Tag: finn

Finn and the forgotten children

Here’s an aside to the theory that Finn will be the “spark that will light the fire that will burn the First Order down,” expanding on @nabyss’s question about where I see Finn’s story going. What if Finn, while posing as an officer, comes across the children abducted by the First Order? Maybe the star destroyer he and Rose have boarded wil be transporting some of these children, frightened and traumatized. He can’t be too kind to them for fear of breaking cover, but he does have flashbacks of his own childhood, especially the days after he was kidnapped. Maybe Rose will be reminded of her own tragic past referenced in the promo materials.

Then imagine, when the uprising becomes a reality, the First Order playing extremely dirty (surprise, surprise), using the children’s barracks as a shield to hinder and demoralize the rebellious Stormtroopers. Some of the rebel Stormtroopers might be like, forget the brats, let’s blast ‘em all to hell. That’s the way they were trained, after all, and I don’t think for a moment that the uprising will be made up entirely of morally upstanding individuals. Finn shoots down the idea immediately, reminding them that they’re just playing the First Order’s game by acting on their oppressors’ terms.

So Finn risks himself, maybe using himself as bait to liberate the children’s facilities. But it turns out the FO anticipated this possibility too, and rigged the barracks with bombs and/or poison, which again, Finn acts to neutralize at risk to himself and the troops rather than retreat and let the children die.

Imagine Finn walking into the children’s dorms, which are dark and almost silent other than the scared sniffles of the younger kids. Some of the kids might actually try to fight. After all, they were indoctrinated into thinking the First Order is good and that Finn and the trooper rebellion are traitors who will show them no mercy. A ten-year-old might attack with a training weapon, desperate to protect her brother in the same dorm with her own life if necessary. A twelve-year-old might shoot, maybe even take down a Trooper or land a shot on Finn himself.

And again, Finn refuses to let the children be harmed, despite hissed warnings from his men that these aren’t normal kids. He kneels to eye level of the children, telling him he was once a child like them, scared of what was going to happen to him and seeing no way other than listening to his abductors. But he’s here to get them out, and once everything is safe he WILL return them to their families.

Different children will have different levels of receptiveness to this plea. Deprogramming is a long and complicated process, after all. The younger and more recently kidnapped ones may be more accepting, and maybe some of the children he met on the star destroyer will tell the others that this guy is okay.

So Finn walks out of the dorms carrying a child and with a swarm of them surrounding him, and this is the image that will appear in the news holos and go down in historical record.

And after the uprising is successful Finn is as good as his word, organizing a task force to locate the children’s families and reunite them. It’s not just the children either, but the adult Stormtroopers if they wish. Finn leaves it to them, giving them their information packets and letting them know the choice is theirs, if they want to fight through the years and the shame to see their families again.

For too many, of course, the news is not good. Finn cries with the children and the troopers whose homes and family are gone. He adopts or finds parents for children who have nowhere else to go.

Through all this he keeps his own information packet on his desk and touches it every once in a while like it is a talisman for strength. He was flooded with messages from people claiming him as their own, some of them charlatans looking to cash in on his fame, others sincere bereaved parents and relatives who saw their child in him and wanted to believe, needed to believe that child had survived and grown up a hero. None of them was real, however, and he has the information from the First Order’s databanks that tell him the truth.

When the last case file is resolved he tidies his desk, picks up his information packet, and goes on a long vacation. It is time for him to go home.

Finn moments in The Last Jedi trailer

nabyss:

lj-writes:

I’m super fucking stoked by Finn’s appearances in the trailer. Maybe it’s my theory goggles that Finn is going to start a Stormtrooper uprising, but it seems to me Poe’s line that “We have a spark that will light the fire that will burn the First Order down” is a direct reference to Finn and the possible Stormtrooper rebellion. What’s more, Finn shows up directly after that line, surrounded by, hmmmm, FIRE as he duels Phasma.

