Indiana Jones and the Blu Ray of Awesomeness

It's hard to believe that one short year ago we were blessed with Star Wars on blu ray, which I picked up at about 8am on release day at Target, just to get some stupid free lithogram things that still sit in an envelope in a box.  But you know, at the time, I just had to have them.  And like any good Han and Leia fan, the first thing I did with my new box set was go straight to the Empire special features and watch that super smokin' hot alternate kiss on the asteroid.  I stand by the fact that I prefer the kiss as it is in the movie from a pure story-telling standpoint, it doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy watching footage of take after take of them trying different kiss versions.

But wait, I got sidetracked because that is definitely not what this post is about.  No, now we have been given another treat in the release of the Indiana Jones saga on blu ray.  I feel this is at least somewhat relevant to this blog because Star Wars fans and Indiana Jones fans tend to intersect quite a bit.  I know this is not universal (just ask Push) but at least it gives us something to talk about. 

Unfortunately I am on the road this week and it is a little inconvenient for me to pick it up until I get home.  Not to mention pointless since I can't watch it.  But rest assured I'll be all over it upon my return home, at which point I will dig into the special features.  Mostly because any new footage of Harrison Ford at the absolute peak of his hotness is of great interest to me. 

Don't worry, I'm a way bigger Star Wars fan than Indy fan.  Every once in a while I try reading some Indy fanfic, and it does nothing for me.  But you have to admit that they are some pretty cool movies.  And look at that picture up there!  Not to mention the fact that three of these four movies offer something highly desirable that Star Wars never did: shirtless Harrison.

So did anyone pick this up yet?  Anyone see any fun features?  We'll talk about Star Wars next time, I promise. 

We Always Come Back

I know, I know.  Worst bloggers ever.  After months and months of lots of good content, you are left with this vacant wasteland that is hardly ever updated, and even when it is there is never anything interesting to be read.  I hope that you don't think this is permanent.  I have no intention of that being the case.  If you've been around the fandom long enough, you've seen plenty of people immerse themselves in writing and participating in communities like this, only to then suddenly fall off the face of the Earth.  It can be disappointing and saddening. 

But another thing that happens if you stick around long enough is that it seems that sooner or later, almost everyone comes back.  Sadly, not some of those people who have left unfinished stories we'd really like to see finished, but a lot of others.  Just recently there has been a mino resurgence of a few people who had been missing for years, so it just goes to show what an impact this fandom has on people.  Our interest may wane here and there, but I don't think it ever disappears entirely. 

We can maybe blame the month of August.  Has anything ever been accomplished in August?  The blog was about the last thing on my mind.  It's difficult when even when you do post things, whether they be here or on fanfiction.net or wherever, people aren't really saying anything.  Nobody likes talking to thin air.  Well, some people maybe do, but they should be in some sort of an institution. 

I can't promise that the content is going to magically improve immediately, I just wanted to offer some reassurance that nobody has disappeared and I at least have no intention of doing so.  Sometimes though we need a little break and sometimes this kind of silly stuff isn't in the forefront of our minds.  Sometimes we even have real work to do, as annoying as that can be! 

Anyway, please still stick around and please keep active within the community.  Make your presence known so the lurkers know that there are still plenty of us out there.  And soon, I swear, we'll start posting more here again!

Then You Stand - A Missing Moment from Seams2Be

The following is a missing moment submission from Seams2Be.  It takes place during the book Tyrant's Test when Leia witnesses Han's beating.

Then You Stand– Missing Moment from Tyrant’s Test

Her shaking was relentless and uncontrollable.  Fear shivered through her soul.  Leia tightened her arms around herself as she stood in front of the viewing screen in the small consulting office for the New Republic Strategic Defense.

An image came into focus on the wall mount monitor.

It was Han. 

Leia’s heart stopped.  Through her terrified deep brown eyes she saw Han being thrown into a non-descript room by two equally non-descript Yevethan guards. 

Han looked terrible, dressed only in some grungy oversized drawstring pants, no shirt or boots and from the looks of him, she knew he had already been worked over. Her husband looked like he had been in some notorious bar fight somewhere with one eye purple and swollen, hair a mess, and bruised welts covering his exposed body. 

“Oh, Han,” she whispered.

If she were with him, she knew he would make some wise crack like, “You think I look bad, you ought to see the other guy.” But no, this was no joke, no trick, no Force vision. This was real.

