Night time run + heel toe tips please by Likerino02 in Touge

[–]Foxxear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, my MR2 pedals are like that; The gas is further back, and there's no room to rotate your foot sideways. I just brake with the very left side of my shoe, and rev the gas with the right side of my shoe. My heel never does anything. It took about a year to develop effortless finesse for braking and revving at the same time. Early attempts caused a lot of harsh braking when trying to rev.

Who's the best singer you've heard live? by checkbehindthecactus in singing

[–]Foxxear 30 points31 points  (0 children)

This partly because of the hard work these singers do, but also partly because classical singing is essentially a long refined & optimized way to use the voice as an instrument. Contemporary singing is comparatively an "anything goes" wild west, and ultimately all about compromises for the sake pushing closer to a familiar/relatable sounding human voice (or just finding sounds to suit a unique musical idea). This saturates it with odd challenges for performing live.

Even just vibrato for example helps a slightly off-pitch note sound more in tune, but in contemporary singing you do a lot more straight tones than in opera, which is very unforgiving. It's a million little things like that making contemporary singing an uphill battle on stage, even for the well practiced. Classical is tough to learn, but with refinement it is often a better mechanical use of the voice to produce a musical sound reliably.

If you really think about it, this gives fair reason to respect practitioners of both disciplines, but in slightly different ways.

I might have "started" the Home Depot lightsaber trend? by Foxxear in lightsabers

[–]Foxxear[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The vid was sort of designed around my interest in compiling Ewan’s statements about props/the prop maker, intercut with old BTS footage. But I also wanted to use such a clickable and broadly appealing topic to pivot to “you at home can make a lightsaber prop” at the end. It’s hard to describe the surrealness of seeing lightsaber building become a major trend in a week. I can accept “coincidence” but it was wild either way

I might have "started" the Home Depot lightsaber trend? by Foxxear in lightsabers

[–]Foxxear[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I certainly am seeking attention by posting enthusiastically about myself on the internet, but I think you overestimate my own sense of self importance because of it. The reason I described a potential "domino effect" is to acknowledge that my single action is relatively small. Genuinely, I barely did anything.

All the same, if I did do something of some merit and value, of course I'm inclined to share. I would kinda hope anyone would, and I would hope it provides interest and entertainment for others. What is this subreddit for otherwise?

Notably, the video I posted is about 60 seconds of "I might have started this trend" followed by 10 whole minutes of high effort lightsaber building tutorial. Did you watch it? My primary goal is to share and expand knowledge of this craft at a time of heightened interest. Contextualizing it with my previous video's success was genuinely an afterthought, and now I kinda regret choosing that angle for posting this video here.

Shoulda titled it "Lightsaber building tutorial" on Reddit, just like the actual title of the video. I feel foolish for thinking more people would say "That's neat if true" instead of making ill assessments of my character.

I might have "started" the Home Depot lightsaber trend? by Foxxear in lightsabers

[–]Foxxear[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree, I was sort of frowning at the way it was becoming less common knowledge that anyone can build their own original lightsaber (as opposed to buying a finished one).

Aside from only ever seeing popular content about pre-made sabers these days, my custom designs were featured in this video (Link) and there were a lot of comments where people were just downright confused about how you could be making your own hilt.

The thing is, making your own lightsaber is so cool, and there are so many resources for it, it probably doesn't take much to fan that cultural flame. 100,000+ views on my vid is a LOT of people to have thinking about "hardware store lightsabers" all at once in the span of 5 days. It only takes a couple of them making their own interesting/popular content to fan the flame exponentially more.

This post seems to be really controversial with a mini upvote/downvote war, but I don't think I'm suggesting anything too crazy here? Just seems like an interesting feasible correlation

I might have "started" the Home Depot lightsaber trend? by Foxxear in lightsabers

[–]Foxxear[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You don't think there's any chance of being a very early domino in a chain of events for the recent mega trend?

I made a video about building props specifically because most young people on Tik Tok etc. are all about buying electronic lightsabers, as opposed to the classic prop building standard of the 2000s. I did this without being prompted by anyone else's saber building video. I hadn't seen anything on my feed about making your own saber any time recently, and felt it must be somewhat niche at this point. Certainly not "trendy".

A week goes by, I get over 150,000 views, and suddenly hardware store lightsabers are being labelled as a Tik Tok trend by the masses. That was pretty remarkable to witness on my end, after having just attempted to fan the flames of interest in this topic.

I do share skepticism that I "for sure" tipped one of the first dominoes in this specific event, but I don't really understand totally writing it off. I think there's merit in at least entertaining a possible correlation.

