#it's okay to take some time to grieve a relationship bb

[bbygirl-aemond]

daeron: are you okay-

jace: yes why do you ask

also jace:

[vaguely-concerned]

The Mandalorian Chapter 14 reactions: HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME BUT ALSO I’M CRYING edition

- the good good din characterization is back after all the weirdness last episode!!!! that soft way he says ‘no, no, I’m not mad at you’? THAT’S din djarin, he would not be fucking impatient with his son having just been informed and seen for himself that he is terrified, go away mr filoni I know you’ve got all of canon memorized but you don’t get this lol. this feels much more right in how din being conflicted and still thinking he should give the baby away for his own good plays out too  

honestly every line of dialogue for him in this one was perfect I was just whispering ‘I love this awkward clueless wonderful man just doing his best’ to myself any time he said anything. “...does this look Jedi to you?” sir I adore you more than words can describe

- we got din chuckling. asjdklfhsdkafghsdafsadhjkfsdahjkfh. fskahfksjad. side note: I can’t believe my joke post about din desperately trying to Force home school the kid with the one (1) jedi trick he knows about and the baby being delighted by it over and over anyway -- listen to his expectant excited laugh when din takes the ball and sets up the game!!!! -- was canon all along. and then the baby & mando music kicking in when he gently put the silver ball into the baby’s hands again and tells him he’s special (because he IS special. to din)? hmng. hmmmmnnnnn  

they opened on the height of softness so we would all crumple under the weight of the rest of the episode and that was very mean of them in a way I sincerely appreciate 

- nothing to see here... just a dad trying to walk through the literal manifestation of the unassailable underlying forces of the universe to get to his baby again and again........ the desperation in that, the love, the foolhardy devotion................... shit

- okay so I might be a dumbass, but I’d never noticed this before -- the silver ball has a blue spot on the top, like so: 

and in addition we get the room where the baby goes full darth grogu (I have to laugh so I don’t cry okay) on those storm troopers, and there’s a red light in there dominating the room (and it did even more in the concept art):

in star wars blue means light side and red means dark side (it’s very sophisticated that way), meaning the visual storytelling here is that there’s a battle for the baby’s soul and gideon and all his nonsense (and the trauma bb’s been through in the wider sense) is pulling towards the dark, while grogu and din’s connection leads him towards the light. just... the image of the baby looking at his own reflection in the symbolic representation of his relationship to din? the way children find their sense of self through being safely reflected and held by their caretakers? god help meeeeeee I will go in there and fistfight gideon myself for disrupting that in any way  

the smaller light seems to be blue too, like there’s still the presence of light even if it’s dimmed and small in that shitty horrible room, which is a change from the concept art!

- FENNEC SHAND SURVIVED BITCHES!!! I even called that she’d be back with new shiny robot parts back in season 1, could not happen to a cooler lady, I hope we get more backstory and interaction from her the next episodes -- sounds like she’s basically sworn herself to boba’s service in gratitude for saving her life, I wonder if that’s a cultural thing of whereever she comes from? does she live aboard slave 1 now too?? because that would be hilarious and amazing, it must be like two strange cats trying to get used to sharing the same space   

- everything I could ever hope for about boba fett in this series came true, they went down the much more interesting and nuanced route with jango and boba’s identities as mandalorians, he looked cool as fuck and made din as a character shine rather than overshadowing him... amazing beautiful yesss 

(I did 100% not anticipate just how ‘cool uncle boba here to help you fuck shit up’ he was going to be but I am delighted to get it anyway. uncle points deducted for getting someone to point a gun at the baby, but the main point still stands lol) 

the power and brutality of his hand to hand fighting too... a w e s o m e , I enjoyed the action scenes a lot in this one

- they even recanonized him actually wearing jango’s armour. what more could I ask for. I’ve had confused parent & child feels about these two since I was like eleven and here we fucking go again. and jango fighting in the mando civil wars too!

- so I’m grieving the razor crest (and I always will be, rip you magnificent jalopy, always in my heart) but also there’s the grim satisfaction that my reading on it was sort of true -- it is (...was. oh god it’s going to take a while to sink in huh) a symbol of din’s self and life, and at this point when they take the baby it tears everything else to pieces. the only thing that’s left in the ashes is the beskar and the thing that connects him to the baby. and there’s... a strange solace in seeing that that’s all he needs to keep going? he’s fucking obliterated from orbit but he still has his love for the baby and the beskar and that can keep him going until he finds something new, everything else can be replaced?????? weirdly healing, though he is probably going to have a solid breakdown at some point after they get the kid back (shut up they are getting the kid back) and the cold distant fog lifts 

also this scene/shot feels like it carries some Meaning, doesn’t it? I’m on record several times saying I never want din to be mand’alor and that’s still true, but there’s something about the framing of this and the way boba looks at him that’s like... hm. I’m not sure I have the words for it. there’s something heightened about it, anyway, for a moment he looks like something mythic there in the wreckage 

(something I would be much cooler with is our clan of two growing a little bit and those new people rallying behind him, actually, that might be neat. imagine if a force user does show up for the baby and gets adopted into the clan somehow??? so many possibilities.) 

- from the way he picks up the silver ball... din djarin is on his way to straight up murder some people huh

I think part of what reassures me about this scene is the music -- this mando flute is not distant, is not beaten, is not despondent, it’s clear and determined and strong.

- 

I love this. I love when we get explicit baby POVs, it makes it feel so real and intimate and... like home. (I especially loved baby’s point of view inside the razor crest, which just made me tear up again. baby lost the closest thing he’s had to a home in a long long time on top of it all. everything is suffering)

-

Emotionally Significant Thumb Grabbing tm; the show

- din djarin looking for the ‘on’ switch on a magic rock fhsdakjfhsadlfhsdjah I can’t breathe

 “Well, this is the seeing stone. Are you. Seeing anything?” fsafkdsajhfsa sdhfksjalhfkjsdahfkjsdhf

- the energy around the baby as he’s, in ahsoka’s words, ‘choosing his path’ is blue, and the force sort of works across time and space, right?? so there’s definitely still hope for our lil green bean to not have to come up with a really dumb unsubtle sith name for himself, as is regrettably yet delightfully tradition. darth babbu should never come to pass (I do like how they’re interrogating the normal dark/light side dichotomy in this series, seeing as this is a literal baby who can’t really be responsible for that stuff himself yet and has such capacity for both.)  

- listen. listen, the way din says ‘can you please hurry up’ with no sarcasm or real impatience whatsoever, more like a harried worry, to his force-meditating son as he jogs off to make sure no one’s trying to kill them. is hilarious and also YES this is what the character is!!! weirdly and incongruously polite under stress sometimes and with a slightly odd reaction pattern to things!!! he’s not just quiet and badass, he’s a little strange sometimes and it’s so good!  

- a friendly opening volley warning shot from boba there

also din uncertainly asking BOBA FETT if he’s a jedi... now this is the dramatic irony I’ve been looking for haha 

I guess neither shand nor boba actually know din’s name after this either. baby you gotta start introducing yourself at some point it gets real confusing when there are two mandos on screen 

oh the long weary sigh going through din’s frame when boba says he wants ‘the armour’ and he thinks it’s just someone trying to peel the beskar off his corpse again. sorry the galaxy’s so shitty dad   

- “But fate sometimes steps in to rescue the wretched” is a killer line well done mr favreau. I like that boba actually offers din a good deal as well and seems to intend to deliver on it from how things are going. 

- din using his beskar-covered bod to cover someone he’s fighting alongside!!! literal moving cover haha. also I love fennec’s costume design  

- I don’t know where din got more whistling birds from and I don’t care, it was really cool haha 

-

wow haha um so anyway -- 

(cue all the ‘who wore it better’ with cobb vanth’s ‘spiderman’s first home made costume’ look on one side and ABSOLUTE UNIT DADDY boba fett on the other side posts lol)

- aaaghh the music almost like a stunned desperate fluttering heart beat as din watches the razor crest be destroyed 

- for someone who has willingly worked for them in the past boba sure sounds less than thrilled about having the empire back in any capacity 

- oof the deadness in din’s voice when he says “The child is gone”. ooooh no that got me  h e l p 

- guessing next episode is at least partly a ‘gathering old allies and preparing the assault’ step before the grand finale, then! they cannot go for the season ender cliffhanger with this, I will fucking riot. anything can be up in the air except baby and dad being separated, I will not allow it

it would be very funny if the force user baby called out to comes stumbling into the middle of all this like the troy entering the room with pizzas meme too 

- the music in the darth grogu scene is partially a dark mirror of the baby & mando music :’( is nothing in this world sacred

also from how he reaches out for it baby might have used a light saber before in the past with the jedi? ngl the idea of baby wielding the dark saber not when he’s all grown up but in like two episodes -- with all the chaos a toddler holding a laser sword would involve -- is all that is keeping me sane here 

‘liable to put an eye out with one of these’ well gideon you sure have doomed someone to lose an eye with that one, here’s to hoping it’s you, for full dramatic payoff 

he is a deliciously smug awful force with great musical cues tho, you have to give it to him

- okay so this

is obviously awful and horrible and it makes me so sad... but it is undeniably also very very very funny in how it’s framed. you know what? after all this bullshit baby grogu can have a little dark side tantrum, as a treat, we’ve all been there right

(forget finding a jedi, we need to go out there and find a child psychologist who can help him deal with this without adding the fear that he’s on the path to become a two foot tall evil space sorcerer to the mix Y_________Y) 

- rip the razor crest except for the second time :’’’( gone but never forgotten

- the last thing din tells the baby is “I’m gonna protect you; I’ll be back soon”. and I hope that stays with the kid somehow and that it actually comes true, that din will be back for him as soon as humanly possible and all this pain and fear can be repaired. ggggghhhhh my emotions are too big for my dumb human body 

[sharkbait77]

can i request Frankie comforting you after the loss of a parent? even if that parent wasn't the nicest? love you bb

Aw love! Most absolutely ♥️ Thank you for being so supportive all the time & your friendship truly means so much to me & I will cherish it forever ♥️ love you!

Warnings: Death of a parent, grief, angst, hurt, comfort, language, shooting range

For many, losing a loved one is like losing a part of you, an extension of yourself. But when that connection is already strained in the first place, how are you supposed to feel? While the rest of your family cries because they're gone now, you cry because you've essentially lost something that you never really had in the first place.

Frankie maybe doesn't know personally how you feel, but he had been there through it all, saw every strand between that relationship snap and he saw the hurt it caused you. He wished desperately that he could take it away, but it was always there, like a lingering ghost.

Frankie doesn't know what else to do other than hold you tight, let you stretch out the fabric of his shirt from how tight you have it balled in your fists as you cry.

"I'm so fucking mad, Frankie," you say while the hot tears flow down your face.

"I know, baby. It's okay to be angry. Be pissed off at them. For however long you need to be."

Frankie distracts you as best as he can; he'll take you to the boxing club and let Benny teach you some moves so you can release that energy using your fists.

If you're comfortable with it, he'll take you to the shooting range, because sometimes for him, it's a good way to practice breathing, focusing your mind on something other than the pain.

But mostly, he just holds you when you curl up on the floor or the couch or the bed. He lets you spew your words of anger until you're breathless.

Then, finally, when the anger subsides and the sadness creeps in, he's there wiping the tears away as they fall, placing gentle kisses to your forehead as his own tears fall from his eyes from seeing you in pain.

And while you bury your face in his chest, wanting to merge yourself into him to hide away from the world, you ground yourself with the beating of his heart, the feel of his lips against the top of your head, the smell of his cologne and sweat.

You know with Frankie there to let you grieve exactly the way you need to, not the way other people expect of you, that you'll be okay.

Masterlist || Taglist

[the-irish-mayhem]

Fosterson Fic Rec Masterlist: Oneshots

The Main Reclist has been split to fix the links that tumblr decided to break if there were too many of them in a single post. I’ll be keeping the main reclist updated (even if the links appear broken) as well as maintaining this list and the list for multichapters.

I need help expanding this list! If you have any favorites or fics of your own of your own you don’t see included in this list and you’d like to submit for consideration, please drop me a line.

List updated April 2020. New additions marked with **

Updated during this wild quarantined time, which should serve as a reminder to everyone to APPRECIATE YOUR CONTENT CREATORS! Leave all the comments and kudos to show our love for everything they do. Big thanks to everyone who recommended and/or created content for this amazing ship.

Rated G/K-K+

**Promise by igi_pigi: Thor visits Jane to say goodbye before he leaves for Asgard. Rec: Bittersweet but lovely post-AOU, semi AU pre-Ragnarok. | 1.1k

**Spooky Nights by igi_pigi: "So what is it about?" Thor asks. "Or are we to go in uninformed?"Jane's eyes instinctively flick towards the blank tv screen. Darcy was insistent about it being a horror movie this time - as they serve as "perfect romance fodder", according to the maniac. Jane has decided to go with the recent one, 'The Conjuring'. [Set a few months after Thor2] Rec: Just sweet, dumb, wonderful fluff. Not an ounce of angst to be found. Also Thor learning about Earth is always sweeeeet. | 3.2k

**Stars and Solitude by igi_pigi: It's Jane's first night in Thor's home, however unusual the circumstances. He wishes to show her somewhere. She thinks it's his room. [Set during Thor2] Rec: A nice lil add on, Thor inviting Jane further into his life. | 3.3k

**Can’t Go Back the Same Way You Came by gumbridge: Loki lets go. This is what happens after. (post-film; basically a fixit fic.) Rec: This is pretty Loki-centric, but Jane is fabulously written, the family unit that Loki gets inducted into makes me very happy, and the fosterson is understated but so important and wonderful. | 20k

**spring will come by LadyCharity: As if grieving over the death of her husband wasn't hard enough, Jane has to deal with Thor's angry, bitter, emotionally shot little brother. Rec: This is literally all pain but god it is so good. You can feel the love binding Jane and Loki and Thor and it is so, so well written. Holy shit. | Content Warning: Major Character Death | 12k

the universe in your hand by amonkeysue: For the free day of Fosterson Week 2019, Thor's finally taking the right chance to propose to Jane. Rec: an adorable little bite-sized proposal fic. | <1k

Who Lives, Who Dies by MissChrisDaae: When the dust settles, who is left? Rec: Post-Infinity War, semi-kidfic. Pretty cute, and brings Jane into the story like she should’ve been. | 1.2k

Morning by MissChrisDaae: Thor and Jane's morning is interrupted by their kids. Rec: Fluffy fluffy FLUFFY Jane and Thor with a whole gaggle of children. | <1k

Trending by MissChrisDaae: Jane and Darcy's work session gets a little derailed. Rec: For the Social Media day of Fosterson Week, a fluffy and silly bit, and feeds into the 2012 Avengers Fic nostalgia. | <1k

ever on and on by often_adamanta: Darcy has to correct three separate people at the reception about their relationship, not younger cousin or sister, but college professor and boss and finally best friend. Jane thinks about their surprise, the second glances they give her, and wonders. Rec: Jane deals with the implications of immortality. Her friendship with Darcy is so potent and real in this. | 3k

Before the Thunder Shook Us by niobium: #6, “Is there a reason you’re naked in my bed?” #14, “Hey, I’m with you, okay? Always.” Rec: This is such a wonderful canon-insertion/canon divergence. Just enough fluff and bittersweetness to seem real. | 1k

Private Jokes by MissChrisDaae: Before his return to Asgard, Thor and Jane have a talk. Two years later, Thor misses a chance and Jane has to carry on. Rec: An AOU coda and a Ragnarok fix-it all in one. Feisty Jane and apologetic Thor. My bbs. | 1k

On the Physics of Magical Space Hammers by shinyopals: ‘So what does it mean to be “Worthy”?’ Jane asked. Jane doesn't mind sharing her life with Mjolnir. She just wishes she understood it a bit better. Rec: We’ve all wondered about Mjolnir and worthiness. Jane finally takes the initiative to find out with amazing results. | 4k

Fives Times Jane and Thor Broke Up and One Time They Didn’t by shinyopals: I didn’t know you were in the country, Jane,’ said Jane's grandmother. ‘Of course, nobody tells me anything.’ ‘It’s just a very last minute thing,’ said Jane, which Thor knew to be a lie. ‘I only arrived yesterday-’ another lie, ‘and I’m just on the way to work and thought I’d stop by and see Mom.’ This too was not true. ‘This is my friend Thor,’ she added, almost casually. ‘He’s been helping me with some work so we’re driving into the university together.’ This seemed the most flagrant of all the lies, but Thor decided not to let it show. It's not always convenient to be a relationship, so sometimes Jane and Thor have to make sacrifices. Rec: A giant SUCK ON THIS FEIGE that takes the “Jane and Thor break up” concept to the best possible places. | 12k

Hours Long and Short by shinyopals: The first night, Thor does not sleep. (Written for a post-TDW prompt for Fosterson Week 2017.) Rec: A really wonderful slice of life fic post-TDW. Deals with their trauma so wonderfully, and includes some lovely soft moments. | 4k

#7Days7Hobbies by shinyopals: Thor wants to try out some of Midgard's finest hobbies and turns to Twitter for suggestions. Jane isn't really sure how this is now her life. (Prompt for Day 4: Domestic, for Fosterson Week 2017.) Rec: One of my favorite things that’s ever been submitted for Fosterson Week. I love reading about Thor fully embracing Earth customs, particularly social media, which opal KNOWS is one of my weaknesses. | 5k

A Question of Honor by shinyopals: ‘Paintball?’ said Steve. ‘We could do… that…’ ‘What is that?’ asked Thor. He nuzzled into Jane’s hair. His mead-breath was giving her a headache. ‘It’s a thing- a game… thing. With paint.’ ‘Rogers, stop explaining stuff to Thor, you’re embarrassing me.’ Tony’s voice was remarkably coherent. Must have been drinking sensibly. Bastard. When it comes to deciding whether Earth or Asgard has better warriors, the stakes are high, and Jane is wishing she'd kept her big mouth shut. Rec: TEAM BUILDING EXERCISES FOR THE WIN. | 8k

The Gift Horse by fartherfaster: Sam and Darcy are formally introduced for the first time. Sam says “formally” with some flexibility. And a couch. A couch and a great deal of flexibility. Nevermind, he’s said enough. They met, is what he’s trying to say. Or, Sam's early days with the whole gang. Rec: Mostly a teamfic from Sam Wilson’s POV, which is awesome because how often do you see that. Fosterson is mostly background, but it made me smile so much. | 3k

on the verge of understanding something extraordinary by dirgewithoutmusic: “Jane, you’re an astrophysicist, not a storm chaser,” said Erik Selvig, and he was wrong. She was just an astrophysicist too. (A Jane Foster character study) Rec: I’m relatively certain I read this before and loved it, only it somehow didn’t make the reclist. An amazing, touching, wonderful, stunning portrait of Jane Foster. | 9k

starlight in her eyes by jdphoenix: “You,” she says, voice strong with accusation. “You’re the one who attacked me!” Thor really must laugh at that. “You are the one who attacked me. Or is it considered polite among stars to crash into one another?” Rec: A really awesome take on a Stardust fusion AU. Full of inquisitive Jane and cocky Thor. It gave me really hard vibes from the first Thor film. | 1.2k

a true lady of Asgard by jdphoenix: It's not uncommon for Jane to fall asleep working when she's chasing a new theory or hunting down evidence but the middle of a battle for the future of Asgard is not the time. Rec: Jane becoming a fixture of sorts in Asgard is one of my kinks. Also Jane being friends with Thor’s friends and the people of Asgard. Kink. | 3.5k

Afterwit by RC_McLachlan: Good with patients, bad with relationships. That's what she told Thor before she ripped the name tag from the shirt in his hands and crumbled it in her palm, relishing the way the sticky back clung to her skin before she threw it in the waste bin. She'd never been so right in her life up to that point—the rightest she's ever been was when she decided to offer the crazy blond guy a ride to his mysterious non-satellite in the desert. Or, the one in which Jane and Thor run into Donald Blake. Rec: I am such a sucker for the “running into the shitty ex with the New and Improved Partner” trope and this is that. All of that to such a wonderful degree. | 2.7k

drabbles by freshexes: Rec: Some really fantastic little bits of prose. Great voices of Thor and Jane. Some fluffies, some angst. | 1k

The Good Times are Killing Me by alwaysaprilia: Rec: Modern royals AU. Jane and Thor are perfect in this. The dialogue is sublime, and the interactions made me squee really hardcore. I only wish there was more. | 3.6k

College AU by anthropologicalhands: Rec: It’s kinda more meta/heacanon, but it’s really adorable. | 1k

all’s fair (in love and war) by sweetwatersong: This is what you fight for. This is what you yearn to feel: this moment, this passing of every second, this rush of life and the indomitable strength of the present. Thor is a warrior, born and bred, and he is glad of any battle - and yet, as with all things, even this can change. Rec: A Thor introspect and a really well done second person perspective. | 1k

Five Times Thor Gets His Shirt Off FOR GREAT JUSTICE And One Time He Doesn’t by shinyopals: Sometimes Thor’s armour is more useful when not being worn by him. He definitely doesn’t end up in these situations on purpose. Rec: Please bury me in every single five times fic shinyopals has written. This one might be my absolute favorite. So many fantastic interactions for Thor, not just with Fosterson (which is BEYOND perfect), but the whole team. Plus: naked Thor fighting bad guys in an apron. Also the SamSteve is so strong and I’m in love. | 9.8k

A Discussion of Hypotheticals by shinyopals: Jane and Thor talk about their future. Hypothetically. Rec: I am so glad we’ve made Fosterson Week a thing because this fic is WONDERFUL. Great communication makes me weak, and also so many squee-worthy moments. | 5k

Jane Foster Versus the Internet. Or: Five Times Jane Allegedly Dated An Avenger And One Time She Apparently Did Not by shinyopals: Jane discovers that the internet is The Worst. Rec: It’s the thing I loved so much I made graphics for it because it’s so good. Jane’s interactions with all the Avengers are delightful, not to mention her steady relationship with Thor that is so grounded and real. It’s also freaking hilarious. | 10.4k

Untitled by polyamoryavengers: Rec: Angst and fluff and Jane comforting Thor. *cartwheels into the sun* | 1k

Sexiest ‘Something’ Alive by Niobium: Tony is bound and determined to make sure a human is awarded the title of Sexiest Man Alive (he even has a solid candidate in mind); Jane just wants media outlets to get their science right. Rec: This is absolutely fantastic. Just the right kind of blend of humor, sweetness, and meta criticism ever. | 7.5k

The Hours Filled by websandwhiskers: Ritual and comradery are basic human needs. Rec: Focus on Jane, not a ton of Thor, but pregnant Jane is always a delight. | 1.7k

First Dates? by hariboo: Jane’s not really sure what her and Thor’s first date is? The party or the barbecue? In end does it matter? Rec: I am not a big fan of high school AUs, but if they float your boat, this is definitely worthwhile. | 1.4k | Part of Let’s Be Young Forever series

Of Car Crashes and Coffee by hariboo: “you bumped my car and I’m so piss- oh wow no you’re hot let’s go for a coffee” au prompt. Exactly what it says on the tin. Rec: This made me giggle. Super duper cute. | 1.3k

Tactile Perception by RC_McLachlan: “The day I met you, I knew you would see me.” Her hands find his face, sliding over his jaw, his cheeks, and she brings their foreheads together. “The day I met you, I hit you with my car. Twice.” Rec: *dies quietly* Teasing and cute story telling and just so many good things. | 2k

Clarke’s Third Law by shinyopals: “Of all the people to knock down the stairs, she would pick the practically-seven-foot-tall son of the Minister for Magic who just happens to be the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.” Jane’s just trying to read every single book in the Hogwarts library in between classes, and she’s not quite sure how Thor happened to her. Rec: I never read Harry Potter but damn it this makes me want to. I just love this. So much. I don’t know how but it happened. I actually really wish there was more? | 3.8k

The Most Daring Prophecies–Dr Jane Foster at TED Talk by Rozilla: A transcript of Jane giving a TED Talk on her experiences of crossing the cosmos, Asgard and her hopes for the future of interstellar travel - as reported on WHIH. Rec: I can’t tell you how badly I wanted this to be real. Fosterson is mentioned a bit, and it makes me smile a lot. | 5.1k

Paradigm Shift by jdphoenix: “Jane’s implementing a ‘new organizational paradigm.’ She does this like once a year, usually when she’s extra stressed. Like after that time your brother messed up NYC.” Rec: cute domestics plus Jane is worthy. | 1.5k

Raging Storm by jdphoenix: Thor knows the moment he touches the hammer that it is not Mjolnir. Rec: A brilliant continuation of Paradigm Shift (above, previously recced) wherein Jane bests Loki and is worthy, plus Jane talking down berserker!Thor. So many of my Fosterson hot buttons. | 4k

Overlap by littlestardust: A moment between Thor and Jane. Alternative summary: Thor is respectful of Jane’s life choices, and also there is cuddling. Rec: Teeny tiny fic, but super cute. | <1k

amazed & confused by tashlae: Dating an alien/god/man who fell from the sky isn’t something to take lightly. Rec: Jane/Darcy centric with lots of talk about fosterson and a kinda sweet moment at the end. | 1k

untitled by ifilovedyouless: jane/thor, modern royals. Rec: Oh my god, the sweetness overload was too much. Also YAS Thor in military uniform. | 1k

Fosterson - dancing by batsonthebrain: Rec: Introspective, sweet, and with a heavy dose of mutual respect. | <1k

Unplanned by hariboo: The first person to hear Jane is pregnant isn’t Thor. It should be, but extenuating circumstances. This happens a lot when it comes to living in Stark Tower. Rec: Very much toeing the crack line. Baby!fic, obviously, plus fabulous Clint, and a semi?redeemed Loki. | 1.2k

clash of the (scientific) titans by anthropologicalhands: Thor brings Tony to meet Jane. Thor admits he probably could have thought it through a little better. Rec: this fic always makes me giggle. Fosterson is mostly background, but the interactions between everyone makes this worth it. | 1k

Through Doors by nayanroo: The Jedi Order knows a good team when they see it, but unfortunately even the best-planned missions always have something go hilariously wrong. That’s when the true strength of any bond is shown. Rec: A Star Wars fusion is always a good idea. The way Jane and Thor play off each other and their bond through the Force is lovely. | 4k

Straight On 'Til Morning by arsenicarcher: Thor and Jane are having a baby. Tony’s conflicted about the whole thing. Rec: Kinda Tony-centric, but I’m always up for a fosterson baby. | 4.4k

hard to keep the rainclouds out by veliseraptor: Rec: A unique view on Thor’s grief and Jane’s struggle to be there for him. Very lovely, very angsty. | 2.1k

Perils of an RPF Life by hariboo: Look, it isn’t that she isn’t excited for Jane, sure she is. But Darcy wonders if Jane ever thinks about that. The fact she’s dating the sexiest E.T. ever. Rec: Darcy’s voice in this is hilarious and touching all at once. Jane and Thor’s caring for each other is so clear and endearing I audibly squeed a few times. | 2k

amazed & confused by tashlae: Dating an alien/god/man who fell from the sky isn’t something to take lightly. Rec: Jane and Darcy friendship is a lot of fun. Jane’s pondering of their relationship seems very characteristic of her. | 1k

On The Unsubtle Nature of Fish Ties by Niobium: Fancy clothes shopping for your alien boyfriend should be easier than this. Or, how Thor got his red velvet jacket. Rec: Fosterson is mostly background, but cute Jane/Darcy/Pepper interaction. | 3.3k

Be Safe by MissChrisDaae: Thor and Jane have a contingency plan for emergencies. Rec: Speculation/AU for Age of Ultron. Baby!fic, and is just so damn cute. | <1k

It All Happens Here by MissChrisDaae: Her very first year of teaching, Jane Foster gets an unusual bonus in the form of one of her students’ extremely attractive father. Single dad and his daughter’s kindergarten teacher au. Rec: super fluffy and just adorable. | 7.5k

Remembrance by Are_you_ever_not_going_to_fall_for_that: Thor and Jane take a walk and come across something that sparks memories. Post The Dark World. Rec: Jane and Thor talk about Loki, and the lack of heavy angst is refreshing. | <1k

Traffic jam by kes: When you’ve been fighting omnicidal aliens and the bureaucracy, a getaway is in order. Unfortunately, flying from A to B isn’t always possible… Rec: domestics. cute domestics EVERYWHERE. | <1k

nothing is ever convenient (except to make things uncomfortable) by anthropologicalhands: After Thor returns, there is still the matter of responding to Richard. Rec: The awkwardness of dealing with Richard made me smile. A very smile inducing fic. | 1.3k