Poe seems to be speaking with repressed anger or sorrow (my God Oscar
Isaac’s delivery help me Obi Juan whoever the fuck you are), indicating
that this was spoken in a moment of conflict whether within himself or
someone else.

Could Poe’s clashes with Leia have to do with how to respond to the possible uprising? Did Finn convince Poe into letting himself and Rose to go on a rogue mission and into possible death, a choice Poe is himself conflicted about? Is that why Leia slaps him, when she finds out what he’s done?

Finn, by the way, is not carrying a lightsaber but some kind of energy pike weapon that seems to work similarly to the baton FN-2199 used against him in the battle on Takodana. It not only looks freaking badass, it has a great reach, versatility and can stand up to lightsabers, too.

Also the all-black ensemble with a glowy energy weapon…. is anyone going to comment on the similarities with Luke in ROTJ? As I said in my reply to @diversehighfantasy, I see parallels with Luke in my TLJ speculation for Finn, too, particularly my wildly speculative ending.

Furthermore, when Snoke starts saying “Fulfill your destiny” the first shot is directly on Finn, although I think the line itself is said to Rey or Kylo. Is this a sideways reference to Finn’s liberating Stormtroopers being his destiny?

This is an interesting. What do you think might be Finn’s story?

See the linked speculation post! As for afterward, I imagine Finn will break the reconditioning (if he voluntarily offers himself to the FO as I speculate) and lead the Stormtrooper uprising, rescue the children who were kidnapped, find his own family in the FO databanks and reunite with them.

Finn and a possible Stormtrooper uprising in TLJ

diversehighfantasy:

lj-writes:

After a post on a Stormtrooper unit dedicated to stomping out disloyalty among the ranks, it seems speculations that Finn may be leading an uprising among Stormtroopers in the First Order may well be borne out by The Last Jedi and Episode IX.

If so, it may be that the other TLJ plots involving Finn and Rose, the mission to the casino planet and infiltrating a First Order star destroyer, are lead-ups to that event. Do Finn and Rose go on a mission to get in touch with the leaders of this uprising? Does this meeting lead further to the two of them posing as First Order officers in order to get the mutiny started?

Information about this possible uprising could be what convinces Finn not to leave the fight. The trauma from Slip’s death was part of his motivation for leaving the First Order, and he can’t leave thousands more like Slip to be destroyed when they are desperate for a leader–for him, the symbol of the humanity and defiance behind the helmet.

Tying this in with earlier information and speculation about the remnants of the New Republic fleet and the original Resistance being in a power struggle, maybe the Republic faction is willing to leave the mutinous Stormtroopers high and dry. It’s too risky, Vice Admiral Holdo may decide, and it could be a trap. She may pay lip service to Finn’s bravery, but now that tens of thousands of others like him are willing to do the same thing she’s willing to let them die, showing just how much she really cares.

This would anger Finn and leave him with an even greater sense of obligation, and when Leia offers him a risky mission to get him in contact with the leaders of the uprising he snaps it up. If we go with the theory that Rose is a Republic soldier herself, she might volunteer and be chosen as a way for the Republic fleet to claim some stake in the mission. Maybe no one expects her to do much but she would prove them very wrong.

The First Order would obviously be looking for Finn, too, and the Stormtrooper secret police would probably be doing double duty tracking down internal signs of disloyalty and also the heart of the brewing revolt–because make no mistake, Finn is the soul and heart of the uprising no matter where he may be. The Order would love to see him dead, or better yet, captured, reconditioned, and turned into a mouthpiece.

Captain Phasma would love to see Finn a corpse or a husk, too, though unlike the Order she prefers the first option. Finn not only threatened and humiliated her, he knows that she was the one who dropped the shields on Starkiller Base. She evidently wiped the computer records to cover her tracks (God I love this self-serving bitch), but there were three witnesses to her act. One is dead, the other’s whereabouts are unknown, but If the third, Finn, should show up? Well, the reconditioning had better be good because if there’s any chance of him ratting her out she’ll make certain he never talks again.

