#tros kids

[skywalkr-nberrie]

I think that generally accepted fan headcanon that Leia would wish OW was her dad over Anakin or not understanding why Padmé fell for him instead of OW is unfunny and baseless. Mostly coping mechanisms for people who hate Anakin or severely project themselves inside or project something inside OW.

[incorrectstarwarslegendsquotes]

The Grandpapa Palpatine Club

[cha-cha-arts]

• Full of Smiles and Laughter •

I would like to thank @aidelon for having the cutest little Reylo family: Ben, Rey, and their kids, Shmi and Anakin! Ben and Rey deserve so much happiness and their little family is all that they need.

*Reference image for the poses were used*

[bucket-licker-14]

Why is nobody bringing up the words Force Dyad when talking about Mae and Osha????? HELLO ITS RIGHT THERE CAN NONE OF YALL SMELL IT OR AM I NUTS

[linolinoing]

Chanlix on The Return of Superman: Baby Cloud ☁️

[burningblake]

Surprise, he imagined his father saying.

also known as the words that singlehandedly broke me

[ghostbustermelanieking]

i love how simon telling isabelle star wars as a story where the bad guys "stay dead" is retroactively ruined by the rise of skywalker :/

[drunk-on-starlight]

Something I do really liked about Resistance is how it showcases the difference between the Empire and First Order; the First Order needs to be stealthy. Their game is a long and slow one, creeping in with promises of safety and order after manufacturing those crisis.

The Empire? They could just roll in and take over without the gradual build-up.

But the First Order has to sneak around the New Republic; they wouldn't start or presumably win an open fight until Starkiller.

[tarzelladraws]

Hi!! My name is Jenna! I just saw your amazing art and edits! Thanks for sharing your talent! I was very curious after seeing your AU artwork if you have any fanfiction written or a fic rec list you could share?

Aw thank you, i'm so happy you like my art! Sorry for the delayed response, I was on vacation. Here’s a list of some of my favorites in no particular order, just my oldest bookmarks to more recent. My all time favs are marked with **

Links are attached in the titles and i hope you like them! I have so many more!

** Mitan, Midi by animal rated E (Rey inherits a home in France, angst)

**Code of Honor by c_ike rated E (my favorite Rey background)

Forbidden by koderenn rated E (Jedi Rey x Senator Ben)

we could plant a house, we could build a tree by Like_A_Dove rated E (Ben and Rey grow up together, heavy angst)

** All Our Days by voicedimplosivesrated E (cannonverse Persuasion AU)

** Good Day, Professor by faequeentitania rated E (College student Rey x professor Ben)

A Royal Mistake by reyofdarkness (mitslits) rated E (Mechanic Rey x Prince Ben)

Compatible by AttackoftheDarkCurses rated E (friends to lovers, sexy vacation)

give you my wild (give you a child) by lizzysbennett rated E (babysitter rey x single dad Ben)

Mistranslations by MissCoppelia rated E (BDSM, Japanese mafia)

** stuck in colder weather by redbelles rated E (More college student Rey x professor Ben)

Ruby Woo Red by HeartSabers rated E (Celebrity Ben x MUA Rey)

set me on fire by no_loose_wire_jokes Rated E (roommates, rey is turned on by him swearing lol)

Good Fences by quamquam20 rated E (Witch Rey x Vampire Ben neighbors)

And Your Kingdom Too by vuas rated E (fantasy royalty au, arranged marriage, single chapter)

Olive and an Arrow by sadboykylo rated E (bodyguard Ben x president's daughter Rey)

Sunshine After a Storm by enloeddmedia rated E (modern cowboy au)

**A Royal Mix-Up by AttackoftheDarkCurses rated E (Ben x rey have a one night stand, he forgets to tell her he's a prince)

Awards Season by gracediamondsfear rated E (actor Ben x personal chef Rey)

**It's Just Us Now by KyloZen rated E (cannon divergent Kylo and Rey are stuck on Hoth together)

**Lifeblood by ebongawk (makeshiftcandy) rated E (modern au vampire ben)

**rumor has it by dachenabritta rated E (spoiled rich girl rey asks ben to sleep with her)

He's got them bad boy blues by Blueyedgurl rated E (high school au)

Three by JenfysNest rated E (an ode to three finger fingering)

**Soup from my Mouth by v_for_verona rated E (HEA TROS, food as a love language, this one speaks to the food insecurity i had growing up)

**D Major by star_pilots rated E (Ben fingers rey on a school bus lol)

**Show Me Your Teeth (i'll show you mine) by KnightFalling rated E (gentle vampire Ben x Rey who has vampire related trauma)

Shadow Song by SageMcMae rated E (ben is in a coma/also a shadow being protecting foster kid rey)

**Diet Coke by Pacificwanderer (CNichole) rated E (Ben is a hot construction worker that rey watches from her office window)

Dog Day Open Hydrant by LinearA rated E (firefighter ben is called to shut off a hydrant that Rey opened)

**Leave It All, Lock to the Tide by alantieislander rated E (Rey lives on a remote island, soldier Ben washes up on the shore)

**Don't Feed It (It Will Come Back) by Aaveena rated E (Rey works at a diner for the supernatural, Ben is a newly turned vampire)

you're the tall kingdom I surround (think I better follow you around) by havingaheavy rated E (Rey stalks Ben, Ben is obsessed with Rey)

To Have and to Hold by bunilicious rated E (historical AU, arranged marriage)

[terriblepersongreatseamonster]

It's hilarious to me that the articles I've seen about Driver coming back to Star Wars have all been "Adam Driver says he won't return to play Kylo Ren". Like, no shit, Sherlock, Kylo Ren died in TROS when Rey stabbed him with his own lightsaber. Kylo Ren is dead. Now start asking the real question which is, "Is Adam Driver returning to play Ben Solo?".