Jane on Top by Rozilla: Jane Foster is asked to lecture at the SHIELD Academy, but she feels her old anxieties and worries begin to creep in- but it’s okay. Darcy has her back, not to mention it appears she has a fan club at the Science and Tech Division of the SHIELD Academy! Rec: An unapologetic Jane-fest, which is my favorite kind of party. Fosterson is background, but very relevant. Darcy is a cool friend. | 4.1k

leave this star crossed world behind by anthropologicalhands: Sif visits Jane with an offering. Rec: Jane/ Sif friendship, and they talk about immortality. Great interactions and insights on fosterson. | 2k

Measured Uncertainties by plushbug: Gap-filler, applying to the 2011 Thor movie. A shot at what might have gone missing from the rooftop scene between Thor and Jane Foster, after his 'rescue’ from the SHIELD base. Fits between “…and Asgard. That’s where I come from.” and “Thank you, Jane." Rec: A good fill for the movies, explains some comic-verse continuties. Curious Jane is a lovely person, and Thor relishes in giving her knowledge. | 4k

halfway between the gutter and the stars by verity: Thor pulls his phone out of his pocket and lifts it above them to capture a picture of the moment, their hair lit by the sun, Jane’s soft smile next to his beaming grin. The Rise filter suits the image perfectly. “I shall title this 'THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE,’” Thor says, typing carefully on the touchscreen. “With the small image of your planet, flanked by sparkling stars." "Well, we abandoned a geocentric model of the galaxy hundreds of years ago,” says Jane. "'THE CENTER OF MY UNIVERSE,’“ Thor says. He amends his caption and selects the options to crosspost from Instagram to Twitter and Facebook. Rec: Okay I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this. So much. I love the world-building that Avengers + social media allows for. Also, cute Thor and Jane and team stuff plus Neil Degrasse Tyson and George Takei. So much good stuff. | 2.2k

Catalysts by Niobium: Meeting people winds up being a catalyzing event in Jane Foster’s life more often than not. Rec: Well-written Jane, and super supportive boyfriend Thor. I love it when he treats her like a genius. | 2.1k

The Reconstruction of the Mind by Niobium: Jane Foster’s introduction to astronomy doesn’t start with a backyard telescope or a shooting star or the arm of the Milky Way strewn across the nighttime sky, but with an Alexandrine woman named Hypatia. Rec: Jane-centric, and very well done, as per usual with this author. Fosterson is more background, but they have some lovely moments. | 4.6k

Asgardian Cautionary Tales for Young Maidens by Niobium: Jane discovers that Asgardian love stories aren’t exactly romcoms. Rec: Jane and Thor sharing love stories. I audibly squeaked at their cuteness. | 2.3k

the new millennia by hoosierbitch: Thor’s life was measured in centuries, not days. Rec: Post-Dark World, very Thor oriented and introspective. Jane helps him through his grief over Loki. Angst on angst. | 1.1k

the drumming inside her by hariboo: she can feel everyone looking at her, waiting for her to break or give up. they don’t understand. she made a promise too. Rec: oh my god Jane being determined, Thor pining a bit, Heimdall being awesome, and a super sweet reunion. | 1.3k

Starchild by empyrean: One night Jane teaches Thor the basics of Western astronomy, and Thor tries to describe Asgard. Then the Bifröst breaks, and Jane isn’t having that. Rec: Jane and Thor bond over the stars, and Jane doesn’t take it sitting down when the Bifrost breaks. Love the simplicity and the power in this. | 1k

There by Barkour: Jane has found Thor and in the finding, she has gone somewhere she’d never dreamed she’d see. Rec: Jane geeking out over Asgard, plus some really cute banter, and Thor being a gent as always. | 1.9k

Numbers and Lines by Sheeana: Jane Foster visits Avengers headquarters to help install a program she designed, and gets caught up in helping with their latest problem. Rec: Jane and Natasha get some great action together, and the Fosterson is handled well. | 4.9k

Important Meals of the Day by hariboo: or alternatively: Five Breakfasts With Jane and Thor and them feeding their family and friends. Which sometimes lately seem to be the same thing. Rec: domestics! Fluff that makes me want to stay there forever! I love this author’s way of writing fosterson. Also Darcy is so great in this. | 6.2k

Fire in the East by Maat: He finds that there are sweeter things than mead and glory and the fierce bright colors and rich textures of Asgard. Rec: Best Thor-being-on-Earth-longer fic that I’ve read. Short, poignant, sweet, and painful. This is beautifully written and left me wishing this was how the canon story could have gone down. | 1.1k

Few So Generous by galaxysoup: After Odin falls into the Odinsleep, Frigga takes up her husband’s spear and the rule of Asgard. Rec: Jane and Thor from an outside perspective, and a different version of events. Though the focus is not on fosterson outright, it is still a very good fic. | 2.7k

we fall like stars by jadeddiva: All that is left of him now is the extra chair pulled up to her makeshift fire pit, which she never sits in and hasn’t had the heart to move. Jane, and the search for Thor and a greater understanding of herself. Rec: A character study of Jane and how Thor affected her life. Lovely and poignant. Fluid writing style. | 3.1k

Not "Functional” or “Elegant” by Niobium: Jane Foster has worked some bad jobs in her career; working with Stark Industries’ R&D is a vast improvement. Rec: Jane-centric, and gives her a great backstory. She and Thor are adorable as always. The author clearly respects Jane as a scientist, so that shows through a lot, which is amazing. | 1.6k

Jane Foster’s High School Reunion by Niobium: Jane Foster has a high school reunion to go to. Rec: Jane and Thor are adorable. Thor is a gentleman, and Jane gets to laugh in the face of a jerk. Very satisfying. | 5k

Nature and Nurture by nayanroo: What’s better than solving a physics problem that may well get you another Nobel Prize nomination? Having a baby on the same day. Rec: Part of an amazing series (full rec with multichapter fics below) but can be read as a standalone. Featuring pregnant!Jane and adorable and far-too-accurate expectantfather!Thor. The fluff is lovely. Features all of the Avengers with some lovely domestics. | 7.4k | Part of in progress series, The Kingsverse

don’t we all want happy endings? by hariboo: Thor is thinking about Jane, Steve cares (because Steve has Feelings about Lost Lady Loves*), and in the end it’s a team effort. Rec: We get the closure on Thor contacting Jane after the events in New York. Sweet and painful and just lovely. | 3.4k

Legacy by me: A generation later, a budding social scientist tries to figure out Jane and Thor. Rec: Because it wouldn’t be a true reclist without a self-plug. Both Jane and Thor have passed away in this fic. | 2k

Rated T

**Heed the Signs by igi_pigi: Thor wakes up from a nightmare. Is it just a dream, or something more? [Post Thor2, Pre Thor3.] Rec: A heavy, meaningful setup to a Thor 3 that never was. | 4.8k

**Heartless by igi_pigi: Everything reminds her of him, it's funny. Wherever she looks, whatever she thinks of, usually and especially to get her mind off him, will eventually lead to him. [Set the night before Jane's date with Richard in Thor2.] For Day 6 of Fosterson Week - 'things that make you think of them' Rec: A really interesting and fabulous rumination from Jane about Thor’s impact on her life. | 1.4k

**Her Healing Touch by igi_pigi: Jane doesn't really realise that the Aesir are a bit relaxed when it comes to physical hurt. And freaks out over what Thor thinks are just petty bruises of battle. Ending with a little confession from Thor. [Set after Thor2] Rec: A neat take on Asgardian culture, love the way Jane’s care connected to Thor’s past. | 2.5k

**Qeryana by Domenika Marzione (domarzione): Thor and his efforts to live on Midgard, as opposed to just defending it. Rec: Thor’s visceral struggle of living in a culture not his own, but is ultimately still hopeful and positive. | 3k

**First and Foremost, Red by RC_McLachlan: There's a reason Jane and Thor break up. It's not a great one but it's the right one. In the year that follows, Jane carries on, doesn't win a Nobel Prize, defeats Thanos and saves the universe, and finally allows herself to be a little selfish. Rec: YAAAAAS I want ALL the Jane Saves Everything in Infinity War/Endgame fic. ALL OF IT. It’s so satisfying and good. | 9.7k

**Gangráðr, Faðmbyggvir Friggjar by tsukinofaerii: Less than a week before her wedding, Frigga warns Jane of ancient Asgardian rituals she and Thor must undergo before her marriage ceremony. Jane and Thor call on their friends for help as they face what might be the challenge of their lives. Rec: Just an absolute fucking delight from start to finish. Hilarious and amazing. Absolutely the best of the 2012-era Avengers fics. | 19.1k

The Courage of Stars by always_a_queen: Half the universe turns to dust. Thor goes to find the one person who is his whole universe. Thor/Jane Post-Infinity War and during/after Endgame. Spoilers for both movies and Ragnarok. Rec: god this is so heartbreakingly perfect. A wonderful fix it that gives a perfect little taste of what we might’ve had if Jane had been rightfully included in these movies. Jane does pass away at the end of the fic. | Content Warning: Major Character Death | 4.3k

Family Values by shinyopals: ‘It would have been kinder to leave me dead,’ Loki informs her one day. Jane Foster, who’s just revoltingly kissed Thor goodbye, told him she loves him, and called him a disturbing pet name, snorts derisively. ‘He brought you lunch; quit whining,’ she says. Loki isn't sure how he feels about his family, these days. Rec: The best take on Loki ever. His relationship with Jane is fabulous, and the interplay between him, Thor, and Jane is AMAZING. What a freakin treat this fic is. Post-Infinity War AU. | 3k

The Second Law of Thermodynamics by shinyopals: ‘What have you done?’ he asks. He still attempts to sound grave, but with Jane it is hard not to give into smiles.‘Done? I haven’t done, well. I mean. I have done some things. But it’s not bad. I was just curious! And nobody stopped me. I mean, they even welcomed me. So. I didn’t do-’‘Jane,’ he interrupts, laughing and leaning down to plant a kiss on her mouth. ‘You are absurd. I missed you. Tell me.’ Rec: Pardon me while I try to physically scream this fic into existence. It’s perfect. Jane loves science, and Thor loves Jane. Post-Thor 2. | 1.8k

Storm Warning by shinyopals: Then he strides to her and presses a kiss to her lips, taking her face in his hands as he does and holding her close. ‘You planned this?’ he asks. ‘Your morning’s work was not astrophysics, then?’She gives a guilty smile. ‘I wanted to, you know, surprise you.’ Thor gets ~romanced. He kinda likes it. Rec: GOD THE FLUFF. THE. FLUFF. PURE AND GOOD. | 3k

Sakaar by MissChrisDaae: Jane's been stuck on Sakaar for a year and a half. So Asgardians are a welcome sight. Rec: A really original way to get Jane involved in Ragnarok. Jane + science for the win. | 1.3k

Lab by MissChrisDaae: Thor likes spoiling Jane. Rec: For the Jane on Asgard day of Fosterson Week, a short and sweet lil tidbit! | <1k

Domesticity by MissChrisDaae: Little moments around Avengers Tower. Rec: I literally gasped in delight with how much this made me nostalgic for the fluffy Avengers Living in the Tower fics of 2012. | <1k

The Prince(ss) and Me by asoulofstars, MissChrisDaae: Prince Thor of Asgard just wants a little time to feel normal before he has to marry the mysterious Princess Jana of Ameos. So, he runs away from home and enrolls at Harvard University as Donald Blake, where he meets Jane Foster. Jane is clever, kind, and everything he wants, but can never have.Princess Jana of Ameos has spent her whole life studying incognito, getting the best global education possible under the alias of Jane Foster and trying not to think about romance, or the fiancé waiting for her back in Europe. Then Don Blake comes along and throws that plan out the window. Rec: A funky Modern Royals AU. Charming in some nice ways, and I like the slow-building tension. | 17k

Misunderstandings by writerblocked: She looks up at Thor, who grins warmly at her, and looks at their surroundings again. “This isn’t my apartment,” she says. Thor’s grin grows wider. “I know,” he says back. Rec: Newlywed!Fosterson fluff. | 1.8k

Turtures in Aeternum by shinyopals: ‘Legend tells that some unlikely souls are known to pause in their work for reasons of leisure,’ deadpans Thor. ‘History does not say what trials they faced.’ Asgardian science is giving Jane a headache. Thor persuades her to take a break to see some of the sights with him. Rec: Asgardian worldbuilding (literally) via Fosterson field trip. I love everything in this. | 5.5k

Five Times the Bad Guys Interrupted Thor and Jane's Date Night and One Time Tony Freaking Wishes They Had by shinyopals: ‘I have told Steve,’ Thor says to Tony as he’s leaving to go back to his rooms, ‘but I thought I should tell you also. Jane and I plan to institute the ritual of ‘Date Night’.’ As always, Thor sounds like someone’s severely uncool father trying to be hip when he uses any slang invented since the Civil War. Tony's been an Avenger long enough to avoid deliberately tempting fate, even if he doesn't actually believe in fate. The universe is just plain cruel. That's why he knows to be prepared for the worst Hydra can throw at them whenever Thor and Jane make evening plans. Rec: IT’S SO FUDGING CUTE. I CAN’T. IT’S CUTE AND HILARIOUS AND PERFECT AS ALWAYS. | 4.7k

Unexpected Arrival by shinyopals: ‘Jane-’ Thor cut himself off, opening and closing his mouth without managing words. Her name on his lips sounded so familiar; warm and deep and like nothing else mattered. An undercurrent of nerves there that she could still hear after all this time, that she didn’t think anyone else would be able to. She wanted to run to him, bury her face in his neck and jump back in time. Back before the break up - not enough time for each other with the universe in peril. Back before the baby. The baby she still sometimes wondered if she should have terminated to save them both this moment. Rec: The angsty and painfully yearning babyfic that you never knew you needed. | 2k

Steadfast as the Stars Above by jdphoenix: It was not meant to be like this. With him so small and weak, fighting every second to find purchase on a tiny world that spins faster than he can fathom. He wanted to be strong for her. Rec: A fabulous use of the Soulmate AU that completely slots itself perfectly into canon. | 8.3k

too poor for silver, i have a copper tongue by venndaai: “Maybe you don't have the perfect words all the time but, you always have something to say, right? You never have to, have to stop and think about it, and you never stumble over your words or anything.” He squinted at her. “I thought such things simply aspects of Midgardian speech, which you know I am not well versed in.” Jane sighed. “They're not supposed to be.” Rec: A story featuring an explicitly autistic Jane Foster. So wonderfully done. Full of empathy and love and kindness and warmth. | 1.3k

Gift by spikewriter: Jane looked at the brightly colored rug on the floor of the farmhouse in the Hudson Valley they were still moving into. “I like it,” she admitted with a bit more enthusiasm, picturing how her six-year-old self would have run screaming around the room in glee at such a gift. Rec: Some post-TDW fluff with bonus Darcy inclusion. | 1.5k

to candle incandescent as you pass by sweetwatersong: The legacy of King Tristan and the Star Queen Yvaine is not a mere tale in Stormhold, a fantastical portion of the kingdom's history. It lives and breathes in the blood of their descendants, in their long lives and graceful aging, in the ruling King Odin and his son, the Crown Prince Thor… Rec: A Stardust/Huntsman/Thor fusion that isn’t so much a full fic as it is, as the author describes, “a sketch.” Still a really lovely read, a great blend of the films. | 5k

Raiment of The Gods by randomcelt: They say the clothes make the man ... or the god. But sometimes, they do the most for his friends. (Or, a tale of all the times someone else wore Thor's clothes and the adventures necessitating such a development.) Rec: A great Thor character piece. A heavy emphasis on Thor + the team which I love. Runs you through the full gamut of emotions in the best way. | 10k

How to Quantify by Rozilla: It turns out Jane has a personal top ten list of favourite equations - and a nice expanse of hot Norse God to write them on. Rec: Super sweet and also contains the phrase ‘who said science never got you laid’ so. Yep. | 2k

this new bravery by hoosierbitch: For alfadorisawesome, who requested Thor/Jane “about to hook up with someone who doesn’t know.” This is my favorite piece so far. <3 Rec: Incredibly well done Trans Jane Foster. I am such a sucker for open lines of communication between partners, and that’s exactly what this is. Thor is incredibly sweet, and this story establishes his very nonbinary opinions on gender which I LOVE, but he still makes an effort to understand Jane’s experience. I love this fic so much. | 1k

The Hammer and the Ice by grav_ity: In the course of her short and mortal life, the heart of Jane Foster has been twice touched by the sons of Asgard. Rec: I adore AUs where Jane was in the Avengers. This is a short flashfic, but really lovely. | 1k

A Royal Wedding by MissChrisDaae and Science_Thunder_Lightning_Love: After three years, ten months, an alien invasion, a cosmic event, and a baby, Thor and Jane finally make it to the altar. Rec: Ridiculously cute fluffies. | 7.5k | Part of the Convergence series

The Thunder God Job by fuzzy_paint: Jane and Thor are thieves. Rec: Oh lawd, the AU I never knew I needed. Beautiful characterization with a rich world they’re placed in. I only wish it was 200 chapters. | 16.2k

there was a star danced by tosca1390: This is the familiar rhythm of her days; the coffee shop until one pm, five days a week, then class and the lab, then home or the library. Here, in her last year with a future dark ahead of her, she doesn’t see anything to change her ways. Jane and Thor, meeting at a coffee shop. Rec: College/Coffee Shop AU. Bless the AU gods. Sly little Shakespeare references. Thor and Jane being cute, sweet idiots. | 6.2k

Proximity Alarm by fayedartmouth: Thor comes back to Earth. Jane thinks it’s great. Except all the times it isn’t. Rec: It’s a great writing style. Jane and Thor are awkward, adorable, and passionate in a realistic way. Them navigating how to be together is a challenge that not all authors can rise to, so this is a great piece. So much yes. | 13.7

Never So Empty by iwillavengeyou: Thor has traveled the nine realms and seen many things in his centuries of godhood. What could possibly make everything seem so empty? Rec: Wow, just no. This hurts. This is not cool. Ow. Ow. Transcends angst and ends up somewhere much worse. Read if you’re into self-flagellation or are making a reclist. I literally yelled “Wow rude” at the conclusion of this fic. Major Character Death | 1.5k

An Ancient Gesture by Niobium: Jane and Thor come up with a tradition for dealing with situations where a social function gets to be a little too much for either of them. Rec: Super smiley, stomach flutter inducing fic. Fluff upon fluff, but also Asgard culture/worldbuilding! Yay! | 2.8k

Five Times Jane Kinda Sorta Accidentally Slept With An Avenger, The One Time She Didn’t, And the Many (Many) Times It Wasn’t Even a Little Accidental by shinyopals: Some people collect Avengers trading cards. Some collect action figures. Jane Foster, almost entirely without meaning to, has them all beat. Rec: If you’re not convinced by that title and summary, I’m not sure I can help you. Hilarious, in character, and kinda cute. | 9.3k

Well Remembered by Rozilla: Jane’s met Tony Stark before. Rec: Cracky and hilarious. | 1.1k

you may end up wanting more from this life by tosca1390: Everything is cold where it was once warm, and Jane is at a loss. Rec: Not sure why I haven’t put this beautiful thing on here yet. Deals with their separation, and a great character study of Jane. Angsty. | 1.6k

The Hearts of Stars and Thunder by MissChrisDaae, Science_Thunder_Lightning_Love: Rec: A Snow White and the Huntsman/Thor fusion. Really great use of characters, and all of the medieval battles and fosterson abound. | 7.7k

You Get One Phone Call by MissChrisDaae: Following the Battle of Manhattan, Jane gets a phone call. Rec: Post-battle strain, but then suddenly fosterson cuteness hits you like a wrecking ball. | <1k

Abs of Thunder by Unknownnobody32: During a flight on-board Stark’s jet, Jane learns how turbulence, pasta sauce, her Thunder god boyfriend, and his rock hard abs can soon become a recipe for embarrassment all thanks to bad timing. Rec: Takes washboard abs to another level. God, this is just too funny. | 2.1k

London, underground by Maybug: Clint Barton meets some familiar faces and has a very bad day hunting the jotunbeast left behind in London after the convergence. Rec: an awesome outside POV on fosterson, plus badass science Jane and her science assistant Thor, and awesome Clint. | 2.6k | Part of the Fosterson Files series

We have loved the stars to fondly by Maybug: Jane and Thor are up to something on the roof of the Tower. Tony thinks he knows what it is, but doesn’t see why he should be the one to tell them to stop. Rec: Outside POV of fosterson. Basically Thor does cute/dangerous things for Jane’s happiness. | 1.8k | Part of the Fosterson Files series

change places by coffeesuperhero: Jane and Thor get in the way of a Stark experiment. This goes about as well as you might expect. Rec: Body swap madness. So many cute moments though, plus some implied sexytimes with swapped bodies “for science.” So much yes. | 3.1k

Slowly, We Adjust by katsumi: Jane Foster leaves the lab on Friday exhausted, overworked, and petrified that she won’t get the grant proposal for her wormhole experiment finished in time to get funding. So, of course she gets rear-ended, because that’s just the kind of week she’s having. Rec: Protective/Worried Thor is best Thor. Reassuring Jane is best Jane. So much angst/cute. | 1.4k

Put a Ring on It by fuzzy_paint: Jane makes Thor a wedding ring. Rec: What it says on the tin. | 3.9k

The Pretty Birds Have Flown by beanarie: "Jane never pukes, not when she first wakes up, not at any other time of day. She has a cast-iron stomach and wicked stable inner ears, and morning sickness doesn’t stand a chance.“ The one where Thor knocked Jane up that night they chilled on the roof, and offscreen Frigga swore Heimdall to secrecy in the interest of protecting everyone involved. The All-Father’s house has a lot of enemies, okay. Rec: Heartbreaking, fluffy, and feelsy. Batten down the emotional hatches. | 2.2k

Jane Foster and the Impossible Library by Niobium: Jane, Darcy, and Thor find a peculiar library, and their afternoon takes a turn for the bizarre. Rec: This one’s wild from start to finish (I say that lovingly), but as always, Niobium delivers on fantastic characterizations. Not super-duper shippy, but so worth the read. | 12.4k | Part of the Jane Foster Works series

Northern Climes by Tyranusfan: Six months after the Avengers saved New York from the Chitauri invasion, Thor must convince Odin to return him to Earth. Rec: Jane and Thor doing cutesy couple-y things. The author captures well the eager awkwardness of a new couple while remaining true to their characters and story. | 4.3k

nowhere to go but up by anthropologicalhands: It is not uncomfortable, waking up with Thor’s arm draped over her waist, their legs entangled under the sheets. It is inconvenient when she wants to get out of bed or, at the very least, look over last night’s data. Rec: So very fluffy it makes me want to roll in it. Adorably domestic, too. Jane at her scienceing finest. | 2.3k

Late Night Waiting by hariboo: Jane didn’t often get home late. Rec: A very sweet and simple Jane/Thor that makes their relationship seem very grounded and real. Also, it is so sweet it makes my teeth hurt, and then I just want more. | 2.1k

Uru by sheffiesharpe: Thor cannot look after Jane, no matter how he wants to. Hogun offers a solution. Puente Antiguo receives another unexpected visitor. Rec: The author makes a really strange concept work brilliantly. Jane and Thor’s pining is frustrating and well-written, and the writing sizzles with unresolved sexual tension. | 6k

Star-Crossed by websandwhiskers: A vignette taking place during "Avengers”, after shawarma, before Thor returns to Asgard with Loki. Thor and Jane have their reunion, and discuss their future. Rec: Jane is an awesome person, and Thor respects the hell out of her. One of the best portrayals of Jane Foster that I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. | 1.7k

The Morning After by fuzzy_paint: "I can’t believe we’re doing this,“ Jane says. "Can you believe we’re doing this?" Rec: Even without much in way of dialogue, Jane and Thor’s devotion is plain. We get a little view of domestics, too. | 1.7k

The Observable Universe by Sarea Okelani (sarea): As an astrophysicist, Jane studies the observable universe for work, but in her free time what she likes to study is a bit closer to home. (Or: Jane has a low tolerance for stupidity. Clint and Natasha take exception to being called stupid.) Rec: Not a ton of overt Jane/Thor, and is mostly an outsider POV on Clint/Natasha, but there is lots of team shenanigans and there is definitely a lot of affection for Thor from Jane’s POV. | 10k

Deal by GreenVelvetCurtains: Jane introduces Thor to the great Midgardian tradition of being made to remove your clothing when you lose a hand of poker. Everybody wins! Rec: I got a huge kick out of this one. Toeing the line of becoming crackfic. Oh, how I wish there was a smutty follow up. | 2k

Before the Fall by verily-thor: Jane helps Thor prepare for Ragnarök. Rec: Oh god, if you’re in the mood for some sadness, come on in here. Tragic without being grotesque, stripping it down to the bare emotions, and two people who love each other more than anything. | <1k

top gun is not a movie; it’s a lifestyle by hariboo: jane and thor got that loving feeling. Rec: an AU that is reminiscent of Top Gun, which is a fab movie. Awesome Jane, and adorable Thor. | 2k

A Brief Introduction to Asgardian Dinner Parties by jonesandashes and pentapus:  This is the first Earth-Asgard bonding opportunity since that time Loki punched interstellar relations in the face, twice, and the king and queen of Asgard are here, and they are her boyfriend’s parents. Jane is absolutely not going to get drunk at this party, is the point. Rec: This fic makes you smile, then laugh, then cringe, then do it all over again. | 4.5k

Destiny, Disrupted by me: Loki never sends the Destroyer to Midgard. Rec: Because it wouldn’t be a true reclist without a self-plug. | 3.5k

Rated M (these won’t contain the smuts unless otherwise noted)

**The Teardrop by igi_pigi: Post-Infinity War reunion of Thor and Jane. Forewarning - heavy angst. [Set right after the movie] Rec: Angst, melodrama, and desperation ahoy. Contains some smut | 4.2k

all the best distractions by fuzzypaint: They've found a rhythm when they share Jane's lab, Jane with her science and Thor with his own work, and though it is easy to be distracted by each other, usually they're both very capable of avoiding such things. Usually. Rec: Cunniligus in the lab ;) | Contains smut | 1.8k

Patience and Poker by Rozilla: Jane and Thor sneak off from one of Stark's parties for a quiet chat. Nope, just kidding, hot tub sex. Snarky hot tub sex. Best kind. Rec: What it says on the tin and it’s delightful. | Contains smut | 4k

A Deal with the Duke: An Epilogue by hariboo: Thursdays were busy days around the house, but today was the first day of winter much. Thankfully, the skies were clear, without a hint of storm, but the wind was sharp and bit into his cheeks. He was looking forward to a warm meal and seeing his wife, curling around her in bed for rest of the evening. Rec: Historical romance AU. A nice slice of life bit. Contains minor smut | 2.8k

Ray of Light by evieeden: To Thor, Jane shone brighter than any star in the sky. Advent fic for 18th December. Rec: A sweet, introspective fic from Thor’s POV. | 1.5k

just memories to hold by tosca1390: When the dust and light and smoke clears, the roof of Stark Tower is still intact. Jane can still feel the surge of power in her fingertips, thinks she could hear the songs of Asgard, feel the chill of Jotenheim, as the bridge built itself through Yggdrasil, Thor calling her name across realms. And then, a shadow falls over Jane. Rec: A really, really great post-Avengers reunion fic. Contains some smut | 3.6k

set with the stars by hariboo: jane tries to teach thor earth’s stars. tries, being the operative word. Rec: Jane and Thor getting distracted by each others’ sexy is my favorite thing. Contains some smut | 1.5k

It Could Be Sweet by hariboo: Jane and Thor traverse their last year of high-school. However, they didn’t expect it to be together. Rec: I am not a big fan of high school AUs, but if they float your boat, this is definitely worthwhile. Contains some smut | 7.8k | Part of Let’s Be Young Forever series

Thunder Whispered Low by Niobium: Rec: I love it when Thor talks about his magic, and the bridge that makes between him and Jane. Contains minor smut | 1.5k

Specularity by Niobium: Jane’s bad day improves significantly with a little reflection. Rec: A great slice of life fic, really, really nice interactions. Contains very minor smut | 3k | Part of the Jane Foster Works series

My Blood is Singing by Niobium: Sometimes Thor pushes a storm a little too far. And, sometimes, the storm pushes back. Rec: Jane and Thor at their domestic finest, with some internal angst and the simple comfort found with another person. Contains smut | 2.9k

All my faces are alibis by agirlnamedchuck: Thor is strong and stubborn and she thinks she could be a good king. Maybe even a great one. Besides she’d never seen herself as queen anyways. Rec: Genderswapped Thor. Fosterson is minimal, but amazing insights into Thor’s character. | 6.5k