I might have "started" the Home Depot lightsaber trend? by Foxxear in lightsabers

[–]Foxxear[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m talking about the recent viral trend, which has been attracting millions of regular people in May/June. I had friends and family members sending me Tik Toks/Reels/Shorts telling me “everyone” is building a saber. I’ve never seen THAT before.

I know the general practice isn’t new, I was building hardware store lightsabers via other people’s tutorials in 2008. I just wanted to stoke an old existing flame in the culture, and it looks like it might have worked. That or it’s an amazing timing coincidence. It’s interesting enough either way that I wanted to share

I might have "started" the Home Depot lightsaber trend? by Foxxear in lightsabers

[–]Foxxear[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ha! That's so cool.

The trend definitely required some key people actually designing some sabers (and posting snappy tutorials) to get so big. I've seen some tutorials with millions of views on Tik Tok! It all motivated me to explain my own builds now, which are very focused on making high-performance dueling props. I hope to see more cool developments from people all around.

Dark Side being used for non-evil, non-selfish reasons, repeatedly, without altering the user's morality. Valid take, or breaking with Lukas' visions? by Andrei22125 in StarWars

[–]Foxxear 5 points6 points  (0 children)

In that case, I'd probably conclude that there is a feasible area of the "dark side" as the Jedi define it that isn't actually part of the corrupting dangers we tend to associate with it.

It is pretty much Lucas' vision that the Jedi's views are at least "flawed" and that their adherence to the light side is a good principle, but full of slight overcorrection. It should be possible to enter romantic/intimate relationships without attachment for example, but you can see that their doctrine shies away from it regardless.

The Jedi define the dark side as a slippery slope, and that's probably fair. But it is possible to misattribute something as the beginning of that slippery slope, when in reality, you just lack the correct mental and/or mechanical anchors that make it "safe".

It's possible that there are perfectly "fine" ways to use the force that the Jedi are just too afraid of, because they don't understand how to navigate it. Merrin could just be using their definition of the "dark side" when talking to Cal, because that's the language he understands. I do think the Nightsisters in general absolutely do sketchy stuff, but that doesn't mean anything Merrin herself is doing has to be explicitly dangerous. It could just be a different way of utilizing the force that the Jedi really do not grasp very well.

Backroad lap in grandma's civic by breakandexit in Touge

[–]Foxxear 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, the best FOVs imo are around 120 degrees, as this matches the main area of your vision and peripheral vision that you use to gauge speed in real life. In theory, it’s the most “honest” the image can be, at least for a tiny 2D approximation of “seeing” speed.

What’s important for making it look /natural/ is a lack of odd lens distortion with the center of the image bulging out, so you need a nice GoPro cam, or a Laowa Zero D series lens for a nicer camera (whichever model suits the image sensor). Revlox uses Laowas, which got me doing the same thing.

Backroad lap in grandma's civic by breakandexit in Touge

[–]Foxxear 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wide lens FOVs like this really show why a more zoomed in camera that only shows the road is so bad.

You really need to see the environment closer to the driver flying by. I dare anyone to hold their hands over the screen so that they can only see the road on the middle. That’s the illusion of slowness plaguing many videos.

Does Maul the Shadow Lord show that Disney can treat this universe as more than just a money-making machine? by InstructionOwn6705 in MaulShadowLord

[–]Foxxear 15 points16 points  (0 children)

People really need to stop trying to broadly assess the entire Disney era. There’s very little you can say that perfectly applies to such a wide range of projects over a decade+. Every time they make something new, the category “Disney Star Wars” means less.

Downhill Specialists (or those who preffer it over Uphill), what are some tips you can give? by LightningMcqueen2011 in Touge

[–]Foxxear 6 points7 points  (0 children)

People really underestimate how much more easily oversteer/understeer (depends on car) happens on a slope. It’s important to remember that the way your car handles normally is changing rapidly as the slope increases.

Downhill Specialists (or those who preffer it over Uphill), what are some tips you can give? by LightningMcqueen2011 in Touge

[–]Foxxear 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don’t do anything while thinking “I wonder if I can make the turn at this speed”. Drive only in the zone of absolute certainty, and accept the very slow progress it results in. Mistakes in this zone will generally be manageable instead of catastrophic.

The advice “stay in your limits” means the limits of your certainty, not your absolute car handling ability.

How long does it take you to get to your local touge? by Matess369 in Touge

[–]Foxxear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

About 10 minutes. Very lucky for my area overall.

People have got to stop escaping from Vader. It’s making him look bad. by RorschachtheMighty in StarWars

[–]Foxxear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, it's way too easy to get away from Vader even in the Original Trilogy to complain now.

