#maybe early 30s depending on how old he was in bbs

[dreamsy990]

fuck akuroku as a ship btw not only because its pedophilic because thats obviously a huge issue. but also i think we should be able to have platonic relationships with the same amount of devotion as any romance. not everyone who loves each other is in love DEREK.

[cooltrainererika]

A Star Wars Noob’s ideas for fixing the Disney sequels

Okay so just to get this out there, because it won’t leave my mind.

So I’ve been binging on SW lately and the sequels only annoy me more and more by the day. So just wanted to throw my character ideas out into the world. Focusing on characters because I like writing characters way more than plot. Hopefully if I ever actually write this thing, or even somehow pitch it to someone with the right connections to animate it with the actors as voice actors, this wouldn’t have gone viral. But since no one looks at my blog it probably won’t lol. Hopefully.

But just in case, I’ll say that this will probably contain spoilers for a story which may or may not exist by the time you read this.

I’ve deliberately been trying to avoid as much emotional spoilers and normal spoilers as I can before the sequels despite the temptation, so sorry if some stuff is a bit off. Augh I hope I can get the time to watch the full OT and PT soon. I was too tired from hiking when I watched SW4 and I now really wish my dad didn’t show me when I was half-asleep.

Rey: Rainbow of possibilities; Cynical Scavenger, Adventure-seeking Audience Surtogate Geek, or Lawful Good to the core Paladin Padawan with a personal grudge, and may be descended from a family line, maybe not, but currently most likely a Skywalker by blood. Story and other character arcs change dramatically depending on which route chosen.

Finn: Stoic soldier man learns power of friendship, finds meaning of life, causes Stormtrooper mutiny, probably becomes a Jedi and second main character and hooks up with Rey. “What‘s a joke?”. Awkward dork and stunted socially but doing his best. May instinctively find it hard to disobey orders. He may be the one wanting to find his family; but that’s dropped soon enough to focus on what’s ahead. 

(Alternatively: Proud warrior guy who acts like a stereotypical North Korean soldier who finds himself outside the First Order, learns power of friendship etc. The rest is the same)

Poe Dameron: What we Japanese people call The Aniki. The funny charismatic ace pilot who keeps everyone sane, overall bro. Wholesome but a bit rough, that guy you would want to share a beer with. But within that easygoing nature burns a hotblooded, determined, dutiful streak, and an even stronger snarky streak. The one with the social skills. Loves his droid like his son though Cynical!Rey and Finn find that initially kind of stupid/strange. 

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo: Appears to be yet another quietly imposing Star Wars villain with added edgelord factor, but actually a mentally unstable, borderline yandere berserker of a man crushed under the weight of a legacy, with a horrifying inferiority complex, identity issues, and an unhealthy obsession with familial honor, constantly stuck between Dark and Light. Despite his high rank, basically the First Order’s attack dog. Usually has the emotional maturity of a 16-year-old, if not younger. If anyone is, he’s the damsel in distress of this story.

Luke Skywalker: Cuddly sunshine headmaster sage doing his best, has been on many adventures before that are hidden ads to future Lucasfilm projects. May have gone to search for answers as to what is causing recent events, or is still present at the beginning. May survive at the end. He could be anywhere from kind of jaded but at his core still that sweet optimist, to Basically Uncle Iroh, to can-literally-summon-Porgs-by-whistling/Space Sage Mr. Rogers.

Han Solo: General of the Republic Armed Forces or courier who decided military life just wasn’t for him and now delivers important messages through still unstable areas of the New Republic, a war hero, and a dad doing his best. Wants to hold hope but may have at least outwardly given up on Ben, with Poe filling in the void. Has gone clean from his life of crime and still married 30+ years strong with Leia. He would be the one who is the closest to Poe if he’s still in the military and Leia is a Jedi, with Poe being seen as his likely successor. He might die at the end of 8? Maybe Hamill and Carrie would somehow talk him into sticking around past 7? He might still die in 7?

(Side note: I wish we could have seen Old Harrison Ford in a military casual coat-cape. He would have looked awesome in it. I mean no one would really complain that he plays fast and loose with the dress code if there even is one, he’s Han freakin’ Solo and he gives no f*cks.)

Leia Organa-Solo: Preferably a Jedi Knight, leader while he’s away if he’s away as well as their tactician, or senator considering her personality; maybe have basically what Colin Trevorrow planned for her (I mean… why not just use CGI at this point? They’ve done it before. I’m sure Carrie wouldn’t have wanted her swan song to be such a passive role either), with her bond with Luke being a major factor and us actually being able to see it in practice. May have outwardly given up on her son as well, but still is at the end of the day a mom doing her best. Basically a strong, smart lady like how she’s always been.

Chewbacca: How he always is, but he plays more of a role than basically the guy bussing the cast around, an active combat role definitely. Han’s second in command and maybe fellow dad. Possibly the part-time chaperone of the mess that is the new main duo. Also was Ben’s first friend, and you bet there will be drama here.

Lando Calrissian: Business mogul who probably helps the heroes out, maybe by selling them stuff and using his many connections to get information. And/or he’s basically an economic diplomat for the Republic. Has known Ben since he was a child and may have snuck him on too many joyrides without telling Leia, to her chagrin and Han’s amusement. 

Grand Admiral Armitage Hux: Basically how he was in SW7. Calculating, manipulative, coldhearted, intelligent, and ruthless, the brains to Kylo’s brawn. Son of former Imperial officers, killed his own father to get where he is. Gives no f*cks, except when he goes full ham. Maybe even he goes cold and pale if Kylo starts getting angry, just to show how terrifying he can be, but I also like the idea of him being one of two people who can manipulate Kylo out of a tantrum and not end up a pile of flesh or choked to death. 

Captain Phasma: How she is in supplemental material probably. A walking chrome machine of merciless death. Probably not very talkative, and probably does not take defectors lightly. She may defect at the end or not depending on how truly evil she’s portrayed to be, but I’m thinking she’s likely this cruel disciplinarian who expects complete and utter, machine-like obedience to the end, and Finn flinches at the mere mention of her, though she herself is equally as extremely loyal to the cause.

Snoke: A mysterious being, the likes of which are not of this galaxy. Probably some kind of ancient eldritch abomination who can torment vulnerable minds with an untraceable curse. Not your average Sith, and despite how it may seem it may not be connected to them at all… Or perhaps it is. Or perhaps it itself serves a larger master. It wants to use Kylo Ren for… something. Just what it is is what Luke has been trying to find out for years.

Knights of Ren: Idea borrowed from Thor Skywalker (check him out on YouTube!); possibly a military cult of Sith/Vader worshippers who see Ben as the second coming of Vader, and have aligned themselves with Snoke. Probably basically Kylo’s personal guard and troops. Or possibly directly liked to whatever otherworldly entit(ies?) Snoke is, not being of this galaxy themselves.

Anakin Skywalker: Determined grandpa doing his best for his kids, grandkid(s), and the galaxy. Doesn’t appear often, but plays a major role in the story; maybe he’s the one who led Rey to his lightsaber, and maybe he advises Luke while training Rey, or secretly follows Kylo, trying to speak to him but unable to be seen or heard by him. He’d be the one who ultimately convinces Ben to return to the light, and to, in an echo of the words Ben heard when he was being impersonated, “finish what I started”.

Rose Tico: A probably relatively new, wide-eyed young recruit in the Republic Military, and maybe seeks revenge on First Order for killing or kidnapping her sister. Not sure if she will be needed, but if there’s room for her she might be interesting. Maybe she’s one of Poe’s friends or part of his squad. She could also be the resident girly girl because there aren’t many of those here. 

Vice-Admiral Amberlyn Holdo: She’s in the Aftermath books, and those seem pretty good, so she’s probably how she is there. A quirky mostly background character that is probably at most there for Han and/or Leia and Ackbar to give commands to and salute back, but most importantly she actually does her job properly, even if she’s still a bit of an odd person. Also Poe knows her and they have a way more amicable work relationship. Also give her something which actually looks like something military personnel would wear. She could even be a legitimately good tactician who comes up with off-the-wall tactics.

(Side note: I heard that she basically has the Star Wars version of Autism, and while I’d appreciate that as an Aspie myself, I’ll also have to say that Autistic people would probably be terrible military leaders due to us not being able to adjust to sudden changes well and our bad communication skills. So yeah, sorry, unless she’s recast to something like, say, a mechanic or logistics or medic or any other more Autistic-friendly job, that’s going to have to go)

Maz Kanada: …Admittedly not sure what to do with her. But she’s more likely to be an acquaintance of Lando before Han, if she doesn’t know both. In fact, Lando may be introduced early alongside her. But she would still have the important role of keeping Anakin’s saber; how she has it, either Lando found it, or basically what was cut from TFA showing that she’s indeed pretty awesome. 

BB-8: BB-8 doesn’t have to change. He’s perfect as he is. Maybe what he can do should be more consistent though. Poe and him are basically Ash and Pikachu, they stick together whenever possible. If Rey or Finn need a droid to tag along and Poe isn’t in the party at the moment, R2 is right there. I once read a fanfic in which BB-8 was actually a droid Luke made for Ben and I liked the idea… though it probably would be a bit of an unnecessary detail in practice.

R2-D2 and C3P0: They’re basically business as usual. They would still have that boke-tsukkomi dynamic they had going on, sometimes with the added childlike cuteness of BB-8 in the mix. If there’s any extra time left for comic relief scenes, or if they’re sent on some kind of mission together, I can see these three messing around doing their thing (or rather, BB being childlike, cute and curious, Threepio being overly nervous, and Artoo being too old for this sh*t and/or BB’s cool uncle/older brother) being both cute and hilarious.

Also Worldbuilding stuff will be featured at the bottom

Elaboration on the “big four” of the sequel cast:

Rey: Aged 19, speaks with Daisy Ridley’s normal accent, not RP (I mean really, her accent isn’t that hard to understand). A whole rainbow of possibilities with this lady, though many don’t realize it. I might be leaning towards her being Luke’s daughter, though her being Just Rey may also be interesting, and her still being a descendant of Palpatine or the main villain could also have potential, though if Finn is a Jedi I don’t think there’s any need for her parents to be nobody. But the three main routes I can think of for her are these three: Cynical!Rey, a Rey with a backstory identical to the canon Rey from her abandonment onwards, Fangirl!Rey, a sort of estimation of a dorky female Star Wars nerd in-universe and the most lighthearted start out of the three, and Padawan!Rey, a Rey who is already Luke’s Padawan at his academy. Maybe making her starting point less crushingly bleak and Fangirl!Rey could work, but it might dilute both ideas, and that characterization might be a bit too similar to ANH Luke. 

