B: It's amazing what can happen when someone comes up with an idea. On the Guardian channel, two of the players, 0th Power and Pepsiman are very well known for creating alts and themed SGs, whether on Guardian or another server. They seen be popular for a little while, but then as interest fades, they return to their mains. This is one that got started and I finally got swept up in one. I'll admit I was hesitant and doubtful about. It was on the Victory server and there was that one time when my SG tried to branch out to the Virtue server and try out the sonic and archery sets when they went live. That didn't last long, eventually we just made ones here. But they really wanted people, and the theme were state heroes. Gotta admit I got curious, but I was concerned since I wasn't sure I'd be able to give a new alt new time, especially on a different server. They wanted me to make an "Arizonian Phoenix" Kinda sounded like a neat concept. Would give me a chance to bring back Heaven's Demon in another form. They were ok with me not giving her much time, so I figured why not? An Arizona Phoenix seemed too easy, too cliché. Too X-Men like. People suggested Arizona Sun and/or Heat. Both of those were too common, and sports mascots to boot LOL. SO I picked something fire/heat related that's vicious and Arizona... its summer. the 3 months where temperatures can range between 100-115. 

           I decided that I'd pick her powers that would make her similar to the summer, unrelenting, pure heat. No swords, or click PBAoEs. just heat that Summer could generate. For her costume I was going to take Heaven's look but make her more of a typical girl during an Arizona summer.  Very tan, not much clothes, and very hot looking. I figured I could take Heaven's look and modify it a bit. Then I got the idea to try and reproduce the AZ flag, since I had some stripe patterns that would be similar. She's more clothed that I wanted, but her other looks will take care of her college girl nature. I felt good with the look that came out and that I was able to use a belt to make the copper star from the flag.

          Her second look is where I was going for getting back Heaven's look, but I had other directions I was going, as well as a LOT more costume options since I designed Heaven's look. One this would be Summer's version of Sparky, the ASU Sun Devil mascot. To get close I picked the general look of a Circle of Thorns Succubus, but made gave her a more lacy look. Partly because I couldn't reproduce the true Succubus look ,second I didn't want to fully. So using the bridal look, I made her clothes the dark red/maroon and gold of the ASU school colors and made her skin red as well but a little bit lighter so one could tell where her skin stopped and her clothes started. The new gloves and thigh highs from the Magic Booster set really rounded it out well, and then a devil tail to finish it off.

          3rd look is a more polished refined look of her original Arizona flag look. More shiny, more modern, more sophisticated, less new young hero feel to it But still the basic design of the Arizona flag is still there, hopefully.

          4th look is Summer's UofA Wildcat look. I wanted to make her skin a bit more tan/beige, but the skin colors limited me in what would match with the tiger stripe colors so I picked an orangey look. Not exact, but it serves well enough. She's obviously not a real catgirl, having 2 sets of ears visible, but she looks sexy enough in her own opinion. 2nd time I've used a tail on a costume, and both tails on the same character. First almost real catgirl look too.  I'm proud that the blue matches the UofA blue and the A turned out well for it's known logo. Initially I was going to make Summer just an ASU girl, but being kinda flighty and carefree on her decisions and her loyalness to her state she's bound to attend the 3 major universities, and thus her 5th look will be the closest I can get to a lumberjack lol.

           5th look is her NAU look.  Here's where I had to get a bit more creative as NAU's mascot is Louie the Lumberjack. So, I had to try and make a close female version. The boots and jeans and all were easy, but I didn't have any good way to make a flannel look, nor a decent sock hat, not one that didn't look Christmas like, so I went with a scarf for the top of her head and just a decent rugged looking shirt. Came out decently well.

          Story to come in her words once I have it all fleshed out.

           Hey, what's shakin? If you're reading this you're probably a little confused, right? Since I'm not like any of the Hericanes. It's cool. I'm just borrowing some of their space, since they don't really need it that much. Emily's to thank for all of this. We met at this old dance club that had a room converted into a makeshift beach, so I felt at home workin' on my tan and groovin' when the tunes were right. Emily was there as well, gettin in on with everyone, completely going with the flow of the music. Needs to work on her tan a lil bit, but otherwise she's a riot on the floor. Anyhow, she was completely exhausted one night of too much partying, so I drove her home, and took a peek at her computer setup. Looks like she and her friends had a site up running from their base computer.

          Good thing I ran into those geeks while I was a student in college. With a little bit of teasing and coaxing, and the promise of a few pictures, they slipped me a spot into their space, and here I am.

          Which brings me to why I'm here, and who and what I am.  My name's Summer. Summer Thyme. ::smiles and shakes your hand:: No, I didn't change my name to that. ::laughs:: my family's real last name is Thyme, and I just had some parents who just had to be cute with their daughter's name. Cherri Pitt, Candi Kane, you know the usual drill. Least those girls probably had full names like Cheryl and Candace or Candice. Not me, Summer is my give name, even on my Birth Cert. Oh well, my last name itself is a laugh all of its own. Asking "What time is it?" around any of us, sends most of us into fits of giggles, since any of us in the family can answer that in of course the not usual manner.

