#jlf watches

[jadelotusflower]

“everyone has their own rebellion” - always nice when you get to articulate your show’s thesis in a single line of dialogue

[starfriday]

Teamwork Arts presents Mumbai Preview of Jaipur Literature Festival 2024 at The Quorum, Mumbai

Unveiled key themes and highlight sessions for the upcoming Festival

14th December 2023 – Anticipation is building for the 17th edition of the iconic Jaipur Literature Festival, scheduled to take place from 1st to 5th of February 2024 at Hotel Clarks Amer in the vibrant Pink City of Jaipur. Teamwork Arts, the producer of the iconic Festival, hosted a celebratory evening at The Quorum, Mumbai yesterday and brought together the city’s dignitaries, Festival speakers and audiences. The Festival also announced the official bookstore for the 2024 edition – Crossword Bookstores.

Apart from talking about the much-awaited Festival programme and offerings, the evening featured a dialogue between Amish, bestselling author, diplomat and Director of the Nehru Centre in London, and Sanjoy K. Roy, Festival Producer and Managing Director at Teamwork Arts. They delved into the significant role that myth plays as a mediator of memory. There was also an exciting jazz performance by percussionist Vladimir Taravos and saxophonist Liudas Mockuinas at the event.

William Dalrymple, writer, historian, and Festival Co-director, said, "Every year we try and raise the bar at the Jaipur Literature Festival, but 2024 will be our finest festival yet. It is going to be utterly extraordinary and should on no account be missed!"

Sanjoy K. Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, producer of the Jaipur Literature Festival, said, “At the Jaipur Literature Festival, we inspire people through the power of stories. It is an opportunity to be engage with a cross section of the arts, knowledge and innovation An experience you definitely do not want to miss – a celebration of the joy of literature.”

Aakash Gupta, CEO, Crossword Bookstores, said, “Crossword is very proud to be the bookstore partner at JLF. We are on a mission to grow the readership in India. The Festival is at a pinnacle of celebrating the joy and importance of good books. This partnership between the Festival & Crossword is a perfect match and aligns with our shared visions. Watch out for an exciting bookstore experience at JLF 2024!”

Saloni Puri, Director of Programming at The Quorum, “I am a Jaipur Literature Festival patron from 2006 - since it was founded. Their highly versatile programming has been instrumental in adding to the cultural conversation in the country. Quorum and the Jaipur Literature Festival share a DNA - curiosity and passion for ideas and imagination, thought leadership and conversation. It gives us great pleasure to partner with them for the Mumbai Preview of the 2024 edition.”

The evening also revealed some of the key themes for the 17th edition of the ‘Kumbh’ of literature. Art & culture are key themes and will have interesting sessions such as one exploring the artistic genius of our country’s foremost modern artist, Raja Ravi Varma with Ganesh V. Shivaswamy, two of whose six-volume series, Raja Ravi Varma: An Everlasting Imprint, navigates the life, artistic style, and everlasting impact of Raja Ravi Varma's creative journey. In another session, museum curator, art historian and Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum at the University of Cambridge, Luke Syson, will talk of Leonardo da Vinci's reputation as an inventor and scientist, and the complexity of his creativity and personality that have sometimes almost overshadowed the importance of his aims and techniques as a painter. Syson’s highly acclaimed Leonardo da Vinci – Painter at the Court of Milan exhibit attempts to understand the complex nature of one of the most sought-after artists of the Renaissance period.

The biographies theme includes a session on the book Irrfan: A Life in Movies by film critic and writer Shubhra Gupta. The book is a collection of conversations with the late actor’s contemporaries and their memories of their time with the legend. In conversation with Irrfan Khan’s beloved wife and theatre actor Sutapa Sikdar and filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, the session will dive into the art, craft, and life of Irrfan.

Pulitzer Prize winning writer Kai Bird will speak at another session on his writing life and literary journey. Famously co-authored with the late Martin J. Sherwin, Bird wrote, American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, which acted as the inspiration for the Chirstopher Nolan film, Oppenheimer.

Sharmistha Mukherjee’s remarkable biography Pranab My Father: A Daughter Remembers offers a fascinating glimpse into the illustrious life of Pranab Mukherjee, former politician and the thirteenth President of India. In this session, Sharmistha will talk about her workaholic and devoutly religious Baba who narrated events in the spirit of adda at the dinner-table and who never tried to impose his faith or beliefs on her.

The poet who wins every heart - Gulzar Saab - continues to create magic with each new poetry collection, interweaving the allure of old favourites through verse. Translated by award-winning translator and writer, Rakhshanda Jalil, Baal O-Par is a definitive collection of Gulzar Saab's poetry comprising the complete text of six volumes of poems. Together they will take us through this masterpiece, offering a kaleidoscopic view of history, human experience, and poetic expression.

The Festival will also feature Fashion Designer Tarun Tahiliani. His creations navigate sartorial histories, from the lens of the impact of globalisation and colonisation on attire to the revival of long-forgotten techniques. His book, Journey to India Modern, written with investigative journalist Alia Allana, reveals the paths he takes for his craft, and the significance of his luxury design studio in today's world. In conversation with television anchor and fashion consultant Ambika Anand, Tahiliani will share insights into his explorations in fashion around the globe, his efforts to merge stories across time and space, and the questions he seeks to pose through his designs.

The Festival will also delve into spiritual histories. The sacred terrain of the high Himalaya has a timeless tradition of spiritual and mystic quests. How do enlightened masters become an enduring and living presence for religious and spiritual communities? Celebrated academic and writer Andrew Quintman has written extensively on the Tibetan master and spiritual poet, Milarepa. Actor and writer Kelly Dorji is a practising Buddhist. His book, The Hidden Rainbow, makes an attempt to take us on a spiritual journey through Buddhist symbolism in the quest for inner peace and acceptance. Together, they will discuss the literary representations of Milarepa's life and consider the manifold ways in which these life stories move beyond the written page into artistic, ritual and lived dimensions. This session will also include the launch of the Hindi edition of Mystics and Sceptics: In Search of Himalayan Masters.

Leading classicist and cultural commentator Mary Beard’s recent book, Twelve Caesars: Images of Power from the Ancient World to the Modern, explores how Roman art has shaped the Western world’s understanding of power for over two millennia. Examining the relationship between ancient imperial imagery and the modern visual imagination, Beard will take us through the images of Roman emperors, especially the ‘Twelve Caesars’, from the ruthless Julius Caesar to the fly-torturing Domitian, to understand their modern significance. In conversation with historian, writer and podcaster Tom Holland, she will discuss changing identities, deliberate misidentifications and the often-uncertain representations of authority.

This year too, the Festival offers an exclusive Friend of the Festival (FOF) package which promises an unparalleled experience. FOFs gain access to a private Festival Lounge, where they can unwind and network, occasionally mingling with Festival speakers. The package includes lunches and dinners on Festival days, priority access at select sessions, and entry to the live music performances at the Jaipur Music Stage. In addition, FOFs will be invited to a cultural evening at the majestic Amer Fort as well as an evening of cocktails at the Festival Lounge. They will also get access to the coveted Writers’ Ball that concludes the spectacular literary show.

‘Friend of the Festival’ packages can be booked using this link: https://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/friendsofthefestival-registration.

For further information on the Festival, please visit:

https://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/

[triflesandtea]

Something I posted on Instagram and decided to share here. ---b Please note that this applies to no one here on Tumbl(e)r; I just want to help y’all out in case you need this reminder. :)

[kaworuscott]

Vaporwave Sanwa Dreamcast Agetec mod done by myself. Vaporwave artwork by @vincenttrinidadart an excellent print I ordered from his shop. All premium Sanwa joystick and button parts. Sanwa mesh balltop. Custom Bison shadaloo clear dustwasher. The best guide online by far is the DC Agetec mod video on youtube by @scanlinecity even if you aren't doing a mod yourself it's a great techie watch. I've done many partial mods but I wanted to mod an Agetec DC stick from start to finish myself. As you will see in the pics, it requires alot of dremeling away plastic to fit in the Sanwa JLF and around the button casings, also had to dremel down the VMU surface plastic as it sticks out which got in the way if art/plexi. The original metal plate has about 28mm button holes which is no good for the standard 30mm buttons arcades use. You have to dremel the metal holes wider to fit. I dremelled mine but I also had a clear plexi cut for me with 300mm holes many years ago from a friend at tournaments and just never used it until now. I would normally solder but instead I tried out heat wire connectors to attach the original cables to the new quick disconnects which worked a charm. I used cable ties and sticky cable holders to tidy up the inside wiring a bit. I also painted the front panel security screws pink to match the aesthetic. Stick works perfectly for all my Dreamcast fighting games and looks fantastic. So happy with it! #vaporwave #japaneseart #agetec #modding #sanwa #sanwadenshi #seimitsu #controller #arcade #retrogamer #instagamer #arcadegame #fightstick #fightinggame #streetfighter #playstation #dreamcast #sega #nintendo #ps2 #gamestagram #retrogaming #gameroom #retrogamingcommunity #oldschoolgaming #gamecollector #arcadegamer #anime https://www.instagram.com/p/CHK42vrn2GO/?utm_medium=tumblr

[simon-newman]

Newman’s Anime Reviews - Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Hello and welcome again to the 2nd of my 2021 anime challenge review.

