Rykrof Enloe Chapter 31 - BROKEN ORDER

[UKHistory]

Dear Chewie,

Chapter 31 was a fun treat. I have said before but I want reiterate this to everyone on here that my three favorite EU sources
are the: Brian Daley Han Solo novels; the Timothy Zahn Thrawn trilogy; And the Enloe Saga. I like marvel a lot too but yours is really special.

Your ability to mix and match parts is second to none. Your scenes are great! The buildings, props, etc is superb.

But that is just with toys/customizing side. What makes this great is the characters you have created. You put Lucas to shame (not that it was hard) with the dialogue you have written for your characters. That is right. I think you put more effort into your scripts than Lucas did with the prequels.

Considering you are not a multimillionaire whose job it is to make these I think it is extraordinary. This is amazing.

I was sorry to hear that you are a little burn out on this. But it is understandable. Your work is delight to see and read.

Thanks for what you have done.

I have asked you this in private. But would you mind sharing for us how you go about creating your chapters:

Outlines, storyboards, how do you do it?

You are a very artistic person and we all have benefitted greatly from peering into the slice of the galaxy far, far away that you have created.

Thanks!

[Darth_Cuddles]

I remember Ki-Adi in that earlier chapter now you've reminded me!
Although we might have to wait a bit for the next chapter, I must say I'm really looking forward to it! I can't wait to see which path Rykrof takes, or what happens to Kala, Tylin and everyone else! It'll be a tough wait!
It's a shame chapter 32 will effectively end this series, but it's very good to hear the Rykrof saga will be continuing after this!
I hope you enjoy your rest, I think you deserve it after all the cool work you've done on these stories, and I think I can safely say we'll all be here eagerly awaiting Chapter 32!

[blaster_e11]

i can't believe i missed this chapter

i'm glad you posted something about it in your custom thread.

i think it's one of the best written depiction of Order 66 i've read so far. the gruesome first images of the Jedi hunt were particularly good.

I must tell your reenactment of the death of Ki-Adi-Mundi was mindblowing, i thought the pics were movie stills.

[LT BRYLL]

Well worth the wait . Great work and more to come .

Thanks my friend - and looking forward to hearing any thoughts/suggestions!

Rykrof has to be helping the Jedi in the future but also balanceing the thin line
of being a trooper . Glad to see Drake pull though the way he did . I truely think
that this kind of thing happened alot more then the emperor let on . When you fight
in combat with someone whoever the person is beside you becomes tighter to you
then family , its a bond that is very hard to brake if at all .

What stood out alot was the concrete walls , they look very realistic .

I am always amazed at the work that you put into your novels . They are truly art forms .

[Lance Quazar]

Chewie,

I've read this chapter several times and am just out of hyperboles to describe how phenomenal an achievement this is.

One of your best, without question. It's just outstanding.

I am very glad that you spent the extra time "behind the scenes" to get this one right, because you knocked it out of the park.

I think in terms of action sequences, this is probably your most exciting and visceral chapter to date. The action scenes are genuinely chaotic and exciting. There are some wonderful shots here, my favorite is probably Rykrof, Teltuu and the troops running up the ramp, looking down on them from the top. Your compositions are beautiful. I also the tight two-shot of Troffar and Rykrof before he pulls the dagger out. Gorgeous, gorgeous work.

This chapter really has a great deal of emotional and dramatic urgency. We FEEL Rykrof's fevered quest to find Mubbas after all he has been through.

Order 66 is handled so well. Everyone was wondering which way you'd go and I think you have pulled off a great feat in coming up with an unexpected and original way for Rykrof to become embroiled in Order 66.

I enjoyed Braatos, as well. The "battle damaged" Jedi customs are probably your best customs of all time. They're wonderful.

That leads me to my only tiny "criticism" of this chapter, which is I was sad to see Redwind and Snodd killed fairly quickly. Perhaps those characters could have been used down the line in future chapters?

