2017 Valentine's Challenge Submission #1 by JainaDurron7

Just thought I'd explain first that I had this story idea a few weeks ago and I got the idea for this scene FOR that story, but I opted on not writing that story. It was going to be focused on Han and Leia's relationship after ROTJ and Leia is struggling with comprehending their relationship status, I guess. It became this whole thing where she felt overwhelmed from the past years' events, especially that trip to Bespin. This is kind of what I was imagining for the resolution scene.

-----------------------------------

Not even a minute into the conversation and it was already starting to sound like an argument. Leia took a deep breath, but it sounded more like a sigh. “No!” Frustrated only with herself, Leia knotted her hands up in her hair. “This isn't about Luke's faith in Vader. Not entirely. And this isn't about me and Luke! It's something else...“

   

 “Something else?” Han questioned.

   

 “It's something...something else Luke told me.”

    

 “Look, sweetheart, Luke's been pushing you really far. He just doesn't get how hard a time you're having-”

    

 “This isn't about Luke.”

    

 “...Then what is it about?”

   

“Luke told me everything Obi-Wan said to him. It's Vader.” There it was. The words were finally edging off Leia’s tongue, and she grew frustrated with how it relieved her and tied her stomach into tighter knots.

    Han frowned, shaking his head. He started towards her, but Leia stepped back. “Vader can't hurt you anymore,” Han promised.

"Yes," she corrected him. “He can. And he is. Luke told me-Obi-Wan said-Before Vader became Vader- he was someone else. And he was our father.” When Leia managed these words, her voice was so deep and so dark, Han almost missed it. But he didn't. He heard her just fine.

     

Han’s face went hard, almost angry, Leia thought. His jaw set firm, he shook his head. Slowly at first, by growing in intensity and speed. “No,” he said. “No. That can't be true. Vader was evil, dark, twisted, inhuman- a monster. And you, Leia, you're so good. You're . . . you represent everything that's good in this galaxy. . . . You're everything good in my galaxy.”
    

 Tears began to pool in her eyes, but Leia found the strength to shake her head. “No, Han . . . “
    

“Leia . . . ”
    

Leia didn’t bother to wipe her tears, though she wanted to. They hadn’t escaped her eyes yet and Leia had herself convinced that if she didn’t make a move to try and hide them, Han might not notice they were there. “Vader is my father,” she finally admitted. To herself. To her ghosts. To Han and the world surrounding her. She spoke it into the air, which carried it along. “It’s Vader. He can hurt me. He is. It’s him and he won’t stop following me.”
    

Han’s posture relaxed. He raised a hand, sighing, and dragged it down his face. “You’re letting him still bother you? That’s what’s been bothering you this whole time?”
     

Leia shook her head and a few tears escaped. She bit down on her tongue. “It’s everything, Han. And now it’s Vader, too.”
    

“Everything?” Han frowned. “Everything what? Alderaan?” He spoke the name of her home softer than the rest of his words and it warmed Leia’s heart just a bit.
    

Leia gave a shrug, throwing her arms out in surrender. “Everything, Han! That’s precisely what I mean! Everything! Alderaan, the Death Star, Ord Mantell, Bespin-”
    

“Leia, relax-”
    

“I can’t!” Leia grabbed at her hair again, digging her fingers against her scalp until it hurt. “You were right, Han! You were right! It’s everything! It’s catching up to me. The last three years, it’s too much! Everything! I’ve lost everything! And everything that’s happened! It’s all catching up to me!”
     

Han’s features softened, but Leia wasn’t looking at him. She could no longer meet his gaze let alone even bear the sight of him. The last three years and everything that had happened, everything Leia had seen and done and heard, all hit her in an instant of memories and images. They played so fast in Leia’s head, she could feel a headache coming on, but still she tried to decipher it all, to slow down each scene, each spinning holo in her head. It was dizzying.