For February I’ve watched something that my friends were trying to make me watch for years.

It might actually be more than a decade that I’ve been putting this title off and they were quick to add this to my challenge list once the opportunity arised.

Were they right to recommend this title to me? Should I have watched this anime earlier? Those 10 years ago?

Perhaps. Still - I’m coming here with mixed feelings on this show. But… I’ll talk more about it in the review proper.

Today’s title is the 2006’s anime by Sunrise.

  Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

  Now where do I even begin with this show? What even is this? What the hell is happening?

Well…

The Empire of Britannia is one of the 3 major political powers in the world of Code Geass - ruled by the Emperor Charles zi Britannia they invaded the country of Japan 10 years before the start of the plot.

Their absolute military dominance thanks to the use of cool mecha has led to unconditional surrender of Japan which is now known as Area 11.

It is there that our protagonist - Lelouch - the young Britannian student plans to take his revenge on the Emperor himself for what he’s done to him and his wheelchair-bound sister. 

I feel that it is important to put emphasis on this last part here because this is the ultimate motivation for our MC. Something that’ll drive him forward no matter what.

He wants to create a safe world for his sister. That’s it.

Need to protecc.

  The question that remains is: How?

How do a teenage boy banished to one of the colonies is supposed to change the world and cause a major power shift?

We get first glimpse at his supposed skill almost immediately - with Lelouch easily defeating an adult player in the game of chess. Nothing much so far but it’s an indication of his real power “shown” later on.

Lelouch is a genius… Or at least this is what the anime tries to convey to us. He is clearly smart and a gifted strategist with lots of charisma and a penchant for theatrics.

However - this is still not enough. That’s why something happens to push our protagonist forward at this stage. In a weird turn of events, a run in with anti-britannian terrorists and a top secret research subject Lelouch obtains the titular Geass.

What is a Geass? It is a power gifted to an individual which in case of Lelouch allows him to give anyone he establishes an eye contact with a single command that this person must follow.

This is actually one of the tame ones.

  From there on Lelouch joins and reforms the “terrorists” into “Black Knights” - a Rebellion led by his alter-ego the masked man called Zero - and starts executing his plan to take revenge… I mean to make the world a safe place for Nunnally.

From there we follow Lelouch as his Rebellion grows while he himself learns the limits and drawbacks of his power and tries his best to hide his identity as Zero.

Initially the show is quite entertaining - especially when it comes to battle scenes where we get to see Lelouch improbable planning and tactical skills at work. As for the other parts…

Yeah… I should have watched this show those 10 years ago because right now the parts with MC’s school life just don’t do this for me… They really slow down the plot and while they do serve the purpose of establishing various plot-important details it’s just... 

Well the pacing sucks.

Without any breaks and just the action sequences the anime would be very much rushed but the break parts at school just go on forever, developing into trivial stories used to deliver some little bit of exposition or character development. The balance is off and the show doesn’t get better until the mid point…

Speaking of which…

Nice mountain you’ve got there...

  There’s a major shift that happens somewhere in the mid-point of the anime that is bothering me to this day.

Who is the bad guy?

It might seem like a trivial question to many.

Obviously it’s Britannia! With their world conquest, asshole Emperor, warmongering royals, discrimination of conquered nations they call Numbers (in case of Japanese it’s “Elevens”) and engaging in wanton destruction and genocide for no good reason. They’re basically the Nazis.

With the above in mind there’s nothing wrong with Lelouch being willing to use all means at his disposal to achieve his goals… Right?

Monsters need to be stopped.

That was kinda the thing until the Battle of Narita where the Black Knights’ tactics caused the destruction of a town.

Now - this by itself could have been used to drive the point home with the Rebellion losing a lot of PR. After all the town was in the JLF controlled territory, inhabited by the Elevens and stuff…

Well. You see - the creators of the show didn’t think that was enough and/or missed the opportunity.

First of all - there’s no PR backlash for the Black Knights whatsoever. Nobody cares. The Britannian are now leading the rescue and recovery operations in the area and… It’s just weird. Why would they suddenly bother?

Secondly - it suddenly turns out that the people in the enemy-controlled territory were… Britannians? SOMEHOW. This is made to inflict personal level suffering to MC and some other characters as one of the character’s relatives dies in the event.

Third of all - after this very point there’s a major change. We no longer get to see Britannians committing atrocities but do get Lelouch crossing line after a line in the pursuit of his goals.

I think the creators realized that to make it appear more grey vs grey they can’t show Britannians as complete monsters but… It really doesn’t feel to occur naturally here. Were the person in charge of Britannians change again? Yes - I could accept that they are a better person than the previous leader. It isn’t so. And even if it was it wouldn’t undo their previous actions and made the characters that stayed seem really inconsistent.

It’s a major turn off for me when consistency in storytelling takes a back seat for a point to be made.

Because Zero’s not edgy enough without it I guess...

  There’s also another kind of inconsistency here when it comes to battles.

The cool mecha used by the Britannians are… Well. In the early parts they seem indestructible until the plot demands they’re not.

At first it seems that only other mecha have the weapons that can affect them. Then we see that some weapons do work BUT it is only when MC is commanding the battle.

It’s a magic wand that removes the plot armor from Britannians whenever Lelouch is there and often gives them to the allies.

Often - being the key word here.

One good thing is that it doesn’t stick. Plot-important characters don’t die but they are not immune to damage either. The mechas often get wrecked and require fixing. Lelouch himself is subject to this quite often as he’s not an outstanding pilot like others on his side.

It is thanks to that aspect of the action parts that the anime is not becoming one-sided and remains entertaining. You’re drawn to it to see what’s happening because it’s not just another battle.

Yes... Really entertaining battles...

  I think it is becoming apparent what’s the issue here.

There are a lot of things done wrong with this anime. Things that don’t necessarily break it but I can’t just overlook them. Things that are putting me off. Inconsistency, bad pacing, weird editing where some scenes are cut extremely abruptly - as if to reduce time. 

There’s also the usual issue of geniuses written by people who are not geniuses. Lelouch brilliancy is only guaranteed by the fact that people on the other side will do something stupid. Some of his actions are not the brightest and some are just downright stupid and easily could lead to his downfall were his enemies to have half a brain. Or worse - one action is such a poor choice it simply falls apart on it’s own - and you could expect it to the moment “it” happens (is there a point in keeping spoilers on this show? I’m talking about Geasing Shirley).

There’s also the braindead Suzaku - a subject so controversial on the Internet that I’ve hesitated to touch it here and decided to only reduce it to a small paragraph.

Yes. Suzaku is an idealistic foil to Lelouch. He serves his purpose. BUT. His idealism is stupid - not by the virtues he’s holding but by remaining blind to what is happening around him. He wants to end the discrimination without using violence but the Britannians are killing Elevens for no reason whatsoever. Time and time again the side he’s on goes against his principles and he still sticks to them. It is becoming less and less possible to emphasise with him with each incidence.

Still - there was a certain charm to this anime. It was fun to watch and only getting better the farther in I’ve gotten.

Not including the school drama.

All in all the score I was about to give was still going to be pretty low at this point. The anime was decent but far too flawed for my tastes… That was when the last story arc started.

The pizza...

  I must say. The rug was pulled from under my feet.

Those events were really unexpected. Emotionally draining and yet entertaining as nothing before in this show.

So many lines have been crossed in an instant - there was no return. Not anymore. Shit was happening and it was a spectacle to watch. Some men just want to see the world burn. Duh. I watched events unfold and I enjoyed it very much until the very end.

The end of a 1st season that assured I WILL watch the 2nd one when I find the time (I didn’t so that it wouldn’t affect this review).

All in all - the show’s grand finale is the high point that offsets all the problems I’ve talked about earlier. It is simply done perfectly.

And speaking of endings. It is time to finally end this review as well...

 Final Score: 7/10  

Status: Completed Season 1

Sentence: Lelouch vi Britannia commands you: Watch Season 2!

Previous: Kimetsu no Yaiba

[xjoseylynnex]

2:24am thoughts

Sleep can be a difficult thing for some people. Sometimes one cannot quiet their mind enough to rest. So they lie awake staring at their ceiling, watching the nonexistent stars flicker. They let all the noises just pass through, like a crickets song in summer time. Wondering if they can possibly get what most people call “sleep.” Sad thing is they don’t mind if they don’t get any. They’re use to it, not resting. Maybe tomorrow will be different, maybe they’ll sleep during the day, maybe they just won’t sleep at all till their body collapses. But either way, they remain laying on their bed, staring at the ceiling with a peaceful aura around them, and a constant chaos in their mind.

-jlf

[author-aj-jacobson]

I am an author of Adult Dark fantasy, avid reader, fantasy junkie.

I have loved reading since before I can remember and have always avidly consumed fantasy, anything with any kind of fantasy element I loved. then I developed my love the mythical creatures I fell in love with the idea of mermaids when I first watched the Australian tv series H20 Just Add Water and my love for fantasy, mythical creatures and legends only grew when I watched Avatar The Last Airbender, what can I say I was a cliché child of the early 2010s then that obsession only grew as when I started learning about the legends and folklore from all around the world, which of most were fairly dark and twisted, of which said creatures originated from this also presented me with the opportunity to explore other cultures and legends and interpretations of these creatures, not long after all this began I found out that writing dark tales featuring these creatures and legends was surprisingly even more enjoyable than reading those stories.

