The Bespin Cafe - The Han/Leia Fanfic Index - We've Moved to Version 2.0!!

For the moment, hold off on it

I would have responded sooner, but DRL bit me in the behind at work so I beg forgiveness.

LP is currently working on getting the update completed, so once the update is done and everything is posted, if you notice your stories are not on the list, or don't think one belongs, -please- PM the sock with the information.

I admit I'm new to the Index thing (even in the other one I'm running), so bear with me

 

The new update, challenge, and discussion topics are up! Please check out the first post of this thread. There are 117 new entries to enjoy.

And please join me in welcoming Jade_Max as our newest indexer and thank her for her hard work on this index!

 

Attraction: What does Han see in Leia exactly? And what does Leia see in Han? What really draws each to the other?

I think Han likes the way Leia is just as stubborn as he is, the way she puts her all into whatever she does. She's the most determined person - not just woman - he's ever known. And that dedication she has to people, ideals, and goverment is endears her to him.
As for Leia, I think she likes the way Han plays the tough guy when he's really a big softie at heart. He said all he cared about was money, but really, it's his friends and family that matter to him most.

And it's easy to say "opposites attract" about Han and Leia, but I think they're more alike than different. They both have an enormous stubborn streak and are willing to sacrifice personal needs/wants for others.
Both Han and Leia like that the other is different from anyone else they have ever known - Han hasn't known many spit-fire princesses in his life (that I know of ) and I'm fairly certain Leia didn't know any scruffy-looking scoundrels on Alderaan...after all, she likes nice men. So...I concede that at first, it was opposites/someonce new was what initiated the attraction, but it soon changed once they got to know each other to "similars" attract.

 

On the same track as Liesl--I think it's that they have complimentary personalities--they're alike in the ways that count, but each also holds some of the things the other lacks, or has feared in life. Leia offers Han a world of stability and dedication. Han shows her that love and life can be rewarding if you take certain risks. Each one's life was irrevocably changed when the other entered the picture.

I think, in the beginning, there may have also been the allure of unattainability, even if neither would admit it. Han probably thought that there's no way someone like Leia would waste her time with him, and Leia probably thought that a guy like Han who walked on the wilder side of life would find someone like her too tame and boring. In the meantime, to protect themselves from these preconceived rejections, each turns it around on the other--Han tells himself it'll never work because she's too bossy and repressed, and she pushes her feelings down by telling herself he's an egotistical criminal.

 

Think of it as a flip side... What if Han had been the Prince and Leia the scruffy street-wise scoundrel who'd rescued him? ACK! Plot Bunny! *smashes it with a frying pan* Bad bunnies! Die!

Ahem.

Would the attraction still be there, even though there's similar personality types, as we see eventually, was it circumstances that brought out the attraction because of the "chase" or would that attraction still hold true in a different set of circumstances?

I mean, what is Leia and Han had met on Alderaan and Han had smuggled something in for her father. Would she have given him the time of day?

I guess what I'm saying is it seems almost like they collided at the right moment so their attraction and circumstances forced them together. In other circumstances, I don't know if Leia would have given Han the time of day, or vice versa, I mean, he never wanted to go rescue her to begin with!


But then, I don't write H/L because of Han's wit, so I could be wrong

 

Ah, but that begs the question, if the Force allowed it, wouldn't it set up the circumstances?

Think about that - the Force could have brought them in together on opposite sides of the war, or star crossed lovers of forbidden love, or even enough to meet before one succumbed to an illness etc, etc, etc.

I think Han and Leia were shaped by their experiences up until that point in their lives which allowed them to be so compatible. I don't think that before that Leia would have been as accepting, or Han as open, since their histories, what I kknow of them anyway, say otherwise.

I think they had to collide within a certain time frame to be compatible to be able to grow off each other or else that attraction would have been doomed to failure.

But then, that's me

 

I'm gonna use a Qui Gon ism. "The force knew your road would be a difficult one. That is why it chose you to walk it."

I think too many random things happened for them to be together. I think their lives weren't completely laid out by the Force, but I believe certain points were. What made Han want to be in the Cantina that day? How did Leia ship last so long against the Destroy that it almost made it to it's destination. I think the Force had an oppertunity to draw the trio together. Bring the siblings and the lovers together in one event.

 

The idea that the Force brought them together is an interesting one. Personally, I don't believe in soul mates or being destined to fall in love with some one, but I honestly have a very difficult time imagining Han and Leia not falling in love. Not only are they perfect for each other, but the circumstances around their meeting each other are too grand to dismiss. The Force probably did have a hand in bringing the two of them together. I can't see it any other way.

 

Running the risk of getting myself into hot water here, I'm not sure that I subscribe to the "will of the Force thing." Or maybe I do...I guess I just believe that things happen the way they're supposed to, but not necessarily because some divine entity or power is pushing all the buttons, so I suppose I also see things working that way in the GFFA. Besides, if the Force already had everything all figured out, then all would be written in stone, and there'd be no reason for Yoda to make statements about the future always being in motion--as in, it changes based on the choices we make now. So maybe it would be more appropriate for me to say that the universe unfolds the way it's supposed to based on the consequences of what we do; we reap what we sow.

