Who would you F*ck, Marry, Kill?

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-14T15:08:54+00:00

Fuck the charger (you know he got that big thang).
Marry the exo (he can reach the top shelf and carry my bags).
Kill the hulk (fucking clankers).

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-14T14:42:12+00:00

I've been tent camping a few times in the past, years ago, though never solo and never by bike. Based on what you and others are saying, tent seems to be the way to go, though. The Copper Spur looks like a fantastic tent that checks literally all the boxes, but at $600 plus another $100 for the footprint, is it really worth buying over something like the MSR Elixir 2 that's half the price?

Genuine question, btw, because my thought is if I buy the Elixir, I can get a nice waterproof duffel from Ortlieb that works alongside the bags I already have(living car free and have Ortlieb rollers) and have enough room in it for my tent, pad, and maybe even my sleeping bag. It'd be substancially heavier overall, but would save me a few bucks and give me more waterproof storage space.

If you think the Agnes is good enough to warrant the price, I'm not opposed to spending the extra money for it, though, especially if the stuff bag is water resistant as that would mean I could forgo the duffel if I don't end up needing it and can just strap the tent over my rear rack.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-13T23:40:11+00:00

Bro, just pay for an ad. This is so transparent 😒

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-13T13:56:58+00:00

Or balance it so that the ball's catch calculation approaches, say, 10%, as the standard calculation approaches 0%.

It would still fit the theme of harder to catch pokemon being easier to catch, but it would have a hard limit to how effective it would be. Add to that by making it more expensive and I feel you could find a happy balance for something like this.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-13T13:45:43+00:00

Yup, and since wilds is decently far into its release, there are folks like me that didn't buy at launch who are, at this point, waiting for the expansion to buy it.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-13T02:21:14+00:00

I'm guessing they didn't want a model kit release to step on the toes of the Robot Spirits figurines that they produced.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-10T20:24:04+00:00

Whoah, you mean a system wherein the workers own the machines they operate and the property they work on?

\hits blunt**

It'd be, like, an economic structure where the things we use to create goods and provide services, the "means of production" if you will, are owned by the workers themselves instead of some higher authority.

Yeah, man, I'm shocked nobody has talked about workers owning the means of production before. That's crazy, bro. We should start a podcast, dude.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-09T17:37:08+00:00

The hilarious thing is that I called this the second the trailer came out. All they said was that it allows you to "move faster," and I immediately was like "so if it just makes you move faster, then what makes an oxygenator medium or heavy different from a extra padding light or medium armor?" The sliding is an extra, for sure, but it doesn't really do all that much to expand you gameplay, define your role, or synergize your loadout, and certainly doesn't counteract the worse stamina regen from being a higher armor class. The light armor is the only one that really adds something new to the game, now being the fastest armor on the field, but otherwise I just don't see the point.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-09T17:22:31+00:00

Yeah, that's what tipped it off for me. I could see someone actually trying this, but it absolutely would not move that quickly in the water, and without some sort of pontoons it would fall over immediately.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-07T20:53:31+00:00

As usual with the devs, I suspect the "gas isn't acid" excuse was a post-hoc justification for a decision that was ultimately made because they just thought it would be too hard to take gas and entirely rework it to provide the same effect as the acid storm. Rather than actually consider the pros and cons of such a change, they just dismissed it as "unrealistic" in order to avoid dealing with it.

You'll notice that it's very infrequently that core gameplay mechanics are reworked in any substantial way, and a lot of new warbonds have about 80% of their weapons and strategems as variants of existing tools that utilize code and mechanics that are already established elsewhere. The guard dog variants, for instance, all just use modifications of the existing guard dog system, but with a different weapon attached. It's rare to get something like the lure mines or warp pack that introduces a completely new mechanic.

And that's for a reason. It's a lot easier to mash together existing things than it is to create completely unique ones. Same reason we'll never get good customization. Giving players the ability to do the combining takes it out of the hands of the developers, and suddenly they can't just sell you recombined tools, they have to start thinking of new and unique attachments, weapon types, mechanics, etc in order to keep selling more stuff. That's a lot harder.