When not writing I can be found avidly consuming Netflix and books, learning more about the legends and myths that started my love for my sub-genre and Interesting fact about me I have two other pen names I write middle grade under J Jacobson, young adult and new adult fantasy under JLF Jacobson

[inevitably-johnlocked]

JLF Reqs: Do They Know They’re in a Relationship?

@extrasupercelestrial​ said: Do you know of any fics where John and Sherlock are in a relationship but Sherlock has no idea? Those are my fav! Thanks :)

Hi Lovely!

Ahhhhhh you know what? I’m... not sure??? I can recall a few, though moreso for John, that kind of fit this description:

A Need To Know Basis by mattsloved1 (G, 934 w. || Humour, Romance) – As the cab door shut firmly, the DI had yelled out they were to make an appearance at Scotland Yard the next day. It was while John watched London pass by that it happened.

Acceptable Behaviour by bbcatemysoul (M, 3,449 w. || Fluff, Dev. Rel., Miscommunication, First Time) – Sherlock isn't really sure why John wants to shag him, but he's certain that if he's careful to behave properly about it, John can be persuaded to keep doing it. In other news, John is a good boyfriend and Sherlock is an idiot.

Five Times John Noticed But Didn't Really by ScandalousMinds (T, 6,383 w. || Domestics, Fluff/Angst, Bratty Sherlock, Idiots, Pre-Slash, Jealous Sherlock, Love Confessions) – 5 times John (thought) he noticed something peculiar about his and Sherlock's relationship but really missed the obvious.

On the Losing Side by missselene (E, 8,210 w. || Anal / Oral, First Kiss / Time, Angst, Misunderstandings, Mild Dub Con / Drunk John) – After Mary's death, John moves back into Baker Street, but is still upset at the loss of his wife and child. Eventually, he and Sherlock stumble into a sort of relationship, but it's more physical than anything and they don't talk about it. They especially don't talk during sex. If they are going to have sex, Sherlock notices the signs hours beforehand, and he prepares carefully. The lights are off, they're under the covers, he prepares himself using lots of lube so he can make it feel as much like a woman as he can, and he doesn't let himself make any noise so that, if John wishes, he can pretend that he's still with Mary.

Bread and Wine and Curry Once a Week by cwb (E, 8,737 w. || Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Stroppy Sherlock, Love Letters, POV John) – Sherlock asks John for relationship advice. Little does he know that it’s him that Sherlock is in love with.

Dear John by wendymarlowe (E, 23,031 w. || Post-TRF, Online Dating, Pining, Epistolary, Cybersex, Long Distance Romance) – With Sherlock dead, John eventually (under duress) makes a profile on an online dating site. And falls into a long-distance relationship with an enigmatic partner who reminds him of Sherlock in all the right ways. (Hint: it turns out to be Sherlock.) Part 1 of Dear John

----------

If any of my lovelies can point out fics I missed, please, let me know! <3

[jlf23tumble]

I was tagged by @homosociallyyours to answer a few questions, and I’m taking a mini break(down) from a truly hellacious work project, so let’s go!!

Birthday: March 11 (It’s coming soon, shower me in love)

Zodiac sign: Pisces (sun), Capricorn (moon), no clue what’s rising/falling (Aries in Mercury...is good, I guess??????? Help me, Blake Kenobi)

Height: 5'8″, but I could stand a good stretch

Last song listened to: Usher’s terrible version of Little Red Corvette from the grammys, and I’m doin’ my best to scrub it

Hobbies: fighting both google and pinterest to find dumb pictures of One Direction on the Internet, creating niche sideblogs, reading, hiking, hangin’ with friends and fam, roadtrippin’, exploring cities whenever I can, making up excuses for why I don’t have time to stretch my shoulders out

Last movie I watched: The Rise of Skywalker! I usually have horrifically outdated answers for this one because I never go to the movies, but I had to see my finnpoe (stormpilot??) play out one last time on a jumbo screen, and boy, did they deliver, so subversive!!

Favorite color: anything bright or flashy, hot pink, gold, orange, peacock blue, etc.

Favorite book: I’m gonna go basic white lady, bb, and say Pride and Prejudice!! A classic! Always holds up! 

Dream job: For all my bitching, I’m actually doing it, I’d just love to get paid a helluva lot more for it so I could take as much time off as I wanted to, zero worries about cash, and wander around the world, visiting friends and family whenever I felt the urge

Meaning behind my URL: I answered this one last week, but here it is again! My first job outta college gave me jlf23 as my email handle (because there were 22 jlf’s in front of me, which was wild in a lot of ways), so it keeps me humble, it’s easy for me to remember, and it’s really hard for assholes to asterisk out and have it make any goddamned sense, so I like it on a lot of levels

I’m gonna randomly tag some folks, but please do consider yourself tagged, too!! @pattern-pals, @statementsue, @sedfierisentio, @dykes4louis, @42mins, @newleafover, @alienfuckeronmain, @setsailtomorrow, @vibey-lesbian, @kerasines, @thewindmakesnicewaves, @harryincamp, @silverfoxlouis

[jadelotusflower]

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!

[bittysvalentines]

Switcheroo

From: @justlookfrightened

To: @happyzimm

I tried to give you some mild angst, through the eyes of both Jack and Bitty, with a happy ending.

No real content warnings, although sexual activity is discussed.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Happyzimm! I had a lot of fun looking through your blog before I wrote it. I hope you like it!

JLF

Switcheroo

Jack woke up and stretched. He felt … lighter than usual. Not as sore, anyway. Well, last night had been good. Really good.

He reached over to run a hand down Bitty’s side, to see if he would be amenable to waking early. Maybe reprise last night.

But when he reached over to where Bitty should be, his hand bumped the back of a shoulder rather than dropping onto Bitty’s arm. It was like Bitty had grown several inches broader across the shoulders overnight.

Jack opened his eyes and nearly jumped out of bed. Whoever that was, it wasn’t Bitty. The man was turned away so Jack couldn’t see his face, but he was big and had messy dark hair.

Then Jack saw his own hand. Or the hand attached to his arm, which was definitely not his. It was small, with slim, tapering fingers. The hair on the back of it was barely visible in the clear morning light. Blond. It was blond.

Instead of caressing his boyfriend, Jack used his small hand to prod the man’s shoulder.

“Wake up,” he whispered.

The man grumbled – a deep voice, not Bitty’s tenor – and turned over, opening ice-blue eyes.

Then he scrambled to a sitting position, arms and legs flailing.

Whoever it was was in Jack’s body, complete with pale skin, the bruise over his ribs from the Bruins game, and stretch marks that were visible as the man pulled his thighs to his chest, eyes raking over Jack.

“Jack?” the man asked in Jack’s own voice. “You look like me.”

“Bitty?” Jack said, relief flooding him at the sound of Bitty’s drawl, even if the pitch and timbre of the voice was all wrong.

“What happened?” Bitty asked, looking down at himself. “You’re … me? And I’m you?”

“I still feel like me,” Jack said. “But, yeah, it looks you have my body, and I have yours.”

***********************

Jack had to move the seat in his truck up almost as far as it would go to drive Bitty to Samwell. Actually, to drive himself to Samwell. Where he would go to Bitty’s class on the creation of consumer society and take Bitty’s French quiz.

“I can’t go,” Bitty said. “Madame Battier knows me. Or what I look like. And you can’t go to practice looking like that.”

“I don’t know, bud,” Jack said. “I think I look pretty good.”

Jack had spent extra time in the shower, getting familiar with Bitty’s body. So many things were different: The angle of the shower head was all wrong, and the front of his hair drooped into his eyes when it got wet. His toothbrush felt too big for his mouth, and when he went to shave, he realized it really wasn’t necessary.

He wore a pair of Bitty’s skinny jeans, which were more comfortable than he expected, with a black T-shirt and a flannel shirt that didn’t fit him (Jack) any more. Bitty had to help him get his hair right.

Bitty found a pair of blue sneakers in the back of Jack’s closet, refusing to wear Jack’s favorite yellow shoes. He’d pulled on a pair of Jack’s tailored jeans and a sweater, with Jack’s usual athletic gear in a gym bag in the back of the truck.

Bitty had accompanied Jack to morning skate often enough to know the Falconers’ routines. He was a good skater, a good hockey player, and he knew Jack’s style of play better than anyone.

When Jack pulled up in front of the Haus, he pulled Bitty’s messenger bag from the back seat, then tried to kiss Bitty goodbye. Except he forgot he had to look up.

“Up here,” Bitty said. “Ugh. I still sound like me, don’t I? It’s your voice and my accent. I’ll just try not to talk much to the Falcs. They’ll believe I’m you if I just grunt at them, won’t they?”

“Haha,” Jack said. “I’m planning to stay out of the Haus as much as I can. You have practice tonight, right? Maybe we can meet up and try to switch back before then.”

“And how are we gonna do that?”

