Arctik Kat

Just me here, having conversations with myself


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Death of the Star Wars Expanded Universe (contains possible spoilers)

Before the Phantom Menace, most Star Wars fans depended on the Expanded Universe (EU) to get our Star Wars fix. The Star Wars EU became quite expansive over time and included numerous star wars novels, TV movies and specials, the animated series Droids and Ewoks, The Dark Empire comic books, roleplaying games, sourcebooks (like the one pictured below), and so much more. Upwards of 60 novels have been written that take place after Star Wars: a New Hope. That is an extensive amount of canon mostly approved by George Lucas and added into Star Wars universe and it appears that in one movie, Disney will manage to invalidate much of it.

Everyone seems to be over the moon about the Force Awakens. As a die hard Star Wars fan, I find that my excitement seems to be lackluster at best. I see two possibilities – We are about to see the death of the expanded universe and existing Star Wars Canon or Disney is lying to us about who the characters in the Force Awakens really are.

Circa 1994

Circa 1994

*** Spoiler Alert ***

First things first, Chewbacca – I love Chewbacca as much as anyone else and I was saddened when they killed him off in Vector Prime by R.A. Salvatore (25 years after Star Wars: A New Hope). I am not clear on how many years after A New Hope that the Force Awakens takes place but based on Han Solo’s white hair I would place the time frame at about 30-35 years later. This is the first clue that the existing Star Wars Expanded Universe will be cast aside. It could also be possible that we aren’t seeing Chewbacca at all. Could that be Chewie’s son Lumpawaroo (Lumpy) or his nephew Lowbacca? Is Disney deceiving us? it wouldn’t be the first time that a Star Wars movie surprised us.

Where are the Skywalker and Solo Children? – When I first read the information on the characters for The Force Awakens, I was baffled as to why Disney would take the next saga and move it out of the Skywalker/Solo family. George Lucas originally envisioned each saga as another chapter/generation of the Skywalker family right? If you want to branch off of the Skywalker’s and Solo’s then why not make a separate movie instead of where the third part of the Skywalker family’s story should be. This of course brings me to Kylo Ren and Rey.

Kylo Ren and Rey – If these two are not the Solo twins, Jacen and Jaina, then why does Rey look so much like Padme and Leia? And why does Kylo look so much like Anakin Skywalker? Maybe because they are related? You maybe thinking “but Ren is a Sith Lord!” and my response to you would be that (spoiler alert) Jacen Solo was a Sith Lord by the name of Darth Caedus. Rey and Ren seem to be about the same age and just like the Solo twins, (Jaina and Jacen) they have very similar names. Is this just a coincidence? I hope not. For me this is the only thing that would make the movie work for a die hard Star Wars fan like myself. Implausible you say. Remember, the phantom menace? No one knew that Padme was the queen until close to the end of the movie.

Jakku – Their is something hauntingly familiar about the crashed Star Destroyer. I feel like I read about that in one of the expanded universe novels but I have read so many I couldn’t tell you which one.

Poe Dameron – A Pilot. Dark Haired. Handsome. Slightly older than Ren and Rey. Could it be the much loved EU character and Jaina’s long time love interest Jagged Fel?

Mara Jade Skywalker – Mara is one of the most beloved expanded universe characters so I am surprised that she wouldn’t be included in the saga along with her husband, Luke and her in-laws Han and Leia. That also leaves me wondering if we will see Ben Skywalker in this Saga.

Finn – I have no theory about Finn. He could be any existing EU character or a new character all together. which is ok because its a big universe.

I have no issues with movies taking some artistic liberties but I do take issue with them destroying existing canon. Anyone remember X-Men: The Last Stand? It was the movie that almost destroyed the franchise in part to how far off canon they went.

Star Wars fans would be delighted to see Jaina, Jacen, Ben, Mara, Jagged Fel and numerous other EU characters brought to life on the big screen. There is really no need for Disney to have created another sith lord when a great story already existed in the EU.

I hope that my theories are correct. Things seem to fit into my theory’s pretty well but on the other hand this would be a huge secret for so many people to keep quite about that I find it unlikely that my theories prove true. I haven’t found any other fan theories similar to mine yet but I am sure that I am not the only EU enthusiast out there.

I have no doubt that the movie will be a crowd pleaser. It is helmed by J.J. Abrams  after all and he knows how to make movies that make happy audiences.  I am not as familiar with Star Trek canon as I am with Star Wars so I can’t speak to whether any canon was rewritten to make the Star Trek movies but J.J. Abrams certainly breathed new life into Star Trek, making the movies clever, action packed and nostalgic.

So the big question is did Disney and J.J. Abrams stay true to the Star Wars canon or did they sign it’s death warrant? I guess we will find out in December.

#deathoftheexpandeduniverse #forceawakens #spoilers #starwars


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A Love Letter to My Husband

The first time you mowed my lawn. I wept. That was the nicest thing that anyone had ever done for me.

I was sick from exhaustion while we evacuated our homes and you walked me over to your house and let me rest on your couch. I felt safe and taken care of.

You deployed and it was the longest six months of my life.

Every time I was afraid. You showed me that there was nothing to fear.

I showed you my badly scarred and broken heart. You accepted it as it was and never asked me to pretend that I wasn’t broken.

Our first night together. Amazing.

Every night since. Happily Ever After.


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Weirdo’s in Waiting Rooms

Just to clarify, I am not talking about the nice, sane (usually elderly) people that make small talk while you are waiting in line to check out at the pharmacy. I mean the total strangers that look like they haven’t bathed since 1999 that start talking to you out of the blue about the oddest, random topics. I am not sure what it is about me that says to random strangers “Bring on the Crazy!”

I was sitting in the waiting room at my doctors office. I was waiting the obligatory 10 minutes that I was told to wait to make sure that I didn’t have an allergic reaction to the shot they had just given me.

While I am scrolling through my Facebook News Feed, I hear someone talking. I think “is someone talking to me” I look around. I am the only other person in the room. “Dammit, he is talking to me.” I look up at him.

This is what he said. “I guess if your not happy and joyous then you must not be alive.” I am puzzled. I look up at the tv. It’s on a children’s station. Fabulous. “Oh, I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching the TV” I tell him. He continues “that’s what it said. They asked them (the children) what it means to be alive and they said being happy and full of joy. I guess if your not happy then your dead.” I did something that I picked up from my husband. I nodded my head slightly and said “Hmph” which is like a noncommittal sigh.

I look back down at my phone and he starts talking again. Fabulous. “You know the word swag. Swag that used to be a code word for gay.” Ummmm again for lack of a better response I say “Hmph.” And he continues “and you know I don’t mean the happy kind of gay but the other thing. ”

*awkward silence*

I don’t even know how to respond to that so I said nothing hoping to discourage further conversation. Luckily this is about the time the nurse came to get him.

Never a dull moment.


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I had an affair… sort of. It’s not what your thinking.

I grew up believing that I was worth less than everybody else. I believed that my life should be all about serving others and that I always needed to put other people’s needs before mine. This translated into some very bad decision making in my early adult years. This line of thinking caused me to disregard my own feelings – anytime I wanted to say no to someone, I would say yes.

If you haven’t seen the movie Runaway Bride, I would highly recommend it. I really relate to Julia Roberts character in that movie. Her character was a people pleaser. She didn’t really know who she was or what kind of eggs she liked. That’s me! 35 years old and just now realizing that I don’t really like bread (unless it’s from Panera, then it’s delicious). Continue reading →