For us, Princess Leia was a legend. A long lost icon that hadn’t made it to our animated screens yet. We didn’t know the details but we knew she was brave and brilliant. We knew that somehow she managed to kick ass and tell a man she loved him all in one breath and we knew she had been accepted by the boys, something that for many of us struggling with our gender identities; was the goal.

We just wanted to be seen as equal, a peer among the sports playing video gaming boys. We didn’t want them to filter themselves or keep us out of the joke. We sure as heck didn’t want to be thought of only when triggered by the scent of hand lotion but, sometimes it was ok to be sexy too - as long as it didn’t keep you from being the badass you were meant to be and for me; that was the essence of Carrie Fisher.