Another Question and Another Answer

Here we are with another installment of our "Ask Us Anything" series where Zyra solicited questions from our awesome readers and we continue to answer them.

Today, our first question is from Emma who asked... If you could meet Harrison Ford in person, what is the first thing you would say to him? Let's just say you only get two minutes with him. What questions would you ask? Ex. "What was it like to be Han Solo?" pretty basic question but you get the idea. :- )

And here are our answers:

We'll start with me (Push): If you could meet Harrison Ford in person, what is the first thing you would say to him? Let's just say you only get two minutes with him. What questions would you ask?  This is a really hard question for me.  I am not a big celebrity person.  If I could meet Han Solo I would have a million things to say to him, but Harrison Ford is not Han Solo, you know what I mean?  And I don't know what I would ask Harrison Ford, especially today's Harrison Ford who is so far removed from when he played Han that I doubt he remembers much about it.  And, I definitely don't bother celebrities when I see them (and I have seen a few). 

I think, honestly at this point in time, I'd rather meet Carrie Fisher in person rather than Harrison Ford.  She seems like somebody I could talk to and I'm afraid seeing Harrison up close would dispel the hotness that I still like to think that he has that he most probably does not anymore. 

BUT, if I were given two minutes and Harrison Ford was expecting me to talk to him, I guess....I still don't know what I'd say.  Maybe I'd offer to buy him a drink and talk about mundane things, like the weather or the Saints!  Or I'd ask him his zodiac sign.  I don't know.    

And now for Zyra: If you could meet Harrison Ford in person, what is the first thing you would say to him? Let's just say you only get two minutes with him. What questions would you ask? Hmmm... interesting question. In reality, it is unlikely that I'd be able to muster up the courage to say anything. I've run into a few celebrities and worked on set with some as a production assistant, and I always felt that it would be weird to bother them. Although I've had a few conversations with a few lesser-known celebrities usually about stuff totally unrelated to the movie business. A relative of mine actually saw him in a coffee shop once. I was of course insanely jealous but at the same time, kind of happy for her, because she is the kind of person who would appreciate running into him almost as much as me. But, she didn't say anything. Although I guess Harrison did smile at her daughter when her husband was near the counter with her.

Ok, so let's pretend for a minute I actually could muster up the courage to say something. First I'd probably just tell him that I have always loved his movies. Then I'd actually probably ask him questions about being a pilot because I feel like he'd actually be happy to talk about that rather than about being an actor since it seems that is not so exciting for him anymore. Oh, then I'd ask him if he'd like to work with me while I write him an Oscar-winning role in an Oscar-winning screenplay so he can finally earn people's respect again ;)

Alright, so there went another installment of our "Ask Us Anything" series. If you would like a question answered, please visit that post and Ask Us Anything. (We do reserve the right to not answer, if necessary! So, don't get crazy...)

Once again, don't worry if your question didn't get answered (yet), we will continue to post answers as long as you guys continue to ask questions.

Negotiating With the Enemy

CHAPTER XVIII

The entire room fell silent as Leia’s words sunk in. Han had always understood and shared Leia’s hatred for the Empire, and he knew that she would not take this kind of decision lightly. Nor did he think that she would easily so strongly disagree with General Rieekan’s view on things. With the Emperor and Vader gone, maybe it was possible that they could all reach a mutually beneficial agreement.

He wished he was close enough to her to at least hold her hand in reassurance.

It was Rieekan who spoke first, disappointment evident on his face. As though his own daughter had just betrayed him. “I thought you, of all people, would understand how important it is to continue to fight for our freedom.”

“Freedom from what, exactly?” Leia responded, her emotions starting to show through her voice. “The Emperor wanted control of everyone and everything, and he’s gone now. Perhaps now that we have been given the opportunity to actually talk to them we might actually be able to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. Maybe we can actually stop running and hiding and live a normal existence.”

Han and Leia had discussed many times how nice things would be if they could actually live something close to what most people considered normal. He knew how much she longed for that life. And he knew that she was likely to do whatever it took to get there.

Rieekan sighed. “I hope you realize what it is that you are preparing us to agree to.”

“I am quite aware, thank you. And there is no reason why we have to agree to anything that we find isn’t in our best interest. There is no harm in talking. Which is something that they have always been unwilling to do. We can always say no.”

Rieekan said nothing, so Mon Mothma interjected. “Thank you, Leia. Well, then, unless anyone else has any arguments against it, I suspect this means that we will be meeting with their negotiators as scheduled.”

All eyes glanced around the room, and more than a few looked as though they wanted to say something, but remained silent.

“Then it’s settled,” she said. “In three days we will start the negotiations. Meeting adjourned.”

Han stood immediately and walked over to Leia, subtly taking her hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. He didn’t have time to say anything before Rieekan walked up to her.

“I suppose I owe you some congratulations,” he said. Neither Han nor Leia expected those to be the first words he spoke to them.

“Thank you, General,” Leia said.

The general looked at both of them and smiled. “Your father would be happy for you,” he said sincerely.

Han looked down at Leia, feeling that he himself wasn’t quite sure if any father would be all that thrilled that his daughter had married a man like him. But if Rieekan thought so…

Leia’s eyes became glassy with tears and she reached out and clasped Rieekan’s wrist and smiled. “Thank you. I know he would.”

