor, it's not incongruent with the OT, if anything it reinforces its power and message.

HOWEVER, I have my nits to pick - the lack of aliens is a serious flaw (and in particular, the lack of familiar aliens). In some cases they can get away with it and make subtle commentary - Coruscant is stark and grey as the centre of bureaucracy in stark contrast to the vibrant metropolis of the PT. Seeing the streets populated almost exclusively by humans where once it was a melting pot underscores the Empire’s segregationist policies. However the dearth of non-humans elsewhere - Ferrix, Aldhani, even the prison labour camp Narkina 5 - is disconcerting. These are places meant to depict the oppressive rule of the Empire and this undermines the strength of the rebellion as a group of diverse species fighting against the Imperial monoculture. It's odd, for example, that we see all the characters from Ferrix return except Vetch, the muscle employed "just to stand there" by Nurchi (a nice moment with Cassian!), and that Maarva's funeral procession seems entirely human.

Ultimately, I think the setup is much stronger than the payoff, and while I appreciate the slow burn, the show does have sometimes have difficulty juggling the plots. Once set up, characters are parked waiting to be incorporated into the narrative (it feels like we watch Syril stare at his cereal forever) and looking back not much actually happens to a lot of them- there are a lot of threads left hanging and not much resolution. Which is of course because this was only intended to be season 1 of 5, with each arc a year of Cassian’s life leading up to Rogue One. But sadly Andor has been given a second season only, leaving 12 episodes to wrap everything up, so ultimately I fear the show will feel like a slow setup and rushed conclusion, which is a real shame.

Cassian Andor

I’m went into this as someone who doesn’t really have a strong connection to Cassian as a character - I certainly liked him in Rogue One! But let’s just say he’s not my blorbo. And this not the backstory I would have expected for the character five years before Rogue One as someone who has “been in this fight since [he] was six years old.”

Diego Luna has such a charismatic presence and it is nice to have a more internal, insular character, but it’s kind of sad that Cassian is really the least developed character in a show ostensibly about him. It’s not really his story, but he’s the fulcrum (pun intended) around which most of the other characters pivot; this is a story of the rebellion of which he is just one part. So, I can see if Cassian fans may have been upset by his lack of focus, and I personally would have wanted to delve a bit deeper into Cassian Andor on a show called Andor, you know? And it does feel a little bit skeevy that the actual Axis (pun intended) of the show is Luthen in his middle age white man glory, with a whiff of Gilroy’s self-insert about him.

I do wish LFL would abandon simply naming their shows after the main character - presumably it’s for general audience recognition and algorithmic reasons, but my god how boring. If the show had been marketed as the ensemble it actually is I would take less issue with the lack of Cassian focus. But sadly I’m not sure we know that much more about Cassian at the end of the show than we did at the end of the first three episodes - or really, what it adds to his character and arc we see in Rogue One.

Yes he’s further radicalised by his experiences and is now presumably "all in" on the rebellion, but the events of the show are kicked off by Cassian searching for his sister which is a motivation that is all but dropped thereafter - although at one point I was half-expecting (dreading) it to be revealed that Luthen's assistant Kleya Marki was Kerri (and sidebar, Kleya - what a stone cold bitch! I love a stone cold bitch).

This plot will likely continue in season 2, but it felt a bit undercooked and too deep in the subtext given the prominence it had in kicking off the narrative. We get a flashback to Cassian’s childhood, but ultimately it feels like lipservice to his Indigenous heritage rather than true engagement since we don't see him reflect on it in any way, nor does it seem to have any impact on his choices throughout the series that seem primarily motivated by his life and relationships on Ferrix.

We get a strong start to Cassian and Luthen that peters out - he's intent on recruiting Cassian, but then writes him off when Cassian flees after Aldhani and wants him killed, then goes all the way to Ferrix for him, but is about to leave without actually doing anything? I know Luthen's meant to be ambiguous, but this is one area where plot is obviously driving things not character. I get that it was important for Cassian to be the one to go to Luthen at the end and choose the Rebellion unfetted, but the relationship is undercooked. I almost feel like the series is a procession of things that happen to Cassian rather than a journey I was on with him. There's external forces, but very little internal focus.

However, what I did love about the show was the thematic resonance that was happening on a macro and micro level - while the show as a whole is a mirror/reflection of the OT, we also see dichotomy in the character pairings that are mirrors and/or foils of each other in various ways - we have the two sides of the conflict being Empire and Rebellion (with Cassian stuck in the middle), and we are also shown conflict within those two sides.

Cassian is without a reflective character pairing because his true mirror is Jyn Erso, and seeing Cassian’s struggles here does give real weight to his “you’re not the only one who lost everything” speech - in many ways the show is his journey from being Jyn, to being the man who says to her “we don't all have the luxury of deciding when and where we want to care about something.”

Mon Mothma and Luthen Rael

The most obvious mirror/foil pair as the two sides of the Rebellion, although arguably we have a third prong in Saw Gerrara, and kind of a mirror in Luthen as Cassian’s mentor as Saw was Jyn’s - and I do wonder about the show that was a two-handed prequel with Cassian and Jyn growing up in different factions of the Rebellion, but alas.

The artifact Luthen gives Mon represents “a sun goddess and a serpent sharing the same mouth” representing their differing philosophical approach to fighting the Empire. As mirror characters they are alike in many ways - both of the privileged class and living double lives on Coruscant, but while Mon makes political efforts to move the needle on the Empire's activities in the Senate while also funneling money to direct but small rebel efforts, Luthen outright pokes the bear, sacrifices allies, and knowingly making things worse to swell the ranks of the rebellion on the hope it will speed up progress. There's more than a hint of the incrementalism/revolutionary dichotomy here.

It also raises a lot of interesting questions without (rightly) providing many answers - the struggle of the oppressed, the moral weight of insurgency and revolution. Is it right to intentionally provoke an oppressive power into reacting with violence in order to fuel a greater pushback against them? Is short term suffering justified if it achieves eventual victory, and is it right for the few to decide what is a justifiable sacrifice? What are our responsibilities to each other under the threat of/struggle against authoritarianism? As social commentary it's more timely than ever.

Whether Mon or Luthen is right for the viewer to decide, although as Leia tells Tarkin in ANH: "the more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." On the other hand, we know Mon survives to the end of the Empire while Luthen (I assume) will not. She will become a leading figure in the Alliance, and eventual Chancellor of the New Republic, while he will be another stone at the bottom of the pond.

This is foreshadowed in the dialogue (with a direct mirror reference):

“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 that I know I’ll never see. No, the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror, or an audience, or the light of gratitude."

Arguably however, the mirror is the show - we are the audience.

We know Cassian joins Luthen at the end of season 1, and will meet Mon in season 2, so it will be interesting to see him struggle between these two philosophies, although we can infer from Rogue One that he aligns himself (out of necessity) with Luthen's veiwpoint:

"We've all done terrible things on behalf of the Rebellion. Spies, saboteurs, assassins....And every time I walked away from something I wanted to forget, I told myself it was for a cause that I believed in. A cause that was worth it. Without that, we're lost."

Ultimately, the Rebellion needs people like Luthen and Cassian to make not only the physical sacrifice, but the moral one as well (noting our first introduction to Cassian is him killing an informant so he can escape) - people who play the Empire's game so Luke can ultimately reject the Emperor's.

But I had mixed feelings on the Mon Mothma storyline. It feels a bit off for Luthen to be her entrée into the Rebellion, when we know she’s been on the ground from the very beginning with the Petition of the 2000 (cut from ROTS, but still canon I assume). She just felt very isolated and fragile which is at odds with her quiet steel that we see in Return of the Jedi and Rogue One. I could maybe see this Mon in the early dark days, but only 5 years before ANH? A scene with Bail Organa would not have gone amiss just to give breadth to her rebellious activities.

