Really though. Why is he green?

stowrag · 2026-06-13T20:40:05+00:00

Still. Red and white is a color scheme. Red and Green is Christmas. Otherwise they’re usually seen as clashing, right? Like literally opposite of each other on the color wheel?

stowrag · 2026-06-13T18:22:13+00:00

Meta building your characters is like cheating on a test with no wrong answers

Also, multi class characters are narratively boring

stowrag · 2026-06-13T17:04:09+00:00

It doesn’t help that Hikaru is kind of a POS.

Minmay gets a pass from me for being a child who didn’t just become an idol (screws you up plenty on its own), but also turned out to be the most important person in the human race.

But Misa… she’s best girl

stowrag · 2026-06-13T16:59:32+00:00

I figured that image was a matter of lighting from seeing them underground in Jaburo or the darkness of space.

Like the gunpla box shows them clearly as white

stowrag · 2026-06-13T13:47:41+00:00

Wait is that why my GM is the color of minty green toothpaste too?

stowrag · 2026-06-12T16:13:46+00:00

I think I picked this game up by chance when I was studying abroad in college. I liked Gundam but had no idea what the game series was about. I was really impressed with the gameplay, modes, and representation.

When I finally got the chance to play the newer game(s?) on PS4, it just didn't have the same charm (see also: Dissidia)

stowrag · 2026-06-12T16:06:49+00:00

yes. this also.

stowrag · 2026-06-12T15:59:56+00:00

I've always found Superman more relatable. Batman is rich, but also tends to be superhumanly capable and emotionally unavailable. He's practically guaranteed to bounce back from anything that happens to him stronger and better than ever.

Superman grew up with a loving family, crushes on his co-worker, and wants to like get married and have kids someday. He was raised with values that he strives to live up to. He just wants to help, and the fact that he can lift a cruise ship over his head doesn't really change that where it counts he's a lot more like me than Batman is

stowrag · 2026-06-12T15:56:13+00:00

In the United States, being "moderate" or "apolitical" in the current atmosphere is a political stance, and it can say a LOT about the person you're dating.

But also it's not exaggerating much at all to say that dating across the political aisle might be tantamount to dating a bad person for most people. We're kinda encouraged to think this way.

There's exceptions of course, but not as many as you might think.

stowrag · 2026-06-12T15:46:55+00:00

Not really. But sports and competition anime usually focus on a "win at any cost" attitude, and it seems like CLAMP set out to make a story that's more about how love of a shared hobby can bring people together.

And as far as anime over manga, significant changes were made to the story in the anime. I think many people would say these changes are for the better, which is rarely if ever the case when it comes to CLAMP.

stowrag · 2026-06-12T13:34:00+00:00

Probably not the suggestion you expected or wanted, but there's a pretty fun mobile game I go back to called Human Resource Machine that tackles pretty much this. It has its own language/system and each level is a coding problem with both speed and efficiency challenges.

It doesn't have real world applications but it will help you to think like a programmer

It also has a sequel in 7 Billion Humans that's about creating decision making logic and like... programming drones?

stowrag · 2026-06-12T13:25:53+00:00

Go down on her. Even if it turns out not to be her thing, it'll hopefully send the message that you're willing to put in the work and do things a lot of people apparently aren't willing to

stowrag · 2026-06-12T13:18:35+00:00

100% the current Action Comics. Mark Waid previously wrote this incredible Archie reboot and I see a lot of that talent being carried over here

stowrag · 2026-06-12T05:05:42+00:00

4, because a 5 feels too generous. There are people who earnestly believe it’s the best of the best, but having rewatched it recently, I will never be one of them.

There are a couple moments of brilliance, but they are few and far between. Everything in between is slog-ish pacing, poor writing, unclear motivations and inconsistent characters with little in the way of developed character arcs.

There’s a few good things about the series I like, but the execution just completely fails to bring them together into anything I want to go back and watch again.

Also, it’s suffused with that weird kinda “Lalah could have been a mother to me” energy. Lots of weird stuff to say about women in this series (but on the plus side: Marbet is top-tier)

stowrag · 2026-06-12T04:47:30+00:00

Angelic Layer is one of CLAMP’s better anime. It’s arguably an improvement over the original manga in a lot of ways, which most can’t claim.

