YMICB: Thoughts on Rey, Part 1

[lightpoint]

Rey's career and general situation:

Rey graduated from Jakku University a few years prior to the beginning of the fic - she's 25, and started working for Unkar Industrial Consultants right out of college.

Her salary as a newbie engineer is pretty good (above average, actually, especially for Jakku), but the 10% of the city that's semi-upscale is waaaaay outside her budget (student loans YAY). So her place on Ach-To Avenue is kind of a 'transition' apartment' - her initial plan was to live there for a year or so, clear her head, and then try and get a place like Finn and Poe's (which is more of the middle-class-apartment variety, and too small for 3 people and a dog to work well, no matter how close they are).

A lot of people come to Rey and Luke's building for a change, or use it as a stepping-stone, or crash there when they're down on their luck, so her situation isn't outside the norm for that side of town.

She also grew up on 'the wrong side of the tracks' -- what Kylo would consider either lower-middle-class or a tiny step above poverty -- so it's actually a bit familiar to her. She knows how to be poor. (There was a line in Chapter 2 somewhere about the power getting cut off a lot when she was a child...her Mom couldn't always pay the bills).

Speaking of which, Rey's mother is around, but their relationship is a bit strained. Not as bad as the Kylo-Leia relationship, but it's still not the best. Rey couldn't wait to get out of the house. She also encouraged Rey to stay with Kylo because he's rich. Yeah.

So she's comfortable, mostly, but still living paycheck-to-paycheck. Not the best place to be in, but that lady is tough :)



Let's just say that Rey's path forward is going to get rocky.