#force sensitive finn for ts

[him-e]

Coupled with force sensitive finn, this paints an ugly picture...I Don't understand what you mean? Can you please elaborate? What do you mean about finn? Is it bad in your opinion that he is force sensitive?

To expand on it further: force sensitive Finn isn’t bad per se, and I’m sure it works (and was probably intended) as a launching pad for future SWCU stories in which Finn trains in the Force etc. Which is great, okay. Not sure if we needed it, but if the plan is produce more Finn-centric material, then it’s probably a good idea.

But, as far as the movie trilogy canon is concerned, the way it was done is basically a half assed eleventh hour retcon that serves no purpose in the story or in Finn’s arc other than retroactively explaining his decision to defect. It answers a question that didn’t need answering in the first place. There’s no need to explain a moral choice that stems out of humanity, empathy and compassion with Force shenanigans, and it actually undercuts the meaning of Finn’s defection. Force sensitivity in canon is a more or less innate trait that only certain people have. So basically if you reduce Finn’s (and Jannah’s entire squad’s) rejection of the First Order ideology to their Force sensitivity, you’re saying there are essentially two types of stormtroopers—the ones who are innately Force sensitive and thus are innately inclined to be *human* and *moral*, and those who are not Force sensitive and will never feel any sort of compassion or moral conflict over obeying to the First Order; and for the latter there’s no hope or possible redemption.

It’s predestination, y’all. It denies individual freedom of choice and it draws a line between good and bad people that can’t be smudged or crossed easily. 

It would have been much more compelling, imo, if Jannah and the other ex-stormtroopers had defected because they were simply inspired by Finn’s story, which has now started to circulate among stormtroopers and fuel defections and rebellions everywhere, Force sensitivity or not. We don’t need to use a greater, “divine” power to tell the story of how regular people can inspire each other to make moral choices and stand against evil, even when evil is all they’ve ever known.

Retconning Finn as Force sensitive also feels like a smokescreen to distract the audience from the fact that he has no recognizable individual arc in this movie, and is barely an independent character on his own. He virtually doesn’t exist outside of trio scenes, with the only minor exception of his bonding with Jannah, which is shallow and rushed like everything else in the movie. JJ completely erased Rose—a character that was created and developed (with depth and nuance: she didn’t just exist, she was given a backstory, a personality and an individual conflict) to be specifically Finn’s foil and love interest—and almost surgically avoided any reference to Finn’s arc in TLJ, so he could be safely put again in Rey’s orbit as the quintessential Nice Guy who exists only to scream her name protectively when she’s in danger. But hey, at least he’s Force sensitive and is in the same plot of the protagonist, so he Matters. Yay.

[hauntedfalcon]

@michigan-rag​ I’m so glad we’re on the same page here 

[emperorren]

I feel like it's not just about Finn being Force sensitive, it's also about how much space a movie series like this has to give the characters significant relationships with each other. Rey cannot have the dynamic she has with Kylo now and have an equally-nuanced development with Finn, for the sake of time/repetitiveness (which is why I think they introduced and developed Finn and Rey's friendship before she even met Kylo, because after she did the "complicated enemies" dynamic started up) (1)

Looking at the OT and PT, for example, each main Skywalker protagonist had one “peer” relationship that was dynamic, and one “mentor” relationship that was dynamic in each respective movie. This happens with Rey as well: first Han then Luke are her “mentor”, and Kylo is her dynamic “peer” relationship as of the midpoint of TFA. By giving Finn his own heroic story instead of just having him be a supporting figure in Rey’s story, it allows him to have his own network of dynamic relationships. (2) 

Good points. I can’t think of a single convincing reason why this story should be about two force sensitive good heroes VS one force sensitive villain. Narrative unbalance and risk of repetition aside, it would make things significantly easier for both Finn and Rey, who would venture into the mysteries of the Force at each other’s side knowing no loneliness or sad feelings and forever impervious to external challenges—basically stuck in their TFA selves like in every anti’s wet dream, lol. With Finn training at her side, Rey wouldn’t feel lost and lonely enough to open up to Kylo; without Kylo opening up to Rey because he sees his own loneliness reflected in her, there’s just no story. And if she and Kylo still somehow develop a bond, what would Finn’s role be in this? A bystander, a third wheel? The “good” option? Why should his arc revolve around Rey and her dynamic with Kylo?