Rieekan reached up and put a hand on Han’s shoulder. “Take good care of her, Solo.”

Han looked down at his love and then back at the man in front of him. “I will, General.”

Rieekan smiled one more time and then moved out of the room. Han wrapped an arm around Leia’s shoulders and kissed her forehead. “Do you think we’re doing the right thing?” Leia asked.
He rested his chin on top of her head. “Sweetheart, I know you wouldn’t have us do anything that wasn’t in our best interest. And I know how hard it must be for you to even consider making peace with the Empire.”

She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a squeeze. “I’m glad you think so.”

***

A mere two days later they had arrived to meet up with the Empire. Han knew that Leia would never have expected to even entertain the idea of trying to make peace with the Empire, but then again, he was pretty sure she never expected to wind up marrying an ex-smuggler, either. Stranger things had happened.

While Han was no negotiator, he did still hold his rank as General, and Leia had insisted that he come along and be by her side during all of this.

The negotiations would take place over Endor, of all places. Without any military of their own and without any real ties to any government given their primitive ways, it seemed as good a place as any. When the green planet came into view, Han thought back to all of the things that had happened the last time they were there. The war that they’d all thought was finally over, the deaths of the Emperor and Vader, Leia telling him that Luke was her brother and the realization that he would no longer have to battle anyone for her affections.

They stood at the bridge of the flagship, staring out of the viewport in silence. He reached over and clasped her hand, trying to tell her that things would be all right.

Once in orbit around Endor, Han, Leia, Mon Mothma and Rieekan boarded a small transport shuttle to take down to the planet. The rest would be brought down later, once the initial negotiations had taken place. The ship landed on the landing platform the Empire had erected near the shield generator not so long ago.

Once docked and with the ramp lowered, Han took Leia’s hand and looked at her. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” she replied, not releasing his hand as they made their way to the exit. Rieekan led the way while Han and Leia were next and Mon Mothma trailing behind.

There in front of them were several Imperial officers, all clad in their dark green uniforms. While in theory this idea had initially made sense to him, Han suddenly felt a knot of uneasiness in his stomach and felt Leia’s pace slow as they continued moving forward. She didn’t seem to like this anymore, either.

“Welcome, Your Highness,” one of the officers said as he stepped forward. “Welcome back to Endor.”

Leia swallowed next to him, and she spoke up a little more quietly than Han would’ve expected. “Thank you.”

“I understand you wish to negotiate with us?”

“That is correct,” Leia replied.

“Well,” the officer said. “We are going to make this all very easy. You come with us quietly, and we won’t kill you.”

Han couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He turned around to see Mon Mothma step out from behind them and walk over to join the officers before she said, “I’m sorry it has to be this way.”

Rieekan looked shocked. “How could you do this? Have you always been-“

“No,” she cut him off. “Not always. But how long are we supposed to keep fighting, Carlist? It’s better this way.”

“So you think,” he said, his face conveying the betrayal they all felt.

Leia spoke next. “But why would you help me get Han free in the first place? Why set any of us free if you were only going to bring us into this trap?”

It was the officer who responded. “This is far more than just having you under our control, Princess. We intend to make your Alliance believe that we have reached an agreement, when in actuality, we will simply be the ones in control. They will continue to take their orders from Mon Mothma, and we will continue to rule the galaxy as we see fit.

“Like hell you will,” Han said as he reached for his blaster.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, General Solo,” the officer said.

“Lucky for all of us you’re not me,” he said, preparing to fire.

The blast hit one of the officers, though not the one who had done most of the speaking. The retaliating fire made Han wince, only the bolt didn’t hit him.

He felt Leia collapsing against his side and instantly he reached down and caught her before she hit the ground. Crouched down beside her, he searched her face, noting the pain there but also noting that she was still fully conscious. One of his arms found her shoulder and the blood that oozed from it.

Finally, her eyes met his and she mouthed, “I’m okay,” and he felt a huge sense of relief before he felt the rage taking over. Looking up to his attackers, he brought his blaster back up and aimed to fire, but he found a series of blasters trained on both him and Leia.

“The next one goes right between her eyes,” he heard one of them mutter. As much as he wanted to blast every one of them for even thinking about hurting her, he knew that even he wouldn’t be able to take out all of them before either he or Leia was dead.

Reluctantly, he threw down his blaster and looked at their attackers. He tried to silently will them dead with only his eyes, and for a moment he thought that maybe it had worked.

That is, until he realized that the laser blasts that came out of nowhere to take down their attackers had come from above, and certainly not from his blaster. Han looked up to see Luke’s X-wing, showering their enemies with direct hits and ensuring that there would be no more retaliating blaster fire. He cradled Leia in his arms to protect her instinctively, even though he knew that her brother never did anything accidentally.

With the Imperials taken down, Han surveyed the damage quickly, grabbed his blaster off the ground and then helped ease Leia to her feet and back onto their shuttle to return to the flagship. “Come on!” He shouted to Rieekan who appeared to have made his way over to where Mon Mothma was lying lifeless.

