Ask Jace stuff about stuff

[Captain Untouchable]

Huh. Well this is a damn cunning idea, y'all!

While my posting mojo is all AWOL, maybe you guys can help get me back in the right mindset, by asking some questions about my characters (http://www.sw-fans.net/wiki/index.php?title=Template:Untouchable)?

Please be gentle. :ohno

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I'd like to know how Chirdaki changed from white to a black man. I mean, from Michael Jackson we have evidence you can go from black to white, but...? :p

Also, do you find it more fun to have so many characters, or less? Do you make up a new character when your inspiration for an older one is lacking, leaving some abandoned, or are they all being utilized?

[Tear]

I'd like to know how Chirdaki changed from white to a black man. I mean, from Michael Jackson we have evidence you can go from black to white, but...? :p

That was gold Jerry. Gold.:lol

[Charley]

I'm sure you have a story for it, but how did Captain Tyree come about getting his mitts on the Challenger? Is there a a Larry's Used Capital Ship lot somewhere, or is it a daring tale of intergalactic heists at work?

[Captain Untouchable]

I'd like to know how Chirdaki changed from white to a black man. I mean, from Michael Jackson we have evidence you can go from black to white, but...? :p

He took a holiday to Tatooine, and forgot his sun screen. :mneh


Also, do you find it more fun to have so many characters, or less? Do you make up a new character when your inspiration for an older one is lacking, leaving some abandoned, or are they all being utilized?

That's a really good question.

"Fun" probably isn't the adjective I would choose to use, but I do find it more challenging to write as a broad spectrum of characters. It gives me much more scope to write in a variety of different situations.

The biggest advantage though is it gives me the best opportunity to interact with as many of you guys and your characters as is possible. One of the things I lamented early on with fewer characters was the fact that I didn't have characters available to interact with the Jedi, or with the KA crew, and all that jazz.

There are a couple of characters that turned out to be duds, and have been abandoned. I'm working on a couple of threads at the minute to bring closure on their arcs, rather than having them lying around. I think for the most part, everyone is either involved in threads, or lined up in plans for stuff. :uhoh


I'm sure you have a story for it, but how did Captain Tyree come about getting his mitts on the Challenger? Is there a a Larry's Used Capital Ship lot somewhere, or is it a daring tale of intergalactic heists at work?

The Challenger is actually the Venator-class ship that Tyree served on at the start of the Clone Wars. Unfortunately, she was badly damaged in combat at Bothawui. The Republic was going to scuttle her, but the Bothans appropriated her, fixed her up, and used her as a glorified space station: used her as a platform to launch fighter forces from.

After the liberation of Bothawui, the Rebels moved the Fifth Fleet into Bothawui, and they didn't have such an urgent need for her anymore. Because of his participation in the liberation, Tyree was promoted to Commodore, and managed to convince the big-wigs to let him have the Challenger as his flagship.

[Charley]

That owns. I love the idea of it :)

[Captain Untouchable]

You asked the other day about screencaps from Clone Wars. There's an episode involving Bothawui - the one where R2 is missing, and Anakin shows up with three ships. One of those ships gets damaged... in my head, that's the Challenger. Dunno if there are any shots that would be any good, but if you find yourself watching it again, and spot any good ones, could you grab something for me to pop on the wiki?

[Lesai Ennix]

Question!

Do you ever plan on having Ethan learn of where his youngest son has run off to? And if so... is he going to send some of his Imp friends to find him and kick his ass and bring him back home? Or is he more of the "kill that traitor, he is no son of mine" type? :o

[Taataani Meorrrei]

You asked the other day about screencaps from Clone Wars. There's an episode involving Bothawui - the one where R2 is missing, and Anakin shows up with three ships. One of those ships gets damaged... in my head, that's the Challenger. Dunno if there are any shots that would be any good, but if you find yourself watching it again, and spot any good ones, could you grab something for me to pop on the wiki?

I'll do that tonight, sure.

[Captain Untouchable]

Question!