We get to see Luthen visit Saw Gerrara on Segra Milo, why not give Mon a scene with Bail to show she has other irons in the fire rather than relying on Luthen? In Saw we see the rough and tumble of disparate rebel factions, I would have liked to see the political machinations of Mon and Bail to serve the metaphor even further.

She is more than just a bank for the rebellion, and I think in the effort to contrast Luthen and Mon there was a bit of disservice done to the latter.

And Mon’s loser husband - ugh. Okay they’re in some kind of arranged marriage but there’s very little substance, nothing us particularly revealed about Mon by including him. Other than her cleverly using his gambling debts to deflect her rebellion spending at the end, the story wouldn’t really have changed by him not existing, and in fact would have been improved by focusing more on Mon’s difficult relationship with her daughter.

But on a purely shallow note, I want her wardrobe!

Dedra Meero and Syril Karn

In some ways Cassian and Syril are the narrative foils and there are parallels between them - their conflict instigated in the first episodes, their maternal relationships, both essentially exiles for the middle section before both end up back on Ferrix where Cassian saves Bix and Syril saves Dedra. But I feel Syril and Dedra work better as mirrors, and their arcs also parallel and intersect.

In the Empire, Dedra and Syril are two sides of the other coin (there's quite a few coins in this metaphor). Regimes need bureaucracy, and you have the true believers, the status-climbers, and those just going along to get along. In Dedra we have the talented star of the prestigious Imperial Security Bureau, and in Syril the over eager Corporate Security officer, two arms of the Empire’s control, although the latter we see becoming obsolete as the former gains more control.

But they're both middlemen who chafe against the inaction of their superiors, both desperate to rise above their station (although those stations are quite far apart). Throughout the series their plots are mostly in parallel; they are reflections of each other without even having met.

It's uncomfortable to watch both of them on screen - all unblinking stares, sucked in cheeks, and pursed lips - fittingly repellent. I’m surprised Gilroy has said he wrote Dedra to be relatable - she skeeved me out from the first, someone clearly ready to step over anyone and everyone if it served her purposes rather than someone gradually drawn further into an authoritarian regime. There's the slight subtext of sexism - there's only one other women in the ISB briefing and Pendergast alludes to it, but that certainly didn't engender any sympathy or admiration from me.

In episode 7 Syril’s mother Eedy says “Everything says something, Syril” and chastises him about tailoring his uniform (just as he did in the first episode, a neat little character tell), and immediately after we see Dedra donning her uniform perfectly in sync with the rest of the ISB. He’s trying to stand out from the crowd, she’s trying to fit in - or, from a different perspective, Syril adjusts his collar to resemble the Imperial style as a signifier of where he wants to be, while Dedra is already there and still looking higher.

But both are thinking outside the rigid Imperial lines and command structures, both on the hunt for Cassian - although for Syril it's personal and Dedra it's about climbing the ranks. Both take it upon themselves to investigate against orders, but Syril’s attempts are clumsy and random while Dedra’s are clinical and targeted.

She identifies that “systems either change or die” to push the ISB’s fragmented and bureaucratic inefficiencies into a cohesive power structure, but while it wins her approval it doesn’t earn her any loyalty; her troops abandon her to the mob on Ferrix. Inexplicably though, Syril does manage to gain the loyalty of Sergeant Mosk, who was also punished for the initial blunder on Ferrix, but ultimately draws Syril back there to in search of Cassian.

The point at which they first intersect in episode 8, Dedra is on an upswing, she holds the power and sends Syril further down, but when they meet again in episode 11, the roles are reversed as he is the one to save her from the mob.

I just hope they’re going somewhere more interesting than his creepy crush.

Vel Sartha and Cinta Kaz

One of the major faults of Rogue One was its Smurfette Syndrome, where Jyn is a great female character surrounded by men, but Andor has pleasingly course corrected from this. See what happens when you don’t have one woman having to embody everything and bear the weight of her entire gender in the narrative (and therefore, also bear the criticism)? Andor happily treats its women as characters, not faux-empowering meme-fodder. Although there is perhaps some valid commentary that it’s still white women on the whole - Dedra, Mon, Vel, Maarva - who get the meatier roles, and I have my issues with Mon’s characterisation, but one thing I will give Disney LFL credit for is it’s ongoing efforts towards gender parity.

In Vel and Cinta we have two more sides of insurgency - from wealth and privilege in Vel, the cousin of Mon Mothma struggling with the weight of it all, to Cinta with her cold fire and unwavering drive, her family killed by stormtroopers and for whom the struggle will always come first.

Cinta’s cool reserve is a contrast to Vel’s nerves (as seen in the Aldhani raid); they’re coming from very different places even if their cause is the same. There may even be a bit of classism in the subtext - Vel leads the mission on Aldhani after asking for the mission from Luthen, when really Cinta is the one who is most committed, and she has to push Vel though several times when she falters.

Vel still has one foot in the Imperial world and the complications of rebellious machinations - worried for Mon and her family, wanting to prove herself to Luthen, jockeying with Kleya - but for Cinta none of that matters, she loves Vel but there's often a sense she's disappointed in her. There's a dichotomy within Cinta - she's not unfeeling, showing kindness to Cassian when he joins their group, yet accepting the mission to kill him later without hesitation.

It seems to me that Cinta is the revolutionary Vel wants to be but can't quite divest herself of enough to become - the metaphor is made explicit with these two - Cinta tells Vel: “I’m a mirror. You love me because I show you what you need to see.”

Which is a pretty interesting dynamic, especially as a romantic one, and I’m interested to see where it will go (and hope that Cinta will get more focus, even though I do love Vel a lot too).

Their storyline did run out of steam by the end through, was there any point to either of these characters being on Ferrix at the end? It very much felt like all the plot lines were being forced to intersect at the climax without all of them necessarily needing to. Although Cinta stabbing that guy in the heart was pretty cathartic.

Bix Callen, Maarva Andor, and Ferrix

I loved Ferrix as a location, with its own distinct aesthetic, culture, and populace - the work gloves all hung on the wall, the metal tapping warning system, the daily hammer and anvil (the Time Grappler, according to Wookieepedia), funerary practices. etc. The first few episodes set up Cassian’s community on Ferrix which we come full circle on in the final two, but I did have some trouble keeping track of who was who at that point.

It is interesting that the trope of “just another brick in the wall” is turned on its head here - rather than representing a cog in the machine, in Ferrix ashes of the deceased are mixed with brick and added to a wall in remembrance - a literal touchstone for Cassian as he remembers his adoptive father Clem. A wall is strong, a bulwark against outside forces, and every brick added makes it stronger. Stones dropped in a pond, bricks built into a wall - reminders of the dead that spur the will to fight.

I do love the relationship between Maarva and Cassian, especially in a franchise that has never really had an interest in mothers and sons. And we have another mirror in the overcritical and cold relationship between Syril and Eedy as the inverse of Cassian’s complicated but loving one with Maarva - contrast the reception Syril gets when he returns home to the one Cassian gets from Maarva, as ultimately Eedy's pointed disappointment is sharp where Maarva's is borne from love and concern for Cassian.