     

She saw Han. Over and over again. Like a long, winding road far ahead of her, he stood, smiling that roguish, charming, lopsided grin. Leia reached for him, but her arm was knocked away by the whirlwind of memories surrounding her. First, there was Alderaan and Bail and Breha Organa. Leia leaped from her bed and hurried down the grand marble staircase to be swept into her father’s waiting arms. She was still little and so Bail held her close, tickling her until  she laughed. But then he was blown away in a storm of rolling fire. An explosion. And it was Vader’s fault. Vader stood behind her, his grip just tight enough on her shoulder. Then, there was Ord Mantell, followed by a few months on Hoth, followed by several months on the Falcon, headed for Bespin. There, Leia remembered what she saw unfolding in her mind’s eye: the mixed jumble of feelings  she had to decipher, the many things she didn't want to admit that she felt. And Han was there. For the first time in that way Leia had first allowed him to be on that long trip. He was there every night, racing to where she slept when she woke in screams from a string of furious nightmares. He was there, like Mustafar, melting away all the ice that she had encased herself in. He was there, shattering her, finding his way in, and showing Leia just how badly she did need a scoundrel in her life.
     

And a first kiss that sent Leia to the far reaches of the galaxy, in pieces, completely lost, yet as whole as she could ever be.
    “

What’s going on, Leia?” the Han of now asked so gently, yet firmly and oh so lovingly. “What’s happening in your mind?”
     

At first, Leia could only shake her head. “It all happened so fast. It was going so fast, Han, I didn’t know what to do.”
   

“What was going fast?”
     

“Us. Han, we’re going so fast! For three years, all we did was bicker, but then came Hoth and Bespin and we were together for a while- but then there was Fett and Vader and they took you away from me. Then I got you back and I thought I was in control after all that had happened, but I’m not, Han. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know where we are. I want to think that this whole ‘I know’ thing is enough . . . “ More tears escaped. “But I don’t know that it is anymore. I know what it means between us; I’ll never doubt that, but I don’t know what it means for us, Han. What are we? What’s happening? What’s going on?”
     

Leia finally stopped and even the air seemed to go still as a long silence fell between them. Han took another step towards Leia. And another. Leia’s feet remained in place this time. She stood there, still as day, until Han was standing right before her, their bodies less than a foot apart. One of Han’s hands reached up and lazily cupped her cheek. He eyed her carefully, almost inspecting her. Finally, he dropped his hand, stepped back, and held the same hand out to her. “Come with me.”
     

Leia almost stepped back. Staring at his outheld hand, she asked quietly, “Where are we going?”
    

“Not far, I promise. Just come with me.”
     

Leia eyed his outstretched hand carefully. His gaze was soft and Leia trusted Han undoubtedly, but she didn’t know what to expect. She knew Han had odd ways of shattering her like nothing else could. He could melt her in two words and build her up in a single kiss. He did strange things to her and Leia had no idea what he was going to do to her now. But Han had never let her down, so Leia slipped her hand into his.
    

In a quick, jerking move, Han pulled Leia to him and, before Leia knew it, lifted her into his arms. He stood there a moment, his gaze locked with hers. “I don’t know where we’re at, either, Leia. But I do know where I want to be with you. I think we can figure it out together.”
     

Hanging on to her one bit of sanity that was Han, Leia responded, “Show me.”
     

Han held her tight to his chest and carried her down the hall of the Falcon.Leia took a sharp breath when Han took a turn that put them before the refresher door. Han set Leia down on her feet and flicked a finger across the pad beside the refresher. The door glided up, opening for Han. He walked in, pulled off his shirt, then turned to look at Leia. He nodded once. “Come in.” Leia took a slow step in with him and the door was quick to slide shut behind her. She half-turned to glance at it, startled. When she turned back to face Han, he was looking at her with a grin that was small, but filled with such devotion; it was enough to take Leia’s breath away.

     

Han flicked a couple of the light settings until the refresher was lit in dim, candle-like lights. He stripped down right in front of her, then threw one leg over the edge of the tub at a time. He beckoned her to join him, holding out a hand.

     

Leia shook her head. “No. Han, I don't want to do that.”

   

Han shook his head, a smile still on his mouth. “No, sweetheart. Not that. Just a shower.”