Leaving On An Airship by Rozilla: To escape to a better life, Jane Foster, maid to a cruel villainous Baron, must leave her lover and disguise herself. But not before one last goodbye. Rec: *cartwheels into the sun* FOSTERSON STEAMPUNK WITH SMUT AND FEELINGS OH GOD SEND HELP. Contains some smut | 2.6k

Unrememberance by letthesongtakeflight: Before he became the Huntsman, he was a prince. Rec: Marvel/Snow White and the Huntsman fusion. Prequel of sorts to SWatH. Angst on angst. Major character death | 1.2k

steal my heart 'til kingdom come by tosca1390: Her eyes stray over reading upon reading; she thinks she can taste the tang of energy and ozone even now, and that strange sense of pine and smoke that she associates with Thor. Rec: AU post-Avengers where Thor goes to visit Jane who has remained in New Mexico. Yay for a great collision of two characters who absolutely did not prepare for any of this. Contains some smut | 2.1k

fingerprints that leave me covered for days by tosca1390: It is not all lost, to be stranded here. Perhaps, he could make something of it. Rec: Another AU in which Thor is on Earth longer in the first movie. Great development for Thor, and the relationship he has with Jane feels very real. | 5.5k

journeys end in lovers’ meeting by tosca1390: Solitary moments in snow; it sounds conducive to rest, to a time of rejuvenation before her research resumes. Rec: A really cute AU based on the movie The Holiday (which I’ve never seen before). Just adorable holiday fluff wherein Thor is human. Contains some smut | 19k

Bound by Medie: It was ironic that his and Loki’s greatest mistakes had led to her. Rec: Some tame bondage featuring dom!Jane. Contains smut | 1.1k

Rated E (these will contain the smuts unless otherwise noted)

**Ambush by orphan_account: Jane isn't into violence, but there's something about those SHIELD debriefings, something primal and raw about hearing how the bad guys got their asses handed to them by the good guys, something that inspires her to act on instinct alone. Rec: If you’ve got a thing for Thor’s armor.... mmmhmmm. | 1.1k

Is This More than You Bargained for Yet by Anshin Archives: Thor and Jane's first go at sex. Jane's expecting Thor to have a cock, and is surprised when he doesn't. It doesn't take her long to adjust. (Pure porn for the excuse of writing Thor with a vagina.) Rec: Genderfluidity and completely accepted queerness for the win. | 2.5k

When Jane Pegged Thor by waldorph: They raise them slutty in Asgard. Rec: What it says on the tin. Pretty damn hot if pegging is up your alley ;). | 1.4k

Practical Magic by Rozilla: Freya’s flowers can do funny things to you. Rec: Roz is the queen of smut so this is amazing. Kind of a play on sex pollen, but takes it in a totally new, refreshing direction. Asgardian sex magic for the win. | 2.8k

built on the old rivers by fartherfaster: You catch her wrist and delicately kiss the bone of it. “Nothing to be sorry for,” you tell her. She composes her reality in absolutes and theories and the true phenomenal names of things. Colloquial language is not her means of communication. You like her hard lines, her curiosity, her determination. Jane would never call Mjolnir just a hammer, and that puts a small, needy part of you to rest. There is a storm in the desert, and Thor comes to terms with all of his changes. The one where human-Thor has Lichtenberg figures. Rec: Incredibly poignant and the author makes a second-person POV work incredibly well. | 3.3k

Tell Me Something New by hariboo: "Compile the data of the reading we took during Convergence. The gravitational–“ She trails off, can’t finish the sentence out loud or in her mind, her voice catching on the words as Thor’s mouth latches onto her throat. Rec: Cute and hot and perfect because smart Jane is Thor’s biggest turn on. | 1.5k

On the Throne by murdur: His insistence that she should sit on the throne had been in jest and merriment, but the sight of her sitting upon the seat now makes his heart beat quick and steals his breath. Rec: Oh my god, Thor goes down on Jane while she sits on the throne of Asgard. I have nothing else to say. *dies* | <1k

Experience Counts for Something by Rozilla: Jane was surprised at Thor’s new female body- but pretty keen to explore it. Rec: Bisexual Jane and Genderfluid Thor are great. Some hot femslash fosterson. | 2.3k

Just Get In The Van by paxnirvana: Written for a prompt on Anenko’s Bad Sex & Awkward Romance: a comment-a-thon that got away from me. Rec: All first time sex is gonna be awkward, friends, even if you’re Jane and Thor. Might as well enjoy the ride. | 6.3k

close your eyes and count to ten by fuzzy_paint: Post battle, Jane and Thor make sure the other still lives. Rec: Reassurance of safety sex is hot. Sue me. Still manages to be angsty too. | 2.4k

We Woke Up In The Kitchen by hariboo: He didn’t think he could miss someone as he missed her, but there is something singular in Jane that pulls at him and threatens to overtake him. Rec: post-TDW sexies that are adorable and awkward and hot all at once, plus some really nice conversation at the end. This author just really gets Jane and Thor in a way that is always awesome to read. | 3.7k

A Helping Hand by fuzzy_paint: Jane can’t sleep. Thor has a solution. Rec: Some nice, cute sleepy!smut to help Jane to relax and stop thinking. | 1.5k

The Scientific Method by Serious Snugglebunnies: Thor is much too honourable to have meaningless sex with Jane - but will he do it for the sake of science? Rec: Cracky, hilarious, and hot. | 3.3k

A Thorny Situation by GreenVelvetCurtains: Jane has a problem and she’s not afraid to try and solve it. Rec: A hot fantasizing/masturbation piece starring the lovely Jane Foster. | 2.7k

Detours by ancarett: Life is a highway. Jane takes Thor on the detours. Missing moments from the movie. Rec: Some mildly awkward sex which is actually kind of adorable and works out for everyone in the end. Not my favorite smut ever, but worth a read. | 3.9k

Say It’s Okay by theleaveswant: Darcy gave her a sympathetic pout and walked around the table to put both hands on Jane’s upper arms. “Okay. Honey? I know this isn’t your preferred way of handling things, but it looks like you’re going to have to talk with him.” Rec: Big premium on 'consent is sexy.’ Jane teaches Thor how to pleasure her. Not my favorite smut, but worth a read. | 2.1k

Accretion by RC_McLachlan: "You are burning inside,” Thor whines, rolling his hips again, and she rides it out helplessly, eyes rolling back, lungs cramping with envy for air. “Like a star." Rec: A seriously hot look at the simple difference in size between Jane and Thor. | 1.6

Salt On Your Lips by Barkour: The strawberry daiquiri is indeed a drink worthy of adulation, but Thor prefers the taste of Jane Foster. Rec: For it’s sense of fun that comes with the sex, and the pure happiness of two people who simply enjoy being in each other’s company. | 2k

Good Morning by me: Jane wakes up with Thor between her legs.My addition to Fosterson Week’s smut day. Rec: Because it wouldn’t be a true reclist without a self-plug. | 2k

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year by me: Jane and Thor do Christmas. (Finally.) Tis the season for holiday smut. Rec: Because it wouldn’t be a true reclist without a self-plug. | 5.4k

Your Highness by me: Jane wants something in bed and Thor is more than happy to oblige. For the first day of Fosterson Week, post-TDW. Rec: It’s not a true reclist without a self plug. | 6k

Not Your Average Star Trek Fanfiction by me: After several years of unresolved sexual tension, Jane and Thor are in quite a rush to rectify the situation. Takes place immediately following TDW. Rec: Because it wouldn’t be a true reclist without a self-plug. | 3.7k

[kamilah-the-bloodqueen]

Kamilahs Character Development Part 2

Note: This is all 100% my opinion. If you disagree that’s perfectly fine, I’d love to hear what others think of her I just don’t want drama or anger. Please enjoy and forgive me because this is long and may need a 3rd part. :/

Starting off with the arrival of Lily and Kamilah in Prague.

Okay so, again let me reiterate that Kamilah showing concern for MC is endearing and adorable, but doing so in front of Adrian, Jax and Lily takes it to a different level in my eyes. I’ve seen SOs act differently around their friends, even with their GF/BF around, so for Kamilah to openly express concern for MC felt soft and open and vulerable to me.

I thought that this scene really carried a small, but somewhat significant weight in their relationship. It showed that while Kamilah was still healing from old wounds, MC had started to see past them. Kamilah saw that MC didn’t judge her for her past, MC cares for her for who she is becoming instead of who she was. Kamilah shows MC how she has hope in a small way, by stating that MC reminds her to look forward and not feel guilty for her past it’s a piece of the puzzle of Kamilah beginning to forgive herself. (Not entirely forgive but seeing that maybe, because of MC she’s not as horrible as she believes she is for her past sins)

This scene strengthens what I’ve just said. Kamilah beginning to open her feelings about her self doubt, her self hate is something even I struggle with. She’s beginning to see herself as WORTHY which is an amazing step forward for her, especially after seeing she resented herself for everything she’s done. She’s not just forgiving herself but she’s also including MC in that process, letting her KNOW her affects on her and how she’s changing her. It’s a soft scene that makes me heart bubble.

I thought this scene was incredibly foreshadowy (now that I know the ending of BB). I also thought that this scene subtly showed us that Kamilah has forgiven herself. While this may not be the total case, by telling MC she’s ready to be hers I saw this as Kamilahs way of showing she feels she’s changed enough to be good enough for MC. I wouldn’t be able to be in a relationship with someone if I resented myself, obviously Kamilah didn’t see herself as worthy of love or affection, and by stating this to MC I thought it was a clear indication of her seeing herself as worthy.

This scene really hit me differently. Kamilah has finally forgiven herself (again my opinion) and not only shown MC it was because of her influence and affection for her, but this was Kamilah saying to MC exactly HOW much weight that carried. She’s ready to SHARE a life that she thought she never DESERVED with the woman who softened and opened her up. This step forward for Kamilah felt so significant to me, this was a step that I know I can’t easily take, so it was admirable to see her begin to shift her relationship with MC to a deeper and more open standpoint.

I’m going to discuss MCs death scene without a picture because I don’t want t have to write a part 3 because I know some people won’t read it. Kamilah stating that MC “is the most wonderful person” she’s ever met was a display or true affection from the bottom of her heart. We could sense the sadness and fear she carried, believing MC was going to die. Reflecting back on Book 1, Kamilah didn’t give two shits about MC, and was willing to kill her by her own hand. Look at the dynamic change. She’s not only devastated that the man she hates took a woman she loves from her but she’s devastated for her death, something she didn’t care about in the beginning of their relationship. (While it can be argued that she protected MC I felt it was more fueled by the rest of the gangs desire to protect her in previous fighting scenes. In this situation it was so much more personal.)

Fast forward. When MC is brought back after clawing her way out of her grave, if the (fucking paywalled scene) is bought Kamilah shows that she thought she’d lost her. That she’d been crying and visiting her grave. THAT was something that truly striked my heart string. Kamilah grieving over a human, a “mewling mortal.” This scene (above) was again another sign of Kamilah openly showing displays of affection for MC. I think that each and every time Kamilah told MC her significance, her ability to amaze a 2000 YEAR OLD VAMPIRE, is stunning. That shift in admiration for MC was something that I as a person don’t always do.

Okay. We have to address this. Kamilah YEETS her ex of 2000 years off a plane to protect MC. Like, if someone did that for me, boom I’m yours please marry me. Not only was this a protective move on her part but it was also a sign on her true affection for MC. Standing up to your ex can be so difficult and we have to take into account that they were together for 2000 years. This change, this scene was just amazing to me. Her protectiveness of MC never ceases to amaze me.

The “I love you scene.” Another fucking paywalled thing but whatever. This. THE I LOVE YOU SCENE. I don’t think I HAVE to explain the significance but I will anyways. Kamilah tells MC she never thought she’d be able to say those words again. We can sense that brokenness and PTSD from Gaius’ crusty fucking ass. She says it anyways, that’s how DEEP her affection for MC runs. Like I know people say “I love you” after a week sometimes but a character that was as broken and wounded as Kamilah in the start finally being able to say that and mean it was just like +20000 affection and character points.

Here we go we’re going to need a part 3. Hang on guys. I apologize. It’s just the images being at a max of 10.

[sunshine-tattoo]

star wars episode 7 au (and onwards).

since somebody has to take these strong female characters out of the hands of creepy white men.

- the first order does not exist

leia and everybody else actually did their jobs and the new Republic is a nice place where space nazis never resurfaced.

Instead they bring back democracy and human rights but also fix the problems of the old Republic, like poverty and corruption.

so the new republic is a democratic society with socialist aspects in terms of free healthcare, universal housing, and all access to nutritional food.

Snoke simply does not exist because his presence made no sense anyway.

- the Jedi are back but different

Luke also fixes the problems of the Jedi, like how they were dogmatic and cut off from ordinary people.

He makes the sacred texts readily available to anyone who is interested.

Jedi training is for anyone who is even slightly force sensitive and at any age. It's a grassroots organization that helps people with unique abilities understand their powers, kinda like the X-Men. They have small training facilities all over the galaxy and make them as accessible as possible.

They also help out as conflict resolution specialists. But this is only at local levels. No galactic wide range thing and no Senate orders.

Once someone has been trained to use their powers, they can do whatever they like with them, so long as it doesn't hurt anyone.

Many people join the Jedi to help their own communities with their powers.

Some become scholars and learn about the histories, publishing papers and teaching people.

As for Luke, he travels a lot and offers kindness and advice to any force sensitive person who seeks it. But he always has time for his friends and family.

He also discovered over the course of his travels that he is aro ace and so never married or had children. Tho he has trained quite a few young people and keeps in contact with them regularly.

- Ben solo never "fell to the dark side"

As part of the new Jedi understanding of the force, students learn that the light and dark are simply aspects of the force.

The light is connectedness to others.

The dark is connectedness to the self.

You need both to be a balanced person.

Ben Solo is perfectly emotionally healthy young man who uses his powers to understand himself and others. He also goes to therapy regularly to help deal with any problems he may have.

- there is a resistance but it's not for what you think

Even tho the galaxy is doing WAY better it's still got problems to be solved. Mainly some corruption and rich people hurting others.

The resistance is a secret group that goes to these places and solves the problems that the Senate cannot.

It is secretly led by Leia organa, who works as a senator.

Most of the people in the resistance, like poe and Finn and rose, are young people who suffered directly at the hands of the corrupt bastards they seek to take down. They help protect the galaxy's vulnerable.

Ben is also part of the resistance and mainly works as a healer.

- Rey is still on jakku at the start

She's not the granddaughter of Palpatine because that made no fucking sense. Also that would make her Luke and Leia's half sister, since Palpatine was canonically Anakin's father. (See the book Making of Revenge of the Sith)

Instead she's just an ordinary person who, like so many in the galaxy, was abandoned and is waiting for her family to return.

She's also a trans girl. Because I say so.

- Hux is not a space nazi

He's a young political leader on coruscant. Still kinda conservative when it comes to financial stuff but otherwise an ok dude.

Captain phasma is his body guard and head of his staff. She's an enormous aro ace gal who intimidates everyone around her. She and Hux are bffs forever.

Hux is also hella gay. He and Ben are boyfriends who bicker constantly and would die for each other.

- Ben is gender queer

After doing some research into his family heritage, he found that he had a lot in common with his grandmother, senator Amidala.

He frequently wears outfits similar to hers, including dresses. And the traditional naboo queen makeup.

- some actual plot stuff

Ben, Poe, Finn, and Rose are travelling on a resistance mission but their ship suffers an accidental malfunction. They crash on jakku and get separated.

Rey sees this from her home in the distance and goes out to see if anyone needs help. (and if there's some parts to scavenge)

There she meets Finn and bb-8 and helps them to some nearby caverns. It's getting dark out and it's not safe to travel at night, especially since Finn is injured.

She makes a fire and they talk a little.

Meanwhile Ben and Poe make it into another part of the cavern, bitching at each other the whole way.

Rose heads in a third entrance.

Ben senses Finn and they go towards it, scaring Rey and leading to a small scuffle between Rey and Ben.

Poe is simply overjoyed that his boyfriend is okay and proceeds to cover him in kisses, ignoring the idiots fighting in the corner.

Then rose comes in being chased by a cave monster and Rey and Ben must work together to scare it away. There rey accidentally uses the force and Ben is like "oh boy! Another one like me!"

The lot spend the night by the fire and get to know one another, munching on some spare rations. Rey secretly thinks that Rose is the most adorable person she's ever seen and wants to kiss her.

The next morning they are able to get an emergency communication going, thanks to rey's skills as a mechanic.

Luke, who was in the system on another mission, comes by with han and Chewie in the falcon. (which never got destroyed because that made no sense)

Rey is super gushy over han and his legend as a pilot. She agrees to help with their mission as long as they take her back to Jakku afterwards.

Ben talks to Luke privately about Rey's abilities, and how no one is coming for her. He wants to help. But Luke reminds him that everyone must make their own choices and even people with force abilities don't always want help with them. And that they must respect that.

They fly to Cantonica, which is where the resistance mission was supposed to take place, and shut down the child slavery ring. Wearing disguises of course since no one can know who is with the resistance.

They free the fathier (the racing animals), who flee into the forest. They gather hundreds of pieces of evidence against the ultra wealthy patrons and send it anonymously to the Senate. Where it will eventually be used to prosecute those rich assholes.

The enslaved children, and anyone else in need of help, are taken to Naboo. Which for generations has acted as a safe haven for refugees, immigrants, and all other asylum seekers.

Rey is in awe of what they have accomplished together, and what she has seen of the galaxy. But she still insists to be taken back to Jakku.

Ben takes her aside and tells her gently that no one is coming for her.

"I can see your tally marks on the wall. Each one is a tiny slice on your heart. If they continue, they will kill you."

Rey recognizes the truth of his words and grieves, letting him embrace her as a healer and friend while she cries.

She agrees to join the resistance but also wants to use their resources to find out who her family was. She wants to understand what kind of people would abandon a little girl.

Ben agrees to her terms, understanding that she needs this to help heal and move on.

They return to coruscant and meet up with Leia. Who sees this abandoned force sensitive queer child and is just "my baby now. Free daughter."

Luke agrees to help Rey with her powers and instructs Ben to help her when they are out on missions.

The movie ends with the five of them (plus bb-8) having dinner together as a bunch of close friends, laughing and being happy gay kids together.

- possible plots of sequels:

1. Rey meets her parents and confronts them.

2. Hux learns that his boyfriend is in the resistance and must re-evaluate how he sees the galaxy in terms of power and control.

3. Rey falls for Rose. Or Finn and everybody ends up in this big poly relationship.

[dalekofchaos]

Ways they could’ve handled Rey in the Sequel Trilogy  and what they did instead

My other Sequel trilogy wasted potential posts

Finn

Poe

Rose

Luke

Han

Leia

Kylo Ren

Captain Phasma

Hux

Snoke

Ways they could’ve handled Rey in the Sequel Trilogy

Let Rey have a character arc. Rey starts off as a mix of Han Solo and Jyn Erso. Someone who only cares about her own survival and is consumed by her own trauma but learns to overcome her trauma, start caring for other people and something bigger than herself. That would’ve been the perfect character arc for Rey.

Rey would sell BB-8 for food, then fight to get him back.   It doesn’t work that she would be selfless and was willing to pass up all that food for a droid she just met. So I think it would help if she had sold BB-8 and later after meeting Finn, she learns of the importance of the droid and she feels guilt and fights to get BB-8 back. That I think would’ve improved her arc in TFA

Show that Rey is still learning piloting a starship and have Han teaching Rey how to fly proper. Rey will mention that she flew simulations on Jakku, but realizes flying simulations is different than flying for real. This will give us a nice scene of Han mentoring Rey in flying the Falcon.

When returning to D’Qar, showing Rey going to the infirmary with Finn, while Leia hugs Chewie. Rey’s concern should be to make sure Finn is okay, we didn’t need to see an unearned hug between two characters who didn’t know each other.

Have a meaningful mentor and student relationship with Luke and Rey. Luke reaches out after R2 and seeing so much of himself in Rey. It is more important to have a Rey and Luke strong mentor-apprentice relationship than having Rey have a connection with Kylo Ren. It should be about training Rey and establishing a relationship between Luke and her. It was said their relationship would be the heart of the film, so my suggestion is do just that. Focus on Rey and Luke having an actual relationship with each other and her training. Rey needs to be trained in the force to be a believable character. Even Anakin, Ahsoka, and Luke himself were given training and time to become skilled and powerful. Instead of just copying Yoda and old man Obi’s personality into him, do something we have never seen before in a Jedi Master in the movies: make Luke humorous, lighthearted, make Luke lecture Rey ON the importance of attachments and understanding the darkness just as much is the light. It would also create a parallel to what Snoke is teaching Kylo. Have Luke show Rey how to feel the force. Even show Luke teaching Rey to craft her own Lightsaber. Rey could finally make her Saberstaff with Yellow or Purple Crystal and teach Rey that attachments can lead you to the dark side if you let them, but they won’t lead you to darkness if you control your emotions. 

Keep that Rey is related to no one, but Rey knows this. She knew who her parents were, she did not want them to be anyone special, in the end all she wanted was for them to come home. She was going to pass up adventure and being important to stay on Jakku because all she wanted was her family. She didn't want them to be important, the audience did. All we needed to hear is they died. We could get Kylo saying "When you reached out as they flew away, you destroyed their ship, Rey you killed your parents....you were never the same again and cut yourself off from the force.” The important thing about Rey is she found a new family in Luke, Leia, Han, Finn, Poe, Rose and The Resistance, a family who loves Rey for who she is, not her heritage.

Rey and Luke together go to The Supremacy after they both feel Leia and Finn in danger. Rey flies the Falcon, while Luke lifts his old X-Wing and head to the Supremacy to face Snoke. Rey will pose as bait, while Luke sneaks aboard The Supremacy.  Rey is brought before Kylo Ren and Snoke. Snoke taunts that today hope dies and The Resistance dies. But what happens next, Luke enters the throne room. “MASTER SKYWALKER! AT LAST WE MEET” Snoke will echo through his throne room. The Praetorian Guards will attack, but Luke kills them easily with the force. Luke will say he’s come to save his apprentice, his sister and the rebellion. And finally what we’ve been waiting for Luke vs Snoke. Snoke takes out the true Darksaber, while Luke takes out his Green Lightsaber. The master of the light and master of the dark. And we have the rematch between Rey and Kylo. This time Kylo appears stronger. He is dominating Rey in the fight. Kylo will tell her “you should have accepted my offer, scavenger” “Rey will say “I’ll never join you!” Kylo with the famous Solo snark will say “pity” and cuts  Rey’s hand off. Luke enraged will use the force to knock Kylo out. Finally Luke defeats Snoke. Luke will take Rey with him. As the hyperspace ramming happens, the Falcon is there to pick up Rey. Luke leaves on his X-Wing to guide Rey to safety.

Rey awakens and senses Finn nearby on Crait. As Luke is fighting Kylo, Rey knows while injured, she has to lift the rocks in order to save Finn and The Resistance. Finally Rey embraces Finn, reunited again. The movie ends with Rey getting her mechanical hand and joins Luke and Leia. Leia places her hand over her and Luke’s hands and say “we have everything we need”

What they chose to do with Rey

Rey is good natured and selfless for no reason or build up whatsoever. My issue with this it makes no sense considering that Rey grew up on Jakku, a dog eat dog world. She had no reason to be selfless on that planet. I do love Rey, but it really makes no sense that a person who was raised on a ruthless and violent planet of thieves and scavengers, abandoned and lived the life of a scavenger who barely makes enough to survive would give up all that food for a droid she just met.

Rey perfectly flies The Falcon despite not flying a ship. In the movie she says she’s never flown before and doesn’t know how she did it. In The novel she says she flew ships at night and flight simulations. That’s all well and good, but if you choose to explain things in the novel, but not in the movie. Then you deliberately chose not to explain how a scavenger who never leaves the planet knows how to fly the Millennium Falcon.

She pulls off maneuvers and mechanical tricks that not even Han Solo could think of and a scene later he is dumbfounded and astonished by Rey

Rey hugs Leia. Leia hugging Rey out of nowhere instead of Chewie just doesn’t work. Why is she hugging and grieving with someone she just met when Chewie is right there?

Daisy doesn’t think Rey should have any flaws and that’s a problem

Rey has a connection and starts to trust Kylo Ren…when only ONE DAY passes since Kylo has tortured her, killed Han Solo, and injured Finn. There’s a difference between being “forgiving” and there’s being blindly gullible. She went from wanting to kill him to believing he’s “our last hope”….for reasons.

Rey’s stupidity in TLJ. Rey’s plan. Rey has some vision of Kylo Ren deciding to help her out and locks herself in a box to fly straight to him, with no escape plan or regard for her own safety. As bad as JJ chose to develop Rey, I will admit that Rey is adaptable. Rey makes plans and strategizes. She has been raised as a scavenger, working hard for every day of survival and fighting for every item in her possession. While Luke and Anakin throw caution to the wind in order to succeed, Rey keeps a level head and fights her way through things. TLJ acts like that version of Rey doesn’t exist.

Rey has no character arc in TLJ.  Rey doesn’t learn anything and I don’t feel like she has a character arc or journey. She starts her journey in TFA and I was excited to learn where her character would go. And TLJ does nothing with Rey.  I do love Rey, but I don’t feel like it truly tests Rey and forces her to grow as a character. Rey is intriguing and we care for her, but her journey feels non existent.  Luke and Anakin had struggles and journeys.  I just don’t feel it from Rey. I am really disappointed with how TLJ handles Rey. Rey doesn’t have any struggles. Rey is all powerful and she is the same character she is from TFA. Everything TFA was building her up was instantly ignored.  How Maz got the Skywalker lightsaber? Never mentioned again. How Rey was drawn to the Skywalker lightsaber and what the force vision was meant to mean? Never addressed. Rey says that she’s classified information, “none of your business” Then her parents are revealed as junk traitors who sold her for drinking money and died in Jakku. If her parents were just junkers, how did they afford that space ship if they spent the money on booze? Rey herself told BB-8 she was classified information. All that build up for nothing. The force can come from anyone, we all feel it but you build Rey up only to do nothing with her. Whatever TFA was building up for Rey was dropped entirely.  My big issue with how TLJ handles Rey, is she does not learn anything. She was awakened by Kylo’s mind melding and has his powers transferred to her, she doesn’t even earn her powers on her own, it’s all from Kylo. Your big feminist icon has to get her powers from the man who’s been harassing her. How empowering….please kill me. She doesn’t learn anything from Luke and she feels like the same character in The Force Awakens. We see Luke showing Rey to feel the force and the Jedi’s hubris. The third lesson was deleted, but we did not really get to see Luke train her as a Jedi. Rey doesn’t learn anything. Rey even defeats Luke… In the end we see Rey has the sacred Jedi texts, but Yoda pointed out that those texts were holding back the Jedi and doesn’t teaches her what she doesn’t already know. SO in the end, Rey doesn’t learn anything and that’s the problem. And the big problem is we are expected that Rey will learn everything off screen….that’s the problem. You cannot just have a character who can do all these amazing feats, show her not being trained as a Jedi and make her even more powerful in the final movie with no build up whatsoever.

Rey in TROS teaser looks like nothing ever changed. The same type of outfit from The Force Awakens, the same Lightsaber and the same hairstyle. Like nothing ever happened or changed. Like nothing ever changed. God forbid Rey looks like a mix of a Jedi Knight and Resistance Leader, godforbid Rey builds her own lightsaber, especially a Saberstaff. It’s almost as if JJ and Lucasfilm are afraid to develop Rey as a character and let her look different at all….*sighs*

Rey has no development or arc. Rey is not allowed to have flaws or personal struggles or has a real hero’s journey.  Which is disappointing because I truly loved having Star Wars be centered around a female lead and feel like it’s a missed opportunity. It’s not Daisy’s fault, I feel like the blame lies with Disney. I’m not sure if Disney got cold feet with a female protagonist and felt they would get backlash if they made her character naturally flawed but it’s storytelling 101 to have your protagonist faced with problems that aren’t easy to overcome and correlate to said flaws. Instead we got a hero who faces no real consequences, has no real goals, and can defeat everything in her path with abysmal training. Which ultimately makes for an extremely uninteresting hero. No hard training, no real consequences, no real flaws, no struggles or not even an arc and everything is handed to her. It just makes Episode IX predictable and boring. Rey will defeat Kylo again to no one’s surprise. There is just not a reason to care to see what will happen with Rey. I’m more invested to see what happens with Finn, Poe, Rose and Jannah. I just lost any and all investment in Rey after TLJ. Rey just doesn’t feel like a reason to even want to watch Episode IX and Disney just failed Rey as a character.