As is apparent, Cynical!Rey, is, well, cynical. She’s strong and independent, but extremely distrusting, on-edge, and not used to friendly interaction. Think Female SW4 Han Solo but even more antisocial and probably not even bothering with the bravado, and basically with Anakin’s upbringing except she doesn’t even have a loving mother like Anakin did. Fangirl!Rey was my initial idea but I’m starting to become less partial to it because of the aforementioned similarity to ANH Luke, but my idea was she’s basically Harry Potter, living with stepparents who hate her, or she’s still used as basically child labor but her conditions are nowhere near as bad as Cynical Rey’s, and she would have grown up on stories about the Rebels and the Jedi and everything else in the past movies, collecting every single bit of memorabilia she can get her hands on. If one wants to go for very lighthearted and slightly meta for SW7 this is the route. Padawan!Rey could go anywhere, but I’m thinking she would basically be our D&D Paladin; ever since Ben Solo went berserk and ran off to join the First Order, she’s become very protective of her fellow students and has a really understandable personal grudge against him. She might be the strongest pupil left after the Second Jedi Massacre, and by the end maybe she becomes the successor to headmaster of the academy. It is possible that she was found abandoned on Jakku or Luke’s doorstep, however, so the theme of growing up lonely is there, and because being a Jedi is what has given her meaning in life it means a lot to her. But while I don’t want her parentage to be revealed early if it is Luke, it does raise the massive plot hole of why this was never disclosed to her or to Ben. 

And yes, I did say fellow students and academy. Wiping the new Jedi Order feels really cheap and it makes the whole hopeful Jedi Starting Anew implication that I’m 90% sure the OT ended on feel very pointless. I’d prefer them still being there, though their inclusion would be obviously way more natural in the Padawan Route. This also has tons of marketing potential for Disney, because I wanted to take IRL realism into account; what’s in it for Disney? Maybe potential to expand on other students and Luke’s academy? It could be like a smaller Jedi Hogwarts/Xavier Institute basically. Though the survivors wouldn’t be too numerous; just, like, four at most. Maybe there would be elements of an Avengers/Infinity War/Endgame-esque team movie, even if the rest are a bit out of focus.

I did think maybe the heroes would still go to Ahch-To after SW7 where Luke would have been hiding with his students researching the new threat, but maybe I could have him stay and sort of take a few cues from Harry Potter by introducing the heroes to the world of the Jedi early and giving them a break in the action as they settle in their new homes, so there’s more time to develop the padawan side characters, what the academy is like, and Luke gets to appear in SW7 as well so there can be a OT trio “reunion” (not a reunion in-universe). Though that kind of messes with other parts I want to include like Rey and Finn having to take on Kylo and getting completely whipped because he’s a rampaging madman before having to be saved by Luke. Also Rey getting kidnapped has potential for developing her trust in others, and her and Finn getting a breather moment at the Republic after the heroes and Han regroup would kind of remove a point where that could be easily slotted in the story. It would also require everything before this to be crammed in the first act. 

(Newer edit 5/27/21)  I also like her getting a golden double-bladed saber like many fans depict her. It’s not only awesome looking (because she only gets her own saber at the end of TROS… Why?), but it’s more toys for the moichendise! It fits her starting with a staff, it has more reach, and it would fit Cynical Rey especially for her to have a style centered around keeping as much of herself defended as possible. Watching Battlefront 2 footage has made me think about fighting styles a bit, and if she and Finn are a duo how their styles of combat might compliment each other, especially as their relationship develops (coincidentally she and Finn apparently are a very good combination in BF2). A Cynical Rey would probably contrast the most, with a fighting style based on keeping enemies away, trickery, and defense (a good choice for a blade made of light), maybe a bit wild at first but initially her goal in fighting would be to hold out until there is an opening to get the hell out, only staying to fight if she has no other option. Fangirl Rey wouldn’t really have a fighting style initially, and it’s gonna be very dependent on where her arc goes. Padawan Rey would have the most Prequel Jedi-esque, choreographed style, showing a lot of skill though not quite mastering it and with tons of openings at first. A Cynical Rey may have an uncanny skill to detect suspicious people, which would make her trusting the heroes easier, and though this ability isn’t super strong and is more “a slight gut feeling but it could be nothing” than “human lie detector” it could maybe be honed more. And while not quite wall vision like in BF2 (because wat? Where do they come up with this stuff?), maybe she’s good at detecting people’s presences too. These are very apt ambient skills for someone in her position. Meanwhile, Fangirl!Rey would have probably suspected she had the Force already, and her ambient abilities could be whatever, just rather passive abilities unless trained. 

If she is Luke’s daughter though, that would open up the can of worms of who her mother is. Just making it so that she died before the events of SW7 might seem a bit… unfortunate? I kind of want Luke to have found love sometime (and seriously with how much of a bombshell young Luke was, in addition to him being such a hero, I’m shocked that he never got one. I can see why Mara Jade wanted a piece of that. *wolf whistle*), but then I’d have to figure out how to incorporate her in this already character-dense story without her having cheaply died offscreen. I might be able to think of something? I could always go digging in the dusty pile of old fan theories, I might find something good. Thor Skywalker did hint at her but his story stopped at the end of where SW8 would have. If I do name her Mara there’s probably going to be extra pressure to do something with her. …But I can’t be the only one who thinks that Daisy Ridley kind of looks like Natalie Portman. Then again I’m pretty face-blind. I guess blond hair and blue eye color genes are also recessive traits for Star Wars humans. Though it seems the height genes skipped a generation because she’s actually pretty tall for a woman at 170 cm - I’m sorry what. That’s as tall as the average Japanese man! Holy sh*t Daisy! She only looks a bit small because she’s often depicted with Kylo and Kylo makes everyone not Phasma look diminutive. I guess Ben would get it from Anakin and Han (though he’s still taller than both of them…), so maybe a taller actress would be cast as Mara (?). And despite Rey’s malnourishment in the Cynical route, this actually isn’t that implausible, because stunted growth apparently only happens if children are deprived from gestation to about 2 years of age. 

And again, why wouldn’t Ben know about this? But if this isn’t the Padawan!Rey route (the hardest to incorporate Rey The Actual Skywalker into), maybe Ben took Rey’s assumed death as even more of a reason to burden himself with the entire Skywalker legacy? This would give him a reason to already care about her.

Further edits: According to the Aftermath books, Jakku was a “Lightside Nexus” planet. Maybe this has to do with her powers? (Perhaps she was kept sane by the Force speaking to her on occasion, in dreams or as she lies staring at the ceiling after a long day, showing her the loving life she used to live and unknown to her she will return to someday). Or why she was dropped there? Maybe she was supposed to be living with Lor San Tekka (the old guy Kylo kills at the beginning of TFA), but got lost one day or was kidnapped by bandits to be a scavenger because her small size would have been perfect for getting loot from small spaces? Why not take her back then? This probably is one of the biggest plot knots in the Cynical Rey Skywalker route, alongside who her mother is.  

Small detail lightning round before moving on: I once read a Japanese fic, and in it she mentioned she hates alcohol because she saw how it turned people into monsters. I actually kind of liked this headcanon, and maybe a bit unexpected. Though there’s also the route of her just being too used to it, setting her apart from previous more wholesome protagonists even more.  Also Daisy would have to start hitting the gym and protein shakes because I think her character design evolving from her thin build to a very athletic, Wonder Woman-esque body type would be pretty good in representing her growth as a character, and combined with her height she would be so very badass looking. 

Finn: Probably around 23? Infamous for lost potential, so his backstory is the same. However, I’m thinking that due to his dehumanizing upbringing, he’s a bit robotic and pretty stoic initially, a total opposite to Poe. He doesn’t understand jokes or sarcasm, and now that he’s completely left the life he’s always known, he feels pretty lost. He would basically act like a male Rei Ayanami, though I was going more for Drax at first. Alternatively, he’s a proud warrior type, imagine a stereotypical North Korean/Prussian soldier. He’d be a bit more emotional and probably less cartoonish here (I mean I have compared Star Wars to anime but full-on anime tropes in live action probably looks super corny), and he’s a massive hardass who also doesn’t get sarcasm or jokes and fanatical and would have thought of his fellow soldiers as a collective as his band of brothers and comrades, collectively serving the FO like a smoothly running machine. My initial thought was that after a life of war crimes and the influence a certain pilot whose cell he was guarding who gave him his name, and maybe witnessing the death of a comrade, he had defected from the FO, but I started thinking it would be plausible if he defected from the FO probably by accident. Highly likely to be the second protagonist, if not POV character, and if so I think it’s logical that it’s Finnrey that becomes the canon ship here. In the Padawan!Rey route, he’s the newcomer protagonist, not Rey. If they’re shipped, or even as friends, they may bond over their dehumanizing, harsh backgrounds and the feeling of being lost in the world. Also he likely starts a mutiny. Like it was such an obvious plot point but they never use it for some bizarre reason. It’s like the DM didn’t read his character sheet at all. Actually one didn’t and the other kept forgetting it in the third campaign.

There’s two ways I think his arc could go; first would be a focus mainly on his search for identity and becoming his own person. Second, his guilt about having done the First Order’s bidding for so long. Probably a combination of the two, though I’m not sure how to address them both. He also wants to see his colleagues free from slavery. But I am sure about I’d that he’d have to overcome his conditioning, learning to regain his humanity.

Especially if Rey is a Skywalker and he becomes a Jedi, he’d be the one who the movie makes a point about being from nowhere. He has no idea who his parents are, but it would not even matter in the end, it’s what he makes of his life from here on out. And if he and Rey end up together, which is extremely likely in this scenario, he not only finds his family in the figurative sense with the other Jedi and his new friends plus girlfriend, but in the literal sense as well, going from nameless Stormtrooper FN-2187, to just Finn the ex-Stormtrooper, to Finn the Padawan and then Jedi Knight, to finally, Finn Skywalker, Jedi Knight; maybe the last movie ends with one of them proposing to the other, with SW8 having previously ended with the climactic big damn kiss that cemented that they are a thing now. (Cue Luke jokingly asking when he’s getting grandchildren and How It Should Have Ended!Anakin squeeing over him getting great-grandchildren lol) His name would have this real symbolic value to it with how it changes as he goes from nobody to somebody. Not to mention “Finn Skywalker” is just a freakin’ awesome name. If they make up the leading duo, he and Rey may have some kind of inherent connection, or they progress into two parts of the same whole, even attaining something like a Dyad.

I thought an interesting thing to do if Rey is a Skywalker, and this is Cynical Rey, is a twist on the expected pattern by making him the one who sees the good in Kylo, not Rey. Because while Rey might be his cousin, she’s also a very distrustful person who couldn’t afford to think deeply about people act the way they do when she was growing up and fighting to survive. Meanwhile, Finn knows Kylo, and he also knows what it’s like to be determined to be a killing machine from a very young age, and if he has to forgive himself, or if he’s able to see the light, that Kylo deserves a chance as well. It would be the ultimate show of kindness from him, to show him forgiving the man who works so loyally under the same organization that enslaved him. I can also see Kylo being angry at himself for being unable to sense the Force-Sensitive in their midst. 

Maybe he was born on a “Lightside nexus” planet too so that it makes sense that he can keep up with other characters? Presuming he’s in his early 20s, I don’t think him being raised by the Order since he was a baby is that plausible, so maybe he was already an orphan? I can see the First Order spinning their Stormtrooper program kidnapping street orphans as “rehabilitating” them, which combined with good old Victorian style citizen apathy to street children allows them to get away with it. But if he was, say, around 6 years old when he was taken away, it would make sense why he was able to break out of his programming. Perhaps Poe showing him friendship awoke the humanity long dormant in him. But on the other hand, the younger, adolescent soldiers may be beyond saving, and I can see that being absolutely heartbreaking. 