     

Leia raised her brows. “Just a shower?”

      

“Alright,” Han said, rolling his head. He was smirking. “A hot shower.”

     

Without another thought, Leia dropped her skirt and it fell in a silky puddle around her feet. Then, she grabbed and held the hem of her blouse with both hands and pulled it over her head. It fell to the floor beside her skirt. She joined Han standing in the tub and Han reached over her shoulder to pull the curtain across the rod. Leia moved aside so Han could turn the water on and Leia nearly jumped at the sensation of hot water suddenly raining on her. Han pulled her into the focus of the shower head’s water with him. And held her in his arms.

     

“The past, whether it be yours or mine, doesn't matter to me. And it shouldn't matter to you, either. I love you, Princess. That's all that matters,” his deep, bass voice rumbled in Leia’s ear. His hands ran up her arms before stretching up to tousle his own wet hair. From the shower caddy, he grabbed a bottle of shampoo and lathered some into his hair before washing it out. Leia just watched him, mesmerized by his calmness. Once he finished, Han grabbed Leia’s shampoo and asked her simply, “May I?” Leia nodded and turned so Han could clean her hair. But Han turned her back and caught her lips with his for a kiss. He was also the one to part the kiss, turning to the task at hand of washing Leia's hair.

    

He lathered some soap into her hair and gently scrubbed it around, his hands massaging her scalp. When he finished rinsing out the suds, Han dropped his hands from her hair to her bare hips. 

He kissed her again, this time giving it time. Leia leaned into it. Her arms found their way behind and up Han’s back until her hands were knotted up in his hair. Han drew her body closer, closer to his and Leia let him know what she thought of Han’s idea.

     

 Han’s mouth wandered off course from Leia's lips, instead trailing across her slender shoulder while his hands held her hips still. “I love you, Princess,” Han muttered again, his mouth now leaving soft kisses across her narrow jaw. “So much.”

     

Leia held onto him for balance until he let go of her. Afraid her legs would give out from beneath her, Leia half stumbled her way behind Han who turned with her to watch her. Leia grabbed Han and kissed him, throwing her arms around his neck to help pull herself to her toes to reach him. She pressed her lips hard against his until her breath ran out and she stumbled back against the sanisteam wall beneath the shower head. She watched Han through the water spray, Han on one side, Leia on the other. Looking into Han's eyes, her future suddenly became crystal clear and the past several weeks seemed so childish. It didn't matter what she'd lost. Fate had been on her side the whole time, throwing her life to collide with Han’s the very day everything was taken away from her. Han was here for her now and Leia somehow knew he would always be there, at her side. It didn't matter what had happened to her, or even what had happened to Han. They were together. There was all of the future for them to determine. If anything from the last three years mattered, it was Han.

    

It was always Han. He made Leia's past dissipate so none of it mattered. He could chase Vader's name out of her mind with a single touch. He could ease the pain of her losses with a few words and a brief kiss. He could even scare off her nightmares by merely being in her sight and presence. Han had the ability to not only numb her pain, but also replace it with feelings of love, joy, happiness, and peace. Whenever her heart had lost sight of that peace, he always helped her find it. Now, he'd helped her find that peace again. Leia felt it, reached for it, and let it envelop her in its delirious hold.

    

Leia reached through the shower to grab Han and, once more, draw him in for another deep kiss. 

Han was apparently just as needy and desperate as his hands slipped right back where they belonged and Han lifted Leia so he held her slightly above himself. Their mouths did all the talking, but with fewer words. Han took a step forward so Leia again had her back pressed to the sanisteam wall and he released one hand to bury it in Leia's long, soaked hair.

    

“I love you,” Leia took her turn to say.

    

Han beamed at her, his hand tauntingly hovering over her hip. “I know.”

     

Leia traced a hand along Han's jawline and brow, then swept it back through his hair. “I love you for freeing me,” she told him. “And for loving me so unconditionally.”

