RE#18 - DARK EXCHANGE

[Famine]

That was the worst chapter of RE I have ever read. The picture editing is absolutley terrible. I expected better from you, Justin. When did Rykrof become such a girl? And those customs were absolute ****. I mean, good lord, who taught you how to make these figures?

A two year old?





Just Kidding.

What a phenominal chapter. The script and writing is top notch. Freelo had me in tears this chapter. Awsome realistic sets. My only gripe is that the lightsabers and blaster bolts are the same leingth. I liked the origionals you had before. Nothing a little shrinking can't fix in time for next chapter.

My favorite shot was of Freelo on his back, tied with the image of Shundi all sad at the end.

Kevin

[CHEWIE]

Spectre - I can't thank you enough for allowing me to use some of your vehicles.  I'll always remember to give you credit for your spectacular work.

mister_palpatine - Those are very nice words, I appreciate them.  Sounds like an interesting concept for your Shaak Ti, I'd love to see pics if possible.  On making a ruined city, I'll upload some pics soon of how I made it out of foamcore.

Famine - Thanks buddy.  I'm glad you like Freelo, I think he can be hilarious as long as I don't try and overdo it.  Kind of a bit of light humor.  Some people may not think he's funny, but I think he is.

Regarding the laser blasts, I've thought about it, and I am thinking that might be kind of what they should look like.  From memory I was thinking they should have some length to them.  If you freeze a frame of a laser blast, they're pretty long actually, which implies motion.



Even the Unleashed Stormtrooper portrays longer laser blasts -



And some posters too -



And games...



And comics!



Sorry if I got a little carried away there, just showing that I've seen them appear that way in other mediums too.   

 

[Greg]

"mister_palpatine - Those are very nice words, I appreciate them.  Sounds like an interesting concept for your Shaak Ti, I'd love to see pics if possible.  On making a ruined city, I'll upload some pics soon of how I made it out of foamcore."

Chewie, if I do attempt to do a ruined city, it will probably be attempted during the summer, as it is busy for me with school. I would appreciate the pictures so I can get an idea of what I'd like to do. As for my Shaak Ti, I'll have to put it back together. I don't really customize, I just swap accessories and sometimes body parts between figures. I don't have figures to desecrate, nor to I have the proper funds to do customs and keep up with collecting, and I'm not into ruining a perfectly good figure. My family just got a digital camera for Christmas from Santa, so I need to find a way to post pictures. So far I've taken pictures of my collection, and I'll try to get around to the Shaak Ti, my big Geonosis diorama, and my crumby Techno Union Ship.

[Spectre]

Justin, my friend, you are welcome to use any of my vehicles, figures, you name it, I'm just flattered to be a part of your Saga

After I set up my new Star Wars Room next month (I just moved), I'll have everything unpacked again so I'll have access to my customs. I'll even be able to take additional pics of everything if you know of a specific angle or pose you need for future chapters. As I finish up more vehicles, I'll give you first crack at pics of them as well

[CHEWIE]

Spectre, you are a true customizing Messiah!  Not only for your talents, but for your willingness to share your work us and let us use it too to better our own work.  I am very grateful for that, because I've been turned down before rather rudely (please nobody ask who, I don't want to use names and might not even remember for sure who it was - not someone who is active here).  I enjoyed the recent parts swap with you, so maybe we can try that again sometime, or if you ever are interesting in *selling* one of your wonderful pieces, you know who to contact.   

 

[jedistyle]

absolutley sick chapter CHEWIE!

- your foamcore set is great, nice weathering and battle damage. i really enjoyed the real set over your digital ones, great work!

- the story was also awsome. there was some good sialog betwen charecters and i personally like the emotion descriptions.

- the way you are protraying Kala is awsome. i like that you are showing how the Clone Wars are bringing some of the jedi down and giving them feelings of darkness. Kala has befriended Rykoff and his suffering is translating in to anger and hate for Kala. very well told, awsome job!

- the battle on 2 fronts was awsome and really added to the action scene's.

- your effects are great as usual and the pics are alot lighter compareed to your older ones.

this was a great chapter with some good twista and dialog and a good amount of action, i can't wait fot the next chapter!

thanks CHEWIE!

[findswoman]

Goosebumps!  This installment really had me on the edge of my seat -- I was really worried about Freelo and Alyssa for a bit there. 

And I just noticed now that Ralbarr has on a softoods skirt -- hooray! 

Kala's closed eyes in that last scene was a great touch -- a small detail that really made a huge difference to the whole feel and mood of that scene.  As jedistyle remarks, that scene offers some great insight into the emotional stress that the Jedi are suffering in these dark times.  The eyes are the windows to the soul, and when they're shut...