Inhaling a small gasp, Leia noticed his arms.  Han’s upper arms were bound together behind him by what looked like a thick nerfhide belt, rendering them useless. She frantically tried to reach out to him through the Force but all she could manage to do was search out his face on the monitor.

It was set and determined.  Leia knew that look, it was the bring it on you kriffin' bastard look.

Suddenly Leia’s really bad feeling became desperately worse.

The barbaric leader of the Yevetha, Nil Spaar, had just entered the view screen.  He must have been waiting in a corner of the room, just out of camera range, Leia thought to herself.

Without a word, Spaar punched Han in the gut, causing him to double over.  In a split second Han came up out of his hunched over status slamming Nil Spaar’s chin with his head, causing the Yevethan to hit his head on the bulkhead, inflicting a gash above his temple.

Han, whom had all odds against him, was not going down without a fight.  Leia knew he would keep fighting until he was unconscious or dead.  She feared both.

The taunting game continued. Spaar seemed to relish in his supremacy as he sideswiped Han’s legs, collapsing Han backwards on top of his tied up arms. The crunch of shattering bones was deafening.  Leia put her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.  Then Nil Spaar stomped on Han’s stomach, pinning him in place on the floor.  Blood was already trickling from Han’s nose and mouth.  Extending his razor sharp dewclaw, Leia saw that Spaar intended to gouge out Han’s un-swollen eye.

Haaaaan!!!  Leia’s inaudible screaming thundered through her head.  Let him go, she silently demanded.  Please stop hurting him, Leia quietly begged.  No, she whispered to herself as she swallowed her tears.  To the rest of the New Republic officers in theviewing room, Leia was soundless and stoic, she only pressed her hand to her mouth a bit more.

Once again Leia found herself in an eerily familiar position: silently helpless, witnessing the unspeakable. First it was her planet and now her whole world. 

Focusing harder on the view screen, Leia watched as the Viceroy continued in his quest to claw out Han’s good eye. Leia didn’t know if it was Han’s stubbornness or his unyielding will but he was able to cleverly deflect the blinding attempt by spitting into the Yevethan’s own eyes, causing Spaar to miss his intended target, inflicting only a cheek wound instead of the alternative. 

In that same instant, Han was able to kick out Spaar’s legs from under him, resulting in an embarrassing fall for the supreme leader.

However, also in that moment both Han and Leia simultaneously knew Han’s luck had just folded like a bad Sabacc hand. 

Enraged, Spaar went in for the kill and all life drained from Leia’s face.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Kriffing fool!” Leia wailed out loud to herself.  “Kriffin', kriffin' fool.”  She choked as she struggled to breathe.  Leia held her hair back again as another round of retching ensued. 

She couldn’t remember how she even got back to her private office, let alone how she made it to the refresher before vomiting. 

She only knew that she had watched helplessly as Han was beaten to a bloody pulp.  He was probably dying if he wasn’t already dead and she was to blame.  She would never forgive herself.  The entire situation was her fault.  So many paid the price for her decisions or lack there of, especially Han.

Nil Spaar had played Leia for a fool.  For months he led her on, under the pretense of peace, all the while committing sabotage within the senate and the entire galaxy for that matter. She couldn’t believe that she was so blind, so gullible and so stupid to not see through his elaborate schemes. 

She threw up again.

Pulling her head from the commode, Leia crawled across the refresher floor, curling up on the rug in front of the sink. Though the cold stone floor was where she thought she belonged. Just like Han, lying dying on a cold floor somewhere a million light years away from her. 

Tears streamed down her face, dripping from her chin and cheeks as visions of  bloody shadows haunted her.

She was inconsolable, which was fine since there was nobody to console her anyway. “I’m so sorry Han, I’m so sorry,” she whimpered aloud between sobs.  Speaking only to the air.  She was alone, so alone.  For a long time she lay on the hard stone floor, all the while thinking, How did I let this happen?

Whether it was five minutes or five hours, it didn’t matter to Leia.  Time was meaningless.  However, after a few more minutes lying on the refresher floor, Leia started to regain a bit of her sensibilities.  Her tears finally ceased and a new set of emotions kicked in.  The children, she thought to herself.  I’ve got to pull myself together for the children’s sake. Han would expect no less from me,  she added silently. 

