Universal Han and Leia Fanfic Truths: The Sequel

No, this is not a story update. We still want to do some normal posts, too, not just turn it into a story blog. You'll have to wait until Friday. The universal truths post is by far and away our most popular post on the site. So I decided to see if I could come up with some more options. Some of these were taken from comments of the last post, but I think they're worth repeating.

1. Mon Mothma doesn't like Han and/or his relationship with Leia. You'd be hard pressed to find a fic in which Mon Mothma is all excited for Leia and ready to help her pick out a wedding dress. She either wants Leia to lose Han and marry someone else "for the good of the New Republic" or she just doesn't seem to think that Han is good enough for her and she can do better. Why does she seem to hold some personal interest in Leia's love life? Is it just because she's apparently the only other woman in the galaxy? All she does in the movies is give exposition, yet we have her meddling in Han and Leia's relationship constantly. Perhaps she just wants Han to herself...

2. Their relationship is often plagued with others saying that Han isn't "good enough" for Leia. Sometimes this gets used a bit too often since it's such an easy and obvious way to put a strain on their relationship, but I'll admit to using it now and again. I suppose there are certainly legitimate reasons for people to see things this way. The fact is I don't think I've ever read a story where Han's buddies are telling him he should break it off with Leia, where many, many stories have Leia being told by lots of people that she shouldn't be with Han. Yeah, I suppose she's a princess, but is she really anymore? And it's not like the Royal House is even alive anymore to disapprove. The girl has suffered enough, can't you just let her date who she wants? Besides, the guy ends up a general of the New Republic and was integral in taking down both Death Stars along with protecting Leia and many others. Isn't that good enough?

3. Han buys Leia presents and surprises her a lot, and Leia almost never does either of those things. For some reason we all seem to think that Han would buy Leia special presents or surprise her with dinners or vacations or whatever. I have read very little in which Leia buys Han a present or surprises him with something. Do we all think that Han constantly has to vie for her affection, even in marriage? That just giving him herself is enough and she doesn't owe him anything else? Do we just love the idea of Han doing these nice, romantic things for Leia? I've actually thought about writing something in which Leia gives Han a meaningful present. The problem? I can't think of anything. I mean, with her it can be something commemorating Alderaan or something about the kids or jewelery or all sorts of different things. I don't know of anything he would get excited about. Engine parts, maybe? But that hardly seems like a romantic present.

4. General Rieekan is like a surrogate father to Leia. This was touched on a bit in the comments of the last post, but I think it is worth repeating. Let's all think back to The Empire Strikes Back. I'm sure anyone reading this blog pretty much has it memorized. Remember General Rieekan? I am pretty sure that if all you did was watch the movies a million times without reading any supplemental material that you wouldn't even know which one he was. Leia mentions his name once, but we can't really be sure which person she's referring to. There's nothing that tells us it was that guy who Han told he had to leave. He has a handful of lines that aren't particularly important. I suppose the only thing about him is that apparently he actually likes Han and appreciates his participation in the Rebellion based on telling him he's a good pilot and he doesn't want to lose him. Okay, well, I guess that's something. How do we even know he's from Alderaan? He says about two things to Leia. But in a lot of stories, apparently he was with her a lot growing up and she goes to him for a lot of fatherly advice. And in spite of what we all know most fathers would probably think of Han Solo, he seems quite supportive of their relationship. Go figure.

5. Leia is often portrayed as cold and unfeeling and doesn't like to be touched. This one doesn't make that much sense if you go back and watch the movies. Aside from Han, who she is actively trying to push away, think about how touchy/feely she is in the movies. I mean, within a very short time of being rescued she hugs and/or kisses all three of her rescuers. She hugs Han after the garbage masher stops, she kisses Luke on the cheek before they swing over the chasm and then again before he goes off in his X-wing. She hugs Chewie - who she had just recently referred to as a walking carpet - after they destroy the Tie Fighters. She hugs Han and Luke again when they come back from destroying the Death Star. Do these sound like the kinds of things that a cold and unfeeling woman would do? Probably not. And once she and Han share their first kiss, she almost always has her hands on him when they're together, even if just casually. She's actually quite openly affectionate.

6. Han is all about having kids and Leia is reluctant. All right, I guess if you found out you were carrying Darth Vader's DNA you might be a bit worried about what your kids would turn out like. But Leia never seems anxious to have kids. You'd think maybe on the other side of the fence, she'd really long to create a family of her own after she lost hers. On the other end of things, let's think about Han's recent past. Flying around without having to answer to anyone, doing what he wants when he wants. Sleeping with just about anyone he wants. Do you suppose in the midst of all of those smuggling runs and one-night-stands he spent much time longing to hold a baby in his arms? I don't think so. I get that things obviously would change for him once he met someone he might actually want to have kids with, but he is never the one to step forward and say, "Whoa, wait a second. If we have kids, doesn't this mean that we won't just be able to have sex anywhere we want whenever we want? I'm not sure I'm that excited about this idea..."

7. Han never has second thoughts about getting married. This sort of goes with the above. The guy took an awfully long time to commit to the Rebellion, and that was far less of a commitment than marriage would be. Now, of course I'd like to think that he wants to marry her from very early on, no doubt in his mind. But I haven't really come across anything where he sort of steps back and thinks that maybe settling down might be too much for him, as would kind of being stuck dealing with Leia's career. Not to mention only getting to sleep with one woman for the rest of his life. Like I said, I don't really see him being reluctant about marriage, but it's an option that hasn't really been explored and given his past you could certainly make an argument that that would be in character.

8. Leia often lets her work/career take precedence over her personal life. Again, I suppose you could argue that this is kind of what her character is like in the movies, so it makes sense. But wait, does it? Let's think about this. After enduring what we can only assume was brutal torture on board the Death Star, she doesn't reveal where the Rebel base is. Then, they decide to target her home planet for destruction. She caves immediately. I mean, I know she lied, but she basically let her personal feelings override her duty there. Same thing later on when she goes to find Han on Tatooine. You think the Rebellion might have thought sending Leia, one of their faithful leaders, and Luke, one of their commanders and a Jedi, to find one ex-smuggler pilot while there was another Death Star being built? I'm pretty sure that wasn't considered a priority. She dropped it all for a personal mission. So why later on do we have her so preoccupied with work and ignoring her family when in the movies it would seem that she is willing to drop "duty" without a second thought if it will help her loved ones? Yeah, think about that.

So there you have it, part 2 of the universal truths. As always, feel free to comment on what I've written here or add more. We love getting comments on the blog. Not only makes it feel like people are actually reading it but encourages some discussion and maybe sparks some interesting debates.