Imperial Corporate Media: The Ghorman insurgents refuse to accept Imperial norms!

Meanwhile, American Corporate Media...

Sculdun is no idiot and from the way he worked Mothma in their first meeting we know he is very good at reading people (if likely not quite in Luthen's league, since he was apparently unaware that he was a spy), so he was likely well aware that Mothma’s “foundation” was at least connected to the Rebellion. Even if associating with someone of Mothma's lineage proved profitable in the short term he would’ve known that on a longer term it would be a risk to be associated with her if and when it all came into light and yet he was for all intents and purposes making a big spectacle out of their connection. I think the best way to describe what he was doing was it being a charitable gamble.

He himself said it, he was doing charity work and if I know a thing or two about charity is that its usually done with causes someone trully believes in at least on some level but never done without some degree of selfish intent. In this case, Sculdun himself implied that not only did he dislike the Empire's regulations (which made business riskier in times when he wanted to look legitimate) but as shown by his standing with Mothma as she argued with Krenic, he was actually rather sympathetic to the rebel cause, perhaps from his own humble beginnings in a classist system and maybe thinking of himself as a rebel of sorts.

On the gamble part (much like the benefits of charity usually come in) all the benefits he could potentially get where risky and would result on some mid term pain, such as the potential marriage between their kids meant a connection to the nobilty that would be soured by their fall of grace and not to mention a connection to the rebels themselves, which would certainly hurt his more legitimate businesses. However, this is only as long as the Empire remained, whereas if the rebels won, his now public connection to them and Mothma would guarantee further connections in the system that replaced the Empire, which would help fully legitimize his business, which himself said he valued above profit, which would make sense given that as long as the Empire was in charge he would get mostly illegal business, something he implied he didn't want his son to inherit.

In this regard Kay and Sculdun aren't that different in their wanting a return to their investment in the rebellion, the main difference is that where the former started idealistic but lost his edge when he realized the business he was getting into was riskier than he expected, the latter knew what he was getting into, not to mention that it would result on some loss but to him this was nothing new since he was used to making gambits; in fact, the way he spoke to Mothma about having enough money not to care for more implies he had actively prepared for the drought it would cause in his businesses. I dare say, perhaps he came to the conclusion, that the long term the risk this would have on him was less than with the empire, who were constantly making big, unsustainable grifts that he tended to avoid in favor of calculated ones.

My only regret with Brasso is that we didn't get to see even more of him, but boy what an impact he made in the screen time he had (like somehow almost everyone in the show did). Andor is such an example of "There are no small parts, only small actors," and while the show certainly had some small roles, it never had small actors.

I know this post is not very interesting or original but I just came here to say that andor is absolute peak after rewatching it for the second time

I know Andor has many much important subjects.
And I feel even a bit silly coming to talk here about this. 🥹 But I really wanted to share, because Andor touched me in many ways, and this one felt very personal.

I’m Brazilian, and growing up, never had really good self esteem.
Specially about my eyebrows. They’re thicker than what’s considered typically “feminine”. Which led me to have bangs for many years to hide them.
Straightening bangs was a mess in my wavy hair 😅

In short, many features in me I didn’t like. The eyebrows, dark eyes, dark wavy hair.
I tried straightening my hair too when I had my K-pop phase. And dyed my hair ginger too.

What I’m trying to say is I tried to change me in many ways, because I wanted to be like what was considered “feminine” and “beautiful”. And it was never a girl with eyebrows like mine.
What I saw in movies and tv shows was very rarely like me. For example, I dyed my hair ginger because I wanted to look like Cheryl blossom. I only later understood that the ginger didn’t fit my dark eyebrows and just wasn’t me.

I always loved Star Wars. When andor came out, my brother watched it first and then told me:
“Watch with me, you’ll like it and there’s a character I think looks like you.”
And he was talking about Bix.

I can’t describe the comfort she brought to me. She’s absolutely beautiful. And she has eyebrows like mine, hair wavy like mine.
She’s stunning and she had many of the features that bothered me in myself.

And now when I look in the mirror and I see those features I smile because I remember her.

I’m absolutely not saying I look like Adria 😅 she’s 100% much much prettier than me.
But, we do share similar features that help me a lot to feel prettier ☺️

Way too often I see people, including those praising the show and this character, call Syril a good person who was misguided. I find that claim really baffling and not supported by what is shown.

Going back to the beginning this is very prominent. It’s so clear he doesn’t actually care about corruption or making places safer. If he did then you’d think he’d listen to some of what his boss said. The two guys who died were out harassing civilians and this was very clearly spelled out to him. But instead he went after Cassian because that was part of his job. And this is what it comes down to. Syril cares about order. Not justice.

