Thread:Sebolto/@comment-104549-20190317001341/@comment-104549-20190317162502

I appreciate the feedback. I can definitely see how Kai Latra's a polarizing figure. As you've probably noticed, I've taken some departures from traditional Star Wars tropes, and Kai Latra was one of them. He is dangerously insane, but not in the "normal" way, if you will. The juxtaposition was what I was going for—Kai Latra has a castle full of hideous, horrible evils and goes about his day with a happy-go-lucky smile because he utterly, absolutely does not care about anything that isn't him (and perhaps Cuddles, though that again highlights his wildly misplaced priorities). That happened to work to Tirien's advantage—he convinced Kai Latra to duel because Kai Latra is an unbalanced whacko who changes moods faster than most people change underwear—but, as Maalt Eilan learned to his sorrow, it also makes serving Kai Latra a somewhat risky proposition. But all that said, I can easily see how Kai Latra wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea. For what it's worth, he's a one-off on his side; there are no other Sith Lords quite (or even remotely) like him.

I'm so glad you liked Kenza! I do too, and she'll definitely be back. In the same general vein as Kai Latra, but on the good side, I wanted to branch out from the usual Jedi molds (gentle wisdom, stern absence of emotion, angsty will-he-or-won't-he fall to the dark side), and Kenza's a committed Jedi while being, to borrow MPK's term, "goofy". I thought a connection like that was great for Narasi, and of course Kenza's a foil for Tirien.

The Human thing is always tricky—Legends says they are the most common species in the galaxy, so having a story with no Humans is usually swinging too far the other way. But I had noticed the same thing you had: despite the incredible complexity and diversity of the galactic population, most authors either have all Humans or, at best, put non-Humans in the B cast like Chewie, Yoda, and Mission Vao. I guess there's some "write what you know" in there (all authors (one hopes) being Human IRL), but I found it frustrating, so I went the other way intentionally with the main trio of Tirien, Narasi, and Alecto. And I try to avoid them being rubber-forehead aliens; aside from the external complications arising from Narasi being a Zygerrian, Tirien is more resistant to cold (and more intolerant of heat), and his pride and stoicism are Pantoran traits; Narasi has better hearing than a Human, more-than-Human strength, and some feline characteristics I saw in The Clone Wars, like snarling and backing her ears; and Alecto has better-than-Human agility, which she consciously uses for her fighting style.

I'm glad you've enjoyed it all so far! Definitely feel free to leave me more feedback as we go along; it's always helpful. I finished the first draft of the fifteenth installment, so I hope to have that live in the next week or two.