     

Han shook his head. His mouth hovered over hers. “Stop that, Princess. None of that bantha fodder matters. Vader doesn't matter. Kriff! Luke doesn't matter. Just the two of us. That's all, Princess. That's all.”

    

Leia moaned. “What are you trying to do to me, Solo? I thought you said just a shower.”

    

“Oh, come on. Is this so bad?” Han caressed her cheek, then trailed his light touches across the back of her neck. “It's just a hot shower.”

    

“Yes,” Leia agreed. “A really hot shower.”

     

Han laughed at her joke.

   

“Han?”

    

“Yes, sweetheart?”

    

“Why are we doing this?”

“You need to relax, sweetheart. You're forgetting all the moments we've had together when you were relaxed. So, I'm reminding you. And giving you the time to think.”

2017 Call for Valentine's Day Stories

It's that time of year again. Ok, maybe it's a little early, but I actually waited longer this year than last year. Yes, I think we could all use a bunch of mushy, sweet Han and Leia stories to help us out right about now. I'd also encourage you to check out stories from this challenge in the past that are linked on the sidebar.

The guidelines for this particular "challenge" are pretty broad. Mushy is nice but not required. Same goes with sexy times as adult situations are permitted (if not encouraged) but also not required. Truthfully they don't even have to be "together" yet for your story to qualify. Just something that highlights their love and undying devotion to one another will be fine ;)  Also we're looking for one-shots here, nothing hugely long. No specific word count caps or anything, just use your best judgment.

I'd prefer it if whatever you submit hasn't yet been seen anywhere else. Also, I'd strongly recommend anything you have posted here you wait a few weeks or even more to post elsewhere. Since our readers tend to overlap, you'll get more comments in both places if you space it out a bit. You can email your stories to me and include whatever author name you want it published under. And please have someone beta read before you send it in. Hopefully we get some nice stories to make us all feel a little better!

Happy 2017

2016 was an incredibly challenging year for Star Wars fans, and Han and Leia fans especially. It began with us reeling from the death of Han Solo and the knowledge that for some reason it was decided that Han and Leia would have one child that became the root of all evil and aside from simply becoming a murderous, Dark-Side monster, also supplied his parents with enough emotional turmoil that they were no longer together. Our excitement about seeing Han and Leia on screen again was shattered by the content of said scenes and our hearts sank at the lack of opportunity, and then they shattered when Han was murdered in cold blood by his only child. Leia is left alone with nobody left in her family really, except Luke who is in hiding.

And then it ended with the unexpected and absolutely crushing news that Carrie Fisher had suffered cardiac arrest and then passed away a few days later. I, and I'm sure many of you, spent Christmas trying to subtly check for updates amidst the festivities. And then our worst fears came true, and she was gone. Really, I'm not sure how things could've been worse if you're a Star Wars/Han and Leia fan. Personally I shed a lot of tears over both of these events. It was like the horrible bookends that helped to tear another piece of my childhood away.

But, amidst it all, we do have each other. Whenever you wonder to yourself why you are so wrapped up in these fictional characters and their love story, or about an actress/writer who you likely never even met, you can come here and see that there are many of us who feel the same way. There are many of us who spent days checking for updates on Carrie's health, cried when we heard the news, and were utterly useless at work because it was too hard to concentrate.

We spent hours and days and weeks wondering why they would bring back our favorite characters only to utterly destroy them. We were watching all sorts of interviews trying to get some valid answers only to find out there weren't any. We had to accept that this was the end of what we had been looking forward to, and if we were lucky we could convince ourselves that the REAL Star Wars ended with Return of the Jedi, and that their lives afterward were so mundane and happy that they just weren't worthy of a movie.

And again, we had each other to talk about this with. To know that there were others who felt the exact same way, and reacted to it all on such a deep and personal level. Yes, it is probably silly to get so emotionally invested in something entirely fictional, but it's also comforting to learn that there are so many others who feel the same way, and we have someone to share it with.