The general followed close behind and the three left what Han was sure would be their last attempt at negotiating with the Empire.

***

Look at me, actually adding a plot twist. I don't know what came over me. I just felt like Push was the only one who had really moved the plot along and I had been filling it all in with useless crap so I decided to try and shake things up. Push's condition to me was that Leia had to get hurt. Not too bad, though. So it's not really my fault Leia got shot.

Paradise Snare...The Review

Okay, so Zyra and I both finished ‘The Paradise Snare’ this week.  We don’t plan on keeping up a book per week schedule, but it happened - so here is my review for ‘Snare’.  Zyra will certainly add her comments, I’m sure.

At the start of the book we meet Han Solo as an 18 or 19 year old orphaned boy who has been living under the thumb of a cruel shyster who collects kids and uses them for various schemes and rip offs.  There is a mention of perhaps a previous escape attempt by Han and the severe beating that he got in return.  I know when people are kidnapped or held hostage it is very difficult for them to leave especially when they don’t know anything different, as in the case of the very young Han Solo.  BUT, I just couldn’t help thinking that at 18 or 19 years old, Han would’ve escaped already.  Add to that, the first chapter just read like Han was a lot younger than 19 years old.  To me, he sounded more like fourteen and I would've rathered it that way. 

I don’t plan on delving into each chapter like this, but for me, Chapter One was very disappointing and I was not looking forward to reading the rest of the book after I finished it.  And we’re not done with Chapter One yet.  I had always heard of Dewlanna, a ‘motherly’ type Wookiee that had taken care of Han.  Well, we barely get to meet her and she meets her demise while trying to help Han escape from Garris Shrike. 

I know that the loss of Dewlanna was supposed to be a very pivotal moment in Han’s life, but the entire thing was a disappointing to me.  We really had no emotional investment in this character yet whatsoever.  And then Han swears an oath to her 'to help her kind', which was just a cheap, blatant foreshadowing to his relationship with Chewie, IMO.  Unfortunately, that just prepares the reader for the over-the-top foreshadowing that the author, I guess, felt was necessary to tell Han’s childhood story. 

Okay, so that was Chapter One and I was about ready to just not read anymore (but, in the end, I’m glad I did).  The most moving part of Chapter One was the hints of Garris Shrike's abuse.  Han's horrible life up until this point that we meet him really did pull at my heartstrings.  The good thing about Chapter One?  He does escape and heads to a planet named Ylesia for a pilot’s job.

Chapter Two and beyond…

Okay, so now we get some flashbacks to Han's childhood and his first meeting Dewlanna.  We find out that she is the one that found out his last name for him (which he didn’t know) and with that information, Han escapes and tries to find his family (I wish I would've known that a few pages ago, maybe I would've cared more about her death).  He finds the dysfunctional Sal-Solo family instead (a relation) and it does not go very well for him.  It is hinted that Han actually had a nice life and family, which makes me want to find out what happened to them (but I don't think we ever do - ever).  

It isn’t until Chapter Three that Han makes it to his destination and lands the pilot job that he had hoped for.  He finds a strange cult of factory workers that make illegal drugs during the day and get some kind of spiritual fix at evening ceremonies.  Han is able to fend off the mind-altering experience that the 'pilgrims' undertake as he attends the 'ceremony."

Han gets assigned a bodyguard who shadows him at all times, complicating Han's thoughts of escaping once he gets enough money.  Han’s deepest wish is to join the Imperial Academy and become an officer.  He talks to his new bodyguard and we start to find out that he is searching for his missing soul mate.  Somewhere in here, he tours the drug making factory and meets a female worker, ‘Pilgrim 921’, that we all know is Bria, but Han doesn’t yet. 

Well, Han looks up Bria and talks to her.  He finds out that she studied archeology and wanted to be a museum curator.  He goes on his first job and is attacked by pirates but does some fancy maneuvering; shooting down one ship as the other pirate escapes and Han's bodyguard gets knocked unconscious and needs medical attention.  I will say that as soon as the author put Han behind the controls of a space ship, he sounded more like Han than he had ever before.  

Han has to find a nearby planet to get medical help for his bodyguard and have his ship worked on.  Guess what the nearest planet was?  Alderaan, and when Han approaches the planet he watches a welcome video that includes Bail Organa and his young princess daughter.  Han contemplates selling his illegal cargo and claiming to his employers that the pirates took it, but he is unable to offload it in honest Alderaan where nobody does the drugs he’s selling.  Han finds himself on the Alderaanian University campus and flirts with a college girl a little bit on his way back to his ship.  He shows some animosity towards the affluent college students who are his same age but living such a different life.  I found that very believable.  In the end, his copilot recovers and Han is rewarded when he returns to Ylesia with his cargo still in tow (his employers expecting him to swindle them).

Okay, so Han finds out that the Ylesia slaves are sent off to other worlds once they are totally broken, which usually takes about a year.  How long has his new friend Bria been there?  Yep, almost a year.  He does meet with his bosses to request that Pilgrim 921 (Bria) be hired as a curator of the high priest’s artifacts and she gets removed from the drug making and starts working in the admin building.  She is still totally committed to this false religion though.