The progatonists’ and antagonists’ plans collide when the purported contact with the leadership of the uprising turns out to be a trap to lure Finn into the First Order’s power. Finn and Rose fight their way out and go to Crait? Idk. Kylo Ren realizes his quarry has fled and pursues him to Crait.

Turns out, Rey and Luke are on Crait, too! Maybe Rey had a vision much as Luke did in ESB and saw Finn being captured on Crait, and rushed with Chewie to rescue him. Luke might be all hell yeah, good riddance for a while before he realizes the girl got to him more than he’d thought (or wanted) and follows after her.

Epic battle is joined on Crait, including a reunion between Kylo and Luke and a rematch. Maybe Luke and Rey will double-team Kylo! But the Knights of Ren are there and their Master is stronger than before, and Luke is fighting his own anger and despair and trying not to turn as Kylo urges him to and Rey warns him against. Rey herself is trying not to be overwhelmed by her rage, too, at the memory of Han’s death.

Enter Finn! He, Rose, and the Resistance keep the Knights of Ren busy. Kylo goes into a berserker rage at the sight of Finn in a way that has nothing to do with the First Order and everything to do with his own insecurities. Finn realizes he can make Ren lose control just with his presence, plus maybe a few well-timed insults. Seeing Finn has the opposite effect on Rey, who becomes calmer and stronger.

Finn and Rey banter in the midst of battle even while Kylo Ren goes increasingly haywire. Meanwhile the First Order troops arrive, cutting a swathe through the Resistance and trying to get at Finn. He shoots down Stormtrooper after Stormtrooper before he realizes they are trying to capture him alive. In the sky Poe’s squadron is in danger and Poe himself is just barely keeping himself in the air under heavy fire. Resistance reinforcements led by Admiral Holdo are to arrive any moment, but no one is sure they can hold on that long.

Finn then goes into a sort of momentary trance where all the information he learned so far clicks to a conclusion, and he makes a choice. He does the last thing his enemies, or indeed his allies, expected: He lures Kylo Ren into being captured, but in the process also walks into the First Order’s clutches himself. The entire Resistance are aghast and Rey struggles to fight her way to his side, but he tells her, even while he’s being held down and cuffed, to concentrate on securing Kylo Ren. He gets it now. He’s going to start the Stormtrooper uprising from the inside.

The First Order, now that it has its main target, hurries to retreat ahead of the Resistance reinforcements. The hard-pressed ground and air forces gain a sudden reprieve. Rey, watching helpless from the ground with too many enemies between them as Finn is manhandled onto a First Order ship, says very calmly–we don’t hear her voice, only see her lips move through the noise and the viewport of the ship–I love you.

Finn smiles slowly, tenderly back, though he knows she can’t see him. He says nothing, not even to mouth the words, but we can all fill in the “I know” for ourselves. Despite the fear in his eyes he is peaceful; the path is clear ahead of him, though far from easy.

In space, the Resistance reinforcements arrive but the First Order blinks into hyperspace ahead of them. Poe is ordered to cease pursuit–they have no chance if they fly into First Order space. Poe hits his console in frustration and promises his buddy they’re not giving up on him.

Cut to credits.

So good! I think all of this is plausible (what happens to Rose, tho?) Some ESB parallels, but a very different story. And it would end with Rey going after Kylo as many have speculated, and I also think is plausible (noreylo).

A Stormtrooper revolution would be HUGE. A revolution of Stormtroopers taking down the FO with the help of the Resistance? Chills just thinking about it.

Thanks! I just noticed it has a major ROTJ parallel as well, with Finn voluntarily giving himself up to torment and possible death in the hope of saving others who share a kinship with him. He also “saves” Kylo Ren under this scenario, though it would be Ren himself who’d have to take the steps to change. But I also like the idea of Ren capturing Finn and Rey going after them. It’s certainly more fitting (and terrifying), and my op does defang the villain too soon. I’m just amused at the idea of Phasma and Hic not giving a shit that Rem has been captured, like “Oh. What a tragedy. Whatever shall we do. We shall avenge you Ren we swear. Woe is me. Now let’s go, boys, we got the man who isn’t a proven flop!”

