#han and chewie's epic bromance

[chamerionwrites]

I still haven’t seen this movie but I’ve rarely read anything that speaks so directly to my id

[tuli-azzameen]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/19246348

Just wanted to announce Chapter One of my new fic, Always Aligned. Bit different from my previous work in this fandom, heavier on the space opera. Themes include Reylo, HanLeia, Grey Jedi, slow-burn father-son bromance, what-if-the-Empire won, an epically screwed up family, and a happy ending (I promise!).

Summary:

Canon-divergent AU in which Ben Solo was actually raised by Vader. Born following the Rebellion’s crushing defeat at Endor, Ben has spent his entire life under the assumption that his mother is dead and his father was some nameless deadbeat. The grandfather who raised him always seemed supportive and doting, even if he is more machine than man. But years later, Ben discovers that his grandfather may have lied about everything. Ben sets out to discover the truth about his mother, only to cross paths with a particular embittered old smuggler, his Wookie sidekick, and their pretty new second mate. The Force has set Ben on a collision-course with not just his long-lost family, but his one true love.

Preview:

“You awake, junior?” the old man asked. “Yeah,” Ben answered, sitting up on what turned out to be some sort of med station. “Han Solo. Captain of the Millennium Falcon,” the old man introduced himself brusquely. That name. Where had Ben heard that name before? “My first mate, Chewie, is up in the cockpit.” He then gestured to the beautiful girl. “And this is Rey, my second mate.” Ben felt the dumbest urge to gasp, as if she was literally breathtaking. Because she was. The moment their eyes met, he noted the strangest sensation, somewhere in his chest. It was sort of similar to the cold sinking feeling one gets when disaster seems imminent. It was like that, but completely different. Opposite in fact. Not a heavy, sinking feeling. It was light. Almost floaty. Like something in his chest was preparing to take flight.

[takaraphoenix]

The Force Awakens: WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN. No. Seriously. The Force wasn’t dormant or shit. It’s literally the life-force of the universe. And it wasn’t asleep. So it had no need to ‘wake up’. Suuure, it’s suuuper-meta for “Look! We brought it bake! It is returned! It is awakened!”. But within the context of the movie... made as much sense as... the rest of the Star Wars titles. So, it keeps in tradition, I guess...?

Things that bothered me:

That the only feelsy moment about Han’s death was between Leia and Rey. Rey, who admittedly had great chemistry with Han and who I really wanted to see taken in by Han and adventuring with him but who also had literally only just met Han. Instead of Chewbacca. Chewie and Leia should have shared that moment, really.

That Kylo Ben killed Han. Like. You gotta bring on a really strong redemption arc to save that somehow, because he literally just straight-up murdered the fan-favorite character. Damn.

And that the original trilogy is, apparently, a thing “long forgotten” by the people in the universe. What the fuck. That was just unbelievable. Like, Han and Leia and Luke are all literally still alive. Everybody seems to know Han. And Leia is still the leader of the damn rebellion. When your most history figures are a) still alive and b) still in positions wildly known, then it is just really unbelievable that the universe forgot. Not to mention the age. Han and Leia are not that old. You can start having people forget or doubt if at the very least one generation lays between them. But it doesn’t. Rey and Fin are young enough to be their children. Why would they think that Han and co are fictional legends...? Thirty years do not qualify as legends. That one is just straight-up bullshit, sorry.

Lastly, the stormtrooper thing. The clones were super handy because they came a) fully grown and b) docile and obedient. But now the bad guys... abduct... babies? And have dark supernannies until the kids are old enough to fight for them? Just to have a “Finn problem” of free will...? Questionable.

I found the... trailer-shots really forced. Chewie and Han entering the Millennium Falcon, posing and claiming “We’re finally home” and Han dramatically claiming “It’s all true” to the children. It’s blatantly obvious they were just for the trailer and to hype the fans.

That being said, I really fucking enjoyed this movie a lot.