Do you ever plan on having Ethan learn of where his youngest son has run off to? And if so... is he going to send some of his Imp friends to find him and kick his ass and bring him back home? Or is he more of the "kill that traitor, he is no son of mine" type? :o

Another interesting question, and one I've been pondering myself. One thing that springs to mind is the fact that Mackenzie Tallen was a foster child of Ethan's before he found out who his real father was; and his real father, Alec Tallen, is now affiliated with the Rebels. Ethan lost a son to the Rebels; Mack lost a father; I may play on that a bit.

As for how he'll specifically react to Tristan... that's gonna come to a head at the end of the current Aiden plot arc. But that's all I'll say on that. :mischief

[Emelie Shadowstar]

I has more questions! :colbert

Inyos has had a seriously tough life from what I can tell. You ever planning on giving this boy a happy ending or are you going to treat him as the "character I kick around when I find the need to"?

Glayde's gotten kinda stuck with a serious rag-tag group of people. What is it like commanding that kind of group for him? Does he enjoy the challenge of that kind of thing? Would he rather be in charge of a more standard type of Task Force?

And lastly... are you ever going to revisit the seriously uber Dark Side planet with any of your other characters? You planning on doing anything with that or did that all kinda go away once Inyos got away?

[Captain Untouchable]

Inyos has had a seriously tough life from what I can tell. You ever planning on giving this boy a happy ending or are you going to treat him as the "character I kick around when I find the need to"?

The story I want to tell with Inyos is a kind of redemption / return from darkness kinda thing. I'm working on a few plot arcs that are going to bring him back from the edge, and get him back mixed in with proper Jedi stuff. I don't really have an endgame for him... certainly not a "happy" ending, but at least a "normal" one.


Glayde's gotten kinda stuck with a serious rag-tag group of people. What is it like commanding that kind of group for him? Does he enjoy the challenge of that kind of thing? Would he rather be in charge of a more standard type of Task Force?

Glayde isn't really an "officer" type of guy. Back in the Stormtroopers he was a Sergeant before he became a Storm Commando. He's used to "leading", sure, but not to "commanding". Given the choice, I think he'd rather not be in charge at all, but he thinks that's his duty, and so he does it. The fact that Dorn Force is somewhat more laid back than other units is something he's probably relieved about: makes life a little bit more like normal for him.


And lastly... are you ever going to revisit the seriously uber Dark Side planet with any of your other characters? You planning on doing anything with that or did that all kinda go away once Inyos got away?

I really hadn't thought about it. I'm not sure who I'd want to send out there, just yet. We'll see what happens!

[Kale]

I'm bad at coming up with penetrating character/history questions, so I'm having fun with hypotheticals. You've got a bunch of characters, so...

Cast your own Star Trek series from your existing characters. You need to choose a captain, a first officer, a helmsman, a chief engineer, a security officer, a doctor, and a miscellaneous (counselor, communications officer, hot babelien, etc.).

[Captain Untouchable]

Cast your own Star Trek series from your existing characters. You need to choose a captain, a first officer, a helmsman, a chief engineer, a security officer, a doctor, and a miscellaneous (counselor, communications officer, hot babelien, etc.).

Embarassingly, I actually submitted an "ideal crew" to the Star Trek Magazine when I was in my teens, and it got published. ^_^;

Lets see...

Most of my characters are Rebels, so we'll assume that it's a Rebel ship. To make life easier for myself, I'm gonna draw parallels with the characters from The Next Generation... but assume they're flying the ship from First Contact, because that was way sexier.

If anyone is going to be in charge of a ship fighting Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, Borg and the like, who better than Vansen Tyree? He's practically Picard, with more attitude and fewer eyes. To temper his scowliness, I'd likely place Quin-Tain Starwind as his First Officer: though I haven't had an opportunity to post as Quinn as yet, he's destined to be the XO aboard the Valiant in due course, and reminds me of Riker a little bit.