Finn under this version of events is going on faith based on bits of glimpsed information that the Stormtrooper uprising exists, even if the people he contacted were fake. (Fridge horror moment: MAYBE THEY WEREN’T. Maybe they were real revolutionaries posing as fakes trying to capture Finn so he can lead the revolution from the inside, and Finn realizes this later on. Bonus points if he or Rose killed one or more of them escaping, and it was their last words that tipped him off.) He’s staking his life and selfhood on someone else’s goodness much as Luke did in ROTJ.

I can’t envision Rose’s role here heeelllllp! Most of my speculation about her focused on her role in an internal Resistance-Republic conflict (which would provide a parallel to the dissension in the FO) and on the missions I just vaguely imagined her being badass alongside Finn. Maybe she defies her Republic peers to do the right thing and that gives Finn all the more faith that the Stormtrooper uprising is real?

diversehighfantasy:

elaine-spades:

OK so the guys who actually wrote Trump’s book said something that I keep finding increasingly relevant to this fandom: whatever he says about his enemies he’s really saying about himself

They know that they aren’t getting their epic reylo romance (not sure what they were smoking that would make them think they were in the first place) and they’re probably just realizing that Kylie Renner isn’t going to be another White Guy Saved By White Girl VaginaTM and is probs gonna die by the end of the trilogy. We’ve called them out so many times that they have to be aware on some level that a lot of the shit they pull is racist, sexist, and in some cases homophobic (calling Finn Rey’s “sassy gay friend”, in case you were wondering where I got homophobic from)

So what do they do after Rian demolishes all hope they have of reylo in Episode 8? Focus on how Finn fans are angry at the little to no Finn in marketing and claim that they’re upset because reylo actually is happening and for some reason that means we hate Rey too (did you get confused on the mental gymnastics? yeah so did I)

It’s funny that this person claims that we hate Rey and say she’s unimportant, when I follow ALL the major Finnrey/Finn blogs and have never seen anything like that before. But what I have seen is reylos romanticizing Rey’s hatred for Kylo and saying that she needs Kylo to teach her the ways of the force. Did they not see the movie? Rey kicked Kyle Ron’s ass without a lick of training

Yeah, talk about projecting.

That’s such an ugly post, because it basically says Finn and Finnrey fans made up his importance and saw a relationship between Finn and Rey that was “never there.” That’s ugly. And I’ve seen sentiments like that from Reylos a lot – “We’ve been saying all along that the important characters are (the white ones)” etc. Ugly gloating over Rian seemingly sidelining the characters of color in favor of Kylo, acting like Rian confirmed Reylo and Kylo as the main hero when he did no such thing.

Amazing that people actually believe he spoilered TLJ, even more amazing that they think the popular fanon interpretation of his comments is definitely happening, that romantic hero Kylo is the “unexpected” thing now that a ridiculous percentage of the fandom totally expects it.

Ever notice how gleeful Reylos get whenever there are signs Finn might get sidelined? Wonder why.

War Heroes

They may have been evil, but they were very, very good. Finn studied all the historic battles over and over again as part of his training, told about the Empire’s mistakes and how the First Order would avoid them.

He studied the Rebels’ infiltration of the imperial records depository at Scarif, how a team led by the traitors Bodhi Rook and Jyn Erso, the ruthless assassin and spymaster Cassian Andor, and the cult-bred killers Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus infiltrated the installation and destroyed the planet in a deadly suicide mission.

He learned about the Battle of Yavin, where Princess Leia Organa–after all these years still a menace to peace and order–lured the Death Star to the Rebels’ base and an ambush, where Luke Skywalker destroyed the station with one well-placed shot, snuffing out the thousands of lives within.