But, this definitely feels like we are moving towards an "ending" for the Rykrof saga, so they are bound to be casualties. Neither character was really a major player, so it feels appropriate that they are killed off.

Another small critique - not of this chapter, but as of the whole series. I never felt Snodd was used as much as he could have been. I would have liked to have seen him more, to build up a real sense of animosity between him and Rykrof. He was always a secondary villain who never really came into his own.

On the other hand, there's Admiral Gere. More fantastic dialogue in his scene. Gere's cold brutality is superb, the culmination of years of development for this character. I really admire how you have handled Gere over the years, he is a standout character and a truly great villain. You've done a wonderful job slowly and believably transitioning him from friend and ally to villain. He's the character you love to hate, a smooth, ruthless, soulless bureaucrat.

I absolutely loved the scene with Drake and Teltuu at the end. Awesome stuff, really cracking writing. Drake comes across as the coolest clone ever. It's an excellent, excellent scene.



Once again, you've left the chapter on another incredibly cool cliffhanger. Though elements of the story have definitely moved forward, there is still much to anticipate, many more characters, conflicts and stories yet to be wrapped up.

In fact, this is my one bit of unsolicited advice about the series - DON'T try to wrap this all up in one more chapter. I know you are tired, you have worked your butt off on this for years and years. But I think, given all the characters and stories floating around out there, that you absolutely need a little more time to wrap up everything and do justice to your remarkable world, giving your characters and stories room to breathe and resolve themselves naturally, not in a rushed or truncated fashion.

Think about all the characters and threads still out there:

Rykrof
Freelo
Mubbas
Alyssa/Caldin
Rykrof's dad/sister
Drake/Teltuu
Kala
Gere

and to a lesser extent
Palpatine/Vader

There's just way too much that needs to be dealt with before you can bring this series to a close. I definitely think it's doable in 2 chapters, but don't try to cram it all into one, I think you do your story, yourself and your fans a disservice.



Anyway, amazing work. Truly. We will all miss terribly when it's gone....

[YAK_Chewie]

You guys are blowing me away with all of this feedback - wow!

I didn't expect the reception for this chapter to be as positive as it has been... just seems like there were some scenes that didn't jive like I hoped. I think most everything in the Badoo Corba complex worked out about as good as I'm capable of, but the Braatos stuff isn't something I take much pride in. Maybe I'm just sick of that planet, as it's been in 4-5 chapters now and is getting dull to me.

I'll reply to each comment soon too, but again just wanted to give a general "thank you" for the feedback to everyone as a whole.

[YAK_Chewie]

I remember Ki-Adi in that earlier chapter now you've reminded me!
Although we might have to wait a bit for the next chapter, I must say I'm really looking forward to it! I can't wait to see which path Rykrof takes, or what happens to Kala, Tylin and everyone else! It'll be a tough wait!
It's a shame chapter 32 will effectively end this series, but it's very good to hear the Rykrof saga will be continuing after this!
I hope you enjoy your rest, I think you deserve it after all the cool work you've done on these stories, and I think I can safely say we'll all be here eagerly awaiting Chapter 32!

Thanks Darth Cuddles.

And I am pretty sure it's going to be a few months before another chapter is ready. I am going to need at least a month off from working on any dioramas for it (and customs too), then about another month to work on the script and sets/customs.

After that, I'll probably be about ready sometime in late April or early May to start working on snapping some pics. That typically takes me about a month to do these days, because I am taking upwards of 1500 pics now for each chapter. Then I sort through which ones I like, reshoot a few here and there if needed, etc. Then start the long process of editing.

Thanks again for the interest and support, I hope that Chapter 32 will be a nice wrapup to this part of Rykrof's story.

[Darth Phantom]

Hey Chewie.

I just finished reading (and watching:) your latest chapter of the Rykrof Enloe adventures.
Wow! Again, you put a lot of effort into the continuation of the story. And it worked out well.
It was very sad seeing Redwind, badly wounded, desperately fighting for his life, to just find himself
dead moments after. Both customs of the injured Jedis are top-notch but hopefully you did not "sacrifice"
the old ones to make these. I aslo like the Palpatine figure you chose as the "Emperor" at the beginning.
He looks very dark and evil, though he has a more greyish than black outfit.

