#melshi

[wolviecat]

Years ago, when they escaped the prison on Narkina 5, Andor promised to himself that he's not going to let them put him in another box. This one wasn’t nearly as high-tech as his previous prison, but even without the electrified floors, they made sure he can’t run. Because his second promise was that he's not going to to leave Melshi behind.

for @badthingshappenbingo PARRILLA

Almost there...

[jynmelshian]

i absolutely love this bit of trivia. duncan pow so nice and chill that they just had to write melshi into the most epic storyline thus creating one of the most interesting dynamics of the show so that tony gilroy could have his rogue one blorbo back. incredible

[ddesole]

Cassian Andor, Ruescott Melshi, and K-2SO

in ANDOR Season 2 Trailer

[darlingjmiller]

the parallel of cassian not being there to care for his frail dying mother but being there for frail dying ulaf…

[laneboyheathens]

Tony Gilroy: “…And Ben Caron and Damián are finding a way to call back the end of Rogue One, in ways I had never anticipated - it wasn’t in the script that way […] - even where they put the horizon line…”

[colleybri]

Cassian

Yes you can hold on longer. I soothingly repeat the lie: “They’re leaving”.

Melshi knows it’s untrue. “Stop saying that.”

But his faith in me is giving him faith in himself.

All we need to do is survive. Hold on until the next minute. Then the next.

And he needs the lie. Asks for it. “Tell me they’re leaving”.

This time, when I say it, it’s true at last.

I’ve often lied for myself. Now I can lie for others. And find the truth also, within - the belief that can enable us to climb back up.

Let’s call it hope.

[ahsoka-its-all-of-us]

Okay first of all how did I only now find out about there being a post-credits scene in Andor --

Secondly HOLY FUCK I LOVE THAT

Every act of rebellion, how tiny and insignificant it may seem in the grand total of the war, contributed to their eventual victory and honestly that's so powerful 🥹

I know people are seeing the post credit scene and lamenting that Cassian and Melshi were forced to build the very weapon that will kill them (which is true and I am definitely also 'people') but... it also confirmation that the prison escape directly impacted the development of the Death Star.

Like, we know that turning off the facility meant that Narkina 5 couldn't be fully operational for months, and the loss of 5000 prisoners who were all assembling large numbers of pieces a day... all of that had to hurt the production schedule, not to mention any further damage from Melshi or Cassian's testimonies reaching people inside and out of the prison system.

How long did it delay production? We don't know - it could have been weeks or months, or even just hours. But knowing how little time the Rebellion has once they learn of the Death Star's existence, and how the Empire was closing in, even before then - Jyn and team escape Jedha with the message and means to destroy the superweapon by literal seconds - I just feel like it counted.

The Death Star will one day kill both Cassian and Melshi, but they, and 5000 other men, also bought precious time for the Rebellion. Just enough time to get the plans off Scarif. Just enough time for some desert farmer boy to make the crucial shot.

[the-new-fandom-order]

Genuine question, who’s everyone’s Glup Shitto? I’ll start, mine’s Melshi

[adeptnenyim]

ups, I did it again. Some progress has been made, though my idea of anatomy or clothes is still very... strange xD

This time art is inspired by the first part of the great series by Taste_is_Sweet "And Breathe", which changed my brain chemistry and made something with my sanity, but I'm not complaining. :D

"One Bite at a Time"

(I hope I linked it well D: ) (thank you @toooldforthisbutstill <3 )

[tboyandor]

wish you weren't here

an exploration of Cassian's experience of his second time getting fried. because seeing the aftermath of it on his face in the skyway devastates me every time.

read it on ao3

--

Cassian’s second frying was worse than his first. The first time was horrible, but he hadn’t known what to expect, so his body responded with simple, straightforward shock. The second time, however, he had his whole first shift to dread the possibility of experiencing it again. He knew what would happen, what it would feel like, and he was terrified of it.

So when table 5 was deemed the loser of ‘the game’, he felt rooted to the spot out of sheer terror. He watched for a moment as his new tablemates proceeded with slumped shoulders and heavy steps towards the box of silver floor in the middle of the room.

Taga was shaking, and crying a little, too overcome with his own fear to pay any mind to the new man.

Ham’s eyes were wide, his expression stunned and far away.

Xaul looked primarily angry, his face flushed.

Jemboc looked defeated, sorrowful. There was no fear in his eyes, only the weariness of a man who felt he had failed in some fundamental way.