He read about the Battle of Hoth where the Rebels eluded the Empire’s pursuit yet again, about the Battle of Endor where the Rebellion moved together like the parts of a symphony. Finn found himself glued to the screen as he learned, through reports and surviving archival footage, how the smuggler Han Solo led a ground assault to  disable the Second Death Star’s shields while Admiral Gial Ackbar, at large and a threat like Organa, joined battle in space. All this was only a cover, however, for Luke Skywalker to board the battle station and murder Darth Vader and the helpless Emperor. Criminal kingpin Lando Calrissian finished the job in another act of wanton destruction, an assault so reckless, so foolhardy it should have failed by all rights but somehow succeeded brilliantly.

Finn used his own time to delve deeper into these battles, reading past lights-out until he was caught and got in trouble. He told himself as he dug out a drainage ditch as punishment that he wasn’t getting too deep into the history of the Rebellion, he just wanted to know the enemy so he could beat them this time around.

But by Space, those Rebels were good. It was no wonder a terrorist group had toppled the mighty Empire. If the First Order learned more from their enemies’ tactics it would be unstoppable, and unlike the Rebellion whose puppet government was already crumbling, the Order’s victory would be a lasting one based on justice and the rule of the Supreme Leader.

Nevertheless, the sense of awe at the sheer skill of these terrorists stayed with Finn. That was why, when faced with one of those legends, the smuggler, criminal, the terrorist Han Solo in the flesh, the words burst out as though they had been caught in his throat the entire time:

“Wasn’t he a war hero?!”

bespinfatigues:

anonymous: 

Hi!!! Could you please do Finn in palette #135 aka the bisexual palette 😀 😀

I lov this request!! Finn in the bisexual palette is incredibly blessed thank u for requesting that!

this turned out pretty messy because I tried out some new stuff and ended up surprising myself with how much I liked it, so I hope you all like it too!!

swnews:

During the auditions I found that my niche for this character was definitely in the more humor and fear. So he just represents us in the film — just finally having a Star Wars character that goes, ‘This is really dangerous.’ Finn is a part of myself, just magnified a tad. And it was fun to do that. It was just hilarious because while Rey is handling all the stress of life, I get to just run around and do all the cool stuff and say all the cool lines and have fun.

Finn is the balance, my guys

finnmurdershux:

As you can tell by my url this is my hill to die on and there’s a lot to say but I’m gonna focus on Finn’s use of the Force for #100DaysofFinn

As we watch TFA, we see Rey and Finn move very easily with their emotions. Though Finn lies about his circumstances, he doesn’t ever appear to lie about his emotions. Setting aside for now what a beautiful thing this is for the image of masculinity, it also sets him far apart from both the Jedi and the Sith, making him a sort of new kind of Force user.

The Jedi and the Sith are not that functionally different. Both rely on emotional stunting of one form or another and we have easily seen how this is bad for everyone all the way around. Turns out, denying any part of your personal experience doesn’t tend to lead to well-adjusted individuals!

While Finn has been trained to stunt his emotions, his experience with this demand starts and stops with the First Order. To his knowledge, it doesn’t really span beyond that. Imagine learning that the Sith rely on one emotion. “Well that’s your problem right there.” But then imagine him learning that the Jedi forbid love and connection both romantic and familial. To his understanding of emotion denial, it isn’t a scale with the Jedi on one end the Sith on the other, it’s where he is on one end and the Sith and the Jedi together on the other. There’s no reason for him to feel the need to curtail his emotions after leaving the First Order. Why would he allow the same shit with a different skin when training in the ways of the Force?

No, when Finn begins to train, he isn’t afraid of his emotions. His life has become about reclaiming control of his own self, he’ll be damned if he lets an old cryptid on an island tell him any of his emotions are bad. He knows they aren’t bad if he feels them, acknowledges them, processes them. The denial of the fluidity of his own emotion as a stormtrooper makes him all the more aware of the importance of rolling with emotions as they come.