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

You know, I noticed fairly early on that Ruby's V4~now outfit referenced Penny's, but I didn't realize until just yesterday that it's literally 1:1 the same outfit put through the Goth-Tavern-Girl Aesthetic. Like, everyone grasped that Jaune took on elements of Pyrrha's, it's spelled out in-show, but what Ruby did is even more blatant, yet almost UNIVERSALLY slept on? RWBY is a NIGHTMARE of Parallels in Parallels, and I don't have the Will for the dissertation necessary to map it all out.

The Askbox is my Eternal Enemy, so I'll have to keep this Tight: People saying BB=Arkos and Pyrrha=Oz/Jaune=Salem are Valid, but I find it strange noone's taken it Further. There's a faultline here, from Oz/Salem to Blake/Yang, and with that Blake/Adam, to which you can go Beyond and Consider: Oz and Salem's themes are baked into RWBY's DNA, obviously, but a way to make succinct a major part of their pairing archetype's "Driven Dark-Hair/Light-Hair Left to Grieve"-Galaxy Brain Moment Blindside.

This is the Cont. since Tumblr keeps trying to leash my powerlevel, but to repeat myself, the themes of Oz and Salem’s dynamic are baked into almost all relationships in RWBY, not just romantic, you can tear out all shipping bias and still see the platonic equivalents at work. To elaborate, there’s a tendency in pairings for the darker-haired to be, aware of their directionality and willing to stay the course of it (this often takes the shape of idealism or drive, but pessimism also fits).

Fuck, I think I tricked myself into that dissertation, praying that I don’t lose steam, ANYWAY, the lighter-haired side is the charismatic one, good at ‘delivering and receiving emotions’ (this can take form of leadership, but it’s mostly about themes of observation, deception, and self-expression). Loss and grief are universal themes, so saying ‘Light-Hair is left behind (usually by Dark-Hair) and Doesn’t Handle It Great’ is a recurring arc seems a reach given it’s common, but that’s the POINT.

Oz and Salem are the fundamental root of Remnant’s story, so it makes sense that their theme’s cycle and mutate across the cast (wasn’t the best way to say what I meant but I’m tired so it’ll have to stay imperfect). I won’t go into how all fit into this dynamic, but here’s what motivated this: The Rose-Xiao Long Family (Ruby/Yang/Qrow, all of whom lost someone at Beacon…) are the major breaks/inversions of this foiling. I want to explain EVERYTHING about this, but I’ll just stick to Ruby.

This is something that’s been germinating in my system for awhile now, but it was my Ruby/Penny ask that forced me to express this Hydra, so let’s focus on how Homegirl fulfills and shatters the binary. I’ve thought since AT LEAST V4 that Ruby and Oz were parallels of eachother, which E3 slamdunked for me, especially given she serves as the Oz to BOTH Weiss and Jaune’s Salem. But recently, some of my thoughts have strung together…Oddly, and something Strange has put itself together in my head.

Something should be considered, about the Driven Dark-Hair/Lost Light-Hair dynamic I put forward: Everyone Ruby loses at Beacon…Kinda flexes on it? Hmm, that felt like a dumb way to describe it, especially since it extends beyond the Fall…Okay, better way to explain, Ruby has 2 pairings (while I ship NnD, they both work as BROTPs) in particular where she isn’t the most 'aware of their directionality’: Penny and Oscar, which puts her in a VERY different position than she typically occupies.

While I’ve had years to contemplate the Ruby/Oz dynamic, recent rumination on Ruby and Jaune’s relationship led to the epiphany that, much like her 2-toned hair, there’s no one who unifies Oz and Salem’s themes more. Well, except Jaune, as her counterpart for the current Remnant’s central dynamic. I don’t quite have the words to elucidate my thoughts, but they’re sorta 'siblings’ in that regard. I kinda want to get into the grit of this web of Parallel-ception, but this is 7 asks as is.

Boy it’s one thing to fuck up it’s another thing to fuck up so greatly that your twisted love story winds up printed in the DNA of the world’s myths like some Campbellian nightmare.

This really illustrates the idea that Remnant, somehow, has a story structure in universe. It’s not just that all of the characters are allusions to stories or that all the fairy tales turn out to be true, it’s that fate or something grander seems to be stuck in set patterns constantly repeated across time and space. Will the gods’ return free them? Or was humanity caught even then, with the girl in the tower? It’s a very unlikely theory (what if the story was.... a story?) and easily disproven, but it’s a fun thought experiment as to what a world that runs on stories would look like.

[100lbsofsalt]

Hello yes I literally cannot sleep right now because I’m upset as hell, why am I upset? Because Erik fucking deserved better.

“Ah but he’s a serial killer that lied to and manipulated a young girl” yes, this is technically true, but sit the fuck down, buckle up, and let me rant.

Now, of course all of this varies from movie to play to book but for the sake of my argument we’re gonna go with my unpopular opinion fave i.e. the 2004 adaptation of the movie (which will likely be where a lot of people will have seen it so SHUSH).

Now, the movie boops around in time a lot but for arguments sake we’re gonna follow Erik’s life chronologically.

Let’s start off with we little bb Erik, shall we? Now, a lot of his history is only hinted at, and I’m going to try to keep my own headcanons out of this as much as I can manage, but how about how his own mother couldn’t bear to look at him. 

“A face which earned a mother’s fear and loathing, a Mask, my first unfeeling scrap of clothing”

Would it be wrong to assume that that means that even before momma Destler changes her infant son’s diaper she has to cover his face because she’s too disgusted to look at him. Or how about the fact it’s likely he came from an impoverished family (let’s be real those weren’t the best of times okay it’s a safe assumption he wasn’t a one percenter), and he likely didn’t have any real clothes (ahem, his burlap sack pants in the Gypsy scene?) but his mother hated his face so much she was willing to buy him a mask just to cover it? And how did he wind up with the gypsies in the first place, hmmmmm???

The movie really doesn’t say that so we’re gonna leave you to figure that out, NO HEADCANONS FROM ME TODAY FRIEND (I have so many. About this whole movie. Please come talk to me I’m very lonely.)

Now, onto the gypsy’s themselves. Can we just. Erik was what, seven? Eight? In that scene? Maybe younger? And they were brutally beating him while hundreds (Thousands, it’s not like this is the only show he’s been used as an attraction at) of people laughed at his pain. I mean. Is it hard to see why he has such a fucked up sense of morality when he spent his childhood seeing all those people laugh at his agony. And the MONKEY TOY I WANNA DIE. Okay okay. Anyway. They appear to be using a long tail bull whip which HURT okay? Those are not for people (or anything but this isn’t the post for that). Those will rip you to shreds. Now, I’m not a whip expert so I DON’T WANT ANYONE COMIN’ UP IN HERE LIKE NO ITS ___ WHIP AND ITS ____ BITCH THEY’RE W H I P P I N G A YOUNG C H I L D I DON’T CARE IF IT’S MADE OF COTTON CANDY AND RAINBOWS. Like honestly are we gonna blame him for murdering that piece of shit? For real I would have killed him for the creepy tongue thing alone and Erik suffered years of abuse at his hand, keep in mind, we only saw ONE part of ONE show, WHERE HE WASN’T EVEN STRUGGLING REALLY, we have no idea what they did to that poor boy at other shows, behind the scenes, etc. And again. That monkey toy. I wanna die.

Now, on to his living situation (here’s where we’re gonna boop around a little, we’re gonna ignore Christine’s existence a little longer). He lived, by himself, in the sewers (call them catacombs if you want they’re fucking sad gross places either way I don’t care). He was a kid, locked away from anyone else. So let’s think about this. He learned that he’s so terrible even his mother can’t love him just because of his face, he was beaten to shit and laughed at to make money because he’s so terrible, just because of his face, he watched a shit load of people laugh at his pain without trying to help (until Giry and even she only helped after he did the hard part), and then he’s locked away, alone, in a creepyass, wet, dongeon. I mean. Would you be holding it together? I sure as fuck wouldn’t. And yeah I’m sure Giry visited him and whatever but how often do you really think she went down there? She was studying to be a ballerina at a world famous opera house, she didn’t have free time, and still that’s only one person making face to face contact with him for what? 15 years? A long ass time regardless.

And now we boop to Christine. Again this part isn’t really shown, but with “whenever I’d come down here alone, to light a candle for my father”, are you willing to agree that when young Erik saw her, by herself, having little to no experience of kindness out of other people, really reached out to be malicious? He was probably scared out of his fucking mind, but he saw this little girl grieving as he’d grieved his own life, and he decided to try to comfort her. She was probably the one that came up with the Angel Of Music thing (I say probably because it’s never explicitly said, but come on, there’s no way he would have randomly come up with that, you can also listen to Emmy talk about her “latching on” because she wanted so desperately for it to be a Thing and that they really were good friends etc but I’m just gonna stick to stuff you can get directly from the movie) and he went with it. Now, there are a ton of reasons he could have gone with it (“Learn to see to find the man behind the monster this repulsive carcass who seems a beast but secretly yearns for heaven secretly, secretly dreams of beauty”..........) but none are directly stated so I’ll fuck off and let you decide.

Now, he taught her to sing. Ask any artist ever and they’ll tell you if they’re sharing their work with you they’re sharing a very intimate part of themselves with you. It doesn’t matter the style, art is personal, and he cared enough about this girl to not only show her his art but to teach it to her.* I cannot fathom that love okay and all of this from a creature who was born into a world of hate and darkness and here he is creating beauty and sharing his work I love him okay. And yes, he falls in love with her. I’m not gonna share my thoughts on that love (She was the first person to treat him like a human, to be his friend and never once did she judge him for his looks, just keep that in mind.) but he falls in love with her, more on that in a little bit.

* No One Would Listen isn’t technically in the movie so I’m not saying anything about it, but a lot of my opinions are solidified in it, so if you Haven’t heard it you need to it’s a beautiful song sung to the tune of Learn to be Lonely which Minnie SLAYS jesus shit *aggressively heart eyes* but it directly says that he wanted to share his art and teach the wold but she was the only one who listened

As for torturing Carlotta……………. I mean, me too, I can’t fault him for that……

THEIR MEETING. TIME OUT. THE MIRROR SCENE. THE CHOREOGRAPHY. THE SMOKE. THE CHANGE FROM ANGEL TO PHANTOM. THIS SCENE IS ENTIRELY MY AESTHETIC. Okay I’m good sorry. So. They go down to his home. He takes this girl. Into his HOME. He’s been mistreated his whole life and he willingly leads this girl down into his sanctuary. Think about that for a minute. 

Okay. Anyway, yes the wedding dress is hella creepy but LISTEN. He wasn’t raised with people. He’s stuck in the opera house, he doesn’t see real relationships and even if he does he only sees bits and pieces of them out of the people WHILE THEY’RE THERE he’s never seen or heard about or learned about a real proposal, he’s only seen countless operas, and you know what the fuck happens in romantic plays/operas/movies/musicals/books/stories/literally anything? They move fast, they skip time, they’re over the top. People don’t watch shit that’s real life, no one would want to see that, but that’S ALL HE KNOWS. I’ll let you think of it what you will, but I think he was genuinely trying to woo her as best he knew how.

Mask off scene. Okay. Now. Aside from the fact Gerard grabs the wrong side of his face at one point, (seriously, go rewatch it) Erik does shove Christine, which is not okay buuuuut he’s fucking terrified, and I’m not convinced he meant to shove her, more get her away from him before she saw his face. (we also get some insight on his view of himself and I. Want. To. Die.) but I’ll leave you to take what you will from that scene.

*sigh* killing Joseph is the next thing I want to touch on and this is the one where I want to boop his deformed little nose a little but… I mean… I have a couple points still. 

One: the dude was a creep

two: he went looking for him

three: ERIK WARNED THEM IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS “A disaster beyond your imagination will occur” (can we talk about the dolls. Erik. Fucking nerd.)

Four: Joseph openly mocked and taunted Erik (you think he didn’t hear that no nose comment *sassy finger snap*)

Five: He grew up only knowing violence. People laughed at his pain. Again his only real knowledge is opera and again people kill in those to get what they want? He’s just a wee potato trying his best.

Now let me bash my son for a moment, he was getting what he wanted, Christine was gonna play the countess, but instead we got All I Ask of You and I died inside (There may be another rant on my utter hatred of Raoul to come but this is already 1.5k words and I’m only like halfway through the movie so MOVING ON)

Alright, so All I Ask of You Reprise is technically the next place where Erik says/does anything but let’s talk about what’s happening right in front of him right now. He’s in love with this woman. He has tried his fucking hardest, he’s made her famous, he’s tried to woo her, he’s been there for YEARS, then this rich boy with a pretty face comes in and she’s falling into his arms in no time? Like yes it’s a bit fuckboi of him but also take into account what she said about him before the actual song. (“His eyes will find us there those eyes that burn” “I can’t escape from him I never will” “his world of unending night to the world where the daylight dissolves into darkness” “Can I ever escape from that face so distorted deformed it was hardly a face”) I mean… I’d be fucking hurt and pissed… So yeah the “you will curse the day you did not do all that the phantom asked of you” is a bit much but… HE’S PISSED and hurt and heartbroken.

Why So Silent and the ring I’m going to leave at he’s fucking hurt but yes I want to boop his nose for that one too… like Erik stop being a creep no one’s chains are yours.

As well as Journey to the Cemetery and Wandering Child like here he’s wrong and I have no argument against him being wrong, my only comment is that he could have killed the taxi driver but he just knocked him out so like… Yay?

Don Juan… Okay come on he knew it was a trap so he had to have just trusted she wouldn’t go through with it but… *Sigh* SON STOP KILLING PEOPLE. AND NO KIDNAPPING TEENAGE GIRLS.

Okay but Down Once More we get to see a lot of the stuff I’ve already mentioned (his mom, how he feels about himself, etc) and he’s furious and scared and hurt and embarrassed and he’s a cornered animal at this point. His home is gone, he knows that, he has to leave and this is his last chance to get the only person who’s ever heard him, who’s ever been a friend to him and shared his love of music, to come with him. Point of No Return Reprise is another thing I want to boop him for, but he does let them go, and he does give up and let her choose what she wants to be happy with one last ditch effort of just being honest (“Christine I love you”) and then he watches them go. The only person he has in the world, leaving him back in his world of darkness.

So, in conclusion, ERIK IS A SMOL PRECIOUS BEAN WHO DESERVED SO MUCH BETTER AND YES HE MADE MISTAKES BUT HE’S DOING HIS BEST AND PEOPLE ARE FAR TOO MEAN TO HIM I HOPE HE KNOWS HOW MUCH I LOVE HIM

[basiltonn]

History Is All You Left Me by: Adam Silvera review

*not terribly spoilery but if you’re sensitive to that kind of thing, don’t read on*

*All spoilers indicated*

Alright, so here we go. I’ve got just about a million amazing things to say about this masterpiece of a book. I’ve got my little notebook and mind full of thoughts. Let’s start easy. What is this even about? The book is split into two time frames. Today and History. History starts about two years before Theo dies, and Today starts about a week after he dies. Wait, who’s Theo? Oh ya, he’s Griffin Jennings’ (our main character and narrator) best friend/ex-boyfriend. The reason why they aren’t dating anymore is because Theo went to California to study animation and Griffin decided they should break up and ya know… live their lives or whatever. Griffin is still deeply in love with Theo, but Theo has gone and found a boyfriend named Jackson. Throughout the the book you see Griffin’s relationship with Theo (before and after his death) and his relationship with Jackson.

So this book is great. Real great. So should you pick it up? That depends. If you are easily triggered by death, I would say no, please don’t pick this up. I found (mostly the first half) difficult to read, myself. There’s also sex in this book, it’s not explicit it’s just kind of like “So then we had sex and it was legit”. So yeah, it’s pretty chill. Okay, it’s really not a chill book. It’s quite intense, actually. Although I read this book fairly quickly, I had to put it down a few times because it was getting so difficult.

Alright, now let’s delve into all of my cool thoughts. Okay, bitches (that wasn’t necessary, I don’t know why I said that).

So, let’s just jump right in, the first thing that I noticed about this book was the way that Adam Silvera so quickly made you fall in love with Griffin, and most importantly Theo. In the second Today chapter, it felt as though you had just made a little spot in your heart for Theo, he was getting all cozy and then what’s this? He’s gone, ripped from your heart and guess who took him? Jackson. That bastard. More on Jackson a little later (spoiler alert, he grows on me)

We’re quickly introduced to Griffin’s OCD. I thought that this was amazingly done. OCD is a really difficult illness to… pinpoint. Theo is quick to call his compulsions quirks. I don’t blame him, actually, it’s scary to think that anyone you know is sick and it is easy to brush it off. In a later chapter, Griffin says specifically how his tics are not quirks and how difficult they make his life. I’m glad that that was pointed out. In the book, you also see Griffin’s tics at different intensities. You see his tics climb into overdrive at the peaks of missing/mourning Theo. In fact, this is one of the first things that he says about his OCD. *Slight spoiler: at the end of the book, Wade tries to coax Griffin out of his compulsions. You know how I kind of hate Wade? Well here is again, trying to be kind but not entirely getting it. The scene were Griffin switches to Wade’s other side was difficult. Clearly, this is meant to be symbolic of a new page in Griffin’s life and a new found trust towards Wade. He was fairly quick to change sides, but it was justified by him being distracted by Wade’s story and then him not being able to take hearing an odd amount of songs later. *Spoiler over.

Speaking of quirks, Theo’s actual quirks are very well done. His puzzles and storytelling are consistent. I liked it. Also, the realism in this book is sooo good. Can I use so with three Os in an actual review? 

Let’s talk about all of the things that I didn’t like (it’s a kind of short list). I didn’t love that there were the big time gaps that made the grieving seem to be over too quickly. Well obviously not over, it never ended in this book. But time gaps seemed to rush parts, this was obviously done to not bore the reader, but still.

I didn’t like how kind of rushed some side characters were, specifically Wade, Denise, Anika and Veronika. Anika and Veronika were possibly there just to show Jackson’s sensitivity. Speaking of which *spoiler* that scene definitely made Jackson causing Theo’s death all the more heartbreaking *Spoiler over*.  Anyway, didn’t like A&V. Even though Griffin was always talking about them (for some reason) they kind of just disappeared and I think that adding that scene was a stretch to show Jackson’s sensitivity. I wish it had been done in a different way. I did LOVE Denise, but her character was short-lived and popped up somewhat randomly. I wish I had seen more of her and in a slightly more consistent way. I don’t know, does that make sense? Does any of this make sense??

Now. On to WADE. Okay, so this whole bit is a **spoiler** because I have ALL OF THE THOUGHTS so maybe just jump on to the next paragraph. So I wrote in my notes Simon Snow solves everything with his mouth, Griffin Jennings solves everything with his dick which is so true for their situation. If you’ve read The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, you’ll know that that’s apparently what happens when you’re grieving. I still don’t buy it but whatever. At first, I was kind of pissed that Griffin was having sex with every gay guy that came his way, but later Griffin says something along the lines of I guess two gay guys can be friends and not want to have sex and like… ya. ALSO, Griffin has it in his head that if you have sex, you have to love the guy who’s stuck up your ass (sorry that was graphic), which I think is just Griffin being a bonehead. It also is probably because Griffin and Theo told each other they love them after having sex for the first time. Goddammit Theo, always setting these weird expectations. I’ve gone so off topic. Back to this thing with Wade. Honestly, when they kissed and Wade came out and then they banged: biggest plot twist since “and then he kissed me”. Also, I was MAD. Like oh no bb! What is u doing?? Tbh. At this point, I was in an “I? Hate? Wade?” Phase. But there were no emotions in this “relationship” at that point. There were just dicks. Has anyone ever said dicks in a book review as many times as I have in this one? BUT then it’s a real live relationship. The way that they came out to Griffin’s parents was A+. I was just like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBk0P27QGmc (i couldn’t find a gif so JUST WATCH IT OKAY)

Thanks, Gaga, you always pull through. So that’s Wade

*spoilers over… for now…

Also, weird, unimportant thing that I want to mention: I found all of that ya know, teen lingo, very cringy. I suppose it’s realistic, BUT THE WORD DUDE WILL ALWAYS MAKE ME CRINGE. Ok, that’s what I did not like.

Can we just have a nice candid chat about Jackson for a hot second? I’m sorry, it’s 2017, no one says hot second. Anyway. My love for Jackson was all over the place. Kind of like this:

At the beginning I wanted him to die a fiery death. I wanted to never see his face again. I was team Griffin’s eternal happiness. Even though I should have been blaming The Ocean, I was SO mad at Jackson, because Griffin convinced me to be. It took me a while to stop hating Jackson. Their [Griffin and Jackson] whole [platonic] relationship took off in a very realistic way. Like I said, Adam Silvera has a way of making you agree with Griffin in like, everything. So, when Griffin warmed up to Jackson, so did I. I realized that Jackson made Theo happy and kind of went… wow. That is so good and I just want all of the best for all of the humans! The chart above obviously is just for kicks, but the way that it inches its way up to that peak is what happened in the book. And then, you love Jackson, it’s great. You feel for him, I think that was the big thing: for a long time, you’re convinced that Jackson didn’t deserve to feel so much remorse. Theo loved Griffin. Whatever I did, I couldn’t convince myself to snap out of hoping that Theo still loved Griffin the best, even by the end of the book. But then eventually you see it. *Gonna put the spoiler shield on again* It just after they go to the highway, something in me made me love Jackson. I wanted the best for him like I did for Griffin. Then they go to the beach. My emotions, Griffin’s emotions, and Jackson’s emotions are all out of whack. I’m crying, you’re crying, the dog is crying, the pope is screaming and it’s a mess. ThEN gOD oH GDO they… major spoiler they sleep together. I was literally thinking how they weren’t going to get together, the book is too good, BUT THEN AHHHH. Luckily for this bitch, it was impulsive, and out of spite because of the kisses, which is apparently how Griffin Jennings goes about sex. And then there’s that scene in the bathroom where Jackson is like kissing him and feeling him up (even after they established that sleeping together was NOT GOOD), luckily Griffin pushes him off. The weird thing is that Jackson never apologizes for doing this. THEN Jackson tells him the secret that I’m not even going to say because you know what I’m talking about. AND BOIII did I wanted to punch that kid. Maybe it’s not justifiable, but I’m STILL MAD. Lucky for us, Griffin punched him in the face. TWICE. FUCK YA! So how did I end up liking this kid again? Well, I don’t really know. I just sort of warmed up to him and kind of got over it. ALSO ALSO ALSO I hate how Jackson was like “It was your voicemail, you killed him!” Like honey, no. How would Griffin have known? SMH *Spoils over*

I think I’m finished? Wow. I do have one more extra special treat, though. Here are some notes from my review notebook that I thought were worth noting…

All spoilers italicized

I stopped hating little Jackson things. He talked down to Denise, but I forgave him. If he’d done that in the beginning, I would have flipped.

On page 263, Jackson was referred to as “like family”. Again, this didn’t bother me, even though I was torn up at the start when he was staying with Theo’s family

225: It suddenly feels difficult to trust Griffin. He’s quick to have sex with Jackson, seemingly out of spite. The exchange of the kisses doesn’t seem enough to refer to Theo as “that asshole”. It was something intimate that they shared, I would have been offended, but his reaction seems harsh. 227: Unfair. Selfish. [Griffin] 229: I TAKE IT ALL BACK

240 (ish): In a painful wave of reality I am realizing that when Theo died, it was nothing like the first Today chapter. G+T were losing their love for each other. G was in love with a future, an AU, and when the prospect of that died, so did something inside of G.//page 252: fuck, does he ever miss Theo. God. I can’t believe I said what I said. He doesn’t want to bang him. He wants to be his best friend. At the end of this book, I’m finding fabulous closure. You would think I would feel the opposite, but on page one, I imagined Theo being ripped away from Griffin at the state that they were at the start of the first History chapter. It broke my heart, my heart physically ached. But now… IDK. I’m excited for the 2nd read to see how much my heart breaks.

Page 256: it’s you all over again (not sure what this means, but clearly it broke me a little)

The first half of the book was him grieving and the second half was his acceptance… I liked that.

260: Do? I? Hate? Wade??? 284: I? Like? Wade??? 285: Fuck. Do I love wade? (This is how much I flip-flopped lol)

“He holds my hand and it gave me strength” (THIS KILLED ME)

289-90: ok that was unnecessary (lmao look at your book)

291: “You [Theo] haven’t heard anything I’ve said to you.” Well isn’t that just spit-on-your-neck-kick-you-in-the-crotch fantastic? (nice friends reference @ me)

292: Interesting the theme of honesty throughout the book (I wasn’t aware I could identify theme lol what a scholar)

THANKS, I HOPE YOU LOVED THIS DO ALL THAT COOL SHIT LIKE LIKING, REBLOGGING AND IDK MAYBE FOLLOWING ME AND ALSO MY GOODREADS FOR MORE BOOKS AND STUFF

-jane xo

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Finding Kurt Hummel: Glease

Masterpost

4x06: Glease

Well -- we’re still amidst a ton of Klaine angst -- but we, thankfully, get to skip over other story lines I’m not as fond of such as; Marley’s eating disorder, the Newbies doing Grease, and Rachel/Brody/Finn/Cassie nonsense.  I will take Klaine angst any day. 

Role You Were Born to Play

So Kurt wasn’t in episode five, but there are still some things in this episode that I need to discuss.  

First of all -- we’re entering the part the main part of season 4, where Kurt just doesn’t get a lot exploration or commentary -- and therefore we get to fill in some of the blanks.  I’ll try to do my best at explaining what are facts and what are my own headcanon. 

Anyway -- there’s not a whole lot of Blaine in this episode either, but here are some things we learn: 

Kurt and Blaine already discussed spending the rest of their lives together.  I’m gonna guess this was as early as when they got together in season 2, back when Kurt said Blaine was on board going to New York with Kurt. 

They were going to move to Province Town and buy a lighthouse and start an artist colony.  Okay, they were weirdos. 

Kurt’s not talking to Blaine.  AT ALL.  It’s kind of implied over the next three episodes that after Blaine left the loft that morning, Kurt has done his best not to be in contact.  Which is a very Kurt-ish thing to do.  He doesn’t really face his problems head on.  He likes to avoid them, and ignore that he feels anything.  

Blaine has a Kurt scrapbook -- which most likely means that Kurt has a Blaine scrapbook.  They probably made these together.  

After looking at the still -- I noticed there some postcards, and I while I can’t really see what they say, I’m almost positive that they were from Kurt (it looks like his name) -- and, awww, bbs, Kurt sent Blaine postcards from NY!!

Sill in Mourning

So, like a good roommate -- Kurt’s helping Rachel prep for her Glass Menagerie audition.  This scene is really about Rachel and Cassie getting to spar once again, but I’m going to ignore most of that an concentrate on Kurt. 

First - I’d like to point out that Kurt’s looking disheveled and is wearing black.  Look, I know the narrative isn’t focused on Kurt, and is more interested in telling Blaine’s story, but I need to make this clear.  This break up -- fucking sucks for Kurt, too.  Breaking up with Blaine is not something he ever wanted or anticipated.  And dealing with the shock and the pain of what Blaine did is something he’s in the middle of doing right now --- even if we don’t get to see much of it. 

He’s putting /no/ effort into how he looks -- which is a big thing for Kurt.  He’s wearing sweats, for god’s sake, and doing really nothing about his hair.  And while I, shallowly, kinda like this look, it means that Kurt’s hurting so much he’s not concentrating (either) on things he loves.  The black, which he’s worn since that night at Callbacks, also, is something he’ll continue to wear until he and Blaine have their talk in Thanksgiving. And the black, very obviously, is for mourning.  He’s grieving the death of his relationship. 

So -- on to the plot -- Tina’s giving him updates on the play.  Why would he care? Why would Tina care to tell him about it? I have to wonder if Tina’s passive-aggressively trying to get him to talk to Blaine.  I wonder if he listens because there’s a part of him that, while I’m sure Tina’s bugging him, wants to know what’s going on. He may have cut Blaine off completely -- but that doesn’t mean he’s not willing to hear second hand details. 

So -- Cassie comes in with her abs and her ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude and tells them that if they still have baggage over their exes -- go home and fix it.  

Rachel, I should note, claims she has closure (well, you did get something at the end of that episode....) but is totally lying to herself about her feelings because she’s too busy pretending to be an adult and be fine with things that are not fine instead of dealing with her issues.  (That’s sorta her arc this season.) 

Meanwhile, though Kurt is at least admitting he’s not fine.  In fact, he’s not fine at all -- and when Cassie mentions having baggage and no closure, and when Rachel mentions she’s fine, Kurt gives her a look -- this look that says, I fucking do not have closure and am not fine and c’mon Rachel.... 