“I’m sorry, Keef,” he mumbled sympathetically as he passed Cassian, resting a hand on his shoulder for a brief moment.

Cassian just felt numb, and like he was going to be sick to his stomach, but a distant part of him felt a deep appreciation for Jemboc’s kindness. He thought of Clem for a moment and couldn’t breathe.

Ulaf staggered past him next, looking as sick as Cassian felt. Cassian braced himself to catch the old man if he fell over, although, he realized, he’d more likely end up falling to the floor with him.

Last was Melshi. The man who had reminded the others of the name Cassian had told them. He hadn’t expected that. Melshi seemed to Cassian like the kind of person whose actions he would never be able to fully predict.

They had spoken very few words to each other since Cassian had arrived on the floor, but each moment of eye contact between them (and strangely, there had been several) felt entirely new and unpredictable. Cassian didn’t know why he looked at Melshi, or why Melshi looked back at him; all he knew was that there was something in this man’s eyes that drew him in.

Kindness, and deep sorrow, and something incendiary, maybe.

As Melshi passed him on his way to the box, Cassian saw a version of his own terror in his eyes, but most of all he looked tired.

Suddenly, all the rest of table 5 were standing in the box, awaiting their punishment, and Cassian - Keef - was still rooted to the spot.

“Keef,” the floor manager was speaking to him, his gruff voice somewhat softened, though not to excess. “I need you to get in the box with your table. No exceptions for new men, I’m afraid.”

Cassian looked at him. Kino. It was like looking into the headlights of an oncoming speeder; this man was set in a direction, and he wouldn’t change course now, not for Keef. But there was pain in Kino’s expression. Sympathy and ruthlessness fought for dominance behind his eyes. Sadness won.

“Please,” Kino said in a hushed tone, with an edge of desperation, taking a step in Cassian’s direction. “I don’t want to force you. It’s better for you, for all of us, if you comply.”

Cassian looked into the headlights, and opened his mouth, but it was dry and no words came out.

He wanted to scream.

He wanted to say, I didn’t do anything!

It’s not my fault our table was last, I just got here!

I went out for peezos and milk and now I’m here.

I just want to go home.

But home, he knew, was nowhere he could reach.

So he said none of those things, and instead willed his feet to move him to the appointed place.

He arrived, and stood next to Melshi. His head was bowed and his eyes were closed. They stood behind Jemboc and Ulaf, who stood behind Taga, Ham, and Xaul.

It felt like a second and an eternity before the floor was activated.

Then it turned on, and his whole body was alight with pain. His screams were indistinguishable from those of the men around him. 

The agony began in the soles of his feet, like a million tiny whips lashing every inch of his skin, and swiftly rose up through his calves, exploding through the rest of his body.

Then all at once, it was over, and his body hit the metal floor. For a moment, he could hardly see or hear through the pain still wracking his limbs, and he lay curled on his side, trembling. He could feel a bruise blooming on his ribs where he had fallen and hit steel.

Sight and sound returned to him, and still he lay curled on the floor, hardly breathing from shock. For a moment, he thought it would be like before, that the shock would pass and he would pick himself up, in horrendous pain, but with his nerve not entirely lost.

This time, though, the crushing weight of this place and the pain and his grief and the horror of all of it was too much to bear.

Cassian burst into tears.

He couldn’t tell how far around the room his sobs carried, but there was only a very small part of him that cared about that right now. He was in too much pain, and he had rarely felt so out of control of his own body, and so alone.

“Keef,” said a soft, pained voice that he was still learning to recognize. “It’s over. You’ll be alright. I know, it hurts. Hey, look at me, you’re going to be okay.”

Cassian took a gulp of air that devolved into another little sob, but he opened his eyes, and wiped them with trembling, tingling hands.

Melshi, still laying on his stomach the way he had fallen, had dragged himself closer to Cassian to try and bring him some comfort. Cassian hadn’t expected this. He realized that, though he was still learning to pick Melshi’s voice out from the crowd, he knew he would recognize his eyes anywhere.

“Breathe,” Melshi told him, a well-practiced reminder, whether from saying it so often to himself or others Cassian wasn’t sure. Cassian tried to take a deep breath, and his exhale came out shuddering. “Can I touch you?”

Cassian nodded despite himself, he wasn’t in the habit of letting people he’d just met touch him, but he needed comfort and he was beginning to trust this man to give it.