“You know how last night was so good?” Jack said. “I thought maybe that’s what did it. I mean, I felt like we really connected. Maybe if we do it again, we’ll switch back.”

“You think we should …”

“Well, yeah,” Jack said.

“And not just because you want to try that in opposite bodies?”

“Not just because of that,” Jack said, then watched ablush rise in his own face, and saw himself giggle before Bitty leaned down to kiss him and climbed in the truck and drove away.

***********************

Of course Tater was the first person Bitty saw when he arrived for morning skate. Of course he wolf-whistled at what was really a very unexceptional outfit. The only reason it looked good was the body inside it, and Bitty couldn’t take any credit for that.

But Tater didn’t know that.

“Looking good, Zimmboni,” he said. “B picked out your clothes today?”

Bitty snickered – drawing a strange look from Tater – and said, “Something like that.”

“Is B coming to the game tonight?” Tater asked. “He’ll bring pie? Or jam? Or cookies?”

“Uh, I don’t think so,” Bitty said. “I think he has practice.”

“He was here, I think,” Tater said. “You sound like him, a little bit.”

Dang. Bitty shrugged. “He went back to Samwell this morning.”

Then he ducked into the locker room to change.

Warm-ups in the gym weren’t bad – between watching the other guys and knowing Jack’s routines, Bitty did alright at imitating Jack. Until he tried to lean over to stretch and couldn’t reach his ankles. How did Jack even move around like that?

Skating like Jack was more difficult. Jack was a good skater, clean and efficient in his use of edges, but he was all power. Any grace was a side effect of his commitment to getting from Point A to Point B in the straightest line possible.

Which was not at all how Bitty skated. He was powerful too, but he put his momentum to use, swinging around defenders, going right when they thought he’d go left, spinning away from defensemen instead of skating through them.

He thanked whatever deity was looking down on him that he was mostly over his checking problem, and soon realized that both giving and taking hits felt far different in Jack’s bigger body.

He thought he was succeeding at skating like Jack until he was faced with Guy looming in front of him. He deked around him, spun off of Thirdy and carried the puck in on Snowy, leaving much of the team slack-jawed in his wake.

“It’s just practice,” Thirdy said. “No need to show everyone else up, right?”

Bitty looked back, suddenly uncertain, and Thirdy grinned to show there were no hard feelings, but it looked a little shaky. Because, yeah, morning skate before a game was not the time to make the Falconers’ defensemen question their skills. And it wasn’t Thirdy’s fault; he had been expecting Jack to skate like Jack.

“What’d you have for breakfast?” Marty said. “You’re spinning around like your boyfriend.”

“B was here,” Tater chimed in.

“Then maybe don’t tell me what you ate,” Marty said. “But keep it up, kiddo.”

He kept to himself and thanked his lucky stars that Jack wasn’t the motivational speech kind of captain while he stripped out of his gear and headed for the shower. Then he dressed for the fourth time that day. No wonder Jack favored athletic clothes with as few fasteners as possible.

Bitty joined the lunch line, loading his plate with chicken (bland), sweet potatoes (baked) and steamed asparagus and broccoli. He was starving like he used to be when he was thirteen and had just started working with Katya five days a week. Jack must feel like this every day.

He took his lunch to the end of one of the tables, hoping the team would get the message and leave him alone.

“You okay?” Marty asked, speaking softly as he approached. “If I was over the line before, implying – well, if I went too far, I’m sorry.

“I’m fine,” Bitty said.

“Are you sure? Because you’re usually in a better mood when Bitty’s been in town,” Marty said. “You don’t really seem like yourself.”

You don’t know the half of it, Bitty thought.

“Yeah, I don’t feel quite right,” was all he said.

“Do you think you can play tonight?” Marty asked.

“Yeah,” Bitty said. “I’ll go home and nap and – and I’ll be fine by the game. Y’all don’t have to worry.”

Bitty re-ran the sentence in his head when he saw Marty’s delighted look. Dang.

“Y’all?” Marty said. “That kid really is rubbing off on you.”

“Haha,” Bitty deadpanned.

There was a brief film session after lunch, which Bitty tried to pay attention to, even though he was sure Jack had watched these clips last night. Then, mercifully, he could head for Samwell.

***********************

Pick me up at Annie’s? Jack texted.

He’d tried to avoid Bitty’s team, but it seemed like wherever he went on campus, he was accosted by someone Bitty knew. Nursey waved from across the quad, and Dex walked the last stretch to the history building with him, complaining about his own history class all the way. At least Dex didn’t seem offended that Bitty wasn’t talking much.

Then a woman – Jack thought it was Shruti, the women’s rugby captain – caught up to him near the D-hall, followed him to a table, and started talking about a joint fundraiser for a local charity.

Jack knew the event was happening – Bitty had been talking about for the past month – but it hadn’t seemed like something Jack needed to retain details about, especially since the details Bitty went on about were mostly what he could make for a bake sale.

After ten minutes, Shruti seemed less than impressed with his (Bitty’s) commitment to the project. That really wasn’t fair, because Bitty had probably done everything he promised. Probably at the expense of his schoolwork, even.

“Look,” Jack broke in. “I have to go study for my French quiz, but would it help if I got Jack to come and sign autographs and take selfies and such?”

Shruti pulled up short.

“That’d be great,” she finally said. “But you said at the beginning of the year that one thing you would not do was bring your boyfriend into things like this. ‘He deserves to live a normal life,’ I believe you said.”

Jack shrugged.

“The cause means a lot to him,” he ventured.

“Providing feminine hygiene supplies to a domestic violence shelter means a lot to him?”

Her disbelief was plain.

“Well, yeah,” Jack said. “Did you ever meet Shitty Knight? He played with Jack all four years.”

“Shitty who now?”

Anyway, Jack didn’t trust himself to go to the Haus.

He was standing outside Annie’s with his herbal tea, looking for his truck, when Chowder ran up to him, calling and waving.

“Bitty! Bitty, did you get the message?” he was saying.

“Uh, no?” Jack said.

“No practice. There’s a problem with the boards at Faber,” Chowder said. “You know – new Zamboni driver and all.”

“Okay,” Jack said.

“So I was wondering if maybe you’d make –”

Jack didn’t let Chowder finish.

“I think I’ll take the free night to see Jack’s game,” he said.

“Oh, okay,” Chowder said, still cheerful. “Oh, is that why you have the tea? Did you already know? Tell Jack good luck!”

“I will,” Jack promised as his truck appeared. Crap. He should have gotten a latte for Bitty.

“See you tomorrow!” Chowder said as Jack climbed in the passenger seat.

***********************

The attempt to switch back didn’t work.

With practice being canceled, It seemed like the universe was paving the way for them.

But when they got back to Jack’s condo, and tried to find the connection they’d felt in bed the night before, it just wasn’t there.

First, they had to decide just how to do things. Did it matter who had done what, or just what body had done what? When it came to some things, they just decided to play it safe and try it both ways. They couldn’t do everything like that, both because there was such a thing as a refractory period and because Jack had a game in a few hours.

Maybe they still could have found the connection, if they tried hard enough, but Jack found it distracting to feel things the way Bitty did, to find spots on Bitty’s body that he hadn’t yet discovered were extra sensitive. Bitty seemed thrown by having a bigger body than he was used to.

“Oh, my gosh, look at us,” Bitty said. He had Jack’s body curled around Bitty’s body, and Jack found the sense of being surrounded oddly comfortable. “I can cup your rear end in my hands.”

“It’s your rear end,” Jack protested. “And we knew it fit in my hands. I do that all the time.”

“I know, and now I can see why,” Bitty said. “It’s kind of fun.”

“It’s a nice feeling from here, too,” Jack said. “But I guess I never asked – is it okay that l like to do that? Do you like it?”

“Sweetpea, of course I do,” Bitty said. “You know how nice it feels now, and if I didn’t like it, I would have said. Don’t worry yourself. You’ve got a game tonight.”

“Looks like you might have a game, bud,” Jack said. “If we don’t switch back. What do you say we both get some sleep?”

“That’s probably smart,” Bitty said. “After all, we were asleep when it happened.”

***********************

Bitty knew he was still in Jack’s body when he woke up. His own body never ached so much. He slipped out of bed to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, using the whole-grain bread he baked especially for Jack, the organic peanut butter and Aunt Judy’s strawberry jam.

He was staring at the sandwich when Jack stumbled out of the bedroom.

“You’d better get ready to go, bud,” he said. “You need to wear a suit.”

“I can’t do this, Jack,” Bitty said. “Going to morning skate and team lunch is one thing. This is a game. I can’t do this.”

“Yes, you can,” Jack said. “You belong out there more than I do right now. I don’t know exactly what happened, but Marty texted to see if I was feeling better, and he said, ‘As long as you skate like this morning, you’ll be fine.’”

“But I don’t play like you.”

“Just try,” Jack said. “Play like me as much as you can, but if you can do a spinorama and make a shot, feel free. You’re a good player, Bits. I’ll be there watching; I texted George to get a ticket for you.”

An hour later, Eric walked into the arena, dressed in Jack’s charcoal gray suit with his favorite blue tie. He changed again – for the the sixth time? – and took the ice for warm-ups. He didn’t look for Jack in the crowd. He just skated his circles and took his shots, and made sure to make encouraging noises at the rookies.

