Memoirs of a mad cat lady

I am actually saddened, on looking at the SW forums I'm no longer active upon, that so many of the posters are happy to say goodbye to the Skywalkers.

They were the heart and soul of SW, at least for me. I thought most fans felt the same, but apparently no. One even said they were 'looking forward to new films which did not feature any mention of the Skywalkers.'

I guess Lucas's epic saga has grown beyond its origins.

If that's what they want, fine. I have permanently left the fandom after TROS. But I wish they had at least given the Skywalkers a happy ending. Completely erasing the bloodline of the OT heroes isn't a happy ending. It's depressing as hell.

I still find it sad, looking back, how reylos were treated.

We were accused of misogyny, and supporting the abuse of a 'toxic' ship. We were accused of racism for shipping Rey/Ben and not Rey/Finn.

Ironically the treatment Rose received on the JCF was one of the worst examples of racism I've seen; one poster's comment that she was just a 'not Rey' love interest I found particularly repugnant.

We were accused of being fascists.

Even the news site Medium called reylo a 'white supremacist' ship.

And at the end of the day, it was all because we liked an 'enemy to lovers' 'ship'.

The fact that the ETL trope has been around for donkey's years doesn't make one jot of difference to these morons. It featured in Pride and Prejudice, written in the early 19th century, for crying out loud.

And I have noticed over the past few years a massive rise in the popularity of enemies to lovers romantasy.

Rebecca Yarros's sizzling and thrilling Dragon riders series is a fine example of this format, and I can highly recommend it.

And I might be wrong, but I suspect reylo has had a lot to do with the success of the romantasy novels.

Add to that the success of books which actually began life as reylo fanfics, and I wonder if Disney are regretting the day they gave in to the trolls, the toxics, and the wokesters. Because they essentially threw a potential goldmine away.

And because before the books, before the 'romantasy' fad....reylo was the first.

WE were the first.

And although our hopes and dreams crashed and burned a long time ago (or six years) in a a galaxy far far away...

We were the first.

A few days ago I had the pleasure of watching James Gunn's new Superman film.

I loved it.

Some didn't but for me this film represented a moviegoing experience that is sadly rare these days.

It was funny, moving, thought provoking and thrilling....but most of all, it was hopeful.

I walked out of it with a huge smile upon my face. And days later, I'm still feeling uplifted by this film.

What a contrast to TROS.

Superman - I'm doing my best to avoid spoilers - is about a man whose primal wish is to be kind. It has absolutely nothing to do with his superpowers, and everything to do with his heart and soul.

There was lots to love in this film, but the Clark Kent/Lois Lane love story was the highlight for me. Great chemistry between the two leads, but what I liked was we had a strong, smart, sassy heroine...who didn't think it made her less strong, less smart, less sassy to be in love.

'Having a boyfriend' didn't demean Lois. Loving Clark enriched her as a person. Just as loving Lois enriched Clark.

Disney destroyed romance along with destroying Star Wars.

In 'Superman' romance was gloriously, wonderfully, and hopefully reborn.

Whereas TROS left me feeling utterly despondent Superman left me on a spiritual high I'm still feeling.

Thank you James Gunn and DC.

I am saddened by the loss of so much great reylo fanfiction, and also the blogs of so many reylos.

Over the years I have been hugely entertained by scores of excellent tales told by writers with far more talent than those who came up with TROS. But, post that odious excuse for a film, a lot of them have closed and deactivated their blogs and removed their fics.

It's understandable. I felt the same. But it is still..heartbreaking.

One of those is PrincessPrattle, who also wrote an excellent Nimulot fic, A Song of Sky and Ash. This story was absolutely irresistible and continued their story beautifully. Sadly it too has vanished.

'Cursed' was a tremendously underrated series and finding it had been scrapped for Season 2 was terribly disappointing. So, I found solace in the fanfic.

Nevertheless I understand why so many people drifted away. Ironically, maybe regarding Cursed, it was for the best. At least Nimulot lives on in our fanfiction, thanks to the cliffhanger.

This December it will be six years since TROS ended the ST, the Skywalkers and my love for SW.

Six years since reylo was quashed forever.

Six years since, to quote one disgruntled female journalist, Rey changed from a 'wonderfully feral child into a creepy Stepford Smiler.'

Six years since every.single.one of the characters was personality assassinated, from Luke, who believed in the ties of blood telling Rey that 'blood didn't matter', to Leia, revealed as a horrible mother who refused to train her own son yet DID train the one who in all likelihood would have killed him, to everyone else.

Six years since Ben Solo was revealed as nothing more than a plot device. The Last Skywalker whose only purpose was as a life force donor for a heroine who turned out to be exactly the Mary Sue her haters described her as and reylos denied her to be.

Six years since the reylo haters on the JCF got their wish.

And believe it or not........they still are hating on Ben and reylo.

All apparently because.....big drum roll here.....they wanted Finn/Rey.

This is it, the real reason for their hatred. Not because they see reylo s 'toxic', and an abusive 'ship'. But, because Finn didn't get to lock lips with Rey at the end.

All of their pompous self righteous comments, all of the 'strong women don't need men'....bullcrap. Just to cover that their ship didn't sail.

Maybe their man is lucky considering what said kiss did to Ben.

Ben had been the one to kill Palpatine, and Rey the one to resurrect him?

If she had told the rest of the Resistance 'Kylo Ren' was dead?

If she had left Finn to form a new Jedi order and quietly disappeared with Ben Solo?

If the two of them had become 'ronin' and roamed the galaxy righting wrongs?

Can you imagine what a terrific tv series that would have been?

According to Jeff Sneider (who is often right about that stuff), there are actually several projects in development which will feature Rey as lead or supporting character. He even mentioned that Rey was once in 'Starfighter'.

Well, well well.

First of all, I'm deeply sorry for the unfortunate staff and hope they find new jobs worthy of their skills.

But frankly....Disney need a wake up call. For the past few years they have been pumping out tiresome propaganda dressed up as entertainment, and for the most part the results have been commercial disasters.

For me personally their biggest failure was and is, the SW sequels.

Sadly even now I look back at those films and mourn the wasted potential. Finn and Poe could have been genuinely interesting characters. Rian did the best with them, giving Finn his own character arc and laying the groundwork for him becoming the leader of a ST rebellion. He then made Poe a completely different version of himself in TLJ, not a would be Han Solo but a dedicated, even fanatical, rebel.

Abrams reduced them to Rey's sidekicks.

Worst of all, was how 'reylo' was not just discarded, but butchered.

The blossoming romance between Kylo and Rey could have been the beating heart of the trilogy. A young woman with no family finds one with an unhappy young man who believed his family had rejected him. The Skywalker line continues through their children, and Han, Leia and Luke will live on in their grandchildren.

Then we got TROS. I still find it hard to believe they destroyed the entire family bloodline yet chose to call the film Rise of Skywalker.

Every single one was character assassinated for that horrible film, and the damage it has done is irreparable. Skywalker/Solo fans like myself have been put off SW for life. Disney meanwhile, are firmly convinced they don't need us, that the 'newbies' will do just fine and we can all go a cry over our 1970s action figures.

But....it seems they're wrong. Because the film starring their uber heroine Goddess of the Force Rey whatever her name is....has been shelved. Indefinitely.

Rey's story is over. Ben was killed off just as his was beginning.