Update: I feel the need to add to this that while I was aware that Kelly Marie Tran got treated like shit by people, I only recently learned that people were awful to Adam's wife as well (and by recently, I mean I found this out after I originally made this post). Not cool. While I really want him to return as Ben Solo, I completely understand if he has no interest in returning out of a desire to protect his wife and kids.

[seros-chaotic-scribbles]

Ranking the TDB Boys' Ability to be a Housewife PT 1

hi everyone! my wonderful guild gave me this idea! we had a short discussion about who would make a good housewife out of the boys and that spawned this little brain rot! enjoy! :3

okay so as i was writing this I hated how long it was getting so this will be multiple parts! let me know what you think!! <3

ALSO THE NEW CHAPTER???? BRO I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A HAKU FIC AND NOW ALL I CAN THINK OF IS THE NEW SILLIES

Frostheim & Vagastrom below the cut!

Frostheim:

Jin Kamurai:

When i tell you that this man might be the best and worse housewife. he has the money to spoil you and he will but if you expect him to do ANY chores… yeah no. he would hire someone else to do it for him. laundry? done. dishes? clean. But was he responsible for any of it? nah. now if you two had kids i could see him being a detached but good father, it would take him a bit (he would have to go to therapy for his own trauma) before he could properly bond with the kiddos but once thats happened? I imagine the two would be attached at the hip! Overall solid 7/10.

Tohma Ishibashi:

okay as much as i was originally on the fence i think Tohma would actually make a pretty decent housewife. hed be amazing at running the household, scheduling everything is a breeze for him and hed definitely keep all the finances in order. like Jin, i imagine hed hire people to keep the place spotless but unlike Jin i can see him taking a more active role in keeping things comfortable for you. Like i imagine him to be the type to ensure you’re not overworking yourself by preparing everything for a vacation and making your boss give you time off. if you two had kids, i could see him joining the school board, maybe a bit of a helicopter parent (in a good way! maybe.), just involved in managing the school and your child’s education as a whole. he would absolutely be a bit of a control freak so i give him a 6/10

Lucas Errant:

it is my humble belief that Lucas would be one of the best housewife candidates. this man would have everything taken care of on top of anything extra. hes the type to have a warm bath ready for you when you get home and extra comfy pjs laid out for afterwards. he might get a little confused from time to time on what you may want (for example you need to be direct with this man. hints will absolutely go over his head) but know he always has your best interests at heart. if you have kids just know they will be united in their love for you and he will be raising them to be little gentle souls. they’d be the type of kiddos to sit there and hold the door for EVERYONE if you went out to eat. be prepared for their combined efforts to take care of you. 10/10 no questions.

Kaito Fuji:

Kaito (I love my wife) Fuji would be another great housewife. he may not be the best when it comes to a confrontation but just know that his love for you is unrivaled. your boss bothering you at work? nope. that isn’t something his beloved should have to deal with! hed often be angry on your behalf and if you’re not careful he may or may not show up to your work. speaking of work, you would have new flowers on your desk every week with the sweetest, fluffiest notes that you could imagine. this man cannot believe that you are his wife and would be the type to be thankful for your very existence. Only hiccup might be if you two have kids. don’t get him wrong!! he adores his kids!!! but he still wants to be the one to cuddle you when you get home. he might end up feeling a bit lonely until you smile at him and he bursts into tears because of how silly he is to be jealous. 9/10. just for his little jealous habits

Vagastrom:

Alan Mido: 

Oh goodness, Alan would be a great housewife. a scary one. but a wonderful one. just be careful when it comes to contacting him while at work. He will send the most ominous messages out of the blue (ex the package has arrived or it happened again) with NO elaboration. but thats not his fault!! he was just having trouble with his phone ;-; i imagine he would keep the house fairly clean (on weekends the two of you would deep clean together) but most of all he would treat you like you were the most precious thing to exist. hed be a very domestic housewife. i can kinda see him in a similar position to Tatsu in Way of the Househusband. If you two had kids expect some of the sweetest moments. at first he would be terrified of hurting them, theyre so tiny and his strength is ungodly, but with reassurance from you he would gently start to hold them and feed them. some nights youd wake up to him standing by the baby’s crib, softly talking to them and letting them hold his hand as they slept. Hes a bit rough around the edges but that just adds to his charm so 9/10! 

Leo Kurosagi:

bestie. why did you marry this man. Leo would make a terrible househusband. hed avoid doing chores and unlike some of the other ghouls, he would not hire anyone to handle it for him. i imagine he’d be somewhat of a dead weight besides the money that he makes off of social media. and don’t get me started on the way he tends to involve you in his content. he’d be a completely different person while fiming, all smiles and sweetness in order to fool his fans into believing you two have a perfect marriage. don’t even get me started on if you two have children. dude would be an ipad parent. any sign of distress from your kiddos and boom. screentime on overdrive.  0/10. Divorce babe, divorce. 