Now, the things I loved:

I did not expect to like it that much. It was so much better than the trilogy, which, not hard. But I definitely also enjoyed it more than the original trilogy - well, so far. This is one movie out of three, so we’ll have to wait and see, but I definitely had more fun so far than in the first one of the original trilogy.

The main reason for that being Rey.

Luke, in the first movie in particular, is just so whiny and such an annoying protagonist.

I love Rey.

Rey is awesome. From that first scene of seeing her sit and eat in the sand with the silly helmet on like... such a soft girl, to how she instantly respected BB8 as an intelligent autonomous being, to her wonderful chemistry with literally everyone.

Her chemistry with Finn is off the charts. And if Disney is going to ruin this epic bromance by forcing them into a relationship because a boy and a girl can not possibly be friends without romance, then I will personally fly over there and give them a piece of my mind.

But her chemistry with Han was also amazing. I need all the fix-it fics where Poe, Finn and Rey travel with Chewie and Han as their new crew on the Millennium Falcon once there is peace.

All the people that I heard whine about Rey being a Mary-Sue... Yeah. Dear whiny fanboiz, shut up. She’s just a protagonist. She is as much the special snowflake as Luke Skywalker was - if not less considering she’s notthe Big Bad’s child. A Mary-Sue is if you retcon a completely flawless, impeccable special snowflake character into a story. This is her story. This is her trilogy. If you didn’t whine about Luke and Anakin being Mary-Sues in the original trilogy and the prequels respectively, you do not have the right to whine about Rey being a Mary-Sue in this trilogy, because otherwise it clearly shows you’re just whining because she’s a girl.

To sum it up: I love Rey.

I really loved the characters. They were great and they had great chemistry with each other. The cast is amazing.

Rey is a compelling badass protagonist.

Poe is the fucking sass-king and I regret that I did not get Poe and Han play off each other.

Finn is a precious bean who needs to be protected at all costs.

BB8 is fucking adorable and holy shit, I did not think the puppy-thing was that literal, but when he shakes his head it really looks like a puppy wagging its tail.

Kylo Ben - which I will be calling him because I don’t know if I should call him Kylo Ren or Ben Solo, so let’s mash - really needs anger management and a shit-ton of therapy. But generally; he is literally a reverse Luke. Top to bottom.

Mom is good but Ben is tempted into the Dark Side by a questionable master and is now constantly tempted by the Light Side but trying to fight it.

vs

Dad is a bad guy but Luke is tempted into the Light Side by a questionable master *cough* Yoda *cough* and is now constantly tempted by the Dark Side but trying to fight it.

Reverse Luke.

Dunno how I feel about that just yet. Gotta see more of it before I can judge. Hope he gets a better redemption arc than the prequels tried for Anakin because that was a colossal failure.

The story is... curious. The whole reverse-Luke thing. Can’t wait to see where this is going.

But oh, boyfriend jackets. To end this on a happy note. Boyfriend jackets.

Seriously. Finn finds Poe’s jacket and decides to just wear it from here on out. They’re reunited after having had one flight with each other and it’s like they have known each other for years. And when Poe notices the jacket and goes “That’s mine” and Finn scrambles to get out of it “No, no, keep it. It looks good on you”. That. Like. Ask the guy out on a date before you put your Letterman jacket on him, Poe. Really now! Those two are ridiculously cute.

Petition for Poe/Finn with their puppy BB8 and Finn’s epic best friend Rey to become Chewie’s new crew on the Millennium Falcon, please.

Also, someone tell me that it is a Hard Fanon that Han fucking doesn’t die. Look. I’m not asking for much here. The Avengers fandom did it when a completely unnecessary secondary character died. They just, as a whole, ignored his death until it actually became canon and he got his own fucking show out of it. So. I am expecting a fandom as large and as attached as this one to collectively ignore Han’s death please? Tell me that’s a thing, @kimmyhunter??