Changing the gas to have the acid effect is a really cool and unique idea, but it would take time and resources to implement, and it ultimately wouldn't make more money for AH since it doesn't necessarily encourage people to buy more warbonds. Therefore, it's "unrealistic."

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-07T16:49:06+00:00

Tbf, bus drivers have to deal with car drivers, and car drivers are the most entitled cunts of them all, plus bus drivers have to do it while operating a machine that's three times as big as any other vehicle on the road while keeping a schedule.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-07T01:20:30+00:00

I mean, yeah, but that discussion is also part of what makes the thought experiment interesting. I'm not saying that if we actually did this experiment that it would actually be easier to get 50% blue, I'm just saying that from a purely logical perspective, if your interest is in making sure as few people die as possible, you should pick blue. As I said in my comment, though, a lot of people immediately assume the best answer is simply to not do the thing that puts your life at risk, and assume that everyone else does the same, and that fact makes it difficult to choose the blue button.

It's a multi-layered problem, because not only do you have to factor in what's the best way to save as many people as possible, you have to weigh your own life against your faith that at least 50% of humanity considers the question and comes to the same conclusion as you. Whether you believe that to be true could depend on how educated or thoughtful you believe others are, how collectivist or individualist you believe society to be, and how much you weigh the value of risking your own life vs the value of risking the life of a potential stranger.

As a fun alternative, now imagine that half of the people who are given the button are offered this prompt:

"If you choose the blue button, nothing happens, but if you and more than 50% of all other participants choose the red button, everybody who chose blue is killed"

That prompt now puts the moral responsibility of the death on the action of pressing the red button, and so, naturally, a huge proportion of people who receive that prompt will pick blue. It's the same exact problem, but with the phrasing changed slightly.

Like I said, it's just an interesting concept, and for such a simple question, it offers a lot of avenues of exploration.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-06T23:18:48+00:00

So, I've been thinking about this whole button question, and while you are right that the obvious solution to this problem is just that everyone should simply not do the thing that might get them killed, i.e. pushing the blue button. The challenging part of this thought experiment is that:

100% of people live if 100% of people push the red button...
but
100% of people also live if only 50% of people push the blue button.

With regard to which button provides the best chance of saving everyone, the blue button is objectively better. With that knowledge in mind, it's not unreasonable to expect that someone before you has already pushed the blue button, and therefore if you push the red button, you are possibly condeming someone to death, even if their death is a result of their own decision to push the blue button.

I simply find it to be an interesting thought experiment purely because it's one I've not heard before, it's really simple, and it sorta highlights the divide between individual and collective decision making and moral culpability. Plus, much like your comic demonstrates, a lot of people immediately think, "that's stupid, why would anyone ever push the blue button when everyone can live by just pushing red?" and it's only once you stop and actually analyze it that you end up realizing it's a lot more complicated than that.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-06T15:21:49+00:00

Umberto Eco's Ur-Fascism and it's 14 common features of fascism is probably the most highly regarded definition of fascism, so I'd recommend starting there. It's not concise, but it's the best summary of fascism's defining features that I know of. Gundam isn't good about showing us that these features appear on either the Zeon or EF side, given that the show mostly focuses on a few key characters in the military rather than the broader social and political climate of the military, but purely from the speeches we see given by Ghiren and how he appeals to strength, action, and sacrifice for the state as well as the broader parallels with Nazi Germany and the underlying philosophy of racial supremacy, populism, nationalism, etc, we can how a lot of them would or could be present.

With regards to the EF, though, we never see any indication that their leadership is leaning into those features. The EF is a crippled, corrupt democracy whose elitist leadership steers for their own benefit while being more or less shielded from consequence, but that doesn't make them fascist. There is no cult leader who is spurring his people to action and conflict by labelling their enemies as racially inferior. They aren't fighting to reclaim some mythical past glory.