But again there’s a disconnect with the history we’re shown - Maarva and Clem kidnap/save Kassa from Kenari but we don’t really get any sense of how Cassian feels about it or the connection he has to his heritage/childhood. I’m not saying I need everything spelled out, but sometimes I feel the show does err too much on the side of subtext, and as a result we don’t delve as deep into some of the relationships as we could have. Even her final message to Cassian - that she loves him more than anything he could ever do wrong - is a beautiful sentiment, but is it earned? He hasn't really done anything wrong, arguably she did wrong by him by taking him from Kenari but it's never even mentioned, it doesn’t even seem to be a factor in their relationship as adults.

On the other hand, I didn’t mind the treatment of the post-romantic relationship between Cassian and Bix - there’s a sense of history there but it didn’t need to be explored further. Bix's involvement in the Rebellion is interesting though, it's implied she was recruited by Kleya through the black market but are her motives purely profit or does she have rebellious fervor? Luthen knows of Cassian through Bix - did she see him as a candidate for the Rebellion or just another person from whom Luthen could obtain tech? What piqued Luthen's interest from what Bix said about him?

I don't think all these questions need answers, but it is unfortunate that she does get a bit Damseled, spending most of the runtime threatened, captured, and then tortured. On the other hand, there's less to criticise in employing that trope when it's not the only one at work and the breadth of female characters on the show.

I do wonder if we will see Bix, Brasso, and B2EMO again though, or if they’re a part of Cassian’s past he had to leave behind to fully commit himself to the Rebellion.

On nostalgia, fanservice, and the state of the Star Wars universe

A tangent into my frustrations with the sequel trilogy, skip if you’re allergic to salt.

Andor has been lauded for its lack of fanservice, although I’d actually argue it’s a show that (perhaps despite Gilroy's intention) is rooted in nostalgia. Well, perhaps not nostalgia per se, but it’s a show that relies on the audience’s knowledge and affection of Rogue One and the Original Trilogy, and it’s successful because it manages to feel authentic and fulfilling rather than ham-fisted and overly meta - a story set in the Star Wars universe, not about the Star Wars universe.

I know Gilroy intended this to be able to stand alone, but would the story have the same resonance if we weren't aware where Cassian's path leads, that the efforts and actions of Mon and Luthern, Vel and Cinta, Nemik, Bix and Kleya, are ultimately justified? Perhaps it would work in a generic sci-fi setting rather than the GFFA, but would we feel as much watching it? Personally, I think not.

Because nostalgia isn’t inherently bad. It’s a vital part of how we consume media - the stories that resonate with us in childhood will continue to resonate in adulthood because they are foundational, it's a shortcut to that incredible feeling of discovering something new that's nonetheless something very old. It's partly why Star Wars was such a success in the first place - a mix of myth and fairy tale, matinee serial and Kurosawa - a familiar story told in a new way. And like in Hadestown, "we're gonna sing it again and again."

The problem with nostalgia is when it’s empty; window dressing intended to evoke that feeling but without any substance behind it, so it feels cheap and unsatisfying. Andor doesn’t completely escape from this (blue milk, mouse droid), but most inclusions feel organic.

Sometimes I think we go to far decrying fanservice, and of course it's subjective - as I like to say, everyone hates it until they’re the fan being serviced. But there is criticism, and then there's dismissing any references to existing material as mere "fanservice" and therefore contemptible. For example, I’ve seen the treatment of Luke, Han, and Leia in the sequel trilogy defended because to actually have them interact at all would be “silly fanservice” rather than natural because, you know, they’re family.

The difference, for me, is does inclusion of a known character/object/trope/line of dialogue serve the character and/or story, or is it Leo DiCaprio pointing meme, designed for “hey it’s the thing” nostalgia and YouTube compilations with no substance behind it? Ultimately, is the inclusion Watsonian or Doylist - and if the latter, what of the former justifies it.

Mon Mothma or Saw Gerrara in Andor doesn’t feel like fanservice even though they’re existing characters, because it makes sense to include them in a story about the Rebellion’s beginning and they had a part to play in Rogue One, to which Andor is ostensibly a prequel. Conversely Leia and Vader’s inclusion in Obi-Wan Kenobi (even if I did enjoy them both) tip over in the side of fanservice because they really have no place in Obi-Wan’s story at that point and require fanwanking around their dialogue in ANH (and to be fair, Lucas was guilty of this as well). I don’t need to see random object or minor character no 6 from the PT/OT/Clone Wars, iconic catch phrase shoved where it doesn’t make sense, or obscure Legends reference divorced from context, just tell me a good story! Give me characters to care about! Make me feel something! Andor did that, where much of the other Disney Star Wars content has not.

This is my fundamental, and possibly at this point, irreconcilable, issue. Disney wanted to get away from Lucas-associated Star Wars as quickly as possible, replacing every character, planet, and theme with their own wholly Disney counterpart, killing off Han, Luke, and Leia so the old and classic couldn’t distract from the shiny and new, tearing down the conclusion of the original trilogy only to try and tell the exact same story (just not as well). They did it so quickly and so shoddily that many were understandably unsatisfied, leaving Disney to frantically course correct, going back to the well and shoving nostalgia bait into every conceivable project even (especially) if it had no place.

If they’d actually had any sort of plan for the sequel trilogy, if they’d made their focus to conclude the Skywalker Saga in a way that even approached emotional resonance, imo the vast majority of the audience would be happy to move on and embrace the next chapter - new characters, new stories. But people can’t move on from the characters they love because the treatment of those characters and the post-ROTJ timeline was so unsatisfying. Luke wouldn’t have needed to show up in The Mandolorian to try and placate the fans if treatment of the character in the ST hasn’t been so abysmal.

So LFL have been stuck in this weird ancillary storytelling space, where every project seemingly needs to be adjacent to the Skywalker Saga but not actually engaging with the Saga direct - Han has a prequel film no one asked for, Rey is a Skywalker for name recognition only, Luke pops up in pointless cameos but isn’t there when he arguably should be (just recast the damn role already!), we get young Leia in a story where she has no place rather than in one she does, who knows what’s going on with the whole Ashoka/Thrawn/Heir to the Empire stuff, Boba Fett is There with a parade of Hey it’s that character/ship/thing with no contribution to the actual storytelling.

What does this have to do with Andor? Well, Andor is perhaps the only quality tv product of the Disney era, which is fitting since Rogue One is imo the only quality film of the Disney era (TFA being retroactively diminished by what came after). Andor is the type of story Star Wars should be telling - expanding the universe, using known elements and characters where it makes sense to do so, not a collection of ideas on a whiteboard thrown in front of an LED screenstage and a bunch of meaningless easter eggs.

To be fair, this does seem what they are attempting to do with The Acolyte (which I am actually enjoying!) but the planned Rey-focused post-ST film…eh. Admittedly I never bothered to watch Rise of Skywalker, but where can the story possibly go? Is there any investment at all after the mess that was the sequel trilogy? I can’t see how the narrative can possibly be redeemed at this point, which is a shame because I do believe it started with a lot of promise in The Force Awakens that was squandered by a lack of vision, planning, and oversight, and the bizarre need to brutalise and kill off the legacy characters, marginalise the genuinely original and interesting new characters, and waste the immense acting talent they had at their disposal.

They’ve made no meaningful in-universe progress after the ST, the New Republic and Jedi have to be rebuilt again, except Rey is going to do it this time somehow, so what what the point of the last 30 years in the timeline? It’s different with Andor - we know where his story ends, but the series only makes Cassian’s sacrifice stronger, there’s emotional resonance in seeing his journey to Rogue One in knowing that it’s in service of the overall victory of the Rebellion (however undermined that victory is made by the ST).

But I digress. This rant really ended up being kind of off topic - apologies.

Anyway. Andor is good! I liked it! Looking forward to season 2!