Han finally helps Bria realize that she is being duped by the priests and…she slaps him.  Nice girl.  That’s all I have to say about that.

Han delivers a note to a rival Hutt (yeah, the Hutts are involved in all this illegal drug making/trafficking – go figure).  Meanwhile, while Han is gone, Bria is being forced to marry someone else and Han's bodyguard (Muuurgh) – being left behind because he is still recovering – finds out that his mate is on Ylesia and that she is to be shipped to Kessel to work the spice mines the next day.  Setting it up so that everything will have to happen when Han returns.

Han returns and Bria is a sniveling whiny baby throughout their entire escape.  But they do escape and steal some very expensive items to sell and get Han into the Academy.  He and Bria bring Muuurgh and his mate to their homeworld and stick around to see them get married.  Han and Bria finally confess their love to one another with Bria saying ‘I know’.  Blah!  It wasn’t exactly like the exchange between Han and Leia, but did they really have to go there?  And Han is referred to as “scruffy” at least 3 or 4 times in this book.  Really?

So now it’s just Han and Bria and they go to Corellia to see her parents and to sell what they stole during their escape.  Han is not very welcomed by Bria’s wealthy family, except her father seems to like him okay, but you can tell that he isn’t in charge of his household anyway.  Han sells their stolen items and has the money sent to Coruscant under a ‘clean’ alias that he has.  Huh, go figure, he doesn’t get all his money in big heavy green containers…

Han and Bria leave Corellia with fears that Bria’s mother and brother are going to call CorSec officers on Han.  Bria is still struggling with her addiction to the ‘exultation’ she is used to receiving every night on Ylesia.  Han runs into trouble when he tries to get his money on Coruscant and basically is unable to.  He returns to Bria and vows to get a job and somehow get into the Academy.

Bria leaves Han with a bunch of money from her father and a “Dear Han” letter.  She says she has to fight her addiction and wishes him the best and hopes to see him again someday.  Han takes the money and goes through a retinal surgery and some other things to finally get his identity as Han Solo and apply to the Academy.  He applies to the Academy and goes through a rigorous qualifying process but finally makes it.  

Celebrating the night that he finds out he made it into the Academy he runs into none other than Garris Shrike along with a bounty hunter.  The most horrific thing is that Garris Shrike teases Han with the identity of his parents to try and get Han to let him live.  Han stands over him and contemplates killing the man that terrorized his childhood, but the choice is taken away from him when the Bounty Hunter does the job for him, killing Shrike and I guess – any hope of ever finding out what happened to Han's family.  And then Han ends up having to kill the bounty hunter. 

The book ends with him starting at the Academy.  While most of the other new cadets are being wished well by their family, Han stands alone.  He thinks of Dewlanna and Bria and overall I felt really proud of him at that moment.

After such a rocky start with Chapter One, I really ended up enjoying the book.  I personally don’t think that Han had to have such a horrible life and I wouldn’t have given it to him, but overall, he ended up being the lovable character that I knew.  I was disappointed that Bria was a psycho spice addict, but I can understand how Han may have been endeared to her.  If their relationship ended here, I don’t think I would have a real problem with her.  We all knew that Han had other girlfriends and she would’ve just been another, maybe one that particularly hurt him, but that’s all.  But since I know that she isn’t gone and she gets involved with the Rebellion and all that, I don’t like that or her.

My rating for this book is 3 out of 5 stars for Han/Leia factor.  Of course, Leia isn’t in it, so it starts off at a disadvantage, but it’s all about Han so that’s pretty cool.  It isn’t a ‘feel good’ book, in fact, I felt pretty bad after I finished it.  It is really sad, especially to think that Han had such a hard life.  But throughout the book he was a fighter and he always wanted to help other people and that is Han.

So, that’s my very long opinion of this book.  Please chime in if you’ve read it or have anything to say.

Next Book:  “The Hutt Gambit”

How I'm Enjoying the Blu Ray So Far...

If you are a halfway decent Star Wars fan - and given that you are reading this at all that sort of goes without saying - then you must be aware that yesterday Star Wars came out on blu ray. I'll be honest and say that until that announcement, whenever it was, I didn't care that much about owning a blu ray player, but got one last Christmas in preparation. At least switching from DVD to blu ray is less painful than from VHS to DVD, as DVD's still work just fine on a blu ray player.

Push and I had discussed how we might be buying the blu rays. We often get our books from Amazon only to wind up annoyed that sometimes the books seem to take like two weeks to get to us. Are they being rowed here over the ocean by a young boy from Japan? Do we strap them to the backs of cats who then saunter at a leisurely pace across the country until the book finally gets to you? Then our standard joke is that in some third world country small children are forced to hand-weave and then hand-print each of the pages to put them together, and we get annoyed that they aren't working 24 hours a day. I guess that is the price you pay for free shipping. I guess I should say though that aside from the shipping, I really do like Amazon and they have great customer service and great prices.

Anyway, the days wound down and I scoured the internet for where the best prices were. It seemed everyone was offering them for $89.99 and then only a week ago they dropped to $79.99. I was looking at Walmart, Target and Best Buy. Best Buy had the free t-shirt. Walmart opens at 7am here, and Target had the advantage of me having a $30 gift card my sister gave me for my birthday, though it didn't open until 8. I decided waiting another hour was worth $30 and I didn't need a Darth Vader shirt that badly, nor did I want to have to wait until 10.