Sho Haizono:

okay okay, Sho might actually be a perfect housewife. i don’t mean this as a joke but if food is your love language you’d be in heaven. Each morning you’d see a lunch already packed for you (i don’t see Sho as a morning person so no breakfast for you :3) and inside would be the cutest lunch. He would make sure that theres a mix of healthy and sweet in order to keep you fufilled for dinner! Speaking of dinner, whenever you’d get home there would be a hot meal waiting for you! not only would he make your favorites but he would have you be his tester for new recipes. The sweetest night spent between the two of you involve a dessert and movie. He does his best to keep the house clean but don’t be suprised if he forgets a few things here or there (except the kitchen. that is always sparkling!). if you two had kids it would be over for the culinary world. you would walk in on Sho teaching your child how to cook, calm instructions as your kid is a bit too close to the stove or wielding a particularly sharp knife. it wouldn’t be suprising to me if your kiddo ended up on various cooking shows at an early age! Sho gets a 10/10 because a girls gotta eat!

[olderthannetfic]

Fandom specific confession:

I like both Rey Skywalker and Reylo (and before anyone asks - i actually hated TROS despite it technically giving us both), so, as you can imagine, I'm often "in the trenches" as the kids say, as a lot of ReySky fans are super anti-Reylo and a bunch of Reylo fans are super anti-ReySky.

And I'm just here like "Why not both?" I'm an OG OG fan, so I shipped Luke/Leia both before and after realizing it's incest, why can't I do the same for Rey and Ben? Or why can't I at least say "I enjoy ReySky in one context, and I enjoy Reylo in another" - because I don't inherently like Reylo more or less when she's a Skywalker, Solo, etc, but also, it doesn't bother me if they are cousins or siblings or whatever else. It's sad to me that antis, a group which is still relatively new to me in the grand scheme of things, have us pitted against each other. Us reylos and reyskys, we should make out instead of fighting. Regardless of if we're related or not. Lol.

--

[rj-anderson]

I dusted and rearranged (and slightly culled) my Shelves o' Nerdery today and am quite pleased with the result. My k-pop album collection needed more space so Stray Kids ended up nudging Reylo (+ Rose and Tiny Han Solo) to the far end, but there they shall stay because even if my joy in Star Wars died in the theatre with TRoS and never recovered [1], Reylo lives forever in my heart 🦋

Anyway I currently have a complete Xdinary Heroes and xikers collection as well as all the SKZ albums I care enough to buy, which is pleasing. I'm still a little bummed that I ordered the Compact version of Deadlock by accident, and if I'd known more about the Tabloid version of Live and Fall I would have picked a different one for that album too (the hazards of doing all my buying online). But I'm still glad to have them.

-- [1] See also: Nu Who where my joy died with the Chibnall era, kind of like my joy in Classic Who died with Five's regeneration into Six and didn't return until the TV movie (which was arguably Not Good but Paul McGann was wonderful). But anyway I have two Sonic Screwdrivers (Eleven's and Twelve's) and I think they're pretty cool... ...which causes me to wonder if anyone has ever brought a Sonic Screwdriver to a kpop concert, and how funny it would be if I did. Not SKZ because I have a Proper Lightstick for them, but maybe xikers if I ever get to see them in person.

[obsidianimagines]

Just Like Old Times

Sam surprises you with a visit to the newly restored Flynn's Arcade.

Sam Flynn x gn!Bradley!reader

Warnings: None

Notes: This is my first Sam imagine. It's connected to some other imagines that are coming up, I just wanted to do this one first because it's cute. Reader is Alan and Lora's kid, but could easily be adopted if that works better for you! Enjoy ☺️

"You busy tonight?"

"Yeah, a little bit." Looking up at the home screen of your Wii, you smirked. "I've got a date with a little Italian plumber."

Sam chuckled from the other end of the phone. "Can Princess Peach wait a little longer to be rescued?"

"I don't know," you sighed, already shutting off the system and your television. "What do you have in mind?"

"Still got your helmet?"

Back when the two of you were still dating, and even before that, Sam used to take you out on his Ducati all the time. He'd gotten you your own helmet because even though he drove much more cautiously with you on the back, he still wanted you to be as safe as possible. "I think it's around here somewhere," you replied, trying not to betray that you still knew exactly where it was.

"See you in ten minutes." His motorcycle revved loudly before he hung up the phone.

Grinning, you jumped up from the couch and rushed to your closet to search for something other than the sweatpants and loose shirt you'd been wearing since you got home. Since you didn't have much time, you settled on a t-shirt and jeans look, and a hoodie on top to protect you from the wind. It wasn't like it was a date, so casual was just fine.

You took a minute to dig the old helmet out of the back of the closet, and you smiled at the sight of it. Sam had it painted in your favorite color, with a golden Triforce on the back. It brought back a lot of good memories.

With only a few minutes left, you fixed yourself up in the bathroom mirror and finally left to meet Sam.

You noticed him the moment you stepped out of the entrance to your apartment building. He sat on his bike, helmet off and resting in front of him. You tried to ignore the striking blue of his eyes and how the glow of the street lights played on his dirty blond hair.

Sam smiled when he saw you approaching. "You look great."

"I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I?" you asked as you took the spot behind him, avoiding the compliment.

"Don't worry, I only just got here." He put his helmet back on, and you did the same for the first time in years.

You wrapped your arms around his middle, instantly feeling right at home. This was getting a little too dangerous already. "Gonna tell me where we're going?"