I can see his fighting style with a saber being direct, forceful, and pragmatic, but unlike Rey the emphasis would be on engaging and keeping up the fight, and be very disciplined, calculated, and controlled in contrast to Cynical Rey. At least he’d attempt it while he gets used to the properties of a lightsaber, before there would probably be a lot of awkwardness as John is directed to swing this weightless prop blade with a weighted hilt like he would a club or sword. If he isn’t a Force Sensitive, he’s a good sniper just like in BF2, in fact this would be his primary combat ability, though still able to hold his own in melee combat. Though even as a Jedi he’d probably still use a gun as a sidearm, and his good aim would also translate to him being very good at spotting openings and spotting danger from a distance, as well as enhanced ability to dodge. 

Poe Dameron: Age 29 (?). A total bro. I’ve kind of come to think of him as this embodiment of the good, wholesome side of traditional masculinity. I can best describe him as the guy you expect to think of when you think of the guy who takes the boys to the bar for beers on the house and hosts Super Bowl night (for the Americans out there). Basically just that big bro/cool uncle everyone likes. I think he’s the least changed from how he is in SW7; he’s a laid-back pilot with no special powers, and while he’s probably the most static and admittedly flat character (and unfortunately more minor than the other two) he has tons of charisma and optimism to compensate, though being the one who keeps everyone sane definitely helps. Not to mention his piloting skills; which, note, are never eclipsed by Rey, because that’s dumb. His skills are a bit more downplayed here, but he’s still extremely good, especially for his age. Despite being the pilot he’s the most down-to-earth, and may be the only one of the big four with any social skills, even if he’s a bit dorky, especially regarding BB-8. 

Son of Rebel pilots, graduated top of his class in the Republic Flight Academy, and his background is squeaky clean, no drug trading involved, though he spent a lot of his adolescence and his adulthood in the Academy or in the military, just like in pre-TROS supplementary material. He’s the main source of jokes and wisecracks out of the trio in all but the most dorky of Fangirl!Rey routes probably, teaching Cynical!Rey and Finn what it’s like to smile and laugh. He still has a close relationship with Leia and Han; possibly closer to the latter due to the latter being a pilot and likely still a General. Not sure about him keeping his rank because him starting and staying at the top might mesh awkwardly with the rest of the trio, but maybe he’s still a Commander; whichever makes his inclusion in the main cast most plausible. Due to an adorable Pixiv comic I found he may have been inspired to become a pilot by Luke or Han. I’d like to think that he breaks the hotshot pilot cliché a bit by not being too overly arrogant, immediately setting himself apart from Han by being a wholesome guy there for his buddies from the start, even if he is fond of wisecracking and snarkiness (probably from hanging around Han and Leia), and inside that laid-back personality lies a hotblooded, passionate, unwavering core. Like, he’s not exactly hotheaded like a Latin stereotype (*ahem*), but he’s got this more subtle, but still apparent, underlying fiery hotbloodedness to him, something that especially makes itself apparent in high-stress situations and when it comes to his loved ones. He’d also be Rey and Finn’s mentor of sorts in stuff that doesn’t involve the Force, being their role model for what a functional member of society is. He may make some self-depreciating jokes about being “normal”, but I think mostly he’ll take it in stride. Though I can see him and Han having a chat about this in a more quiet scene. 

Ironically, out of the trio he could maybe be said to be the most suited to be a Jedi personality-wise, despite the fact that he has no Force Sensitivity whatsoever; he goes with the flow, he isn’t troubled, he’s happy with the simple pleasures in life, he’s just a good, genuine guy who does good things, passionate but not obsessive, and he’s forgiving, willing to give even an enemy soldier a chance, appealing to the humanity in him. The last one is particularly Luke-like, don’t you think? Oh, to elaborate on the escape; I still like the idea of him giving Finn his name (though another idea I love is a fallen friend giving Finn his name, that would change stuff around a lot from what I am thinking at this moment). I also think that perhaps supplemental material or some flashbacks, or even an animated short could be made showing just how Poe broke Finn’s programming; by showing him genuine kindness, because somehow, despite his lack of Force Sensitivity, he saw that FN-2187 could be talked out of his programming if he was constantly nice to him, befriending him, starting up casual chatter with him, and after a while the trooper starts opening up to this pilot. …Yeah, Luke-like indeed. Though since there is the plot hole of why Finn could be convinced in mere days and why he’s the only one guarding such a high-profile prisoner, a more realistic idea may be that they talk to each other this way a few times, then Poe escapes and Finn goes after him before they both crash on Jakku and have to work together, with Poe immediately being friendly with Finn and later Rey, to his (and her) confusion. (I can just imagine Poe being all chipper and trying to engage Finn in conversation, or telling him “Good job, sport!” after they fight off bandits or something, and Finn just is all deadpan and “We are enemies, we have no reason to fraternize” and I find that kind of cute).

He may ultimately be the most static of the main cast, but I can see him having a huge impact in more subtle ways; like maybe Rey and Finn think of what Poe might do in a given situation in their training, and he could be the catalyst behind why Finn thinks that Kylo can be redeemed, just like how Poe was able to light another way when it felt like there was only one path for him. He also definitely wouldn’t be the type to be so reckless with his men like he was in TLJ, if he’s still a Commander; he cares about his men a lot, and in fact they may be the reason why he tends to act like an older brother. I can imagine a pretty poignant scene with Finn where Finn sees Poe by himself and BB-8 paying respects to his fallen comrades by this handmade cenotaph, as he sets some flowers down and pours a drink to them, and Finn once again is able to see how different the culture outside the First Order is, as he would have never been mourned like that if he died on the battlefield, nor can he imagine he ever would have done so himself. Or maybe Rey is there too, because if this is Cynical Rey she’s only known a life where people exploited each other. Maybe other characters like Jessika (who he’s already close to I think? Did she show up in the movies though?) or Rose would have the opportunity to be more than background characters by being part of his crew, and we’d get some charming scenes about the bond he has with his squadron.

Again, admittedly he’d be the least deep character out of the big four, with his feelings not being explored nearly as much. But he probably doesn’t really hide his feelings much anyway. For any supplementary shorts involving him, they would be mainly lighter stories about his relationship with the OT cast and their families and his friendship with BB-8 and his crew, or action-y ones about missions he’s gone on; as opposed to, say, Finn, which would show his life as an expendable trooper who knew nothing but war, Cynical!Rey and her crushing loneliness and growing disillusionment to the world as she struggles to survive, or Padawan!Rey and her anguish and grappling with the Dark Side in the aftermath of the Jedi Massacre. 

I can also imagine him being this adorable Shipper On Deck for Finnrey lol. Just looking at his two friends, all proud, maybe even tearing up like “*sniff* I’m not crying Buddy, you’re crying!” when the inevitable big kiss scene happens. I can also imagine him being the one to tell Finn that “Hey Finn, what you’re feeling is love!”…And then he has to spend hours trying to explain what love even is to him lol. He always has his friends’ back after all. Again, he’s most likely the one guy who isn’t completely socially inept among these dorks. I’ve also had the potential idea that he could maybe be a good cook, and he’d be the one who introduces Rey and Finn to actually good food. Some fics I’ve noticed tend to show him cooking stuff probably for that reason. It’s just kind of cute, and it sets a good example if despite his traditionally masculine, salt-of-the-earth character, he likes some less “manly” stuff like such and sees no shame in it.

He may sacrifice himself in a blaze of glory towards the end, especially because quite frankly he may lose his plot relevance as the story goes on, though it would definitely be way more respectful than a lot of deaths were treated in the sequels. But I also want him to stick around because I want to imagine him being all proud of Rey and Finn after they propose to each other and giddily planning their wedding, and I feel he could have some very good interactions with Ben to build on for any spinoffs taking place after the trilogy. Speaking of…

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo: AKA Yet Another Ball Of Lost Potential: Anti-Villain Addition. This is gonna be a doozy, so strap in. He was probably the most developed character here but that just makes his lost potential stick out even more, so I have so much to say about him.

About 27 probably. While people complain about it, I actually like him being a manchild. It makes him a bit unique in this series. It’s kind of like Vader if he didn’t get stuck in that suit and kept acting like Anakin. In fact, that could make him even more terrifying if that feeds into how destructive he can be; at first he seems like your typical intimidating SW villain, not even that bad a leader with a seemingly calm if tense, imposing air, but it eventually becomes clear he’s this terrifying, volatile berserker who can throw some of the most destructive tantrums ever, and is ultimately a pathetic, broken, pitiful shell of a man. …He just happens to be a very powerful shell of a man. Maybe if he becomes emotional or angry enough, he can unleash powerful shockwaves that basically blow up everything around him, or cause mini Force Storms, or cause any number of unpredictable effects. Though he’s not quite constantly raging either; these berserk states are indeed triggered by anger, but I’m thinking that they are also basically weaponized panic attacks, there’s a sense that it’s also a self-defense mechanism that he lapses into when emotions overwhelm him or when he otherwise feels threatened (though whether it’s necessarily involuntary all the time I’m not so sure; but while he’d definitely want to be able to trigger them voluntarily, there will always be some sense that he doesn’t have full control over it). Also a lot of his rage is directed inwards as well, much like with his grandfather. I thought that maybe his unpredictability in these rages would be the key to his destructiveness, though I can see how someone who is out of control would also pose a problem, no matter how powerful; so maybe this is when he becomes the most focused, becoming locked onto the elimination of the perceived threat at all costs, and/or he can be controlled by his Master more directly like some kind of attack animal. 

Luke’s first padawan, or at least after Leia or Grogu (I might make him show up as Luke’s first knighted pupil and allude to this, providing more exposition on Kylo, and being one of the Jedi who help fight in the final battle as the Skywalkers go on to take on the final boss (and Grogu’s name being revealed would be a massive hype moment in The Mandalorian)). Due to his storied family, plus the name of his uncle and grandfather’s own master, he had heavy expectations on his (at the time) small shoulders from an early age. However, he had long been tormented by the Dark Side due to an untraceable curse placed upon him by Snoke, and probably a pre-existing anxious personality. The expectations placed on him, or maybe perhaps just self-imposed expectations, only worsened his turmoil, resulting in a festering mess of self-hatred, extreme perfectionism, and an obsession with familial honor and obsessive attachment to his family, especially Luke, that is a nasty combination of hero-worship and the abovementioned complexes and may border on almost incestuous.