#andor #long post #star wars

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mandadoration · 4 years ago

Note

I’m sorry I caved along with the other robot fuckers. Could you do “get out!” Please let me explain” “out!” with k2so? (You might have already done that prompt and if you don’t want to do it again I understand)

“Get out!”

“Please let me explain.”

“Out!”

a/n: NOT part of twenty six minutes

“K-2.”

“Yes?”

“Can you explain why you’re in my room?”

As soon as you were done with your shift in the hangar, you headed straight to your room, not bothering with stopping by the dining hall. You were exhausted dealing with pilots while your team was fatigued and understaffed that you just needed to pass out for an hour or ten. Barely seeing, you stumbled down the halls of the base to your room, punching in the code to enter, and walked straight into the metal chassis of the reprogrammed Imperial droid.

Your face ached and your nose felt tender, scowling as you fumbled around for the lights. The patience you usually had when dealing with Rebellion affairs had been sapped.

“Get out!” you ordered, pointing at the door.

“Please let me explain,” K-2 says.

“Out!”

“Cassian told me to go here,” he explains, despite you very obviously not wanting to talk to him. You sigh, walking around him to sit on your bed, trying to relieve the ache in your feet. You unzipped your jumpsuit and tied the sleeves around your waist.

“Why?” you bemoaned. “Why can’t that boy leave me alone for a single day?” You fall back onto the bed, bouncing a little as you stare at the grimy ceiling.

“Technically he hasn’t bothered you today,” he corrects. “He bothered me. Much different.”

“Whatever the case is, Cassian telling you to come here isn’t a good enough explanation,” you grumble. The next time you saw him, you were going to rip him a new one. There’s no way you can comfortably sleep with a fucking seven-foot tall droid looming over you like some ridiculous statue. “Did he have something to do?”

“He said he was meeting someone,” he answers, picking up a little bauble of yours before putting it back down, disinterested.

“And he couldn’t take you with him? Doesn’t he take you to meet his informants?” K-2 looks at you almost curiously.

“Not that kind of meeting.” You stare at him with a confused expression before your eyebrows shoot into your hairline.

“Oh.”

“Yes.”

You sigh again, running a hand over your face as you thought of what you could do with him. “You wouldn’t mind facing the wall while I sleep, would you?” you ask him weakly.

“I would very much mind.”

“Of course you would.”

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self-proclaimed-chaotic-good · 5 years ago

Text

This old Coffee Shop I Love so Much | Cassian Andor x Reader (Oneshot)

Setting Prompt: Coffee Shop AU

Words: 1838

Fandom: Rogue One (Star Wars)

Warning: Not much, mostly fluff and mutual pining

Summary: You develop a crush on a regular customer who, unfortunately, works for a man that wants to shut the cafe down. Title inspired by Falling in Love in a Coffee Shop by Landon Pigg

There was a man that frequented the cafe, Rogue One, where you worked alongside your two friends, Jyn and Bodhi. The cafe was owned by the most amazing bosses you could ever have, Chirrut and Baze, who claimed that the sign was supposed to be Rouge One, but the sign maker got it wrong. Chirrut liked the sound of Rogue and kept it. This man, however, seemed to be a close friend to the cafe owners.

The first time you’ve encountered him, he had walked in with wind tousled brown hair and a brown scarf tucked under his chin, a long overcoat covering his figure. He smiled at you, a hint of a dimple on his cheek, and gave you his order. You had to snap your jaw shut and input his order into the system using shaky hands.

“You’re new here,” he said smoothly, his voice making your cheeks heat up.

“Um, yeah, I, uh, started several months ago,” you said, trying to get the stubborn cash register spit out his receipt.

“It’s fine,” he assured you, “are Chirrut and Baze in today?”

“Yes, I think they’re in their office upstairs. Do you want me to-”

“It’s fine,” he said again, taking out the latest smartphone and started to ring someone, “Thank you.”

After that, he would come in once every month, then once every other week, then weekly, then every other day. Jyn, who had worked at Rogue One longer than you, said that it was unlike him to stop by this often.

“Who is he, really?” you asked her.

Jyn’s face scrunched up in distaste. “He works for an asshole called Draven who’s been wanting to shut the cafe down in favor of a more mainstream coffee chain,” she growled.

“But it’s not his fault,” Bodhi piped in, “He’s got his marching orders.”

“He doesn’t have to follow them,” Jyn mumbled under her breath before continuing on with her task.

“He seems nice, though,” Bodhi said optimistically, “Chirrut and Baze would have driven him off if they didn’t like him, and, like Jyn said, it really is odd that he’s here more often. Do you think Draven is close to closing us down?”

“I will start a rebellion before they could take Rogue from us.”

“Enough!” a stern voice called from the kitchen. Bodhi jumped and went back to his sweeping. “Mr. Andor is coming back later today and I don’t want my employees gossiping when he gets here.”

“Sorry, Baze,” the three of you muttered.

Like clockwork, the man, Mr. Andor, came over and gave his usual order. Jyn had you take over for her while she went to get more pastries for the display. You smiled at him and readied his order, doing the usual small talk that the two of you had every time he visited.

“How’s your paper going?” he asked.

You looked up from the Espresso machine with wide eyes. “I didn’t think you’d remember that. Um, it’s coming along,” you said with a shrug. “How’s your new dog, Mr. Andor?”

“Please, call me Cassian, and he’s actually very easy to train but he does have an attitude.”

You hummed. “Maybe you can bring him over the next time you visit,” you suggested.

“I will.” You handed him his drink. “Thank you. You know, you’re the only one that makes it perfect.”

Your cheeks heated at the compliment. “I don’t know about that…”

“It’s true!” Cassian insisted, taking a gulp for emphasis. Your eyebrows shot up, knowing how hot the drink was. He sputtered, turning away and wiped his mouth.

“Um… are you okay?” you asked slowly.

Cassian waved you off and gave a thumbs up. He straightened up when he heard footsteps walking down the stairs. Chirrut walked down steadily, his hand running along the railing.

“Mr. Imwe,” Cassian addressed him, standing at attention like a soldier.

“Please, Cassian, it’s been years. Using my surname implies that you bring grave news,” Chirrut said, “Do you?”

Cassian hesitated, his eyes flickering towards you then back at Chirrut. “May I speak with you and Malbus somewhere private?”

Chirrut exhaled slowly through his nostrils and nodded. As if he heard everything, Baze emerged from the kitchen, setting down a rag and his apron on a counter. Baze nodded over at Cassian then gently guided his husband back upstairs.

You watched as the men went upstairs without sparing a glance towards you, wringing your apron until another customer came in to occupy you. After you dealt with that customer, you saw Bodhi cleaning tables with a deep frown on his face, his lips drawn into a thin line. You could tell that he had seen the interaction and most likely shared your worries.

It had been an hour when they came back downstairs with solemn expressions on all three of their faces. Cassian said his goodbyes to them and walked out of the cafe. You’d be lying to say that you weren’t bothered by Cassian not saying goodbye to you, but with the current mood, your feelings weren’t much of a priority.

Jyn stood next to you by the counter, setting down a tray of freshly baked goods and waited for the news. Even Bodhi stopped his cleaning and made his way over to the two owners.

Baze regarded the three of you and sighed. “Cassian came here to tell us that unless we increase our sales in the next few months, Draven will shut us down and replace us with a coffee chain.”

“What?” Jyn shouted. “He can’t do that! We won’t be able to make that much in such a short amount of time. There must be another way, right?”

“Unless someone else beat Draven to it while also allowing us to keep Rogue One, I don’t see another way.”