So imagine that one day he’s out meditating on his own because he’s just. Sad. He’s been overcome with a sense of great loss stronger on that particular day than normal and he tells Luke he needs space. Of course Luke probably tells him that it’s understandable, but a true Jedi doesn’t bend to their emotions like this, and Finn denies the idea that he has to tamp down his emotions to train and just leaves.

Imagine him alone on some cliff, sitting and crying because of this sense of sadness, and finding that the emotional exhaustion of crying is another form of meditation. He realizes that he hasn’t actually watched the waves so much as stared at them distantly. He feels that near disconnect where sadness has created a sort of bubble around him and he realizes he hasn’t been interacting directly the world at all. Rather than be afraid or confused, he embraces the serenity of the moment and lets himself cry and meditate.

When he opens his eyes again, he’s floating quietly above a calm sea. In the distance, the water is still turning, even further out it’s still white-capping. But around him, it’s still and smooth as transparisteel. He doesn’t panic, he’s cried too much and he’s too tired to really give it a care. Gently, he floats back to the cliff and settles back in the high grass, so careful he wonders for a moment if he ever moved.

Imagine another day when Luke has insisted he not carry rage or anger in his heart, that this is the way of the Jedi. Finn knows that that rage served him in fighting Kylo, after watching and hearing Rey hit that tree. He refuses to ever believe that his anger could truly be bad, that it would hurt him if he tried to face it and reason with it. No, he’s sure that the biggest danger will be ignoring how he feels. Luke doesn’t often talk about Vader, but Finn knows. He knows he can’t hide his anger like that.

So he goes off to train by himself for a while. His anger grows as he stews in it, gives him energy. His body moves through poses faster and harder, every change in stance accentuated by that little kick, that little flare of anger. At first, he’s just being stompy (so he thinks), but then Rey comes to train with him and see if he’s okay. And every movement has just a little more power behind it. Every time he dodges her and hops to his feet, the ground shakes just a little. Every swing of his practice saber has a weight behind it that catches Rey off guard. It isn’t until Rey knocks the weapon from his hand and comes for him that they realize what’s happening. His hand extends in the hope he can simply stop her with the flat of his palm, but instead, a wave of power extends with the motion and forces Rey back several steps. Rey is worried but impressed because it isn’t outside his control. It isn’t that much larger than him. The more they spar, the clearer it becomes that he has a sort of aura of force around him, adding a little weight to his every move, tight and controlled and thrumming with power just like his anger.

One day, the sun is shining and Luke gives Finn and Rey the day off to go be kids and be happy. They take a picnic along with them and hike to the sunnier side of the island, watching the porgs and snacking on flavorful food like they’re both still getting used to. It’s such a pure, perfect moment and Finn cannot begin to describe the way his chest feels warm and tight and bright, how happy he is. He sits and soaks in the sun and the joy while Rey runs off chasing a porg with something suspicious in its mouth. When she comes back, her shoulders look wet from fresh rain and Finn wonders just how far she got. As he looks past her, he sees the rain in the distance. They look up and see the clouds are parted just for them, the warmth felt entirely by their own skin. All that gloom and Finn parts the clouds in the very sky with his happiness.

The more little things like this happen, the more Finn is convinced that the trick to be connected to his emotions, to understand how they influence his handling of the Force. He learns there are some things he can’t do when the mood doesn’t match. That serenity over the water only comes with sadness or quiet reflection. The extra power behind his every move only when he’s angry. Giant rocks and cargo boxes are lightest when he sees the smile on Rey’s face, more so when he knows he put that smile there. Luke is worried that this is a lack of control on Finn’s part, but Finn understands a truth Luke can’t quite grasp yet. The Force isn’t his to control, it’s his to connect with. So why shut down those connections anywhere they occur? No. Finn is the balance the Force needs, the understanding that it is a resource he can use and manuver, not a power that controls him.