"You'll see."

Sam started the bike back up and took off, smirking as he felt you hold on a little tighter. Riding with you was one of the many things that he'd missed. He remembered the first time he'd taken you out for a ride, back when you were both 15. Alan wasn't happy about it afterward, but your father's protests didn't keep you from regularly ending up on the back of his bike.

You rested your head against his back and closed your eyes, feeling the rushing wind and the rumble of the street beneath you. If anyone else were driving that motorcycle, you would've avoided it like the plague. But you trusted Sam with your safety, and with your life. There was no question about it.

Remembering that made it that much harder to stick to the idea of starting over again as friends. Spending more and more time with him had you craving it all, even though he'd broken your heart when he ended your relationship. Circumstances were much different than before, but you didn't want to jump into things. You wanted to take it slow for as long as you could manage, and thankfully, Sam had understood that.

You weren't sure exactly how much time had passed when Sam finally came to a stop and turned off the engine. "Here we are."

Pulling your helmet off, your eyes went right to the huge glowing sign that read FLYNN'S. You hadn't seen it lit up since you were six. Even the Tron billboard up top looked exactly the same, not faded and worn. "Whoa."

"You should see the inside," he said, taking off his helmet and standing up, placing it on the seat. "Come on."

You followed his lead, watching as he unlocked the door and opened it up to let you inside. The place was almost pitch black as you stepped in, the outlines of some of the arcade cabinets barely visible. "I can't see much of anything like this."

Sam walked further into the arcade. "Wait there."

Shoving your hands into your hoodie pocket, you did just as he said, and moments later, heard the flipping of a few switches.

After 20 years of abandonment, you'd expected the place to look dilapidated, covered in a thick layer of dust. But no, once everything turned on, Flynn's looked just the way it had in 1989. Neon signs on the walls, the arcade cabinets flashing with idle animations, and the jukebox blasting pure 80's nostalgia. Tears pricked at your eyes, and you couldn't help the huge grin on your face.

For a moment, you were six years old again.

Sam smiled as he watched you take the place in, the awe on your face making him feel even more pride. It'd been a long time since he'd seen you so happy.

He came to stand beside you, only adding to that feeling of nostalgia. "I hired some people to clean the place up and get the cabinets in working order. Grand opening's in about two weeks."

"Dad said you mentioned doing something with the arcade, but I wasn't expecting this."

Passing by the neglected arcade had always stung a bit. There were so many days where your parents would bring you and Jet by, and you and Sam would play games with his father. Then Kevin Flynn disappeared, and the place was shuttered, remaining only in your memories until that night.

"It just felt like the right thing to do." Like taking back ENCOM and actually doing something with his life. Like reconnecting with you.

"How many hours do you think we spent trying to beat your dad's high scores?"

Sam glimpsed the leaderboard on a nearby cabinet, his father's initials still firmly at the top. "Nowhere near enough."

You walked further into the arcade, Sam trailing behind. "So did you bring quarters, or are you just being a tease?"

"Me? A tease? Never."

A loud laugh left you as you made your way over to Space Paranoids, and Sam headed off to fetch the coins he'd prepared. You fiddled with the buttons, getting a bit of a feel for it again. You'd played some arcade games off and on in the last two decades, but Space Paranoids was not one of them. Hopefully, you weren't too rusty.

Sam returned, holding a cup full to the brim with quarters. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" You slid one coin into the machine and got into position.

Sam's heart grew warmer as he watched you play. You'd always been at your most adorable when you were singularly focused, your eyebrows furrowed and tongue poking out from between your lips. It took everything he had not to kiss you right then and there.

"Come on, come on, come on," you mumbled, shooting at the Recognizer. This was the last stretch, and while you surely wouldn't beat Flynn's score, you still wanted to do your best and show off a bit. Once the final enemy was destroyed, you didn't quite make it on the leaderboard, but to be fair, you did have some stiff competition.

You moved back from the cabinet and nodded towards it. "Your turn."

"No, thanks. This one's a bit too real for me now."

Sam had told you about 'The Grid' and how he'd found his dad and Quorra there. Apparently, Kevin Flynn had succeeded in his dream of a digital frontier and ended up trapped there, in a world much like the Tron game in the back of the arcade. He'd told Sam stories about it as a kid–which Sam had relayed back to you a few times–but they were just stories, right?

You bumped your shoulder into his playfully. "I think you're just scared you won't do as well as I did."

And though you'd met and already adored Quorra, the idea of her being a program living in the real world seemed completely impossible.

Part of you wondered if Sam might have been concussed while base jumping off ENCOM Tower, or maybe just had a bad acid trip or something. But whether or not an adventure on The Grid really did happen, you were just glad that it triggered something in him. Everyone who knew him could see how much better he was doing already.

He would be the first to admit that you were better at most video games than he was, given that you continued to play them regularly into your teens and adulthood, but he stepped into the open space anyway. "Alright, I'll give it a try," he said with a laugh, putting a quarter into the machine.

"Don't forget, it's all in the wrist."

"Man, that was the most fun I've had in a long time."

"Happy to help." Sam smiled, his arm casually resting over the back of your seat. After playing every game in the arcade, the two of you had decided to hang out in his dad's old office for a while. And he might have had an ulterior motive in getting you away from the loud music downstairs. "Not to ruin the mood, but I wanted to talk to you about something while we're here."

