Boskov01

So one thing I want to address is whether or not I use an AI to do my writing.

My answer: Yes and no.

For official things I post here on DeviantArt or on fanfiction dot net or anywhere else, that's a big fat no, nay, never. Anything and everything I write and post here on DA or elsewhere is 100% all me. The only exception is on the visual side of things where, really, I use AI to compensate for my lack of visual art talent.

I do like to mess around with written AI. I've tried chatbots but those are boring. I do sometimes use Novel AI to mess around and have fun but I have a rule that nothing I create there or using any other AI writing program will ever be posted.

The only possible exception to this is if I were to start using an AI proofreader but I haven't done so. Microsoft Word does enough of a good job on that front.

For me, AI is just a fun toy to mess around with or to help give me visuals to work with as I write bios and other things. Writing is still my general strength.

A follow-up to my journal from yesterday... (https://www.deviantart.com/boskov01/journal/Rebellion-My-Current-Position-on-Star-Wars-1036478958 )

I thought I'd go over what my plans are with Star Wars.

My intention is to revive my Shadow Wars continuity, which is an alternate universe that dates back to the Force Unleashed video game and assumes Galen "Starkiller" Marek survived the events of that game and goes on to lead the Rebellion (Force Unleashed II is non-canon though, but Starkiller does go on to start using two lightsabers eventually). This universe assumes the Yuuzhan Vong of the Expanded Universe does not exist, Ahsoka Tano fell to the Dark Side, and became Palpatine's secret apprentice as Palpatine prepared for the establishment of a Secret Sith Empire as a contingency plan to strike back against the Jedi/Rebellion in the event he lost, Ahsoka, as Darth Akul, would be the new Empress of the Sith Empire, or Second Galactic Empire.

I wrote two seasons of my Shadow Wars series, telling the story of the conflict in an episodic series but stopped when my disagreements with Star Wars became too great and it killed my motivation.

However, at present I don't intend on returning to my Shadow Wars series directly (i.e. the 28 ABY era conflict). I instead may focus more on my other series set within the same continuity but focused more on the Original Trilogy era. This series, the House of Rook, is a Mandalorian focused series, centering around a family of Mandalorians on Concord Dawn as they foster a rebellion of their own against the Empire in the wake of the Battle of Yavin. It's kind-of my take on the Mandalorian only mixed a bit with Rebels.

I want to return to the House of Rook, to go with an episodic series focusing on them. My problem with the Shadow Wars was that I was falling into a sort of trap. Too many characters for one. Plus my plans for the end of the series were rather fluid. I gave one idea for how I wanted the series to end in the final four episodes I posted on the fanfiction website (https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1270480/Boskov01) but those endings can officially be disregarded as while I do have a much better ending in mind, I feel more drawn towards focusing on the Original Trilogy era setting with the House of Rook so I may end up focusing more on that.

At present, I have not resumed writing either series but I do plan on starting back up on the House of Rook in the near future. Perhaps even have enough episodes to start posting them on or by May the 4th (Star Wars Day). My immediate focus is to begin adding new Star Wars content for my House of Rook series here on DeviantArt, to begin posting things again to explain the universe and such. None of this is set in stone and plans may very well change. But this is what I'd like to do.

The big question I imagine will be on some people's mind is, will I use anything Disney-Star Wars related? The answer is yes. I plan to use a lot of the locales, technology, some events, and some people in my series. Examples include using the planet Batuu at some point, the ill-fated Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Hotel (or at least a ship of the same class), characters such as Cara Dune, Greef Karga, Poe Dameron (or at least his father), and others. It's one of those, you'll just have to find out kind of things.

There are some Disney Star Wars things though that I do like but probably won't be using as it goes against my own continuity's canon. The Bad Batch for example. Andor (although I've heard good things about it but haven't seen it). Rogue One I've semi-adapted to fall in-line with the old pre-Disney Star Wars canon where Kyle Katarn stole the Death Star plans. (I plan on releasing a post on that to explain it). Again, it's a case-by-case basis.

I would like to say one nice thing about what Disney has done with Star Wars, and that is something I feel the universe itself was lacking. Namely, they've added more to Star Wars culture, specifically its food and music aspects. I mean there's three in-universe cookbooks now out detailing some of the recipes and foods offered within the universe that aren't just silly little recipes that are Star Wars inspired. Instead these are supposed to be canon foods served and eaten within the Star Wars universe. Some of which are even from pre-Disney canon such as Star Wars Galaxies' Gruvan Shaal kebabs, and Mandalorian Uj Cake. So I'll happily take those. A friend of mine got me the Galaxy's Edge Cookbook, and on top of the recipes, you get some lore to accompany each dish which is very nice from a lore junkie like myself.

