AlairaArt

We should get more creative with our names of collections in our Favorites. Any time you favorite a post, the creator gets to see the name of the collection you placed it in. This could be a fun way of "passive feedback" where those of us who don't comment much can still say more than just adding something to our favorites, or at the very least giving the creator something to chuckle over.

For example:

Instead of receiving the notification, "User has added Your Art to their Favorites."

They will receive the notification, "User has added Your Art to their collection When God sends me to Hell, I want him to hesitate." XD

Jokes aside, it actually gives me a lot of useful feedback when my Watchers name the collections they add my art to, even if it is a simple name. When my art gets added to a collection called "Crimsonight," that tells me that it's because they like my art overall and that I should keep going (side note: it's so funny how many of you spell my name wrong lol). Additionally, whenever my art is added to "Twi'leks" or "Space Babes," that informs me that it is my focus on Twi'leks specifically or beautiful sci-fi women that you're enjoying about my art. This helped me a while back decide to shift my fantasy/D&D art to a separate account because a lot of my art that was still being favorited was going into "Star Wars" collections. So, at the very least, try to add favorites into collections rather than just a general "I like this" dump bin called "Favorites." It doesn't tell me anything when I check a favorites gallery and my emotional Kesarah piece is being straddled by inflation porn on the right and a shitty, lined paper Naruto sketch on the left.

I recently talked about how there's still more Star Wars to come for everyone, and the fan films have certainly been keeping me engaged on all fronts! There's so many, so I might make this a reoccurring series of features, but for now, here's three standout fan films.

It's been a popular fan theory ever since Ep. III came out that Mace Windu survived his encounter with Anakin and Palpatine. Here's a taste of what he might've done next!

For those of you who want more of what we had rather than fan's making their own thing, here's a scene that has been skillfully animated and rendered using the audio from a Clone Wars deleted scene.

I have no trouble calling this my favorite of these three as I am a ship nerd, and especially one who appreciates this gripping dogfight between X-Wings, TIE's and a TIE Avenger! The Avenger really doesn't get enough love, I felt such a fangasm when it showed up in this short! Added bonus, this one came out on my birthday this year. What an awesome gift!

That's all for now. I hope you enjoy these films, and let me know if you're interested in me continuing doing features like this. Make sure to subscribe, vote thumbs up, and comment on these videos too! These fans worked hard to bring these videos to life and our support is the defining element of their success.

I don't usually talk about movies on here because I'm one of those pretentious film nerds who got a college degree in the subject, so I'm often times overly critical. That said, I've got a couple recent recommendations for those of you who are like me and are starved for new content that don't feel like their scripts are held together with bubblegum and a prayer.

First, "The Adam Project."

Considering it has to do with time travel, I was truly surprised by the solid quality of this story. No, it doesn't follow our current theories on quantum physics, but that's actually okay for once. It explains the rules for how time travel works within its narrative and sticks to those rules very well, which is more than I can say for most time travel movies. It's not important to be accurate when writing fiction; It's important to be consistent, and "The Adam Project" nails it. Top it off with an excellent showcase of cinematography, casting and pacing, and this movie will easily stay in my top 3 for 2022. Next, we have "The Batman."

As a fan of the 1989 "Batman," it's been a long and rough road watching our caped crusader get ricocheted from dark to silly to serious to incompetent. In my lifetime, I've seen five different actors play five very different Batmans before this one, and that's just in live action feature films. Needless to say, I wasn't all that energized by the announcement of this newest 'new take' on the titular dark knight. So, I went in with my trigger finger on the "doubt" button... I never pressed it. I was truly surprised at this film. Despite all of my skepticism surrounding this film both as a Batman story and as a film in general, I walked away feeling genuine satisfaction! That said, I will strongly advise anyone who passionately enjoys the MCU style of superhero movie to avoid this at all costs. "The Batman" brings us into a genre of film that very few superheros can headline: Neo Noir. Brought into what feels like an honorary sequel to "Batman: Year One," this movie takes you into a slow-burn story where every moment feels deliberate. It has a steady and grounded grit to its storytelling that reminds me of films like "Chinatown." This isn't a rock'em sock'em superhero flick with some CGI clash of titans final battle either, so don't let DC Comic's cinema reputation as of late fool you. This is a true detective story where we explore the psychology of Bruce Wayne as a young Batman, and it leans into the growth so rarely explored where he evolves from a champion of vengeance to a champion of justice. Speaking as someone who has seen every live action Batman, including the 1940's anti-war serials, 2022's "The Batman" is the movie I'm going to put on the shelf next to 2019's "Joker."