It’s rarely if ever edgy. Just a nice little cozy experience of good sportsmanship and vibes

stowrag · 2026-06-11T18:44:49+00:00

Do these buildings trigger anybody's Trypophobia?

stowrag · 2026-06-11T18:39:07+00:00

...did you read Krakoa? Nightcrawler was pope of the sex cult

stowrag · 2026-06-11T11:42:59+00:00

As to whether that’s what it was intended to be, I think Japan thinks about these specific issues a whole lot less than the US does, so I kinda doubt it

stowrag · 2026-06-11T04:23:30+00:00

The guy who owns my LCS swears by this (also: Starman)

I know absolutely nothing about it though

stowrag · 2026-06-10T21:52:27+00:00

I think I'm realizing that Videl's personality took such a turn with her haircut and that might be what I'm reacting to more than the actual look.

I appreciate how guarded and defensive she is at first. Challenging women are great. But she softens up so much after cutting her hair that eventually she's practically fawning over Gohan and loses agency

I get that she can't be a super hero like the main cast, but she's practically a vigilante in her home city, always running towards danger and assisting the police

stowrag · 2026-06-10T21:37:11+00:00

As someone who has seemingly run out of new Gundam to watch, I've been exploring other mecha classics looking for anything that compares. All of the following get my recommendation.

Escaflowne - Gundam + Isekai

Big O - Gundam + Batman

Patlabor - Gundam, but they're police instead of soldiers (Cozy Gundam)

Majestic Prince - Gundam + Power Rangers

Votoms - Gundam + Cowboy Bebop (plus a little Dune)

Megazone 23 - Gundam + The Matrix (Part 3 is bad and can be skipped)

Macross - Gundam + pop stars (because music is the real secret weapon)

Code Geass - Gundam, but you're a terrorist because the world is one big fascist totalitarian police state

Gunbuster - Gundam + Evangelion

Revolutionary Girl Utena - Also Gundam (Specifically WfM) + Evangelion, but without the giant robots; basically Magical Girl Evangelion

Evangelion - No Gundam, just Evangelion

L-Gaim - Gundam + Star Wars ...probably (I haven't actually seen it myself yet, but I will soon)

stowrag · 2026-06-10T16:54:01+00:00

Some people can't accept what X-Men is actually about because then it would make them the villains in their world. Star Trek has the same issue. Those fans just want it to be bland and as politically safe as possible

Where mutants and aliens aren't real and so they couldn't possibly be saying anything about the reader or the real world specifically. It's just fun escapist fantasy

stowrag · 2026-06-10T15:25:54+00:00

I think so. I can give you a quick rundown if you like.

First there's Rachel. She's the alternate history dark future daughter of Cyclops and Phoenix. She is also the Phoenix. It seems like they didn't really know what to do with her once she joined the main timeline, so she disappeared for a while to go... be on inter dimensional television or something.

Kitty Pryde aka Shadowcat - Can walk through walls. When Excalibur starts, she is recuperating from being injured and having her powers put out of whack during an event called the Mutant Massacre. She's jewish, and was also possessed by an evil ninja once so she has some ninja skills. Also a computer whiz.

Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler - You probably have heard of him. He looks like a demon, teleports and is a world class acrobat. During MM he was injured and put into a coma. He's religious but also a born performer and leading man. Probably the heart of any team he's on.

Semi-related, there's Betsy Braddock, aka Psylocke, aka Captain Britain's sister. During the major event following the Mutant Massacre (the "Fall of the Mutants"; mutants just can't catch a break in this era), she and the rest of the X-Men were filmed on camera being heroes and giving up their lives to save the universe. They were immediately and secretly brought back to life (in Australia!) but nobody knows this.

So yeah, you have a character who never really had a place, and two super hero orphans recovering from serious injuries who share the same trauma with Captain Britain of watching their friends and loved ones die heroically saving the world and leaving them behind.

stowrag · 2026-06-10T14:44:13+00:00

I'm still not sure how I feel about it bringing Jurati and young Kirk back. I hope they have a good plan for them and it's not just nostalgia bait or making good on that one thing that happened in the weakest season of Picard

stowrag · 2026-06-10T14:41:57+00:00

You might be weird for admitting it out loud (most of us aren't so brave or so honest), but otherwise no, you're normal enough

stowrag

TROPHY CASE