You placed your drink on the coffee table. "Uh oh. Should I be worried?"

"It's not bad, I promise." Sam ran a hand back through his hair, almost nervous. Would this be too much too fast? "Alan told me that you tried pitching a new games division a while back."

You'd talked about it off and on for years, but he'd had no idea that you'd actually brought it to the board until he began looking into more ways to change ENCOM for the better. Among other ideas proposed by employees, your father had informed Sam of yours, and he knew that it hadn't gone well.

"Oh, that?" There was a tinge of sadness that you couldn't hide from him, even though you tried to act nonchalant. "They practically laughed me out of the meeting. Told me that ENCOM Games went out the window a long time ago."

"Well, the new CEO happens to think it's a great idea." You could see the serious glint in his eyes as he continued. "I want you to be the head of game development for ENCOM."

In spite of the sincerity in his expression and tone, you laughed. "What?"

"We both know that operating systems aren't your passion. You got into programming to make games."

"Yeah, but I thought you were focusing on medical technology and research." He'd told you about ISOs, and how Quorra was one herself. How her DNA could change the world.

"ENCOM's a big company." Sam put his arm around your shoulder and gestured his other hand out in front of the two of you. "Come on, just picture it. An office that's not the size of a closet, with a great view of Center City. The power to make the games you've always wanted without having to answer to anyone. Except for me, technically, but I trust you completely."

Over the years, you'd showed Sam so many ideas and sketches for games that you wanted to make some day. Some fully fleshed out, others just interesting bits and pieces that you could expand on later. You had notebooks full of them, but you hadn't looked at any since the board shot you down. Sam knew better than anyone how much it all meant to you.

"I got on at ENCOM because I hoped things would eventually go back to how they were before. Over the years, it became more and more apparent that it wasn't happening. Then my pitch went to hell, and I gave up. I decided it was time to go and do what I've always wanted. But I was wrong. You're finally making ENCOM better, and I'd like to help you do it."

Sam needed all the help he could get, and he knew it. Thankfully, he had people he could trust. "We'll get you moved into your new office tomorrow."

He already had an office, which meant he must have already had space reserved for a new department, which meant..."You just assumed I'd say yes?"

"More like hoped."

"You almost missed your chance, you know. I was so close to being hired by Nintendo."

The idea that you were planning to leave Center City, especially now that you were in his life again, made his stomach drop. But if anyone deserved the chance to follow their dreams, it was you. He couldn't blame you for having written off a future at ENCOM. "...They would've been lucky to have you."

"I know," you replied with a shrug. "But now you're the one who's lucky to have me."

"That's old news."

Sam's bright blue eyes bore into yours, and you found yourself leaning in just a bit. His arm still rested around your shoulders, his fingertips brushing your arm and making your skin tingle even through the fabric. You glanced at his lips for a moment, and he started to move in to meet you. You could still remember the feeling of his mouth on yours as he held you impossibly close, making your heart pound in your chest every time.

The thumping drums of Separate Ways started up in the arcade, and you managed to break out of the spell. "We still had some quarters, right? We should go use them up."

Sam let out a breathy chuckle. "Yeah, that's a good idea." He would've been more than happy to stay up on that couch kissing you, but you obviously weren't ready for that, and he would never push it.

So, he gladly went back downstairs and played more games with you, just like old times.

[david-talks-sw]

An allergy to the Prequels

While I'm putting together a post about the evolution Lucasfilm's transmedia strategies, this part kinda turned into its own thing!

So I'm not sure if anyone else noticed, but, uh... there hasn't been that much Prequel content since the Disney sale, right?

'Couple novels and comics, some episodes... but nothing meaningful.

The more I look into it, the more it feels like a deliberate avoidance to touch on anything Prequel-related - beyond the required quota, that is - to a point where they'd rather tell stories set during periods that are Prequel-adjacent (Dark Times, High Republic) than something set around Episodes I, II and III.

On-screen policy: "pretend they never happened"

I mean, this one's no secret. When The Force Awakens had been announced, with J.J. Abrams at the helm, everyone sighed in relief. "Finally, George Lucas won't keep ruining the franchise."

When Abrams had been announced as the director of Episode VII, I remember this cringey animated video started circulating online, titled "4 Rules To Make Star Wars Great Again" or "Dear JJ Abrams":

“Star Wars isn’t shiny and clean... Star Wars is a western.”

If you ask me, those two things are not mutually exclusive.

'Cause Star Wars has always been both, for many Prequel kids. Both clean and dusty, Coruscant and Tatooine. There was never a disconnect between the Original Trilogy (OT) and the Prequel Trilogy.

Even the documentary The People vs George Lucas shows Prequel-hating fans begrudgingly admit their kids felt all six episodes tied seamlessly.

Abrams, on the other hand, said: "I think [the "Dear JJ" video] was right on." Later on, he also said:

he considered "putting Jar Jar Binks's bones in the desert" on Jakku, somewhere, and

he intentionally made the lightsaber fights "rougher", "primitive" and "more powerful" unlike the fast-paced ones in the Prequels.

Later, we found out he wanted to blow up Coruscant.

It's clear he wasn't a big fan of the Prequels.

But y'know what? Not many fans over 20 were, at the time. And when The Force Awakens came out, most them celebrated it as a wonderful love letter to the OT.

Star Wars is cool again. Mission accomplished 🙌 !

