No one's ever really gone
Jan. 12th, 2020 03:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darkrosaleenFirst, let me get my (spoiler free) Rise of Skywalker hot take out of the way: I loved it. My dad loved it too, and he's been a Star Wars fan since A New Hope came out. It's not a flawless movie, I had a few plot quibbles and thought the big halfway-through-the-movie twist was really dumb, but I thought it was a perfectly fun, beautiful-looking, heartfelt Star Wars movie. I went twice and cried both times. I want to buy one of the lightsabers. I want to be Dark Rey for Halloween.
My first Star Wars movie was Phantom Menace, and I think this shaped the kind of fan I am and how I reacted to the sequels. I was nine years old, and I still remember how excited my dad was to take his kid to see a new Star Wars movie in theaters. That excitement died a quick and terrible death, but it gave me the Star Wars bug: I loved the grungy ships and the cool creature costumes, I loved Darth Maul's double lightsaber and Padme's senate gowns and the fight between good and evil. It led me to the original trilogy, which I loved even more (Luke/Leia was my first ever ship). My introduction to Star Wars came with the heavy knowledge that as George Lucas giveth, George Lucas taketh away. Only Sith deal in absolutes.
I love the sequel trilogy, but I feel like I experienced it on the sidelines a little bit. Rise of Skywalker was the first one I saw in theaters; I didn't see The Last Jedi until the week before TROS came out (partly because it got such bad reviews; I could see the plot problems but I enjoyed the hell out of that one too). I played around in the fandom for a bit in 2016, and I dipped back in occasionally in the past couple years, but it was never my main fandom. Partly because I was behind on canon, partly because the whole fandom was a cesspit of discourse and shipping drama, partly because I had other fandoms I cared about more.
THIS IS THE SECTION WITH SPOILERS
Rise of Skywalker reminded me why I love Star Wars. It reminded me that I love the grungy spaceships, and the cool creatures and costumes, and the fight between good and evil. I love Rey and her friends having adventures in the Falcon. I love a depleted Resistance fighting back with everything they've got because hope is stronger than evil. I love the Sith, with their creepy cave planet and dark zombie powers. I love the Dark Side being powerful and seductive and pulling in characters we know are good. I love X-Wing dogfights. I love redemption arcs, and I love it when half my ship dies for the other half.
I've been a low-key Reylo fan since TFA, but TLJ and TROS ramped it up to a fever pitch. I ship it harder than I've shipped anything in a long time, and the ending of TROS hit my buttons more than I ever hoped for. Soulbonds and resurrections and gently cradling your lover's dead body, oh my.
If it's hard being a Star Wars fan who loved TROS, it's much harder being a Reylo shipper who adored their ending, loves all the other characters and ships, and has no interest in modern AUs where a suave dom Kylo calls Rey baby girl and princess. I forgot how lonely it is to ship a juggernaut in a megafandom if you don't like any of the established fanon preferences.
Right now, I'm playing around with some fic that scratches that itch, but I have no one to talk to about it. The FFA Star Wars threads are unusably wanky, and I don't know if any of my friends are into Star Wars, let alone Reylo (if you are, please let me know so we can squee together! I'm also open to non-Reylo Star Wars squee). None of my RL friends care about Star Wars shipping, and the consensus on the movie has been so negative that I can't really start discussions anywhere.
I'm trying to follow Rose Tico's advice, and save the things I love instead of destroying the things I hate. I want to catch up on Rogue One and Solo and The Mandalorian, and maybe dip my toes into the EU. I'll write the fic I want to read, and maybe it'll make another fan like me happy.
ETA: I made a Star Wars wishlist for snowflake challenge, mostly asking for EU and fanwork recs. Pop over there if you have something to rec!
My first Star Wars movie was Phantom Menace, and I think this shaped the kind of fan I am and how I reacted to the sequels. I was nine years old, and I still remember how excited my dad was to take his kid to see a new Star Wars movie in theaters. That excitement died a quick and terrible death, but it gave me the Star Wars bug: I loved the grungy ships and the cool creature costumes, I loved Darth Maul's double lightsaber and Padme's senate gowns and the fight between good and evil. It led me to the original trilogy, which I loved even more (Luke/Leia was my first ever ship). My introduction to Star Wars came with the heavy knowledge that as George Lucas giveth, George Lucas taketh away. Only Sith deal in absolutes.
I love the sequel trilogy, but I feel like I experienced it on the sidelines a little bit. Rise of Skywalker was the first one I saw in theaters; I didn't see The Last Jedi until the week before TROS came out (partly because it got such bad reviews; I could see the plot problems but I enjoyed the hell out of that one too). I played around in the fandom for a bit in 2016, and I dipped back in occasionally in the past couple years, but it was never my main fandom. Partly because I was behind on canon, partly because the whole fandom was a cesspit of discourse and shipping drama, partly because I had other fandoms I cared about more.
THIS IS THE SECTION WITH SPOILERS
Rise of Skywalker reminded me why I love Star Wars. It reminded me that I love the grungy spaceships, and the cool creatures and costumes, and the fight between good and evil. I love Rey and her friends having adventures in the Falcon. I love a depleted Resistance fighting back with everything they've got because hope is stronger than evil. I love the Sith, with their creepy cave planet and dark zombie powers. I love the Dark Side being powerful and seductive and pulling in characters we know are good. I love X-Wing dogfights. I love redemption arcs, and I love it when half my ship dies for the other half.
I've been a low-key Reylo fan since TFA, but TLJ and TROS ramped it up to a fever pitch. I ship it harder than I've shipped anything in a long time, and the ending of TROS hit my buttons more than I ever hoped for. Soulbonds and resurrections and gently cradling your lover's dead body, oh my.
If it's hard being a Star Wars fan who loved TROS, it's much harder being a Reylo shipper who adored their ending, loves all the other characters and ships, and has no interest in modern AUs where a suave dom Kylo calls Rey baby girl and princess. I forgot how lonely it is to ship a juggernaut in a megafandom if you don't like any of the established fanon preferences.
Right now, I'm playing around with some fic that scratches that itch, but I have no one to talk to about it. The FFA Star Wars threads are unusably wanky, and I don't know if any of my friends are into Star Wars, let alone Reylo (if you are, please let me know so we can squee together! I'm also open to non-Reylo Star Wars squee). None of my RL friends care about Star Wars shipping, and the consensus on the movie has been so negative that I can't really start discussions anywhere.
I'm trying to follow Rose Tico's advice, and save the things I love instead of destroying the things I hate. I want to catch up on Rogue One and Solo and The Mandalorian, and maybe dip my toes into the EU. I'll write the fic I want to read, and maybe it'll make another fan like me happy.
ETA: I made a Star Wars wishlist for snowflake challenge, mostly asking for EU and fanwork recs. Pop over there if you have something to rec!