           I just took advantage of my name in life. Since I was in Arizona and my name was Summer I never had a shortage of people that wanted to talk about that, and even more so when they learned of my last name. I've always had friends to hang out with and to talk to, and always so busy out doing stuff, and ultimately the clubs.

          Life was pretty sunny, until I started school at ASU. It was there that one day I was out lounging on the pool deck of one of the dorm's community pools.  There was an important test coming up AND a major party that I had to look right for. Everyone was gonna be there, so I wanted to look perfect, with the right tan.  Anyhow, as I was sitting on a deck chair and studying from a few books, I must've been out for a long time, since I felt like I was on a heater, and my skin was showing just hints of red.  I thought bout going inside, but I really need the tan, and just had a little bit more to read to keep the test info fresh in my head. As I was reading, I dozed. When I came too, I sat up in a panic. I knew what happened to some of my friends when they woke up.  They've had some really bad burns. But when I looked at myself I had a nice cover model tan. But even odder was that I felt like I was literally filled with heat, but not uncomfortable from it.  Trying to steady myself I placed my hands on the book that was restin in my lap. As I pressed down on the book, immediately it caught fire! Freaked out about fire right there, right on me, I flung the book at the pool water. At first I was freakin out because I just lit something on fire! I looked around to see if anyone saw what I did, hoping that I was just having some really bad heat mirages.  No one was around tho. And it turned out real, as the textbook I set on fire was sitting still in the pool.

         Not thinking and curious, I grabbed my second book, and place it on my lap as well. Shaking nervously, I placed my hands in the air over the laptop and slowly brought them down until my hands were resting on it like the first book.  Nothing happened right away, until I pushed down on the book, and I felt the "heat" within me course thru my arms towards the book, and it lit on fire like the first.

          Surprised again, I quickly flung the book towards the pool to put it out. Now a bit more frantic and worried, I looked around again. Still no one was around. I sighed a relief. Then suddenly I heard a "Hey" and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Misty was standing there, in a black one piece swimsuit. Misty's the "dark one" of our set of dorms.  Kinda gothic and not really liked. And she's the last person I woulda wanted to see this.  She asked what I was doin. Quickly I tried to cover it up by saying I accidentally lit my books on fire with a lighter. That didn't work, she knew I didn't smoke, that and I didn't have any cigarettes with me.  I asked her to really keep quiet about this. She smiled with a sneer and said sure, as long as I and my friends would stop teasing her. Damn. I said I would, I didn't want to, but I couldn't let anyone else know about this.  Luckily my friends didn't care too much as long as Misty didn't bug them back, so all was forgotten. And in the meantime I figure that I had a little control over this fire starting ability. When I lost my temper it seemed less controllable, but for the most part I could both create fire and control it as well as manipulate it if it was already there.

           Two months later, my problems came back.  I was at a party, one of the bigger ones where EVERYONE was there. Including Misty and her friends. Even some of the TAs. I saw Amanda there hanging out. She's a TA in my chem class. I hate that class, and Amanda sometimes wasn't always nice grading wise but that was her job so that was cool.  I was there with my girls and also the local snobby girls who thought they were all that. Always looking like models, getting the guys, always at the most popular spots and parties. Biggest sluts too. My friends and I were talking about them as they were parading around. Misty must've been nearby because she called out to me. I didn't like Misty still but I didn't like these "queens" either so I  went over to talk to her. She suggested I could always get back at them, there was that big bonfire out on the beach... 

          Hmmm, not a bad idea... it could look like an accident and the little tramps could look like drunken idiots. Just had to get them close enough though.  That didn't take much. An hour later they were all dancing outside by it. I went over there as well with my friends, and I waited til all of them were close enough. Nearly at the right moment I barely started to "push" the fire close enough to them, when it exploded! Nearly everyone in the area was was burned or injured in some way... Everyone but me. Even Misty was a bit, but she was laughing.  I tried to run out of the area but the security for party showed up quickly. Misty and I and a few others were arrested. Misty yelled at me to use my powers. I wanted to badly, because jail was the last thing I wanted to do, but I didn't when I looked back and saw all those people burned.

        I knew I was in for it, when we got to jail Misty kept blaming me, and spilled her guts about my powers.  I was so dead, I was close to the fire when it exploded. I didn't even know I could do that. I heard some people walk up to my cell, some people in some red and white uniforms, with a logo that said "CF" on it.  In front of them was Amanda. I wondered if she was in trouble too?

