Hooray!  It's done! 

Great job on your self-portrait, Ripley.  It's creepy -- but cool!  The chestbursters always used to scare the heck out of me in the Alien movies, but your figure seems to be taking it very well, as people have been mentioning.  (In the 2nd photo down, she even seems a little melancholy...)  The blood spattering is a great touch and looks very convincing.  The hair you added to the Scarlett head worked out welll, too.   

One question about this figure: what body and legs did you use?  It's not often that one comes across non-boot-wearing legs in the SW figure universe, but they are so useful for things like self-customs.

Obi-Wan in his mixed clone / Jedi gear looks very nice, too.  Which of the Obi-Wan heads did you use?  Whichever one it was, it was a good choice, as it bears a good resemblance to Ewan MacGregor.

Keep up the fine work.  We'll be watching this space! 

... the Findswoman

you mabey right Findswoman.

Well, I may be wrong, too... it won't be the first time!    Lance, what sayest thou? 

I forgot to mention it the first time, but I also agree with your and In Rem's suggestion that we ask Doc for more info on this thing she's invented.  And why exactly she needs pilots because of it -- that seems a little odd.

Anyone?

... the Findswoman

What fun!  This is defnitely really taking off now.  And the eyebrows are a very cool touch.  Great discussion, all -- I've been enjoying reading the replies.

I don't really have much new to add from what people have already suggested.  While I'm mostly a diplomatic and non-violent sort, I don't think that a little anger, frustration, & indignation would be misplaced -- as long as we keep our cool as we express it (which can be done).  After all, they now know more of your story than you do of theirs.   They have really barely told you anything about who they are and what they are doing.

So I don't mind giving them the info they want, but, as many have also suggested, I believe we should be firm and insist that they tell us more of their story, too.  "Quid pro quo, Clarice."

"Look, I'll tell you more, but if I'm to help you out, as Doc keeps saying, it's only fair for you to tell me more, too.  What are these plans you mentioned?  Who are your 'operatives'?  Why do you need to avoid the Empire?"

If ti's a ship & a pilot they need, we can do both (although I realize that piloting isn't Deak's main specialty, as Quazar points out), and can offer them our services.  But only if they tell us some more about them. "You want a ship?  I've got one, and I can fly it.  But you need to tell me more about your mission if you do.  It's only fair."

As for our blaster... I agree with Chewie that whipping it out right now wouldn't be such a good idea.  If we do, it might give Lucen the wrong idea altogether, as if we only came down there to shoot them & destroy their plans -- they have shown us a bunch of trust in agreeing to meet us, after all.  We should really "keep our cool" here -- as my husband puts it, "what would Clint Eastwood do?" 

For the same reason, I'm going to have to disagree with the idea of the thermal detonator bluff put forth by jedistyle. Sorry, jedistyle! 

Another option is to disarm ourselves and lay the blaster down.  Even Lucen Fang wouldn't really shoot a man he could see was unarmed, would he?  While you're telling him to "stop sticking blasters in your face" or whatever, you can even say something like "I'll put mine down if you put yours down." I also agree with In Rem and Chewie when they suggested saying something like, "If you shoot me, we won't be able to help each other out," or some such, because it's absolutely true. 

Just my $0.02.  I know whatever happens in the end will still be cool and exciting and will lead our hero on to some great adventures! 

... the Findswoman

The Sith are aggressive.  The Jedi calculate our decisons and do what is morally right.  But were't not a Sith nor a Jedi.

Lance, remember the PM's we discussed - I really think the idea we had discussed would be a winner.  Might not go with what everyone was thinking this time, but could be a fun twist to it.  I'd love it for sure.  In a way, I think it would make both sides happy... feel free to PM to discuss more.

 

Oh, Chewie, do you have an idea for a compromise between the aggressive and non-aggressive camps?  Sounds very promising indeed.  Why not let us know what it is? 

... the Findswoman

I posted this elsewhere, but honestly, I hope some of these softies wake up and grow a backbone. I don't want this thing to end with Deak face-down in a sewer somewhere because he was overly concerned with being nice.

Whoa there.  You're entitled to your opinion, and you're welcome to defend it in a civil manner, but calling those who disagree with you names is simply not appropriate.

Besides, as Jedistyle points out, I don't think Lance would ever do that to our hero.  And there are certainly worse things than being face-down in a sewer...

... the Findswoman

Chewie, the thing is, Lance has already established a few posts back that our character's name can't be Quazar, because (a) Lance Quazar is our mother's brother rather than our father's (assuming that the traditional patriarchical naming system applies), and (b) "Lance Quazar" is a pseudonym anyway. 

Other than that, those are all fine-sounding first-name suggestions.

Lance, since the next installment is right around the corner, maybe the best thing would be for you to just make an executive decision at this point, based on what you've seen from our contributions and on what strikes your own fancy.  I don't think you'd choose something that would stink! 

... the Findswoman

All right, back to square one with the last name.  What do you all think of something like Viridian?  Does Joss Meridian (or Jace Viridian, or the either one w/ Meridian) sound all right for the charcter?  I think they have a nice sci-fi ring to them, & can see them making a really nice pair with Lance Quazar for when we actually do meet up with our uncle. 

Anyone?

... the Findswoman

On the issue of a name... Is our Uncle Lance Quazar on our mom's side or our dad's side?  Or is that determined yet?  If the latter, we can be a Quazar too.  I was thinking along the lines of Joss Quazar, or Jace Quazar.  Even if we're not a Quazar, I like the names Joss & Jace; Joss Eisley, anyone?  Perhaps we're even hyphenated: Antilles-Quazar, Iblis-Quazar, Eisley-Quazar, etc.

Whether or not we choose to include the name Quazar in our name could have definite consequences for the story.  If we do, and we happen to tell our (real) name to someone who knows of our Uncle Lance, they would immediately be able to guess that we're related to him, and that could work either for us or against us.  With a non-Quazar name, they wouldn't necessarily be able to tell, of course.  But it all hinges on our Quazar's decisions on our hero's family tree.

Anyway, those are just some thoughts.  Loooking forward to hearing what the rest of you folks have to say!

... the Findswoman