Slowly she made her way from the floor to the refresher sink, splashing cold water on her face.  Looking into her own reflection, Leia didn’t recognize the woman looking back at her.  What the hell happened to me?  When did I lose my way? she pondered as she stared at the unrecognizable stranger in the mirror.

In that moment, she realized the brilliant ruse that Nil Spaar had pulled off.  Not only did he master the realm of physical torture, fear, and domination, but he managed to accomplish the most intimate personal type of torture; manipulation of the psyche. 

Gripping the marble countertop, Leia realized how she allowed Nil Spaar to plant the seeds of doubt within herself.  It was brilliant.  The vermin queen, Solo’s wife, Chief of State of the New Republic, oh how he managed to make her dance to his tune, orchestrating all the movements like a grand symphony.  Savagely beating her husband was probably for his own sadistic pleasure as much as it was meant to intimidate her into submission. 

“Over my dead body,” Leia finally uttered to the woman in the mirror, gripping the countertop even tighter.

Anger.

Rage.

Hatred.

Revenge.

She wasn’t sure if she was angry with herself for beingso easily duped, yes, but more likely her intense rage centered around the scum that devised the elaborate plot to begin with. 

When Leia thought about how she fell victim to the Yevethan’s ploy, words fell fast and furious out of her mouth…“You manipulative mother kriff………“ a string of intergalactic curse words spewed off her tongue with such ease and fluency, no one would ever expect a princess, let alone the Chief of State, to even know, much less utter, such vulgar dialogue.

Finally she had the strength to meet her gaze head on in the reflective glass.  She took a good long hard look into her eyes. She half expected to see Vader’s mask in the mirror, especially after the obscene verbal barrage she just unleashed.  Anger leads to the darkside, why does that saying always come into my head she wondered?  Well kriff that, it’s just one more way to make me second-guess myself, she thought.

If this was the path to the dark side, so be it.  But Leia wasn’t going to the darkside, no she was already someplace beyond.

War. 

She was about to bring all the hells of the universe upon Nil Spaar and his kind, ending his conquest to control the galaxy.

Releasing her grip on the refresher’s vanity countertop, Leia squared her shoulders and set her jaw, just like Han. She continued to stare into the mirror.  

From somewhere deep inside, Leia found what she had lost or had at least temporarily misplaced. 

She rediscovered the courage of her convictions.

She intuitively knew what was right and what was wrong, it was the essence of who she was. No more political correctness for fear of offending this senator or that trade group.  No more going along to get along.  No more self doubt.  She knew what she had to do.

It was as if a heavy, wet fog dissipated from around her.  With her new-found clarity and focus, she was determined to follow what she knew with all her heart was the right thing to do. 

She would not linger in the past, not even the recent past.  Pulling herself up by her proverbial bootstraps, she knew it was time she went home and comforted her children.  She had to be there for them and for all that was innocent. 

Turning to unlock the refresher door, she took one last look in the mirror. She knew it was time for her to stand.

Thanks for the submission!  And again, if anyone has any stories or missing moments they would like to see posted here on the blog, please feel free to contact us!

Quickie Challenge #7

I know, I know, I'm a terrible person and have been horribly neglectful.  I promise I'm not gone forever, just chilling a bit for summer as everyone needs a little breather now and again, even from Han and Leia. 

But, to make it up to you, here is another response to the quickie challenge by Zolo77 as posted on fanfiction.net and further proof that it is never too late to get in on the challenge.  Thanks so much for the submission and enjoy!

Administrative Duties

She hurried towards the officers lift - which would take her directly to the bridge - as soon as the shuttle ramp had lowered, high heels clicking sharply on polished metal flooring, mind racing.

Why? WHY? Why had he done this?

How in the hell had he gotten away with it, and for so long!

If she was honest with herself, which at the moment she didn't want to be, the whole thing did have a sense of humour about it. A screwed up sense of humour, maybe, but it wasn't without a funny side.

She also knew that this had likely had started out as a harmless prank, perhaps even as a way to test the system and when it went unmentioned, he did it again.

And again.

Perhaps now he did it only because he knew he could get away with it.

Well, she thought savagely, not anymore.

The dedicated lift opened its doors at the far left corner of the forward deck. Eyes scanning the peace-time skeleton crew of officers as she stepped lightly out as the double doors opened to her. The noise from her shoes echoed across the large space, announcing her approach. Those nearest to her snapped to attention as she walked by them, her eyes continued to search him out. She came to a stop in front of a young deck officer. A tall, angular, awkward looking young man, whose eyes widened with surprise at her unannounced visit.