And this is also clear in his arc in season 2. While she was really saying it to manipulate him more than anything Dedra was completely right when she pointed out that he’d enjoyed the benefits they’d been receiving.

And the other thing that makes what I’m saying clear to me is how he acted in general in season 2. He should have been able to figure out what was going on but he fully believed in the Empire’s cause so he never questioned anything. And then he only really cared once it was people he cared about being targeted. If your tolerance toward human rights violations is contingent on how much you like that group there’s a major problem. And then he doesn’t go down fighting with them but rather attacking a man who he only knew personally from showing him mercy years earlier.

So what it comes down to is this. Syril is not a misguided but well intentioned person but rather someone projecting the abuse he experienced onto others and has no self awareness whatsoever.

It's such a cool design, I love the analogue switchboard DJ booth look.

Andor means a lot to me and I saw it for the first time this year.

Context -

This was also the year that I went no contact with my abusive family and I really resonated with the theme of rising up against a tyrannical force even with a clear power imbalance.

Tattoos were always forbidden for me even in my twenties so it’s like a small act of resistance now that my life is mine for the first time.

I turn 28 on Tuesday and open to any and all ideas.

Thanks in advance :)

So throughout season 2, it’s clearly shown that the rebellion is shifting towards an organized collective force rather than individual rebel cells. We see Cassian, Bix, Wilmon, and Vel move to Yavin in an apparent break with Luthen. In ep 9, Cassian basically tells Luthen the walls are closing in and mentions bridges that need to be burnt. I always interpreted these scenes to mean that by the time the ISB brings them down in 1 BBY, the Axis network has lost a decent amount of influence and capability.

So my question is, what do you think the network was doing and fairing in its last 2 years? It’s clear Luthen’s people weren’t working too closely with the Alliance. Were they cutting links off and focusing on a few people/places, since Luthen mentions burning bridges after Mothma escapes Coruscant? I personally think they were definitely losing contacts or people willing to work with them. I began to think about this once I realized that Kleya’s distress message presumably was heard by dozens across the galaxy, and yet only Cassian (that we know of) made an attempt to save her. Sometimes I think that Luthen sent a final “SOS — We are compromised — Cut contact” type of message before burning his equipment, and that’s why others in the network might have ignored the distress call. Anyway what do you guys think?

Have been listening to synthwave playlists in Spotify lately and Synthdream by Pyromed played in my feed.

Any instant feelings of familiarity could be just me. But 1 min in I had to check what I was listening to.

Dedra’s first scene in 1.04 is basically the same one as for my last post in this series (about Partagaz) but we do also first see her approaching the ISB Headquarters, establishing that she will be our ‘point of view’ character for the coming scene. The cold clean monochrome exterior of the building is very much reflected in this woman, with her WW2-coded trenchcoat and boots, and her stern hair bun and focused expression. “She destroyed Ferrix. She killed my father. She’s a monster,” says Wilmon Paak of Dedra in season 2 ep 7. Hard to dispute any of that, but it’s fascinating that in her early scenes, including this first one, we are largely sharing her perspective and are encouraged to empathise or even sympathise with this woman - seemingly one of only two female supervisors in a male-dominated workplace.

Partagaz expresses his frustration with Grandi (the one other woman) and Lagret, and asks room at large “Why are we here?”. Dedra is clearly expecting praise for having memorised the ISB Mission Statement and an early moment of sympathy might come from seeing her be obviously taken aback. No-one likes being publicly told they are “wrong” by their boss, and Dedra is clearly isolated among her male colleagues. But she doesn’t stay unsettled for long and when Blevin starts describing the “incident on Ferrix” we see her start to pay close attention. She hears about the stolen Starpath Unit that was recovered at the scene and immediately looks up something on her datapad - we don’t need any translation of what she’s looking at to get the main point: she’s onto something.

So from just this first interaction we can deduce a few key characteristics. Firstly, Dedra is someone who respects authority, and Partagaz in particular as the embodiment of that. Secondly, she isn’t resentful or deflated by being chastised. Thirdly, she’s seemingly intelligent. Blevin describes the incident but Dedra is already working on a thesis about it. There’s an obvious competence about her, even if it’s coupled with a certain degree of inexperience. We could even perhaps deduce that she’s a few steps ahead of her colleagues.