I of course need someone to fill the Spock or Data role as the cool-headed and analytical member of the senior staff. Adonis Inirial would be perfect for the role: heck, I'm even using him in a "third wheel" capacity to Vansen Tyree in two separate threads already.

I'm going to take a slight liberty: back in the early TNG episodes, Tasha Yar was the Security Chief, but Worf spent a lot of time standing next to her - whenever they led Geordi fly the ship (funny how the blind guy crashed fewer times than Deanna, huh? Women drivers! :shakefist). My Security duo would thus be John Glayde and Amos Iakona: one to be the shrewd, tactical advisor to the Captain; the other to kill people where they stand.

Because of how much inspiration I've taken from Tom Paris when writing as him in the past, Jaden Luka would have to be my helmsman.

Another liberty, as I'm gonna have three Engineers: a Geordi, a Barclay, and a Chief O'Brien. Alexander Tur'enne would be the head of the whole thing, what with the whole weapons designer background he's got going on. Regan Altink meanwhile would be the Chief, while Oran Jsorra would be the slightly nervous and bumbling comic relief who is never the less quite briliant with machines.

I don't really have a Doctor, which makes picking a Chief Medical Officer somewhat tricky. The only person I've ever mentioned providing even the slightest degree of medical care would be Nen Lev'i, so hell: lets go with him. Not a Rebel, I know... but he's not an Imperial, so that's close enough.

Who else did we have on TNG on a regular basis? *thinks*

The role of ship's counsellor would have to be filled by Inyos Aamoran. Okay, so he's got a ton of emotional problems that hardly qualifies him to judge others... but he's got the Force, yo. He can totally tell what you're thinking, and who is feeling glum.

As my Whoopi Goldberg, it'd make sense to pick someone who is well-travelled, has pleanty of experience of the galaxy, and who has an air of wisdom and mystery about them. I pick J'onn Scarlet: who is more mysterious than Doctor Who, eh?

The role of Data's cat would be played by Muridaemus-musculus.

Did I miss anyone? >_<

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Wesley Crusher :colbert

[Captain Untouchable]

Wesley Crusher :colbert

He was the helmsman, which I already covered... sort of. :mneh

Nen Lev'i doesn't have any teenage children as far as I'm aware... :uhoh

Guess I could throw in Tristan Tahmores. He's kinda young, ish.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Does Vansen have any depth perception problems or quirks/habits that've developed from having only one eye? ;) And on a related note, if you've already gone into this just disregard, but how did he lose his eye?

[Captain Untouchable]

Depth perception problems? Indeed he does!

I've not specifically referenced anything, but there are a few quirks that I imagine him doing when he's going about his business. Whenever he pours a drink, he has to hold the bottle close to the neck, and rest the heel of his thumb on the rim of the glass to make sure he doesn't miss. If he's reading something on a datapad, he holds it slightly off to the left instead of straight in front of him. If he's paying attention to something, he always tries to keep it on the left side of his head; if someone is talking to him, he aims his face ever so slightly to the right, just so the person is completely in his field of view. Conversely, if he's ignoring someone, he keeps them on his right.

He's trained himself to shoot with his left hand; he's rotated his bed so that he sleeps with his good eye upwards; and he always goes to the toilet sitting down, to avoid any accidents. ;)

As for how it happened... that's a complicated story.

Back in the Clone Wars, Vansen originally served as a Tactical Officer aboard the Challenger (see my earlier answer to one of Charley's questions). When that ship was disabled, he joined the crew of a Victory-class Star Destroyer as XO, commanded by Anpher Inirial (father of Carré and Adonis; and also, the former XO of Vansen's father, years before).

On one of their missions, Vansen and Anpher fought a Separatist General called Rurrick Grov (uncle of Dou'lesa Grov). It was a proper rivalry between the two commanders, and the ensuing battle is one of the most memorable of Vansen's career. Over the course of that, General Grov's ship was damaged, and he was captured. Unfortunately, battle damage robbed the General of his eye. Loaded onto a prison ship, Grov swore revenge.