"Excuse me, I hate to bother you," smiling sweetly at him, "I am looking for the fleet's commanding General, could you please tell me where I would be able to find him?"

"Is General Solo expecting you, Ma'am?"

"Not that I am aware of, no. Although, he really should be."

"I'm sorry, Ma'am-"

"That's fine." She pulled out her comm, punched in a series of codes.

"General Solo." She growled into her comm.

A split second of silence answered her before his voice come through, clear with the slightest hint of a drawl she suspected only she could pick out. "Sweetheart. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Where are you?"

"At work."

"Where?"

"Currently, I'm on the bridge of The Truth. Enjoying the view."

"No, you're not."

He paused and answered slowly. "Yes, I am."

"No," Lowering her voice and turning from the young officer towards the viewscreen, Coreusant looming before her. "I'm on the bridge and you're not here. I need to speak with you. Now. In private."

"Well now, that sounds promising." She jumped slightly at the sudden volume of his voice which had not come from the comm. Snapping her head around she found him standing at attention behind her, drawn up to his full height, clad in a well tailored uniform which accented the width of his shoulders, blood red piping cut sharp lines down his torso, rank bars gleamed on his chest and cuffs.

Gods, he's impressive dressed like that. The thought popped happily and freely into her mind before she could summon the reason for her visit. No. No. That's not why you are here. He'll happily play that game with you at home, later. Stop it. Get a grip. Stop. Now.

Her mind started to work again and it suddenly occurred to her that she was staring openly at him. It also occurred to her they were not alone. Tilting her chin up, she addressed him quickly, trying to cover her embarrassment.

"As I was saying, General Solo, I need to speak with you. Now. Privately."

"Of course. I'm all yours." Throwing her a quick wink he turned, and with a small gesture, they were quickly left alone.

Her mind wouldn't focus. Scattered thoughts ran through her, but all she could do was stare at him.

This is ridiculous, you see him all the time. She chastised herself.

But not like this. The small wicked part of her countered.

Damn it.

Spinning quickly, she turned to face the viewport again; familiarizing herself with the planet below her, trying desperately to gather her wits. She almost had them when a pair of large, strong hands settled possessively on her waist and a hot breath against her ear whispered temptingly; asking her how he could be of service.

Wow.
This was altogether too much, her body screamed for him, while her mind, still trying frantically to remember why she was here, why she was mad at him, pushed her to remain calm, remain in control.

It occurred to her then, in an abstract kind of way, if the Imperials had imposed this as a means of garnering information out of her on the Death Star, they might have very well been successful. As of this moment, she was almost ready to give him everything she had. His hands started to move up her ribcage and she caught her breath, turning her head and met his eyes and moved away as much as his tight grasp would allow.

"I just read the Rodian Trade Spine route negotiation report, if indeed you care to call it that, which you submitted last month." He didn't answer her, only nipped lightly at her neck, growling playfully in her ear. She continued, having finally grasped her argument, she wasn't about to let it escape her again, she was, after all, a senator. "I'm not impressed, Han."

"Really? That was some of my best work."

"It was some of your most creative work, I'll give you that." He had stopping his ministrations on her neck for the moment giving her the opportunity to turn to face him, cheeks flushing.

"So, you're familiar with my other work?" He smiled, pulling himself up against her, towering over her slight frame. He eyed her playfully; slowly letting the full effect of his trademark grin add another level of distraction to her already frazzled demeanor.

"Unfortunately, yes. I had the privilege of reading the Squadron Flight Testing Analysis Report you submitted from Korleas as well as the six individual recruitment assessment coordination reports."

"I enjoyed writing the Korlas report."

"Yes. I could tell. But not nearly as much as the Rodian report. How could you, Han?"

"What?"

"Don't play innocent with me. Why would you do that?"

"Relax," he kissed her forehead, "No one ever reads those things anyway."

"Yes, yes they do! I read them!" She pushed herself away from him as best she could, she wanted, fervently, to stomp her foot at him, but didn't dare – Han would never let that go.

"I was hoping you would read them. Actually, no, I was hoping you would act them out. Again." He winked.