A bit surprising was that when it came to the showdown between Republic forces and the Badoo Corba, the
bad boys perished very quick and easily. The sudden appearance of the imperial Admiral and his kind of dealing
with enemy survivors such as General Snodd was a well-thought-out minor plot revealing the Empire's cruelty and mercilessness.

That Commando Drake not even let but helped the Jedi Master escape was a very nice surprise. Isn't Drake a Clone?
Or is he strong enough to fight against his programming?

Most important point of the chapte, in my opinion, was to let it end with Rykrof who must decide either to follow the Galactic Empire or his friends.
Guess we'll find it out in the next chapter.

The photography is flawless as usual as is your props (dios, figures).

Absolutely great work! Now slow down and enjoy your break!

[jediknutt]

I forgot to mention a big THANK YOU for not showing your customs of fubar Redwind and Kala. When they were revealed I was blown away. Well kept secret my friend. Totally loved it.

[Darth Kikinou]

I forgot to mention a big THANK YOU for not showing your customs of fubar Redwind and Kala. When they were revealed I was blown away. Well kept secret my friend. Totally loved it.

Couldn 't agree more!

[Lance Quazar]

I forgot to mention a big THANK YOU for not showing your customs of fubar Redwind and Kala. When they were revealed I was blown away. Well kept secret my friend. Totally loved it.

I think those are Chewie's best customs.

And that is saying A LOT.

[YAK_Chewie]

i can't believe i missed this chapter

i'm glad you posted something about it in your custom thread.

i think it's one of the best written depiction of Order 66 i've read so far. the gruesome first images of the Jedi hunt were particularly good.

I must tell your reenactment of the death of Ki-Adi-Mundi was mindblowing, i thought the pics were movie stills.

Wow, thanks buddy - I'm glad that you liked how Order 66 played out here. I have been nervous as hell about trying to portray that for a couple years now. I went back and forth a lot on how to go about it... I guess it worked out about as good as I could pull it off. I wanted to go into more depth with it, but given the story arc I've been going with, I think I needed to keep it a little more concise.

Regarding Ki Adi Mundi's death - that worked out a lot better than I ever could have hoped for. Not perfect, but decent enough for what I am trying to do with little plastic toys.

[YAK_Chewie]

Well worth the wait . Great work and more to come .

Thanks my friend - and looking forward to hearing any thoughts/suggestions!

Rykrof has to be helping the Jedi in the future but also balanceing the thin line
of being a trooper . Glad to see Drake pull though the way he did . I truely think
that this kind of thing happened alot more then the emperor let on . When you fight
in combat with someone whoever the person is beside you becomes tighter to you
then family , its a bond that is very hard to brake if at all .

What stood out alot was the concrete walls , they look very realistic .

I am always amazed at the work that you put into your novels . They are truly art forms .

Hard to say exactly how the character will turn out, but that's an interesting idea for sure, and one that I'm definitely considering. He might also just tell Palpatine to shove it, and turn on the Empire right then and there. I have a month or so to debate that before I start really script writing. I might actually write two versions of Chapter 32 (which is what I initially did for Chapter 31 before settling on the final theme).

For Drake, yes - I think if something like this were to happen, there would be a decent number of clones who would have disobeyed the orders. I think having a Commando do so is very realistic since they are more independent thinkers than the typical clone (and love the Karen Traviss depictions of them, which was a bit of inspiration).

Glad you liked the walls - I was very much undecided on how to make them look. They were actually the most challenging aspect of the dioramas. I have so much trouble with making walls that stand up straight. I dunno, maybe it's because I'm impatient and don't have a good work area for stuff like that.

Thanks for the comments and feedback as always my friend!

[The Professor]

It's crazy and a little bittersweet that the Chronicles have finally caught up to the end of the Clone Wars. It's been quite a journey. I can't see what path Rykrof will take. Another fine chapter to a fine series of stories. I don't know where you get the energy, but your work remains as inspiring as always.