Kurt breaks down and decides he’s going.  He admits here that he hasn’t seen or talked to Blaine since that night -- and I’m guessing that any kind of closure now is better than what he’s going through.  He’s not sleeping (hey, didn’t someone else mention that in the previous episode?) -- and taking sleeping pills to force himself to sleep.  And watching The Notebook, over and over.  

And as I mentioned earlier -- it’s not just that this romantic relationship failed.  It’s not even that both Kurt and Blaine just lost their best friend.  They had their entire lives planned out, together, and now Kurt’s entire future (because he thought he was gonna go to NYADA, too) is out of whack -- and so not what he thought it was going to be.  

So -- Kurt wants to go back, because maybe-- just maybe seeing Blaine again won’t hurt so much.  Maybe they’ll be able to work something out.... 

Kurt what even are you doing, lol? I mean - I understand that you’re mirroring Cassie, but why? Do you want abs, too? 

I need to mention, though, that Kurt begs Rachel to go with him because he can’t go alone.  The thing is -- this stuff sucks -- and Kurt, while definitely trying to handle everything alone, is not doing a good job.  Rachel, right now, is his only real friend -- and adopting her attempt at shoving away her feelings and issues seems like something Kurt wants to try in order to not feel so much pain.  (Granted, this comes up more in Thanksgiving, but I thought I’d point it out here.) 

Making a Return

Kurt and Rachel return to Lima.  And this is the first time he’s come back since he left.  It’s always a little weird returning home, especially for the first time.  It’s the same, yet weirdly different.  Anyway -- Rachel’s all about her ego and Kurt’s like, ha, no, I’m nervous and anxious because I’m really here for Blaine, and idk how that’s gonna go. 

For nostalgia’s sake -- Rachel brings up the time that Kurt pretended to have a crush on her to get out of dating Mercedes.  So, did he tell her about that? Cause Rachel didn’t know at the time.  Anyway - this is all to lead up to the return of Mercedes.  

And it’s so nice to see Kurt light up when he sees her.  Life might suck at the moment, but seeing her is always a balm on his heart (at least in my interpretation.) 

Also, hilariously, Mercedes said that they should come back stage and see people, cause they’ll freak when they’re there.  Other than Finn and Blaine, who’s really gonna care that they’re there?  Lol...

This scene. Damn, this scene.  I don’t even know where to start.  

Can I say it’s pretty hilarious when Mercedes hightails it outta there.  She doesn’t want to have anything to do with that little mess of a group. 

Other than Blaine’s stutter at seeing Kurt, and saying he didn’t expect them there, there is /no/ dialogue between the two of them.  But the non-verbal communication is off the charts.  Finn and Rachel have a majority of the conversation here -- and I wish I had the After Elton review of this, but they summed it much better than I will -- but while Finchel is being somewhat petty with each other -- Kurt and Blaine are just having a really, really sad conversation with their eyes. 

Kurt keeps trying to look at Blaine -- and he can’t.  Because Blaine is so beautiful, and so lovely, and it fucking hurts to look him at because how could Blaine do such an awful thing to him. And how can he still have so many feelings, so many conflicting feelings.   (A side note - I am not letting Kurt off the hook for his part to play.  But in a way, he won’t really realize that until he breaks the relationship a few years from now.)  

And then there’s Blaine -- who is staring at him, with those sad, puppy dog eyes. And he’s so, so sorry.  

Kurt tries really, really hard to focus on the little Finchel drama going on.  Because ever time he sneaks a little peak at Blaine, it’s so much harder. 

There’s an interesting moment -- where Finn says they’re proud of the play, and Blaine puffs his chest a little -- like he is proud of what they’re doing, and he’s gonna try his best even though he’s breaking inside, too.  Kurt desperately tries to ignore that.  Blaine’s heart breaks a little more in that moment.  So does Kurt’s. 

I mean -- remember last year at this time? When Kurt was so proud of Blaine on that stage? And they were intimate for the first time afterwards? Yeah - like that isn’t in the back of their minds, too. 

I also want to give a shout out to the costume department.  Kurt dressed all in black, yet so pale looking.  While Blaine is in white -- Teen Angel ironically, though with such darker features.  They’re two sides of the same coin -- two parts of the same pair.  They’re matched up, even when they’re broken.  Oh, bbs <3 

Blaine gives one last lingering look to Kurt before he takes off.  And the minute he’s gone, Kurt begins to breath again.  And he nearly breaks down.  Because seeing Blaine again makes it almost worse.  It makes all these feelings even more real than they already were.  Blaine is still Blaine -- yet he is changed, and seeing him again doesn’t fix what happened.  

Rachel, who is better at masking her feelings, gives him a pep talk -- and he gives in to her -- cause it’s much easier to let someone else take control.  (Which is saying something -- because Kurt very much likes to be in control.) 

Performances

Blaine as Teen Angel is -- ironic on about hundred levels.  Here’s this a projection of a flawless and perfect prince for you Kurt -- and it’s a bit of a mockery.  (This scene is more for Blaine -- who, side stepping the fact that it wouldn’t be possible, sees Kurt in the audience and it causes him to falter.) But Kurt looks like he’s going to be sick during the whole thing.  Everything on that stage was something he believed in -- and everything is now a lie. 

As an aside -- though -- it’s actually a good thing that Blaine has slid off Kurt’s pedestal.  To actually really love someone, you need to see their dark side as well as the light, and love them anyway.  And Kurt will eventually come to the conclusion that he does. But, shattering this perfect image, and seeing the truth underneath, is not an easy thing to come to terms with. 

The look on Kurt’s face as Blaine gives one last dashing look before he leaves the stage.  Goodbye overly romanticized ideal of the man I loved.  You’re never gonna have that back, Kurt but that’s okay, I promise!! 

Man -- Kurt spends this entire episode nearly in tears but never really breaks down.  Kurt’s usually an easy crier.  But he’s doing his damnedest to control his feelings.  And it’s probably tearing him up inside. 

Kurt’s at least enjoying the play as a whole a little better. 

So -- we get this whole ‘You’re the One That I Want’ montage.  And, first I’m glad we’re skipping Marley’s eating stuff and Ryder kissing her to calm her down and a whole lot of no -- yuk.  Also, it’s fascinating to me how much better Finn and Rachel sound when they start singing opposed to Ryder and Marley. Also, also -- it cracks me up that they flashback to the pilot, and they still include Kurt’s WTF look in the flashback. Anyway, I digress.... 

Finchel has this little fantasy.  Who’s dreaming about the other couples? Who knows.  The point, though, is that the show is letting us know that despite being broken up -- all these couples still want each other.  

Well damn, Chris.  I mean...

You all have seen this scene gif’d a million times.  You know what the close ups look like (I can’t still it without it being awful.)  Kurt and Blaine dance with each other -- and it’s cute.  Watch for their background moments, because they’re goofing around when not in focus, and it’s adorable. 

Finchel Lite

So -- Finn and Rachel get this complex and length little scene that hits on a lot of points about their relationship.  And then Klaine gets thirty seconds.  Ug.  I’m not bitter at all....  But the a point I need to take from the Finchel-ness is that Rachel says that home no longer feels like home.  And Kurt doesn’t understand for another thirty seconds. 

Blaine wants to talk -- Kurt doesn’t.  Because Kurt’s in way too much pain to have any kind of rational conversation.  (And because Kurt tries not to have these hard conversations whenever possible...) 

But oh, Blaine -- you opened with the /wrong/ thing to talk about.  Kurt really, really doesn’t want to hear about details about what happened.  It doesn’t matter what actually happened, it’s the fact that it did that hurts Kurt so much.  As I said in the Break Up post -- it’s the fact that it happened at all that shatters Kurt.  And rehashing that isn’t going to help.  

The conversation here about trust is interesting.  Kurt is right, relationships are about trust.  Blaine didn’t trust his relationship enough.  Kurt trusted it too much -- and the thing is -- the real key here -- is that Kurt does whatever he can to shield himself in from pain and heartache.  He’s spent years shielding himself off from people who have kicked him when he’s down, and trying to show that he doesn’t care.  He’s spent years perfecting this perfect defense against his own emotions. 

And he let Blaine in.  He let Blaine into his heart, and let him see the most vulnerable parts of him.  And no one -- /no one/ had the ability to hurt Kurt as deeply as Blaine.  Because Kurt protects himself.  Except the one time he thought it would be okay to let his guard down, and his heart got stomped on in the worst way.  

The trust conversation doesn’t come back until the end of season five -- because yeah, it takes Kurt /that/ long to figure how how to trust Blaine again.  But also -- he’ll need to screw up the relationship, too, to fully understand.  But man - we have a bumpy ride to get to that point. 

Meanwhile - Kurt’s about to lose it, and he can’t stay any longer because he’ll be just a mess.  And he says that Rachel is right -- Blaine, who was one of the definitions of his home, feels the furthest thing from it.  

Kurt takes off with Rachel, and I’ll bet you anything, the minute they round that corner, Kurt, who’s tried so hard to control everything this entire episode, breaks down crying.  Oh bbs.  It gets better. 

So yeah -- that’s the episode.  And Kurt’s absent from episode 7 because it’s time to make Blaine become a real boy, and let him forgive himself.  These are tough times -- but there are some great things to dig through coming up.  I’m kinda looking forward to it. :) 

[cooperroose]

♥: a valentine’s day headcanon: being a catcher means coop’s gotta be down there earlier than everyone else for spring training, so he’s in full phillies mode. during the season he’s so focused on baseball that it’s hard for him to pull together a romantic plan for the two of them. he pulled it off last year, but it was the first time in a long time they got to do something together. and it was also the last time before their break up they truly felt like themselves, at least in ginnys mind. she’s taking their relationship more seriously now, they’re engaged after all, and she’s not going to expect him to worry about putting something together. he probably apologizes a million times and thanks her for being so understanding, and he says he’ll have a break a few days after the holiday so he’ll try and make it up to her then. gin’s gonna surprise him instead though, fly down to see him practicing and doing his thing, then take him back to the hotel and just cook something for him, because she knows he’d want that over a night out. sappy sappy. ♣: an april fool’s day headcanon: they don’t pull huge pranks on each other, it’s always little fun things that aren’t too big of a deal. ginny probably tries so hard to come up with stuff to try and get him with, but he always knows and she haaates it. it’s because she’s a bad liar and she gets too giggly and even if she’s trying so hard to hide it anyone else would fall for it, he knows that smile and can tell something’s coming. it takes a couple years, but after awhile he’s gonna let her think she pulled one over on him just because she’s adorable when she thinks she has. ✞: an easter headcanon: they’re very cute for easter, church clothes and pastels and family family family. they’ll treat easter just like the other big holidays and trade off, one in iowa, one in tennesse until they have the kids and want to start traditions of their own. once they do have the opportunity for that, i think they’ll stay in their home in philly. they still go to back home with the twins for thanksgiving and christmas, but they decided to make this holiday all their own. ava loooves easter, she like the easter bunny even more than she likes santa (because bunnies are cute), and all the pretty colors that come with it. kepler likes hunting down the eggs and finding more than ava does, especially if they’re ones with money. (it’s like a dollar in each one, and there’s not even that many of those, but for kids it’s exciting.) once noah’s old enough to join in on the fun too, he’s all about the candy. it probably takes him weeks to get through his stash, because he can’t stand to part with his chocolate bunnies yet. a bite a day, that’s it. ✿: a mother’s/father’s day headcanon: ginny’s first mothers day after caroline passes is extra brutal. it’s probably been a good amount of time, but not long enough for her not to be crushed. caroline hung on for christmas, even when the doctors didn’t think she would, but didn’t make it to the new year. by the time may comes along, she’s had time to grieve and get back to normal, and then it hits her again like a ton of bricks. she’s probably pregnant too, which makes matters that much worse. she’ll tear up in the bedroom with coop, holding his hand, and tell him that caroline knew she’d have another boy, she could feel it. and now that’s she’s pregnant again and they just found out the sex, she hates that she can’t call her up and tell her she was right. the kids will pick up on it, they’re ready to run in the room and surprise her with gifts, but when they do they see gin wiping her eyes and trying to clear her throat. She’ll tell them how much she loves them, and that she’s just missing her mom today, and she wishes she could run in her room and hug her too. They decide to have Caroline’s favorites that day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Big meals, lots of sides, just the way she would’ve liked it to be. ★: a fourth of july headcanon: one year they make a MISTAKE and decide they should have a big blowout at their house in iowa. gin flies her friends in, steven and britt and their kids, andrea, freddie, and theirs and it’s nuuuuts. there’s a lot of kids running around. from britt’s oldest to baby noah and it’s insanity. dylan and ian come too, of course. and addison knows what’s good for her so she avoids it. dylans gonna be out in the backyard, showing all the kids the fireworks he scored, and that’s when the regret sets in. before this the twins were happy just playing with their sparklers, but now he’s got them interested in all this other shit and gin is NERVOUS. britt and andrea are calm, as usual, because their kids are older and they used to get into bottle rockets and stuff like that when they were young too. there are a lot of adults around. the kids will be fine. they say this before dylan hands all the little ones those little popper ones you can throw at the ground, and all the little boys do it at their feet and have them hopping around. coops grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, he’s got some ribs going on there too it’s a good time. until elijah, who’s like eleven, makes the mistake of going to check out why the firework he set didn’t go off. he does that stupid thing they tell you not to do and tries to pick one up, and that’s when it decides to go off. it’s a small one, so it didn’t blow his hand off or anything. but it was big enough to burn the shit out of it and land them all in the local hospital for the rest of the holiday. ☠: a halloween headcanon: kepler gets himself into trouuuuble one year. you know how teenagers like to get into shit during halloween and the day before, kepler plays himself. he’s probably like 13, so noah is still young enough to be into trick or treating, he’s nine or so, and ready to run around as chef boyardee. but the twins want to go out with their friends cause all the other kids get to, they’re not into trick or treating anymore~ coop and gin are fine with that, it was only a matter of time. so gin goes out with noah, and coop takes the twins to their friends houses. ava just wants to have a slumber party with hers, watch scary movies in someones basement and stay up late. she’s being good. but kepler’s started to hanging out with some rowdy boys, that don’t do enough to get into trouble usually, but gin is still keeping a watchful eye. they put their feet on the furniture when theyre over and they try to call coop by his first name, so they’re not fans. kepler insists he wants to ride his bike, and there’s nothing to worry about, he’s just going down the street and that’s all. dad doesn’t have to drive. coop lets him, and regrets it later. because of course teenage boys want to ride around and egg peoples houses. kepler tries to tell them they should use pumpkin guts instead, to keep with the halloween theme, bc he’s ginny’s son. and they’re like...so here’s the eggs. they get caught bc kids are dumb, probably at like the first house too. they’re loud and laughing and PEOPLE ARE TRICK OR TREATING, so them trying to ride off and pick a house with ‘jerks who dont give out free candy’ is a bad idea when someone can walk by at any minute. the cops get called, and ten minutes later there’s one knocking on coops door with kepler in front of him. needless to say it wasn’t a good holiday season for kepler that year. ✈: a thanksgiving headcanon: ginny’s really pumped because she wants to host thanksgiving this year, her first year. in her home with her husband, and their adorable pair of toddlers, and she’s just ready for life. they’re supposed to go to the riley’s this year, so ginny makes sure to talk to mama riley about wanting to host and making sure that’s okay with her, and of course she’s happy to let gin take the reigns, as long as they’re invited of course. ginny’s like !!!! on the top of the world. but everything starts to go wrong the closer it gets to the date. caroline’s feeling really sick lately, so her and wiley decide it’s best if they just stay in tn and don’t try to make the trip out. ginny’s sad, but she understands. coop’s dad is stuck having to work. so she’s like, o...kay, 1 out of 4 parents, that’s okay. she’s taking it in stride it’s fine. kepler chose now to take one of her pans and a pot to try and mold play doh in or some destructive kid shit and she’s like ???? seriously SERIOUSLY. it’s okay. we can buy more pans, coopey bear go get more pans. so he does. peyton will call and tell coop she’s decided to have a holiday in paree~ with her fuckass bf named francois or something annoying and coop wants to kick his ass in general so he definitely wants to now. and it wouldn’t have been so much of a loss, if it wasn’t the year addison trevor and zach were going to celebrate at trev’s family’s house. gins like highkey losing her mind, everyone’s cancelling it’s because it’s her dinner this would never happen to his mom and she’s just not having life. and coop’s like that’s kinda true, but duh he keeps that to himself. gin’s gonna cry if her first thanksgiving is just mama riley goop the twins and bb mel so he’s like gotta call in some back up guests lmao trash. he doesnt call down to tn bc they have their own fam shit, so he’ll call johnny and his girl he’s been dating for like 9 years and still isnt married to. lexi?? i think maybe i didn’t name her but that’s whats on my list so. and asks them what they’re doing for thanksgiving, they were just gonna eat chinese food like they usually do but he’s like yeah no come to iowa. gin and lexi are probs good friends by now, watching their boys play and going to all the wife stuff together. then he calls greggemiah and gregg answers singing kokomo bc theyre set to go on a cruise~ and coops like yeah thats not for a couple days after thanksgiving right. and they’re like yes but we’re packing and we have to do this and this and he’ll cut them off and be like you’re coming to iowa, they’re like ...ew, but ok. coops his charming convincing self and gregg still has his little crush so he can’t say no. jeremiah is like, i’d kill you if he wasn’t so dreamy. i’d say yes too. super long story short, coop gets ian and his preg wife to come too. and they have a cute half family/half friends holiday and ginny is satisfied and proud of herself for pulling it off. but she also dropped a pie during the day BUT THEY SURVIVED. ❅: a christmas headcanon: i’ll say this is christmas after that hell of a thanksgiving, caroline still isn’t doing so hot and even though it was supposed to be their turn for christmas wiley tells ginny her, coop, and the kids should stay up in iowa again. caroline’s not ready for people to see her, she’s probably losing her hair and stuff it’s not a good time for her. gin’s like :( give her my love all that cute stuff. she wants to be there, but she knows if she were in that position she wouldn’t want a lot of people seeing her either. they still send gifts down and wiley tells her to bring the kids down next month and they’ll have their own little holiday. mama riley is ECSTATIC cause she was lowkey sad about not getting to host her thanksgiving, but gin let her help a lot so she was content. she’s also happy to have all the kids in their matching jammies. peytons bitchass thought she was gonna have some dumbass french holiday for christmas too but that got shut down real quick, all her kids are gonna be there. trevor and gin included. francois is on the family shit list, papa riley and coop glare at him the whole time he’s there. and he says weird french shit and kisses all the girls on their cheeks and they’re too ALL AMERICAN JOHN MELLENCAMP for this shit. bby mel shows up with her “best friend” and “roommate” natalie, because mama riley was so cool with greggemiah she thought this would be a good time for the fam to meet her “best friend” and “roommate” natalie. guess what. it’s not. parents are oblivious so they won’t think anything of it, but it’ll be like christmas eve festivities when they’re all like omg and they’ll have a sibling meeting. they’ll all be on their annoying caroling escapade when the four of them will go off, and they’ll drag trevor and gin with them. addison will be like, francois can’t be apart of this, you’re not married. and coop will be like, plus we hate that guy. peytons like ugh, but she’ll be like. at least i’m not the one with the worst significant other anymore. mel’s gonna give dad a heart attack. gins like omg, trevs like omg, coops like dont listen to her dad isn’t gonna have a heart attack. addison will go, yeah i think it’ll be mom. and mel has like horror in her eyes lmao. addison will be like, it’s a joke i’m kidding. they’ll be fine, it’s not like it’s a shock. trev and gin are shoked, peytons shocked, mostly its just coop and addison that aren’t. coop’s like i found out like seven years ago so, i just didnt say anything. addisons like and it wasn’t like you were hiding it well mel. mel is dying inside, she was like abort mission the second she invited her gal pal but she was in too deep by that time. she’s like. i messed up, this was a mistake, they’re gonna hate me omg, i’m surprised YOU GUYS DONT HATE ME. like she flips out. and addison and coop try to chill her out but shes like YOU GUYS CANT TALK WITH YOUR STUPID COOKIE CUTTER SPOUSES and gin and trev are both like aw but also hey! mel will say something about how dad doesnt even like francois bc hes FRENCH. and coops like, at least nat’s from here. isn’t she from north dakota. and addison will be like, i didnt even think they let you be gay in north dakota. and coops like, that’s probably why she moved to chicago. and mels like OH MY GOD SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UUUUUPPP. fix it, do something. distract them, ginny tell them you’re pregnant again. PEY TELL THEM YOU’RE ENGAGED. someone do something i’m gonna die. it’s probably snowing, they left the two significant others least in the fam with their parents and the kids singing at some strangers house. classic family hijinks. i talked too much about this ☄:  a new years eve/day headcanon: by the time goop has all three kids, they’re lucky if they can make it to midnight on new years eve, honestly. when they’re babies theres not a chance, goop passes out at ten and the kids wake them up 3 hours later. that’s when they get to celebrate. but when the twins are like 7 and noahs 3 they’ve got this. they all get together on the couch and they’ll watch movies and play board games, and ring in the new year the way they intend to spend the rest of it. they’ve got old dog cubby with them, curled in a ball on his bed, noahs playing with some blocks and stuff, like the big block legos, and the twins and gin and coop are playing their game together. gin has noah right next to her, and he goes mommy looook, every so often. but that’s not gonna help anyone beat her in clue. kepler claims mommy cheats because she always wins so they want to play TROUBLE and SORRY so they can get her back. they’re so excited to stay up late, but they’re still too little to make it to see the ball drop. no matter how many sugary foods gin and coop let them have this ooone time. so they’ll knock out on the couch, and noah’s probs in gins lap by now, knocked out too. coop and gin will get emotional and sappy about how perfect their life is, and how it’s just like they always dreamed. if they could go back in time they wouldn’t change a thing. theyre both sitting on the floor with like their backs against the couch, gin has her head resting on coops shoulder “resting her eyes” because shes a little sleepy herself. she’ll doze off because its gin and shes even worse about falling asleep once shes running around as a full time mom. coop will stay up, smiling at his perfect family, and pet cubbys head. the ONLY ONE to be up with him. gin will be out for like 25 minutes or so, not too long, and he’ll nudge her awake so they can wake up the kids because the balls gonna drop and they want them to get to see it. they have the little party horns you blow into, and noisemakers, and theyre def all wearing those cheesy fake plastic top hats and glasses with the year number on it. and once it strikes twelve the kids are gonna be jumping up and down throwing streamers in the air celebrating as if they werent knocked out five minutes before. then it’s real bed time, gin will carry up noah and coop will carry up the twins and they’ll all be sleepy again the second theyre down in the bed. cutie babies.

[dalekofchaos]

Sequel Trilogy, Wasted Potential and what could’ve been

This post is where I look at what could’ve been done with the characters of the Sequel Trilogy and comparing to what they chose to do. I will be doing this for Rey, Finn, Poe, Rose, Kylo, Hux, Phasma, Snoke, Luke, Han and Leia. This will be both TFA and TLJ critical, there is no holding back.

List of ways they could’ve handled Rey in the Sequel Trilogy

Give Rey a different setting. Listen, absolutely no one cared about having another desert planet. So I think if you gave Rey an aquatic planet or an Amazonian planet, I really think it would help improve the story without anyone accusing you of ripping off the original trilogy.

Let Rey have a character arc. Rey starts off as a mix of Han Solo and Jyn Erso. Someone who only cares about her own survival and is consumed by her own trauma but learns to overcome her trauma, start caring for other people and something bigger than herself. That would’ve been the perfect character arc for Rey.

Rey would sell BB-8 for food, then fight to get him back.   It doesn’t work that she would be selfless and was willing to pass up all that food for a droid she just met. So I think it would help if she had sold BB-8 and later after meeting Finn, she learns of the importance of the droid and she feels guilt and fights to get BB-8 back. That I think would’ve improved her arc in TFA

Show that Rey is still learning piloting a starship and have Han teaching Rey how to fly proper. Rey will mention that she flew simulations on Jakku, but realizes flying simulations is different than flying for real. This will give us a nice scene of Han mentoring Rey in flying the Falcon.

When returning to D’Qar, showing Rey going to the infirmary with Finn, while Leia hugs Chewie. Rey’s concern should be to make sure Finn is okay, we didn’t need to see an unearned hug between two characters who didn’t know each other.

Have a meaningful mentor and student relationship with Luke and Rey. Luke reaches out after R2 and seeing so much of himself in Rey. It is more important to have a Rey and Luke strong mentor-apprentice relationship than having Rey have a connection with Kylo Ren. It should be about training Rey and establishing a relationship between Luke and her. It was said their relationship would be the heart of the film, so my suggestion is do just that. Focus on Rey and Luke having an actual relationship with each other and her training. Rey needs to be trained in the force to be a believable character. Even Anakin, Ahsoka, and Luke himself were given training and time to become skilled and powerful. Instead of just copying Yoda and old man Obi’s personality into him, do something we have never seen before in a Jedi Master in the movies: make Luke humorous, lighthearted, make Luke lecture Rey ON the importance of attachments and understanding the darkness just as much is the light. It would also create a parallel to what Snoke is teaching Kylo. Have Luke show Rey how to feel the force. Even show Luke teaching Rey to craft her own Lightsaber. Rey could finally make her Saberstaff with Yellow or Purple Crystal and teach Rey that attachments can lead you to the dark side if you let them, but they won’t lead you to darkness if you control your emotions. 

Reveal that Rey is Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade’s daughter. After Rey falls into the dark side cave, Luke finds her and brings her near the fire and is there to comfort her. Then the revelation happens. Rey says “I’ve never felt so alone.” And we get Luke telling her “the force is strong in my family. My father had it, I have it, my sister has it and my daughter has it” “There is a reason you dreamed of this place.” “You were never meant to be left on Jakku…I thought you died the night in the academy.” “All those years. I was so alone.” “I know. I’m sorry.” “Did you ever try to find me?” “Of course. For so long I searched the galaxy for you. Everyone said that you had died that night in the temple, that I should give up searching. But through the force, I could still feel you. I knew you were still alive. Every face I seen, it was your. Every voice I heard, it was yours. It drove me crazy. I came to this island, turned away from the force because it was so hard. Feeling that you were somewhere in the galaxy and being unable to find you. Seeing you in front of me right now… I’ve never felt so lucky.” And Rey with tears in her eyes. “I waited so long for you and your finally here” they embrace, father and daughter reunited.” Rey then asks about her mother. Luke sadly says “her name was Mara Jade and she loved you very much.” Rey why she was left on Jakku. “Because of your cousin Ben, Kylo Ren.”  Luke tells her that after a decade of training Ben, and fighting to keep the dark side at bay, Ben turned to the dark side because his family kept the secret that Darth Vader was his grandfather. He still wanted to help his nephew and save him from Snoke. One night he went to him to talk to him, Ben saw this as Luke being afraid of his power and Ben was the one to strike first. And then he woke up to see the other Jedi Masters dead. His wife Mara Jade dead and even the younglings dead. Only six other Jedi left with Ben, those who would become the Knights Of Ren. Rey left with Ben because she trusted her cousin and she couldn’t find Luke or Mara.  and Ben left her on Jakku where no one would ever find her because a part of him couldn’t kill his cousin.

Rey and Luke together go to The Supremacy after they both feel Leia and Finn in danger. Rey flies the Falcon, while Luke lifts his old X-Wing and head to the Supremacy to face Snoke. Rey will pose as bait, while Luke sneaks aboard The Supremacy.  Rey is brought before Kylo Ren and Snoke. Snoke taunts that today hope dies and The Resistance dies. But what happens next, Luke enters the throne room. “MASTER SKYWALKER! AT LAST WE MEET” Snoke will echo through his throne room. The Praetorian Guards will attack, but Luke kills them easily with the force. Luke will say he’s come to save his apprentice, his sister and the rebellion. And finally what we’ve been waiting for Luke vs Snoke. Snoke takes out the true Darksaber, while Luke takes out his Green Lightsaber. The master of the light and master of the dark. And we have the rematch between Rey and Kylo. This time Kylo appears stronger. He is dominating Rey in the fight. Kylo will tell her “you should have accepted my offer, scavenger” “Rey will say “I’ll never join you!” Kylo with the famous Solo snark will say “pity” and cuts  Rey’s hand off. Luke enraged will use the force to knock Kylo out. Finally Luke defeats Snoke. Luke will take Rey with him. As the hyperspace ramming happens, the Falcon is there to pick up Rey. Luke leaves on his X-Wing to guide Rey to safety.