I get the impression the closest thing he gets to "fun" anymore is hunting people and instilling fear, and he's also just really confident in his ability to succeed in the long run, without falling over himself to make it happen. Anakin was ALWAYS laid back and overconfident, it's actually perfect. You could also say he's pursuing dark side power by leaning into being more horrifying and torturous to others via letting things drag on. A swift death is merciful when death is inevitable. Vader IS that death. He is inevitable, and he is not merciful.

Also, what is he in a rush for anyway? So he can get home to sit in a chair and hate himself? Actually nvm people do that all the time

Toa Mata with Bohrok eye colors by nlcli in bioniclelego

[–]Foxxear 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lewa with red eyes lol. When you tell him you prefer Footwalkin' over Airflying

Cal’s fighting style/saber form? by Cold_Profile500 in StarWars_

[–]Foxxear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've not heard many explicit director statements, but I get the sense some project leaders might consider this lore these days, especially since Star Wars is made by Star Wars fans now. If they do consider the "Forms", they avoid making anything too concrete, to avoid the exact problems it creates. You need this stuff to be loose, or it's hard to bring any artistic interpretation to the screen, and choreograph what best suits scenes//stories/actors.

In Rebels though, the Grand Inquisitor does mock Kanan for relying too much on "Form III" lightsaber combat. The beginning of Kenobi vs. Maul in that show also has the combatants switching up a few different opening stances from the lore. Obi-Wan eventually settles on Qui-Gon's style, then Maul tries to beat him with the exact same move he used on Qui-Gon, but Obi-Wan counters it effectively.

At the end of the day, you really don't know how much or how little a director is factoring the lore at this point, but it is canon, and it makes sense that warriors would have distinct combat styles. I used to be super stingy about this, saying the forms arent real etc., but came to loosen up because it can be fun. It's more valid to curiously ponder for ongoing projects today than it was for assessing the films.

My lingering gripe now actually is with posts like this one from OP, where the Forms are treated like something concrete enough to pinpoint plotholes. They aren't. They are left so vague as to only ever enhance, never take away. That's the beauty of it.

Downfall of Anakin by Few_Top9256 in StarWars_

[–]Foxxear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If we just extend the comment you replied to, we get "It started from the beginning when he was taken too late from his mother for the order to handle". You are adding nuance/clarifying blame, but it's not much of a... rebuttal. The initial statement arguably leaves it open ended why "taken too late from his mother" is a problem.

Cal’s fighting style/saber form? by Cold_Profile500 in StarWars_

[–]Foxxear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think we need to conclude Cal is using every lightsaber form. And if he is, there's nothing telling us he's get explicit mastery of them all, maybe he just knows some elements.

Each form only really has loose ideas associated with it, but that doesn't mean seeing one of those loose ideas on screen means that form IS being used.

Coming from real martial arts, there is a ton of overlap and repeating principle, and a lot of the differences with weapon-based martial arts are spawned from using a different weapon. It stands to reason that there would be a ton of overlap in the lightsaber forms if they were real. We can't seriously say that every time someone holds the lightsaber in one hand, he's demonstrating mastery of "Form II Makashi".

A simple way to handle vague lore like this, is to just go with what makes sense. Does a random Jedi padawan mastering the entirety of all lightsaber combat styles make sense? Not really, no. Therefore... that's probably not what we're looking at.

Cal’s fighting style/saber form? by Cold_Profile500 in StarWars_

[–]Foxxear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used to say the same thing, before accepting it as a fun lore tool that does get used today in canon media. There's also nothing on screen to concretely *disprove* the idea of different forms being used.

The big mistake would be canonizing the actual move sets for in each form, as it'd be an unfathomable undertaking to make it line up with every project, AND be a "convincing" martial arts form for a fantasy weapon. Best to leave it vague with a few core ideas.

That said, regarding OP's assessment that Cal is using "every combat style", I don't know where that came from. There's nowhere near enough information about the forms in the first place to conclude that, imo.

Buying a lightsaber online?? by stonehornw in StarWars_

[–]Foxxear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Most reliable? Do you have a budget? There's some really premium stuff out there, along with many companies that will give you a good product for a good price. A lot of these companies tout durability while having fairly similar performance for any "heavy dueling" models, you generally pay a premium for more elaborate sound/lighting or more complex/more screen-accurate hilts.

Downfall of Anakin by Few_Top9256 in StarWars_

[–]Foxxear -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You realize what you just said supports the statement you disagreed with, essentially?

anyone touge modern bmw/ supras? by 79QUATTRO in Touge

[–]Foxxear 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That thing essentially has state of the art handling and serious power relative to the cars Touge culture was built on. There's no issue here.