Also, of course, we have everyone who is willing to write new stories for them. Happy stories that show the life we all know they really would've had together. Stories not involving death or Sith children or Luke running away. Stories that bring brightness and happiness rather than despair and hopelessness. Yes, perhaps it is only a small consolation in an otherwise gut-wrenching year. But it's something, and I'm grateful for it.

So thank you to all the readers who stick around and comment, and to all the writers who continue to give Han and Leia the life together they deserve. And to everyone who makes us feel a little less alone in our obsession.

Rest in Peace Carrie Fisher 1956 - 2016

Carrie has left us. In a year so full of celebrity death, this one seems to hurt far more than the rest, and I've been trying to figure out why that is. Largely I'm sure it is because for many of us she, as Princess Leia, has been a part of our lives from as far back as we even have memories. I can recall seeing Return of the Jedi in the movie theater and the moment she took that mask off to reveal herself to Han Solo after she had freed him from the carbonite, and thinking, "Cool, Leia saved him!" Movies and books are full of princesses but nobody else defined a princess quite the way Carrie did.

It's not just that she was Leia, though. In her openness with her struggles with mental illness and addiction, as a woman in Hollywood (or in life in general), what it was like to grow up as the child of two giant celebrities, she became our friend. She never hid from personal questions, she never pretended that she was not someone who had to deal with a lot of struggles in life. She made a lot of us feel much better in knowing, "Hey, she's like the rest of us. And it's ok to fall down sometimes and struggle, and we can still come back and be strong and funny and smart." Someone recently said to me she is like the most unlikely "everywoman." And I think that's true. How does a woman who is born into Hollywood royalty relate so much to the rest of us normal people? Yet she does. You feel as though you could walk up to her and have a normal conversation and she would actually care to hear what you had to say. I can't say I feel that way about any other celebrities.

She never took herself seriously. As she said, "If my life wasn't funny it would just be true and that' is unacceptable." I think we could all learn a lot from those words. I've read all of her books, and when you think about even a fraction of the things she has been through you can hardly imagine dealing with it, and yet she always picked herself up and kept on going. Her wit was practically beyond human capability, and her humor will be sorely missed. For anyone who has only seen her as Leia I would highly encourage you to read anything she has written, as she is one of the funniest people I've ever come across. She brought us into her life, she made it okay for people to admit they were suffering from mental illness. She gave us all permission to laugh at our problems and say, "You can't beat me, because tomorrow I'm going to wake up and just start making jokes about you."

Days before her death she was posting to Twitter articles about how she was too old to play the CGI version of her own likeness, and again pointed out how women are not allowed to age. I'm glad that only a month ago we got a few more talk show visits from her so we could see her crack just a few more jokes before she had to leave us. She was so like Princess Leia, and I can understand why she would be proud that that was her biggest legacy. I'm not sure how any of us are going to be able to get through Episode VIII. Even though I can't think of a more fitting final role.

My regret is that I never got a chance to meet her. Not that I was expecting us to hang out and go to dinner or something, but even fifteen seconds for a photo op would've been nice. I was fortunate enough to have seen her perform Wishful Drinking twice, and it was equally hilarious both times. 

This one really, really hurts. It's losing a little piece of our childhoods, but also the adult who could always trust her to make a wonderfully witty comment to put things in perspective. It hurts even more because she was taken from us far too soon. At only sixty she had a lot more years left of making us laugh. We'll get back to that eventually, with all she has left us with, but first we'll have to get past her making us cry.

Rest in peace, Carrie Fisher. Princess Leia. The world will be a little worse off without your wit and humor to remind us that nothing can get to us if we remember to laugh at it.

Breaking News: Carrie Fisher Suffers Heart Attack on Plane

I don't have a good feeling about this, you guys.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-carrie-fisher-cardiac-20161223-story.html

My Rogue One Review ***Filled With Spoilers***

Ok, guys. I just got back from seeing it and wanted to get a good review out while it is all still fresh in my head. I will say right away that I had pretty much no expectations going in, and it kind of lived up to that.