There’s three ways for his backstory to go; “Underachiever Ben”, where Ben is either mediocre as a Jedi or still good but outperformed by others, or “Elsa Ben”, where he’s basically like Elsa from Frozen, possessing an extreme amount of power but barely able to control it, possibly due to Snoke’s curse, and a sort of middle ground, where Ben was super strong and a quick learner, but the dark side in him made Luke feel mixed about Ben’s increasing power, which Ben sensed. If the former, Ben becomes increasingly frustrated at himself for being such a “failure”. If “Elsa Ben”, there’s that, and also the added pain of him growing up terrified of himself and able to sense the terror he causes to those around him, so he was taken in by Luke so hopefully Luke could figure something out; he could have been destructive from the start, or maybe he started to become increasingly destructive despite his training. If the middle ground route, he takes Luke’s mixed emotions to mean that he doesn’t think he’s good enough. How severe Snoke’s curse would have been I’m not fully sure on; he could have voices in his head and nightmares keeping him up for days, chipping away at his sanity, tempting him to accept the darkness, or it may have just been an amplifying of his already unstable emotions. They could have even started as the latter and escalated to the former. But I’m thinking that to best explain his behavior I’m leaning towards the Elsa route. Eventually, his nightmares morphed into repeated visits by Darth Vader, his grandfather, who told him about the truth of his lineage and how he became Vader, slandering everything and everyone he ever admired or loved, telling him of his “true” destiny, and how he should give up and embrace it; unable to hear the real Anakin’s ghost screaming at him to not repeat his mistake. This extended campaign of mental torment stunted his emotional growth in many aspects, and at times he may seem to regress even more. Maybe other padawans were afraid of him because of this dark side presence, avoiding him, and/or were jealous of him because of his lineage and relation to Luke. He often felt entitled to be Luke’s right hand, getting jealous at other students and taking any reprimanding, no matter how gentle, extremely personally. Luke would have needed to struggle between not seeming to be biased towards his nephew and giving him the attention he needed, especially because Ben would feel like Han and Leia abandoned him because they weren’t able to help him, but considering how attached he is to Luke this would hurt him. So when Luke went to speak to him one night, or rushed in sensing an overwhelming dark side presence in his room, and was suddenly attacked by Snoke with a vision of what his nephew would become and making him go into fighting mode for a split second, drawing his weapon to protect Ben, and/or earlier admitted in anguish that he had no idea what was tormenting him despite his efforts, the straw broke the pedestal and he resigned himself to his “destiny”. Ironically he’s just exchanging one sky-high ideal for another, but he’s too emotionally immature to realize this, nor does he fully realize the fact that Snoke merely sees him as a malleable, gullible means to an end. Yet he still feels that pesky pull to the light, and he becomes increasingly frustrated with himself that even as a Dark side user, he still can’t be “perfect” or “worth” anything, not even able to sink himself into the darkness and finally rid himself of his pain. For all the privilege and power he has, or because of it, he always feels worthless. 

Basically I want to break him down and make his pitifulness obvious, but that’s what makes him sympathetic. He’s nowhere as far gone as Vader, even if he wants to be, kind of like a reverse Jekyll and Hyde situation where the Hyde is dominant but Jekyll hangs on, so to speak? Maybe? Is that the right analogy? Or I guess it is kind of like Anakin but sort of not, but he’s rapidly going down the same route of hurting his family like his grandfather. 

From researching a bit, his proposed behavior seems pretty close to the symptoms of BPD, which is actually pretty fitting because I was thinking Luke’s philosophy on the Force would be influenced by a more modern understanding of psychology, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy actually seems pretty in tune with what I understand to be how the Light Side of the Force works (I mean it even has basis in religious meditation…). Perhaps a mystical version of DBT was one of the things Luke was studying in exile. Though obviously it isn’t exactly BPD; portraying an actual, named mental illness not only has way too much baggage behind it, but it breaks immersion. And with him a lot of it will be the influence of the curse, though I think I would rather him have a personality that made him vulnerable to it from the start, so the curse had something to latch onto. 

Going with the “Elsa Ben” scenario, his “real” personality is anxious and even a bit shy. While I like the idea of him being cheerful when he was very little, the shyness always being there is also a characterization I like. Combined with his lumbering physique from his teenage years onwards, this made him a kid who gave off an impression of being extremely dorky (an act that would probably be very natural for Adam Driver to pull off lol) and/or withdrawn and aloof, the latter of which may have made some other padawans think he thought highly of himself and start to resent him. Unlike Anakin he’d be probably a dutiful student, almost creepily obedient, probably actively distancing himself from rebellious behavior, though his way of speaking isn’t exactly super formal either because of the influence of the adults around him. In his obsessions lies a genuine love, even if twisted, of his “favorite person” so to speak. He was also a genuinely sweet kid who wanted to please these special people in his life. He could be said to be actually really selfless in a weird way, because ultimately he values familial honor and being “good enough” for whatever higher purpose more than he values himself. TROS implied some sassiness with that Han-like shrug, and while I can maybe see some of Han rubbing off on him like that, that might be something that started from him trying to copy his parents’ air of confidence, and another coping mechanism. He might, like Vader, have a 501st legion 2.0 which Phasma is in charge of and Finn is part of, and show a more nicer side to them. Perhaps he opened up one or two times to Finn specifically; I can see this image of him venting to him while Finn stands still like how someone might vent to their dog, not really expecting Finn to be listening (also sarcasm might help Kylo obscure his true anguish from Finn, because FO troopers don’t understand sarcasm probably).  

He will be redeemed at the end… and live. Even if not necessarily paired with Rey. I’m neutral on Reylo (though admittedly I have a weak spot for pairs involving a strong woman and a troubled guy, so it’s kind of growing on me), but I really think this ship, or even centering the story strongly around a platonic relationship between these two, could have worked if it was built up strongly (Though if I were to go this route Finn would have to be established as a secondary character from the start, with Rey as the definitive main character, to focus on this). But either way, he’s definitely going to have to face the consequences of what he’s done, make up for his atrocities at least somewhat, and think about what he truly wants to do from now on. I can imagine him quietly reading stories to younglings as Rey, Finn, and Luke train some other pupils outside, or thanklessly working behind the scenes in other ways. For his haters out there, I could make the pill easier to swallow not just by making the reasons for his fall and how he was slowly and meticulously gaslit more clear, but also making him not as awful. Yes, he’s extremely destructive, but he could show more reluctance, or pause after his berserker rages, staring at the destruction he’s caused as the weight of what he’s done sinks in. He’d of course resent that he still has mercy left in him though. I don’t think that there will be a Starkiller Base, but even if there was he might argue with Hux a bit over whether it’s really necessary, until Hux sneers at him for having mercy, saying that Vader never hesitated when blowing up Alderaan, and Kylo reluctantly backs off.

…Actually, what about making him and Rey cousins? On one hand, if Rey is a Skywalker by blood, a direct daughter of the Master himself no less, Ben is now suddenly freed from carrying the weight of the family legacy on his own. On the other hand… He basically loses the thing he has spent his entire life building his identity around; since his fall would have partially been because of his obsession with Luke, he may become jealous and extremely resentful of her, and/or take this as even more reason for Luke to not “need” him anymore. Or perhaps, he pulls a reverse of “I sense the conflict in you” with her, wanting to “save” her from embracing the Light and wanting her to embrace the “true” Skywalker destiny with him. He could even be overjoyed that he could have someone else alongside him to carry on the legacy with; in this scenario he could have an unhealthy obsession with her that might also start crossing into “are you sure this isn’t incest?” territory. Yeah it’s a “join me and we can rule together” scenario again, but it would be done differently. Or perhaps it’s a mix of some of those. Exploring that and how he chooses to take it could be extremely interesting. Maybe it’s resolved when Anakin tells him to “finish what he started”… not just by saving the galaxy, but by also living the rest of his life loving his family not as an ideal, but as family, like Anakin wasn’t allowed to. And platonic Reylo sounds nice too. Though that’s going to make all that shipping fanart so awkward lol. Well it’s not as if Star Wars shippers haven’t been cockblocked by incest before (though his obsession with family and extremely questionable mental state would probably make such shippers go nuts anyway…). 

And going off of Poe being close to his parents, while the main interactions with Kylo from the heroes would be Rey, Finn if he’s the second protagonist, Luke, and his parents, I can see potential for an interesting dynamic and some interesting conversations between them too. Much like how he might react to Rey being Luke’s daughter, I can see him being jealous of Poe and resenting him for being his “replacement”, but after his redemption I can see potential for seeing the start of a friendship between them in epilogue comics, novels, or a mini-series. It would be pretty in-character for my version of Poe to want to help rehabilitate his sort-of stepbrother. Also I now have the adorable mental image of Ben quietly helping Poe (and maybe the rest of his squad) decorate and arrange Rey and Finn’s wedding, or the two surprising Finn with a very elaborate bachelor party, though I’m not sure if those exist in this universe. And because of a certain Inside Llewyn Davis scene I’m also imagining Poe getting Ben to sing with him and BB-8. It’s adorable. 

Also if both Rey and Finn are the main heroes, he might have some kind of link with both of them, and the main duo would both contrast him in their own way (lonely scavenger who no one expected anything of and nameless trooper who defected from the First Order vs. someone who grew up in greatness but seemingly threw it away and chose to be in the First Order; and much like Kylo Finn in particular has been manipulated from childhood to do heinous things, so he may sympathize with his situation). Maybe he’s the missing piece needed for both him and the leading duo to reach their full potential, or the main duo are the last piece needed to finally break Snoke’s curse on him, or something. Or it could simply just be Finn showing his growth and strength of character by understanding and forgiving Kylo, despite him now understanding just how badly the First Order treated him, which makes Rey (who, again, might start as this super cynical scavenger or may have seen Kylo go berserk and massacre her friends and betray her Master) come around to the idea. In this scenario it may actually be even more important to emphasize that Rey and Finn are two making up a whole, so as not to bog stuff down. It’s possible to ship Finnrey and want Kylo to have a better ending, what a shock! 

Maybe Rey and Kylo could switch places, and he comes back to the light in SW8, which is an idea I’ve seen floated and is something that would make the story truly unique. He would seem like basically a less stable Vader 2.0 at the start, but over SW8 he could be seen breaking more and more out of his own terrible mindset, coming to a head in a cathartic realization that bring him back into the arms of his beloved family. It would also add an interesting dynamic that he and Finn have to be equals now. But that may mean that Rey would have to be killed off and I’m not so sure about that. 

Though speaking of her, since in all these scenarios a common thread is that she understandably doesn’t like him, it would be a bit of a twist if Finn sees the good in him but Rey, if she’s a Skywalker, his cousin, doesn’t. 

And to bring up Poe again, I also really like the idea of them having been childhood friends and thus knowing each other before the events of SW7; after all, they’re around similar age, it isn’t that far-fetched to think that former Rebel families would be still pretty close to each other, and I’ve seen some adorable fanfics with the concept. It also adds connection between them and adds even more tragedy, even if this relationship may have to be elaborated more in supplementary material due to time. I can definitely Poe speaking like an old friend to Kylo and constantly calling him “Ben”, to his irritation. The abovementioned feeling of being replaced could be what caused Ben to suddenly break off the friendship. And making the main cast kind of tight-knit like this might also help make the cast easier to manage. 