I don't live in the most bustling of areas, so Target at 8:30 in the morning is a pretty quiet place. Although it is under a lot of construction and lately every time I go in there everything is all moved around. So I got a little concerned when I went back to the movie section and the saga was nowhere to be found. I wandered around a bit and picked up a few other items so it didn't look like that was the only reason I had gone to Target that morning, and then decided that maybe they had set it up right up front. Ah, there it was! A nice display case with plenty of blu rays just waiting for me, along with my free lithographs. I didn't really know what lithographs were until much later when I finally opened them up, but they're kind of cool little paintings.

Apparently on the surface I must not appear to be the huge nerd that I am because the check-out lady asked me if I needed a gift receipt as she scanned my movies. I shook my head all nonchalant, like maybe I was getting them for my non-existent kids or something. Anyway, not long later, I was home and ready for some watching.

So, what do you suppose was the first thing I looked for? If you said, "Alternate Bespin kiss," you're right! I popped in the Original Trilogy bonus disc, straight for Episode V, Pursued by the Empire, Deleted/Extended scenes and there I was. It's in black and white and a lot of the scene is pretty much the same as what's in the movie, which includes the initial kiss which is pretty much just like it wound up in the movie. But instead of Threepio interrupting, they pull away and Leia looks at him and says, "Okay, Hotshot," and then pulls him in for another kiss. And I mean a real kiss. A kiss between two adults rather than a kiss between two actors who have to press their lips together in a kissing fashion for a kids' movie. It is great. Funny how two of their best kisses never made it to the movies, this one and the deleted one from Bespin.

That said, I have to admit that I believe that they made the right choice by sticking with what is in the movie. I mean, of course I loved the kiss, but I felt like what is in the movie was more appropriate for the story and the character. But, as I told Push earlier when we were talking about this, there's no reason we can't just use that as visual reference for when we are thinking of them kissing later in their relationship ;) And the beauty is that we don't have to choose. The movie remains as it is, as it should, but we can still go back and look at this whenever we want.
So if you have not done so, go check it out on youtube or get yourself some blu rays.

There are plenty of other deleted scenes as well. The next one I went for was the sandstorm scene. You really can't hear a thing (there are sub titles) and the picture quality isn't great, though this one is in color. It's kind of cute to see Leia holding Han's arm and leading him since he still can't really see. He's got his blaster tucked into the waist band of his pants, although it sort of seems unclear to me how he got his blaster back and not his holster considering the fact that we should probably assume he lost both at the same time on Bespin. But whatever. Han and Luke exchange basically the same dialogue that winds up in the movie but is spoken over radio, and it's kind of a nice moment for them, as is Han appreciating seeing the Falcon for the first time in a while. Another fun little addition, with a minorly cute Han and Leia moment (and feeling a bit bad for Leia as you can tell that under that cloak she's wrapped in she still has her slave costume on) but once again, for pacing reasons, the way they put it in the movie works much better. But this is why we have fan fiction.

There is a cute deleted scene between Han and Leia on the asteroid while they're working on the ship and are noticing more explosions. I don't know if maybe this would've been an alternative to the "..being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited," part of the movie because they both sort of wind up saying the exact same thing, except in the deleted version there isn't really any flirting. So, cute scene, but no need for it really in the movie.

There is more to the scene when Luke is recovering in the bacta tank. This one is in black and white as well. Luke is supposedly mumbling something about Degobah and Han doesn't know what he's talking about. He and Leia exchange a sort of silent look that would've been a nice moment if it were in the movie.

There was apparently more to the scene before Leia kissed Luke. She is in the room talking to him about his recovery and how worried she is, and you start to feel icky with the way she keeps stroking his hair. And then he starts to fumble with trying to tell her how he feels about her. Then they lean in like they're about to kiss, get really close and... Artoo makes an incredibly well-timed entrance. Actually, it would've been better if he'd come in a minute or two earlier. Finally, a droid interruption that works in our favor. The scene then basically picks up from when Han comes in as it is in the real movie.

All right, that scene bothered me of course for the near kiss, but also the Luke confessing his feelings thing. They've supposedly been together for three years. I could explain away Han and Leia's relationship not getting anywhere by saying maybe he was away a lot and she was probably still not entirely comfortable with him. But it would seem that Luke and Leia would've spent more time together between movies and she would of course consider him the "safer" one of the two, and probably be more at ease with him. Wouldn't he have already said something if he was going to? I know he's a whiny wimp a lot of times in the earlier parts of the trilogy, but even he can't really be that bad, right? I do like the second part of the scene though when Leia gets all mad that Luke says he's leaving and she says that Han is leaving too and she can't count on anyone. That seemed much more "Leia" to me.

The extended cantina scene at the beginning didn't add a whole lot. I had been concerned about this scene because it now included Han kissing another woman! Well, when I saw it, he kisses her for about half a second. It might have even been less of a kiss than either of the pecks he gives Leia when they are reunited on Endor. As I said to Push, it is almost scary how much that relieved me. There was also some different dialogue when Greedo comes in.