However movies keep coming out, and references to the Prequels - if there are any - are literally just that... references.

Sometimes in the shape of a cameo ("hey look, Genevieve O'Reilly from the Ep. III deleted scenes is playing Mon Mothma again!")

Sometimes in a name (Luke name-dropped "Darth Sidious"!)

But nothing set during the Prequel era, and nothing treating the events that happened in that period as relevant or impactful, beyond subtextual nods.

In fact, the trend of avoiding anything Prequel-related continues as the final film in the Skywalker Saga comes out:

The Rise of Skywalker has a secret Sith society that chants the name "Palpatine" instead of his Sith name "Darth Sidious",

the film pretends the Kaminoans never existed,

and neither TROS nor Trevorrow's Duel of the Fates script even try to bring Hayden Christensen's Anakin Skywalker back on screen. Let that sink in, we're talking about the Chosen One, Skywalker Senior, whose sins caused this whole mess... and his name isn't even uttered once in the final chapter of what Disney dubbed the *Skywalker* Saga (or the entire Sequel trilogy, for that matter).

But hey, The Clone Wars got renewed for one last Season! That's cool right? So many stories had gone unfinished and somehow the animation looks even better than befo--

-- oh. It's not 22 episodes? Only 12?

Four of which had already been shown to us, but hey! We need to set-up the Bad Batch series, so let's shoehorn those episodes in there, and forget Son of Dathomir, Dark Disciple or Crystal Crisis.

*sigh* Better than nothing, I guess.

In other mediums: "just not a priority"

Now this is something that I'll explore more in the transmedia post (and purely my interpretation), but the noticeable change between Lucasfilm's transmedia strategy *post-ROTS* and the one post-Disney sale is that:

Before, the games, comics and novels were the main content. After all, Revenge of the Sith had been released, so that was it, for the movies. Thus, a variety of other content was being cranked out to keep the Star Wars franchise relevant. There were comics set 100 years after Episode 6, comics set 25,000 years prior, games set in the Old Republic era, other stories in the New Republic era, novels galore, a couple of parody films and an animated show, The Clone Wars, which sometimes received its own tie-in comics, novels and games.

After the sale and ever since, most of the transmedia products have had only one goal: promoting the films & streaming shows.

So while in 2015 you won't see an abundance of Prequel content... you'll see an avalanche of OT books and comics come out.

Why? Because the heroes of that era will be in the Sequel Trilogy movies. It provided context to the kids who hadn't seen the OT yet, and reintroduced those films to a new generation of fans, while priming them for the Sequels.

A multimedia marketing strategy that ultimately proved successful.

However, it continued even after The Force Awakens came out.

Don't believe me? Compare how many comics there have been set during the Prequel era vs the OT era.

If they make comics about the Prequels, they're limited runs.

Case in point: before the current Yoda series, the best any Disney Prequel-set comic series ever got was 6 issues.

Note: it's worth pointing out that the frequency of mini-series aren't just a Star Wars-specific thing, it's a comic book industry thing. The readership for comics is dwindling, many people are reading scans online, and so no publisher wants to commit to a story that lasts more than 4-6 issues. My problem is: there absolutely would be readership for a Prequel comic series to warrant an extended run instead of a mini-series.

Let's talk books. There have been give or 64 canon novels published since the Disney sale.

Only 11 of them are set during the Prequel era. And even those stories only came out when the planets were aligned.

Almost half of them were released while being a part of some bigger multimedia push.

Example:

Before the Obi-Wan Kenobi series was being released on Disney Plus, we'd had one novel and like two comic stories about him during the Prequels... released between 2012 and end 2021. That's about three pieces of content in almost ten years.

Clearly a low frequency.

Then, when the series is around the corner, two books and a comic story comes out in the space of months, plus an anthology book with an alt cover with his face on it and a comic with a story of him and Anakin in the first issue, all in 2022.

My takeaway: short of there being a film or series that needs to be promoted, you'll rarely get any Prequel comics or books.

And this is OBI-WAN we're talking about. The character who even the Prequel haters love. Imagine how little attention the other ones get.

Gaming-wise, Battlefront had no Prequel content at all (again, 2015 was the year where OT content was shoved down the consumer's throats to prep them for Episode VII), and Battlefront 2 only released Prequel content a full year later.

All that being said, we did seen some Prequel elements here and there. After all, some actors got to reprise their roles, books and comics came out featuring Prequel characters... but there's a catch.

The stories they appear in are set in-between Episodes III and IV, a time-period known as "the Dark Times" or the "Imperial era".

"Dark Times" being used instead of the Prequel era

It's easy to see the appeal of this era. You keep the same threat from the Original Trilogy - the Empire - but redress it with Prequel elements... while also cherry-picking the best characters of both the OT and the Prequels and giving them a chance to shine again.

The situation is more clear cut, as opposed to the complex one in the Prequels. Bad guys are stormtroopers, good guys are anyone else. And the stories no longer take place in the shiny capital, you're back on the frontier.

But at this point... it feels like a cop-out.

When you consider how much content has been set during the Dark Times, it's nothing to sneeze at. Since the sale, we've had:

2 movies (Solo, Rogue One)

4 series set in that time-period (namely The Bad Batch, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, and Star Wars: Rebels).

2 video-games (Jedi: Fallen Order and Jedi: Survivor).