Granted, there is the possibility of killing him off, though. I heard that one of the initial ideas for TFA was apparently that Kylo would be a reverse Vader, falling deeper and deeper into the Dark Side as the trilogy goes on. In fact, this may have been where Kylo killing Han may have been leading to. This actually sounded like a super cool idea, but considering the backstory I laid out I thought it would be way too bittersweet for the concluding movie of the saga, and if one were to say Kylo basically has BPD… That might lead to some unfortunate implications. I mean nothing is stopping me from not using the Elsa backstory, and if I didn’t use it maybe this route would be pretty viable, but I’m kind of starting to get attached to it. 

—

Other characters:

Hux: I’ve never really been a villain person. I mean I liked sympathetic villains, yeah (but even then I preferred anti-heroes for a while; I’m talking like nothing beyond N from Pokémon levels of “evil”), but straight-up villains I just have merely seen as obstacles. Like back in my Smash fic days I was often like “Eh… They’re there… Because they want to take over the world I guess?”. It’s why I’m having trouble with Snoke probably lol. But for some reason Hux interests me. If I take a guess it’s probably because of the potential he had as an actual foil to Kylo in his own faction. He had so much potential as a villain, and in having this tense dynamic play out. In fact he does seem to have been set up that way in SW7. But yeah, I imagine him as one coldhearted bastard. His backstory, though not elaborated on in the movies, would be much like TFA supplementary material set him up; he’d still have killed his father, but while yes, Brendol was abusive and strict, Armitage didn’t kill him completely because he was a young man who wanted to break free from his strict father, but also genuinely because he knew doing so would be good for his standing. Unlike Kylo when he (most likely) kills Han, he doesn’t regret killing Brendol at all. While he might have a tragic backstory kind of explaining his behavior, it doesn’t bother him at all, while Kylo, who considering what happened to him and how he’s literally under a curse you’d think would have a much steeper fall into unabashed evil, is constantly conflicted. It’s a very Sith Lord-like backstory funnily enough… In fact I’m pretty sure that Palpatine had a backstory very similar to this with his parents.  

He’s a very logical, analytical, brutally pragmatic person, and he looks upon Kylo’s emotional state with condescension. I’m increasingly starting to like the idea that he’s somehow able to talk Kylo down, while still being hardly nice. Perhaps he preys upon Kylo’s constant need for approval from others, even if he doesn’t like the person in question (this may also be why Kylo reacts so strongly to Finn escaping as well, in fact. He genuinely cares about people’s loyalty, even from literal no-name soldiers). Though I can’t decide whether he’s this deceptively charming snake or basically an evil Spock. I also can’t decide between him being in this constant state of “Why do I have to babysit this manchild” or giving absolutely no visible f*cks around Kylo no matter what happens, or even straight-up trolling him often, toying with his emotions because it amuses him; preferably two or a bit of all somehow? I can see him using having met Vader as a child to mock Kylo for how much of a pale, childish imitation he is, or reminding Kylo of how much better he is as a leader objectively; perhaps that’s what he holds over Kylo’s head. Or him explaining to Kylo how he was raised by less than stellar parenting and tried so hard to live up to his strict father too… So he brutally murdered Brendol in cold blood (possibly with Phasma’s help), became a better admiral than he ever was, and got over it “Like an adult. Unlike you.”. They’d be in this constant state of delicate, tense equality; Kylo can easily overpower Hux if he pisses him off a bit too much, but Hux is able to walk that fine edge seemingly without much effort. 

But when he realizes whatever grand cosmic plot he and the entire First Order has been participating in this whole time is when, ironically, there would probably be a really dramatic villainous breakdown from him. It’s kind of a Zuko and Azula situation with Kylo and Hux perhaps? Or is this Hux more a mix of Azula and Zhao’s roles rather?

——

Worldbuilding stuff: Since I’m more a character person, there isn’t much here, but because the worldbuilding was another issue in the movies I’ll also be adding these.

The New Republic isn’t nuked in the first movie. In fact it stays there for the duration of the trilogy and the hero faction is now its armed forces, not The Resistance (Also that name makes no sense. Seriously. At least name them The Peacekeeper Corps or Vigilantes or something, or since they’re basically Leia’s personal military maybe the Organa Free Army or Organa Corps or something of that sort. No wonder people mistakenly call them The Rebels sometimes. It’s a similar setup to Chrom’s Shepherds in Fire Emblem Awakening, albeit with a better relationship with the kingdom; it would be downright strange if the Shepherds called themselves The Resistance despite literally existing with the queen’s permission, and it still is here. Hell, Leia’s Shepherds is a better name). There would be elaboration on the political stuff going on behind the scenes, and if Leia isn’t a Jedi that’s her plotline probably, though a big part of me wants her to be part of the action instead of being stuck on the homeworld. 

Meanwhile, The First Order is made up of Imperial Remnants and people and planets who were unsatisfied with the democratic but still new and fragile New Republic. Basically think White Russians if the Soviets weren’t also awful. It happens a lot in history. While it may have some mining planets in its orbit (not literally, you know what I mean) so it can plausibly refurbish anything Kylo wrecks with his tantrums, Starkiller Base is probably a bit much, and a lot of their equipment might be old Imperial or Rebel stuff, or stolen from the New Republic, with new stuff being produced but not in overly high quantity. Some of the equipment deemed less important might even be kind of crappy due to how old they are. They’d probably be at most an equally powerful faction to the Republic, if not smaller than them, seeming more like a terrorist cell. I don’t have much of an idea why Snoke would want to be involved in it yet though. 

But while the First Order might be smaller, the New Republic is hindered by it just now finally gaining its footing, and the military previously only having been used for peacekeeping and sniping stray Imperial remnants. Because it’s peacetime, it might have been kept pretty small, and also the military academies are literally not even 30 years old at this point, so new that it’s possible Poe, despite his youth, was one of the earliest graduates; one of the military’s most high-ranking officers is literally a scoundrel with no formal training - even if he is good at his job - it isn’t exactly a well-oiled machine, though its less rigid, casual structure also does benefit it in some aspects. Also the FO can easily use Kylo as intimidation, and its upper staff is nothing if not driven and motivated as well as ruthless. They may engage in more underhanded actions like sabotage and suicide bombers, or rely on small elite units like the Knights of Ren or small companies of troopers, to poke holes in the enemy just as much as open combat. And maybe if all else fails Snoke causes something really bad to happen seemingly out of nowhere. 

While I do think that making the baddies an Empire 2.0 is an… uncreative decision, I want to keep Finn’s backstory, plus it fits Kylo’s story too so blah, I kind of have to keep it. Plus I want to do Phasma and Hux justice. Maybe Snoke or whatever it serves turns into a giant Eldritch abomination and have no use for the FO anymore. And again, reactionary forces are a thing that have existed throughout early modern history. But as already mentioned, due to the nature of the First Order’s existence, maybe the Stormtroopers aren’t kidnapped, but they were orphans picked off the streets, and/or some more dedicated Imperial parents gave them their children? I had the idea that Troopers like Finn are “Junior Troopers”, the child slave type, while older members, “Senior Troopers”, would be legit Imperial revanchists and former troopers. Maybe there’s a separate company of Juniors who think they’re cool by fighting for the First Order, but generally Juniors would be the lowest on the social rung, though some might make it into higher positions, and don’t know any other life than what they have now. Though I also like the idea that Finn was part of an elite unit directly connected to Kylo Ren like the 501st, so he has a reason to be particularly hurt by his betrayal (but that could throw a wrench in the whole Finn was a faceless cog in the machine thing). They’re pretty Prussian in command structure; officers work under mission-tactics, but the rank-and-file are machine-like in their discipline, more than even some actual droids. The Republic’s forces also probably engage in mission-tactics a lot, except how far it is acceptable goes way further down the chain of command, so stuff like the Holdo situation doesn’t happen. If that situation were to happen when mission-tactics were to be expected Poe’s independent action would be seen as reasonable. This would have potential for very interesting battles and tactics, though I’d need a lot of help with those because I’m the furthest thing from a tactician you can find (but even I can tell the bomber scene from TLJ was dumb, which should say something).

I kind of realized that it’s possible that the four OT legacy characters may end up basically representing four major aspects of the New Republic; the Jedi (Luke), law and justice (Leia, if she’s a senator), the military (Han, if he’s a general), and economics (Lando). I think some worldbuilding into how the republic functions should be explored through these characters as they move the story forward, except for the Jedi since they’re obviously a central focus, and Luke might very well be introduced after them, and the military will also get focus for obvious reasons, and Poe exists. The information definitely needs to be conveyed as efficiently and organically as possible through the story, because there’s two, likely three, equally important main characters and an unholy amount of secondary characters who aren’t exactly minor. 

May write more later idk. I need to be doing other stuff…

[cadlrs]

[   jordan fisher, cis male, he/him   ] ⁠— * oh, here comes CALVIN ADLER ! the twenty-one year old scorpio is often referred to as the recluse. people say they have a tendency to be overwrought and meticulous, but from what i’ve seen, they can be insightful and quixotic too. when they walk by, you’ll probably hear it’s only natural by crowded house playing out of their headphones, but they’re also associated with ink stained hands, glasses that always seem to slip down your nose, and sound of cracking the spine of a new journal. i hear they’re studying graphic design & english and want to become a graphic novelist when they’re older, but who knows what will become of ‘em ! 

hi !! i’m sam and i’m so unbelievably excited to be here !! i’ve been eyeing this group for far too long...i had originally intended to apply for the recluse before the first round of acceptances, but didn’t end up getting to it so when i saw the skeleton was still open...i had to apply ! anyway, i’m a cap sun, taurus moon, aqua rising...we stressed in this home. i live in the wondrous state of california that the group takes place in, i love it dearly, and i am just so so excited to finally get to play my bb calvin ! if you wanna plot (and i’m hoping to plot with all of y’all) you can hmu on discord @ capricorn dad#1278

FULL NAME : calvin jones adler

NICKNAME : cal, cj, he’ll take anything. nicknames are endearing to him. 

BIRTHDAY : tuesday / november 3, 1970 / 4:41 pm

ZODIAC : scorpio sun, capricorn moon, taurus rising 

NATIONALITY : american

RELIGION : christian 

SEXUAL & ROMANTIC ORIENTATION : pansexual, panromantic 

HOMETOWN : san francisco, california 

ACCENT : standard californian 

LANGUAGES SPOKEN : english

MAJOR : graphic design & english

MINOR(S) : fiction writing 

HOBBIES : drawing comics, writing in his journal, 

PETS : a twelve year old tabby cat named pickles

CHARACTER PARALLELS : charlie kelmeckis (perks of being a wallflower), cameron frye (ferrie beuller’s day off)

background/about

born and raised in san francisco. calvin is an only child. his father (robert adler) is a loan officer at a bank and his mother (diane hawke) a professor of english at san francisco state. they were your average, middle class family 

his parents had him pretty late in their lives — they were both already in their 40s. they didn’t meet until they were in their early-mid 30s, got married in their late 30s, and enjoyed a few years of marital life without children before actually trying for a child. not that they had to try hard — calvin was conceived within a short few months of their decision to try for a baby

growing up, calvin had always been a pretty sensitive kid. he was quiet and shy, even around his own family. the one person he could talk and talk to for hours was his maternal grandmother. she had been an english teacher too, like his mother, but she taught high school. she had this one specific rocking chair, and many of his childhood memories are sitting right there curled up in her lap while she read a book to him or told him stories. she had a really vivid imagination, and everyone says that’s where he gets it from. 