Anpher Inirial was killed when Alderaan was destroyed, and Grov never got that revenge. Furious, he sent an assassin after Vansen's revenge, with specific instructions to find Vansen, and stab him in the eye. It happened during an anti-Imperial protest on Vansen's homeworld (Rendili) and, because of his own disguist over Alderaan, it led him to retire from the Imperial Navy.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Who was your first character on 'Fans? And if you still play them, how have they changed over the years? (Use this last question for the character that's been around the longest if 1st character doesn't exist anymore.)

[Captain Untouchable]

My first character? Blimey. I don't even remember any of the names of my pre-Reset characters, it was that long ago. The only one I remember at all was a Padawan called Alex, who looked like Justin Timberlake. >_<

The three characters that I played this time around were Tristan Tahmores, Inyos Aamoran, and Aiden Tahmores. I mention all three, because they all had a radical flip in my intended uses for them. Originally, Inyos was going to be an Imperial Navy officer; Tristan was the elder brother, and originally a Scout Trooper who turned smuggler and rebel; while Aiden was the younger brother, and was a Gunboat pilot turned bodyguard for Tarkin.

I played as them for a few months, but then got maulled by coursework at uni, and disappeared for a year. When I came back, it seemed silly to pick up those old characters again, so I created new ones. Tristan Tahmores became the prototype for Jaden Luka, for example, and I created Elias Akasha to take over from Aiden Tahmores.

It wasn't until I started amassing my army of characters that I brought them back again. Inyos was totally rewritten, to replace a character called Inyos Hei'aan from a short story I wrote seven years ago, which served as the basis for the whole evil planet arc in his backstory. Aiden came back first, because I needed someone to fill in for Elias while he was off on Serenno, and pretty much remained exactly as I envisaged him originally, just made a bit older to fit with the new face. Tristan meanwhile got rewritten as the younger sibling: he kept the defecting to the Rebel Alliance aspect of the character, but pretty much everything else got changed.

Fab question, Holly. Really interesting to think about how my characters have changed over the years. Thanks. :)

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

When Hugo was a younger man, did he ever think that he'd end up the way he did?

[Captain Untouchable]

Before everything went belly up for him, Hugo was a Senate Guard (and later Senate Commando). He was bright-eyed, idealistic, and probably a little bit naive, too. He was hopelessly in love with Emaryn... so in love that he perhaps didn't notice the signs of what was really going on with her. He was basically living the dream; living the only life he could ever imagine, or wish for.

Not only would young Hugo struggle to recognise his older self... I think he'd be ashamed and angry of what he becomes, and what he wound up doing.

[Charley]

Which of your threads are you most proud of? Which of your threads are you the least proud of? Why on both counts.

[Captain Untouchable]

That's a tough question. If I had to pick, I think I'm probably most proud of the Montegue: Origins / Chronicles threads I've been doing: the Chronicles/Kings one in particular. It's based on something I wrote years ago, and while the original writing itself isn't fantastic, I still love the premise and the concept of it. I'm proud that I managed to work the idea into the Montegue arc; and I'm particularly proud of the Mandan v Inyos post in there.

Another reason I picked that is because it's one of the few threads where I feel responsible for the awesomeness involved. I've been involved in some fantastic threads, but a lot of the time I feel it's the people I RP with that really make them sing. There's a thread I did with Sarah called Rebel Dawn, where John Glayde and Charlotte Tur'enne rescued her brother. There were moments in that which I thought were truely fantastic, particularly in terms of the banter between Glayde and Charlotte, and then Charlotte and Xander. And in the follow-up threads to that too (the name of which escapes me at the moment), there's a fantastic scene where Charlotte has just broken Xander's nose... and they have this moment, where Xander stops being a snarky jackass, and just becomes the big brother that she needs him to be. That moment in particular, I'm fantastically proud of: and it's Sarah's fantastic writing as Charlotte that I think really sells it.


As for threads I'm least proud of... any of the ones I let die, really. The Liberation of Bothawui arc was something I was fantastically proud of, and then real life tripped me up, and I let it slip. There's a thread early on that I did with Holly as Chir'daki, when he was still a bit fluffy and not really formed properly in my head, and I let that one slip as well. The Errant Venture thread with Delgado Xaanan is another prime example... fantastic contributions all round by a ton of people, but I think that one (like Bothawui) might have got caught up in all the Rosie carnage. I can't quite remember.

In terms of other threads... if there have been any ones that I thought came out bad, I must have erased them from my memory. :mneh

In all seriousness; I'm proud of pretty much every thread that I get involved in. Not necessarily because my own writing is breathtaking; but because y'all are such fantastically talented and creative people, and it really is a joy to write with you all. Having such a brilliantly fun time with you all is an achievement I'm very much proud of. :)

[Wyl Staedtler]

How did Hugo and Emaryn meet?

As a parent I"m all too familiar with the reality of sometimes having to choose the lesser of two evils; that being said, you have to admit that Hugo made some pretty questionable decisions - some would call them irresponsible. How does he justify them? Does he justify them? What would he have done differently now that he has the benefit of hindsight? What wouldn't he change and why? Would he have chosen to have children had he known the way it was going to turn out?

How many knives does Amos have on his person at any given time?

[Inyos Aamoran]

How did Hugo and Emaryn meet?

They met the same year as the Battle of Naboo. Cularin had been under the control of the Trade Federation until that year, but the planet was freed, and joined the Republic. In celebration, Cularin offered a bunch of holiday tours to Coruscant, and so Emaryn and Cambria decided to go on a "road trip". They'd snuck away from the main group in order to go shopping, and were planning to sneak back into the group during a public tour of the Senate building. Unfortunately, an emergency session had been called, and access was barred: Hugo was the Senate Guard who found them, and escorted them back to the group.

When Cularin mysteriously disappeared a few days later, the tour party became refugees, and were brought to the Senate so that Chancellor Palpatine could offer his condolences in person. Hugo was again one of the guards on duty; he recognised Emaryn and Cambria, and feeling powerless to do anything else, decided to "adopt" the two refugees, and become their first friend on Coruscant, to show them around and help keep them out of trouble. One thing led to another... and Hugo and Emaryn fell in love.


As a parent I"m all too familiar with the reality of sometimes having to choose the lesser of two evils; that being said, you have to admit that Hugo made some pretty questionable decisions - some would call them irresponsible. How does he justify them? Does he justify them? What would he have done differently now that he has the benefit of hindsight? What wouldn't he change and why?

Which decisions with regards to his children would you consider 'questionable'? Unlike John Winchester, Vittore and Cambrio grew up in relatively safe and stable conditions. When they were very young, he kept them out of trouble getting babysat by Elroy. Once they were old enough to be left home alone for a little while, started taking them with him on trips to give Elroy a bit of a break; but he always left them aboard the Headhunter, well away from danger.

Beyond that, he taught them to defend themselves; taught them to deal with danger if they ever found themselves in it. He was honest, too. He didn't pander to his children: didn't coddle them. He treated them like people, told them the truth, and let them make the choice. If they hadn't wanted to be part of that life, they could have stayed on Junction with Elroy. It isn't Hugo's fault that they thought the idea of running around the galaxy hunting monsters was exceptionally cool.

It really could have been a lot worse. Maybe Hugo's work was reckless, but at least he found something constructive to focus his grief; and at least he found something that instilled some sense of goodness and morality in his children. He could have drunk himself to death. He could have become violent, or abusive. He could have done his work, but left his children at home - been an absentee father; left them without a real parent; let the boys turn to drugs, or crime. Through his actions, he made his sons into men who are strong enough to survive without him, if they have to.

He's not father of the year; but I don't think he feels the need to justify anything.