       They let me out and took me to one of those blank interrogation rooms that you see in the cop films, the ones with the one way mirrors.  Amanda and two of those people in the red and white uniforms came inside. I didn't do anything but I figured they wouldn't believe me so I just told them I was sorry for the explosion. Amanda told me she knew that I didn't do it. She said she worked for a group called Longbow, a super powered division of a group called Freedom Corps. They were a group of super powered people that had chapters all over the US to keep an eye out for super powered threats. And also to recruit individuals to Longbow and Freedom Corps.  I asked what this had to do with me. They said that Misty and her friends had already planned to do something at the party. They had a bomb set at the bonfire, since it was the center of all the festivities, I was just a cover.  She then asked me if Misty's claim of my fire control was true. I told them I could and Amanda asked me to show them. I raised a hand while the girl in the Longbow suit slowly stood up. I snapped my fingers and kept my index finger raised, as fire was fluttering from it as if was a candle. I bounced the fire into the air until it was a fireball and I moved it in a figure eight pattern. Then I opened my palm and let the fireball drop into it and closed my hand into a fist around it. When I opened my palm again, the fire was gone.  Amanda and the other two nodded their heads, apparently impressed. So she asked if my name was Summer. I said yes, the Arizona Summer.  She looked at me with an eyebrow raised and said "So you're a superhero?" I was like no, do I look like a super hero? I say I'm the Arizona Summer because there's another Summer at school and no one can tell which summer anyone's talking about. So I'm the Arizona Summer and she's the Cali Summer. Amanda and the two others laughed at this and say It sounds like a good hero name if I ever wanted to go by it.

         I didn't think I could be a hero, that's for people like Superman and all who wanna help people. I'm just a girl who wants to get through college, eventually get a good job and find a guy and a have a family, and settle down. 

         Amanda sighed and smiled at me, understanding me on the same level as something she'd be wanting for.  She said my life and what I do is up to me, but felt I should know something. That Misty did what she did because she too wasn't normal.  Misty was also a girl that was developing powers. That explosion was her a test that she could do what was necessary to prove her worth. That now at this moment she is at a place called the Rogue Isles and proving how villainous she can be.  And if she's successful, she could be one of Arachnos' most dangerous villains. I asked what that had to do with me. She'd be out of my hair, and I could get on with my life. That was true, Amanda agreed, but once Misty had matured her powers, she wouldn't stay there. She'd bring her evil and her destruction back here, to Arizona. Why would she do that, I asked, Amanda sighed and said that's what evil people do. They don't care about other people. They'll do what they want and control whatever land they want as it suits them. And that's what this had to do with me, Amanda said.  I showed that I cared about people. How, I asked?  Because when I was brought in, I took responsibility for what happened at the party. I laughed and said that's because I didn't have anything to get me out. Amanda pointed out that I could've used my fire powers against her and the longbow agents. Misty would've done so. Misty did in fact as some friends of hers attacked the agents keeping her in her cell, and used her own powers when she was free to escape. 

         I still wasn't sure as I didn't know how to use my powers, how could I possibly go out and fight crime? Amanda smiled widely this time and said there was a city that would help, Paragon City, in Rhode Island. But Arizona's my home. I was born and raised here, I can't leave. Fair enough Amanda told me, its up to you, but she assured me that Misty will be back here and others like here won't think twice about harming people.  She said that at least come to Paragon City to learn from others who have similar powers, and when you're ready, you can return back to Arizona and protect it. I agreed, because I couldn't stand to see my home destroyed.             

           B: Below is a partial assembling of the US Heroes, our state hero themed SG. We've had a fair amount of Guardianites to join up. We had fun while it was the thing that seemed fun at the time.  We teamed in groups of 3-5 people and in two days most of us got up to levels 7-10. And as long as we didn't take on too much, our groups were balanced enough of everything to take on good sized groups, so it was pretty fun.  Everyone picked cute state heroes and cute signature sayings and stuff. Below, from left to right is Pennsylvania Panther (Unstable/Onuris/Johnstone), Arizona Summer (me), Georgian Peach (Ulli), and California Dreamer (Pepsiman). Other heroes we've got are Nevada JackPot, Super Texan, Hawaii Punch, Bayou Beast, Michigan's Madness, and Illini Firestorm. Panther is a claws lookin kitty, Georgia Peach is a fire/emp who has a really good Southern Belle blonde thin going, complete with calling everyone "sugar" lol.  Cali is a a mind/kin troller and the typical hot blonde, with the added twist of Sister Psyche's look, just Californicated.

           The second screenie is just a fun one, IMO, it looks like the other three suddenly look at Summer as her hands light up.

        B: One reason for me why CoH, never gets old. no matter the level of my char I'm playing I always have fun with new friends that I meet in some way. One of them is @RaiderRich from AoW. Awesome SG. Anyways, like many on Guardian, he's made a US Hero on Victory. It's kinda become our refugee server whenever Guardian and the WC servers go down. Anyhow, this is a screenie that he took of his character, Oklahoma Boomer, and Arizona, and I just naturally thought of a conversation between the two. It dumbs down Arizona 's personality, a bit from the intro up top, but she's generally an average intelligent girl, just has a lack of common sense most of the time.

*on the train Boomer says little as Arizona chatters on*