The Interlude

It has been three years since the world first met starfighter mechanic extraordinaire Rose Tico in The Last Jedi and we’re still not over how perfect and powerful and passionate she is! And yes, we’re still pissed about her lack of screen time in The Rise of Skywalker and the assholes masquerading as Star Wars fans that drove Kelly Marie Tran, who portrayed her, off social media. But this blog is focused on what we love about Rose Tico, because as she once said to the equally incredible Finn: “That’s how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate. Saving what we love.” Without further ado, here’s 52 little love letters to our shining star.

1. Rose Tico is earnest.
2. She loves her late sister, Paige “Pae Pae” Tico.
3. She shares half of a very stylish pendant necklace with the aforementioned sister.
4. Her necklace serves both fashion AND function in The Last Jedi.
5. A low bar, but she hates The First Order (i.e. space Nazis).
6. She condemns the filthy decadence that is capitalism, like when she said of Canto Bight: “I wish I could put my fist through this whole lousy beautiful town.”
7. She knows the importance of friendship.
8. And kindness!
9. In this unfortunately deleted scene, she bites General Hux’s finger!!
10. About to be executed and she fucking bites him!!! My icon!!!!
11. She knows how to fight.
12. She cannot stomach fair weather soldiers.
13. And knows the meaning of “fuck around and find out”…remember when she tased Finn?
14. She has good taste. She later kisses Finn (John Boyega). Immaculate taste!
15. She has great bangs.
16. She also has great side bangs — a visual manifestation of the word “swoosh.”
17. In a galaxy where space hairdos are often bun-centered, she rocks those bangs.
18. She can really work a jumpsuit (wait, are all jumpsuits considered spacesuits in space?)
19. She is portrayed by Kelly Marie Tran.
20. She is the daughter of working class miners (Hue and Thanya, we love you).
21. Rose protected people on her home planet from the First Order for as long as she could, and later joined the Resistance to avenge them.
22. She set the fathiers free.
23. She saved Finn’s life.
24. As Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has said, Rose challenges Finn to be his best.
25. She is a sweetie pie!
26. Rose Tico is the first woman of color to play a major role in the Star Wars films.
27. She is portrayed by the first Asian-American woman in the entire franchise.
28. She doesn’t let despair erode her positive attitude.
29. Like, she lost her entire family and still decided to fight!
30. But she’s a realist, she understands that nice things enjoyed by the few are often built on the suffering of the many.
31. Did we mention she willingly crashes into Finn to save his life, severely injuring herself?!
32. Rose reasonably fangirls the first time she meets Finn, an endearing and honest moment. We all get flustered when meeting our heroes.
33. She’s loyal.
34. She built a system to make the “Resistance’s bombers harder to detect by enemy sensors.”
35. Rose seems like she’d appreciate acrostic name poems.
36. R — Reliable
37. O — Outstanding
38. S — Skilled
39. E — Enthusiastic
40. T — Tough
41. I — Intriguing
42. C — Compassionate
43. O — Out of this world
44. She is canonically 5 feet 2 inches tall, the inspiration behind this blog.
45. Let’s be honest, that is the perfect height for hugging anyone.
46. She is humble: “I’m sorry, I work behind pipes all day. Doing talking with Resistance heroes is not my forte.”
47. Even when disguised to infiltrate the First Order, her bangs look good under that silly hat.
48. BB-8 trusts her.
49. Despite only getting 76 seconds of screen time in The Rise of Skywalker, she shines!
50. Facing incredible odds, she stays with General Leia Organa on the rebel base.
51. The Lego versions of her are so cute.
52. Rose’s actions in The Last Jedi are a reminder that a “nobody,” regardless of their surname, can be a force for good.