Didn’t have very many friends in elementary school. maybe one or two (wc?) friends/neighbors that he walked home with, or ate lunch with in the schoolyard, but he certainly didn’t have a best friend. he always felt like he was missing out on that, but didn’t really know how to take matters into his own hands. his mother would always say, “just march right on up to those kids and say you want to play with them!” but cal didn’t have that sort of mentality or charisma or bravery. 

He wasn’t tormented, but he was bullied by his peers. He spent recess drawing comics, which was looked at as weird. If he wasn’t drawing comics, he was reading them. One boy, Gage London, had been somehow so offended by Calvin reading his comic at lunch that he’d stormed over and ripped it in half, and then in fourths, and had walked away laughing, leaving Cal in tears because...he cried a lot. And his comics were special to him. (bonus wc: your muse gave Gage a piece of their mind? stood up for Calvin?thank u)

He didn’t join the group until he was a freshman in high school, though he may have known your muses prior to that, depending. He tended to blend into the background, so if they had no idea who he was, that would make perfect sense too. The group were the first people to ever take him to a party, where he surely avoided alcohol like the plague because he was nervous, and stood on the sides, watching everyone else, only speaking when spoken to. 

He was 16 the first time he got drunk, obviously with the rest of the group or at least with some of them. It was...a whirlwind of a night. He was drunk on a mixture of wine and cheap vodka, and for a good hour, he felt on top of the world. You would have thought it was a different Calvin. Flash forward an hour later...he had his head in the toilet and was moaning about how he would never drink again. He now knows not to mix drinks like that, thanks very much

He is to this day not much of a talker. He’s a quiet observer but that means he notices the little things. He’s very intuitive and picks up on group dynamics more than the average person might (so if any of y’all were secretly dating...eye emoji...he probably found out LOL)

He feels A LOT. Any emotion he feels, he’ll feel it tenfold. So whether it’s good or bad, happy or sad, he tends to find it draining and overwhelming. He will feel everything very deeply, so as much as he might appreciate constructive criticism, he’ll probably start crying while hearing it. He cries a lot.

So, in regards to feeling things deeply, he falls in love...a lot. Maybe it’s not love and he’s confusing it with infatuation, but it feels like love. He’s probably been in love with half the group for at least one point in his life. He definitely never came clean about any of his feelings for anyone, sooo...

Speaking of that! He’s not quite positive about his sexuality. He knows he’s not attracted to just one gender, because he’s felt a deep love for both. but he also doesn’t know how to put a label on it. he doesn’t feel straight or gay or bi, but he’s figuring it out. 

Senior year, Calvin received his acceptance letter plus a scholarship to attend New York University. He was ecstatic about it. New York was his dream. But he didn’t tell anyone in the group. It wasn’t that he didn’t want them to know, it was that he didn’t want to say goodbye. They were the closest thing he had to feeling like a true family...they were his found family!! And he didn’t know how to leave. But he knew (or thought) when he went to New York, he wouldn’t come back. So he kept his acceptance a secret until the night before he left for school, and when he told them, he had shown up at each of their doors to say goodbye. 

He went to New York, and like he had expected, he didn’t return. His family didn’t have the money to fly him back for all the breaks, so he stayed out there during the winter breaks, and for the summer holidays he found internships which required him to stay in the city. He kept in touch with most (if not all) of the group via letters and the occasional phone call, but even those became sparse as the years went on. 

It’s been 3 school years since he has been back in San Francisco, but he has just returned after finishing his junior year at NYU. He’s back in San Francisco after receiving an internship at the San Francisco Chronicle. 

He’s come out of his shell a little bit more since moving to New York. After all, it is the city. He’s still fairly quiet though, still quite sensitive, and still feels things very deeply. Basically, he’s the same old Calvin, but he can actually start a conversation now. 

[highbuttonsports]

Nate Pearson (2020) Photo retrieved from nate pearson spring training - Bing images

This Ain’t a Season, It’s an Arms Race

If you are like me, the Toronto Blue Jays left you a little wanting this past offseason. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the George Springer signing. How can you not love the Jays bringing in an All-Star calibre centerfielder (3 times from 2017-2019) with a career .270 BA? He makes an already lethal lineup even deadlier. Heck, I even love the signing of Marcus Semien who will make a great double play duo with Bo Bichette. What’s best about that signing is if Bichette misses time (as he did last season), Semien can seamlessly slide over to fill shortstop. When Bo was out last year, the Jays struggled out of the shortstop position and he left a big hole at the top of the lineup. Now, Springer is there to keep the top of the lineup moving for the boppers in the middle. In fact, it seems Springer will be the lead off man in 2021 instead of Bo. Don’t worry though because he will be right behind Springer in the 2-hole. The Blue Jays lineup now has an immense amount of length and an ability to keep the opposing pitcher on alert from 1-9. They are going put up runs by the buckets full, with above average defense there to make plays when needed. All those runs may be greatly needed as a lack of a significant addition or 2 to the rotation leaves question marks throughout.

The Jays needed to make more of a splash this off season in the starting pitching market. Perhaps it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Perhaps it was a lack of monetary fortitude to bet on such a volatile postion. Sure, the signing of Hyun Jin Ryu last off season paid off wonderfully and he is the unquestionably the ace of the staff. In his first season for Toronto, he made 12 starts pitching to a 2.69 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP, with 72 K’s in 67 innings. I fully expect Ryu to again lead the starters in all categories, and even compete for the AL Cy Young. The question marks start immediately after him though. From an already banged up Nate Pearson to an ineffective Tanner Roark, not a single other starting pitcher can be counted on going into 2021.

Let’s start with question number 1 and the pitcher who was expected to be the number 2 starter, Nate Pearson. A lot of great things are expected out of Nate’s golden arm in the future, with the Jays betting on that future coming this season. As the 28th overall pick in the 2017 draft, there is a lot of promise and hope that he can be the next top arm for them. He moved through the system incredibly fast taking only 3 years to reach the majors in 2020. Unfortunately for him last season never really got going. He battled right elbow tightness causing him to only pitch 18 innings, as the Jays wanted to be careful with their prized young pitcher. Luckily the tightness never turned into anything serious as it can indicate a need for the cursed Tommy John surgery. It’s likely that meant his innings were going to be monitored this year anyway, with them not wanting him to go above 120 innings. That means if they theoretically want him to be available in the postseason, Pearson is going to skip some starts along the way. Well, things have a way of working themselves out sometimes. As spring training is underway, he is already on the side lines with a groin strain that will most certainly cause him to start the season on the IL. Nate will be treated no differently than last season and will be handled cautiously. That takes Toronto’s expected number 2 arm out of action even before it begins.

Coincidently enough question number 2 comes from expected number 3 starter, Robbie Ray. At least this question isn’t injury related though. Ray’s issues all stem from inconsistent performance and unreliable control. Sure, he has a big arm as recognized by his enormous strikeout numbers (1042 K’s in 842.1 career innings), but it also comes with high walk numbers (401 BB’s). This combination of high K’s and BB’s leads to rapidly escalating pitch counts and an inability to pitch deep into games. His numbers last season speak to that (2020: 6.62 ERA, 51.2 innings, 68 K’s, 45 BB’s, and only 2 wins in 11 starts). It’s extremely hard to earn a win when rarely pitching into the 5th inning nor limiting extra baserunners. Ray is capable of providing good pitching though as evidenced by his 2017 season with the D backs (2.89 ERA, 162 innings, 218 K’s, 71 BB’s, and 15 wins in 28 starts), which lead to his lone All-Star appearance to date. Even more recently, he had a solid 2019 season for Arizona (4.34 ERA, 174.1 innings, 235 K’s, 84 BB’s, and 12 wins in 33 starts). If Ray can get back on track and give the Jays something in that 2017-2019 numbers range, that would go a long way to help stabilize the rotation.

If you guessed question number 3 comes from the 4 spot, congratulations you are right. That slot is the newly acquired Steven Matz’s to lose. He was brought over from the New York Mets in the off season for a trio of minor league arms in the hopes he can put his injury history behind him. Never the picture of health in his early days as a Met, there were signs maybe he was finally putting it all together in 2018 and 2019. In those 2 seasons he averaged a 4.09 ERA, 152 K’s, 55 BB’s, 157.1 innings, and 8 wins in 30 starts. Then 2020 hit and he only managed 6 starts with a disaster filled 9.68 ERA while dealing with shoulder issues. That can ruin a pitcher if they linger and lead to surgery, but so far this spring Matz he has shown improved control with no residual shoulder pain. Like Ray, if Steven can get back to pitching the way he showed in 2018/2019, then the Jays could have a solid trio of lefties in Ryu, Ray, and Matz.

The last question of the rotation comes not just via the 5th slot, but also the depth behind that. Currently Tanner Roark is expected to be an innings eating back of rotation piece. He has shown he is capable of that by averaging 174.2 innings per season from 2014-2019 with a mutually dependable 3.90 ERA. He has never been a power pitcher, generally trying to pitch to weak contact and allowing his defense to vacuum everything up behind him. Now at 34 years old, it remains to be seen how much more he has left in the tank. If he can fill 150 innings with an ERA around 4.00, the Jays will have more than enough depth behind him to get through the season.

That depth comes in the resigning of swing man Ross Stripling, who already appears headed for a spot in the opening day rotation due to Nate Pearson’s injury. With a career 3.77 ERA and 1.23 WHIP, he should remain the next man up throughout the season. In fact, Ross Stripling, Trent Thornton, Thomas Hatch, Anthony Kay, and T.J. Zeuch should all see significant roles in and out as a starter due to teams not sure how the lack of games and innings on pitcher’s arms in the shortened 2020 season, will affect their ability to take a regular turn. After that, perhaps a couple of the other young promising arms in the minors like Woods-Richardson and Manoah, will get their first tastes of the MLB. The Jays also have Tyler Chatwood in the bullpen, but as the only real lefty out there, he is likely to be cemented in the pen.

So, barring further injuries the starting 5 for the Blue Jays when they break from camp will be, Ryu, Stripling, Ray, Matz, and Roark (assuming Stripling slides in between the 3 lefties somewhere). It’s not an intimidating group by any means, but should everything go right they will be able to navigate the treacherous AL East. That is a lot to ask though in a season where a lot of teams are going to be wondering how to get through it without wearing out their arms. I assume we will see the use of the dreaded opener increase across the board to aid in this. That’s why of all off seasons, it would have been great if the Jays could have reeled in the big fish of Trevor Bauer (extremely expensive, but the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner) or even a Charlie Morton (older but has had his best years in his 30’s). Coulda, shoulda, woulda isn’t going to help now though. All Toronto can do is work hard to keep guys fresh while giving the team the best chance for success. It’s something all teams are going to have to deal with, and whomever gets to the end with their arms intact will have the best chance to win the race that matters…the playoff race.