There is some added stuff with Han, Chewie and the Rebels breaking into the bunker on Endor. Again, it is obvious why this was cut, because it didn't really add anything and would've messed with the pacing. But of course it's fun to watch anyway. They make their way through the corridors and take out Stormtroopers and stuff. And there are several short scenes of this, and in every single one Han for some reason yells at Chewie. The end of the scene has Leia with them as well as they break into the control room, shown from the opposite angle of what's in the movie. And when the guy calls them Rebel scum, Han looks at him in disbelief and replies, "Scum?!?" It was funny, but I think it was a good choice not to include that, either.

Oh, the Wampas coming into Echo Base. Well, much of this just looked.... silly. It sort of reminded me of the Yeti from the Everest rollercoaster at Animal Kingdom in Disney World, only far less convincing. At one point early on it shows Han and Leia walking out to have their argument and then cuts to these claws trying to break through the ice on the other side of the wall. And the creature who walks through the corridors just looks.... ridiculous. Plus, the whole thing, once again, really makes no difference to the plot, so aside from the fact that the effects were terrible, it didn't belong in the movie anyway.

One other deleted "scene" I watched were a bunch of random cuts of "lost Rebels" at the end of ROTJ during the space battle. It was random shots of pilots in their ships, maybe about to die, I don't know. I just know that I was incredibly bored watching this section and had to wonder if there was maybe some other stuff that would've been a better choice to add as a deleted scene.

I think those are all of the deleted scenes I watched, but I am also pretty sure that is not all of them. I did have other stuff to do yesterday, you know. Okay, not a lot. I watched some of ESB with the commentary on, skipping around to what I consider to be the most important parts. The picture is, as you can imagine, incredibly clear. I mean, every time they come out with a new technology you wonder how it can be clearer, and yet they keep improving it.

That said, I actually hope that we've reached the limit on picture clarity and sharpness. There is nothing I would consider bad about this, definitely not. But I will say that suddenly there are times where the makeup on people's faces starts to be really obvious. The background matte paintings maybe start to look a bit out of place in contrast to the clarity of the reality superimposed in front of them. These are incredibly minor things to mention, and definitely what you gain from the clarity far outweighs suddenly being really aware that Han Solo is wearing makeup. But I did think they were worth mentioning. That said, I find it absolutely incredible that we can take a movie that is over thirty years old and enhance it so it can be seen as though we were in the room looking at them.

All right, so that's what I have for now. Unfortunately I'm not sure I'll actually get to sit down and watch the movies themselves over the next few days, but really, those were the least of my concerns. It was all about the special features! I'll get to the movies hopefully before George releases them in another format.

Oh, and I haven't actually seen any of the latest "changes," but I will say that I find it rather telling that over the years Empire is the one that has been the least tinkered with. It was pretty much perfect from the moment it came out.

Tough Decisions

CHAPTER XVII

After enduring some good-natured teasing from Lando and Chewbacca about their lengthy absence, the couple joined the group for dinner and everyone headed to bed to prepare for their early departure the next morning.  It took them two days to arrive on Arbra and meet up with the Rogue Squadron who was waiting for them there.  That left the tiny group five days to figure out what they were going to do before the rendezvous over Omwat.

Not knowing exactly what they would find left the motley crew with little to plan.  Once timing and some other tactical issues were squared away, Han and Leia were left with several days that they had virtually to themselves.  Never being a very traditional couple anyway, the couple accepted this as probably the closest thing they would ever get to a honeymoon, and spent their days and nights accordingly.

Five days later, the entire Rogue Squadron along with the Millennium Falcon and Lando’s Skipray blastboat, The Winning Hand, dropped out of hyperspace and into realspace right outside the Omwat system.  There was no huge battle already underway as they had prepared for.  An armada of starships were hovered together over the nearby planet with the familiar markings of the Rebel Alliance.  The party crashers were hailed by a fleet of B-wings and Y-wings and upon gaining clearance, were escorted onto one of the flagships.

Without much conversation or fanfare, Han, Leia, Lando, Luke and Admiral Ackbar were lead to a large conference room in the center of the starship.  Upon entering the room, the heated discussions were abruptly silenced and the group was welcomed by the likes of Carlist Rieekan, Mon Mothma, Crix Madine and Jan Dodonna.

As room was made for Leia and Admiral Ackbar at the conference room table, Han, Lando and Luke took a seat along the outskirts of the room in some spectator chairs.

Once everyone was settled, it was Mon Mothma who spoke, “Let the records show that we have been joined by Admiral Ackbar of the Mon Calamari and Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan.”

“Solo,” Leia added simply and a murmur erupted throughout the room.  She turned to the young woman scribing for the meeting and repeated, “Leia Organa Solo.”

“Well, congratulations,” Mon Mothma replied warmly before the meeting got back underway.

Leia remained silent as the discussions resumed.  It didn’t take her long to figure out the issue.  It seemed Mon Mothma was of a mind to actually try to make peace with the remnants of the Empire while Rieekan wanted no part of any such arrangements.