Similarly, they've expanded the music of the universe beyond just the Cantina Band and the Max Rebo Band. It may not all be good (Looking at "Gaya" the Twi'lek singer from the Star Wars Hotel) but then there's some really good stuff too such as the Hu's work for the Star Wars Jedi Survivor and Fallen Order games. And in total honesty, the music of Star Wars has been one area where I have never had reason to complain. Even the music from the sequel films are great (It's John Williams!) even if the movies themselves sucked worse than a Sarlacc sucked the life of its victims.

A lot of this, music and food wise, is due to the Galaxy's Edge sections of their theme parks but whatever gets the universe to expand in that regard was a welcome addition in my opinion.

What does this mean for my non-Star Wars related work? Not much. I'll still dabble with it like I have been. But Star Wars is simply back on the menu. You cannot truly expect people who have enjoyed a fandom for most of their lives to simply up and walk away completely. That's just too big of an ask.

Going back to the House of Rook, I still am sitting on 6 complete episodes (not including the Pilot) and a seventh about halfway done. These were all made back in 2022 with some of them being updated a little in 2023 too. My intent with it is to go for the 22 episodes per season, with the 11th and 12 episodes being mid-season finales much like what I did with the Shadow Wars. However I'm not limiting myself in terms of length as I did with each episode of the Shadow Wars. Back then I tried to remain with 22 pages (in Microsoft Word) but now I'm a little less restrictive. I'm still aiming for 22 pages, but won't be too bothered if an episode goes over that.

But we'll see where this goes. Hopefully I actually see this series to completion. One thing this series does have is it DOES have an ending in mind. Hopefully one that will wrap up any loose ends.

Lately I've been doing some mulling on the current state of Star Wars. I think it's crystal clear to the fans now that nobody is coming to save the franchise. George has washed his hands of it (not fully convinced that was really him siding with Iger but I do believe he signed off on it. Not a hostage situation, not another Stan Lee elder abuse situation). The franchise is in the gutter, and if the response to the Acolyte is any indication, the fans have largely accepted this is the case and are making our disapproval and disdain equally clear and undeniable.

So where does that leave us, the fans?

I've seen some walk away and I've tried to. But then I see or hear something from classic Star Wars, pre-Disney Star Wars (henceforth referred to as "True Canon"), that makes me remember. Hell, I've still got classic Star Wars Episode 1 Racer Installed on my PC thanks to Good Ol' Games, and I still occasionally play games like Empire at War, The Old Republic, X-Wing Alliance. I even yo-ho-yo-ho'd a copy of the Dark Forces Remaster because of nostalgia. Even Battlefront 2 (EA) is pretty good for all its faults (especially if you add a mod that adds some new options to Instant Action). And try as I might, I keep building houses and creating families in Sims 4 that are distinctly Star Wars themed (Side note: I have sadly lost access to my old saves due to my hard drive crash from last year so my House of Rook family save is gone, yet it can be rebuilt).

I imagine many True Canon Star Wars Fans (Henceforth referred to as "True Fans") are the same way. Many of us are not going to just go away like the Disney shills would like us to. And Disney would prefer we just shut up and mindlessly consume the slop that they plop in front of us. Well that ain't happening either. So what is there for the True Fans to do?

I firmly believe a better time will come for Star Wars. When the Sequel Trilogy and all the Disney Canon (Henceforth referred to as "D-Canon") will be put aside. Whether it gets de-canonized like Disney did with Legends (Aka True Canon) is doubtful. But I believe a time will come for Star Wars when new material is made that is truer to the spirit of Star Wars than the current slop of D-Canon. But until that time comes, the question remains...

What can the True Fans do?

The answer is easy, and one that we should've learned from Star Wars. From the heroes like Luke, Han, Leia, Lando, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO, et al...

Rebel!

Rebel against the Disney Empire!

Rebel against Bob Iger!

Rebel against Kathleen Kennedy!

Rebel against Dave Filoni!

Rebel against them All!

How you ask? The Rebel Alliance showed us how.

The Rebels were a ragtag bunch of resistance and freedom fighters. Study how such groups have operated in real life and you see the tactics employed by them. The Rebellion in Star Wars operated no differently.

How does this translate to a culture war conflict? Also simple.

First, vow never to buy anything officially licensed by Star Wars and keep to that boycott. No toys, no games, no TV shows, no movies, no shirts, nothing. Keep what you've already acquired. Don't destroy it. That's just wasting money if you destroy something you already own, and don't buy something just to destroy it for clicks. That's beyond stupid as it only hurts you, since Disney still gets the money.