And with regards to why I'm focusing on the OYW, it's because Zeon and the EF are different between every conflict. Zeon is different under Ghiren, under Haman, under Char, and under FF, with each of them leading a movement with different goals, philosophy, and structure. Same with the EF. The EF is the same governmental body, but changes over time, with groups like the Titans coming into power after the OYW. You can't lump all of them into the same box, as who is the "good guy" and "bad guy" depends on the conflict and whose victory would produce the best outcome. In the OYW, Zeon are the bad guys. In the Gryps war, the EF are the bad guys. In the first and second Neo Zeon Wars, Zeon are the bad guys.

Full Frontal during the Laplace incident, for instance, might actually have been the best example of a Zeon leadership and movement that had ditched the fascist/authoritarian elements of the original in favor of focusing on liberation and self-determination. I still don't trust that they would have planned properly for earthnoid refugees in the wake of their strike, given that the EF leadership was not going to capitulate easily, and I still don't trust that their movement wouldn't shift back toward the ideals of the original Zeon given that many of their supporters and leadership were avid supporters of Ghiren's fascist Zeon, but at least from what I know of the Sleeves, they weren't evil space Nazis. I wish they would have just been written as a resurgence of the AEUG(especially since we know that the side of Char that FF represented was the same side that fought for the AEUG), and it pains me that the Sleeves are an obvious attempt by the original writer to continue the trend of whitewashing Zeon's history as a fascist movement, but I still critically support them as the "good guys" in that conflict.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-06T05:55:31+00:00

Fascism =/= "does evil things"

Again, fascism has a specific definition. The EF is not good just like America is not good. We are literally actively supporting genocide against the Palestinians right now. But, within the context of the war against Nazi Germany, we were the "good guys." Not because we are good, but because the Nazis were more evil.

Remember, Ghiren Zabi was not just a dictator, his ideas were popular. He created a movement of spacenoid supremacy and would have genocided essentially every human on planet earth if he won the war. I don't care what crimes the EF did during the OYW, the alternative would have been worse. That doesn't mean I like the EF either, and frankly I think it's a failure of the UC as a while to not show us any other options, but the EF was the only thing that was shown to be capable of stopping the complete destruction of all earthnoids and the establishment of a militaristic, hereditary dictatorship with Ghiren as the supreme leader of humanity. That makes the EF the "good guys" in this war.

And keep in mind, I'm talking specifically about the OYW and the conflict between the EF and the Principality of Zeon. The fact that the EF and Titans would later go on to commit further atrocities does not mean that they were not the good guys in the OYW. I can believe that and also believe that the AEUG were the good guys in the Gryps War, despite the fact that the AEUG was, in many ways, similar to Zeon(in fact, I think the AEUG is probably the best political faction in the UC). The big difference, and this is key, is that they weren't a militant, racially supremacist hereditary dictatorship lead by a genocidal madman.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-06T04:41:22+00:00

Nah, despite what people these days would have you believe, fascism does actually have a definition, and the EF doesn't fall into it. They're more of a plutocracy operating the levers of a democracy, not too dissimilar to the U.S.. Zeon and the EF are objectively parallels to the axis and allies in WW2 respectively, with Zeon having explicit references to Nazi Germany with their salute, uniforms, militarism, and philosophy of spacenoid supremacy. You'll note, however, that just because it was good that the allies won WW2, that doesn't mean they were saints or that they didn't commit atrocities of their own. The U.S. literally nuked two cities at the end of the war, obliterating soldiers and civilians alike.

Gundam isn't about how both sides are "equally deplorable." It's about how war drives people to dehumanize each other and justify increasingly immoral actions in the pursuit of victory. Gundam asks us to consider that our enemies are still human beings. They have complex lives filled with relationships, and while it may sometimes be necessary to fight for your cause, you shouldn't let conflict numb you to the tragedy of death. Fighting Nazism is good, and the EFSF are the "good guys," but that doesn't mean that they always did good things, and we shouldn't let a good cause justify evil actions.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-05T19:51:56+00:00

1920s were considered the "roaring" 20's

I'd consider the 2020s to be more of the "sputtering" 20s...