Rey awakens and senses Finn nearby on Crait. As Luke is fighting Kylo, Rey knows while injured, she has to lift the rocks in order to save Finn and The Resistance. Finally Rey embraces Finn, reunited again. The movie ends with Rey getting her mechanical hand and joins Luke and Leia. Leia places her hand over her and Luke’s hands and say “we have everything we need”

What They chose to do with Rey instead

Choose to have Rey on a desert planet again....for reasons

Rey is good natured and selfless for no reason or build up whatsoever. My issue with this it makes no sense considering that Rey grew up on Jakku, a dog eat dog world. She had no reason to be selfless on that planet. I do love Rey, but it really makes no sense that a person who was raised on a ruthless and violent planet of thieves and scavengers, abandoned and lived the life of a scavenger who barely makes enough to survive would give up all that food for a droid she just met.

Rey perfectly flies The Falcon despite not flying a ship. In the movie she says she’s never flown before and doesn’t know how she did it. In The novel she says she flew ships at night and flight simulations. That’s all well and good, but if you choose to explain things in the novel, but not in the movie. Then you deliberately chose not to explain how a scavenger who never leaves the planet knows how to fly the Millennium Falcon.

She pulls off maneuvers and mechanical tricks that not even Han Solo could think of and a scene later he is dumbfounded and astonished by Rey

Rey hugs Leia. Leia hugging Rey out of nowhere instead of Chewie just doesn’t work. Why is she hugging and grieving with someone she just met when Chewie is right there?

Daisy doesn’t think Rey should have any flaws and that’s a problem

Rey has a connection and starts to trust Kylo Ren...when only ONE DAY passes since Kylo has tortured her, killed Han Solo, and injured Finn. There’s a difference between being “forgiving” and there’s being blindly gullible. She went from wanting to kill him to believing he’s “our last hope”....for reasons.

Rey’s stupidity in TLJ. Rey’s plan. Rey has some vision of Kylo Ren deciding to help her out and locks herself in a box to fly straight to him, with no escape plan or regard for her own safety. As bad as JJ chose to develop Rey, I will admit that Rey is adaptable. Rey makes plans and strategizes. She has been raised as a scavenger, working hard for every day of survival and fighting for every item in her possession. While Luke and Anakin throw caution to the wind in order to succeed, Rey keeps a level head and fights her way through things. TLJ acts like that version of Rey doesn’t exist.

Rey has no character arc in TLJ.  Rey doesn’t learn anything and I don’t feel like she has a character arc or journey. She starts her journey in TFA and I was excited to learn where her character would go. And TLJ does nothing with Rey.  I do love Rey, but I don’t feel like it truly tests Rey and forces her to grow as a character. Rey is intriguing and we care for her, but her journey feels non existent.  Luke and Anakin had struggles and journeys.  I just don’t feel it from Rey. I am really disappointed with how TLJ handles Rey. Rey doesn’t have any struggles. Rey is all powerful and she is the same character she is from TFA. Everything TFA was building her up was instantly ignored.  How Maz got the Skywalker lightsaber? Never mentioned again. How Rey was drawn to the Skywalker lightsaber and what the force vision was meant to mean? Never addressed. Rey says that she’s classified information, “none of your business” Then her parents are revealed as junk traitors who sold her for drinking money and died in Jakku. If her parents were just junkers, how did they afford that space ship if they spent the money on booze? Rey herself told BB-8 she was classified information. All that build up for nothing. The force can come from anyone, we all feel it but you build Rey up only to do nothing with her. Whatever TFA was building up for Rey was dropped entirely.  My big issue with how TLJ handles Rey, is she does not learn anything. She was awakened by Kylo’s mind melding and has his powers transferred to her, she doesn’t even earn her powers on her own, it’s all from Kylo. Your big feminist icon has to get her powers from the man who’s been harassing her. How empowering....please kill me. She doesn’t learn anything from Luke and she feels like the same character in The Force Awakens. We see Luke showing Rey to feel the force and the Jedi’s hubris. The third lesson was deleted, but we did not really get to see Luke train her as a Jedi. Rey doesn’t learn anything. Rey even defeats Luke... In the end we see Rey has the sacred Jedi texts, but Yoda pointed out that those texts were holding back the Jedi and doesn’t teaches her what she doesn’t already know. SO in the end, Rey doesn’t learn anything and that’s the problem. And the big problem is we are expected that Rey will learn everything off screen....that’s the problem. You cannot just have a character who can do all these amazing feats, show her not being trained as a Jedi and make her even more powerful in the final movie with no build up whatsoever.

Rey in TROS teaser looks like nothing ever changed. The same type of outfit from The Force Awakens, the same Lightsaber and the same hairstyle. Like nothing ever happened or changed. Like nothing ever changed. God forbid Rey looks like a mix of a Jedi Knight and Resistance Leader, godforbid Rey builds her own lightsaber, especially a Saberstaff. It’s almost as if JJ and Lucasfilm are afraid to develop Rey as a character and let her look different at all....*sighs*

Rey has no development or arc. Rey is not allowed to have flaws or personal struggles or has a real hero’s journey.  Which is disappointing because I truly loved having Star Wars be centered around a female lead and feel like it’s a missed opportunity. It’s not Daisy’s fault, I feel like the blame lies with Disney. I’m not sure if Disney got cold feet with a female protagonist and felt they would get backlash if they made her character naturally flawed but it’s storytelling 101 to have your protagonist faced with problems that aren’t easy to overcome and correlate to said flaws. Instead we got a hero who faces no real consequences, has no real goals, and can defeat everything in her path with abysmal training. Which ultimately makes for an extremely uninteresting hero. No hard training, no real consequences, no real flaws, no struggles or not even an arc and everything is handed to her. It just makes Episode IX predictable and boring. Rey will defeat Kylo again to no one’s surprise. There is just not a reason to care to see what will happen with Rey. I’m more invested to see what happens with Finn, Poe, Rose and Jannah. I just lost any and all investment in Rey after TLJ. Rey just doesn’t feel like a reason to even want to watch Episode IX and Disney just failed Rey as a character.

List of ways they could’ve handled Finn in TLJ

Have Finn lead a Stormtrooper rebellion

Have Finn be fully committed to The Resistance. It is shown through cut material that Finn was in Cobalt Squadron uniform. Have Finn be with Paige, have Paige and Finn have a short friendship(this actually gives Ngo Thanh Van speaking lines), Paige being in awe that Finn, someone who escaped The First Order helped The Resistance destroy Starkiller Base is working with him and she is more than happy to show him the ropes. They are co-pilots of a Y-Wing(those bombers were stupid and we all know it) Finn was able to save Paige from dying in space and instead she dies in his arms while leaving a bloody handprint on his heart, working as a callback to when Slip died in Finn’s arms and left a bloody handprint on his helmet and her last words being “tell my sister I love her. Finn brings the bad news to Rose and gives Rose Paige’s pendant. Rose breaks down and hugs Finn. Both Finn and Rose have a good relationship at this point and there is no pointless hostility. You could even have Finn and Rose together finding the hacker and having their plan succeed and just having DJ betray them as they make it to the escape pod. And Finn and Phasma do have their fight, but keep in the deleted Phasma death scene

Finn and Poe go to Canto Bight in order to find Rose Tico, the Resistance hacker. 

Finn and Rose’s mission is to find the master codebreaker. The Master Codebreaker they are meant to find is none other than Lando Calrissian. Lando is the person Finn and Rose are meant to get help from. They leave with DJ, but Lando was expecting to meet two members from the Resistance, so he leaves Canto Bight and on his way out he gets Leia’s message and mobilizes old friends from the Rebellion(a cameo from Wedge Antilles) and goes to give the Resistance some reinforcements. We then see a little reunion with Lando, Leia and Chewbacca and Lando revealing that he was who Finn and Rose were meant to meet. 

KEEP IN THE FUCKING DELETED FINN AND PHASMA SCENE, GOOD FUCKING GOD.

Cut the battle of Crait entirely. It was a pointless copy and paste of the Battle Of Hoth, only with salt instead!! And Finn knew full well his suicide run would not work. He was familiar with First Order weaponry, so Finn would know full well it would not work. So what I would do instead is when Leia’s signal reaches her allies, we would hear Lando Calrissian. Lando brings support to Crait. If you have to copy and paste something from Empire, then copy the ending. We would see the Resistance strong and our heroes reunited and united against the common goal of burning the First Order to the ground

Change the ending to TFA and they wait till Finn is healed up and both Rey and Finn go to Ach-To. When Rey comes out of the dark side cave, Finn is the one to comfort Rey. Instead of a pointless fight between Rey and Luke. Rey and Luke both sense Leia is in danger, Rey convinces Luke to go to his sister, while Rey and Finn will go to The Supremacy to confront Snoke and Kylo Ren. Finn takes the Jedi texts to the Falcon.  Finn and Rey are captured by Kylo Ren and brings them before Snoke. If you have to have a force bond. Make it between all three of them. Finn and Kylo are obvious foils. Finn was taken from his family against his will into the First Order and realized on his own that murder was wrong. Conversely, Kylo willingly ran from his family into the First Order and consciously uses murder to gain power. As Kylo kills his father, Finn becomes a Resistance hero. Their storylines and development are inversely proportional to each other- when Finn moves toward the light, Kylo falls further toward darkness. Finn is the humanity Kylo rejected when he chose to kill his father.  Kylo is the darkness Finn could have succumbed to but ran away from. So why not have them being connected by the force. Have Kylo taunt Finn and Rey and trying to convince them to join him and turn on Luke, only for them to keep their resolve. You could even have Kylo telling Finn “you could’ve been so much more, yet you betrayed us.” Finn calling Kylo a coward and a monster. With a force connection established between Finn and Kylo, we could have Kylo wondering why Finn would desert The First Order, while Finn wonders why Kylo betrayed his family, the Jedi and joined The First Order, but despite what may have happened, Finn keeps his resolve.  Rey and Finn tell each other that they see Kylo and comfort each other. Maybe even show potential cause Kylo sees them all as abandoned children and together they could bring a new order.  Rey and Finn are asking him to turn and return home, Finn even believes there is hope, “if I could leave The First Order, you can too.” but still, Kylo brings them before Snoke. Snoke commends Kylo for bringing Rey and the traitor before him. Snoke mocks Finn from running from The First Order, but senses he could be strong in the force. “Have you never wondered what the Knights Of Ren are? They were all Stormtroopers Force Sensitive enough to be turned into a new order. Kylo Ren sensed it in you and wanted you to join him, but you left and betrayed us.” “It was weakness that drove you to leave the First Order, not strength. But today I see strength within you that can burn down the Jed!” Snoke asks Finn to take his blaster and execute Rey. Rey is pleading with Finn.  Snoke demands it. "Your compassion for her is now your weakness. Strike her down, join Kylo Ren as a Knight Of Ren and fulfill your destiny- and as we all see it, Finn uses the force to ignite Rey’s lightsaber on Snoke. Together Rey and Finn fights the Praetorian guards. Kylo wants Rey and Finn to join him. Wanting a new order, but Rey and Finn refuses. Rey fights Kylo, but Kylo cuts Rey’s hand off, so Finn fights Kylo. Finn and Kylo are on even footing, but as we see the fight reaching it’s climax, the hyperspace ramming happens. Finn and Rey escape to the Falcon. as Rey is in healing, Finn kisses her on the forehead and covers her up. Finn and Chewie blast away the Tie-Fighters on Crait and destroys the siege cannon. The end scene of both Rey and Finn lifting the rocks and saving The Resistance. Rey and Finn reunite with Poe and Leia. It ends with Leia telling Rey, Finn and Poe saying “we have everything we need.”

What they chose to do with Finn instead

A complete lack of empathy and care for Finn. He is constantly belittled and mocked throughout the movie. In The Force Awakens, Finn fights Kylo Ren. He does well, but is ultimately defeated.  He is slashed in the shoulder and the spine by Kylo Ren and falls into the snow, unconscious. Now if this were in the first 6 movies, Finn would be dead or would be paralyzed. But because it’s a Disney movie, Finn heals up. Rey continues the fight and slashes Ren across the face, leaving him with a gash. The characters all escape, but Finn has to be carried to a medical station, unconscious until TLJ. Kylo Ren seems fine, ultimately jumping in a TIE fighter to try and kill his mom before getting patched up further.  Finn, again, has to wake up before doing anything. Here’s the difference between Finn and Kylo’s injuries.  Finn awakens in a medical bed wearing a bacta suit.  His first instinct is to call out for Rey. As he jolts up, he slams his head against the medical container.  He slams against it again. Regaining awareness, he opens up the medical container to find himself alone in a cargo room.  He falls out of the bed, spraying medical fluids all over the place.  He trudges down the hallway until Poe and BB-8 find him. His injuries are never mentioned, shown, or even referenced again.  Kylo, on the other hand, is asked by Snoke how his wound is, to which he responds “it’s nothing.”  He then takes that ridiculous thing off, complete with a close-up of a sad kylo Ren face, with his sutures  framed to draw attention to them. This happens again in the elevator.  Then we get a scene of him getting patched up soberly by a medical droid.  Then we get a shirtless scene as a final showcase of his other two scars.  Throughout the film, Kylo’s scars are present and framed as a constant reminder that he went through pain.  Finn’s injuries are used as a joke once and promptly forgotten, and let’s not pretend that these injuries are  one-to-one aside from how they’re framed.  Remember Finn received injuries trying to protect Rey, while Kylo received injuries trying to murder Rey. Finn received a deep wound across his spine, which can often be fatal in the real world.  Kylo received a gash across his face.  Finn’s injuries were worse and nobly gained. Kylo’s injuries were comparatively tame and well deserved.  Yet the movie uses Finn’s pain as a joke, and Kylo’s pain as a humanizing factor.

Repeats the same character arc he already learned in The Force Awakens and is made a side character. Finn is changed from one of the main protagonists to being a side character in his own trilogy.  Finn’s character arc from The Force Awakens was dropped completely in The Last Jedi. He does want Rey to be safe, but Finn just wants to run away, despite the fact that he learned to be courageous, face his fears and stay and fight at the end of TFA. He already saw that The Resistance is worth fighting for, that The First Order needs to be fought and he stood up to his fears by facing Kylo Ren. It didn’t need a bad retelling.  

Finn is reduced to Rose’s sidekick and is made into a racist slapstick caricature. The first real problem for Finn. He is reduced to a slapstick joke in his very first scene. Finn awakens from his coma, slams his face and it is revealed that he isn’t even on the medical ship or even in the medbay on the Raddus…he is in the cargo hold and is made to be a joke. This is the Co-protagonist of the trilogy, and he’s reintroduced as a slapstick joke. Then once again he wants to runaway. I am getting a real racist vibe that Rian Johnson sees Finn as the cowardly black man troupe. That’s just downright disgusting.

The dynamic between Finn and Rose. I wanted to like Rose…Bad writing and direction prevents that. Finn wants to escape to save Rey and because The Supremacy is tracking them through hyperspace, but Rose sees this as desertion….Desertion? You taze people for desertion? How exactly am I supposed to root for either side again? This is probably the same only less lethal treatment one could expect from The First Order. And what if The Raddus took critical damage? Are you trying to tell me Rose would taze anyone going to the escape pods? I thought she was supposed to be a mechanic, not someone who prevents escape. Finn is then tazed by Rose, which is understandable, she thought he was running away and she was in mourning. He also was objectively posing absolutely no threat to her, wasn’t running away, and was even trying to explain himself. Additionally, just the threat of the taser seemed to have been enough to stop him from leaving. But Rose attacked him anyways. The difference between Rey and Rose attacking Finn is Rey subdued Finn just enough to stop and interrogate him, Rose went completely overboard by paralyzing him and knocking him unconscious. It was completely unnecessary and gratuitous and is supposed to be played for laughs. Rey and Finn have a real friendship and partnership from the last movie. Rose, on the other hand, spends the rest of the movie belittling Finn and talking down to him. The book also says that she thought about using violence against him more than once after the tasing (for annoying her) and even pushed him. This displays a really problematic pattern of violence and disrespect towards Finn so yeah,  multiple uses of violence and expressed desire to inflict violence on him as being abusive. I would argue that she is undeniably verbally abusive with Finn. In the movie and in the book (more so in the book) she often belittles him by calling him names and using other put downs. It seems she wants to make him feel bad about himself and bring him down, which is abusive. Of course, it doesn’t really matter what her intent is, even if she doesn’t “mean to be mean” it still counts as verbal abuse. So, in summary, her repeated threats and use of violence against Finn and her continual use of insults and put downs causes me to come to the conclusion that she is abusive to Finn.

Canto Bight. Rian Johnson cared more for visuals and CGI than telling a coherent story. It’s complete filler. It’s all the pointless CGI in the Special Editions of the original trilogy, only worse. Was a big boobed alien worth more than Finn and Rose completing their mission to save the Resistance?

Canto Bight continues the racist stereotype that black people would be in awe of a casino and be completely oblivious to what happens behind the scenes. The idea that Finn, someone who was raised in the violent and oppressive environment of the first order and who risked his life to rebel against it, would struggle to understand why a casino full of rich unaffected assholes wasn’t the greatest thing on earth is impossibly bad writing and demonstrates just how little of a shit rian gave about his character

Finn and Rose cared more about space horses than saving slave children. Who cares that these children are gonna be left at the mercy of their violent slave owners and face merciless abuse, because after all, it was all worth it to free the animals!!! Look at us, we’re so progressive!!!….Please kill me

The plan to disable the Hyperspace tracking is made to pointlessly fail. Finn, Rose and DJ are close to fulfilling their objective and fail for no reason whatsoever. Okay first of all, Finn and Rose are captured because neither Finn or Rose bothered to get to a legal parking spot. So instead of going to find the ACTUAL Master Codebreaker(which told a better story) we are instead shown to DJ. This is a character who is made to be untrustworthy from the beginning and even sounds like a snake. So obviously he betrays them. And instead of letting them disable their tracker and just being caught when heading towards the escape pods, their plan is made to fail, making everything they’ve been trying to do ultimately pointless. It effect the plot even in the slightest. You could remove it and nothing would change in the slightest. Nothing mattered. Apparently the people of color needed their white hero savior to show them up…..*sighs*

The only time Finn is allowed to be presented as a protagonist when finally confronting Phasma and facing his abuser. My only problem is they cut out Phasma’s better death scene. Finn reveals Phasma shut down the shields for Starkiller Base, and that gets the Stormtroopers to turn on Phasma. This is what I would hope starts a Stormtrooper Rebellion. Finn’s defection was withheld information by Hux and Phasma in fear of a full on rebellion. Humanizing Stormtroopers and having one become a hero is kind of genius, but the way they did it in Episode 7 made it seem like Finn was the ONLY good Stormtrooper, which has to be an impossibility. If one Stormtrooper can suddenly switch sides, what’s to say that others couldn’t? And since Episode IX will most likely see the fall of the First Order, I personally think that Finn should convince all (or most of) the Stormtroopers to turn against Kylo and Hux, leading to a cool final scene where the First Order is ultimately destroyed by their own henchmen, children who were abducted and indoctrinated take back their narrative. That would be cooler and more unique, I think, than another Resistance vs. First Order space shootout, or Rey and her possible Jedi apprentice army taking them down.

Finn’s suicide run. Finn was the best Stormtrooper and knows about The First Order’s weapons, he should know full well that speeder would be destroyed trying to destroy the mini death star. Finn’s attempted sacrifice was pointless as he knew that it wouldn’t work.

Rose stopping Finn. “that’s how we win, not by fighting what we hate, by saving what we love.” That makes no sense and ignores the entire narrative of Star Wars and heroism of the saga. Paige, her sister sacrificed herself to save The Resistance. Holdo sacrificed herself to save The Resistance. The Rogue One crew sacrificed themselves. Kanan Jarrus sacrificed himself to save what he loved. Finn’s entire arc in the movie was learning not to just think about running away with Rey and fight for a greater cause and when the time comes for Finn to prove that he’s grown as a character, he can’t? What was the point of Finn’s arc in the movie? And let’s talk about Poe. Shouldn’t Poe be sacrificing himself? Poe has spent the entire film watching others die and give their lives and he’s never backed down, so shouldn’t Poe be in Finn’s place? And if Rose stopped Finn who would save The Resistance? We saw after Rose stopped Finn, the bunker was blown up by the battering ram. Absolutely NO ONE knew that Luke was going to make his surprise entrance and save everyone. For all we knew, The First Order would’ve moved into the bunker and killed everyone and The Resistance.

Finn was done dirty throughout the entire movie, the only time I felt any sense of joy for his character was when he reunited with Rey. I just hope TROS treats Finn better and he isn’t Rian’d again. Finn deserved better than what he got in TLJ

List of ways they could’ve handled Poe in the sequel trilogy

Poe is on Jakku with Finn. I was not happy that Poe who was heavily advertised as one of the leads of this new trilogy and is sidelined for the majority of the movie. So what I’d have happen is Poe saves Finn and together they go to Nema outpost. Poe gives Finn his jacket because his Stormtrooper armor would draw too much attention and after he sees Finn in the jacket, Poe will tell him “you should keep it, it looks good on you” Poe will tell Finn, “if anyone asks, you’re with the Resistance.” Eventually both Poe and Finn would meet up with BB-8 and Rey. Eventually the three meet up and run for safety as The First Order attacks. Rey and Finn would blast the Tie-FIghters out of the sky as Poe flies the Falcon. The trio introduces themselves and starts to show a friendship for each other. Poe will tell Rey they need to get BB-8 to the Resistance base, it is to locate Luke Skywalker. Rey will have her “Luke Skywalker? I thought he was a myth.” Han will arrive and Poe asks for help. Han will tell the story of Luke’s disappearance and takes them to Takodana. We get to see the friendship between Poe, Finn and Rey. Poe tells Finn and Rey about his parents and how much Poe idolizes Shara and Kes. Giving the audience the knowledge that his parents are war heroes in the Rebellion and life long friends of the original trilogy characters. Both Finn and Rey feel alone but is interested in knowing about Poe’s life. Poe tells Finn he has to tell Rey, he appreciates what he has done for him but it’s best Rey find out from him and not The First Order. Maz finds out about Finn, when Poe is confronted about the lie, Poe did it to protect Finn and after that Finn and Rey have their moment like they did in the movie.  When The First Order’s attack on Takodana happens, Poe signals Black Squadron to help. The big change is having Poe go to Starkiller Base with Finn and Han. Everyone assumes that Poe will destroy Starkiller Base, but it’s his team that will do it, mainly Jessika Pava. He trusts his team to destroy Starkiller Base while Poe helps destroy it from the inside. Also Finn convinced Poe to help and because Rey is Poe’s friend. I just really think it would’ve been better to have Rey, Finn and Poe together as the Sequel trio and to have the three to have a good dynamic.  

The Resistance mobilizes with what’s left of The New Republic and Poe leads the fleet against The First Order

Poe convinces Leia that destroying the Dreadnought is a good thing.

Poe is commended and praised for saving The Resistance, but Poe feels regret for the lives that were lost. Leia sympathizes that she has delt with this guilt throughout her entire life. “Does it ever get easier General? “No Poe, it doesn’t, but we must endure.”

Poe does get in his X-Wing and gets in a dogfight with Kylo Ren in The Silencer. Poe is the one thing from keeping Kylo from destroying The Resistance fleet. As Kylo hesitates on shooting Leia, before his wingmen can fire on the bridge, Poe shoots the wingmen out of the sky and sends The Silencer flying. 

Goes on the mission with Finn to find the Resistance hacker Rose Tico

Actually letting Holdo tell Poe the plan 

Actually acknowledging that Poe saved The Resistance against The Dreadnought and acknowledge that he destroyed Starkiller Base. Not condemn him for already being a Resistance Leader who cared about saving lives

What they chose to do with Poe instead

The lack of tension between Kylo Ren and Poe. Poe Dameron just witnessed The First Order’s arrival, the death of his friend Lor San Tekka and the massacre of a village. What happens next is a complete change in tone and lack of tension. Poe decides to tell a joke. JJ decides it’s best to throw in a joke, it just undermined the seriousness of the slaughter Kylo Ren has caused and killed one of Poe and Leia’s friends. Poe should not be cracking jokes. Poe should be brave, firm and defiant to Kylo Ren. Telling a joke is the absolute last thing Poe should be doing after witnessing the murder of a friend.

Keep Poe separate from Finn and Rey for the first half of the movie

Pointlessly change Poe’s character in TLJ. Poe started out as the most levelheaded, compassionate and trusted soldier in the entire Resistance, so trusted that he was given the mission to find the map to Luke Skywalker and leading the strike force to destroy Starkiller Base, why is it that he is suddenly a hot headed fly boy who ignores orders and is getting no respect from his commanding officers? The character change for Poe Dameron was unnecessary and so out of place. Poe before TLJ would not be okay with sacrificing lives to stop one ship that can be easily replaced.  In all source material and the last movie he refused to let anyone die. Not even Finn, a man who was an enemy an hour before they met formally, even though Poe shot his squad mate before during the fight on Jakku. Everything about Poe’s portrayal in TLJ is so unnecessary.  Poe Dameron went from a caring and experienced rebel pilot to an arrogant, hotheaded latino stereotype in the span of like…a day. That’s not subversive writing, that’s racist and bad writing.

Is condemned and demoted for saving The Resistance and doing something that Han and Luke did to destroy the Death Star

Kept Poe in the dark about something that could’ve been solved with basic communication skills. Holdo’s absolute refusal to tell Poe or literally ANYONE in the Resistance the plan is baffling. Poe is a respected and highly trained, top ranking rebel fighter, who had been covert enough to execute a highly delicate and secret mission to retrieve the Map to Luke Skywalker, responsible for destroying Starkiller base and the biggest asset to the resistance and biggest threat to the first order, anything about the plan? He’s literally a war hero and is more than likely only second to Leia. Holdo didn’t just leave Poe in the dark, she left the entire Resistance in the dark. When Holdo meets Poe, she then proceeds to dress Poe down just for asking for his orders and the plan. Keep in mind that Poe isn’t just some grunt. Even with his demotion, he’s your second or third in command, and he has the respect of the entire crew, as evidenced by his later leading a majority of the crew in mutiny against Holdo. Holdo brought her personal crew from her ship and worked with them while snubbing the main rebel crew entirely. That’s a bit of a dick move, protocol or not. One of the biggest issues was not that Holdo wasn’t telling Poe the plan, but it was acting as if there was really no other plan. She was literally taking personal jabs at him when he was trying to find something out. If she said something like. “While it seems bad , we are working on a plan right now. We are not just going to stay here and have everyone die. Just have your pilots ready to go at a moment’s notice” But she didn’t even give him that. Remember up until Poe taking over, they were watching ship after ship being picked off slowly. The crew was given nothing and was told just to trust her. Blind faith in leadership is a horrible message. If that is the take away then why not just do what the First Order or the Empire wants. I mean seemingly they are in charge of stuff now. And we should follow orders blindly. Moreover they were down to < 1000 people, and from the POV of everyone else she was just watching people die. Rank be damned. Anyone who cared about their crew would do something. He was a Commander and the flight commander there is NO way he should have been left out in the cold. Then they have the nerve to touch his unconscious body and say “I like him” fuck you. How Poe was treated in TLJ was absolutely atrocious and a complete insult to Oscar Isaac, Poe deserves better.

List of ways they could’ve handled Rose in the sequel trilogy

Make Rose the Hacker. It’s not unrealistic for the Resistance to have one. She could still think her skills aren’t useful considering most Wars have been won by soldiers and Jedi, not hackers. Paige is a Resistance fighter and her sister is a hacker. The Tico sisters fight the war in their own way. Finn and Poe go to Canto Bight to get Rose. Rose is on the planet to make the war profiteers hurt, and Finn and Poe must convince her. Her character arc could be learning that the war is much bigger than just her and that her sister, and the galaxy need her.

Finn and Rose’s mission is to find the master codebreaker. The Master Codebreaker they are meant to find is none other than Lando Calrissian. Lando is the person Finn and Rose are meant to get help from. They leave with DJ, but Lando was expecting to meet two members from the Resistance, so he leaves Canto Bight and on his way out he gets Leia’s message and mobilizes old friends from the Rebellion(a cameo from Wedge Antilles) and goes to give the Resistance some reinforcements. So instead of a hopelessly outgunned Resistance at Death’s door, when all hope seems lost, Lando brings the cavalry and shows The Rebellion is alive and hope still lives. We then see a little reunion with Lando, Leia and Chewbacca and Lando revealing that he was who Finn and Rose were meant to meet. 

Rose is a highly valued Resistance Mechanic fighting for The Resistance her own way as Paige was a bomber

Actually letting Paige live and actually giving us the sisterly bond between Rose and Paige and you know, GIVING  Ngô Thanh Vân SPEAKING LINES

Letting Rose empathize with Finn’s trauma and acknowledge that they are both cut from the same cloth. Rose and Paige lost their family and home and Finn lost his family and home, they have something in common and a reason to fight for The Resistance

Have Finn tell Rose about Rey and Rose being in awe of the Jedi and hopes to someday meet her and understands why Finn loves her

Letting Finn and Rose’s plan to disable the tracker succeed and only be captured upon reaching the escape pods.