I don't know if I can sum it all up in just the right way, and like always with these things, I wonder if my opinion is going to change at all once I get a little further removed from it and take it in a bit more. There were so many things that I noticed about it. One thing for sure, I do not at all think that this movie could stand on its own really. Most of the truly enjoyable parts were callbacks or references to the old movies, which isn't really a good sign. It lacked a lot of the humor from the originals and even Episode VII had quite a few true laughs, and this one only had a tiny handful and mostly coming from the token one-liner droid that must be in each movie. It definitely could've used an extra dose of humor.

So we of course begin with Jyn Erso's back story, and because every Star Wars hero has to be an orphan or at the very least lose their family and be raised by someone else from a very young age, of course that is what we find out happens to her. Her mother is killed and her father is taken by the Empire because he is a brilliant engineer who had worked for them and they want him to build them the Death Star. Apparently they always expected this would happen because Jyn has a secret place to hide before she is taken in by family friend Saw Gerrara, who is played by Forest Whitaker. But the next thing we know, we jump to Jyn as an adult and she is a prisoner and being taken to some Imperial work camp. We have absolutely no idea how long she has been a prisoner, why she was a prisoner, or what she may have been doing for the last fifteen years.

I did forget to mention that this film does not begin with an opening crawl or the standard Star Wars theme. I think right from the get-go by doing that it already felt tremendously less like Star Wars to me. They also for some reason when introducing every planet they visited would tell you in words on the screen where they were. This just felt like an odd choice to me because it's not something that was ever done before, they just let the movie tell us where they were rather than having to show us in big letters.

One thing I found quite interesting with this compared to Episode VII is that at points it moved fairly slowly, and for some reason its run time is actually longer. Where Episode VII lacked any time to catch your breath and seemed to completely zip through important plot points or skip them entirely, this one lagged quite a bit and left me a lot of time to think about things like, where are they going and what is even happening? About two thirds through the movie I realized that other than Jyn, I hadn't actually absorbed a single other character's name. I don't think that is a good sign.

There were some expected cameos along with some unexpected ones. I knew Grand Moff Tarkin was going to be in it, although I definitely didn't expect him to be in it nearly as much as he was. It seems really strange to me that the man credited with playing him was some random actor when his entire part was CGI'd to look like Peter Cushing. At times it was quite impressive to see, and the voice was mostly spot-on, but then at other times I had flashes of watching Dobby the house elf from Harry Potter. That's not really meant to be an insult, I know this is for now the absolute best they can do with this, but still there is no denying you're looking at a cartoon version of what we saw in 1977. And yeah, it's definitely kind of weird. And also seems odd that they went that direction with Tarkin, but then just recast Mon Mothma and General Dadonna. Although I suppose any random dude with a big white beard is enough there, when Tarkin is such a unique look that couldn't be replicated by any actual living human.

Speaking of cameos, I'm realizing as I write this that I'm not sure they ever really called out Bail Organa by name. I could be wrong on that, but again, I feel like they need to do a better job with these movies of letting them stand at least a little more on their own without relying on everyone to "just know" certain things or characters. Other unexpected characters included those two trouble-makers at the Cantina in ANH who didn't like Luke and Obi Wan had to cut one of their arms off. That was a clever little addition that got a good audience laugh. And then a very brief moment with R2-D2 and C-3PO and for some reason it hadn't occurred to me that it would be easy to get them in there. They also included some Rebel pilots from the original during the battle scene and it was almost unsettling because they just used actual footage from then, not CGI. It was like, whoa, that's the real Gold Leader.

And then there's Darth Vader. I mean, honestly, even as primarily a Han and Leia fan I can't help but think it's pretty amazing to get to see Darth Vader on screen again being his dark and sinister self. He kind of saved it for me because at one point when the movie was really losing me, because people were just kind of, traveling and then fighting pointless battles and I was thinking about how I didn't really know who anyone was in the movie, they suddenly brought us Vader in all his glory, and I literally sat up in my chair. Hearing James Earl Jones do the voice booming through that sound system was just plain cool. Oddly they used him less than Tarkin, which didn't make that much sense to me, but oh well. We do get to see what I assume is like, Darth Vader's house which is basically like a big scary castle surrounded by lava, which I guess makes sense for him.