*All stats come courtesy of baseball-reference.com

By: Jaymee Kitchenham

[riskeith]

hi bb!

oh rip... the ol’ laptop fan situation. it must sound like a plane when you play genshin right? yes, we’re more prepared now. i remember the first few years there were so many fires and stuff to the point where they even made bbq illegal. such a mess, but it took away a fire hazard which is good. i believe aus had the same situation right?

awwww sounds so cute! pokémon go? no i don’t! i dropped it after that summer sjsksjdk. do you play while you’re walking that’s so adorable. wait bakudeku zine??? you’ve peeked my interest.

ooh that makes sense! i thought about the gold seelie too actually! the babie might bring you mora which is always good to have. also there’s fanart of the gold seelie being aether and those are sooo cute. have you seen any?

help i hope xiao knows how lucky he is to have such a devoted fan as yourself!! you’re really pulling all the strings for him i applaud your patience and determination. dude albedo is like... easily one of the prettiest animated character i’ve seen! he’s gorgeous! also i like his elevator move that could be so handy. and for the dancing videos, just search on yt baron bunny dancin or something hehe.

WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. WHAT THE FUCK? wait are you serious? venti’s jpn va is HINATA? I HAD NO IDEA WTF???? god..,. that’s it i’m switching to jpn dub that’s insane... i was actually gonna ask you once if you could apply haikyuu characters to the game who would they be and the only one i was sure about was that hinata would be venti.... 😭 you’re so talented for knowing that hehe.. also you can say that you’re studying when you’re gaming then lmao. study smart not hard. god i’m still in shock over venti. this made my morning ngl.

i have no idea how fic collabs work either. i had a friend that did it once and she said they each wrote a chapter but i feel like that might be confusing if the writers use different writing styles..? idk it seems fun but kind of scary too..

ilytttttt little blushing girl.. <3

it always goes back to dragonspine does it not... 😶 but damn it’s been about a month and you’ve saved 12k that’s super solid. since xiao will be coming around feb that means you’ll have another month-ish to save up as well... so girl you’re def getting him sjdksjdk.. <3 and so much other goodies as well. unless you don’t pull him on the first try you might get some other great characters and weapons/artifacts as well. you need to force me to start saving up too bc if venti is really coming back.. i /have/ to get him esp now that i know about the va..

they’re adorable! i don’t know much about their story but i think they’re best friends, right? which makes it even more adorable. and there’s so much fanart of them as well. dude speaking of, genshin stans make the BEST fanart. i spend hours just looking at them and it’s perfect. i imagine there’s so much on twitter too, right?

god. remember shiro and adam. dreamworks would def not do that.. lmao...

your bravery for even considering posting wip. i’m taking my hat off for you. also, one writer to another; how does your writing process usually go? i’m always interested in seeing how other fic writers work bc it varies so much.

oh!! i was all over the place but i really liked sm groups. and loona! you don’t like slow songs? like even slow indie? aksjjdhdkdhf im gonna keep asking to find a middle group bc right now i’m super lost help...

i don’t really like sleeping in so it’s fine HEHE it’s 9 am now and i woke up about an hour ago which was perfect. 10 hour sleep? immaculate. not yikes. sleeping is always good never stress about it shjdhdjd, think about when you go back to school and have to pull all nighters etc.

kiss <3

heya!!

yeah HAHAAH it gets so hot omg.. and my laptop is supposed to have pretty good specs so i can’t imagine what it would’ve been like if i tried to play on my old one yikes 😬 oh shoot! yeah we have a fire danger rating too, the second lowest one is “high” and it goes beyond “extreme” to “code red”/“catastrophic” lollll. and we’ve regularly got fire bans in the summer to try and prevent anything! 

hfsdkjfhs summer 2016? god i remember that time so clearly... iconic 😩 i do play sometimes! normally if there are any mystic gyms around me to join, otherwise i’m kinda lazy about actually catching the pokemon HAHA oops. https://twitter.com/kotatsutomikan1 here!! does that mean 👀 you main bkdk 👀👀👀

oooo i thought the seelies were actually just there for decoration? AHAH. yessss I saw one with a whole lineup! https://twitter.com/icedkappe/status/1347555831831699457 look how cute 🥺 ugh but that reminds me of something i was thinking of earlier today, i hope they’ll introduce skins or something later down the line? fshdk like think of the potential. it always upsets me when i click the hanger icon and it only lets me change their glider fhsjfskfjsdjkf

god when i saw albedo’s hair... <3333333 and also his eyes??? um chief alchemist? more like PRETTIEST alchemist. yesss i’ve been doing plunge attacks a lot more recently (preparing for xiao?) and honestly ugh if i had albedo.. I LOOKED THOSE VIDEOS UP!!! THEY ARE SO FUCKING ADORABLE WHAT EHE FSUCJK!!!!!!  my god. fancam for characters who? ? from now on only fancams of baron bunny are allowed 😤😤😤

AHAHAH YEAH HE IS!!!! wait have you finished the world quest with him tho?? either way i’m sure you’ll be able to find clips of it in japanese dub online... his ‘ehe’ is so cute my god.. study smart not hard my motto!!!! <3 

yeah I feel like chapters is confusing which is why separating by POV might work better? definitely scary tho lol .... such uncharted territory for me

IM DEF GETTING HIM!!! xiao i am patiently waiting for you to come home 👐🙇‍♀️ yes!! i really hope the four stars on his banner are good bc i’m def gonna be pulling it a lot AHAHHA i hope hm.... i wanna get xingqiu to match with chongyun but beido seems so cool too 😩 tho i already have so many claymore users fsdhfksdfhsjd. oh that also reminds me venti’s elemental burst dialogue ‘kaze da!’ is so cute... like his voice is so melodic??? omg.... WAIT lemme send you this interview i found https://youtu.be/g3floaU41Uc !! AND START SAVE UP MARRIAGE ANON!!!!! tho i think he’s like 5 banners away so you still have time if you do wanna pull now... fhdsfkjds

they are!!! chongyun has this line in his story profile “Who could he possibly trust, if not his fine friend Xingqiu?” 🥺🥺🥺🥺😭😭😭😭😭😭 how cute is he i love him so much :((((((((((((( yeah there are so many on twitter!! i don’t see much on tumblr tbh bc i don’t look at my dash too often AHHAHA but it’s all over my twitter timeline~ 

my writing process depends!! but typically i type out the outline of a fic/write out certain scenes, then fill in everything around that ahaha. usually my ideas come from a line i thought up that i really like or just a concept. i usually also type out my plans in all caps LOL. i hope that makes sense lmaooo how about you? do you just go for it or plan everything out first?

ooo yeah sm have some really nice stuff... and nice! i never gave loona a shot FJKDHFKSJ. i don’t think so?? the slow songs i do like are usually exceptions rather than the rule LMAO but i like hozier’s stuff even tho they’re slow (but who doesn’t? AHAH) honestly i couldn’t even give you examples bc i can’t think of any FHSDKFJS like i guess for example, lovely by billie eilish and khalid, i like the song but on a normal day if it came up on shuffle i’d skip it? FHSFKSD im so sorry legit i am no help at all fhskdfhsjdfjsdkfhsdhkfhk but what are some artists you listen to often?

i never pull all-nighters!! it’s kinda like my rule, even if i’m absolutely fucked i’ll deal with it later rather than not sleep fhskjfsdf. (or maybe i just haven’t reached that stage yet... i hope not!). also wait a second i just registered what you wrote.. YOU WOKE UP AT 8AM????????? my goodness... legit i don’t think i did that a single time in 2020. there was a week i woke up at 8:30 every day but very quickly i started sleeping in again omg... that energy! i’m also gonna try start waking up early but it’s hard when i go to bed then read fic 😩

kisses!!! hope your day has been swell so far xoxo

[othersportsnews-blog]

Real or not? Mike Trout still has a chance at MVP - SweetSpot

New Post has been published on https://othersportsnews.com/real-or-not-mike-trout-still-has-a-chance-at-mvp-sweetspot/

Real or not? Mike Trout still has a chance at MVP - SweetSpot

Mike Trout turned 26 on Monday. All he did to celebrate was hit a line double into the left-field corner for his 1,000th career hit, and then belt a home run high off the left-field foul pole for an encore.

The Baltimore Orioles got the big celebration, however, as Manny Machado broke a 2-2 tie with a grand slam in the seventh:

Exit stage left, Manny: https://t.co/jyxtKfeNpi #PapaSlam pic.twitter.com/S0BcgQGf6Y

— MLB (@MLB) August 8, 2017

The Orioles are now 8-2 in their past 10 games and back to .500, sitting just 1.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals for the second wild-card spot after the St. Louis Cardinals pounded Kansas City 11-3 on Monday night.

But let’s talk about Trout, who is now hitting .346/.464/.716 with 23 home runs and 52 RBIs. The two-time MVP was out for 39 games with a thumb injury and missed a few other games earlier in the season with a tight hamstring, so he has missed 45 of the Los Angeles Angels‘ 113 games. It might seem impossible for Trout to be part of the American League MVP race after missing that much time, but don’t write him off just yet.

Let’s start with where he ranked among the AL leaders in Baseball-Reference WAR position players entering Monday:

Jose Altuve: 6.3

Andrelton Simmons: 5.7

Aaron Judge: 5.3

Mookie Betts: 5.2

Carlos Correa: 4.9

Trout: 4.4

Note: Judge led Altuve 6.0 to 5.7 in FanGraphs WAR, with Trout third at 4.9.

You have to discount the chances of Simmons and Betts winning, since a large percentage of their value is defensive and unlikely to be rewarded in MVP voting given that Simmons ranks 29th in the AL in OPS and Betts ranks 32nd. Correa, meanwhile, is out for at least another four to five weeks with his own thumb injury, so Trout will pass him up. Judge, meanwhile, has hit .182/.333/.377 since the All-Star break and has lost momentum in the “What have you done for me lately?” category. The rookie still leads the league in homers, runs, OBP (tied with Altuve) and slugging, while tied for third in RBIs, but Trout would easily lead in OBP and slugging if he had enough plate appearances.

The point is that with Judge slumping, the race is a little more wide open than it was a month ago, when the Yankee looked like the runaway favorite. But if Trout plays the remaining 49 games for the Angels the way he’s played so far, he’d accumulate about 3.3 WAR (Baseball-Reference) or 3.7 (FanGraphs), bringing his totals up to 7.7 or 8.6, depending on the source. And that’s certainly MVP territory.

(For the record: This isn’t to dismiss Chris Sale, who leads in wins, ERA, strikeouts and pitching WAR and should certainly be part of the discussion.)

Some of Trout’s counting stats might not rank up there, but he’ll still be among the leaders in runs created. Altuve and Judge rank first and second among current AL leaders. But Trout isn’t far behind at sixth.

Here are the projected totals based on current rate of production and all three guys playing every remaining game:

Altuve: 141.8

Judge: 140.1

Trout: 128.2

That puts Trout close, and it’s likely that Altuve and Judge don’t keep producing at their current rates; Altuve in particular won’t be playing every game down the stretch with the Astros holding such a big lead. Trout’s rate stats in getting on base and power might be so impressive that his value at the plate could end up equaling Altuve’s or Judge’s.