[YAK_Chewie]

Dear Chewie,

Chapter 31 was a fun treat. I have said before but I want reiterate this to everyone on here that my three favorite EU sources
are the: Brian Daley Han Solo novels; the Timothy Zahn Thrawn trilogy; And the Enloe Saga. I like marvel a lot too but yours is really special.

Your ability to mix and match parts is second to none. Your scenes are great! The buildings, props, etc is superb.

But that is just with toys/customizing side. What makes this great is the characters you have created. You put Lucas to shame (not that it was hard) with the dialogue you have written for your characters. That is right. I think you put more effort into your scripts than Lucas did with the prequels.

Considering you are not a multimillionaire whose job it is to make these I think it is extraordinary. This is amazing.

I was sorry to hear that you are a little burn out on this. But it is understandable. Your work is delight to see and read.

Thanks for what you have done.

I have asked you this in private. But would you mind sharing for us how you go about creating your chapters:

Outlines, storyboards, how do you do it?

You are a very artistic person and we all have benefitted greatly from peering into the slice of the galaxy far, far away that you have created.

Thanks!

Hey buddy, thanks for sharing your thoughts here at Yak! Always good to hear from you.

It's really humbling that anyone would see my stuff as an EU source, but I really do appreciate it a lot. I'd be blown away to someday have a comic where Rykrof makes a cameo... that would be freaking outstanding. Ha.

Finding the time and resources to work on this series still is rather hard, so I appreciate the kind words on that. I work full time usually 45 hrs a week or more, am married and try to spend as much time as possible with my son, who is almost three. That leaves very little free time for this stuff. The only way I really can work on it is late at night when he and my wife are in bed. That makes it hard, but I've accepted that I don't have any alternatives if I want to continue these... and it certainly does lead to some burnout. Not my love for it, just to where I'm tired and need a break.

Regarding the process I take, it's never completely consistent, but here's my general process:

1) I customize a lot of fan fic stuff in between chapter work, knowing I can probably squeeze a lot of the customs in as background characters. For characters like Rykrof, Freelo, etc., I do have a clear picture of what I want to do for the customs specifically, but the background ones are just thrown together with whatever existing parts that I have that seem to work together.

2) I also try and make quite a bit of generic walls for background sets. They're almost all modular, which works out well for arranging different scenes. Also it helps to have a decent supply of background props, like barrels, containers, etc. Just adds to the atmosphere, so I try and make quite a bit for variety (also I've bought many items in the past from http://www.owenscustoms.com).

3) Then I get a general theme/plot for a chapter. I have gotten where I'll write out a script, and tweak it a dozen times or so over the course of a month until I'm at the point where it seems ready to use a final draft for shooting pics. I also have some help here after the initial draft is done - Lance Quazar proofs them for me and gives me some invaluable feedback before I snap a single pic.

4) When it's time to shoot scenes, I don't try and snap pics of the whole PN at once. Instead, I work on each "setting" at once, and snap hundreds if not over a thousand photos. It usually takes me anywhere from 2-5 hrs to shoot all the photos for one scene (like the entire Badoo Corba complex shoot, took me about 5 hours to take the pics). I just set it all up on a matte board that I use for the "floor" in my basement, and once the pics are all taken, I download them all and do a quick spot check review against the script to see if I missed anything. I go back and snap a few more pics if needed. I repeat this process for each scene.

5) After pics are downloaded, I put them in a storyboard sequence against the script, and make changes if they are needed in the script based on the pics if needed (because a picture is worth a thousand words sometimes and can hold more weight than dialogue).

6) Finally, I go into editing mode. I save several copies of each pic in different levels of editing so I can go back and use a previous version if needed.

7) When it's finally done, I check it against the script, update dialogue, more photo editing where needed, etc. Then when it seems ready, I post it and cross my fingers!


Hope that makes sense? Any other questions please let me know.

Thanks!