17 novels (such as Ahsoka, Lords of the Sith, the new Thrawn books, etc)

And just a whole bunch of comic book series & mini-series (like Kanan, Princess Leia, various Vader-centric comics including Darth Vader: Lord of the Sith, many tie-in mini-series promoting Rogue One, Jedi: Fallen Order, Obi-Wan Kenobi, etc).

There's been so much content made for this time-period that it feels like an unwillingness to do the work and create something set something during the Prequel era, let alone something that follows its Jedi.

After all, why make a story set in the Prequels (disliked by vocal fans) when you can just take the characters in that story and put them in an OT setting (which will appease the Prequel-haters)?

Maybe these stories get relegated to the Dark Times because:

there seems to be a perception that anything set in the Prequel era won't sell?

or maybe the current SW writers weren't fond of Episodes I, II and III, and don't find those Jedi characters likable, thinking they're too righteous and dogmatic which makes it hard to craft a story around them.

Or maybe it's because they're under the impression that the Prequel Jedi are bad. Like, canonically, in the narrative. Not just in a "I don't like them" sense, but also in a "the story is all about them becoming corrupted" sense.

Let's expand on that last point.

Retconning the Prequels as the "Fall of the Jedi" era

Somehow the rare stories set during the Prequels that we do get seem to automatically be about how "the Jedi lost their way/failed".

The series Tales of the Jedi is explicit about it...

... and I already explained why it contradicts what George Lucas established here and here.

You also see it in Rebels and the new season of The Clone Wars...

... in comics...

... in games...

It gets to a point where the Prequels era has now been redubbed the "Fall of the Jedi" era by Lucasfilm.

You wanna know what that period was referred to before the Disney sale? The "Rise of the Empire" Era.

Because - and I'll never get tired of saying this cuz it's factual - the Prequels aren't about the fall of the Jedi, they're about the fall of the Republic and Anakin, and rise of the Empire and Vader.

So in addition to being overdone, the "Jedi lost their way" is not even the intended narrative of the Prequels (if one puts any stock in Lucas' words). It's a minor subplot at best, hardly the focus of the films, let alone a whole time period.

But dubbing it "Fall of the Jedi" implies that there's another era in which the Jedi were in their heyday.

Because Star Wars authors are in luck! Yet another alternative has presented itself in the shape of a new transmedia initiative, and it's even better than the "let's set it during the Dark Times" solution:

A new transmedia initiative: The High Republic

You wanna deal with the Jedi before the Empire, but for some reason you wanna avoid dealing with the ones seen in the Prequels?

Look no further. Meet the Jedi of the High Republic.

Noble, adventurous, inspired by the Knights of the Round Table, they're everything the OT kids dreamed about when they heard ol' Ben Kenobi talk about the Knights of the Old Republic.

That's more like it!

Note: the High Republic was created for other reasons and has many more upsides than the ones mentioned above. Namely, a fresh new spot in the timeline that allows for creative freedom and a beautifully-coordinated transmedia storytelling effort where retcons are non-existent. However it does seem evident that not having to deal with the 'unlikable' Prequel Jedi and their "fall" is one of those upsides.

Another perk that the High Republic era offers is more freedom in terms of storytelling compared to the Prequels.

In 2016, Pablo Hidalgo tweeted he still quotes to authors the following excerpt of West End Games' guide for aspiring Star Wars writers, from 1994.

You can't write "this was the best day in Luke Skywalker's life", for example, because another author may want to write a better day than the one you just wrote.

My guess is that a similar approach applies to how all characters from the movies are treated. They're massively iconic. So you can't write a book that drastically changes how Mace or Yoda or Obi-Wan are perceived overall.

The stories need to be self-contained, disregardable if necessary, because you'll have dozens of writers coming up with new stories for those same characters, and you need to leave them some room.

Examples:

Notice how in the book Dooku: Jedi Lost we never see how Dooku turns to the Dark Side and joins the Sith.

Same goes for crossover comic book arcs of the Star Wars issues, like Vader Down or Crimson Reign... the characters don't really change by much in those comics. You could stick to just watching the movies and you wouldn't really miss anything.

But with The High Republic, you indeed can develop these characters as much as you want.

All stories featuring Avar Kriss leave an impact on her, you can nail down who she is perfectly in one book or one comic arc, both being just as meaningful to her character.

The fact that she's not as iconic/famous a character as Mace Windu means that authors can go to town on crafting an interesting and nuanced character arc for her that'll have a beginning, middle and end... something Mace will never really get.

CONCLUSION:

Back in 2015... let's not kid ourselves. The Prequels were unpopular and Disney is a multi-billion dollar corporation. Opting to make as much money as possible is what they do.

It's the same reason they decided not to go with George Lucas' original plans for the Sequels, in 2012.

I mean, imagine you're Disney. You just dropped 4 billion dollars, with a B, on this franchise. Your next Star Wars movie needs to be worth the price tag. Now, you can pick between two options:

Option #1 is uncharted territory and it explores the midi-chlorians (the cursed word…!) and the guy who presented you with this option also openly admits that a big chunk of customers won’t like it, but he wants this to be done because it’s his vision.

Option #2 is very simple: a soft reboot, that plays on nostalgia that the same chunk of customers (aka the 'boomer and Gen-X fans who grew up with the Original Trilogy and now have kids, grandkids and MONEY) will like.

It's a no-brainer. They gave the customers what they wanted.