“Don’t worry,” Chirrut said calmly, “All is what the force wills it. It will be alright.”

Baze grimaced. “I wish I shared your optimism, no matter how delusional it can get.” Chirrut slapped his shoulder and went to sit in the back office. Baze placed his hands on his hips and turned to the three of you. “We can start thinking of ways to increase sales. Maybe special events, reward systems, anything. Until then, continue as normal. I don’t want any customers knowing what’s behind the scenes.”

“Of course, Baze,” Bodhi said. Jyn looked like she wanted to say something, but nodded instead, going back to the kitchen to busy herself.

“Is Cassian coming back?” you asked quietly as you continued to wring your apron.

Baze gave you a sympathetic smile. “I don’t know.”

Rogue One tried everything from stamp cards, to limited time recipes, holiday specials, and even open mic. Sales were certainly going up, but just shy from the needed threshold that would save the cafe. Cassian hadn’t come back since the day he gave the news and your friends knew that you were saddened about the turn of events. You knew it was foolish to have a crush on someone you only saw in the cafe, so you tried to turn your focus on work and school.

You finished your shift and stayed at Rogue One to study, taking up a table in the corner with your laptop open and your books open. Jyn plopped down on the seat next to you and shoved a newspaper on top of your notebook. You grimaced at her, trying to push the newspaper away.

“No, look,” she insisted, pointing at the headline.

It was a couple, Leia Organa and Han Solo, that ran a business together called “Rebel Republic” that went around helping indie businesses by investing and giving them financial support. They had saved several indie bookstores and comic book stores as well as mom-and-pop stores around the cities.

“We could get them to help us,” you agreed. “But how?”

“Hm, maybe we could-”

The door chimed, signalling another customer. Jyn immediately stood out of habit, readying to go into customer service mode. She frowned when she saw who it was.

“Didn’t know you’d show up,” Jyn remarked.

You looked away from the newspaper towards the newcomer. “Cassian?” His name escaped your lips.

He smiled sheepishly and nodded. He looked good, more like a businessman. Unlike his previous casual but still professional attire, he wore a suit that fitted him quite nicely, his brown haired slightly combed.

“I’ve, uh, brought some friends over who I know you’d want to meet,” Cassian said, gesturing to the door.

A small woman with neatly braided brown hair and a tall rough looking man with a roguish style brown hair walked through the door. The woman smiled at the homely atmosphere and turned to Cassian.

“You were right, Cassian, this place is quite cosy,” she said.

Jyn’s eyes widened, looking at the couple, then down at the newspaper. “You’re, you’re, oh my god. You’re Leia Organa and Han Solo!” Jyn said.

Leia smiled at her. “Cassian has been telling us about this lovely coffee shop that he’d frequented. When we heard that Draven was planning to get rid of it, we had to step in, so we got Cassian to show us the place.”

“For me, it’s more to spite Draven,” Han said, then flinched at the slap Leia landed on his arm.

“Why are you helping us?” Jyn asked Cassian, hands on her hips.

“I quite Draven’s company and went to work for Leia and Han,” he said, “I’m sorry for the way I’ve left things the last time I was here, but I want to make it up to you guys.”

“Thank you,” you told Cassian. He smiled, the familiar dimple smile that you can’t help admitting that you loved and missed so much.

“I’ll go get Chirrut and Baze,” Jyn said, “Sit anywhere you like.”

Leia looked between the two of you and smirked, dragging Han away to the other side of the cafe to give you privacy. Cassian shyly gestured to the seat next to you, which you pulled out for him. He sat down slowly, as if giving you time to change your mind.

“I’m not mad at you,” you said, seeing him visibly relax at your words.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t speak to you before I left the last time I was here. I wasn’t sure you’d wanted to speak to me after knowing what was going on. I’ve worked under Draven for a long time. I was good at what I did and I couldn’t see myself doing anything else. Why would I when it paid well? The guilt selling small business away was something I thought I had to get used to, something I had to numb myself with, but I was wrong. Chirrut and Baze were very kind to me and saw right through me. When I went to see Leia and Han about Rogue One, they saw my potential and I was finally able to leave Draven’s company.”

“I’m glad that you’re back,” you said, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

“Me, too.”

#writersmonth2019 #cassian andor x reader #cassian andor imagine #cassian andor #rogue one imagine #oneshot #fluff #coffee shop au #and yes cassian's dog is K-2SO #diego luna #Diego luna imagine #rogue one #star wars imagine

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myriadimagines · 7 years ago

Photo

[x] // requester: anonymous // request here

“We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you a Merry Christmas...” you and Jyn sang loudly, you arms looped around each other’s shoulders as you wandered around the Rebel base. The both of you were proudly wearing Christmas sweaters, and had tinsel around your necks like scarves. K-2SO shook his head as he saw the two of you approach, and was about to run away and you and Jyn surrounded him, continuing, “And a happy New Year!”

This had been going on for the whole month -- you and Jyn singing Christmas songs whenever K-2SO was around to annoy him. And it worked. From day one.

“Do the two of you ever shut up?” K-2SO asked, and you and Jyn laughed. “If you sing another Christmas song-”

From across the room, K-2SO saw Cassian glare at him, warning him not to say anything inappropriate. Sighing, K-2SO continued, “Although it’s very hard not to, I will not kill you two. But annoy me one more time and I might ‘accidentally’ slap you both.”

Both you and Jyn laughed, evidently not taking K-2SO seriously. Looping your arm through Jyn’s, you asked, “Shall we?”

Jyn nodded, and the two of you continued down the hallway, singing some more.

#rogue one imagine #rogue one #rogue one gif #starwars #star wars imagine #star wars gif #star wars #jyn erso imagine #jyn erso #jyn erso gif #k-2so imagine #k-2so #k-2so gif #gif imagine #imagine #imagines #reader insert #holidays

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p-paradoxa · 1 year ago

Text

Is it yuri?

K-2SO/Cassian:

From the outside, they appear to be opposites—one, an Imperial droid; the other, a human freedom fighter. At first, this difference is certain to create tension.

And yet, their similarities are strong, and the sources of a vast emotion between them. The narrative toys with the “humanness” versus the “automation” in these characters, and the blurring of these fictional boundaries.

They also have a classic “buddy” dynamic typically seen in yuri—one tall and sarcastic, the other short and aloof. If you can imagine two girls of any species combination raiding an Imperial stronghold, you can see how they are already yuri. They are proof that you don’t need both characters to be “human” to make yuri, although there is something undeniably “human” about them. Love is what makes us “human.”

This is yuri.

Jyn/Cassian:

Watching the film, one cannot deny that there is something enormous between them. There is tension created by their different backgrounds, and they glare at each other like two beasts in overlapping territories. Yet, they eventually come crashing together and bond over the emotional weight of a common goal.

But their time, like sand in an hourglass, is limited. The fact that their desire can no longer be acted on in the end only makes this emotional weight stronger. There is an absence, and this forms a strong romantic connection. If you were to look at the beach where they once were, and imagine two girls standing there, you can perceive the emotional scenery that has already made it yuri.

This is strong yuri.

Melshi/Cassian:

There is a physical boundary dividing their prison cells, but the trust formed between them creates an immense emotion. Is there longing in the looks, touches, and words they exchange? The weight behind them is undeniably felt. You can also imagine the tension left by the absence when they separate. The white walls, the moon, and the beach all create a vast emotional scenery.

But they will return to each other. The roles of a captain and a squad commander laying down their lives for a mission depict a strong dependency, like two values in a mathematical function. This functionality allows for a connection that can only be perceived as yuri.