About body proportions.  In the scene where Ralbarr, Freelo, Alyssa, and Shaak Ti are all standing together, Alyssa seems awfully tiny.  Of course, I know that's because she's based on a Padmé figure, and she's standing near a Wookiee.  But even her fellow woman, Shaak Ti, seems awfully big in comparison, and she's never struck me as being particularly tall (well, not counting her head tails, of course).  Could that just be because of her big clone boots?  Is Alyssa just supposed to be a really petite lady?  Just out of curiosity, if Rykrof is in his 30s or so (as you mentinoned in a reply in the revious installment), about how old is Alyssa, & how old is their little boy by now?

And on the issue of Shaak Ti, her copious softgoods are fabulous, of course.  Only thing is, wouldn't they slow her down a bit in a battle situation?  Of course you addressed that by giving her a shorter skirt -- good move.

Now, there was one bit of the story that sort of bothered me a little:  Why doesn't Rykrof himself hurry off to rescue Alyssa once he sees that communiqué from the other Fuuda on the data screen? Why did he insist that Kala and co. go and he stay?  And if he knew that Fuuda would be showing up looking for him, why did he stay?  These things seemed a bit funny to me on the first read through, altho' maybe there was a good reason for all this to which I didn't catch on.

Looking forward to more, as always.  Keep up the top-notch work! 

... the Findswoman

[CHEWIE]

Findswoman -

I'm glad you were able to check the story out today, because now none of my pics were showing for a while... I'm pretty aggravated with my hosting service right now.  Thank you very much for your analysis and comments though.

To answer your questions - yes Alyssa is a kind of short woman, about the size of Padme I'd say and a bit older than her.  Rykrof at this point in the war is about 32 years old, so when the Clone Wars are over he will be about 34 or 35.  If he lives past that, he will still be at an age where he could be active by the time the the OT era is around, which would make him under 60 years old by the time Palpatine is killed - if Rykrof lives that long of course.  Alyssa is supposed to be 5 years younger than Rykrof.  Their son is still a baby - he was born right after the start of the war.

For Shaak Ti's height, a lot can be accounted for the Clone armor legs which make the figure tall, but I believe the regular Shaak Ti figure is a bit shorter than that of a regular (not counting her enormous head tails) Clone but I could be mistaken.  I should have probably shortened her a bit though.

Your question about the storyline is a great one - I hope this answers your question.  When Rykrof first saw the image of her, he was frozen with fear and surprise - he listened carefully to what Mubaas Fuuda told him - that if Rykrof did not stay in the warehouse alone, then Alyssa would be shot in the head by a sniper.  All the chapter was about was a "dark exchange" - to exchange Alyssa for Rykrof.  Rykrof was set up by the Badoo Corba.  If he was seen leaving the warehouse or approaching his wife, a sniper would have killed her which is why he had to stay.  Make sense?

Jedistyle -

I'm glad you liked the real sets - it's been a while since I did mostly real sets.  I'll definitely be doing that for the next one too.

Yes - Kala is experiencing sadness and hatred too - Anakin will not be the only one facing a struggle with his loyalties and doing what is right and wrong.  I have major plans for Kala, and hope I can portray them correctly.

Thanks both of you for your comments, they are much appreciated and I will be starting working on the sets for the next chapter this week.  As soon as they are done things should get rolling quickly.

 

[Clone Commander]

What a joy to read, I was freaked out at the sight of Freelo getting shot.
I cant wait for the next one!
Rykrof just keeps on getting better and better. 

[jedistyle]

hey CHEWIE, i'm sure it was asked long ago, but what spiecies is kala and what figure did his head come from? thanks.

[findswoman]

Jedistyle, it looks like the head from Jedi youngling Jempa from the Ashla / Jempa 2-pack, but alas, I've forgotten what species that is... The SW official site's Databank is silent on the issue.  Chewie?  Anyone?

... the Findswoman

[CHEWIE]

Clone Commander Gr - Thanks my friend, death will be a more frequent occurance in the future stories I hate to say, but Freelo still has some time ahead of him for sure.

Jedistyle and findswoman - Yeah it's the head from those little younglings, but I'm stumped on the species name too.

 

[findswoman]

I just looked at the back of the Ashla & Jempa card, but that's no help either.  I bet it's in one of those Visual Encyclopedia things... does anyone own the one for Ep. III?  Now I'm all curious, too...

... the Findswoman

[jedistyle]

mabey it's a baby whipid, kruhk's spieceis. it has the same protruding bottom teeth as that spiecies and as a youngling may not have any hair yet. that was my first guess!

[findswoman]

maybe it's a baby whipid, kruhk's spieceis. it has the same protruding bottom teeth as that spiecies and as a youngling may not have any hair yet. that was my first guess!

As it turns out, you're right, Jedistyle: Jempa is a young Whiphid.  Here's the Star Wars Wiki entry for Jempa.

However... if this makes Kala a Whiphid, too, he doesn't match the other numerous adult Whiphids in earlier chapters of the Rykrof saga, who are all bigger, hairier, and nekkid.  (See, for example, this shot.)  I guess the Jedi Order is a civilizing and grooming influence! 

... the Findswoman