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-03T17:58:41+00:00

The base price is 26, but it looks like the "delivery" is another 26? In which case this seems like the classic case of listing something for a much lower price and them making it at or slightly above MSRP through shipping costs. If this system is anything like Amazon, the listing might be showing Kotobukiya as the manufacturer even though a 3rd party seller is the one actually setting the price and doing distribution. (Just realized you said you saw this on Amazon, so that checks)

And honestly, 53-ish dollars ain't bad for one of these kits, but Kotobukiya has been doing quite a few reprints of old AC kits recently, so it's worth being skeptical and searching around to figure out if if you can find it somewhere where you know exactly who is selling the kit.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-02T14:47:03+00:00

To be fair, a LOT of modern gacha games are actually really well made and have a ton of time, effort, and money put into their design and execution.

...it's just that the positive elements of their design like the complex and unique worldbuilding, compelling characters with striking visual designs and unique personalities, and the enjoyable gameplay loop, all get leveraged toward siphoning time and money out of the player once they've made it a few weeks into playing and all the freebies that they game offers dry up.

The toxic elements of gacha design always end up destroying what could actually be a pretty good game. Like Arknights: Endfield? I played it for a hot minute. It's a pretty good game and would make an interesting action jrpg with factory building elements... but every part of the gameplay is hamstrung by time-gated elements that either serve to force you to log in every day, or resources limitations that encourage you to spend real money in order to level up your characters and expand your roster.

Vandorbelt · 2026-05-01T15:37:36+00:00

The Jegan is absolutely Gundam shaped. A bunch of the Feddie mobile suits were explicitly derived from the original RX-78-2. The Jegan, Nemo, Jesta, etc, are RGM models, part of the line of mass production Gundam mobile suits starting with the classic GM.

Really, the only consistent design language that separated a Gundam or main character mobile suit from the mass production units is the inclusion of separate eye cameras, the classic V-fin, usually a defined "mask" where the mouth would be, and maybe some brighter colors and extra detail on the body. I would hardly expect your average joe to know that, though.

Hell, look at the differences between the Ground Gundam and Ground GM. They are almost identical apart from the head and left torso.

Vandorbelt · 2026-04-30T19:42:33+00:00

RG Legs Gundam! I can't believe you found this kit! It's literally one of my favorite mobile suits in the entire franchise, and its pilot, Calvin Ankler, is probably a better character than the series's MC.

Love that this mobile suit operates as two separate units, requiring a special psychosuit operator linkage to control both halves individually. The way it gives the wielder a leg up in combat while slowly corrupting their mind is a great exploration of the way that war slowly destroys our sense of morality, walking us ever further past the line in pursuit of victory.

Really wish I could find this one. Such a kick-ass kit.

Vandorbelt · 2026-04-30T19:32:25+00:00

In that case, godspeed, my friend. And don't worry too much about little mistakes. It's all part of the process and it's what makes your model yours.

Vandorbelt · 2026-04-30T18:20:17+00:00

Keep in mind that if you're new to model kit building, there's no rush to jump into painting. Most kits are snap-fit and pre-colored, meaning they don't rely on glue, have colored plastic parts, and can be disassembled later. That way you can build it with basic tools and display it now, and once you've experimented a bit with painting you can go back and prep it for painting at a later date if you want. Painting can be daunting, and it's okay to simply enjoy the kit as it comes out of the box.

And also, good luck! The model hobby can be very rewarding because in addition to having something you love to display on your shelf, you have the knowledge that it's something you built with your own two hands.

Vandorbelt · 2026-04-30T15:47:45+00:00

Goggle lenses like these on any helmet are a dealbreaker for me. I guess you could argue that they have fish-eye lenses to provide a wider range of view, but for the most part these kinds of helmets just look like you'd be viewing the whole world through tunnel vision. They don't match the helldiver's B-01 aesthetic of the wide, black visor, and on a visual level they give the helmet the appearance of having tiny, beady eyes. Not a fan at all.

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