Then the game was starting and Bitty skated into position across from Foligno for the faceoff.

He lost it and had to chase the puck. The Jackets passed it around until Poots managed a steal and Bitty chipped it down ice and came off.

He won his first faceoff on his third shift, mostly by not thinking about it and letting Jack’s hands do what Jack’s hands did.

By the middle of the second period, the game was tied 1-1. Bitty didn’t feel like he (Jack) was having his best game, but he was holding his own. Then Thirdy leaned over and said, “Skate like this morning, man. You gotta get around them.”

So Bitty did. He won a faceoff from Foligno, passed to Poots at the blue line and headed into the zone past Savard. Then he took the pass back, spun away from Johnson, and buried the puck over Bobrovsky’s right shoulder.

His hands were still in the air when he realized he wasn’t on the ice. He was on his feet, in the stands, wearing his own jeans and Jack’s jersey over a T-shirt, cheering for himself. His eyes were on Jack, now on the ice, looking right where Bitty was sitting.

He pointed at Bitty, skated past the bench for fist-bumps, and lined up for the faceoff.

Bitty pointed back and sat down to enjoy the rest of the game.

***********************

Jack pointed at Bitty in the stands, embraced Poots, and headed for the faceoff dot.

He didn’t know how he got here from the stands, but he wasn’t about to question it.

Later, driving back to the condo, Jack said, “Congratulations on your first NHL goal.”

“Not really,” Bitty said.

“Yes, really,” Jack said. “You might have been in my body, but it was all you. Maybe that was the point of the switch – for you to know you could do that.”

“Maybe,” Bitty said. “But the NHL was never my dream. Maybe the point was for you to know I could do it.”

“I always knew that, bud,” Jack said.

“Do the words ‘checking practice’ and ‘lucky shot’ ring any bells?”

“Okay, not always, but for a long time,” Jack said.

“Maybe it’s just – the ice is how we met, and how we got to know each other, and how we came out,” Bitty said. “Maybe it’s just a little ice magic for us, because on the ice is when we’re most ourselves.”

“Maybe,” Jack said. “I’m glad we’re back to normal, though. I’ve missed looking at you.”

[logophilia-education]

At the Jaipur Literature Festival 2019 Logophilia was expecting almost complete anonymity, with this being our first time, and with us having zero celebrity value. 😁 But life has cool ways of surprising one, when least anticipated. On the very first day, when we were walking around with vacant glances and lost looks, we were suddenly greeted with squeals of "Dhruv Sir!"! ❤️❤️❤️ A whole battalion of our favourite Sunbeam Schools was right there, with familiar faces delighted to see their favourite Black Kurtas! 😍😍😍 Out went the vacant glances and the lost looks! This was home! ❤️❤️❤️ These kids were so sweet! They probably took pity on us (or not) and asked us for autographs and selfies! And, there it was: our 15 minutes of fame! 😍😍😍 Meet Saurabh, Shweta, Ashish, and Neha! Beautiful people, accompanying those beautiful kids! ❤️❤️❤️ Thank you, Sunbeam, for making Logophilia feel at home, away from home! After you flagged us off we ran into a surprisingly large number of people who knew Logophilia! You helped us take off our cloak of invisibility! ❤️❤️❤️ ________________________________ Want to watch @dhruvrajsharma speaking at JLF? 😍😎😍 Click here: https://youtu.be/Z71Z-39sscs ____________________________________ 2018 © Logophilia Education Pvt. Ltd. #Etymology #LogophiliaBooks #VocabularyBooks #Notebooks #follow #EnglishEtymology #EtymologyEducation #WordOrigins #Understand #LogophiliaWorkshops #FEW #PSP #WorkWithLogophilia #LogophiliaIsHiring #StudyWithLogophilia #Education #Allahabad #UttarPradesh #India #LogophiliaMerch #JaipurLiteratureFestival #JLF #Jaipur #Literature #Festival #DhruvRajSharma #LogophiliaTalks (at Jaipur Literature Festival) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtsQtEond0T/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=6xhbfc349lq3

[eachainn]

Picking up the Pieces

Lelouch stared at the blank search field, his hands hovering above the keyboard.

He knew better than this, it was the same thing every time. There was a list of people he shouldn’t search, because it would just remind him of everyone that he was distancing himself from. It had been bad enough watching their reactions when they thought that he was dead, Lelouch didn’t want to see them moving on with their lives. It was his own fault for choosing this course, but it was the best that he could muster. He knew that he could bring Julius to Japan, it was just a matter of manipulating things the right way. If it was helping Japan, so much the better. It was what he had been sent out to do. Now at least he didn’t have to pretend that he was obeying the emperor’s rules. Because of that, everything required more thought and planning, more than enough to keep him busy.

It didn’t make the lingering ache go away.

He took a deep breath and gave in, starting with Nunnally’s name. His sister at least he could look at without feeling too much guilt. Nunnally was the darling of the media, so he could at least get a snapshot of what she was doing. And he would stop himself there. If he went too deep, then he would start to feel his resolve crumble.

Lelouch breathed out as the search results came up. He scrolled through the articles, most of them the same.

Princess Nunnally Opens Children’s Hospital.

Princess Nunnally Participates in Charity Book Drive.

Princess Nunnally Opens Britannian Special Olympics.

Princess Nunnally Speaks to Victims of Earthquake.

Lelouch sighed, scrolling through the articles. Something in him settled that Nunnally was continuing on with her life, and with no restrictions. The only new things that he could see were the additions of one new guard always hovering just behind her and Euphemia at her side. It was rare to see Nunnally alone now, which was a good thing.

Lelouch scrolled down further, freezing at a video that came up.

Princess Nunnally Speaks on the One Year Anniversary About the Death of Prince Lelouch.

For a moment, he was tempted to click on it, but he stopped himself. He wouldn’t be able to bear it, not when it was Nunnally. He didn’t want to hear about everything that she missed about him and everything that he was missing.

He closed his eyes, taking a few breaths before redirecting his attention. Nunnally was fine, and he expected that he would find nothing on Rolo, which was exactly what he wanted. His younger brother would have been thrown back to the way he had been when Clara had died. He needed time to recover without being shoved in the world to have the same questions demanded of him. His death was not excuse to harass his family, although Lelouch was sure that it hadn’t stopped anything.

Lelouch ran a hand down his face, leaning back in his chair. He glanced over at the clock, watching the time run down. There was a meeting in a few hours, one that would determine the way that they moved forward. Lelouch had his own plans about how it would happen, but his days of being the only ones calling the shots were over.

It rankled him, but he couldn’t push on this. He might be able to talk down the leaders of the JLF, but not Tohdoh. The miracle worker was a legend in the mind of the Japanese people. Zero hadn’t achieved that yet. It might take years to do so.

Lelouch ignored the way that his heard pounded at the thought. They might be able to hold Britannia back and keep them at bay, but without an agreement of the government in the future they would not be able to keep it up forever. Without Charles dying or Clovis giving in, they would be crushed when Britannia turned her attention to them.

He curled his hand in his lap, not daring to look at it. His resolve was firm. There were only two ways to stay alive, which was to remain in hiding or to kill his brother. By attempting to do both at once he hoped that he would be able to go home faster, because he ached for it.

He missed the gardens, the halls, his family. Suzaku.

Lelouch jerked forward, his hands hovering over the keyboard before he could stop himself. He stared at the blinking curser, his fingers twitching as he found against the urge. The last time he had looked up Suzaku it had been the news that the knight would be escorting Julius to the EU. He had stormed away then, because he hadn’t been able to handle seeing his brother’s smug smirk.

At least it reassured him that his ruse was working. No matter how much the media focused on Zero and the Black Knights, or the other rebellions that were springing up because of them, not one had looked for Prince Lelouch vi Britannia. After all, no one looked for the dead.

Lelouch took a few deep breaths before jerking his hands down. Looking up Suzaku wouldn’t help him, nor would chasing down references to his mother. He wouldn’t be able to handle seeing her trying to keep herself going.

He never looked up Julius.

That left him with what he should be doing, which was digging into the new members that they had liberated from the Britannian jail. He needed to know how to use them, what problems they would bring up, what they were more likely to do when presented with their plans. Lelouch had wished that their rescue had been more impressive, but it had been easy to slip in and out because Clovis had taken the bait. He was almost disappointed in his older brother that he could be tricked so easily. Then again, there were rumors that the viceroy was jumping at shadows now, which could work in their favor. Clovis might be more inclined to agree with terms to just bring things to a halt. It was not a permanent victory, but Lelouch was willing to take every advantage he could.

He dropped his hand to either side of the keyboard with a sigh. If that was the case, they needed to think of their terms. Lelouch had avoided thinking about it because it had seemed like a distant thing. The logistics of it also gave in a headache. The Black Knights had grown so quickly and they had been so busy that Lelouch didn’t think that they had become a completely unified force. Still, he could turn that to their advantage. It was just the organization of it all.

Lelouch rubbed a hand over his face, breathing out a long sigh. He looked up at the ceiling, the corner of his lip twitching up. It was nothing more than what he had been planning when he had originally come to Japan. He had just assumed that he would be on the other side. Now that he had spent over a year in Japan, he could see how naïve he had been.