What they chose to do with Rose instead

Poorly written. I wanted to like Rose…Bad writing and direction prevents that. The Supremacy is tracking them through hyperspace, but Rose sees this as desertion….Desertion? You taze people for desertion? How exactly am I supposed to root for either side again? This is probably the same only less lethal treatment one could expect from The First Order. And what if The Raddus took critical damage? Are you trying to tell me Rose would taze anyone going to the escape pods? I thought she was supposed to be a mechanic, not someone who prevents escape. Finn is then tazed by Rose, which is understandable, she thought he was running away and she was in mourning. He also was objectively posing absolutely no threat to her, wasn’t running away, and was even trying to explain himself. Additionally, just the threat of the taser seemed to have been enough to stop him from leaving. But Rose attacked him anyways. The difference between Rey and Rose attacking Finn is Rey subdued Finn just enough to stop and interrogate him, Rose went completely overboard by paralyzing him and knocking him unconscious. It was completely unnecessary and gratuitous and is supposed to be played for laughs. Rey and Finn have a real friendship and partnership from the last movie. Rose, on the other hand, spends the rest of the movie belittling Finn and talking down to him. The book also says that she thought about using violence against him more than once after the tasing (for annoying her) and even pushed him. This displays a really problematic pattern of violence and disrespect towards Finn so yeah,  multiple uses of violence and expressed desire to inflict violence on him as being abusive. I would argue that she is undeniably verbally abusive with Finn. In the movie and in the book (more so in the book) she often belittles him by calling him names and using other put downs. It seems she wants to make him feel bad about himself and bring him down, which is abusive. Of course, it doesn’t really matter what her intent is, even if she doesn’t “mean to be mean” it still counts as verbal abuse. So, in summary, her repeated threats and use of violence against Finn and her continual use of insults and put downs causes me to come to the conclusion that she is abusive to Finn. And I am supposed to root for them to be in a relationship?

Cared more about space horses than saving slave children. Who cares that these children are gonna be left at the mercy of their violent slave owners and face merciless abuse, because after all, it was all worth it to free the animals!!! Look at us, we’re so progressive!!!….Please kill me

The plan to disable the Hyperspace tracking is made to pointlessly fail. Finn, Rose and DJ are close to fulfilling their objective and fail for no reason whatsoever. Okay first of all, Finn and Rose are captured because neither Finn or Rose bothered to get to a parking spot. So instead of going to find the ACTUAL Master Codebreaker(which told a better story) we are instead shown to DJ. This is a character who is made to be untrustworthy from the beginning and even sounds like a snake. So obviously he betrays them. And instead of letting them disable their tracker and just being caught when heading towards the escape pods, their plan is made to fail, making everything they’ve been trying to do ultimately pointless. It effect the plot even in the slightest. You could remove it and nothing would change in the slightest. Nothing mattered. Apparently the people of color needed their white hero savior to show them up…..*sighs*

Rose stopping Finn. “that’s how we win, not by fighting what we hate, by saving what we love.” That makes no sense and ignores the entire narrative of Star Wars and heroism of the saga. Paige, her sister sacrificed herself to save The Resistance. Holdo sacrificed herself to save The Resistance. The Rogue One crew sacrificed themselves. Kanan Jarrus sacrificed himself to save what he loved. Finn’s entire arc in the movie was learning not to just think about running away with Rey and fight for a greater cause and when the time comes for Finn to prove that he’s grown as a character, he can’t? What was the point of Finn’s arc in the movie? And let’s talk about Poe. Shouldn’t Poe be sacrificing himself? Poe has spent the entire film watching others die and give their lives and he’s never backed down, so shouldn’t Poe be in Finn’s place? And if Rose stopped Finn who would save The Resistance? We saw after Rose stopped Finn, the bunker was blown up by the battering ram. Absolutely NO ONE knew that Luke was going to make his surprise entrance and save everyone. For all we knew, The First Order would’ve moved into the bunker and killed everyone and The Resistance.

in TLJ novel she is made bitter and jealous of Rey when Rey is trying to save them....great, we are actually putting the only two main female characters of the sequel trilogy against each other because Jason Fry and Rian Johnson are misogynists and complete and utter fucking morons

Rose Tico could’ve been a great character, but because she was in the hands of Rian Johnson, she had no chance of succeeding. I can only hope she is handled better and by someone competent. Rose Tico and Kelly Marie Tran deserved better 

List of ways they could’ve handled Kylo Ren in the sequel trilogy

Make Kylo handle the Lor San Tekka situation better. The man who has or had the map to Skywalker is right there. Show Kylo’s villainy and ruthlessness by forcing  Lor San Tekka to comply. Order the village massacre right there and force Lor San Tekka to watch until he tells you what you want or just use the force probe right then and there, Poe’s interference causes Kylo to lose focus and causes Kylo to lobotomize Lor San Tekka which brings us to Kylo getting Poe. It would show how far in the dark side Kylo Ren is and what he will do to get what he wants 

Instead of the tantrums, have Kylo Ren kill FO officers right then and there with his Lightsaber, it shows that he has no regard for human life and his only focus is to fulfill his mission.

Keep the mask on until Kylo faces Han Solo. 

Reveal that Ben Solo fell to the dark side and became Kylo Ren because his family did not tell him the truth that Darth Vader was his grandfather. Leia chose to hid the fact that Darth Vader was his grandfather and did not tell him that Vader redeemed himself. The New Republic publicly spread the news that Darth Vader was Leia’s true father, so Ben could have seen that at Luke’s Jedi Temple. It could’ve been a similar situation after Luke found out the truth. “Ben, why didn’t you tell me.” “Mother…you lied to me….” this can be seen as a darker mirror of Luke and Obi-Wan’s relationship. Luke did feel a little betrayed by Obi-Wan and Yoda, but did not let the truth consume him. Ben Solo would let this consume him. He feels betrayed by his family and those feelings of resentment lead Snoke to Ben Solo. He promises a place where he would never be lied to again and valued and where he can learn more of his grandfather. So Ben betrays his family, kills the Jedi and becomes Kylo Ren because the truth of Anakin was kept from him and because of that Snoke twisted the view of Vader’s fall being compassion and Kylo idolized Vader and viewed Anakin as weakness. He wants to destroy everything his family built out of spite and finish what Vader started, which was kill his master, the Jedi and rule the galaxy.

Have Kylo Ren be sent to Darth Vader’s castle on Mustafar to complete his training. Allowing the dark side energies within Vader’s castle and what remains of Vader to strengthen the dark side within him to snuff out the light. We would later see Snoke teaching him the flaws of the Jedi and Sith and why they must destroy the Jedi and Sith. Their goal isn’t to do over Palpatine and Vader. Their goal is to end both orders and to serve the dark side to let it and The First Order reign supreme. Snoke teaching him the ways of the dark side, using torture and force lightning to draw Kylo’s rage to bring out his full potential in the dark side of the force. We needed to see Sith training. We never once got to see it, so we needed to see it with Snoke and Kylo Ren. And Snoke gives his apprentice one final test. Killing his mother General Leia Organa and drawing out Luke Skywalker.

Have The Supremacy board The Raddus and Kylo leads an attack to kill everyone aboard. Leia offers herself to be taken hostage, Kylo Ren takes his mother as hostage while The Resistance is spared.

Actually give us scenes of Kylo and Leia instead of force bond scenes with Kylo and Rey. It bothers me that there is not a single scene with Kylo Ren and Leia. No scene with mother and son and because Carrie is no longer with us, we will never get to see Carrie and Adam act together. So we desperately need to see Kylo Ren interacting with Leia aboard The Supremacy. Unlike a force connection with Rey, this provides an endless amount of interesting scenes and dialogue between two characters who have no screen time relationship whatsoever but are probably the closest people in the movie. Plus Star Wars has had no mother and son relationship since Anakin and Shmi Skywalker. We could have Kylo raging at his mother for leaving him and abandoning him, and  Leia breaking down about Han and Kylo vowing to destroy everything that his family has built. Kylo will rip off his mask to show his scar and the dark side corruption. “LOOK AT MY FACE MOTHER, IS THIS WHAT YOU WANTED TO SEE? AS I TOLD HAN SOLO, YOUR SON IS GONE, HE WAS WEAK AND FOOLISH!” With his eyes pitch Sith Yellow, a single tear leaves his eye and Leia wipes it. Even in his darkest days, Leia is there for her son, as a mother should be. Leia will tell her son  "Your father loved you to the very end, he never stopped searching or believing in you he was finally there for you in the end. We were so caught up with our work we couldn’t be with you as much as we would have wanted, as much as you needed. And sending you away with your uncle, when you needed us the most, was the biggest mistake of our lives. I’m sorry.” Kylo will scream and lash out at equipment after failing to go through with it.

Kylo fighting Rey while Luke fights Snoke. Kylo gets the upperhand and cuts Rey’s hand off

An actual Lightsaber duel between Luke and Kylo Ren. Luke has his green lightsaber. Their blades clash. Their dialogue remains the same, but Luke is there. Luke is toying with Kylo, similar to how Vader toyed with him on Bespin.  When Kylo makes his dramatic slut ™ lunge at Luke, but Luke dodges and cuts Kylo’s hand off. And finally Luke gives his “see you around kid” but Luke does not die

Cut the battle of Crait entirely. After Kylo Ren awakens. Kylo will order Hux to pullback their fleet. They needed to regroup on Mustafar with the other Knights of Ren. General Hux explodes in rage, stating that he does not take orders from the supreme leader’s dog. Hux then feels his throat closing and grabs his neck. The Imperial March plays as Kylo Ren declares himself supreme leader of the First Order. Hux barely manages to take out his blaster and shoots Ren in order to free himself. Hux threatens Kylo that if he were to die, then Kylo will never make it off of the ship alive. They will either work together or both die. Kylo releases the general and says from here on out the First Order will focus on their true mission. Kylo declares Hux as the Grand Marshal of the First Order. Hux orders his fleet to pull back, and says that Kylo better pray the force isn’t leading him astray. The Grand Marshal then leaves. The new Supreme Leader casts one last look at the planet, then turns away. Picking up half of the destroyed lightsaber that had belonged to his grandfather.

What they chose to do with Kylo instead

Stupidly kill Lor San Tekka when he could’ve forced him to comply or take the information out of his head

Kylo Ren knows the map is on Jakku. He chooses to let the Stormtroopers get the droid when he does not have faith in them.

How am I supposed to feel that a villain is a threat when he is throwing tantrums and destroying expensive equipment? Vader force choked Imperial Officers who failed him. Rather than do that, Kylo lashes out and destroys equipment on the ship. I’m honestly surprised Kylo has not bankrupted the First Order by now.

Kylo keeps taking his mask off. This is not an insult to Adam Driver, he is a handsome man. But it just cheapens the reveal if he shows it to Rey. It would mean a whole lot more if Kylo was masked throughout the entire movie and only takes his mask off to Han Solo. We would see through Han’s eyes, a father’s eyes that his son has been twisted into something he doesn’t recognize, but still tries to reach out to his son. I honestly feel like Kylo taking his mask off earlier cheapens the reveal. I know unmasking is supposed to showcase that he turned to the dark side at a young age....but Adam Driver is in his 30′s.

No training between Kylo Ren and Snoke. Snoke does not train Kylo. Snoke said that he would complete Kylo’s training when he told Hux to bring Kylo Ren to him at the end of TFA. Yes, he did fail him and he sensed his father in him, but I really thought we’d see Snoke sending Kylo to Vader’s castle on Mustafar to allow the dark side energies in the castle and what remains of Vader to strengthen the dark side within him to snuff out the light. Killing Han broke his spirit, but he could use the castle to complete Kylo Ren’s training. Then we would see Snoke personally train Kylo himself. Snoke begins by telling Kylo the Sith code ” Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.” teaching him the ways of the dark side, using torture and force lightning to draw Kylo’s rage to bring out his full potential in the dark side of the force. We needed to see Sith training. We never once got to see it, so we needed to see it with Snoke and Kylo Ren. 

That pointless and laughable shirtless scene. 

The laughable and terrible Throne Room fight scene. There is no tension in the scene and it is pointless. Kylo Ren and Rey are fighting a faceless a group of guards that we know absolutely nothing about and have literally no purpose in the entire story except for this one fight. We know neither of the characters are going to die because these are just faceless red shirts and there is still like 30 to 40 minutes left of the movie. There are times where you can tell that some of the guards are just waiting their turn to fight and in one shot the editor literally digitally removed a knife from one of the guard’s hands because it would make no sense why he didn’t just stab Rey. There are multiple times where Rey, Kylo and the guards are just doing motions and actions because they look cool but serve no purpose but to look cool. Kylo stabbing the ground? Pointless. Rey twirling her rave stick around while someone falls behind her, pointless. Another annoying thing is that both of the characters are acting like they don’t have monumentally strong force powers. Hell, both of them get into a force tug of war right after the fight. Kylo can freeze people in place and stop blaster fire in mid air. Not even  once do we see them displaying their powers is what cheapens the fight. Kylo Ren is powerful enough to freeze a blaster and a person in place and Rey herself unlocked Kylo’s powers, so the two of them could have easily ended the fight sooner than it was dragged out. Kylo is powerful in the force but he SERIOUSLY could not stop a Praetorian Guard choke holding him and Rey struggled with a guard? Rey and Kylo were stronger in TFA and are just made weaker in the duel with the Praetorian Guards. Kylo could have frozen half of the guards and Rey could have mind tricked the other half into killing the frozen guards and Kylo and Rey could have finished them. They are masters of light and darkness, but they are made weaker.

A force connection between Kylo Ren and Rey. None of these characters have a reason to trust one another. Kylo should be furious. He has been humiliated and defeated by this random Scavenger from Jakku, especially after being berated and humiliated by Snoke about said defeat. Kylo has done nothing but hurt Rey. It’s obvious Kylo has been manipulating Rey all movie, but it’s just so poorly executed. If anyone honestly believed Kylo about calling Rey’s parents filthy junk traders, they are gullible. Kylo was not being sincere or truthful about calling Rey’s parents nobodies. He’s attacking her biggest insecurity, her greatest fear, that her parents were nobodies. “They were filthy junk traders who died on Jakku” we see visibly in TFA that her parents were flying away from Jakku. And if anyone actually find Kylo’s “You’re nobody, but not to me” romantic, I honestly hope you never find yourself in a relationship with someone who would say something like that. That is text book abuse 101. That is a clear example of psychological manipulation. He’s attacking her biggest insecurity, her greatest fear, that she’s alone in the universe, and using the classic abuser’s tactic of “no one else but me loves you, so you should be with me. Aren’t you grateful?” He’s trying to cut her off from the people who love her, who made her feel worthwhile, and who helped to give her purpose in life, by saying they don’t care about the “real her.” But he apparently “sees” the real her and knows who she is and that doesn’t matter to him. That is STRAIGHT out of the How to Be an Abusive Asshole Handbook! It is very clear that he is obsessed with her, but he is also not worthy of her because he’s using such dirty means to drag her down to his level of self-deprecation and self-loathing. Thankfully, our girl Rey is tougher and smarter than that and reunited with the people who DO love her and think she is everything, regardless of her roots.  

The worst offense about what they did with Kylo Ren is how horribly and lazily written his actual reason or lack there of for choosing the dark side. Okay by all canon sources, the reason Ben Solo turned to the dark side is he turned to the dark side, killed The Jedi, betrayed his family and joined The First Order because his family was trying to build a better galaxy for him…… Because Han and Leia chose to put their life into the rebellion and not enough time into him, that’s why he fell. “My loving parents who doted on me and gave me the best in life also wanted to help other people and rebuild a wartorn galaxy. It makes me so mad just thinking of it!” And Rian Johnson in his “sUbVeRt ExPeCTaTiOnS” edgelord philosophy decided it would be best if Luke Skywalker, a man who thought Darth Vader, the most evil man in the galaxy who has 20 years of war crimes in his life, believed the good man he used to be was alive, was willing to die for his father and was able to save his father, yet somehow Johnson thought it would be better to make Luke Skywalker, the most hopeful character to try and kill his nephew in his sleep instead of ACTUALLY TALKING TO HIM LIKE LUKE SKYWALKER WOULD ACTUALLY DO. Luke, Han and Leia are not responsible for Kylo Ren’s actions and their characters did not need to be broken down for his development, or lack there of. The lesson apparently is spend more time with your child instead of building a better world for him otherwise he’ll shoot up a school, join a fascist organization and blame his every action on his family and constantly harass and gaslight the one girl who peaks his interest.  

Kylo Ren is a terrible villain. When written well, Kylo Ren is a well-rounded antagonist that broke the clichés of most of modern villains. Kylo Ren was a complex and layered character who wasn’t glorified or idealized for his morally wrong actions and chose to embrace his darker side than to chose redemption. He is the Skywalker who chose to burn down everything his family built. However the problem is Kylo merely an illusion of depth, just like the rest of this trilogy. This becomes evident when you put him up against other, better villains. When compared to great villains like Loki, Darth Vader and Eric Killmonger, it just feels like Kylo is a terrible and bland villain. We understand what launched these characters into their villainy, and it builds sympathy for their situation. Over the course of the films, we learn their plan, what they believe in, and see how they carry out their vision. No such thing has happened for Kylo; he’s largely inconsistent and really we don’t know why he or the First Order are attacking the protagonists other than “Hope” or something. Even when compared to Anakin, he’s far less of a character, regardless of how you feel about his dialogue or acting. Anakin had a legitimately crappy childhood, and was told to let go of the people he loved. He does bad things, but it’s clear he doesn’t want to. Especially in RotS he tries his absolute hardest to do the right thing, but when faced with losing Padme, he changed his mind at the last minute. He shows true conflict in his actions, whereas with Kylo Ren, we have to be told that he was sad after killing Han Solo. With TLJ there is more damage done. Kylo has been so “moody” it’s difficult to take him seriously. When Snoke died, it made me feel like there was no longer an antagonist. TLJ castrated Hux, the FO is incompetent, and Kylo is a moody teenager. There’s no serious tension left. Kylo is just a whiny psychopath who has no reason to be evil, but decides to be evil anyway, but we’re supposed to believe that he’s “conflicted” about his psychotic actions because he’s teary eyed every time he slaughters innocent people, and loses his temper like a child whenever someone offends him. And what really blows my mind is how some that want redemption for him believe he will make a total 180 on a dime and suddenly become a wise, benevolent leader whom the galaxy respects. This dude hasn’t shown an ounce of political savvy, charisma, or even self-restraint, I’d be shocked if he manages to run anything properly as Supreme Leader. JJ will have my respect if he can turn Kylo Ren into an unhinged monster worthy of being afraid of  

List of ways they could’ve handled Hux in TLJ

Have it featured in the crawl that Hux has been responsible for masterminding the invasions of New Republic worlds after the destruction of the Hoznian Prime. The First Order Reigns Supreme because of Hux

Keep Hux as he was in TFA. a competent military leader that came up with plans and made necessary risks in order to destroy The Resistance, talked back to Kylo Ren and didn’t fear him or his power and Hux has the populations of 5 planets to his body count.

Keep the foil dynamic between Hux and Kylo Ren. Kylo being intimidating and Hux having none of it with no sign of fear. Give it a clear sign that both Kylo Ren and Hux want to become the Supreme Leader and both are willing to kill Snoke and the other to do so.

Keep Hux composed and in control not falling for Poe’s attempts at humor and ordering the fighters to be scrambled to annihilate Poe and his squadron  and cuts them off from the main fleet, establishing that Poe is clearly outnumbered. Just as the evacuation is complete, the dreadnought cannons are working again and aiming at the Raddus. Just as it’s about to fire, Paige launches the bombers. The Dreadnought is destroyed but Hux is presented as a cold, ruthless and calculating general. Hux gets punished and nearly killed by Snoke for that but can insure that they can follow the resistance cruiser.

Keep my idea of the Supremacy boarding The Raddus. Before this happens, a confrontation between Hux and Kylo happens. Hux just wants to swarm The Raddus with Tie Fighters fire it enough to destroy their shields and finally destroy The Resistance once and for all. but Ren stops him. He has to face his mother and kill his mother. Hux says his training is ridiculous and stands in the way of a quick victory. But Ren states that when they blow up the Raddus now, every one of them will die a martyr spreading the resistance lies further but if they can puplicly execute them, there won’t be another resistance. When Leia is captured, Hux is overjoyed that General Organa will be granted a quick and public execution and execute hope itself. 

Instead of slapping Finn it would have been way better if Hux had wanted to turn Finn back into a Stormtrooper since you know the Stormtrooper program was designed by Hux and his father and he took it as a personal insult that Finn deserted. But Finn would inspire the Stormtroopers who captured him to rebel. And then the fight between Finn and Phasma happens.

Show that Hux absolutely has no chill or fear in the face of Kylo Ren. He gets force choked but Hux is able to fire his blaster at Ren in order to free himself. The general refuses to submit. Hux threatens Kylo that if he were to die, then Kylo will never make it off of the ship alive. They will either work together or both die. Kylo releases the general and says from here on out the First Order will focus on their true mission. Kylo declares Hux as the Grand Marshal of the First Order.

What they chose to do with Hux instead

Hux is made into a joke. General Hux, the man who caused the destruction of the Hosnian system and is shown to be a younger angrier version of Tarkin in TFA, is shown to be an incompetent bumbling fool and Captain Canady is the only intelligent officer in The First Order. He does not deploy the Tie Fighters, order the fleet to move in when The Resistance are evacuating D'Qar and vulnerable, instead orders the Dreadnought to move in, and instead of ordering the Dreadnought with it’s devastating canon to fire on the cruiser thus giving the transports nowhere to go, he orders an orbital bombardment to an almost empty planet. But does not fire because he sees Poe’s X-Wing When Poe arrives in his X-Wing, the only X-Wing in view. Hux does not order deploying the Tie Fighters or even ordering the Dreadnought to fire on Poe. They do absolutely NOTHING. How is Hux a general again? Did he just want to hear himself talk? The turrets are being destroyed by Poe and Hux tells Captain Canady to fire the Dreadnought, Canady responds it’s too small and too close of range to fire their turbolasers and orders the Tie Fighters to be scrambled which should have been done 5 minutes ago. Canady knows Poe is not aiming to penetrate their armor, he knows Poe is clearing out their surface cannons. Here we have it. The only intelligent officer in The First Order, everyone else including Hux are incompetent. How exactly is Hux a general again?

The Evacuation of D’Qar. Hux is goaded into allowing a Starfighter into point blank range with one of their fleet’s more valuable assets, he doesn’t launch a fighter screen to keep that fighter at bay, and when a real danger is detected, still does nothing. Captain Canady is left to launch his own fighters from Fulminatrix, and gets no support from Hux or the rest of the First Order fleet. Hux doesn’t launch support fighters, direct their batteries to put up defensive fire covering the dreadnought, nothing, no he’s too busy massaging his bruised ego because some flyboy put him on tilt with what amounts to a practical joke, and an 8km long warship pays the price for their incompetence. Now onto said Dreadnought. They have this weapon that is capable of dealing planetary bombardment and chooses to fire on a nearly abandoned planet instead of targeting the Resistance ship that is used to carry The Resistance fleet. Destroy The Raddus and you can easily pick a part The Resistance easily. Instead of doing the most intelligent thing, they chose to do the stupid thing.  

The lowsped chase. Now onto the chase, or as I like to call it “the dumbest bit of military nonsense since the Emu war.” You have the First Order Fleet chasing the Resistance flotilla, supposedly the Resistance fleet is “faster” but they aren’t opening the gap between them and the First Order because… it would burn more fuel (because inertia isn’t a thing in Star Wars Space)? So they stay just at the extreme range of the First Order’s guns, and the Raddus has to be on the receiving end of a potshot every once in a while. Meanwhile said Resistance ships are flying in a straight line, direct away from the First Order fleet, so why not just set course past them and Hyperspace in front of them and catch them in the middle? Are interdictors at play here? Are they content to just think the fleet will run out of fuel and they can just catch them? It bothers me to understand that the heroes are only alive because of the gross incompetence of the First Order, because it doesn’t speak well to the capabilities of the heroes.

Hux is a ragdoll for dark side users apparently. Hux is slapped around with the force by Snoke, okay understandable, it’s for failure. Vader did the same. But god it is done in almost every scene by Snoke and Kylo. 

Hux stupidly tells Kylo Ren to pull back. When the Silencer pretty much destroyed all the X-Wing fighters, and The Resistance command is jettisoned in space, Hux just orders Kylo back. They have the opportunity to end The Resistance, just calls him back, a scene later Hux complains he let them go. Sure they can still track them, but the fact that they let them goes shows that Hux is a fool. 

The only time Hux is allowed to be villainous in the movie is when he is prepared to take out his blaster and kill Kylo Ren. Everything else he is either an idiot or someone’s toy to be slapped around. And you expect me and the general audience to believe Hux is going to be the villain in Episode IX?      

So now the Resistance is stuck on Crait, the First Order knows they are there, we know implicitly that the First Order has more than one dreadnought in their fleet, we also know the Resistance is fresh out of bombers. Maybe instead of calling for a costly ground invasion just call in another dreadnought and finish the job once and for all. This isn’t next level thinking, this isn’t superior tactics. This is using a rock to smash a bug levels of thinking. But they don’t, they land a ground invasion bigger than Hoth and bring a mini Death Star with them. Note again, that while Hoth was defended by more men with better equipment, Crait is defended by a quarter as many with rusting, dilapidated equipment… but it was enough to keep the Order stalled for Luke Skywalker to video-conference in.

List of ways they could’ve handled Phasma in the sequel trilogy

Have Phasma visibly shown slaughtering villagers on Tuanul

Show Phasma leading the strike team on Takodana

Have Phasma making it her prime duty to bring the traitorous FN-2187 to justice.

Have Phasma being involved with the meetings with Snoke. Phasma is part of the First Order triumvirate, there is no reason whatsoever why Phasma CANNOT be involved with the scenes with Snoke.

Captain Phasma is the one who fights Finn on Takodana, not FN-2199. It makes sense. It gives Finn an enemy to fight, his former Captain and leader who ordered atrocities that Finn could not commit and had compassion for his team members and Phasma wanting to show no mercy to traitors. Phasma would be winning the fight and nearly delivers the killing blow, but Han shoots her with the bowcaster

Phasma recovers and returns to Starkiller Base and is captured by Finn and Han. However, Phasma does not comply with Finn and Han, she sounds the security alarm/intruder alert and Chewie knocks her out and throws her down the trash compactor. Finn and Han figure out on disabling the shields themselves. This is the obvious thing she would do. She is a villain and smart, she would not comply or cower, so Finn, Han and Chewie are left by themselves to disabled the shields on their own.

Make Phasma a deranged individual obsessed with capturing and executing Finn. Phasma is basically Captain Ahab and Finn is her great white whale to chase. She is hunting Finn to the ends of the galaxy. Each battle they face she is there ready for him, every time he isn’t there, she kills every Resistance soldier there. Phasma is losing it, Hux is worried, but both Snoke and Kylo believe this will be beneficial in destroying The Resistance. And finally she finds him on The Supremacy. Finn and Phasma go head to head. finally on equal levels and in this moment it happens. Finn’s old comrades come, Finn believes this is the end, but to his surprise they shoot Phasma down. Phasma is knocked down in the ruins of the Star Destroyer. But Phasma makes her escape with Hux.

What they chose to do with Phasma instead

Just stands there doing nothing

Has to be told by Kylo Ren to lead a massacre on Tuanul

Is not even acknowledged by Snoke

Is easily coerced into lowering the shields of Starkiller Base. Is thrown into the trash compactor and makes me wonder why would Gwendoline Christie even agree to star in these movies

Stupidly decides to execute Finn and Rose as a spectacle instead of just shooting Finn and Rose right then and there.

Phasma has a hidden blaster and doesn’t use it against Finn

Phasma is only brought back for toys to sell and for Phasma to pointlessly die....again.