But most of all, Finn being force sensitive doesn’t work for the same reason re/ywalker doesn’t work: it lowers the stakes, giving the good guys a spare magical hero to rely on in the Force plot. Just as the last Skywalker’s fall isn’t that tragic if “there’s another one”, Rey’s story would be completely different if she weren’t the only new generation Force prodigy capable to deal with Kylo Ren. This enormous responsibility shapes her arc in a significant way and at first she panics so much that she spends a good chunk of TLJ trying to make other people be the hero she doesn’t think she can be. If Finn shares her destiny, she only has to carry half the burden. Likewise, Finn seeing a clearer path to become a “fit” hero in front of his eyes would make things too easy for him, relieving him from the responsibility to forge his own destiny. It would give both of them what they’ve always wanted on a silver platter with no challenge attached: an easy belonging for Rey, and a clear-cut heroic identity for Finn (that would make him instantly accepted in the good guys’ camp, just because he’s indispensable). How would this be a compelling narrative for either character?

Antis keep forgetting that it was JJ who put Rey and Finn on separate paths at the end of The Force Awakens. If Finn was meant to become Luke’s force-sensitive apprentice along with Rey, wouldn’t JJ have written an ending where Finn accompanied Rey to the planet where Luke was hiding? It is pretty clear that only Rey was meant to be a part of the Force plot, while Finn was meant to be a part of the Resistance plot. Rian didn’t pull that out of his ass.

^^^ that shit was ALL in TFA.

I’m so happy they paired Finn with Rose instead of having him lust after Rey. The worst thing that could have happened was a love triangle because it would have reduced Finn’s character to love intrest #2, or “the guy Rey settled for instead of ending up with instead of Ben.” They smartly have no love interest #2 for Rey, in the immediate future (the 3rd movie) it’s Ben or bust.

Yep. See what I said above about lowering the stakes. And yes—having Finn gravitate exclusively around Rey, especially in a love-interest-y way, would do him a disservice either way. Compared to Kylo, there’s no way for him to avoid being the “vanilla” option for Rey. But remove him from the equation entirely, give him a separate romantic storyline, and he’s suddenly the Complicated Guy You Really Shouldn’t Have a Thing For to another female character (Rose). It gives him much more intensity as a romantic lead, and it allows him to be THE pov in a romantic arc.

[liptonrm]

Friends, I have seen a Star War and I am officially BACK ON MY BULLSHIT. No spoilers but while it wasn't perfect but it did right by the characters (save for one GLARING error, shame on you Abrams) and I am satisfied.

I'm gonna go ahead and reblog some old fic because I love all of my little Star Wars babies and it feels so good.

Now excuse me while I scream in the tags (skip thise if you gotta)

[destiniesfic]

T and Q - in regards to TS. (was gonna ask X but we all the answer to that, right)

Do we know the answer to X (a character you enjoy making suffer), Anon? Do we?? (Are you thinking the answer might be “all of them?”)

T: Any fandom tropes you can’t stand?

Man, you guys really want to know what tropes I hate. Okay, in lieu of me talking about tropes I dislike this time, I’m going to link you all to the results of the survey @fansplaining​ conducted on what tropes fic readers like and dislike as a group. Fascinating stuff!

Q: Do you have any discarded scenes/storylines/projects? (For TS.)

So I think I’ve already mentioned that TS was meant to have a different, even more ambiguous ending originally, partially because — as I mentioned to the Smut Hutt Podcast girls — I forgot to reveal Rey’s deception to Kylo in my original outline! Noooo!

But there are a few other side stories I wanted to write that I just didn’t find the time to include, from the POVs of other characters. I may yet circle back to them, but there was one each for Finn, Rose, and Poe.

Finn’s was going to involve him traveling with Rey’s two most experienced Jedi pupils (Tamar and Kaela) to Canto Bight in order to pick up another Force-sensitive kid. They find the kid, but encounter a bit more than they bargain for when a First Order presence shows up on the planet — because they happen to overlap with Rey’s shopping trip.

Rose’s would be more introspective, set after Poe approaches her about crewing one of the bombers. She would reflect on her legacy as the only surviving Tico and the only surviving member of Cobalt Squadron.

Poe’s would describe the mission to destroy the Dreadnoughts. There would also be some more overt Stormpilot overtones in this one.

I wanted to write these because I wanted to flesh out the Tactics ‘verse beyond just Rey and Kylo! I still hope to do that in TA. It’ll be including some more perspectives by necessity.

More fanfic asks!

[elvesofnoldor]

.

[crepeycrepeyspacewizard]

I know To Sleep finished a long time ago, but what happened with stormpilot afterward? I would love to see more of their story

Oh wow thanks! Yeah I wish I was confident enough (and had the time) to write up everything that happens with Finn and Poe after To Sleep, Perchance because things do get a lot more interesting. 