He had imagined that he would come rushing in and easily navigate all the wants and needs of the different factions. Sometimes, he had imagined that he would have managed to beg his father’s permission to reassign Suzaku temporarily, just for his help. It had been a grand thing in his head, something worthy of his father.

It idea annoyed him still, because he hated to do anything to please his father, but there was no question what his plan had been. He wanted to catch Charles’ attention and prove himself right. Prove that everything that Charles had said about Nunnally and Rolo was wrong. At least this way he couldn’t pretend it was only for Nunnally and Rolo anymore.

He drummed his fingers against the desk, staring back at the pictures of his sister. He smiled at her, feeling his stomach twist.

He reached out to brush his fingers over the picture, offering the screen a smile. “I miss you. All of you.”

Lelouch didn’t wait for a response. He jerked his hand away, quickly closing out the window. He didn’t want to tempt himself any longer.

He took a deep breath, staring at the laptop screen before grabbing for his mask. He still had a while before the meeting, but he wouldn’t torment himself any longer. He couldn’t look back at the past, not when there was no much in the future that demanded his attention.

---

Kallen leaned back in her chair with a groan, watching as the exhausted leaders of their group shuffled out of the room. She felt kind of vindictive, because they had brought it on themselves. Zero had offered them the chance to make a rough list of terms and they had jumped on it. They apparently hadn’t thought that they would all have different ideas. It would have been hilarious to watch them all realize that they were in for hours of argument if she hadn’t been stuck in the room with them.

She pushed her chair back so she could kick her feet up on the table, looking over at Tohdoh’s group as someone made a shocked sound. Her gaze jumped immediately to Chiba, but it looked like the woman was one moment away from doing the same. Kallen’s gaze skipped quickly over the other two before landing on where Asahina was staring at her, looking disgusted. Kallen just raised an eyebrow at him, not moving her feet as the rest of the Four Holy Swords collected Asahina and started to leave the room.

Kallen twisted slightly to watch them go, reaching down to grab Yoshida’s hand before he tried to yank her legs down. She held him in place, tipped her head when she saw that Tohdoh had stayed.

The man looked completely asleep, and had been since about halfway through the meeting. Kallen had been envious of him, until he had spoken up and started answering questions. Now, it put her on edge because she couldn’t read him. It was just like Lelouch’s habit of wearing Zero’s mask even in their presence when he didn’t want to discuss something.

She glanced over at their leader, catching Zero with his hand raised towards his mask. He stayed like that for a moment before lowering his hand to rest on the table. “General…”

“Pardon me, Zero, I was just thinking.” Tohdoh opened his eyes, shifting to look at Zero. “Your identity is a secret, and I respect that. These are disruptive times. But you allow them to know.”

Kallen automatically glanced over at where Tamaki would have been, but he had fled the meeting somewhere around hour three. She breathed a sigh of relief, shifting so that she was sitting upright. Her feet slid off of the table, Kallen freezing as Tohdoh’s gaze flicked over to her before it moved over to Zero.

From the position of his mask, Kallen was sure that Zero was looking at Tohdoh. The silence between them stretched for a while before Zero nodded his head. “I do.”

“Why none of the others?”

“These are disruptive times.”

The only sign that Tohdoh didn’t like his own words being thrown back at him was the way that his shoulders twitched. Kallen leaned forward, watching as Tohdoh reached for something before he seemed to remember himself. The man stared at Zero for a moment before ducking his head. “I am grateful for your help, both before and after the hotel incident. You have been more than generous but, if we are going to be partners in this, it would be best to be completely honest.

Kallen started to her feet, about to list out what Tohdoh owed them when Zero threw back his head and laughed. She stared as Zero listed to the side, catching himself against the table. Zero shook his head and looked back at Tohdoh. “What made you uneasy?”

Kallen thought she saw the ghost of a smile cross Tohdoh’s face before the man nodded. “I am a straightforward man. Masks are too much intrigue. For others, it was your accent.”

“And you want to make sure my loyalty is to the Black Knights?”

Tohdoh shrugged. “Some may. I merely want to know why a Britannian is behind the resistance.”

Zero pushed himself away from the table. He started walking across the room, slowing when he passed by Tohdoh. “I have the same opinion of Britannia that you do. As to why I’m here,” Zero turned his head to look at Kallen and the others, “I’m paying back a ransom.”

He moved out of the room leaving Tohdoh to stare after him. The general got to his feet slowly, looking shocked that Zero had just left. Some part of her wanted to laugh, because it was about time that someone experienced the frustration of Lelouch deciding to end a conversation on his own terms.

She sighed and hurried after him.

If he was ducking out of conversations, he had something on his mind. That was well and good, but not while they were talking terms. The word would spread through the Black Knights and they would expect action. She expected action, but she knew Lelouch better. He would wait for the perfect moment to strike. He wouldn’t be able to do that if he was distracted.

Kallen broke into a jog, quickly catching up with him. She made sure to swing out wide to come into his peripheral vision. She had worn the outfit enough herself to know its shortcomings.

It still look him a moment to look at her, Kallen taking that to mean that he was paying attention. “Paying your ransom, really?”

“Isn’t that what I’m doing?” Lelouch made a lazy motion with his hand. “I cheated you out of the money you could have gotten. This is more than adequate to pay it back.”

“Is it? You wanted to do this anyway?”

Lelouch shrugged, the mask turning away from her. Kallen sighed, looking ahead at the hallway. She was sure that no one would be close to the meeting room. If they had any good sense, they would be running far away before someone else came up with another thing to add. Then again, there was another meeting scheduled for next week.

Kallen could only hope that the perfect moment came along before then.

She bit her lip, trying to think what would distract them from the next meeting, but she couldn’t think of anything other than an invasion of the Tokyo Settlement and they had already discussed that. “Zero…what are you planning?”

“Nothing more than we discussed, in that meeting and outside of it. Invasion is still…not manageable.”

“Then why that?”

“Because we have to be prepared for any eventuality.” Lelouch paused and shook his head. “And I’ve been paying attention to Clovis, and he’s getting desperate. Maybe enough for us to win something for ourselves.”

“And you trust him?”

“I trust his desperation. And it’s not like we’re selling our freedom to another country.”

Kallen shook her head. “Britannia will back out.”

“And we will have won ourselves time, or a foothold. Either work. They can’t come after us if the entire empire is rising in revolution.”

Kallen hummed, letting that one slide by. It was a typical Lelouch plan, one that played on the battlefields she didn’t think to look at. That was something she would have to pass onto Ohgi then, to check into the other area. “Maybe we can talk to them.”

Lelouch chuckled, Kallen thinking that he had already reached out. It was just like Lelouch, working ahead of them and reporting back if things went well. Paying off his ransom.

Kallen swallowed, trying to push back the unease. Despite everything, it still raised its head. Lelouch was a Britannian, he was a prince, there was no reason that he would want to do this. His hatred for his brother was explanation enough, even if Kallen couldn’t understand it. She could barely understand why Prince Julius would want to kill Lelouch in the first place. It seemed like the prince had everything that he wanted. After all, what more could a Britannian prince want other than a nation to subjugate and a knight to stand by his side.

She gave Lelouch a speculative glance, trying to fit him into that before giving up. By her definition Lelouch should be content, even if he was doing things a bit backwards. He was breaking a country away from Britannia was people that would never be considered knights.

Kallen took a deep breath, pushing all of that aside. What Lelouch was didn’t matter, because he was different now. Her gut instinct told her that, and she had learned to trust it. She rolled her shoulders, trying to chase the last, lingering soreness from sitting in one position for so long. “So terms?”

[ippnoida]

JLF’s first outing after Covid-19

The 15th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), is hybridly taking place at Clarks Amer, including an on-ground event from 10 to 14 March 2022. The new venue was chosen in accordance with the Rajasthan government’s latest Covid-19 norms and allows for appropriate social distancing measures in view of the pandemic situation. It is the first major literary festival being held in India after the festivity drought caused by the global crisis.

[caption id="attachment_32371" align="alignleft" width="200"]📷 Odissi dancer turned author Ileana Citaristi with her book Odissi and the Geeta Govinda at Jaipur Literature Festival 2022. Photo IPP[/caption]

The festival premises have been beautified with decorations and installations. Necessary Covid-19 precautions are being followed including sanitizer dispensers at key points and entrance areas, distribution of disposable surgical masks throughout the venues, and availability of travel packs of sanitizers at the stages, press rooms, delegate lounge, interaction areas, and conference rooms.

The Festival Bazaar this year is a completely cashless experience in order to minimize the spread of the notorious Coronavirus. Camel milk-based Aadvik Foods products is one of the brands on board this year showcasing its vast range of Camel milk-based chocolates, freeze-dried raw Camel milk powder, Camel milk ghee, Camel milk powder, and Camel colostrum. Tribes India is also displaying its range of traditional arts, crafts, and food products at multiple stalls across the Bazaar. Designer Anam Husain displayed her clothing range, along with Mumbai-based clean protein bar and muesli manufacturer The Whole Truth Foods. The Popular Delhi-based cafe Brown Sugar’s stall offers a scrumptious range of delicacies, along with many other local brands and NGOs showcasing their wares.