Tentatively, Melshi wrapped an arm around Cassian’s back, rubbing him softly in slow, soothing circles. With his other hand, which Cassian noticed was trembling, he took one of Cassian’s hands in his, and dug his thumb firmly but gently into his palm in an attempt to bring sensation back to the frayed nerves there.

He encouraged Cassian to take more deep breaths, and Cassian tried his best, through his sniffles and the tears still leaking from his eyes. Around them, he saw that the others were similarly gathering themselves. Jemboc was helping Ulaf stand, and Xaul had an arm wrapped around Taga’s shoulders.

“We don’t have much time. They’ll be sending us back to our cells soon,” Melshi said gently. “Can you stand?”

It sounded like a monumental endeavor. Cassian’s feet were burning and he could almost feel the painful blisters erupting on his skin, but he nodded his head.

“Okay, here we go,” Melshi said quietly, half to himself.

He still kept one hand on Cassian’s back and the other he offered for Cassian to cling to, which he did, with both hands. Melshi’s legs shook a little as he stood up while supporting Cassian in doing the same, but he let Cassian lean his weight on him, his head pressed against the taller man’s chest as he helped him up.

Then they were standing, and Melshi still held him close, still let him clutch his arm like a drowning man, as his last few sobs hiccuped out of him.

The blaring sound of the klaxon made Cassian jump, and Melshi held him tighter.

The Voice delivered its booming proclamation. Cassian only caught a few words of it, trying to calm his breathing and staunch his tears by focusing on the feeling Melshi’s uniform against his face, the smell of his sweat and the feeling of his arm around his back and his hand in his.

But he knew that the Voice said something about a cellblock, skyway, proceed, on program.

“On program!” Kino echoed, when the Voice had finished its pronouncement.

Gently, but urgently, Melshi peeled Cassian off of him, and inclined his head, speaking to him.

“Can you walk? Put your hands behind your head?”

Cassian nodded, wiped the remainders of his tears and snot on his sleeve, and raised his hands behind his head.

Melshi’s hand still rested at the small of his back, as though he were worried that Cassian might fall over at any moment, which was probably a realistic concern.

“Thank you,” Cassian croaked, his voice and composure still wavering, but steadier than they had been a minute ago.

Melshi’s only response was a small squeeze of his hand against Cassian’s back, before Kino’s eyes fell on Melshi and his distinct lack of program. Cassian watched as Kino’s eyes flicked between them, a brief flash of pity in his gaze when he looked at the new man, shaking and ruined by his ordeal. Kino made some inner calculation and settled on a warning glance at Melshi, rather than a barked order.

The warmth of Melshi’s hand left Cassian’s back, and he was on program: hands behind his head, eyes front, feet down on the deadly floor. There was nothing else to do, and sadly, nowhere else to be.

Cassian’s tears had dried up, but he still felt panic running wild in his chest and every nerve and muscle in his body felt as though it was screaming at him.

Soon they were all filing in a long line out of the workroom, and Melshi drifted away from Cassian into the sea of orange and white uniforms, but not before meeting his eyes once more, as he put some distance between them.

His glance seemed to say: I’m sorry.

Wish you weren’t here.

I’m sorry you’re here.

And what a kindness it was, to feel that someone wished he was anywhere but here, in this prison.

Cassian hoped his responding gaze told Melshi something of the same: I wish you weren’t here either. But since we’re both here, thank you for going out of your way to make it a little more bearable, for me.

[oatshow]

portrait of the artist and the muse

[jynmelshian]

me too proudspartan313.......................

[mara-lea-mohnblume]

I think that Melshi never wanted to be a soldier. Perhaps he was an artist or craftsman in his former life. The way his appearance changes between Andor and Rogue One kept me thinking about it. He was made a soldier for the Rebellion by the Empire, by Narkina 5. It was the only way to deal with his past. He lost everything.

[uwingdispatch]

Seems like a good day to tell y’all about my new Rogue One mini pouches!

One for Jyn, one for Cassian, and the U-Wings. Jyn’s has the Rogue One starbird and a Kyber crystal like the one her mother gave her. Cassian’s has the Rogue One starbird and his rank badge. And of course…the U-Wing one has U-Wings!

Hope you love these! They’re currently 20% off for my Life Day sale! Shop is here. 💜

[javiiwave]

a breath of fresh air ☁️

[absolutelybloodyhopeless]

Another ad for my Etsy! I write personalised digital letters (emails) from a range of characters. Most of my listings right now are Star Wars and Moon Knight but I have two for TMA and one for Bucky Barnes. More will be coming soon if my sales start up again!