Only lets Phasma to be a character in her novel. In her novel she is a completely different and better character. In the novel  which is a fascinating study of how utterly ruthless and selfish she is, how completely dedicated to her own survival at the expense of others, and how there is no one and nothing she would not betray to further herself. It’s about peeling back the layers of a seemingly perfect First Order warrior to show her morally empty core, and with it the rottenness of the First Order itself. The novel shows with unsettling clarity that, under all the pretty words about the ideals of justice and order, the First Order is a place where actual idealistic soldiers are used and then thrown away (see: Finn, Cardinal) while backstabbers, abusers, and murderers like the two Huxes and Phasma are actively shielded and rise to the top. Phasma is a survivor. She will always align herself with the most powerful force. Phasma is extremely intelligent and a brilliant battlefield commander. Outside of the movies, she’s lost approximately one fight. Ever. the movies portray her as a minor annoyance but in the book she is the most badass human to ever live and I’m upset with how they’ve treated her. But really, what would’ve helped Phasma is her deleted death scene. I will never understand why this was deleted. Finn calls her out about her betrayal of lowering the shields and when this information is revealed, the Stormtroopers near her look suspicious and it looks as if they are going to turn on her. Phasma like the ultimate survivalist she is kills them with no hesitation. Finn cuts her hand off and blasts her into the abyss, giving Phasma a more deserving and better send off. Seriously, this is way better than their actual confrontation.  What I really like about this scene is its direct connection to The Force Awakens plot point and that it acknowledges Phasma’s survivalist attitude which was introduced into her novel.

List of ways they could’ve handled Snoke in TLJ

Show Snoke completing Kylo Ren’s training

Make Snoke the darkness Palpatine was sensing in the Endgame novels

Have Snoke give Kylo Ren one final test, killing his mother General Organa

Order Kylo Ren and the Knights Of Ren to Ach-To to kill Luke Skywalker and bring Rey to him

Have Snoke force Rey to kill Kylo and turn Rey to the dark side. Snoke knows who Rey truly is. Snoke will reveal that Rey was an experiment by Palpatine on his lab on Jakku. The people who she thought were her parents were just random junkers who sold her for a ship. Snoke manipulates Rey into joining him. “The belonging you always sought all your life, was by my side. Strike Kylo Ren, as you should have on Starkiller Base and take your place as my apprentice.” We have a fight that feels real and a fight we care about because we know these characters and not faceless guards who do not just die. But as we believe it’s going to go down as it was in ROTJ by having Rey be the strong heroine who throws her lightsaber away, instead Rey kills Kylo Ren and becomes Snoke’s new apprentice. “You have done well, my apprentice, heir to Palpatine, daughter of darkness. Hence forth, you shall be known as Darth Solitudis” Rey will make the Galaxy feel the loneliness and despair she felt all her life. Only Finn can bring her back to the light or stop her if he must.

Show Snoke using Battle Meditation against The Resistance, while Leia uses BM against Snoke. Leia’s will against Snoke’s might over Ach-To, while Snoke is trying to kill Luke, Leia is trying to save her brother. 

Make Snoke Darth Plagueis. It ties everything together. Darth Plagueis supposedly figured out the secret to immortal life, basically. Imagine if J.J. went with this  - Darth Plagueis trained Darth Sidious - also shared his dream of galactic conquest with his young pupil. When Sidious was strong enough, he 'killed' his master, as Sith tend to do... (or so he thought - more on this later). - Believing himself the one true powerful Sith Lord, Darth Sidious puts into motion his plan to take down the Republic and more importantly, the Jedi Order. He uses the power that Darth Plagueis taught him and creates Anakin (this has all but been confirmed) putting into motion the eventual destruction of the Jedi via 'the Chosen One' prophecy. - Fast forward, Darth Sidious goes ahead and does all the very hard work in building the Galactic Empire, taking over more and more systems... his reign over all of the galaxy was near complete when Luke Skywalker joined the rebellion and threw a lightsaber in his plans. - Meanwhile, Darth Plageuis (who has all the time in the galaxy, being able to transfer his essance when needed - nothing new in Star Wars when it comes to Sith) is watching from afar. HE is the TRUE puppet master, manipulating even Palpatine - he sits back while his puppet unifies the galaxy under one rule, only to one day return and take it. - Seeing what Skywalker did puts fear into Darth Plagueis' heart -- "SKYWALKER MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO LIVE". -He manipulates young Ben, hoping to one day turn Ben against Luke... However, Kylo seems to be a constant disappointment to 'Snoke'. Perhaps he creates Rey with the intention of turning her and making her his new powerful apprentice - Kylo Ren is given the task of finding the girl and bringing her before him. -His plan was to transfer his essence into Kylo and turn Rey to the dark side and destroy Skywalker and The Resistance

What they chose to do with Snoke instead

Snoke died pointlessly without doing anything with him. Supreme Leader Snoke is wasted and there is no reason to care now that the villain you’ve been building your trilogy around is dead. Snoke’s death was too soon. Snoke is a dark side user. Calm and collected. Old enough to see the rise and fall of the empire. He takes no risks and does what it takes to win. He was different from Palpatine and I dare say he even had potential to rival Kreia. He was a mastermind and did not allow himself to be a slave to the dark side. He did not want his apprentice to die like the Sith masters of old. He did not want to keep power until his dying breath. Snoke was not the average Sith Lord, he was different.  He was respectful, he was very powerful, and watching his scenes, even when faced with failure, he remained calm and collected because he was playing the long game and was not a slave to the Darkside like the Sith. He was invested in turning Kylo Ren into Vader’s heir and even has a ring from the catacombs of Vader’s castle. Snoke was so interesting, so many unanswered questions and this well thought out villain. And then TLJ turned him into a dumbed down Palpatine rip off. The claim that Snoke and his backstory is not important is dumb, considering that we know nothing on why this war is even happening or even why The First Order is doing ANYTHING! We want to know who Snoke is because we want to know how this random evil guy was able to destroy the lives of the entire original trio, corrupted Ben Solo and override the happy ending the entire original trilogy and prequels were fighting for. The struggles of the prequels, the clone wars, rebels, original trilogy, all of these stories and struggles were undone because of Snoke, so of course we have questions. Why do the remnants of the Empire follow Snoke and where did he come from? Not wanting to know the motivation of the villains is just plain ignorant. They completely wasted Snoke. Snoke is a power from the unknown regions. He was SO powerful that Palpatine sensed him, Palpatine was so focused and invested in Jakku in hopes of getting closer to the Unknown regions and he wanted to meet what he believed was the source of the dark side of the force. And they just kill him off so easy? Now there is no reason to care. Kylo Ren is not an intimidating villain and it’s pretty obvious he’s turning to the light in Episode IX. Hux is a bumbling incompetent fool and I’m pretty sure they already confirmed he will be more comedic in Episode IX instead of being a threat. There is a villain problem for the Sequel Trilogy. There is no menace in The First Order anymore and I really feel there is no reason to care.

Pointlessly tried to kill Rey instead of trying to turn her

“Your Snoke theory sucks” card is patronizing and insulting. God fucking forbid your audience is fucking invested in the story. God forbid we actually care about learning about the big bad of the sequel trilogy. God forbid we put more thought into Snoke than you did. “Your Snoke theory sucks” no Rian, your Snoke card sucks, your inability to do ANYTHING with Snoke sucks and talking down to us for caring about the direction of the big bad and killing him for no reason sucks. You arrogant piece of fucking shit.

Because Snoke was killed, they copped out and lied out their asses that it was always the plan to bring back Palpatine....bullshit. “oh but wait Snoke was a host body for Palpatine” BULLFUCKINGSHIT. Not originally. Snoke was someone who was supposed to be the darkness Palpatine was trying to get closer. Snoke was the man who destroyed 30 years of peace. He could’ve been anyone, hell even Darth Plagueis. But no, why create interesting characters when you can bring Palpatine back because it’s obvious you have no original ideas.

List of ways they could’ve handled Luke in the sequel trilogy

Actually use Luke in The Force Awakens. Don’t waste Mark Hamill. Don’t exclude him from marketing. Don’t force him to be on a mountain and say no lines whatsoever.

Have Luke’s big reveal be on Starkiller Base. Use Mark Hamill’s suggestion. ‘You can still have me come in at the very end, but how about this. How about Leia’s trying to contact me telepathically, she gets frustrated because there’s no answers, so she rushes to the new Death Star’–that’s three, so far.”He continued, “‘And she almost gets there but she gets stopped by two Stormtroopers and, just before she’s abducted, one Stormtrooper turns to the other one, blows him away, pulls off his helmet and says “Hi, sis, I’m here to rescue you.”‘ I say, ‘It’ll blow the roof off the joint, I’m still in it at the very end.‘”“I think it’s more effective to have people that really have a history with Han Solo witness his death and be unable to stop it,” the actor claimed. “His wife, the mother of his child, his best friend, instead of two characters that have known him, what, 20 minutes?”

Use Mark’s other suggestion. After Finn is knocked unconscious, have the person who lifts the Skywalker Lightsaber be Luke. Luke duels Kylo and defeats his nephew and saves Rey and Finn. I know Jedi and force sensitives are more durable than normal people, but if you are thrown into a tree, you are going to be unconscious for at least an hour. So yes Luke being the one to lift the lightsaber would’ve been much better. It would’ve been a great entrance. The entire audience would have been cheering as they witness Luke’s return. Luke helps Chewie getting Rey and Finn aboard the Falcon and returns to D’Qar. Reunites with Leia and ends with Luke, Rey and Finn flying to the Ancient Jedi Temple on Ach-To preparing to train the new Jedi.

Luke grieves for Han

Luke actually trying to help Ben as a Padawan, but it is in vain as he already turned to the dark side and made his choice.

Luke will tell Rey why he left the map behind. He wanted Leia to come and find him. It is revealed that Luke  did not run away, did not even consider running away, but rather went looking for the Jedi’s beginnings find the balance of dark and light–Luke Skywalker felt Rey and Finn awaken across half the galaxy, and settled on Ach-To, and waited.

Let Luke and Rey have a meaningful mentor and student relationship. Luke trains Rey, Rey develops her skills and Rey has a father figure that shows her place in the galaxy

Reveal that Luke is Rey’s father. After Rey falls into the dark side cave, Luke finds her and brings her near the fire and is there to comfort her. Then the revelation happens. Rey says “I’ve never felt so alone.” And we get Luke telling her “the force is strong in my family. My father had it, I have it, my sister has it and my daughter has it” “There is a reason you dreamed of this place.” “You were never meant to be left on Jakku…I thought you died the night in the academy.” “All those years. I was so alone.” “I know. I’m sorry.” “Did you ever try to find me?” “Of course. For so long I searched the galaxy for you. Everyone said that you had died that night in the temple, that I should give up searching. But through the force, I could still feel you. I knew you were still alive. Every face I seen, it was your. Every voice I heard, it was yours. It drove me crazy. I came to this island, turned away from the force because it was so hard. Feeling that you were somewhere in the galaxy and being unable to find you. Seeing you in front of me right now… I’ve never felt so lucky.” And Rey with tears in her eyes. “I waited so long for you and your finally here” they embrace, father and daughter reunited.” Rey then asks about her mother. Luke sadly says “her name was Mara Jade and she loved you very much.” Rey why she was left on Jakku. “Because of your cousin Ben, Kylo Ren.”  Luke tells her that after a decade of training Ben, and fighting to keep the dark side at bay, Ben turned to the dark side because his family kept the secret that Darth Vader was his grandfather. He still wanted to help his nephew and save him from Snoke. One night he went to him to talk to him, Ben saw this as Luke being afraid of his power and Ben was the one to strike first. And then he woke up to see the other Jedi Masters dead. His wife Mara Jade dead and even the younglings dead. Only six other Jedi left with Ben, those who would become the Knights Of Ren. Rey left with Ben because she trusted her cousin and she couldn’t find Luke or Mara.  and Ben left her on Jakku where no one would ever find her because a part of him couldn’t kill his cousin.

If we had to have a broken Luke, what would bring him back, is his father. Basically have a Lion King moment with Anakin and Luke. "You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself Luke, you are more than what you have become.“ would’ve meant more in my opinion if it were Anakin who reached out to Luke than Yoda.

Luke wants to save Leia. He  lifts his X-Wing and heads towards The Supremacy. Boards the ship and confronts Snoke. Luke will reveal his Green Lightsaber and Snoke’s own Black Lightsaber. They fight, while Rey and Kylo fights. Luke defeats Snoke, but Kylo cuts Rey’s hand off. Enraged, Luke knocks Kylo out with a force repulse. So Luke gives Chewie the signal and gets Rey to safety, while Luke heads back to his X-Wing.

On Crait as Finn is about to make his sacrifice, we see Luke’s X-Wing firing and destroying the mini death star.

Luke is actually there with his moment with Leia. He is there in person, not a force projection, he. is. there.

A true fight between Luke and Kylo. Kylo Ren orders every ship to fire on Luke AT-M6’s all firing but to everyone’s surprise, all blasts stop frozen in midair. Luke wipes the salt off his robes and sends the turbolasers right back at the AT-M6s and TIE-Fighters. Brings down the transports and Kylo’s shuttle and the Star Destroyers in orbit. Kylo descends from his crushed shuttle, preparing to kill his uncle. We have a real lightsaber battle between Luke and Kylo. Luke has his green lightsaber. Their blades clash. Their dialogue remains the same, but Luke is there. Luke is toying with Kylo, similar to how Vader toyed with him on Bespin.  When Kylo makes his dramatic slut ™ lunge at Luke, but Luke dodges and cuts Kylo’s hand off. And finally Luke gives his “see you around kid” but Luke does not die, he leaves to board his X-Wing

It ends with Rey, Luke and Leia together, brother and sister holding onto Rey’s hand. A father and his daughter and her aunt. “We have everything we need

What they chose to do with Luke instead

Luke is not marketed at all in The Force Awakens and is on a mountain and is only there as a cameo with no lines whatsoever

The Force Awakens established that Luke left a map to be found. It is never brought up. Han said he left to find the Temple to the First Jedi. It is never brought up. Funny how what was established is never brought up in the movie whatsoever

Luke, Han and Leia do not reunite at all.

Luke gives up. Luke Skywalker is a beacon of hope and optimism and love against all odds, and the fact that that was twisted into being depicted as some foolish youth naivety, and that the only way to make him “human” was to retract all that and make him a bitter, jaded man is so fucking disgusting. Even more disgusting is in TLJ novelization had him dreaming of never leaving Tatooine and having him live under the Empire’s dominance. He does not even care that his sister’s life and the Resistance she is leading is in danger. Jedi do not give up. You might say that Yoda and Obi-Wan also gave up. But for those two, the Sith took over the galaxy, they had to go into hiding to protect and guide Luke and Leia. Obi-Wan wanted to save Leia and guide Luke. Yoda always wanted to train Leia as a Jedi and bring Anakin back to the light. He was reluctant to train Luke but he still did his duty as a Jedi Master. They did not just give up and wanted to die and they did not betray their characters at all. Luke spends most of Last Jedi on a windswept island, brooding in solemn silence and frozen by indecision. He doesn’t connect with Rey on any meaningful level, doesn’t impart wisdom or knowledge, and never reasserts himself as the powerful Jedi he once was. A brief physical duel against Rey ends with her as the undisputed victor, completely killing his deserved mythos and her potential character arc in one fell swoop. It’s clear in that moment that he has nothing to teach her, and nothing to contribute to the overall narrative. The boundless potential that seemed poised to explode at the end of The Force Awakens fizzles here but never ignites.  And without any training at all, Rey defeats Luke Skywalker and Luke acts all cowardly and begs her to leave. He does buy The Resistance time and saves his sister, but it was ultimately pointless. He wasn’t even there and he dies pointlessly. What we got was not Luke Skywalker. Luke Skywalker is hope and optimism. Luke Skywalker is showing that no matter what, compassion, faith and love will always prevail. Luke is the hero that inspired an entire generations to aspire to be better, aspire to be heroes. Luke is what we wanted to see and what we got was not Luke Skywalker. Luke is someone who thought Doctor Aphra was a good person, she proves him wrong but he still had that hope for her. Luke believed that Darth Vader of all people still had good in him and was willing to die and he was able to reach his father. In Battlefront II’s Story, Luke saves Del Meeko because he asked and he offered Del a better life, a choice. Inferno Squad has committed atrocities in the name of the Empire, yet Luke still gave Del Meeko a chance. Canon Luke Skywalker is a kind hearted hero who will never run from a fight or knowingly leave a loved one in danger and will even save his enemy. This is Luke Skywalker. Luke is compassionate, adores his family, would never leave them. The Luke Skywalker I knew would never even think about killing his nephew in his sleep when there is always another way. Luke believes in the light and was willing to die to save his father. Darth Vader committed atrocities for decades, Luke still believed there was good in him. He would never give up on his family nor would he even consider killing his own nephew in his sleep just because he sensed darkness there. He would never abandon his sister at death’s door when she needed him most. The Hero’s Journey that he was following was ignored completely and he just gave up and wanted to die. And he dies instead of reuniting with Leia properly. Mark Hamill wanted Luke to live until Episode IX where he would pass on what he learned to Rey. No big battle with Snoke, no passing on, instead Luke dies and all we’re getting is force ghost Luke. Luke Skywalker was a hero to an entire generation.  Luke was the true heart of Star Wars. His was the journey we followed from idealistic farm boy dreaming of adventure, to reluctant warrior, and finally to savior of the entire galaxy. The original trilogy built him up, and The Last Jedi finally broke him down. I for one mourn my hero’s passing.  

Luke Skywalker tries to murder his nephew in his sleep and  is blamed for Ben Solo’s fall and Kylo Ren. Luke would not even think of trying to kill his nephew in his sleep. He would try to talk to him and try to pull him back to the light. His sister brought Ben there for protection and guidance. Even if that did fail, you did not need to make Luke attempt to murder him. You did not need to make Luke, Leia and Han at fault for Kylo Ren. Kylo is a grown ass man, he is responsible for his own actions. Kylo was going to murder the Jedi and younglings regardless, he already fell to the dark side. No one is responsible for Kylo’s actions but Kylo Ren. Boy, I sure do miss Legends Luke and Jacen Solo

Rey and Luke have no meaningful relationship. There is no teacher and student relationship. Luke teaches her nothing. Rey is already all powerful for…..reasons. He doesn’t even impart any sort of wisdom, guidance or a semblance that they even had a relationship or that he taught her anything. All he was towards Rey was a bitter old man trying to get the girl to leave her lawn. And all of a sudden “we passed on all we know” SINCE FUCKING WHEN??? Rey learned nothing all movie and we are to expect she learns everything off screen. We were deprived of a positive Rey and Luke mentor and student relationship and we were given complete garbage. What we should’ve gotten was Luke teaching Rey to feel the force, to build her own lightsaber and that attachments can lead you to the dark side if you let them, but they won’t lead you to darkness if you control your emotions. A battle between Rey and Luke against Kylo and the Knights Of Ren. Rey abducted and Luke has to lift his X-Wing and board the Supremacy to save Rey. Luke fighting Snoke and Rey against Kylo. Rey loses her fight and loses a hand. Luke stops Snoke and takes Rey to escape. Luke blasts away the battering laser. Fights Kylo on Crait with his green lightsaber. Escapes and reunites with Leia and Rey. Instead we are given nothing.

Luke doesn’t grieve for Han. Han Solo is Luke’s best friend. They have been together for decades. We are not allowed to see Luke react to Han’s death or Luke to grieve that his best friend is dead. Han was a big influence and friend it was dismissed as if he barely knew him. To quote Mark Hamill on the matter “They had time for me to milk that big alien but to show any human emotion? Nah”

Luke’s last moment with Leia is ultimately pointless. He was there as a projection. His last moment with Leia was made meaningless. He wasn’t even there. It was a great moment with Mark and Carrie, but it was ultimately a giant fuck you to everyone who loved Luke and Leia and wanted to see them reunite.

Luke’s confrontation with Kylo is ultimately meaningless. We are not allowed to see Luke Skywalker as a powerful Jedi Master. He does not wield his Green Lightsaber, he does not bring down all the AT-ATs, the transports, shuttles or bring down the star destroyers in orbit. He’s not even there thus making the confrontation with Kylo ultimately pointless. He toys with Kylo, but we don’t see a lightsaber fight between them.

Luke is only coming back as a force ghost and from the sound of it, it will only be a cameo.

Mark Hamill was ultimately disgusted with the direction they took with Luke. He is heartbroken that he never got to reunite with his friends and that Carrie is no longer with us. He now wishes that he’s done with Star Wars. He went from being excited to returning to the role that made his career and the character that he loves so much to being broken and apathetic. Crying on set and just being absolutely miserable throughout the whole affair. Mark did not return to play Luke Skywalker, he returned to play Jake Soywalker. It’s like Mark said “should’ve left well enough alone” Should’ve left the original trilogy alone and made your own story, but no, you had to break down Han, Luke and Leia to pointlessly build up these new characters. Mark Hamill and Luke Skywalker deserved better

List of ways they could’ve handled Han in the sequel trilogy

Make Han Solo a joint General with Leia in The Resistance.  Both Han and Leia lead the Resistance. When Poe hasn’t reported in, Leia sends Han to Jakku. Han has the Falcon. They find Rey, Finn and Poe under attack on Jakku, which leads to Han saving our heroes. “We’ve been looking for you kid.” Han chooses to go to Takodana so he doesn’t lead The First Order to D’Qar. We can see Han mentoring Rey about the Falcon and being a father figure to Rey and Finn. Instead of Maz’s talk of “Han, go home” Maz will simply tell Han. “Han, let him go. Your son is gone.” Han will simply say. “My son is still alive” When he sees Kylo abducting Rey, he knows it’s Ben. When he returns to Leia, keep in the “I found our son” Instead of giving the vibe that they split up, make it clear that Han and Leia have been married for over 30 years. They stood strong together despite the tragedy of their son. Han inspired Leia to form The Resistance after The New Republic abandoned her. Together they lead The Resistance in the hopes of finding Luke and their son. Their goodbye is pretty much the same, but Han kisses Leia goodbye. Han’s death remains the same because it was beautifully well done.

Have Han mention he spent years with Chewie and Lando searching the galaxy for his son and when he finally sees him, he is filled with  dread but still reaches out to his son.  

What they chose to do with Han instead

Pointlessly regress Han’s character. The Force Awakens undoes everything about Han’s character arc in the original trilogy.  Han starts out as a selfish smuggler who is COMPLETELY fine with letting other people die if it meant his own survival and goes through an internal and external journey to not only give a damn about his fellow person but also grow as an individual to be a hero that is willing to risk his own safety for a much larger cause than himself. And all that character development is thrown out the window.  The new canon is dead set on making Han a bad father. They made it so that Han goes back to smuggling. Han learned that there is something more than smuggling and Han and Leia breaking up because their son turns to the dark side? Han would never leave Leia or abandon his child. It is simply bad writing to redo his entire arc from the original trilogy again and to make him a bad parent when it is out of his character to do so. Legends understood Han and Leia better. Han and Leia stood strong in their marriage for 3 decades despite a hostile extra Galactic invading species killing both Chewbacca and their 14 year old son Anakin, their other son Jacen becoming a Sith, him killing Luke’s wife Mara, and having to be killed by his twin, their daughter Jaina. And they both still kept up their roles as a General and Chief of State/Ambassador.

Not giving Han Solo, an iconic hero a funeral or even a memorial. 

No one is allowed to grieve for Han Solo. Not his wife and mother of his son, not his best friend for decades and had a life debt to Han or even his brother Luke. I doubt they will even let Lando grieve for Han

Not really about Han...but the treatment of Chewbacca. Chewie is not allowed to mourn the death of his decades-long companion to whom he owed a life debt nor is he allowed a moment of forgiveness and reconciliation with Luke. Nor is he given a scene mourning the deaths of Han and Luke with Leia. What does Chewie get? Barely any screen time, Rey has to translate Chewie to Luke WHEN LUKE KNOWS HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH CHEWIE and instead of just letting him eat in peace, he is made to feel guilty of his predator nature and is used as a bad “eating animals is bad” message. He doesn’t even try to talk Rey out of her dumbass plan and is used as a matchmaker tool for her and Finn. His biggest moment is a fucking comic relief scene with Porgs. In this new trilogy they don’t treat Chewie like a person. I was pretty appalled in TFA too, when Chewie and General Organa literally ignore each other, walk past each other without so much as a glance and then Rey gets a hug? Chewie was Han Solo’s companion and best friend for at least a half-century, stuck with him when Han and Leia broke up, and he’s not even allowed to mourn onscreen? Chewie and Leia don’t even interact during the end of TLJ at all. Chewie is not allowed to mourn for any of his best friends at all nor is he allowed to try and talk Rey out of her obvious dangerous plan by going to the man WHO KILLED HIS BEST FRIEND, in what way would Chewie even be okay with that? This is a day later, a single day and the wounds are still fresh. And he is mainly used as comic relief and is not used as a character and hero of the rebellion nor is he allowed to grieve. Chewbacca deserved so much better.

List of ways they could’ve handled Leia in the sequel trilogy

Leia is Chancellor of The New Republic and Jedi Master who leads The New Republic against The First Order

Leia using Battle Meditation to lead The Resistance to victory in battles against The First Order

Leia taking up her old Yellow Lightsaber one last time to fight Snoke and face her son

Leia actually being warm, understanding and loving, but firm when it comes to Poe. Leia openly slapping and stunning Poe was nothing like Leia in the OT. It just made her extremely unlikable. Poe saw the bigger picture, Leia did not.

The Supremacy boards The Raddus and Leia surrenders and offers herself to become a hostage to save The Resistance. This gives us the opportunity to see Leia confront Snoke and Leia actually having screen time with her son. Snoke’s plan is to use Leia to draw Luke and Rey out of hiding. It would’ve been more meaningful if we got to see scenes with Leia and Kylo, who actually have a connection. Rey and Kylo was not meaningful. We needed to see Leia and her son interact. We needed to see Leia trying to reach her son but falling on deaf ears as her son has truly fallen to the dark side, yet despite all this, Leia forgives him and Kylo would just break down and have his famous tantrum attack. The scenes with Kylo and Leia could have been the most heartbreaking thing to witness. This will also give us Luke sensing his sister is in danger and allowing himself to feel the force, free his X-Wing and save his sister. This will also give Poe and Finn the mission to find Rose(this time a Resistance Hacker) and to disable The Supremacy so The Resistance can mount a rescue operation. Everything comes full circle. Save Leia, Luke rescues his sister, Luke confronts Snoke and Kylo confronts his mother and then Rey. There you go I single-handedly made The Last Jedi a better movie.

Leia actually affecting the plot of TLJ and isn’t in a coma for 90% of the movie.

What they chose to do with Leia instead

Not making Leia a Jedi. The new trilogy was DEAD SET on not making Leia a Jedi. Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi said Leia has the potential to become a Jedi. “That boy is our last hope. “No there is another.” “The force is strong in my family, my father has it, I have it and my sister has that power.” Apparently JJ saw all that and thought “I think that all meant was to not make Leia a Jedi and just have spout off expository dialogue, break up the most iconic relationship in Star Wars for no reason and have her sit there and do nothing all movie” The last two movies were setting Leia up to be a Jedi and they did nothing with her. She could’ve been a Jedi Master and a politician but chose not to. For whatever stupid reason they did not want Leia to be a Jedi.  Leia could have used Battle Meditation to ensure the destruction of Starkiller Base was a success. and then used it to ensure the safety of the Resistance in TLJ, but they thought turning Leia into a Mary Poppins meme was the best possible use to give Carrie a swansong.

Spout expository dialogue and do nothing

Making facial expressions and doing nothing

Carrie FIsher was forced by Lucasfilm to lose weight in order to return and it costed her, her health. Carrie was perfectly healthy before that diet was forced on her and she did little to nothing all sequel trilogy, so she was told to lose weight at the cost of her own health so she can do nothing all movie, have no emotional connection with her son, grieve for Luke or Han or actually be significant to the Rebellion she has been leading all her life

Not mourning her husband or showing her grieve AT ALL

Leia does not grieve with Chewie, she even hugs Rey instead of Chewie

Leia does not mourn for Luke or Han

Becoming a Mary Poppins meme, unconscious for 90% of the movie, be unlikable and slap and stun your second in command and do nothing all movie. TLJ does absolutely nothing with Leia. Carrie Fisher is gone. The character herself does nothing to affect the plot. We all knew that Leia was strong and powerful with the force, but the way they decided to have it be shown is baffling. Instead of showing Leia using  the force to send the missiles flying at Kylo’s wing men or use Battle Meditation to inspire the Resistance to fight, instead we see the most impressive, and stupid looking, display of force powers, nothing follows from that. Leia goes into a coma for most the movie and then just hangs around. Isn’t it weird that Leia, one of the most important characters in the entire franchise only sees her brother for a moment, never mentions her husband, shares no screen time with her own son and isn’t even the focus in the very rebellion she’s been fighting for her entire life. In the end, all of her loved ones are dead, her son wants to destroy her legacy, her allies abandoned her, her soldiers were almost all killed, and due to Carrie Fisher’s passing, TLJ is her swan song and curtain call. One of the most iconic and empowering women in all of cinema gets to go out as a supporting character and Mary Poppins meme.