[caption id="attachment_32373" align="alignright" width="300"]📷 A live art session at Jaipur Literature Festival 2022. Photo IPP[/caption]

Full Circle has an exclusive stall at JLF 2022 replete with special corners featuring the books by the speakers of the day along with others participating in the hybrid event. There is also an exclusive author-signing area outside the store which gives visitors a chance to interact with literary greats and get their copies signed.

Crowds have turned up in droves from the Pink city as well as adjoining states and the far-flung corners of the country alike – to engage in the literary banter and fumes after the drought of the pandemic. Authors, at large, are again happily interacting with their readers and promoting their books.

The JLF 2022 physical edition has seen international participation from the cultural counselors and mavens of several embassies including Canada, Britain, and Italy. Dainik Bhaskar, Rajasthan Patrika, and many local and national dailies and magazines such as The Week have helped in sponsoring many of the sessions. The JLF manifestation has made many in the literary community and landscape immensely happy for the opportunity to take part in a face-to-face or in-person event after a long time. Watch this space for more!

[zephyrthejester]

Ooh, there’s Shirley’s dad! Poor guy.

Lelouch can only watch the news in tense silence. He doesn’t know what to do. The rebels haven’t recouped in time to launch any sort of attack on Cornelia and/or the hotel, and moreover, such a play would be far too risky against a mind like Cornelia’s. Lelouch doesn’t know what to do. And he knows, deep down, that soon enough the JLF won’t have any further use for their hostages. And when that happens...

Oh my god are you serious

Ohgi brought up the weird clothes in one of the boxes Lelouch had prepared for them. Soooo, I guess Lelouch is getting his rebranding of the rebels underway. The first step, to dress them all up as “Knights for Justice.”

Okay yeah, his love for theatrics is real, and not just mindgames to confuse opponents. What a guy.

...But hey, if everyone starts dressing as snazzily as Zero, I won’t complain.

[jadelotusflower]

Rewatch: Return to Oz (1985)

I've been on a bit of an Oz kick recently, revisiting the original Baum books and of course anticipating Wicked coming out later this year (which I'm managing expectations for to avoid disappointment).

Return to Oz was a staple (and nightmare fuel) for many a millennial childhood, at the tail end of the "dark fantasy" era popularised by The Neverending Story and The Dark Crystal, the antithesis of the Technicolour, musical world of MGM's The Wizard of Oz - a dystopian future that reflects the fracturing of Dorothy's mind and her inability to reconcile the trauma of her previous Kansas-Oz journey.

Return lives in a sort of mirror world to the 1939 film, taking elements such as the ruby slippers (for which Disney had to pay MGM a hefty fee), but returning to the original illustrations for the character designs, and drawing inspiration from Baum's novels but not explicitly adapting them. It also returns Dorothy to a child rather than Garland's quasi-teenager, which is important as I feel Baum (an advocate of women's suffrage) had a keen interest in the empowerment of girls as the heroes of their own stories.

To evoke that other turn of the century fantasy classic, Dorothy is to early modern American folklore as Alice is to English, and if The Wizard of Oz is Wonderland, Return to Oz is Through the Looking Glass. In fact Return relies heavily on the mirror motif, not only literally, in the mirror that entraps Ozma, but Ozma herself as a mirror to Dorothy. Return also takes the Kansas/Oz dichotomy from the film in reflecting people Dorothy knows in Kansas to characters of Oz (a concept not found in the books), but while in Wizard it’s Dorothy’s trio of friends that are personified in the Scarecrow, Tinman, and Cowardly Lion, in Return it is her trio of antagonists from Kansas who appear in Oz - the Dr Worley/The Nome King, Nurse Wilson/Mombi, and the Orderly/Wheeler.

Her Oz friends in Return are instead pulled from inanimate objects - Ozma gives her a pumpkin that personifies in Jack Pumpkinhead, Tik-Tok resembles the "Electrical Therapy" machine with the face, and the gump...well, I guess they forgot about that one.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Fairuza Balk was just 11 but has a compelling screen presence - her Dorothy is troubled and serious, befitting the overall darker tone of the film. While she would go on to embody "witchy" energy in later roles, here there's a world-weariness yet innate strength to her Dorothy.

Aunt Em helpfully tells us it's been six months since the tornado and Dorothy can't sleep. Her body may be back in Kansas, but her mind remains in Oz.

The film doesn't really pick a lane between the "it was all a dream" of the 1939 film and the "Oz is an actual place" of the books, leaving it for the viewer to decide. We are told the old house was "lost" but that can suit either interpretation, same with the OZ key being either delivered by shooting star or the key to the old house (as Em posits). Dorothy's inability to sleep is either unresolved trauma from the tornado, or longing to return to her friends in Oz and/or sensing that there is trouble in Oz.

I'm much more sympathetic to Em as an adult - she has a husband unable or unwilling to finish building the new house, Dorothy won't stop rabbiting on about nonsense rather than helping with chores, and she has to borrow money from her sister to pay for medical treatment to try and cure Dorothy's insomnia.

Justice for Aunt Em! Played with grace by three-time Oscar nominee Piper Laurie (for The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God respectively).

Poor Toto doesn't get to come on this adventure, but hey, he's still around, guess Mrs Gulch didn't make good on her threat to have him destroyed (or she died in the tornado, which is probably likely given the Witch's fate).

Just a guy patronizing a child that the machine intended to surge electricity through her brain is perfectly safe because it has a face.

But there is a face in the machine - Ozma, stuck in the glass.

Nicol Williamson is our villain, with a fantastic voice. Mostly known for theatre and Shakespeare, you may remember him as Merlin from that other dark fantasy classic Excalibur, or as Little John from Robin and Marian.

Jean Marsh is our witch, complete with black gown and pointed sleeves - to continue our fantasy bingo she was Queen Bavmorda in Willow (which I've actually never seen) and Rose in the original Upstairs Downstairs (which I've never seen either). She'll always be creepy Mombi to me.

We see Ozma in the glass again before she appears in Dorothy's room, ethereal barefoot child gifting her a carved pumpkin because "it's Halloween soon". Okay, whatever you have to do to get there.

On that note, the screenplay was written by Gill Dennis (who would go on to co-write Walk the Line) and Walter Murch, who also directed. Murch was film school friends with George Lucas, and they wrote THX-1138 together - Lucas has a "special thanks" credit on this film. Murch worked steadily in sound design and editing (nominated for 10 Oscars with 4 wins), but after Return was a box office failure he never directed another film, which is a real shame.

Dorothy "combs" the pumpkins hair, which I find very charming.

The growing tension of Dorothy's isolation, being strapped to the gurney, the squeaking wheels, the far-off screaming: this is a horror film for children.

My sister and I used to re-create Ozma and Dorothy's escape on our grandmother's porch all the time.

Because we’re in a mirror, the streaming river of Kansas becomes the deadly desert of Oz - water, of course, also being a mirror and common pathway/doorway between worlds.

Billina the hen also appears, because Dorothy needs an animal companion, who can now talk because she is in Oz. The question is whether Toto could also talk, as all animals can in Oz, and simply chose not to (iirc in the books he didn't because he could "make himself understood" without words or something). The chicken puppetry is really quite good, I'll always prefer puppets/animatronics over cgi.

The voice of Billina is provided by Denise Bryer, who was the "junk lady" in Labyrinth (have we got that bingo yet?).

Another reflection - the packed lunch that was taken from Dorothy at the sanitarium in Kansas is returned to her in the form of a lunch pail tree in Oz, which leans towards the reading that Oz is a projection of Dorothy's mind as a way to cope and resolve/repair the traumas of her Kansas life.

Dorothy comes across her old house that is seemingly not in Munchkinland, the broken remains of the yellow brick road nearby. How much time has passed in Oz? Since everyone was turned to stone it could be hundreds of years and we're in a Narnia situation - at least long enough for a forest to grow where there once was a munchkin town square.

Glinda is conspicuous by her absence - probably because the plot couldn't happen if she was around.

Also absent are any stone munchkins which has very dark implications - the Emerald City still has ruins and stone inhabitants, but Munchkinland has been completely obliterated.

lol, Dorothy runs to the Emerald City in literally minutes, a journey that previously took half a film.

Sleep well, kids!

If we go with the interpretation that Oz is a manifestation of Dorothy's mind (maladaptive daydreaming?), it is interesting how she projects people and objects from her real life into her fantasy life - obviously her threats in the sanitarium become the villains, but the Electric Shock machine becomes Tik-Tok, her erstwhile protector. In this, she transforms a threat into an ally, and yet much is made that he isn't, and cannot be, "alive."

Many of the elements of this film - Billina, the Wheelers, Tik-Tok, the Nome King, and the princess with a hundred heads - came from Ozma of Oz, while Ozma herself, Jack Pumpkinhead, and the witch Mombi (combined in this film with Princess Langwidere) originate in the earlier The Marvellous Land of Oz, with a different backstory.

Oh to be a wicked witch, playing a mandolin, in a gilded, mirrored palace.