In terms of tangible merch, generally avoid it unless you're buying it second hand (garage sales, EBay, etc). Digital merch though, games, movies, shows, and music, that's a bit easier to enjoy. The internet is rife with places you can watch, listen, or even download such things for free. It's how I watched the first couple seasons of Mandalorian and the Bad Batch. Not one cent for Disney from me on those.

But perhaps the most important thing you can do, especially for those of us who are creatives, is to use our powers for good. Create works to celebrate the franchise(s) we enjoy. Art, fan-films, fan games, mods for existing games, and of course fanfiction. And this should be the modus operandi for any fan of any franchise that's been hijacked like Star Wars has. And if you're not a creative, support the ones who are. Doesn't have to be monetary support either. Just simple moral support is enough.

I'd also like to invoke a lesson we learned from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, from Bastila Shan.

"What greater weapon is there than to turn an enemy to your cause? To use their own knowledge against them?"

The same can be true of the enemy's weapons and devices. The Rebellion knew to do that. We should too. Use what Disney has conjured for their own version of Star Wars and remake it into something True Fans can enjoy. One look at my gallery here on DeviantArt, at the six-seven galleries of Star Wars, my old Star Wars fanfictions, the Shadow Wars universe, is how we can do it. Take the characters, locales, weapons, droids, technology of Disney's work and fix it or remake it to the pleasure of True Fans, and ultimately yourself.

I've never denied that there is plenty of D-Canon I will gladly pick and pluck, to adapt it to my own works, my own universe. I know plenty of Star Wars fans scowl at the planet Batuu and have laughed at Disney's failed Star Wars Hotel. Yet what's stopping us from taking those concepts and adapting them? I even had plans on how I'd adapt Finn, Poe, Rey, Kylo Ren, General Hux, Captain Phasma in my own universe. Alternate reality versions of them, more grounded, more in tune with Star Wars.

So let us keep the Spark of Rebellion alive. It took 20 years to topple the Empire. Here's hoping it won't take that long to topple Disney's Empire, or at the very least, get them to start treating the fans with the respect we deserve and the franchise itself with the respect it deserves.

May the Force be With Us.

Boskov

A follow up from a journal I posted last year...

https://www.deviantart.com/boskov01/journal/Games-I-keep-coming-back-to-971458356

I wanted to make some additions to this list. As with the original, this is in no particular order.

11: The Sims 4 I've been a fan of the Sims games since ye olde Sim City back in the 90s. Of course back then I was the malevolent deity that destroyed everything on a whim (I.e. I was a kid who had fun wrecking things). But nowadays I've found it fun and enjoyable to kick back and enjoy manipulating people's lives via the Sims 4 (Tongue in cheek, obviously ). I should mention though that for this game, I don't play by the rules. No, I unapologetically cheat. I keep a folder of what some of the Sims 4's cheats are just in case I forget them. But when I'm not creating families to roleplay different scenarios, I'm designing houses. Blame my mom for that gene. I've modded the ever lovin' hell out of my copy of the Sims 4 too. I've built cave-like houses for a family of Orcs, sci-fi themed prefab shelters a-la Mass Effect, Outposts for the Rebel Alliance (complete with working X-wing), Imperial Bases with a garrison of Stormtroopers. Vault-Tec themed Fallout Shelters for multiple or single families. Also gave a shot at recreating one of Azeroth's taverns, and more. Sadly my Sims 4 game is often the largest victim as I've twice lost my entire save for various reasons. But like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, I keep getting dragged back in.

12: Star Wars The Old Republic

One of the few MMOs on this list, and yeah my relationship with Star Wars is still on the down-and-outs. But SWTOR is a unique animal, probably one of the only pieces of pre-Disney Star Wars that's still ongoing. The story's convoluted as hell and there are certainly some parts that are such an utter drag. Especially some of the planet local story missions, like on Corellia. But by and large it can be entertaining once one learns some of the tricks for free players to get some nicer stuff. I always play solo and reject guild invites so, nothing personal folks, I just play on my own terms.

13: Trainz

This one can be a bit of a pill to get working as it has one of the screwiest modding systems I've ever seen for any game. But Trainz satisfies my itch for whenever I just wat to setup a virtual train set and run them around a track for a while.