While she listened to both sides argue their points, Leia let her mind process the situation surrounding her.  She reflected on her father’s words and her time as a Senator for Alderaan.  Her thoughts were with her people and with the cause that had driven her for as long as she could remember.  The painful memories of Alderaan’s destruction and all that she had lost under the tyrannical control of the Empire flooded her mind and she had to swallow the lump that had crawled up her throat and fight the tears that were begging to fall.

“Leia?”

Leia turned her head towards General Rieekan’s voice as she realized he was addressing her.

Rieekan continued, “Everyone has weighed in.  Would you like to offer us your opinion on the situation?”

She met the eyes of the man that had for all intents and purposes treated her as if she were his own daughter.  And for the years that Leia had served with the Rebellion, following Alderaan’s destruction, she had looked upon him as a father-figure.  His eyes were soft and sad and she gazed on them for a long moment.

When she spoke, she held her gaze with General Rieekan.  “I think I have to agree with Mon.”

Another burst of hushed murmurs broke throughout the room.  General Rieekan’s voice rose above the din and he asked her, “What about Alderaan?  How can you turn your back on what they did to our people?”

“I’m not turning my back on them, I’m standing up for exactly what they died for – justice and democracy.” 

The conversation around the room fell quiet and Leia continued, “If we continue to fight until we have total domination then we are no better than the Emperor or Vader was.  It is not the total annihilation of the Empire that my father and the people of Alderaan stood for, and died for, and it is not what I thought this Alliance held at its heart.” 

Her voice cracked just a bit and she took a deep breath before she said, “We stand for each person having a voice and a vote,” she shook her head and pushed the words out of her mouth, words that she knew were the right ones to say, “that includes…a Grand Moff who is fighting for the rights of his people just as much as it includes any one of us standing up here, for our people.” 

Again there was a quiet murmur of conversation and Leia raised her voice a bit as she continued, “I have to admit that when I first heard of a treaty or a truce, my stomach…turned.  But we have to look past our prejudices.  Prejudices created by one or two deviant rulers who did not represent their entire populace.” 

Her eyes moved around the table as she met the stare of each person gathered around there.  The silence in the room was sobering and Leia spoke into it with strength to her words that came from knowing what was right.  “The fall of the Republic came from the fall of democracy. From one side having more power than the all.  Not even our side should try to rule in the same vain.”

(My condition from Zyra was that they had to leave the planet.)

Is That Your Final Answer?

Here's another installment of our "Ask Us Anything" series where Zyra solicited questions from our awesome readers and we continue to answer them. This is the last question we have but it's not too late to add one. As long as you keep asking, we'll keep answering. Remember it can be anything....

Today, our question is from Digs and she asked: Where do you start when writing a story? Do you think up a specific line or scene and work around that or do you think out the plot from start to finish before typing a word? Or does it change from story to story?

And here are our answers:

We'll start with me (Push): Where do you start when writing a story? Do you think up a specific line or scene and work around that or do you think out the plot from start to finish before typing a word? Or does it change from story to story? I was tempted to say that I start with a scene, but I guess upon thinking about it, that isn't entirely true. I think I start with a thought surrounding a plot. Like, "What if Han left after the awards ceremony?" And then if I get inspired and a few scenes come to mind, I'll type them up in no particular order. But, I have had instances where one line of dialogue will inspire me to try and build an entire scene or story around it.

I have to say that the longer I do this the more organized I become. For instance, "Why Not Now" had no plot outline or anything, I just sort of wrote it as it went, but for "Restoration", I actually jotted down a plot line and tried to build the story that way.

I definitely don't write it all out in order, and I may start with just a few lines of dialogue scattered about and then just try to fill in from there. Scenes and dialogue may move around as I write the story. I have even had dialogue that I cut from one story and I was able to plug it into another one. I guess you could say that it definitely does change from day to day and story to story.

I don't know if that helps you at all and I don't know which way is better. "Why Not Now?" probably has a better plot than "Restoration" and I didn't even pay attention to plot when writing it, so, what does that tell you? I guess I always just try and take it as it comes and make the best out of it. After all, there are no rules here, I mean my editor/publisher is pretty lenient on that sort of thing. Right, Zyra? ;-)

And now for Zyra: Where do you start when writing a story? Do you think up a specific line or scene and work around that or do you think out the plot from start to finish before typing a word? Or does it change from story to story? I think for me it really depends. I'd say more often than not I guess I think of a scenario and build from there. What happened when Han found out about Xizor? What if Han didn't remember who Leia was? What if Han decided to bet Leia that he could give up sex for a week and she spent the entire time taunting him? What if things weren't so perfect between them, even after marriage? Then several other stories of mine obviously are just filling in gaps from ROTJ. I am probably pretty bad at thinking up "plot," I just think of an idea and start writing and see where it goes.

I definitely do not think of it from start to finish before I start writing and usually that gets me into trouble when it's time for the story to end and I don't know how to end it well. I've got more than one story that I still can't stand the end of, but I just wanted it to be done. I actually don't think I've ever written a story where I knew how it was going to end before I got there. I mean, in general they pretty much all end up "happily ever after" but as for a specific ending, definitely not.