Spoilers under the cut, if theres anyone who hasn’t read TS that still intends to-

The last time we see them Finn is going through some massive changes in his world view - he’s found his parents and younger siblings; he’s found out the kid he helped raise for three years is the child of his enemies; he’s found this whole new society he knew nothing about; the war has ended in a really unsatisfying way for the Resistance; and of course he’s a tiny bit pregnant with Poe’s baby. The last of which is naturally going to be a big shock as he had no idea it was possible.

The difference between Finn and Hux though is that Finn finds out early on, he has an entire planet eager to support him, theres no need for secrecy and Poe can be with him. So it’s still a big thing to deal with but he has a better time of it. 

While he’s pregnant with their first he spends a lot of time trying to reconnect with his birth family, and he does develop some closeness with them, but more importantly he finds a deeper appreciation for the families we make. He hasn’t seen his parents since he was three or four, he has no real memory of them. But he remembers the stormtrooper creches. And he knows what it was like to be raised there. After Hux announces that they’re all to be allowed their freedom Finn works hard to get the kids back to where they should be, or fostered out in the cases where they can’t go home. The older ones he’s horrified at how many choose to stay. A lot take some time to go home, see their folks and then reenlist. Its what they know, it feeds them well, and now its peacetime a great many of them retrain within the stormtrooper corps anyway. 

But Finn also finds the heavily pro-Imperial sentiment on Fiorina oppressive. They’ve laboured for decades under a evil regime, but now one of their own is in charge they don’t seem all that invested in improving their own lot. Hux will provide, lets just wait. Finn can’t do that. He starts pushing them to actually fight for their rights. Poe is still one of the best pilots in the galaxy despite his electrocution injuries and he stays close to Leia when she goes to the senate. Between the three of them they form quite the political machine. But the time Tuanae (named in remembrance of the village on Jakku) is two and their second baby is on the way Finn’s been elected as one of Fiorina’s representatives in the new senate. 

Just picture Finn looking absolutely dapper in simplistic suits (not the ostentatious robes of the old senate) with a lil baby bump fighting Hux across the senate floor and winning at every turn. It drives Hux mad, mostly because Finn is right the majority of the time. And of course Alia was right- JakJak (Hux & Kylo’s second child) and Tuanae ARE the best of friends. They’re only 10 days apart in age officially (since JakJak moves weirdly in time it doesn’t stay that way) and they’re often in the Senate building together. They get up to lots of mischief until Tuanae starts her Force training, where JakJak can’t follow, but that does mean she gets close to Alia, and the twins, and later the triplets. All of Finn and Poe’s kids are Force sensitive so they all end up training with the Hux kids at some time or another. 

After two decades of rule Hux does abdicate, though he steps down only into the role of a Fiorinian senator because by that point he IS too popular to retire entirely. At that stage they need a new speaker of the house. Leia is too old and turns it down to rest. So Finn is elected and takes great joy in being officially able to tell Hux to shut the fuck up.

Which he does a decade later because Hux can’t stop crying when one of the twins marries Finn & Poe’s third child. Leia laughs so hard she almost passes out.

[him-e]

F/Rs were even more bullshitted by this movie than we were, because even if it’s tragic and badly-written Reylo still had “fated bound soulmates” going for it, F/R at best was “ineffectual comedy bff pines for heroine who doesn’t give a shit and chases around her own angst boyfriend.” And John acted like this arc was so much better for him, did he really only care about Finn being Force sensitive and sharing scenes with Rey?

Finn could have had his own arc and development AND romantic HEA - heck, given how Reylo ended tragically, Finnrose could have been THE happy romance of the trilogy, the new HanLeia. Instead he was stuck in perpetual second fiddle pining for his (white) bff and also perpetual pseudo-queercoded bromance with Poe that predictably went nowhere. His own canon romantic arc was erased from existence along with his love interest. Slow clap.

Also, he was stripped of any moral agency. His choice to defect was apparently not an individual moral choice, but his answering the sacred call of the Force. But yay, this means he is allowed in the special snowflake club too!

[hauntedfalcon]

I’d like to be writing but instead I’m still thinking about how literally everything Krylon did after flipping his evil switch to good, up until dying, would have been better, funnier, more exciting, and more poignant if done by Finn 

[hauntedfalcon]

In other news is2g if Lucasfilm drops the very large, very obvious ball Abrams tossed them and just... completely forgets Finn is Force-sensitive for the rest of the trilogy it’s literally going to be the least satisfying narrative of all time, there is absolutely nothing else that could happen that would make up for that 

[hauntedfalcon]

Casual reminder that Jedi is a singular and collective noun *fingerguns*