14: Viscera Cleanup Detail

In a similar vein to Papers' Please (which has a mobile and tablet version I might add), Viscera Cleanup Detail is one of those zen games you can boot up on one screen, load up a long YouTube playlist on the other, and enjoy while watching or listening to stuff. Your only enemies are dirt and grime and occasionally the malfunctioning disposal bucket and water bucket dispensers. Other than that it's a good game you can play when you just wanna shut your brain off for a while.

15: Bejeweled Classic

Who needs games like Candy Crush or those other match three games when you have the original classic? Just load up zen mode and enjoy. Great for playing while waiting at dinner, in the car (passenger, naturally) or at the doctor's office.

16: Batman Arkham Asylum and Arkham Knight

Listing the first and last Arkham games together because I ultimately derive the same enjoyment from them. One of my favorite parts of the OG Arkham game and its successors are the Challenge Rooms, especially Predator Mode where you lurk in the shadows and one by one take down the various goons in a room as Batman. It's especially fun with the silent takedowns and soon hearing the Joker give a caustic comment ("You may want to go west, and CHECK OUT THE WALKWAY! While you're there, keep going." or my favorite "For the love of-. THERE'S A MAN DOWN IN THE MAIN ENTRANCE! The front door? The way in?! OH! What am I paying you for?!"). Arkham Knight is the same way except its more fun tormenting the Arkham Knight's militia henchmen by sabotaging their gear. The medics and minelayers are especially fun to torment especially when the medics have their equipment explode in their hands and the mines go boom immediately after being put down. Plus I sometimes like to zip around Gotham in the Batmobile (Yeah it got old fast in the main story gameplay and all the Riddler stuff but its more enjoyable in the post-game).

17: Rollercoaster Tycoon Classic (Or at least 2)

Unlike some people, I didn't really go for the death coasters or for the "Mr. Bones' Wild Ride" kind of concept. No I went for a number of different concepts, a legit theme park with different zones. I once even had a Star Wars theme park going before Disney. Had to improvise a bit but I had a theme park broken into 5 sections, each based on a different Star Wars planet. Endor, Tatooine, Manaan (from KOTOR), Hoth, and Yavin IV. Sadly those parks vanished with one of my old hard drives. But Rollercoaster Tycoon Classic remains a fun game I can go back and enjoy. And they even add the option of creating a park where the whole goal is "Have Fun." Who can argue with that?

18: Monopoly

I know, I know "Who do you hate that badly?" Well apparently I hate myself because one of the games I keep on my phone (yes, I'm including mobile games in this list) is Monopoly. One of the paid versions that doesn't have mandatory multiplayer full of microtransactions. Nah the classic game where one can just set up a game with the AI, set some custom rules (like double salary for landing on Go, all taxes and bail paid out to whoever lands on Free Parking) and then have a relaxing game against an AI too stupid to realize that the $450 I pay them to buy Boardwalk from them while I have Park Place will balloon into a $2K rental fee against them by the time they get back around the board (God help me if the Matrix becomes real because my love of tormenting the AI will certainly come back to bite me).

19: Lord of the Rings - The Battle for Middle Earth II

This one is hard to find BUT you can download it for free from some abandonware sites since, it is, after all, abandonware. But BFME2 is great if you want to wage war between Men, Elves, Dwarves, Uruks, Orcs, and Goblins and more, in a game heavily inspired by the Peter Jackson LOTRs films, complete with each of the main cast lending their voices to their counterparts. Plus you can create your own heroes and send them onto the battlefield. I, amusingly, made each of the Pevensie children from Chronicles of Narnia (Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy), recreating them as best as I could. But it's still fun to reenact some of the great battles of LOTRs only with new twists. Like with the forces of Angmar besieging a Helm's Deep controlled by Dwarves, or fighting a civil war among the Orcs of Mordor at the slopes of Mount Doom. Wish this game would get re-released on Steam.

20: Solitaire

Yeah, I'll admit to enjoying the odd game of solitaire. Perfect for just shutting off your brain for a while. I tend to play with the one card draw setting on.

Back when I was in college, I took a class on psychology, and the professor I had was fairly popular in that he liked to make people think. One day, he asked everyone to think of who our hero or heroes were. Write them down. Then he asked us to write down whether our hero(es) were alive, dead, or fictional characters.

He then asked who had any heroes who were alive. A few hands raised. He then asked those who have their hands raised if they've met their heroes. All the hands in the room went down save for one person (not me). One person had met their hero. He then asked how they had met and how long did they meet. That person answered that their hero was their father, a US Army soldier serving overseas at that time (this was circa the early 2010s for context). The Professor nodded with a smile and said...

"You're the exception to the point I'm about to make."

He asked that person to lower their hand and for everyone else with a living hero to raise their hands again. He then looked across the room with a sort of sympathetic smile and said these exact words...