"This is so inappropriate, I can't even begin to-" He cut her off, moving swiftly, capturing her mouth with his, holding her to him.

There was so much more she needed to say. But not now.

Right now she only wanted him.

Moaning into his mouth she pulled on his hair, wrapping her fingers tightly through the tousled strands.

His hands, which had captured her face, now traveled down her shoulders, across her ribcage - grazing the sides of her breasts softly as he made his journey down her body - settling only for a moment on her waist, tracing her hips. Bending swiftly, he lifted her, suddenly, expertly; holding her securely to his chest. Her legs wrapped around him before she registered what was happening. Pushing her gently up against the viewscreen, Coreusant glittering behind her, his hands now free to trace slow circles against her thighs.

Oh Gods. She flexed her toes as he started pushing the light skirt of her dress slowly upwards, causing both her shoes to fall unnoticed to the floor with a light clang.

Her hands went automatically to the front fastenings of his trousers, quickly freeing him. Glancing up at him, she was met with heated hazel eyes and a slow smile.

"I love you." He breathed, as he moved her panties aside gently with one hand, while the other snaked protectively around her.

"Yes. I know." She gasped as his fingers lightly grazed her, letting her head fall against his shoulder, placing fleeting kisses on his neck.

He pushed into her, holding her to him as they ground together; relishing in their natural rhythm.

"Come on, Sweetheart. We have to be fast, Come for me." He growled low in her ear before grasping her lobe with his teeth, teasing.

Drained of all her anger and after all the hurt and rage she had carefully contained since she read his first report earlier that afternoon, she climbed quickly - hands gripping his shoulders - and came hard around him, her cried muffled by his invading kiss as he thrust hard into her several more times and came, collapsing against her, whispering love into her hair. They stayed this way, together until their breathing slowed again.

Leia untangled her legs from around his waist as he gently slid her down to the floor, a cocky self-satisfied grin gracing his face.

"Well, Your Worship," he said quietly a few minutes later, fingering a strand of hair which has fallen behind her ear. "Please feel free to come see me at work anytime."

Leia shook her head softly, smiling shyly back up at him. "I'll see you at home later." And with that, she pushed off from the viewscreen.

Han watched her walk towards the bridge's main lift admiring her retreating form, when she suddenly turned back around to face him.

"Oh, and General, I don't ever want to see a written report on this. However, I do expect a thorough debrief tonight."

And with that, she entered the lift back down to her shuttle.



The Future of the Fandom

The most popular fandoms around if you tend to peek at the amount of stories on fanfiction.net tend to be things that are currently hugely popular.  Twilight.  Harry Potter.  Even Pirates of the Caribbean.  These are all things that you could have gone to see in the theater over the past year. 

Star Wars has been around for thirty-five years.  That is a long time.  And amazingly, I don't think its popularity has waned all that much.  I bet there are a lot more Star Wars fans than will openly admit it.  Of course this theory still does not allow me to bring myself to wear my Star Wars t-shirts in public, but anyway...

After this much time, it is hard to imagine it not continuing to stand the test of time.  Will others fare similarly?  It's hard for me to believe that in twenty years people will still care that much about Twilight or PotC.  Harry Potter has a pretty strong chance in my opinion. 

That's not really the point of this post, though.  Where do you think we go from here as a fandom?  Do you think there is ever a saturation point where we will run out of things to say about Han and Leia?  Run out of stories to tell?  You run into a lot of stories out there that are quite similar, or at least cover similar time periods.  How many times can the same story be written?  Will there even still be fans around to read them?

I've been involved in reading Han and Leia fanfic for over ten years now.  When I discovered fanfic in the first place, of course.  I read the books before I knew fanfic existed and from the time the first movie came out there were fanzines and stories.  How people found out about these fanzines back then I have no idea!  There have always been little ebbs and flows.  Sometimes lots of people are talking, and sometimes they aren't.  My personal belief is that this isn't so much people not being interested, it's the vocal ones not being vocal, so nobody else says anything, they just lurk and wait for other people to do the talking so they have something to read or maybe something to chime in on.  I think the interest is always there even if there isn't always new stuff to read about.

A big part of why we started this blog was so that we could keep the fandom alive and have a place for people to come.  The blog posts would ensure that at least someone was talking, and the comments for a long time were pretty slow, but people were obviously reading.  I think it's just nice to know that there are others like you out there.  And I wish we still had the results to the age poll because the great news is that the fans range from under 13 well beyond middle age.  We've even got at least one mother/daughter pair who pop in!  That's pretty cool.  So the good news is that there are apparently always going to be new fans to go along with me or even those of you who were old enough to have seen the movies in the theater. 