I do believe in soul mates, but I do not believe that only one is created for us. Proximity plays such a role in who we fall in love with, befriend, whatever. In other words, because of the laws of proximity, it's more likely that you're going to be best friends with your next door neighbor or someone you see a lot at work than it is someone halfway around the world, or even across town. If you move, then it's probable that you'd find a different best friend, different soul mate, whatever.

So in that respect, yes, Han and Leia fell in love because they were in the right place at the right time. Somewhere out there in the Galaxy, there's probably hundreds of men who'd be perfectly suitable for Leia and hundreds of women who'd be good for Han, but they found each other first before those hundreds of other people. Besides, it's a big Galaxy, and even with hundreds of perfect partners, odds don't necessarily favor finding even one of them.

Just my loose change about love and probablilites and divine intervention.

 

Oh I don't think the Force has it written in stone, but I think it helps guide you. That's what I meant by all those events. Because Leia's ship was attacked and she sent the droids down to Tatooine. The Force might have helped nudge the droids to Luke and guide Han to the Cantina that day.

I don't think the Force was the soul reason for them finding each other, but I do believe it played a part in it.

 

That's how I think the Force works. It's not definite or actually guiding anyone or anything. The Force is just a reason for everything to happen. I suppose I believe the Force to be something like fate.

As far as soul mates go, so far, I believe in them (or maybe I'm just being naive). But I don't think that there's just one for every person - if that were true, it would be incredibly hard to have the chances in your favor of finding him/her. That being said, that doesn't mean I don't believe there are an infinite amount of soul mates for everyone, either. It all depends.

Whatever the case, I think Han and Leia complement each other quite nicely.

 

*waves*

I've gone and done it... written an entry for the Januar Challenge...

errmmm *runs and hides*

it's not as if it said which anniversary (as in what kind...) was meant... right?

 

lol! I implied it to be Wedding, but, I suppose it was never specified... I'm going to have to go read this!


*returns from reading*

Ack! So sad

And those are some good entries in there too, I knew this group would turn out some good stuff

 

We gotta get this puppy going again!

Now if you've watched the documentary on Star Wars and you get to the Empire Strikes back part, they talk about how the carbon freezing scene. In the script it was written "I love you too" but Irv (like I know him ) didn't think it felt right. So when Harrison busts out "I know" he says yes "that's Han Solo"

So ignoring that fact for a moment, why would Han restrain from saying "I love you."?

[EDIT] Opps I forgot I had my sock on. It's IEJ

 

So ignoring that fact for a moment, why would Han restrain from saying "I love you."?- I liked HF explanation that is was something Han would say to lighten the moment, and I have to agree. The scene would have been sweet if Han would have said "I love you, too", but much sadder.

 

Could Han have been restraining himself because he didn't want to hurt Leia if something had happened. Or was he too scared to admit what he felt?

 

One of my guesses is that the sempiternal optimist in him was thinking: "I won't say it now because I'll be back."

 

Hi! New here, but H/L fan since 1980. That first kiss... *swoon* It made kissing in a movie cool for the first time.

Now, to the topic at hand:

"I know." has so many more levels to it then "I love you, too". No one has mentioned forgiveness in this thread yet.

Han and Leia were at each other's throats before they got a clue. I'm sure barbs were traded that struck home quite a few times. Han's final words before carbonite in part express forgiveness and appology. He knows she loves him, he forgives the past wasted time.

"I know" makes the scene more potent and powerful. Watching it, every nuance of Han's body is answering back "I love you, too." "I know" isn't dismissive or smug, but contains everything that he can't express in the few seconds before he's parted from her, perhaps forever.

 

I like that explanation. Han's mouth is saying one thing, but his body language is saying something else completely. The haunted, loving look in his eyes tell that he loves her back.
"I know" is not just a response to Leia's proclamation of love, but it is also the answer to other unspoken questions.

 

He says he loves her with his eyes, but the words are all Han Solo! I agree with both opinions, maybe he was cocky enough to believe he would survive to tell her how he really feels, but he also wanted her to be able to move on if he shouldn't survive. This would give her an excuse that he never said it. She can tell, though, how he really feels. Such a softie!!!!

 

*pushes thread back to the front page*

What do you look for in a H/L fic? Do you love the AU's? Are you strictly a canon person? Can you not stand the EU so you stay in Saga or do you love messing with the EU and stay in Beyond?

Being that we're writers lets talk about what works and what doesn't.

 

I look for characterization and believable tension more than anything else, then dialogue strength. It doesn't matter the plot after that because there will be something very good about the story already.

 

I haven't tried a real AU yet, but I'll go for characterization, definitely. I don't hate the EU, but so far I root my characters in the movies. (To be sincere, I'm reading COPL right now and I hate both H&L there, I had to say it and let it out ) The physical features and the circumstances aren't enough if they're acting off-character.

 

If I remember correctly PT hates COPL more than any of us. But it's so true their characters seem so off in that book.

I totally base my characters from the movies, and AU is my favorite play ground I just think there are so many places to explore with it. Plus if you get the characterization down then almost any AU can be believable.

One thing I always worry about when writing banter - there is a thin line when the banter either turns ugly or one of them turns mushy. How do you as a writer recognize that line? How do you view their infamous verbal spats?