This, too, is yuri.

Brasso/Cassian:

A powerful devotion leaves us with a deep emotional sense. If we, the audience, place ourselves as the scenery in their lives—something in the background of Ferrix, such as the bricks, or the decorations in their homes—we imagine that a long, strong relationship would be observed. But in order to do so, the audience has to become “nothing.” There is no room left between the characters as they come together and embrace tightly during their reunion. When they part ways again and again, you can picture the feeling being left behind as something romantic.

The backdrop of the riot lifts humanity—the people of Ferrix—as being something greater than the characters as individuals. But this scene also builds a stronger connection between them. Although separated by the physical environment, the scene brings them together until they overlap as one part of a single story. This “oneness” is an inherent part of strong yuri.

These are the superior masters of yuri.

Wanted to do the "i see no difference love is love" meme with Cassian's different relationships but then I realized in the process that they are all "Yuri couple" regardless of gender. Cassian being there makes it this way.

#well. this is certainly a thing i wrote during my break #and i believe every word of it #droidcaptain #rebelcaptain #melshian #brassian #andor #rogue one

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novaursa · 7 years ago

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imagine being Cassian’s lover

Y/N: "I suppose it's always gonna be like this."

Cassian Andor: "Like what?"

Y/N: "Me against the galaxy."

Cassian Andor: "Well, the galaxy doesn't stand a chance."

#cassian andor #star wars #rouge one #death star #imagine #reader #romance #oc #jyn erso #k-2so #chirrut imwe #bodhi rook #baze malbus #the force #jedi #sith #darth vader #orson krennic #galen erso

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anotherimaginescollection · 7 years ago

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You panted, pressing your back against the wall. You could feel the sweat running down your face, and hated it. ‘Remind me again why I agreed to this,’ you said, glancing darkly up at Cassian, who was smirking slightly.

‘It was your idea,’ he reminded you gently, glancing towards K-2SO. ‘Any better?’

The robot was silent for a moment and you wondered if he had actually been checking the movements. ‘There’s been an increase in efficacy of attacks,’ he admitted, and you felt a slight pride bubbling up inside of you. ‘But there is a serious decrease in unpredictability.’

You deflated slightly. ‘Oh come on!’ you protested. ‘At least I’m hitting the marks better this time.’

Cassian nodded his agreement. ‘But it’s worth nothing if your opponent can second-guess what you’re going to do next.’

You quirked an eyebrow at him. ‘But you didn’t block everything,’ you said.

He smirked at you slightly, a flicker of a smile on his usually serious face. ‘Sometimes it’s better to take an attack and counter it than block it altogether.’

‘Thanks for the wisdom after the event,’ you sad bitterly.

‘Come on,’ he said, preparing himself for another attack, ‘again.’

A/N: Gif credit goes to the respective owners; I just found them on Google (added the links in the captions).

#Rogue One #Rogue One Imagines #Rogue One Imagine #Cassian Andor #Cassian Andor Imagines #Cassian Andor Imagine #K-2SO #K-2SO Imagines #K-2SO Imagine

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primasveraas-writing · 3 years ago

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Captivating

Request: “Good day! I don’t know English at all, so through a translator, if you don’t mind. I would like to ask you to imagine a reader with Cassian where, during one of the undercover missions, the reader is dancing in a bar to distract the subject's attention, and Cassian finally accepts his / her feelings for her / him and is slightly jealous. After that, they have a serious conversation. You can add a light NSFW if you want. Thank you so much for earlier! I really like your work!))))”

Ahhh thank you so much for waiting so long! I’ve changed it a bit- they’re still in a bar and the reader is the subject of attention, but there’s no dancing and it’s a little tamer. Still- TW for alcohol and suggestive themes.

Reader is gender-neutral.

WORD COUNT: 1065

XXX

Cassian’s not sure why his throat feels so tight, or why his palms can’t seem to stay dry.

He trusts you- he knows that much. And it’s not like you’ve never been separated on a mission before, so that can’t be the cause for concern. But still, he sits in a corner of the dingy bar, hands clutched around some cheap drink, and watches you out of the corner of his eye, his heart pounding.

Through the tables of people and in the dim lighting, you’re barely visible, but Cassian can still make out the curves of your lips as you smile, and the way your eyes crinkle as you tip your head back in a laugh. His stomach turns as your hair falls back gracefully, and he forces himself to look down at the brown liquid in his glass instead.

He’s there as backup, that’s all, in case something goes wrong. You’re smart and capable, so there’s no reason for Cassian to be nervous. In fact, your target seems entirely clueless- she’s been smiling and laughing along with you all night.

So maybe Cassian isn’t nervous, he thinks. You’re not in danger.

Heat flashes through Cassian when he catches another glimpse of you. Your skin is practically shining, even in the semi-dark, and your borrowed outfit is made out of some sleek material. It’s low-cut and it hugs your form. You had picked it out yourself, laughing at Cassian’s bewildered impression at the idea of you wearing such a thing.

He had told himself then it was because he’d never seen you in anything other than grungy uniforms, rebel or otherwise, but as you readied yourself hours before, Cassian had realized that this might not be the problem.

It was an inconvenient revelation, especially in a burgeoning war.

Nonetheless- all the hours you had spent together, saving each other and watching each other’s backs- they meant something. The danger brought you closer, because sometimes, your mutual trust was all you had in this vast, cruel galaxy. You and Cassian work well as a team, so it only made sense that-

Cassian downs the rest of his drink, wincing at the taste rather than the burn. It was nearly water, but he supposes he shouldn’t be surprised, given the general atmosphere of the establishment and the price of the drink in the first place.

A couple in front of him rises and leaves, slipping silently out the door and into the night, granting Cassian a clearer view of you. Your features are lit up, so genuine Cassian could believe your joy himself, and you’re-

His heart clenches. Maybe the timing is horrible, but the truth bubbles to the forefront of his mind before he can help or deny it.

You’re beautiful. Not just in looks, but in every aspect important to Cassian. And he cares about you. Not as just a mission partner, and not as just a friend, either.

So now there’s that.

Cassian raises his cup to his lips before remembering that it’s empty, and he mutters a curse into the empty glass and sets it on the table with a dull thunk.

It’s then he catches the hand signal- subtle and quick, but Cassian is sure. You’re getting up slowly, touching the subject on her arm and leaning in to whisper something in her ear. You linger, long enough that Cassian can’t ignore his heart thudding in his chest, before turning away with a smile. The mission, it seems, was a success.

He waits a full minute, watching the subject before he too leaves, slinking out the door without looking back.

***

Once you’ve rendezvoused and made it to your ship, you tell Cassian the information you’ve gleaned in a rushed tone. He’s quiet, more so than usual, something that his droid comments on snidely. Both of you ignore K-2SO, but he has a point. Taking Cassian by the arm, you guide him to the back of the ship where you can at least pretend there’s some privacy.

“What is it?” Your words are hushed, but if K2 could smirk at you, he would be doing so right now. Cassian shakes his head.

“I’m fine.”

You snort, rolling your eyes. “Try again,” you say, eyes glinting. Cassian meets your even stare, but sighs after a long moment.

“You were very… captivating… tonight,” Cassian says slowly, as if testing out the words.

“Thank you,” you reply, a little pointed. “That was the objective, right?”

Cassian sighs again, a short huff, and tugs at his unruly hair. His jaw is working furiously, and you realize that your partner is literally grinding his teeth. But what-

Oh. It could almost be funny, if the two of you weren’t so frustrated. Cassian, in his own quiet, stubborn, backward way- is confessing to you.