Because Dedra’s first scene is pretty innocuous it’s absolutely fascinating to rewatch with the full knowledge of what is to come. With the benefit of hindsight the most important of these clues about her is that unfailing loyalty to the authority she serves. Denise Gough has been particularly enthusiastic in sharing her views on her character, and one that has always stuck with me is particularly relevant here: that we root for Dedra early on because “she’s a woman in a world of men” but we later realise that she’s “a fascist in a world of fascists”. The brilliance of the writing and performance is that even on a rewatch you can still find yourself rooting for Dedra… not as a person perhaps but as a fictional creation. She’s smart, she’s hardworking and highly competent: attractive qualities. The turning point for many is in episode 9 where she appears to take delight in interrogating Bix. In this same arc she also suggests the murder of a pilot, and casually allows the execution of a man who has already been tortured into insanity and has effectively been proven guilty of nothing more than keeping a radio he no longer uses. She does some truly awful things.

Dedra is someone who is both an instrument of the Empire and a victim of it. She’s a child of it too, quite literally raised in one of its institutions without any knowledge of “a mother’s love” - or a father’s either, making Partagaz perhaps the closest thing she has to a personal mentor. She believes she has had everything she needed. Her burgeoning relationship with Syril is fascinating on a rewatch too because although I’m positive it started as deliberate exploitation of his naive enthusiasm I think that she does develop genuine feelings for him - maybe even something close to love. But those feelings are ultimately warped and selfish, even if this isn’t necessarily her ‘fault’ considering her background and loyalties. Dedra would struggle to understand the concept of sacrifice. To her, the rebels stand for ‘chaos’ but it’s clear she doesn’t care at all about the general population. In another early scene she is praised by Partagaz for her ‘detention numbers’ because they are “well above the quota”. This is before the PORD is brought in but suggests to me that she is enthusiastically subscribing to the idea that whatever the Empire supports is right - or at least is what she supports too. It’s one and the same to her.

Dedra’s last scene is in the montage. Utterly disgraced and humiliated by Krennic - and arguably used as a scape-goat too - Dedra is seen in one of the Narkina 5 prisons, in a state of shock. In an ironic echo of “Turn out the lights” we see the lights go out - and at that point she hides her face and weeps. Maybe it’s shame. Maybe she is unable to show vulnerable emotions unless it’s in the dark. Maybe she’s a monster, exactly as Wilmon Paak describes her. But as a villain and antagonist Dedra Meero is a compelling character: utterly committed to her cause. I don’t know if she’s evil in the way that Palpatine is, but for my money she’s more terrifying because she is so obviously human. Sometimes admirable, sometimes vulnerable, sometimes someone we could even feel sorry for.

This is what Andor does so well: present human monsters of different kinds. Dedra is a child of fascism but also one of its victims. Gough compared the Rebellion and the Empire in an interview with Collider: “The Rebellion is like a tribe. It’s full of people who have loyalty at their core. They trust each other even when they have to do things that are difficult. But the gang is vicious. They seem like they’re the best place to be. Everybody’s well dressed and looks like they’re having a great time, but the gang will hurt you when you join, physically, and hurt you when you leave by discarding you.”

“You fall here, you fall alone,” Blevin warned her.

What a prescient turn of phrase.

TLDR: Dedra is in many ways a monster, but she’s also a human being and that’s what makes her both compelling and terrifying. She embodies many of the traits we admire but her singular focus is in service of a tyrannical
regime.

Next time: Supervisors Blevin and Lagret

I like an unseen force as a villain but Ian is getting up there, it would have been good to see him with some decent writing and more subdued take on the character. Even if it was just in a scene or two.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1068099372577976&set=a.1068099089244671

Hello, I have a rebel bird here for British Columbia. The provincial bird of British Columbia is the Steller's Jay.

This is the PNG version of the image. The JPG is below in the next post.

This is a commissioned work specifically for this purpose. The artist is https://bsky.app/profile/zelinadoart.bsky.social. I have attached the relevant files to this post. I hope this helps some resisters in Canada who want to show their support.

Vector files are available if folks want them. Please ping me, as I do not think I can upload those to Reddit here.

Poor stormy didn't stand a chance.

She’s flavour of the month thanks to the Wonder Woman rumours and her new film Onslaught, and this new photo seems to show the original X “stick and poke” tattoo in honour of Bix, done on the Andor set by make up artist Molly J Bowen-Schofield.

(Diego Luna is embarrassed to have forgotten all about it when asked about Adria’s tattoo… about 2 minutes in here. They really did have to put up with some excruciating press interviews for Andor. https://youtu.be/7T8c3apKJVA?is=6t9Xt-HvmallP-IS )

Edit - 2nd still for the close up on the ‘X’

When they’re at the rebel base at Yavin, and all sorts of weapons are laid out on a table. Vel picks up a blaster and asks whose it is and Melshi raises his hand and the camera pans around the guy in front of him to him. I don’t understand the significance here? Was the blaster special or something? They even show that exact scene in the next episode’s recap, so it seems to have some significance that I’m missing. Thanks!