I enjoy this costume! Reflective of the high structured sleeves of nurse but sharp to emphasise the danger Mombi poses, and with the same mechanical accents/coloiur scheme as the Wheelers

Those cabinets full of heads are still so creepy. The way they watch Dorothy - are they alive and aware the whole time? Horrifying.

Jack Pumpkinhead was voiced by a young Brian Henson (who also acted as puppeteer).

I always used to fast-forward the scene where Dorothy steals the key and gets chased by headless Mombi as a kid, it was just too tense.

I mean maybe this isn't scary to kids today, but it sure freaked the fuck out of me. Especially with all of those heads screaming in their cabinets.

But how exactly was zombie Mombi snoring without a head?

Interesting that the cabinet with Mombi's original head is the only one without transparent glass, but instead has a mirror. Her original head is also kept in cabinet 31, which was Dorothy's room in the sanitarium. As a kid I was always dead set that Oz was real and Dorothy really went there, but now I'm leaning more towards Oz as a manifestation, or at least a world directly influenced and constantly adapting based on Dorothy's experiences. Was she unable to sleep in Kansas because she knew Oz was in trouble, or was Oz in trouble because of her mental discord?

"If his brain's run down, how can he talk?" "It happens to people all the time Jack!" is a nice callback to "Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking don't they?"

In which we strain the metaphor.

But all these mirrors also serve a story purpose as well as a metaphorical one - the mirror world is where Mombi has trapped Ozma, so she can look on every surface and see her victory. The mirror is also a connection with the real world, and how Ozma can reach Dorothy and draw her back to Oz. Mirrors are reflections, but they are also doorways, as we see in this very scene as Ozma directs Dorothy to the right passage to get back up to the tower.

We also get another Dorothy/Ozma parallel, in which she becomes a surrogate mother to Jack in place of Ozma, his creator.

There's almost some social commentary in the Nome King's grievances: "All the previous stones in the world are made here in my underground dominions...so imagine how I feel when someone from the world above digs down and steals my treasures? All those emeralds in the Emerald City really belong to me. I was just taking back what was mine to begin with." But of course he didn't just take back the emeralds, he turned the populace to stone or into inanimate objects so that does undercut his point a bit.

Her descent visually recalls (deliberate or not) Alice's fall down the rabbit hole in Wonderland. The VFX are pretty rough though.

Dorothy points out that he has so much, implying perhaps he could share, and the Nome King retorts "that's not the point." It is the point in later books, where under Ozma's leadership the Emerald City is essentially a utopian communal living society.

She also points out that the Scarecrow didn't take the emeralds rather they were there when he was made king, but the film is uninterested in exploring the culpability around generational wealth and repatriation of cultural property.

But it's interesting how much the Oz story revolves around powerful objects and theft and/or appropriation of them. Glinda steals the Witch of the East's ruby slippers and gives them to Dorothy, who then steals the Witch of the West's broom to give to the Wizard, Mombi steals Ozma, someone stole the emeralds from the Nome King, who steals them back, Mombi steals heads, Dorothy steals the Powder of Life, etc etc

At this point the Nome King is merely a face in the stone, but when he comforts Dorothy he starts to takes a more humanoid rock form, with a hand to reach out to her.

Is his sympathy genuine or feigned? I'm going with the latter, since he manipulates her into playing the "guessing game" to try and get the Scarecrow back.

Worst production of Starlight Express ever.

When I was a kid I always wanted to try the limestone pie and hot silver drink, but now it looks super gross.

The Gump chose…poorly.

The Nome King making points again - Dorothy and co didn't ask what would happen if they got it wrong, even Tik-Tok only brings it up after the Gump has already gone in. But they press on in order of most expendable, Jack (with Billina hiding in his head) and then Tik-Tok.

As each get turned into ornaments, we see the Nome King become more and more humanised in his rock form - a nice subtle indication that his motives aren't purely spite and he gains power from turning living (or living-adjacent) things into inanimate objects, the opposite (mirror) of Dorothy's power in turning inanimate objects into living things in the journey from Kansas to Oz. If Dorothy had chosen wrong too, he says he would have become completely human - would he have been able to access the path to the human world? Was his goal to eliminate Oz, the fantasy world, in favour of the human world, much like Worley was obsessed with harnessing electricity and the "modern" world?

It's revealed that Chekhov's ruby slippers that Dorothy earlier told Dr Worley had fallen off on her way back to Kansas the first time were found by the Nome King, and their power enabled him to conquer the Emerald City.

It's unclear whether the rubies were first mined from the Nome King's caverns, but Dorothy really can't complain given the shoes were magicked off the feet of a dead woman and onto her own.

I'm actually surprised that they kept the ruby slippers in given the license fee they had to pay, since nothing really turns on their inclusion, other than the Nome King's offer to send her home with them, allowing Dorothy the choice between her own safety and the lives of her friends, of course the parallel to Worley offering the ECT to wipe her mind of Oz. I do like the callback, but it didn't need to be the ruby slippers rather than some other power the Nome King had.

Hee, the Nome King's little stone feet kicking out of his stone robe with the ruby slippers is so camp.

It is interesting through to think about the chain of events - Dorothy, eager to get back home, lets go of the ruby slippers, they fall into the Nome King's hands, he uses them to conquer Oz and install Mombi, who has imprisoned Ozma in the mirror (at some point long in the past). The fracturing of Oz influences Dorothy's mental state which drives her to Worley, where Ozma is able to contact her through the mirror world and bring her back to Oz, depose the Nome King/Mombi, and restore Ozma to her throne. It's quite neat writing.

There's an interesting green/red dichotomy - red seems to represent the witch's power, the ruby slippers that originally belonged to the Witch of the East, Mombi's ruby key, fire/red smoke being used by the Witch of the West, and even pink was the colour associated with Glinda in the 1939 film, while green represents Oz in the ornaments they turn into, the Emerald City, the Gump is green, etc. Both rubies and emeralds are present in the Nome King's costuming, perhaps indicating that the raw items did come from his dominions.

When Dorothy chooses correctly, the Nome King reverts to his claymation rock form, and the room turns red. I don't think it's explicitly green=good and red=bad (the Witch of the West had green screen after all), but both are associated with power.

I always used to fast forward this sequence as well. The Nomes coming out of the walls? *shudder*

The Nome King, felled by a classic egg poisoning.

Dorothy liberates the ruby slippers from another dead body, lol.

At the celebration in Oz, the costuming does lean heavily into either red or green - so maybe that was just standard complementary colour palette and I'm reading too much into things.

We get a nice long pan over the mirrored ceiling of the parade, just to really hit the point home.

Oh hey, the Wheelers are here too! All is forgiven I guess? Except Mombi, she gets to be paraded about in her cage by the woman whose heads she stole. Hey, at least she's able to smirk about her villainy.

Dorothy turns down queenship of Oz but wishes she "could be in both places at the same time" - the ruby slippers grant her wish and Ozma is released from the mirror.

Ozma's backstory: "Her father was king of Oz before the Wizard came. Ozma grew up as Mombi's slave, but when the Nome King promised Mombi thirty beautiful heads if she kept Ozma a secret, she enchanted her into the mirror." The first part is the much the same in the book, although there we get some interesting gender-bending stuff where Mombi transforms her into a boy name Tip and she doesn't discover her true nature until much later.

Dorothy gives Ozma the ruby slippers, combining the power of green and red (I'm just going with it now), therefore healing the kingdom of Oz from the discord first created when the Wizard arrived (in the book he was the one who gave baby Ozma to Mombi), and drawing Ozma's real world counterpart Dorothy to fix it by deposing the Wicked Witches and then the Nome King. But with Ozma returned, there is no need for Dorothy to remain in Oz, the two sides of herself are split and no longer warring inside her.

Billina however remains, to be Ozma's animal counterpart to Dorothy's Toto.

As a kid I coveted this gown, and I still kind of dig the headdress. Well, the OZ circlet anyway.

I also acted out the pulling Ozma from the mirror scene many times.

Although kind of a bitch move on Ozma's part to send Dorothy back before she could give her proper goodbyes. It's like, off you pop, thanks for freeing me but this is my kingdom now.

Dorothy wakes up beside the river (with a close up of a reflective pool of water/Dorothy's eye), and again, this could either be her actually returned by Ozma, or her simply waking from her delirium.

But the real world counterparts have met the same fate as their Oz reflections - Worley died in the fire and Wilson is carried off in a police cart.

Henry, after the shock of almost losing Dorothy, is motivated to finish building the house, and Dorothy is able to look back fondly at Oz through her reflection, but has learned to keep it a secret and not let it consume her life.

Her trauma is resolved, Oz is at peace; Dorothy and Ozma can live contentedly in parallel, with a connection between both worlds.

This is also a nice callback to the books, where Ozma would check in on Dorothy once a day through her magic mirror to see if she needed her assistance.

Maybe it's just my nostalgia goggles, but this film really holds up for me! Yes the effects are a little dated and it's on the darker side for kid's fare, but overall the story and acting is strong, there's meaty subtext around the importance - but necessary limits - of fantasy as escapism, it unequivocally centers girls/women as the heart of the story with their own agency and harnessing their own power. It's well worth the rewatch.

What do you think? Am I blinded by nostalgia? Reading way too much into a kids movie? Am I just rambling into the void here?