But fans or not, there are still hundreds if not thousands of Han and Leia stories that have been written out there.  Is it possible to run out?  My personal opinion is no.  If only because there are currently over 500,000 Harry Potter stories on ff.net and only 28,000 or so for Star Wars.  That's without breaking them down to specific couples, but if there are that many stories and lots of people to read them, there must be more to say, right?

And I've said it before but I do think that you can take any situation and write your own personal take on it.  You do really have to have something unique to say, but if you think you do, then go for it.  I don't think we should be deterred by the number of stories out there.  There's always room for more.  You know, as long as you spell check and stuff ;)

Happy Birthday, Harrison!

Aw, look at the cute little baby picture.  Yes, folks, today is Harrison Ford's birthday.  For those of you who don't know, he is now, dare I say it, 70 years old.  Yikes.  And in spite of that number and the fact that it means he remains more than twice as old as I am, I still love him. 

Go ahead and use that one to help you imagine what his kids with Leia might look like.  I'll admit I don't really love it when I am reminded of how old he's gotten.  But then again, since we've never met, I can just go ahead and pretend in my mind tha the always looks like this:

It is kind of incredible to think of all of the things he's done, but at the same time, it is also incredible to think that his life as a "real" actor didn't begin until he was close to his mid 30s when he got the role of Han Solo.  To be honest, that makes me feel better because it means I still have time to make something of my life ;)  Sure he was in some movies before that, but nobody had a clue who he was.  I think I even read once that he went to see Star Wars in the theater and wasn't recognized.  Yeah, that wouldn't happen now. 

What would we all do if he wasn't Han Solo?  I actually wonder about this sometimes.  I sincerely doubt that I'd be obsessed with this stuff if he wasn't in that role.  He made it so much more than it could've been and of course we've all talked about the chemistry.  Although maybe if Christopher Walken had gotten the role I'd have more of a social life ;)

Wow, no wonder I've had a crush on him for as long as I've had crushes on people even though he's older than my parents.  If anyone is interested, he's actually been quite busy lately.  He's got three movies in the works right now, like in the filming stages so something we'll actually eventually see, and that doesn't include another Indiana Jones movie, which they still seem to be dangling in front of us.  Obviously the last one was not my favorite, but I'll admit I enjoyed it.  Yes, I have low standards.  But don't you want to see him as Indy again?

Ok, he won't look exactly like that, but still.  I was personally far less upset about the alien thing than I was about the long-lost son thing.  I don't really get why people can accept an artifact that spontaneously melts people's faces if they look at it, a guy who can rip people's hearts out but they live long enough to be burned alive, or a cup that gives you everlasting life but they get really bent out of shape over "interdimensional beings."  I'll say the same thing about the fridge thing.  Indy did some crazy stuff in those other movies.  You know he did. 

Here's another picture of Han, even though we know he will never play him again.  I know a lot of people are very cynical and angry with him for some choices he's made or whatever.  But honestly, the man doesn't have to work again, ever.  He could just hang out at home with his way-younger wife and fly his planes and hang out and drink coffee.  We should be glad he wants to work at all! 

He's still doing pretty well, right?  I don't know a lot of people who are 70, but I bet most of them don't look like that.  So good for him.  Let's hope he continues to age well and at least occasionally do a cool movie and we can be glad that he's still way younger than Clint Eastwood.

Oh, and go ahead and use this as fodder to write a story about Han's birthday if you want.  Happy birthday, Harrison!  Both of his parents lived well into their 90s so we should still get him to hang around for a while. 

Sorry, but....

All right, I know, things have gotten painfully slow around here.  Nothing bad has happened, I assure you.  It's just not in the forefront of my mind and, well, it's summer.  I'm still like a little kid in summer.  But to make up for it I'd like to share this with you.  This is not my work as I could never have the patience for such things even if I do greatly appreciate that others do.  You owe all of your thanks to Amara Z on this one.  It is amazing what you can do with a little photoshop.  I hope this makes up for the extreme lack of updates at least a little.  Feel free to use it as inspiration for a story or to start up some conversation.  Enjoy!