But time has passed, the fans who were children when the Prequels first came out have grown up, and grew up with characters like Yoda, Mace, Plo Koon, Kit Fisto and other Jedi as their heroes, aside from main characters like Anakin and Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.

Can we maybe expand on them, flesh them out more?

No, let's either ignoring the storytelling potential of these characters or reducing it to them being "righteous, arrogant and dogmatic".

God forbid we get a story showing the Prequel Jedi in a *gasp* more positive light? One where their POV is more understandable, instead of the same old "we brought this on ourselves" storyline.

There's a whole decade between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones... you're telling me there's no space to show us Anakin's training and how he formed bonds with the Jedi we later see in The Clone Wars? I tried my hand at it here:

Interesting or fun Prequel-set ideas from other pro-Jedi fans on Tumblr can be found here, here and here.

And y'know, part of the Star Wars intent is for fans to take the ideas in the movies and come up with their own stories. You're supposed to create headcanons.

What I'm saying is fans of the Prequels are being given less "imagination food" than the rest, and many of us who like the Jedi in particular are forced to rely on headcanons only. "Better than nothing" is no longer an acceptable standard.

There's a range of recognizable Jedi characters that have already been established in films and TCW, can we maybe expand on them, flesh them out more, instead of whole new ones?

[certifiedlovergirlsstuff]

I was wondering if you could do a joyce byers x daughter reader or daughter figure where the reader has a bad panic attack and joyce consoles/comforts them? I'm asking all around for this fic. I have really bad panic attacks so i'd like to think of joyce as a comfort.

i don’t typically write for joyce (only in my ST series) but she is such a good mom. i too would like to be comforted by her. takes place pre-season 1. joyce still has her job at melvards or whatever it’s called. also i get bad panic attacks at times it sucks.

joyce byers x fem!reader (platonic) (cw: cursing, slut shaming, harassment, panic attack. also tommy hagen in its self. why i chose to include him, probably cause it was the ‘easiest’ way to produce a PA at least for me.)

masterlist

stupid tommy hagen and his annoying ass face. egging your car, spilling his lunch on you, call you not true names. you’ve had enough of his taunts.

“oh, if it isn’t the walking tramp of the (l/n) house. hey, how much for an hour? heard you were quite pricey.” his obnoxious laugh filled the square. it was only you and him walking down the street, how lovely.

“fuck off, hagen.” not bothering to look his way. gripping your purse strap in a vice.

he scoffed, “oh, i’m actually asking you to fuck me. heard from some of the basketball team your pretty good at the dirty dance. holy praises.” you could hear his feet dragging on the pavement.

you glared over your shoulder at him, flared nostrils and scrunched brows. “don’t you have a girlfriend? pretty sure she’d be fine with your charity case ass.” turning back to see your place of work coming into view.

just as you passed the hardware store a bruising grip latched onto your left wrist and yanked you back, causing a stumble to your walk. tommy hagen was pressing his chest into your back, almost curling over you as his breath fanned the side of your face.

“i’d watch that slut mouth of yours. could land yourself in some real tro-“ you cut tommy off as you twisted yourself and slapped him hard across the face. chest panting with quickening breaths.

“leave me the fuck alone!” kneeing him in the crotch for good measure and dashing into melvards. fast feet carried your further into the store so you weren’t seen from the windows.

“hey hon- you okay?” joyce byers circled the register and walked towards you slowly.

you didn’t realize you were shaking until you could barely get a word out with it getting stuck in your throat. “i- i uh, tom- he har- harassed-“ frantically pushing at loose bits of hair, tugging harshly at your clothes.

“hey, hey.” joyce helped move your hands from the hem of your shirt. “slow breaths. deep, slow breaths.” then she wrapped her arms tight over your shoulders, palms pressed flat between your shoulder blades and running in soothing motions.

your hands clinched to her work vest, fingers curling into the scratchy fabric. your hiccuping breaths were making you light headed and frantic. “in and out. in and out slowly.” joyce said calmly. “you need to calm yourself hon, your heart is beating fast.”

“i- im try- trying.” squeezing your eyes shut. “i know.” a hand slid up to cradle the back of your head.

it must have been only a few minutes of joyce cooing and comforting you before you were calm enough to step away from her hold. “sorry, didn’t mean-“ “it’s fine, hon. i’m a mother, it’s natural for me to parent people.”

you wiped away a few stray tears. “wanna- wanna tell me? about what happened?” rubbing a hand over your bicep. you just shrugged, “boys and stupid rumors making my life hell.” keeping your eyes to the linoleum floor.

joyce licked her teeth, “have you gone to the sheriff? sure that would help, to have an authority figure step in.”

“worried it might make it worse somehow.” picking at your nail beds. “plus there’s no actual evidence, only word of mouth.”

joyce hummed, “well, as the adult and a parent, you should go to the police or even your principal. kids shouldn’t be do that kind of stuff to each other, it could lead to… very harmful consequences.” sounding like she was talking from experience.

“i know,” voice so small, “i’m just scared. a little of going alone to the station.”

“well, why don’t we go after work? i’m friends with sheriff hopper and he’s a teddy bear, he just likes to act like a grizzly.” talking about him with a soft kindness.

you bit into your bottom lip as you looked at her, “that- i would like that. thank you, joyce.”

-

a/n: this will probably be the only joyce request/fic i write. if you request for a character that i don’t write for or haven’t mentioned, i’ll either write for them once or just not at all if i can’t find any inspiration/connection for them.