You raise a single eyebrow. “Do you mean to tell me I looked nice tonight?”

“That’s what I just said,” Cassian grumbles, not meeting your eyes. He picks at a thread on his sleeve, and you’re very acutely aware of how close you are, huddled in the back of the cabin, you still clad in your rather scanty outfit.

“You think I looked good. Attractive, even.”

Cassian gazes at you, deadpan. “And if I did?” The words are defensive, a challenge. Like he doesn’t know how this conversation is going to end.

A thousand retorts flash through your mind, but only one gets to the point fast enough. Quickly, before you can lose your nerve, you grab Cassian’s jacket, bringing him closer. You can feel his hot breath against your bare skin- your lips are inches apart, and he’s looking at you, almost in awe, and hungry, but he doesn’t pull away- so you close the gap, kissing him.

His arms wrap around your body. You’re flush against him, he’s kissing you like his life depends on it, then it’s over. Your lips are tender from the pressure; your chin stings from Cassian’s unshaven stubble.

“I-” Cassian sounds flustered.

“That was nice,” you prompt.

“That was nice,” Cassian repeats. He’s looking at you, ever calculating, and then he smiles, and relief floods through you. “That was very nice.” His grin widens before his eyes sober. “We are on the same page, then?” he asks, extending his hand.

You take it, threading your fingers through his, and beam. “We are,” you agree, happy and content.

#cassian andor x reader #cassian x reader #cassian x you #cassian andor x you #star wars x you #star wars x reader #star wars x y/n #star wars #star wars fanfic #star wars imagine #cassian andor #cassian andor imagine #cassian andor fanfiction #cassian andor fanfic #rogue one #rogue one fanfic

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r0b0tb0y · 4 years ago

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Every day, Kallus told himself this was the day it would happen.

How would they do it? Would he be asked to an innocuous meeting, where an officer curiously read aloud a list of security breaches while an Inquisitor stood to one side, prodding at Kallus’ mind? A drawn-out trial with interrogation droids and a firing squad? It was unlikely. The Empire barely had the resources to spare: Kallus wasn’t the only leak they were struggling to control. No, a quick blaster shot to the back of the head: that’s how he’d have done it, before Bahryn.

His entire life had rewritten itself around this point: before Bahryn, and after it.

Today, he caught himself wondering if the security droid that interrupted him in the middle of his reports would be written up as faulty, if it shot a decorated officer in a fatal calculation error. It would be decommissioned immediately, a negligible cost to save the ISB from the lengthy process of proving Kallus was a spy. But the droid only loomed, looking as reluctant as Kallus felt about their meeting.

‘Human resources has flagged a potential issue for your attention,’ the droid droned.

‘Yes?’ Kallus raised an eyebrow.

‘A defection risk,’ the droid said.

The hairs on the back of Kallus’ neck prickled. He was imagining the weight in the droid’s words, surely.

‘Who have they identified?’ Kallus set his datapad to one side, careful to appear bemused rather than terrified.

‘A pilot,’ the droid held out a holoprojector. ‘He flies cargo runs out of Eadu.’

A blue face flickered in front of Kallus. Bodhi Rook was long-haired and wide-eyed, his profile capturing an expression somewhere between resignation and determination. Easily explained if the holo was taken when he was fresh from the academy: nobody signed up planning to fly cargo.

It could also be the face of a rebel. Kallus glanced over the details as the droid stood impassively. Born on Jedha. Would he need any other reason to hate the Empire?

There was a concerning detail, which HR hadn’t caught—amateurs. Rook’s credit history suggested he spent time in Eadu’s nicer cantinas: it wasn’t impossible that he’d crossed paths with that engineer they used to have under surveillance. It was only a hunch, but Kallus had good hunches.

‘Any specific incidents?’ he asked.

The droid pulled up a report of a minor altercation during a pickup: Rook had apparently refused to ship disruptor rifles under a false manifest. Typical, that following the rules had brought him to the ISB’s attention. Kallus let his hair fall into his face to mask rolling his eyes.

Rook might be worth bringing up with Garazeb, if the chance arose. Despite the risk, Kallus found himself hunting for details that might prolong their calls. The more they talked, the looser the knot in Kallus’ chest became. It was the relief of getting his intel safely delivered—nothing to do with the way Zeb rumbled Kal like nobody else did.

‘Mark it low priority,’ Kallus waved a hand at the droid.

The droid hesitated. It was a fraction of a second, only long enough for Kallus to wonder if he could reach his bo-rifle in time. Then the droid shut off the holo and placed the projector on Kallus’ desk.

‘Forward any similar cases directly to me,’ Kallus said, and prayed to a Force he hardly believed in that nobody in HR would find this questionable.

‘Yes, sir,’ the droid tilted its head. ‘I will do so most directly.’

‘Thank you,’ Kallus glanced down at the designation. ‘That will be all, K-2SO.’

also on ao3

#star wars: rebels #alexsandr kallus #bodhi rook #kalluzeb #just a teensy bit of kalluzeb #star wars #fic #a person of interest

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weasleywinchester · 4 years ago

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It’s A Low Number

Cassian Andor x Reader

Welcome to the first fic I’ve ever written for one Cassian Andor. Rogue One is one of my top favorite Star Wars movies and Cassian was immediately crowned as another Space Husband.

Warnings: Blood, shooting Imperial Officers and Stormtroopers, female masturbation, K-2SO’s legendary sass

Summary:

You never expected to be any kind of medic, let alone one for the resistance. You had once tried to tell a crewmember you weren’t a medic (more of a simple first aid person) when he shoved you onto a mission with Captain Cassian Andor, and then you managed to save the captain’s life. And now you’ve been put on every mission Cassian has ever put together, which made you, Cassian and K2 very happy. K2 loves to make you squirm about your little crush on Cassian, but you had no clue about Cassian’s true feeling towards you. All you both needed were simple calculations.

The ship rattles as it speeds away from the failed mission, various alarms warning that something is about to go wrong or the ship needs fuel. No one has said a word since you boarded, not even K2. Thankfully the same amount of people you left with are also coming back; but the resistance is no closer to winning the war.

Captain Andor had managed to connect with someone who has information, and who needs protection in return. Unfortunately when you all had gotten there the imperial troops were crawling all over the city; leaving you no choice but to run.

The ship gives one last jolt before touching down in paddock 5. No one moves at first, you all brace for (another) tongue lashing from Captain Andor. But he remains seated, only nodding his head to the crew. Everyone shuffles about, gathering their things, noting what needs to be repaired and heading back to their rooms.

“Everyone get some rest, and be ready.” Captain Andor shouts as everyone hops out of the ship.

You quietly shuffle about, making a list of any supplies you need to replace as well as if any equipment indicators that are flashing red. K2 runs diagnostics from the port next to you, still surprisingly not saying anything. You take a look at where the med kit is stashed, it’s a wreck since you had to patch up your crewmates arm. You sigh and dump everything out onto the seat, you pick out everything covered in blood, tossing it into the trash bin. You sneak a glance at Cassian… Cassian, you wish you could call him that. You did, accidentally, once; he assigned you to clean the ship for an entire month! Although after that, he started using your first name whenever he was talking to you. Threw a few people off guard since he was so strict with everyone else.

You refocus your eyes from the memory and see he’s currently taken his puffy jacket off, his sleeves are rolled up to his elbows and his head is completely inside one of the side panels of the ship. He reaches around to grab a tool from the box on the seat, his hands already covered in grease.

“The probability of him discovering you staring at him is about 80%.” K2 mentions. You side him, only to hear Cassian bump his head and curse. You both turn to him, waiting to see if he’ll stop working, but he continues.