Now, for Trout to have a real shot, the Angels probably have to make the playoffs. They had climbed back to .500 but have since lost three in a row, so those chances are slimmer than they were three days ago. If they do somehow find a way to sneak into a wild-card berth, though, Trout is going to get a lot of credit … as he should.

Look, it will be difficult because Altuve and Judge still will end up with big numbers at season’s end, and we know the Astros will make the playoffs. Because of that, Altuve feels like the favorite right now, but there’s a lot of baseball left to play.

The Nationals’ bullpen is coming together. Good game in D.C. between the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals. Bryce Harper cracked a solo home run in the fourth inning, his 29th of the season. Then in the sixth, with the Nationals ahead 2-1, Giancarlo Stanton would tie the game with a home run off Max Scherzer, his 37th of the year and fourth in four games. That solo shot came on a 3-1 fastball, belt high and over the middle of the plate — after Scherzer had shaken off Matt Wieters several times. Stanton had swung through a 2-0 fastball and Scherzer thought he could slip one past him again. Nope.

The Nationals won the game with some old-school baseball in the bottom of the eighth. Wilmer Difo led with a base hit, Andrew Stevenson sacrificed him to second, and with two outs, pinch hitter Adam Lind singled in Difo. Sean Doolittle then closed it out for his sixth save since joining the Nationals.

Dusty Baker’s late-game bullpen suddenly is pretty good. He has gone with Doolittle as the closer over Brandon Kintzler, who had 28 saves with the Twins before he was traded, even though Doolittle is the lone lefty. Kintzler, who pitched the eighth inning on Monday, will be a setup guy along with Ryan Madson, with Matt Albers the fourth guy.

Doolittle missed time early in the season, but his numbers are worthy of that ninth-inning role: 30.1 IP, 19 H, 6 BB, 39 SO. He still goes after batters with a lot of fastballs up in the zone — he has thrown his fastball nearly 90 percent of the time this season — and he hasn’t had much of a platoon split in his career, so you don’t care that he’s left-handed. The only blip that is a minor cause for concern is the four home runs allowed, the one risk as he pounds the strike zone.

Anyway, those top four have been hard to hit:

Among relievers with at least 30 innings, Madson ranks eighth in wOBA allowed, Doolittle 10th, Kintzler 50th and Albers 55th. The only team with more relievers in the top 55 are the New York Yankees, who have six. The Chicago Cubs also have four, plus Pedro Strop, who ranks 57th. What’s interesting is the Los Angeles Dodgers have only Kenley Jansen, who ranks first. Their second-best reliever by wOBA is Pedro Baez, who ranks 61st. Look, some of these differences are small, but it seems like the Washington Nationals‘ bullpen is now essentially on par with Chicago’s and maybe better than L.A.’s.

Speaking of that Stanton home run … Here it is:

Four in four games. Ties a career high with 37 home runs.

Ain’t nothin’ but a G thing. pic.twitter.com/8X4LIaF3x1

— MLB (@MLB) August 8, 2017

To get an idea just how elite Giancarlo Stanton is, his now 13.81 career AB per HR is top 5 among all hitters. Ever.

(H/T @baseball_ref) pic.twitter.com/4QzSCHJzev

— Patrick Pinak (@pinakk12) August 8, 2017

With this recent little hot stretch, Stanton is on pace for 54 home runs. Of course, his biggest factor to matching his career high in home runs is that he has missed just two games after missing an average of 47 the past five seasons. But he has also been much better than last season, with an OPS 166 points higher. Two keys besides good health: His swing-and-miss rate is down 3.6 percent, and his chase rate is down 4.8 percent (and is the lowest of his career). He hit .218 against “soft” pitches last year, but that better pitch recognition and patience have allowed him to hit .260 and slug .559 against those pitches (curve, slider, changeup, splitter) in 2017.

Inside-the-park home run of the day: AT&T usually takes away home runs, but on Monday it gave one to Javier Baez:

Somehow it’s not surprising that @javy23baez would do this. pic.twitter.com/qo4u4OnCzB

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 8, 2017

The Milwaukee Brewers had a chance to climb back into first place in the National League Central on Monday, but they blew a lead and lost 5-4 to the Twins — Domingo Santana froze on a line drive that sailed over his head, helping the Minnesota Twins score the go-ahead runs in the seventh — and the Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, so the reigning champs’ lead is back to 1½ games.

Catch of the day: Left fielder T.J. Nichting of the Aberdeen IronBirds sacrificed his body for one of the best catches of the season at any level:

Forget foul territory, this incredible @MILB catch is SEATS territory. https://t.co/9MP0ulPW90 pic.twitter.com/XV8Jn0FKfz

— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 8, 2017

Great catch, T.J. See you in the majors in four years.

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[leona0305-blog]

[Translation]Dawn

Chen Su's greatest dream is to go to college in a modern city. He is always working on it and never gives up.

After graduating from town's primary school, his mother who plays the role as decision maker in the family determined to let her children continue being educated in town - which is rarely in their poor village. What a high expense it is! Always carrying heavy food, sharing one dormitory with other 15 boys, Chen Su had stayed in the Town's Second school for six year, covering all his middle school term. He has two brothers, one called Chen Hao is one years older than him and they two are in same class, the other one named Chen Kai is two years younger than him, one grade lower than him. Chen Su seldom went home. The three would carry food and clothes from home in turns. Their youth age was in this crowd dormitory, what belongs to them privately is narrow, only a half of bunk bed.

Chen Su is the second boy in his family, neither the first or the childish youngest. He isn't prominent. Chen Hao is frank and outgoing and Chen Kai is good at self-expression. Compared to the two, Chen Su is humble, including his behavior, characteristic and score. Wearing thick glasses, learning all days, he isn't genius and only could using diligence to make up.

Family Chen should be well-known in the township. Although their mother only stayed in school until grade three, but it isn't mean she is a woman with a little knowledge, she gave three boys and one girl birth with their honest father. She must be the supporter for bringing up children with the aim to guard themselves against troubles when they are old; the youngest two are out of country's birth control policy. No longer after the third son's birth, the mother is so smart to discern the curbside kitchen wall with low lime powder - - “shop”. Then she brought soy sauce, vinegar, cheap cigarettes in town's wholesale market. And one month later she found it had more benefit than farming. So she didn't establish high house but to build a pretty and spacious shop using glass cabinets to display goods.

The father was not pleased about it because he was dying to build new house. However he didn't complain because it is never him but the mother to do the decision in this family. Never mind, in the following days, the booming business and the increasing income made him so glad that maybe he would even wake up with smile in night.

Having these money, the three brothers all could go to school for six years. This is complimentary by village people and they all thought the three will go to college in big city. Every time children have a long holiday, there would be a lot of young people in Chen's house. In the village, it is common to graduate from secondary school and start working. They fall in love and marry each other so early. The girls will be recommended good boys for marriage purpose when around 18. However, nobody introduces girls to the three boys because they agreed that they would go to big city and would live in city and marry urban people. All that must make their mother very confident!

In next one year, Che Hao goes to a south junior college learning accounting. Chen Su's score isn't ideal so he studied one more year and has the College entrance examination together with Chen Kai. That year, Chen Kai is admitted by a second level college in Su Zhou, which means the village has an actual college student, and Chen Su is still admitted by a junior college. But Chen Su's school locates in capital so he is content about it.

Having got two letters of admission, their frank father is so happy. Certainly, all around the villages nearby, no one but their family has 3 collage students! The officials walking by would give a greetings. And as long as there has any events, wedding or funeral, others would never forget to invite him. Just during this summer, the groomsmen of all weddings in this village are his three sons. There are so many wedding candies which make the father excited and feel powerful to do farming or any other works.

And for the two new collage students, they have a good time until September - the day for school.They carry the most fashionable cowboy bags on their backs and new bright red trunk to meet their future and new life. Because of family's business, the mother is loath to achieve the 30 RMB income. So she doesn't have a farewell with her son in station. The life is too tough to afford the three son opportunity to go to collage. Although family Chen starts to be poor their mother would never give up.

Chen Su has arrived in the Junior Collage in Beijing. It is really far away from Tian'an Gate but he still feels satisfactory. The new school is much bigger than his middle school’s. The ancient and grant trees tell the school's age. Contentment is Chen Su's nature. The whole city is really huger than Su's assumption. Only the distinct area of his school is as big as the small town. And the local people is more rustic than his imagination, not so modern as the town's young people. They still wear lain cloth shoes. In town, people often wear leather shoes. To prepare for this time going to school, mother Chen bought them white Nike running shoes specially which made other young people felt envious and also wanted to own one.

The feeling of freshness has reduced after the first learning term. Chen Su has been to The Grate Wall and the Imperial Palace then no more. He has no interest in evaluate the ancient things but only is dying for a stable job in big city. To be an official and live in city is more attractive to him than to appreciate the places of historic interest and scenic beauty.

Same as the time in middle school, Chen Su is a man with few word and few friends. His seven roommates are friendly. Chen Su isn't a person hard to get along with, just a little niggard due to his poor family. It is known by Chen Su how hard to support three collage sons only depends on farming and a small shop. He never has the capital to be generous.

The village changes a lot after half a year. There are more different shops along by the road. Some acquaintances at same age have married and even have child. More and more people go to the south to earn their lives. At the time of Chinese New Year, they dress pretty, with suit, tie and the most modern BB machine.Afraid of only the three brothers haven't work yet among the peer friends, Chen Su always has no common issues to talk with friends and he would never be the center of the young.Chen Su goes back to room and immersing in the future after two and a half years.

Chen Su comes back school several days earlier because of the peak transport period during the Spring Festival. He is the earliest of the dorm, then cleaning the room and sunshine his quilt. Then he has dinners with the food carried from home to save the money for several days' board expense.Taking advantage that now there is  rarely few people, he has a bath in the school bathroom, then puts on clean clothes and sweep away the journey dirty. That day, with all the dream about youth age and longing for a more beautiful life, Chen Su goes shopping in the sunset. He walks along the walls of the school from the gate, reading for a long time in a small bookstore alongside for the street until the owner politely asks him to leave, then returns school under the dim road light, finally finds the gate of this side had been closed due to it is more than half past ten. He has to turn to another gate. Touching the 5 RMB in his pocket and thinking the book which hasn't read completely, he runs cross the road - the bookstore is on the other side of the street.

Such strong light, strident clamor for the brake, frightened at the moment Chen Su has knew nothing.

Chen Su wakes up because the stomach is very sick, like the feeling of motion sickness. Car sickness is the fatal weakness of Chen Su.

Chen Su turns up in a car , heating with smell of gasoline and leather let Chen Su sick, Chen wonders why he is in the car? He has no idea about how to open the car's door. And he is confused that there are several people are digging a hole and chatting out of the car after he looks outside. He temporarily could think nothing.

The car door has been opened by some one, Chen Su and him are sharing at each other. Chen Su feels so cold after getting out of the car ignorantly. Compared temperature to the car with heating, outside would let man frozen. Where is here? Chen Su wonders, except of the area where the car light is shining, other area is so dark. Chen Su suddenly reminds the strong light and squealing brakes before faint.