A lot of times I do come up with little scenes or scenarios that I'd like to write but I can't seem to come up with a good story to fit around it, so nothing ever happens to them. I should really just start writing those down and worrying about them later, but it seems so frustrating to just have one scene and while I may like it by itself, I have no idea how to construct an entire story around it and it doesn't seem worth it.

Alright, so there went another installment of our "Ask Us Anything" series. If you would like a question answered, please visit that post and Ask Us Anything. (We do reserve the right to not answer, if necessary! So, don't get crazy...)

Once again, don't worry if your question didn't get answered (yet), we will continue to post answers as long as you guys continue to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask more questions, really! We are a wealth of useless information :)

You... Want this. Don't you?

So the time has finally come. Star Wars has come to blu ray. This will be, I believe the fourth time I've bought these movies. I don't think I ever owned way back original VHS tapes because I'd just borrow them from my cousin and we had taped Empire off HBO in like 1983. I had the enhanced re-releases from 1995 that do not include annoying changes like a cartoon-y dance number in Jabba's palace. Then like any good fan I got the Special Editions in 1997 after going to see them in the theater, the first two for the first time that way. Then of course I was thrilled when the DVD came out and got those. And now I am planning on hitting up Target on Friday morning to get the blu rays. To be fair, my mom probably bought the first two for me since I was a teenager, but still, that's a lot of versions of the movies to own!

I have been excited for this ever since it was announced. And for some reason it even has me interested in watching the prequels again. Yes, even Episode I. I only have to watch it the one time. I anxiously awaited learning what the special features would be and have been more and more excited as certain things are slowly revealed to me. An alternate kiss on the Falcon? Yes, please! Extended argument on Hoth? Definitely! The infamous sandstorm scene? Are you kidding me? There's some other stuff too that doesn't include Han and Leia, but I don't really care that much about those right now.

Then came the annoying additions of random changes I read about that just made no sense. Most notably that Vader yells, "Nooooooo!!!!!" when he picks up the Emperor and throws him over the railing to his death. Who thought that was a good idea? Did anyone watch that and think that Vader maybe should've expressed more emotion? His actions were pretty clear. And it only reminds me of when he yelled the same thing after he found out Padme died in Episode III. It was so corny that it really ruined what could've been a genuine emotional turning point.

They have also apparently made the Ewoks blink. Um, why? This change doesn't really make me angry in the sense of making things worse. It just seems totally useless. Did anyone ever look at the Ewoks in any prior viewings and think, "You know, these Ewok things would seem a lot more realistic if they ever blinked." NO! Nobody ever thought that, ever. It seems like a total waste of time, energy, and probably a lot of money. Wicket blinks now. Sure, now we might think Ewoks look like they actually exist.

Obi Wan also now makes a different noise to scare off the Sand People. Once again I ask, why? This is also not a change that makes me mad. In fact, if nobody told me there's a good chance I wouldn't have even noticed. So I ask, what was the point? So, have we now evolved to the point that we thought that noise didn't sound like a real krayt dragon? Does this have something to do with the prequels? When in ANH do they even mention krayt dragons and how do we know that was the noise he was imitating? I never heard of a krayt dragon until I had watched those movies for years. And to be honest, I'm pretty sure it was only recently that I realized that he was the one who made that noise.

Anyway, while these changes are kind of annoying just in the sense that I can't figure out who thought of them and why they think they make the slightest difference - it would be like deciding that Jabba's door should be just a little bigger.... oh wait, they did that, too! - they don't really bother me that much. Certainly not on the same level as Greedo shooting first or that stupid new song in ROTJ I already mentioned. Not the one at the end, I actually have gotten used to that change and don't mind that one so much anymore, either. But I just don't see why every time they come up with a new format it's like we're getting a completely different movie again.

There are five versions of these things now. Well, maybe six, I don't know if it was on laserdisc or if they did anything to it there. Original, picture enhanced, VHS special edition, DVD, and now blu ray. Which one is the real one, anyway?

Ok, ok, all that said, I did say I was excited, right? I do appreciate that they've gone to the trouble to give us some footage we've never seen before. I don't know about you, but a few of the things mentioned I never knew existed. Like extra footage of Han and Leia and crew breaking into the bunker. And the extended Hoth argument that some of you may have already seen online. Any opinions there? While I enjoyed having extra footage of Han and Leia, I decided it was definitely a good thing that they did not include those lines in the final cut. And I honestly can't wait to see the alternate version of the kiss on the Falcon.

So what will you all be doing Friday? I am pretty sure anyone in our European audience can already buy it, which seems unfair, but I'll let it slide since I only have to wait one more day basically. Like I said, I'm hitting up Target early because I'm pretty sure it's $79.99 there and I have a gift card I can use there and it opens probably the earliest of all possible stores I could buy it from on Friday. Then I will spend some time looking exclusively at the bonus features. It may take me weeks to even get around to watching the movies themselves. I'm really kind of annoyed that I actually have some plans this weekend and can't just spend all day every day exploring the new stuff. Oh, well, I have forever, right?

So, what do you all think of the releases? Let us know here how you feel about some of the changes, whether or not you've seen them. Aside from a few gripes, most the things I've heard are really, really positive, so can't wait!