“What’s the probability he’d sleep with me?” You sarcastically whisper. You let yourself focus on the movement of his arms. His forearms are flexed, his hands steadily working on whatever is broken in the panel.

“It’s a low number.” K2 loudly whispers next to my head. You go sass him back when what he said actually registers. He was NOT supposed to hear that! Let alone calculate it!

“K2. I swear. IF you say ANYTHING to anyone I will rip your circuit board out.” You growl, poking a finger into his chest.

“K2 I’ll be back, have to grab a part.” Cassian says as he walks out the door, giving you a small nod.

“By my calculations you have a high chance of being sexually frustrated. Is that why you’ve decided to fixate on Cassian?”

“K...”

“If you look for a partner at a lower rank your chances of not being sexually frustrated go down significantly. Although you don’t like lowering your standards of washing detergent, so why would men be any different.”

You turn to look at K. He may not have eyebrows but if he did they would be raised, begging you to challenge his analysis. You move your jaw, trying not to punch him in the face; which you did once, it was not a good recovery process for your hand or your ego. You finally let out a sigh and turn back to the med kit.

“K, I’m fine. But every once in a while a girl just wants a really hot guy to screw her really good. It’s not like a lot of us have a big future ahead.” You shove all the med kit contents back into the bag and briskly walk out of the ship.

_______

The next few hours continue as normal; you refill the med kit, grab some dinner and finally get to take a hot shower. You let the water run over you, relaxing every muscle and taking the feeling of failure down the drain with it.

You replay the mission in your head, having to comb over every detail. The morning you left, Cassian had come to get you himself. He had said he finally made contact with someone and that he was assembling a crew to leave before first light. When you got to the ship you recognized some familiar faces, most of whom Cassian worked with often.

“Good to see the Captain finally picked a medic he trusts.” One of the crewmembers commented, patting your shoulder as he pulled himself into the ship.

“(Y/N), ready?” Cassian asked, raising his eyebrows at you in that super adorable way he does. You lost any ability to talk so you simply nodded. The journey to the meet up was fast, Cassian and a few of the soldiers coming up with a plan for how each member of the team would move.

“(Y/N), You’re with me.” Cassian comments, continuing to study the map of the city.

“Captain?” You frown, sharing a look with the guy who talked to you earlier.

“In this part of town,” He points to what looks like a marketplace, “it looks suspicious to be traveling alone. Since you’re the most inexperienced out in the field, you’ll stick with me. Everyone will pair off and take the following routes” He points at a few sections of the map.

“And let me guess, I stay with the ship.” K2 sighs. Cassian nods and continues to work out as much of the plan as possible. You feel the nerves work their way up your spine; you have to get out of the ship and into the line of fire. You sit on your hands, trying not to squirm too much. You’ll be with Cassian, it’ll be fine.

You jump a little as the ship touches down. Cassian lets the others jump out ahead of both of you.

“Take this, It’s set to stun.” He whispers, placing a small blaster in your hand. He hops out of the ship and you holster the gun.

“Try not to die, I don’t hate you.” K2 whirs from the pilot seat. You roll your eyes a jump from the ship, jogging to catch up to Cassian. He leads you through the city at a leisurely pace, his gaze steadily moving around the area. You pass a few imperial robots, no sorry, soldiers. And then you start to see more the closer you move to the meeting place.

“Captain...” You whisper, he looks at you following your gaze. Stormtroopers, and a lot of them. He grabs your hand and changes your route to intersect with the others. You happen upon a pair of your crewmates and then Cassian shoves you into an alcove as he runs for them. He tackles both out of the way of oncoming fire. You wrestle your way out of some wooden crates as the shooting gets heavy. You see one of the guys has been shot in the arm and the other has taken off to find the others.

And you run... towards Cassian.

You run until you stand back to back with him, gun out and ready.

“(Y/N) get him out of here!” Cassian demands, blasting two troopers.

“Only if you’re coming with me.” You shout, blasting an officer that comes around the corner. Cassian grunts and turns to help you move your crewmate. You manage to get him into the alley when more troopers start firing at you.

“We have to buy some time.” You look down the alley, seeing the rest of your crew running towards you. You point your blaster up, taking it off stun. Cassian nods and the two of you walk back out, dodging blasts and fighting back. A few manage to get close enough for you to fight hand to hand, easily kicking their asses with your karate skills.

Cassian peels you off the stormtrooper and takes you by the hand, running back to the ship. Thankfully everyone else made it back and K2 takes off as soon as you hit the floor of the ship. You immediately start tending to everyone’s injuries, the one who got shot already has blood everywhere. You manage to get every patched up to survive the journey home.

You sit in your seat, strapping yourself in so that if you fall asleep you don’t tip out onto the bloody floor. You look over at Cassian in the copilot seat, he has the faraway look he always gets when you’re coming back from a mission...

You realize you’ve been in the shower so long it’s gone lukewarm. You quickly get out and get dressed. And then you remember your conversation with K2. Damn him! He said your chances with Cassian were low... but not zero, those odds aren’t the worst. But you would have no clue how to get from where you stand with Cassian to being in his bed.

His bed. It probably smells like laundry detergent, you can’t imagine him spending any time in it; not with the war going on. Although you have heard rumors about him going back to a few different women’s rooms. And for a brief moment, you wish he would come to yours. Your mind begins running wild with things he would do to you, and you would do to him. You lay down on your bed, letting your hands trail over your body. You peel your clothes off, your fingers eagerly moving to your throbbing clit. You imagine they’re Cassian’s skilled fingers, gently toying with you, making the right patterns and using the perfect amount of pressure to make you

“Cassian...” you whisper to the four walls of your room as the warmth of your orgasm spreads leisurely through your body. You sigh, any tension you had left is quickly being replaced by exhaustion.

Knocking? Is there actually someone knocking at my door? You open your eyes to look at the ceiling. It comes again, so you quickly pull your clothes back on, take a few steps across your tiny apartment and swing the door open.

“Y/N.” Cassian says. You feel your jaw moving up and down but no sound seems to be coming out. “May I come in?” He raises his eyebrows the smallest fraction.

“Yes of course, Cass- Captain.” He moves the corners of his mouth just enough to make a smile.

“Using my name recently?” He gives you a sly smile. You mash my lips together and cross your arms, if he only knew. He steps toward you, his fingers lightly grazing the thin fabric around your hips. “Were you cursing my name?” he presses his palms to your hips, the heat shooting through you like lightning. “Or moaning it?” His lips lightly graze your ear, the fan of his breath sending a shiver down your spine. You close my eyes and mash your lips again. Fantasies really do… come...

Oh.

No.

No no no nonono!

“Mi Amor?” Cassian gently whispers, stepping back to look at you, brushing your hair away from your neck. He looks concerned... not like when you’re on a mission; like the only thing that matters is how you feel.

“What did K2 say?” You whisper back, laying your hands on his chest.

“Something about calculations and you and me.” He lets out a small laugh. You push a little on his chest to give yourself room to breath. After a few seconds you look up at him.

“Are you doing this because of what he said?”

“Yes.” And with that you can hear your heart shatter into a thousand pieces. Of course, now you’re easy so why would he not seize the opportunity? “Mi amor, I want to be with you.” He tilts your chin up so he can look at you, “What K2 said gave me the push I needed to go after you.”

“You’re not here just for...”

“I’m here for the possibility of us.”

#captain cassian andor #cassian andor x reader #k-2so #star wars fanfiction #rogue one fanfiction #plus size reader #female reader #cassian andor x female reader #rebel scum #space husband

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