Kylo's Mask and the Ashes

I own two retired racing greyhounds which are pretty much the same thing as cats - they are just shaped like dogs.

Our previous grey was female and they are even more cat like. She treated us like we were there to serve her. When she was done with us, that was that and she'd go find her own things to do. Just like a cat.

My parents have 7 + 3 dogs. Sadly, I'm allergic so I can play with them only outside. Indoors, I get asthma-coughing attack even though I don't have asthma. It's a pretty severe allergic reaction.

IoJovi wrote:I own two retired racing greyhounds which are pretty much the same thing as cats - they are just shaped like dogs.

Our previous grey was female and they are even more cat like. She treated us like we were there to serve her. When she was done with us, that was that and she'd go find her own things to do. Just like a cat.

@IoJovi

Was she....! Born freeeee as free as the wind blows.....as freeee as the grass grows....!!!?

LOL is that a song?  I don't understand the reference!  She definitely loved being an only dog.  She was Queen Bee wherever she went and her daddy was her be all and end all.  I was okay, especially when I had treats.  Other than that, I was just there to do her bidding.  She was 15 when she passed and I still miss her with all my being.

Now we have two goofy boys that are both clingy to the ends of the earth - they are her exact opposite.  While Puma was an only dog, our boy Rupert let us know right away he wanted a brother.  We got Brett a month and a half later.  They are the silliest pair and I love them to pieces.

@IoJovi haha, yea it's a song. I think it won the Oscar for best song whatever year it came out. Born Free

Sorry, but having lurked on the original 1100-page thread since page 300, I just have to say that it's refreshing that people can go off on a tangent (cats) and not get banned. I'm reading the last few posts with Grandpa Simpson's bearded old-timer friend's voice in my head: "Off topic-- that's a paddlin'. Double post-- that's a paddlin'." (And I hope that mild snark as in this post does not merit a paddlin'.)

Lily Snape wrote:Sorry, but having lurked on the original 1100-page thread since page 300, I just have to say that it's refreshing that people can go off on a tangent (cats) and not get banned. I'm reading the last few posts with Grandpa Simpson's bearded old-timer friend's voice in my head: "Off topic-- that's a paddlin'. Double post-- that's a paddlin'." (And I hope that mild snark as in this post does not merit a paddlin'.)

@Lily Snape

We go easy on the paddlin' here. In general people seem to go back on topic of their own accord. If they don't, then we nudge a little. Like right now. ~_^

@DarthRowan -- Thanks.  I needed some humor after the ashes thing.  My very sweet, honors student 13-year-old daughter thinks Kylo is the hottest thing in any Galaxy (it's cute-- she likes good boys in real life, but in movies it's all Kylo and Jareth the Goblin King and Loki-- oh, and Captain America), and I'm sitting here hoping she won't hear about this grim little detail.  

Hope someone doesn't ban me for going off-topic @Darth Rowan

But yeah, those are two of my cats. I found the orange one under my parent's car on a freezing winter's day. The fluffy one I've had since I was like 6.

@FrolickingFizzgig they're really cute! The orange cat looks full of zest, very inquisitive or something. What do you call them?

Little_Boots wrote:@FrolickingFizzgig they're really cute! The orange cat looks full of zest, very inquisitive or something. What do you call them?

@Little_Boots
Orange kitten (he's very big now) is called Boy with a weird accent (pronounced Buwee very fast)... not sure why, but it stuck. The first thing my mom did when she found him was pick him up and say "It's a little buwee."

Fluffy girl is called Floppy. I was 6.

They are beautiful. OMG, FIzz's own Millicent!

Hux and Milli comment on yesterday freak out:

@FrolickingFizzgig really cute names awe!!

@FrolickingFizzgig Excuse me but can you tell me what type of cat are they? 

Sylvia Snow wrote:@FrolickingFizzgig Excuse me but can you tell me what type of cat are they? 

@Sylvia Snow
Orange tabby is an orange tabby, a common domestic shorthair. Floppy is a Maine Coon mix. Very fluffy. Fluffy cats are the best cats <3

FrolickingFizzgig wrote:

Sylvia Snow wrote:@FrolickingFizzgig Excuse me but can you tell me what type of cat are they? 

@Sylvia Snow
Orange tabby is an orange tabby, a common domestic shorthair. Floppy is a Maine Coon mix. Very fluffy. Fluffy cats are the best cats <3

@FrolickingFizzgig Thank you very much, I'm very appreciated. They are just to adorable to look at 

@FrolickingFizzgig Floppy looks like my cat.

My old cat stayed back at Mum's once I got my own place, so now I'm like a Dad with visiting rights

While I did think that the ashes thing was a tad macabre, the serial killer parallel didn't even occur to me. We're talking about a character from a fictional universe who belongs to a military order and has strong medieval vibes about him. I don't think he necessarily bears comparisons to anything in our own modern world.

vaderito wrote:

IoJovi wrote:Here's food for thought.  A couple of months ago, Pablo was asked directly about the ashes.  This is the day Millicent was created - he stated (and I'm paraphrasing) that that was Hux's tabby cat's litter box.  The cat's name was Millicent, and from that point on, 1001 Kylux fan fics were launched.