I rarely get two new movies in the same year that I can confidently recommend, and it's only July. This year has certainly sucked, don't get me wrong, but as a film nerd, I'm very pleased. As an honorary mention for those of you who are wanting some solid superhero goodness but aren't enjoying Marvels MCU Phase 4, I strongly recommend checking out the DC Animated Cinematic Universe, or DCAMU for short. Where Marvel has dominated the live action superhero film industry since 2008, DC Comics has been reigning supreme in the animated superhero film industry. From 2013 to 2020, DC Comics punched out 16 films telling an overarching narrative revolving around Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, John Constantine, and the Justice League/Teen Titans. You can read up more on it in the link below, but in short, I'll say that it's a binge-worthy set that leaves you feeling very satisfied. Unlike the MCU, it's fully concluded too, so no promoting plugs nor cliffhangers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Animated_Movie_Universe

Sounds like I'm hating on Marvel a bit too much, so I'll conclude by saying that "Spider-man: No Way Home" is my new favorite Spider-man film. There, I said it... but that might be because it's a Sony film and not Disney... hmm.....

As I'm sure many of you know, the Disney+ mini series "Obi-Wan Kenobi" concluded recently, and the internet is buzzing about it both negatively and positively. As I have unfortunately grown accustomed to it, the Star Wars fan community seems to be rather hostile in its feedback. As much as I see some praising the Kenobi show, I'm seeing others rip it apart, and more importantly lashing out and raging at those who speak in its defense.

We're better than this.

If you have strong opinions and feelings about the new show, Disney's take on the franchise or anything else for that matter and feel the need to shout into the internet, I strongly encourage you to do so. Conversations can help us sort out our perspectives and process our feelings in a healthy manner. However, please be respectful of others who maybe have different opinions. If there's an argument forming, regardless of your own feelings on causes, make sure you're not adding to the tension. Stay calm, peaceful and respectful, even if an opposing person is not. Be the better Star Wars Fan.

For some of you though, there's definitely a wave of grief happening where a lot of fans are falling out of love with a life long romance with Star Wars. Maybe "Obi-Wan Kenobi," "Rebels," "1997 Special Edition" or something else broke the proverbial camel's back, but regardless, you're not enjoying it like you used to. You want more of what once was rather than what is yet to come. Valid. The franchise has certainly changed a lot. However, you still have your Star Wars too, and I'm not talking about the 2005 "Star Wars Battlefront II" that I simply refuse to stop playing. There are so many fans just like you who want more of the Star Wars that you want more of... and they're making it! I'm not talking about kids with toys in the backyard with a camera either. Fans are making their own Star Wars content on an amazingly professional level like never before, and you don't even have to look too hard to find it. There's so much out there and more to find every day, but here's a couple examples.

For fan films, there's a lot, and I mean A LOT of videos of people swinging lightsabers around. I'm personally a fan of Ryan VS Dorkman. For those looking for more stories, there's actually a lot happening lately. As I am shamelessly a Twi'lek fanatic, I'm of course going to point you in the direction of a Twi'lek fan film, and this one just came out in May of this year. This is just one of many. The same creator of that one also made an Ahsoka fan film too if that's your fancy.

For gamers, there's more for you too! There's a lot of Star Wars fan made games out there to play, but I'll stop posturing and let this game trailer speak for itself...

And you can play it now!

My point in all of this is that Your Star Wars is not dead. It's not dying, nor is anyone ruining it. Star Wars is still changing and evolving as it has ever since it hit the silver screen in the 70's. Star Wars has been many things through the years. Stagnant and consistent are not among its qualities. My golden years of Star Wars is roughly from 1997 to 2007. There are even older guards of the franchise that reject anything aside from the original version of the original trilogy and even they can find more to love by fellow creative fans still breathing life into their Star Wars.

We all have our own Star Wars, and there's room for everyone to enjoy it in their own way. Be kind to one another. Even if you absolutely hate what is coming out these days, be happy for those who are enjoying it, as the old guard did their best to be happy for you when you were enjoying "The Clone Wars" or the prequel trilogy. Be better.

That concludes my art jam! Thank you so much to everyone who participated and showed Fernopatrix Zire some love.

Here's our lovely results!

Fernopatrix Zire Digital Drawing by BornAngelAuthor

Fern's Woven Shadows by Dingodile24 | Commissioned by SlingBlade87

Blue Girl by Dingodile24 | Commissioned by SlingBlade87

Fernopatrix by KaelaCroftArt

Kesarah,Fernopatrix and Cori'Senteye: Artjam by The-PBG

Summer Fern by Drakarra

Celestial Blue by Crimsonight

SW: Starlit Yoga by SlingBlade87

Fernopatrix Zire by Inspector97 | Commissioned by SlingBlade87

These are amazing!!! Thank you so much to everyone who participated! This was a wonderful turnout.

Fernopatrix Zire is an original character created by 0biwanken0bie

For those previously unaware, here's the original art jam post: