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Topics - Roxas

#1
General / An interesting...theory
November 03, 2015, 09:19:57 AM
A friend of mine linked me this. At the very least, it's an interesting read no matter how revolting I wish to find it. I'm a sucker for lore possibilities. OP knows how to write.

Link to original post

Copypasta in the spoiler.
[spoiler]
QuoteHere I will seek to establish that Jar Jar Binks, far from being simply the bumbling idiot he portrays himself as, is in fact a highly skilled force user in terms of martial ability and mind control.
Furthermore, I assert that he was not, as many people assume, just an unwitting political tool manipulated by Palpatine-- rather, he and Palpatine were likely in collaboration from the very beginning, and it's entirely possible that Palpatine was a subordinate underling to Binks throughout both trilogies.
And finally, given the above, I will conclude with an argument as to why I believe it is not only possible, but plausible that Jar Jar will make a profound impact on the upcoming movies, and what his role may be.
So first, let's establish Jar Jar as a skilled warrior. While this does not in itself necessitate a connection with the Physical Force, it's highly suggestive in the Star Wars universe-- very rarely do we see "normal" characters exhibiting extraordinary stuntwork or physical feats unless they are Jedi, Sith, or at least force sensitives.
So here's Jar Jar nonchalantly executing a standing 20 foot twisting somersault.
Now, taken out of context, if you were watching a Star Wars movie and saw a character casually execute this maneuver, you'd probably assume it was a Jedi. In the context of Jar Jar, though, we don't... because elsewhere he so thoroughly convinces us that he's nothing more than a harmless dunce with his inane dialogue and cowardly-lion act.
He also manages to convince us that he's a bumbling oaf in the midst of pitched battle... even though he's always incredibly, amazingly successful. Whether single-handedly taking down a battledroid tank, or unleashing a barrage of boombas on their front lines, or precisely targeting multiple enemies with a blaster tangled around his ankle (!!!), we simply roll our eyes and attribute it to dumb "luck."
But is it? Obi-Wan warned us otherwise.
This is one of the main reasons we as an audience hate Jar Jar so thoroughly; he breaks the fourth wall, he he shatters our suspension of disbelief, because we know that no one is really that lucky. We dismiss it as a lame, cliched trope-- the silly pathetic oaf who always seems to inadvertently save the day.
I posit that, instead, this is a deliberate facade on the part of Jar Jar as a character, and on the part of the writers and animators. As we know, the Jedi themselves are inspired by Shaolin Monks, and there's a particular kung fu discipline that Jar Jar's physicality is purposefully modeled upon which allows him to appear goofy and uncoordinated even as he lays waste to his enemies; namely, Zui Quan, or Drunken Fist wushu. This discipline seeks to imitate the "sloshing," seemingly random foibles of a drunkard, but in reality the staggering and stumbling is the use of bodily momentum, deception, and unpredictability intended to lure and confuse opponents.
Let's take a look at Jar Jar displaying some wushu (the compasion clips are taken from an instructional Zui Quan video):
Jar Jar kipping-up
Zui Quan Comparison
Jar Jar "sloshing"
Zui Quan Comparison
Jar Jar Sweeps the Leg
Zui Quan Comparison
(if you slow down the above gif, you'll notice how Jar Jar dodges an incoming blaster shot at the very beginning. You'll also notice how he's mysteriously aware of the droideka as it appears behind him, even though it isn't in his line of sight and he couldn't possibly hear it over the din of battle....)
Jar Jar Centering himself in preparation for a Force jump
Zui Quan Comparison
...ok, that's all well and good, but even if Jar Jar is a secret Drunken Fist boxing master, that doesn't make him a force user, right? Well, it should at least make us suspicious of his character period. It establishes that his over-the-top, childish antics are a veneer masking a more complex character than we're led to believe. But even if you choose to ignore Jar Jar's seemingly magical prescience in battle, I believe that there is a particular scene in which we do see him clearly make use of the physical force...
In TPM, when Jar Jar and the Jedi ambush the droids and rescue the queen and her entourage, Jar Jar "accidentally" botches his leap from the balcony. A few frames later, he is seen dropping from the opposite side of the balcony, which would seem to be quite be impossible without a force assisted jump and/or force sprint of some kind. Let's take a look at the full scene:
Jar Jar Ambush
(Note that as they sneak up, Jar Jar is just as effortlessly stealthy as his Jedi counterparts. Interesting.)
Now as I said, we see Jar Jar catch hold of the balcony on the far right side, but then he drops to the ground on the far left. Easy to dismiss as a continuity or framing error, I suppose... except that one of the droids continues to fire on Jar Jar's initial position, even as we see him drop elsewhere!
Here it is in slow-motion
See the droid that comes charging up, right behind the one Qui-Gon chops down? What's he shooting at up there?? And see its head swing back towards Jar Jars new position after the shot? You can also see another droid behind it tracking Jar Jar with its head, and manage a shot on the new position. This means that the animators knew very well where Jar Jar was supposed to be- dangling from the balcony over Qui-Gon's left shoulder- and purposefully animate the droids tracking his inexplicably fast movement elsewhere.
I think what has happened here, even though we don't see it directly, is that Jar Jar has purposefully split the attention of the enemies by grabbing on to the balcony as he falls, and then (using the force) propelled himself with a pull-up/flip to land in an unexpected place.
In fact, this is a maneuver we've seen before... from a jedi. Twice, if you want to count Obi-Wan doing it in the Duel of Fates to take Maul by surprise.
In addition to this kind of highly suspicious physical "luck," I also believe that we're given enough clues to justifiably suspect that Jar Jar is also a master of Jedi Mind Control.
Consider: We hate the way Jar Jar influences major plot points for the same reason we hate his physicality- it messes with our sense of realism. Two experienced Jedi on a serious mission would never actually bring someone that stupid along with them. No character that idiotic would ever really be made a general. They certainly wouldn't be made a senator. How could anyone like Jar Jar really convince the entire galaxy to abandon democracy? That's ridiculous.
These things are just the political version of his physical "luck." Inadvertent, seemingly comical bumbling that just so happens to result in astoundingly positive results. But what if it isn't inadvertant, and what if Jar Jar's meteoric rise and inexplicable influence isn't the result of dumb happenstance, but the result of extensive and careful use of force mind powers?
Jedi (and presumably Sith) exhibit telltale signs when using the Mind Trick to implant suggestions or influence behavior. For one, they always gesticulate and not-so-subtly wave their hands at the target.
Here's a look at some pivotal Jar Jar moments during his political career:
Jar Jar hand-waving his way towards a promotion to Bombad General
Jar Jar hand-waving his way towards a promotion to the Senate
Jar Jar using Force Persuasion as he hand-waves the entire Galactic Senate and ushers in the death of democracy.
Actually, if you watch the prequels with the idea that Jar Jar might be a manipulative, dark character, you begin to notice just how insidious and subtle his manipulation is, and how effective, in almost every sequence he's involved in, and also just how hyper-aware of the overarching plot he really is.
Examples: Jar Jar tricking the Jedi into traveling through the planet core (so that they need him). Jar Jar carefully causing a scene so that they run into Anakin. Jar Jar constantly mocking Qui-Gon behind his back while Anakin is watching (so that Anakin learns disrespect for Jedi authority early on). Jar Jar telling an 8 year old child that the queen is "pretty hot," fanning the flames of the child's infatuation that is exploited later on. I could go on.
Now if you lend even the slightest credence to my above points, and acknowledge the possibility that Jar Jar might not be an idiot, you're almost forced to conclude that Jar Jar Binks and Palpatine were co-conspirators. If Jar Jar is putting forth an elaborate act to deceive people, it means he's not a fool... and if he's not a fool, it means his actions in Episode II that facilitate Palpatine's plans are not those of an unwitting tool- they are those of a partner.
Remember- Palpatine and Jar Jar are from the same planet, which in the scale of the Star Wars universe is like growing up as next door neighbors. It's entirely possible that they knew each other for years prior to TPM-- perhaps they trained together, or one trained the other. And Naboo is a really strange planet, actually; remember those odd ancient statues with the third eye? Naboo is the kind of place an "outcast" Gungan might find a Sith holocron or two.
But that's just speculation. Let's stick to what we know-- what we know is that even after Palpatine is elected as Chancellor, years after Jar Jar has been "tricked" into helping elect him, Palpatine still hangs out with Jar Jar in RotS.. Why? Wouldn't he be a constant source of public embarrassment? This is the same character who can't walk five yards without stepping in poodoo or squealing like a rabid donkey, right? What use does he have now? Why is he still at the right hand of the most powerful person in the galaxy? Could it be that in fact Jar Jar is the most powerful person in the galaxy?
Fine. Maybe. Hilarious conspiracy theory, but why would George Lucas bother to create this devious Gungan character with an elaborate conspiratorial past, but then never actually reveal his true nature?
Here's George Lucas (from a documentary) talking about Yoda:
"Yoda really comes from a tradition in mythological storytelling- fairy tales- of the hero finding a little creature on the side of the road that seems very insignificant and not very important, but who turns out to be the master wizard, or the master thing..."
As we all know, one of Lucas' big deals with the prequels was that they were intended to "rhyme" and mirror the original trilogy in terms of general narrative themes. So there should have been a seemingly innocent creature found on the side of the road that later reveals itself as a major player. We do have a creature that this seems to describe precisely... Jar Jar... but of course he never develops into a "master" anything.
Here's what I think happened: I think that Jar Jar was initially intended to be the prequel (and Dark Side) equivalent of Yoda. Just as Yoda has his "big reveal" when we learn that his tottering, geriatric goofball persona is just a mask, Jar Jar was intended to have a big reveal in Episode II or III where we learn that he's not really a naive dope, but rather a master puppeteer Sith in league with (or perhaps in charge of) Palpatine.
However, GL chickened out. The fan reaction to Jar Jar was so vitriolic that this aspect of the trilogy was abandoned. Just too risky... if Jar Jar is truly that off-putting, it's potentially ruinous to the Star Wars legacy to imply that he's the ultimate bad guy of the entire saga. So pretend he was just a failed attempt at comic relief instead.
This is why Dooku seems like such a flat, shoehorned-in character with no backstory; he was hastily written in to cover the plot holes left when villain Jar Jar was redacted. Yoda was meant to duel with his literal darkside nemesis and mythological equivalent at the end of AotC: not boring old Count Dooku, but Sith Master Jar Jar. And Binks was meant to escape, not just that duel but to survive the entire trilogy... so that he could cast a shadow on the OT, too; you'd rewatch the originals knowing that the Emperor wasn't necessarily the big baddie after all... Jar Jar is still out there somewhere. It would have been sort of brilliant.
But I believe it is likely that the writers of the new trilogy will resurrect this idea. Most people seem to think that Disney wishes to distance or somehow disassociate itself from the prequels... but this doesn't actually make any economic or marketing sense. There is far more prequel-era based intellectual property to capitalize on than there is OT, if only because of the Clone Wars movie and series. Billions of dollars in iconic toys, images, characters, games, park rides, etc that an entire younger generation grew up on. Disney is not going to pretend that over half of the $4 billion in IP they bought simply isn't worth acknowledging.
(and anyway, we have behind the scenes TFA footage clearly showing imagery being reused from the prequels. Also, many of the flags above Maz's castle in the trailer are from TPM)
No, it stands to reason that one of their primary goals will be to reinvigorate and ultimately try to redeem the prequels in the eyes of the fanbase. To elevate and improve them retroactively, as much as possible. So how do you do that?
Jar Jar Binks has undoubtedly become the face of everything that is "wrong" with the prequels- he was too silly, too unbelievable, seemingly pointless. If you are able to somehow change the nature of Jar Jar from embarrassing idiot to jaw-dropping villain, suddenly the entire prequel trilogy must be seen in a new light, because it becomes the setup for the most astounding reveal in film history:
Jar Jar Binks is Supreme Leader Snoke!
[/spoiler]
#2
General / Discord Chat & IM
October 09, 2015, 07:52:25 PM
Some friends in one of my skype chats linked a really nice program called Discord. It's a chat and voice client that is very simple and in ways far better than skype (we all hate skype).

One of the cool things about it is that if you have the desktop application it will automatically set your status as playing that game(pretty useful now that xfire is gone). I thought it would be cool if we all made a room. It's very simple to use and supports Windows, Mac, Android, iPhone, Firefox, Chrome (since Chromium (what I use) works I'm assuming that some of the Firefox offshoots such as Palemoon may work as well), and Opera all have support. Apparently an in-game overlay is supposed to be coming soon.

Check it out
https://discordapp.com/

I made a "server" (that is what separate chats are called) for SWBF Gamers if you want to check it out. Just choose a name and if you like it, you can "claim" the account by supplying an email and password of choice.
https://discord.gg/0ZPBlajjY0tAoIpq
#3
General / Just do it, Luke.
June 18, 2015, 09:21:00 PM


#5
Hey guys! I'm still alive...sort of.

Do you remember Darth Bane, how he was the reason why the Sith managed to survive as long as they did? Or maybe Revan's fall into darkness and redemption? Or how about a squad or Republic Commando clones fighting on Kashyyyk, forced to leave a brother behind? How about Luke's new Jedi Order? I could make a near endless list of examples. Well great news everybody! That's all NON-CANON now. That's right, even the legendary Admiral Thrawn himself is no longer a part of the Star Wars Universe.

Lucasfilm has decided to pull a completely  :censored: move and classify everything that isn't part of the movies, the Clone Wars tv show, and the upcoming Rebels show, as non-canon. Why? In a terrible attempt to "unify" the Star Wars universe. What makes this so funny? In episode one, Darth Maul is killed by being cut in half and sent down a power generator. Then, many years later, he returns during the clone wars, somehow managing to cling to life and even getting to another planet in a system parsecs away from the location of his apparent death. Yeah, good job keeping the timeline coherent Lucas, good job.

I only have one reply to this:
Go suck Weequay  :censored:, Lucasfilm.

PS: I don't know if you can tell, but I'm rather biased here.
Offical blog post
#6
General / [intensity increases]
December 03, 2013, 07:01:00 PM
IT'S HAPPENING

Quote"Star Wars fans - I have some exciting news! We have wrapped production on all of the remaining Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes, and while that might be sad news in one way, it's good news in another. It means you will finally get to see them. When, exactly, is a detail I cannot yet share. I can confirm that in early 2014 you will be watching the final episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, including one of Master Yoda's most challenging missions. So, get ready. We've got Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels coming at you in 2014. Animated Star Wars is alive and well. Trust in the Force my friends.

- Dave"

http://www.movieweb.com/news/star-wars-the-clone-wars-final-season-will-debut-in-early-2014

#7
I think I may have been banned from the only good server on RC (I gave a rather solid beating two nights ago). Can anyone confirm if they are having server problems? If I have, I'll probably uninstall it.

There were a few more people, but generally the game was like that.
[spoiler][/spoiler]
#8
General / Re: Just to know...
November 03, 2013, 01:18:31 AM
I remember reading about this. Sorry for your loss.
#9
Welcome Center / Back
September 18, 2013, 10:45:37 AM
I don't know if any of you guys noticed, but I was gone all month out of state. Now I'm back. Hope to see you guys online soon.
#10
Star Wars Battlefront: EA Reboots 1 and 2 / Oh snap
August 11, 2013, 05:58:25 PM
This is the only reason I would get Call of Duty 4 again.

#11
Public Square / Youtube BB code
August 08, 2013, 10:40:59 PM
I was wondering if we could add a [*youtube][/[*/youtube] (remove *) to the bb code palette. I don't see any reason not too and it'd be pretty nice to not have to go to a new tab/window whenever we want to link a video. If you are worried about videos clogging up a page, we do have a spoiler for a reason.
#12
General / What are your favorite Star Wars books?
August 04, 2013, 03:20:55 PM
My favorites are obviously the RC series by Karen Traviss (I'm also really looking forward to her next Halo book, which is the last of the the Kilo-5 trilogy), Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber, the Darth Bane Trilogy by Drew Karpyshyn, and Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams.

I prefer books in the Old Republic - Clone Wars. I'm not a huge fan of the New Republic+ eras. I remember that there was also this one book I read with Jacen, Jaina, Tenel Ka and a few others, but it isn't listed in the glossary of Star Wars books (the one at the beginning that shows the timeline).
#13
Other Games / Dark Souls
August 03, 2013, 04:21:59 PM
Anyone play Dark Souls here? It's not as hard as I expected, but holy  :censored: Havel is pissing me off. I've died like seven or eight times and every single time I do, he has like one hp left.  :wall:
#14
I'm just sharing a really well done video. The program used is called MMD (MikuMikuDance) and to make a video, you have to move each joint separately. It's nearly a stop-motion video in that aspect. Plus, who doesn't like cool fight scenes? The song isn't half bad either. Great bass guitar playing.

[/s]

I forgot, this forum doesn't support that bb code.



edit:
Just to clarify, I didn't make this.
#15
General / Last night, I was very disappointed
July 26, 2013, 03:01:38 PM
There is a user I know, and him and I are part of a Skype group with a couple other users. All of us were going over nicknames. I ended up with GroundGround. I called him a MeatBag because his name is BagMan. Then, I realized the sheer beauty of that line. None of them got it.

I'm in a chat where no one else  has watched any of the Star Wars films or played Knights of the Old Republic.

#16
Welcome Center / I got my new computer!
July 13, 2013, 03:58:57 PM
I am currently in the process of transferring/backing up etc. I'll be spending the rest of the weekend fixing it up. It'll be a little tricky because I'll have to restore from a not-so-healthy system image, backup those files, then restore back to a good one. Here are my new specs  :cheer:

[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

It's a Lenovo Thinkpad T430. But, it's a BUSINESS model. Which means it's more powerful than its consumer counterpart. I MIGHT also buy a 1tb hybrid hard-drive.

After I'm done with everything I'll reinstall Battlefront. I also remembered my Steam account too. Add Roxas187 if you ever feel like playing L4D2.
#17
Star Wars Battlefront (2004 Original) / Xfire 2.0
June 20, 2013, 01:44:32 PM
Has anyone experienced lag in-game with Xfire? I've noticed that if I don't run it Battlefront works perfectly.
#18
Requests / Map similar to Bespin Zombies?
June 14, 2013, 12:33:30 PM
Is there a map similar to the Bespin Zombie map? What I mean is you are the only player, but the AI is normal. No speed mods or weapon mods. You only have one command post. Maybe 1 vs 100 or something like that. Is  there anything like that?
#19
I think having an advanced squad control system from Republic Commando would be great. Say I have three people following me, I can order them to focus on a single enemy (like a Droideka if I don't have a weapon to take down it's shields quickly). Also, I think it'd be awesome if they had a Droid Commando as a class. Hero's should have varying health/speed/power. And of course, maps from BF1 and 2.

What do you guys want?
#20
Scummies / Gone for a bit again
June 02, 2013, 06:52:08 PM
My hard drive finally died last Thursday and as a result, I have had to downgrade from 120GB to my original 60GB. I can't sacrifice any of that space to games since the OS, updates, and other programs take a very large chunk out of my very small hard drive. I am planning on getting a very nice laptop (8GB DDR3 RAM with 1TB of space) this month within the next two weeks hopefully. After I get it, I'll load it up, flash a system restore (after I downgrade it to W7 because I dislike WindowsFail8), and just like that I'll be back.

My hard drive fought long and hard. Soon, he was attacked by wave after wave of Blue Screens. Then, he sustained a crippling series of blows that injured his wifi, desktop session manager, and sleep patterns. Then suddenly, the beasts known as Blue Screens disappeared. Although he was still deeply injured, he kept strong. He passed away after a two page report with Microsoft Word. May he rest in piece.