#nemik

omg yes!!! he’s like everyone in the rebellion’s favourite writer, he should so get to meet other people

SUNRISE

Like here, where Nemik describes exactly what the Trump administration is doing right now:

There are millions of tiny steps that have to be taken and no one knows what role they’re supposed to play until they’re playing it. Galen never knew Luke and how he would be the one to exploit the Death Star’s weakness. And Luke never knew Galen was the one to spend the end of his life engineering it. Lonni never knew R2-D2 would be the one to carry the plans he died to uncover. Cassian didn’t know at the time that taking that KX unit on Ghorman would be what bought him and Jyn enough time to escape the Imperials and transmit the plans.

My headcanon is now that Luke heard Nemik’s manifesto in his own voice over the radio, and started to notice things- maybe even things he never questioned before about his life and the oppressive presence of the empire everywhere, and just like any teenager- wanted to do something about it. He was so excited when he found out C-3PO and R2 had been involved with the rebellion he jumps up in awe. “You know of the rebellion against The Empire?!” He never even for a second questioned aligning himself with the rebels.

And of course, without Andor- this all makes perfect sense. I just love the way we now can see the heroes in the shadows and how they influenced Luke FUCKING Skywalker- and helped bring an end to the constant oppression of Palptine.

There are so many beautiful things about this show but I really loved Nemik and I’m so glad they made him a bigger piece of the puzzle. “Rebellions are built on hope” being said by a bellhop to Andor just drives Nemik’s point home. “I burn my life for a sunrise I’ll never see.” So many people sacrificed everything. Life, love, happiness, to do what’s right. I could go on but if you haven’t already, please read Nemik’s manifesto. His character’s words are more relevant than ever, to the entire world. Everybody has a part to play. No act of rebellion is too small. Protect your fellow humans. Trans rights are human rights. Black lives matter. Healthcare, housing, food, and shelter are not luxuries. FUCK THE POLICE. LIE TO ICE. FREE PALESTINE.

NEMIK’S MANIFESTO

There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy.

Remember this, Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause.

Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

And remember this: 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.

Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empires’s authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege.

okay, so i was thinking earlier this week about Andor (as usual), specifically about the final line from the segment of Nemik's manifesto we hear: "...Remember this; try."

and it got me thinking about the other times we've had the act of trying, of attempting something, in Star Wars, decades earlier: "Do or do not; there is no try."

these two statements and the characters they represent are so fascinating to me. from the perspective of Yoda's philosophy, Nemik is a naive idealist fighting against a system he cannot hope to overcome, which consequently results in his death. Nemik tried to do the impossible, failed, and died. and then, we have Yoda, a relic who chooses to lives in hiding because he knows that there is no way he can take down the Empire, ultimately allowing him to survive the 18 years after Order 66 and train Luke. Yoda survived because he chose to not try, and lived.

however, from the philosophy of Nemik, their positions are radically changed.

Yoda lived alone for almost two decades because he knew he couldn't win against the Empire. he took no action, offering no support to the Rebellion, despite the fact that he is quite literally the most powerful Jedi who has existed in centuries, despite his wealth of knowledge that can be used in the fight against fascism, despite his knowledge of other Jedi that existed in the galaxy who needed his help (ex. Ezra speaking with Yoda in the temple). Yoda didn't try, despite the myriad valuable contributions he could have made to defeating the Empire, because he believed that he couldn't.

meanwhile, Nemik is a freedom fighter. his whole life's work is trying. against the Empire, a single person is meaningless. it is a hulking monstrosity of cold bureaucracy, impersonal massacres, and dehumanization. and above all, it functions on fear. the very act of struggle is a massive undertaking that shakes the very foundations of the mass of the Empire. trying is the whole point. the point isn't to succeed, it's to amass and gain momentum, to fail and fail and fail and try and try and try and hope and hope and hope until- the wall breaks. Nemik's pure love for freedom and his struggle against a tyrannical creature more powerful than himself inspires Cassian Andor to join the Rebellion, whose later actions go on to enable the destruction of the death star by Luke Skywalker. if enough people try, they can do.

Dray milk. You can live on it. You may question your existence after a few days, but ... Memorable, isn't it?