"Good for you. May you never meet them and may they pass with your admiration intact."

He then asked if someone we've looked up to has ever disappointed us to the point that we've stopped looking up to that person. A lot of hands went up.

The crux of his lesson that day was a sort of study on the old adage "Never Meet Your Heroes."

The Professor then went on to list three heroes of his: Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Apostle Paul (full disclosure, the Professor was an adjunct that also worked at a local church as a youth pastor). What did those three men have in common? One person answered "They had a major impact on the world." Professor nods but replies "correct but that's not what I'm looking for." The professor then gives his answer...

"They're dead."

He then goes on to explain that he personally selects his heroes from among the dead. It's simple. Their deeds are done, their thoughts expressed, their stories finite and written, unable to be changed. There is nothing the dead can do now to disappoint or disillusion us.

Any such claims that could disillusion us could either be dismissed as faked, fabricated, or forged. And if something damning does exist to disillusion us then that falls upon us for not being diligent in our choices.

He then openly admitted that he was definitely biased as his reasoning is based off of personal and witnessed experiences. In his case, one person he had admired at one point in his life hurt him and disillusioned him. But he'd learned that living heroes should not be revered as they still have a chance to betray and hurt you.

"There are exceptions to every rule" he did say, motioning to the kid whose dad was overseas. Parents are often the exception to this rule. The professor even pointed out the one exception for him was his own mother who worked herself to the bone to provide for him growing up after his dad walked out on them, his dad being the one who disillusioned him. He then had us go back to the list we drew up and asked who had a fictional hero on their list. Some hands went up again. He gave a polite smile but shook his head.

"Respectable, but misguided."

Fictional heroes, he reasoned, are not good choices as they're created for the purpose of being Heroes. Their deeds are intangible, made up, exist only as words on a page or pictures on a screen. It's okay to like them, but just remember that they're fake. Not real. They're created from the ground up to be inspiring. So they would make poor heroes. Instead, consider their creators. Consider the authors, playwrights, and artists who created them as it was their work and effort to create those fictional heroes that should be celebrated, not the characters themselves.

Living heroes can still disappoint and disillusion. They may be idyllic now but they have time to say or do something that could shatter your admiration in them. And it's possible they already have but we've just not noticed or it never got reported on which is always possible.

That's why, he said, to select our heroes from among the dead. Like he had said earlier, their histories and deeds are written and finite. The acts they've done are complete and none can be added at this point. People can try and distort or taint their legacies in the present but the truth of their actions persist. Any scandalous acts they did in life are now moot compared to whatever deeds they had performed in the whole of their life to outweigh such acts.

He gave an example in the Apostle Paul, one of the three heroes he respected, a man who as Saul, persecuted and hunted innocent people with intent to murder them all because of their faith. But then he found redemption and he became one of the most influential figures in spreading that same faith he once persecuted others for holding. The good Paul did may or may not outweigh the bad in some people's eyes, but to others it is enough to rank Paul among their heroes.

That is one example why dead heroes are the most respectable, as their histories are unchanging and immutable. That once they're dead, their whole life is weighed on the scales for people to determine whether they were heroes or villains. Any evil can be outweighed by the good they performed in life, and vice versa. This is the same professor after all that started class one day by showing us pictures of these beautifully painted landscapes and buildings from around the 1920s-30s and asked what we thought of them, only to introduce us to the painter: Adolf Hitler. His lesson for that was no praise of Hitler by any means, only that anyone is capable of creating something beautiful, including the most evil among us.

The next class he did a follow-up lesson on what kind of people we should look up to, but I'll save that for another entry.

But that class has always stuck with me, and as time has gone on, I too have faced disillusionment with people I once admired and looked up to. People who, mostly thanks to social media, have allowed me to see the real person and sometimes who they really are, are disgusting and vile. People who I once admired have failed me. That's why my heroes are neither living nor fictional. I have my fictional heroes but I don't admire them more than I do the real people. I also have my living heroes too but my admiration is cautious as I know they could disappoint and disillusion me too.

My Deceased heroes include the likes of Walter Elias Disney (despite the state of his company), George Washington, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle, and my most recent addition, my own father when he passed away in 2021 (of course dad was my living exception to the rule).

It sounds pessimistic to only look to the dead for people to admire, but as before, the living can still disillusion and disappoint, the fictional are fake and frauds from the ground up, but the dead cannot disillusion you as all the dirty laundry, all their misdeeds are known and can be found out by the masses. There's always exceptions to this and any rule, but the dead still make the best heroes to look up to overall.