As for what he'd do differently - that's a different story. Just because he feels he made the right doesn't mean he's without regrets. He regrets that the boys never had the loving, family childhood. He regrets that they didn't have proper birthdays. Didn't have a proper home. Didn't have friends, high school crushes, and all that. He always thought that when he and Emaryn started a family, they'd be able to give their children the perfect cherry pie life.

What would he do differently, in hindsight? When he saw Emaryn in that room, standing over Cambrio's crib, he'd walk in with a smile on his face, wrap his arms around her, and never let her go. Turning against her was his biggest mistake; and with what he knows now - not just in terms of the truth about Emaryn, but in terms of how to deal with Jedi, now that they aren't some big scary mystery to him anymore - he'd find another way.


Would he have chosen to have children had he known the way it was going to turn out?
Yes. Despite everything, Hugo loved - still loves - Emaryn. Vittore and Cambrio are monuments to that love, and they mean more to him than all the worlds in the galaxy combined. It doesn't matter who they are, or how they turned out: he wouldn't even for a second entertain the notion of wishing them away.

Besides, he's fiercely proud of his boys. As far as he's concerned, they turned out great, all things considered.


How many knives does Amos have on his person at any given time?
I don't know.

Only two people do: Amos, and the security officer who performed that deep cavity search at Coronet Starport.

That's not an experience Amos likes to talk about. >_<

[Dasquian Belargic]

Do you have any stand-alone characters, i.e. people who aren't connected in any way to another of your characters?

If you had to pick one of your characters to the main character in an EU novel, which would it be?

[Captain Untouchable]

Do you have any stand-alone characters, i.e. people who aren't connected in any way to another of your characters?

That's an annoying question. Mainly because I initially scoffed and thought: "Of course there are!" And then I tried to find one. >_<

My first instinct was to say J'onn Scarlet. But then, I set up the Harmony account as his copilot, so that doesn't really count. Similarly, Quan Marivva is in a pair with B.A. Barbacca: not directly linked to anyone.

Julian Dechen (who I'm waiting to start using) has no direct links... but his best friend is Alec Tallen, father of Mackenzie Tallen; and his daughter is Laura Dechen, who is Alexander Tur'enne's ex-girlfriend.

Quin-Tain Starwind is gonna be the XO on the Valiant. Aside from meeting my characters in passing, he isn't really "connected" to anyone.

Amés Falcon Liszt isn't connected to anyone, but he is probably going to at least bump into Ceto Rübezahl on Cloud City, so I guess he doesn't count either.

I think the only one that counts properly is Na'ir al Saif, who I'm gonna use if we get the TOR RPing stuff happening at all.

Oh, and Mandan Hidatsa, while I was using him for Myth. :uhoh


If you had to pick one of your characters to the main character in an EU novel, which would it be?

That's another toughie. There are two options that spring to mind.

First, Chir'daki... but that isn't as straightforward an answer as you'd think. In my mind, Chir'daki isn't just one man. He's like the Dread Pirate Roberts. The name is Twi'leki for "Deathseed", which is an extremely virulent plague; and there have been various individuals over the course of history who have taken up the mantle of Chir'daki or Deathseed. Pirates, assassins, bounty hunters, vigilantes... I think an EU book that was a collection of short stories about the adventures of various Chir'daki's would be awesome.

Hell, as a series of threads, that'd still be pretty darn fun. I may have to do that.

The second option would be Vansen Tyree. Sure, he's served with pretty much every single one of my characters at some point or another, but moreso than that, he's got such a long and versitile backstory. He was a pilot before the Clone Wars. He got shoved in as an XO during the Wars themselves. He rose to Command with the Imperial Navy. He got stabbed in the freakin' eye, and retired... and then the Rebels recruited him. I would love to read an EU novel about any part of that career; even better would be if they could somehow make it span multiple periods... maybe like the Battlestar episode with Bulldog, where they flashed back to those scenes on the Valkyrie... perhaps mixed with some Razor flashback action type stuff.


Flipping the question around... which of my characters would you guys want to read a novel about?