The fact is, I don't think Pablo KNEW what they were for.  If he did, he might have answered.  If Pablo didn't know, how important is it really to the story?  

@IoJovi

Ashes =/= important but this IS:

@vaderito

That picture is so awesome. I assume it's photoshopped, but it really is great. Just the goofy mundane nature of Ren walking with Hux and his cat!

FrolickingFizzgig wrote:

vaderito wrote:Facial structure for sure. females never grow such big round heads.

@vaderito
Wouldn't be surprised if every female on this forum owns a cat (possibly more than one). I may or may not have four.

@FrolickingFizzgig

I may or may not have had four at one point. (We had to put the 18-year-old to sleep last year.) Current pet count is 3 cats and a dog.

ISeeAnIsland wrote:

FrolickingFizzgig wrote:

vaderito wrote:Facial structure for sure. females never grow such big round heads.  

@vaderito
Wouldn't be surprised if every female on this forum owns a cat (possibly more than one). I may or may not have four.

@FrolickingFizzgig

I may or may not have had four at one point. (We had to put the 18-year-old to sleep last year.) Current pet count is 3 cats and a dog.

@ISeeAnIsland
A somewhat dated picture of my kitten. I've had her for months now, but she still doesn't really have a name other than "Sweetie!" xD She does kind of look like the Yang symbol in this picture.

SoloSideCousin wrote:

vaderito wrote:

IoJovi wrote:Here's food for thought.  A couple of months ago, Pablo was asked directly about the ashes.  This is the day Millicent was created - he stated (and I'm paraphrasing) that that was Hux's tabby cat's litter box.  The cat's name was Millicent, and from that point on, 1001 Kylux fan fics were launched.

The fact is, I don't think Pablo KNEW what they were for.  If he did, he might have answered.  If Pablo didn't know, how important is it really to the story?  

@IoJovi

Ashes =/= important but this IS:

@vaderito

That picture is so awesome.  I assume it's photoshopped, but it really is great.  Just the goofy mundane nature of Ren walking with Hux and his cat!

@SoloSideCousin

Millicent is looking at Kylo as if she'd rather be held by him instead.

It's 'shopped so well. lol I was shocked when I first saw that pic on tumblr.

WhatGirl wrote:

SoloSideCousin wrote:

vaderito wrote:

IoJovi wrote:Here's food for thought.  A couple of months ago, Pablo was asked directly about the ashes.  This is the day Millicent was created - he stated (and I'm paraphrasing) that that was Hux's tabby cat's litter box.  The cat's name was Millicent, and from that point on, 1001 Kylux fan fics were launched.

The fact is, I don't think Pablo KNEW what they were for.  If he did, he might have answered.  If Pablo didn't know, how important is it really to the story?  

@IoJovi

Ashes =/= important but this IS:

@vaderito

That picture is so awesome.  I assume it's photoshopped, but it really is great.  Just the goofy mundane nature of Ren walking with Hux and his cat!

@SoloSideCousin

Millicent is looking at Kylo as if she'd rather be held by him instead.

It's 'shopped so well. lol I was shocked when I first saw that pic on tumblr.

@WhatGirl

I know! Isn't it? I just love how Kylo is walking next to that cat like it's an everyday thing at SKB. It just makes me laugh so much. I love it!

Beautiful cats

I can only speak for myself, but can I just clarify that not all of us who "had a meltdown" about the ashes did so because we're hysterical and squeamish? Mediaeval history is my specialty, with an emphasis on war history, so if I had to list unpleasant things I'd rather not see, I'd probably say things like people getting impalled through their eyesockets. A pile of ashes doesn't register anywhere on the disgust level. In fact, I keep cremated remains in my bookcase, so who am I to judge? (They're not dead enemies, though, but dead dogs.)

I was disappointed in JJ's story because I felt - and still do - that this nugget of information is very out of place in terms of the character we saw in the film, in terms of the genre, in terms of the story, in terms of a significant part of the target audience (young children), and so on. I understand that others may disagree, but I feel strongly that this is way off. It actually makes it worse that the ash is likely never to be referred to again. If it had a meaning, a real, deep meaning - it might work. But the GA read that story and is talking about it. They don't read complex metas with references to Nazi death cults, the Bible, mythology, ancient warriors in different indigenous cultures, phoenixes, and so on. (The phoenix rises from its own ashes, by the way; not those of its enemies.)

JJ only said those are the ashes of Kylo's enemies. To most people this simply means that he collects trophies of his victims, and their comments are along the lines of "disgusting", "creepy as f***", or "serial killer". It added NOTHING of substance to the complex and carefully built (or so it seemed!) character that we saw on screen. It detracted from it. That's my opinion, and I don't think it has anything to do with hysteria. It's just disappointment in JJ, because it made me feel like maybe the film and the character I loved were an accident rather than the creators' intention.

To be honest, the hints that Snoke (and before him Palpatine) was preying on a small kid creeps me out a lot more than ashes of enemies....as a matter of fact, it still does make me feel very sad and disturbed. I'm still on the fence as to whether the ashes are even human remains and not burnt library books from Luke's jedi temple or ancient jedi remains from Malachor which our relic hunter felt like keeping in his shrine area (since Vader visited Malachor to get hold of a powerful holocron superweapon)