After enduring months of abuse at the hands of belligerent, childish Star Wars fans who hated The Last Jedi, the beautiful and ebullient Kelly Marie Tran had enough. She deleted her Instagram posts, many of which offered charming images of her smiling broadly and reveling in the positive impact her character Rose Tico had on fans, particularly Asian girls. And the toxic fandom that chased her off seemed to have won, while those who’d found joy and inspiration in Tran’s posts seemed to have lost. But Star Wars is all about moments where it seems the powers of good can’t possibly earn victory, and then that heart-swelling score surges as the rebels make a glorious comeback.

Fighting back against the toxicity that has infected the Star Wars fandom, Rose Tico/Kelly Marie Tran admirers took to Twitter to share their appreciation and positive vibes with #FanArtforRose. And in doing so, they reminded us of a powerful lesson that Rose herself taught Finn in The Last Jedi, “That’s how we’re going to win, not fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”

That's how we will win this. Not destroying what we hate. #FanArtforRose pic.twitter.com/2dN2TUquwI

— Courtney @ AAAAND I FELT YOUUU (@courmore) June 6, 2018

#KellyMarieTran deserves better, I hope she gets a bigger part on the next SW movie and keeps showing all the love and enthusiasm she had when she made TLJ #fanartforRose pic.twitter.com/E03IPeviTl

— Fanny Rodriguez 🏳️‍🌈 (@charratastica) June 6, 2018

#KellyMarieTran was absolutely lovely in #StarWars and we're lucky to have her! #fanartforrose pic.twitter.com/VpJsmBZtNo

— Rori! 💖💜💙 100 Women Coloring Book on Indiegogo! (@RoriComics) June 6, 2018

Heart of gold 💛 #KellyMarieTran #fanartforRose pic.twitter.com/iSwl2AIBav

— Meg Babs 🦁 (@megbabchukart) June 5, 2018

God help the mister.#FanArtForRose pic.twitter.com/JBwvKaxUgW

— Chris Schweizer • HeroesCon1215 (@schweizercomics) June 6, 2018

#FanArtforRose #KellyMarieTran If you watch a movie ( or read a comic book or anything) and you feel a strong compulsion about going to social media and being toxic with the creators, please go to see a therapist, help yourself. pic.twitter.com/gXT7IvBAgQ

— nil vendrell pallach (@nilvendrell) June 5, 2018

please let me reiterate… FUCK YOU HATERS #fanartforrose #rosetico #kellymarietran #starwars #thelastjedi #fanart #starwarsfanart #bb8 pic.twitter.com/MBEyzYx8r6

— martin gee (@ohmgee) June 6, 2018

I call this: “Stunned”⚡️Kelly Marie Tran is an absolute joy and so is Rose. #fanartforrose #Rosetico #kellymarietran #Starwars⁠ ⁠ #thelastjedi pic.twitter.com/aq3oo2QXab

— Michael Herrera (@papertiki) June 6, 2018

Cooldown of a good bean💕 #FanArtforRose #KellyMarieTran pic.twitter.com/pCnAeffizF

— 💖Jenn💜St-Onge💙 (@princess_jem4) June 6, 2018

jfc i didn't know when I drew this that it would eventually become like painfully relevant but I mean I'm feeling all of these right now. #FanArtforRose pic.twitter.com/nmjpiQwyWP

— [email protected] the sleep of the dead (@T1mco) June 5, 2018

I sincerely loved her character and #KellyMarieTran seems like a such genuine and sweet individual. Her Instagram was a joy to follow and I will miss it. Thanks too for repping people who never get to see themselves reflected in media! 😍😭 #FanArtforRose pic.twitter.com/I65BeTjzLG

— Tiff Bartel ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 (@tiffbartel) June 5, 2018

The online treatment of @kellymarietran is deplorable, and yet in the face of hatred and disproportionate negativity she does what other trolls can never do and that is move on. She is truly a hero of the resistance and an inspiration. #FanartForRose pic.twitter.com/OaQmLrxs4l

— brian kesinger (@briankesinger) June 6, 2018

Following the suggestion from @MingjueChen (which was from someone else) to do up some fanart of Rose Tico in support of the groovy Kelly Marie Tran!

#fanartforrose #Rosetico #kellymarietran #Starwars #thelastjedi pic.twitter.com/txVPNWC48k

— Kirk Shannon (@dreln) June 6, 2018

Tran did a world of good by bringing her verve and radiant joy to The Last Jedi and to Instagram. We’ll miss her on the latter. But like Daisey Ridley before her, we can’t ask her to put up with a relentless army of hateful trolls for us. She’s done enough.

You take care of you, girl. We’ll savor what you gave us, and reclaim the fandom with the love you inspired.

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Kristy Puchko is the managing editor of Pajiba. You can follow her on Twitter.

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