Now, as for the rest of the movie.... I mean, I think the main thing I noticed when it comes down to it is that it has no heart. It has no soul. It has all the pieces but it just doesn't quite come together. They give us this back story of Jyn and her parents and being raised by this guy, and yet later when we see her with him again for the first time in quite a few years, we see no connection between those two characters. Jyn finds her father for the first time in fifteen years and holds him as he dies and yet, again, we just don't feel a whole lot for those characters. We have this ragtag group of people who come together and must work as a team to accomplish something huge, and yet to me there just wasn't any chemistry there. I didn't see it as a flaw in the acting performances as the acting was fine, it was just more that sort of intangible chemistry that you can't fake and it's either there or it isn't. You know how it was like there was an immediate bond between Luke and Han and Leia? And you truly cared about those characters? You just don't get much of that here. It's more like, ok, here's this girl and that guy and that guy and that other guy (because PS: if you cast a female as your lead it's still ok to have 99% of the rest of your cast be male) and they're doing stuff together but I see no connection between any of their characters. And there is an Asian guy who even in a universe as huge and diverse as this, and with cultures and planets totally different from our own, still somehow feels like an Asian stereotype.

I do suppose part of it was that it felt like none of them ever had any sort of different look on their faces. Everyone always looked the same. And nobody truly seemed to have any clearly defined role in the situation. I mean they had their technical "jobs" like one was the pilot, another was a random Jedi they picked up along the way, but they didn't really have any character traits. Han and Luke and Leia all had clearly defined character traits. This one had like, the girl and the main guy and the other guys and the funny droid. I didn't care that much for any of them or get any sense of their relationships to one another. Leia meets Luke and then like two minutes later she is already scared for him when he gets pulled under in the garbage masher, and a couple of minutes after that she is hugging Han when they find out they won't be crushed to death. There was just absolutely none of that here.

So this one is going to fall fairly low on the "rewatchability" scale. And it's sort of strange because like I said, they had the pieces, they gave Jyn a back story and some drama in losing her mother and later losing her father, but I just didn't feel for her the way I felt for Leia. Ok, at the very end they almost got to me. And I think a few months ago I had this thought, that it was actually probably pretty likely that none of the characters in this movie would make it out alive. Turns out I was correct about that. They all died. Every single one of the ones we follow on this mission dies in the final battle in one way or another. And at one point one of them has a sort of "moment" where he stands up and it all seems very profound, but the non-Star Wars fan in our group pointed out at the end of the movie that he didn't really do anything during his final stand before he died. He killed a couple of bad guys who probably weren't going to cause any more damage to anyone else, and then that was it.

Then of course the thing I was looking forward to the most at the very end was the Leia cameo. I was glad they kept it brief. I did however feel like they missed an opportunity there. I think it would've been amazing to have seen the last time Leia saw her father. There was a moment when Bail said he was going to send everything to Obi Wan and was told he had to send someone he could trust and of course he knew just the person. I just think it would've been a really sweet albeit I suppose possibly a cheap ploy for tears and emotions to have seen maybe him hug his daughter goodbye one last time. Honestly though, this movie could've used a cheap ploy for tears or any attempt to garner some emotion out of the audience. I was a little disappointed in the CGI of Leia, and maybe I'm being really picky here, but also her hand looked like a chubby man hand! And also maybe I need to go re-watch Ant-Man because the de-aging they did of Michael Douglas on that movie was incredible and to me did not look like a cartoon CGI face. It makes me wonder if they could've done something better if they'd actually used Carrie. She had one spoken word, and at least that part sounded like her. I don't know, maybe it would've been better to at least have shot her from a little further away. But still, I guess it's cool that they included her in it at all.

There isn't a whole lot else to say. I did think that Krennic was a cool bad guy and he did an excellent job. And they gave us one thing TFA didn't by at least spending a good amount of time on a planet that was quite different from any other planet on any of the other movies, this time with palm trees and beaches. Although the shield that surrounded the whole thing reminded me of the shield around Druidia in Spaceballs, but instead of a door that opens there is a base that acts as a sort of gate.

