Full disclosure: I'm a pretty big fan. However - I am NOT a FANATIC. Those people can be NUTS. It might be a fine line but there's definitely a line.
I love all the movies and have enjoyed all the TV shows. Even the animated kid's shows are fun. I mostly love the DESIGN. The world building, characters, vehicles, architecture, lore. It's just fun to immerse yourself in a different galaxy from time to time.
So when a traveling convention came to a nearby city I decided to give it a try.
As soon as I walked into the convention hall I knew that I had entered into an entirely new world. The costumes, the sounds, the smells, the kids running around swinging plastic laser swords. I was in for a fun afternoon.
But it was the people that really took my breath away. The costumes were FANTASTIC! Some of these people looked like they had just stepped off the big screen. The elaborate helmets and armor. The flowing robes. The alien make-up. The flight-suits complete with breathing apparatus and blinking lights. A seven-foot-tall hairy dude strolled by with a dozen kids in his wake.
I was dressed pretty simply; black jeans and boots, a cotton, off-white shirt and my leather "solo" jacket. I thought I looked pretty good for a scruffy nerf-herder but I wouldn't win an award in THIS crowd. It looked like there were hundreds of booths and I planned to visit them all so I started down the first aisle.
After a few stops I ran across a comic shop. I've read more than my share of comics in my day but I'm not really into them anymore so I started to pass it by when I noticed a stunning Jedi thumbing through the racks. She was wearing a light-colored tunic and had a billowy hood up over her black, curly hair. She had dark, smoky eyes painted in greens and golds and soft, pink lips. I sidled up to the rack across from her and pretended to be interested in the books but was watching her intently.
She must have sensed me looking at her because she glanced up at me and smiled. With a low, soft voice she said, "Hello, there."
My heart skipped a beat. She was beautiful. As usually happens when I meet a beautiful woman my mind went completely blank. In an effort to hide this I usually say something stupid. This time was no different.
"Do you like comics?" What an idiot I am.
"I like the artwork. But the stories are kind of 'out-there'." She held my gaze with her dark green eyes. Her slight smile and arched eyebrow showed that she knew how uncomfortable I was.
"Right?" Seriously. That's what I said. Good grief.
"Well - see you later." She turned and I watched her walk away. Her tunic came down to her hips, which were clad in tight, tan pants. She wore brown, low-heeled boots that came up to her knees and I could see the flash of a saber hilt hanging from her wide, leather belt. She looked just as good from behind as she did from the front.
"Bye." I whispered sadly, under my breath.
A few booths later I was standing in front of a wall covered in photo prints from the original trilogy. Many of them were signed by the featured stars and all of them took me back decades to a simpler time and place. I was studying a particularly sexy photo of a slave princess when I sensed a presence at my side.
"Do you like her?" I turned and was surprised to see the pretty Jedi again. I guess I didn't scare her away with my witty repartee.
"Sixteen-year-old me was in love with her."
"I'm partial to scoundrels, myself." Her smile took my breath away.
We looked at pictures together and talked about our earliest memories of the galaxy far, far away. She was quick with a laugh and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. I finally started to relax around her and I may have even stopped sweating profusely after about twenty minutes or so.
"So, are you a Jedi?" I gave her a bit of a smirk.
She turned to face me, put her hands on her hips, looked at me sternly and answered, "I am Jedi Master Loreen L'Vinya. What is your name?"
"Call me Hans." I held out my hand to her. She took it in hers and her face softened to a pretty smile.
"Pleased to meet you, Hans."
"And I you, Master Loreen."
"Are you solo?"
"Not anymore."
We both laughed at our silliness and turned to see what else we could find on the convention floor.
We spent a lot of time in each booth together. She was just as amazed as I with the artistry displayed in the character figures and the posters. We laughed together at many of the t-shirts. ("My other starship is a Falcon. A FORD Falcon.") One of the booths contained hundreds of ship and vehicle models from tiny to full sized. I showed her my favorites and we talked about how the designs changed and evolved in-universe and out. They even had Luke's Landspeeder that we could get into. We took turns behind the wheel and used each other's comlink devices for pictures. We were having a wonderful time.
I noticed an advertisement sign by the speeder that said, "For more photo-ops come to Booth 450".
"Do you want to do that?" I asked her hopefully.
"Absolutely!" She hit me with another devastating smile.
I grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd to the end of the row. Booth 450 was actually several booths, all roped off with a small ticket counter. There looked to be about 8 to 10 scenes set up and for a not-so-small fee you can enter and they will take pictures with your own comlink devices. I purchased a ticket for each of us and we entered a cosplay wonderland.
We had to wait a few minutes for each scene but that gave us time to talk about what we wanted to do. The first scene was a simple backdrop that looked like the famous '77 poster from the original movie - without Luke and Leia. It took me back to when I first fell in love with these stories. When it was our turn I picked up a prop crossbow rifle, put the butt on my hip and popped a confident pose. Loreen got down on her knees beside me and wrapped herself around my leg, her hand very high on my thigh. I was afraid I would burst from my trousers like a space-slug but I managed to keep my composure while the attendants snapped dozens of photos with our comlinks.
The next scene was a recreation of the Falcon cockpit. I sat in the pilot's seat and she stood at my shoulder pointing out the view screen.
"That's no moon." That might be when I fell in love with Master Loreen L'Vinya.
She sat in the co-pilot seat and we punched it together, imagining the star trails of hyperspace.
The next scene was just a phone booth sized closet covered in greeblies. We squeezed in and she put her hands up on my chest, looking deeply into my eyes.
"You know - we're supposed to kiss in here," she whispered and her green eyes twinkled in the stage lighting. Loreen pressed her body against me and raised herself up on her toes to place a soft, lingering kiss on my lips. Rockets went off in my head like a Special Edition closing scene. There were crowds of aliens cheering, furry Ewoks dancing, X-Wings zooming by leaving fireworks in their slipstream.