I almost forgot, one of the reasons I was not dreading this movie is because it felt safe, like they couldn't ruin anything for us. Well, they did kind of find a way to undermine ANH a bit. I knew about this before I saw it, but apparently that thermal exhaust port that Luke was able to shoot to destroy the Death Star? That was basically a self destruct button put their purposely by the engineer who designed it, so that the Rebels would later have a chance. That engineer of course was Jyn's father, who sacrificed himself to give them what they wanted, but with a "trap" of sorts, because otherwise they'd just have found someone else to build it and they'd have no chance. I rolled my eyes hard at that when I heard it, but I will say that in the post-movie analysis with my other movie-going people and lifelong Star Wars fans, the consensus among the rest of them was that they liked that idea, and considered it kind of a plot hole from ANH that it was so easy to blow up. I don't know, I think I need more time to decide. I'm still leaning toward, really? Did it really have to be a purposeful flaw? Other than that though, nothing else to screw things up for us. No visits with Obi Wan or Luke, no Han Solo cameo. No Chewie. Oh and another side note, for some reason even though it wasn't Admiral Ackbar, for some reason Mon Calamarians are always going to be Admirals for the big battles. I don't know why. Last random note: somehow AT-ATs seem WAY easier to take down in this movie than in ESB. Luke can't get through the armor with blasters on his snowspeeder but X-wings seem to cause them to crumble.

Ok, now I think I've covered most of what I wanted to say. Was it a BAD movie? I'm not sure I'm prepared to say that. Did it completely lack a heart and soul and fail to make the audience emotionally invested in the characters? Yes, absolutely. I suppose that probably means it's a bad movie, but again, I'm not prepared to say that quite yet. The acting was fine the dialog was actually decent and not clunky like a prequel, but yeah, I just didn't care about these characters. Even in TFA I very quickly cared about Poe and Finn and Rey. I empathized with Rey. Those characters all had chemistry with each other even if I didn't like the movie. That is one of the few things I truly liked in it. But this just has none of that. So, some fun cameos and stuff, but it certainly did not feel like a Star Wars movie really, except for the scenes with Imperials. Lastly, stormtroopers still have terrible aim.

So, hopefully some of you saw it and would care to comment, I'd love to hear some opinions. I'd be really surprised if anyone a few months ago was raving about this movie. But if you disagree and you really enjoyed it, please let us know that too. I feel absolutely none of the rage and hate I felt after TFA, so I don't intend for this to turn into a huge rant about how this was the worst movie ever. I really don't even know how they could've made it truly good. But if you liked it, I'd love to hear that side of it too.

It's Time for Rogue One **No Spoilers!!**

All right, I know this totally doesn't fall into the Han and Leia side of Star Wars, but I think most of us are general Star Wars fans and at least some of us will be seeing this movie, so I felt like I should do a post for it. Please refrain from posting spoilers here until maybe the weekend, or until I come back from seeing it and spilling everything. Whichever comes first.

How do you guys feel about this? Going to see it? Not going to see it? Waiting for DVD? I have tickets to see the first show on Thursday. I think if I didn't have other people wanting to go see it with me, as they are my official Star Wars movie watching people, I might not have gone the extra mile to make sure we saw it on night one. While I spent the whole lead-up to this movie being supremely underwhelmed and not at all excited, I will say that now that the week has arrived, I'm looking forward to it. Do I have any expectations? Nope. And because of that, I actually am starting to feel like I might enjoy it. As we have stated before, the best part about it is that the characters we know and love must be "safe" in this movie. They can't change them or ruin them. I think maybe I can just treat this as any other movie, really. I think. I hope.

Definitely sad to be thinking that a year ago we were all so, so excited for Episode VII. It was going to be great, and bring back all of our favorite characters and we were going to see them on screen together again. So much for that, but at least it has fixed me so that I am now immune to disappointment, because I will never have any level of hope going into one of these movies again.