#he was just done really well and i have no other iterations to compare it to but i don't need them i just feel it

[lanechester]

Ok but Oliver and Carter really do have this underrated fantastic dynamic. Because yes, the constant bickering and jabs and jokes are pure comedy but there's also some really important scenes between them. Oliver being the first to hear about his neverending tale with Shayera and telling him to give up the death wish and fight for the friends he initially stayed for. Then cut to Carter offering condolence when Chloe is MIA in season 10. Theres still that snarky back and forth in Oliver's "you're not gonna hug me are you?" But deep down there was heart there. And they always got the message even with the grumpy façade

[mauesartetc]

A while back I got a comment that demonstrated a misconception as to what the character design process actually entails, and I thought it had real "teachable moment" potential. So let me make this perfectly clear:

Drawing a character is NOT the same as designing one.

Let's say I wanted to draw a guy. No backstory, no defined personality traits or preferences, no details about his current life, just doodling some random, generic guy who popped into my head.

That's just a drawing.

But what if I decided to flesh him out more? What if I wanted his appearance to reflect his lifestyle and inner life as well? Here's where the note-taking comes in.

And now for the visual research:

I thought the bodybuilding angle would provide a fun contrast with this guy's profession. The mental image of a huge, burly dude working on a clock or watch with tiny, precise movements just makes me smile. Perhaps I could give him small, nimble hands that would suit his line of work.

Now that I have a better idea of how Mikhail's face and body will look, it's time to establish a pose.

Of course, I never expected to employ all the personality traits I started out with inside this single pose; those were just a jumping-off point. No one drawing will ever be able to encapsulate every single facet of a character, unless they're extraordinarily flat and generic (see also: random guy I doodled at the start of this post). If I wanted to write a story with this guy, I'd have to figure out how all the traits play off each other and how they'd cause him to react to different situations. There would be a lot more note-taking and development involved, but for the sake of keeping this post (somewhat) brief, let's just focus on visuals for now.

On to color!

I decided to give Mikhail a carnation in his pocket (for its round shape), specifically a red one, which represents deep love and an aching heart. Thus, the flower needed to maintain its red color for the symbolism to come through.

For some reason I initially pictured this guy wearing a pink shirt (perhaps as an offshoot of the "romantic" angle), but I wanted to try some different colors inspired by the 70s catalog pages I found. I ended up really liking the contrast of the cool blue shirt with the warm red pants, and that option made it into my top three as a result. I lined them up next to each other to compare them, and in the end, blue won out over pink. I think it also reflects the "colder", more cerebral, less-emotional parts of his personality well (namely "systematic", "stern", and "callous"- one from each column!). Just goes to show that you shouldn't get too attached to your first draft, as better ideas are just around the corner.

I then lightened the blue of the shirt so it wouldn't compete so much with the rest of the outfit, and wouldn't be quite as loud and "in your face". Mikhail strikes me as a bit of an introvert, so the calmer, quieter blue is a better fit. I added a darker belt and watchband and de-saturated the flower just a bit to make the values feel more balanced, and I think we've got it!

Let's see the final result!

Y'all, I was not expecting this process to make me emotional, but there's something special about fully realizing a little guy you've spent hours working on. All of a sudden you look at him and go, "Oh my god, there he is. That's him." This man wasn't even a twinkle in my eye a couple weeks ago and now I'd protect him with my life.

And the thing is, the only reason I'm calling this design "done" for now is that I basically just brought it into existence to make a point. But if this dude were attached to a larger story, he'd be nowhere near finished. I'd have to make a ton more iterations and go a lot more in depth with my research than I did (especially with the Armenian cultural stuff). Overall, though, I hope this quick project properly highlighted the difference between a single drawing and a more fleshed-out character.

Later!

[dysfunctional-doodle]

Just watched Mutant Mayhem, here are my thoughts!

Overall: Yes, very good I suggest everyone watch it when they can or I will break your knees :)

I’m going to end up rambling far too much unless I split this properly, so I’m going to break it down into sections starting from what I believe is most important in a movie.

This post is still going to be a mess ngl

Story: 8/10

The story is actually very good! It was paced very well and ended in a very touching way. No character interactions or plot beats felt forced or cliché, and no forced identity politics which is always a plus.

The action scenes - of course they were amazing. Paired with the stellar animation, each action scene was brilliantly directed and choreographed. The start shows the turtles’ origin story is similar to most of the iterations with its own unique factors - in this case the ooze was created by Baxter Stockman.

The conflict of the plot was well written, the final act was great and ends with a hopeful and satisfying ending (there is a mid credit scene that teases something big for the series though!).

If it’s any consolation, it’s also very friendly to new fans of TMNT - I went with someone who has not seen any TMNT media before and they really liked it and understood it easily.

Characters: 9/10

Needless to say, all the characters were very well done. Despite its run time and large cast, each one feels grounded with their own unique personality.

For starters: the four main boys! They were done brilliantly - Mikey being hopeful and optimistic whilst naturally being empathetic, Raph channeling chaotic good energy with his iconic rage personality not being over the top, Donnie being a geek in the best way possible, and Leo trying to be a good leader and anxious, always looking out for his brothers but not a complete teachers pet. All very likeable, and I can’t wait to see them in the series!

Splinter: probably the best since 2003! Openly caring of his sons and worries a great deal about how humans will perceive them. Has his own trauma from his experience with humans so he tries to protect his sons by isolating them completely, but eventually realises that his own view of humans should not affect his son’s happiness and lets them fulfil their dream of trying to be accepted by humans even if he will never like humanity himself. Peak character development, 10/10.

Villain/s: all of them felt fleshed out and I look forward to seeing them in the series! Posed their own genuine threats with varying levels of morals. Again, all were fleshed out quite well and played a role in the story.

April: honestly, she didn’t have too much in it compared to the others but does play a key role in the final act and the ending itself. An interesting iteration of April, curious to see more of her.

Animation: 10000000/10

It was brilliant. What else can I say? Though inspired by Spider-verse it is its own style which is amazing to look at. It thrives in action scenes and landscapes. Another groundbreaking style that I hope to see influence others.

Music: 8/10

It slaps. Almost all of them I will be playing for the next week or so. The soundtracks really set the mood beautifully, especially the sombre track. Paired with the animation - ugh - chefs kiss

Overall Rating: 8/10

I am usually very very harsh with films, so for me to rate anything above a seven is basically unheard of. Probably my favourite movie of 2023, and my favourite TMNT movie. 2003 only just beats it overall but that’s mostly because I’ve known it for longer - who knows, a few more rewatches and it might overtake.

[corviiids]

back in your asks unfortunately you can’t get rid of me. i’m going to keep enablign you.

you bringing up the kr version of hurricane and the martyr complex light has in it is great bc what fascinates me about hurricane as a song is how radically different it is in different languages? as we all know in the manga light has this horrible visceral reaction to what he’s done. he looks like he’s gonna be sick when he has that guy hit by a truck. when ryuk turns up he admits that he’s been losing weight and barely sleeping. but the musicals differ so massively in how light is portrayed? because in english light seems to have this very strong sense of justice from the start - in where is the justice he denounces the corporations corrupting the legal system and asks “how can we turn away and say that’s just the way things are?” and then in hurricane he hardly seems upset at all by what he’s done. he seems vaguely surprised at how easy it was and then turns around and sings about how he’s got this insanely strong, perfect, untraceable power that he’s going to use to deliver righteous retribution. BUT then the jp versions of witj and hurricane are much less certain and light seems more horrified and then hopeful. the focus is on creating a perfect world, not necessarily punishment. he’s more a glass half full kinda guy. and then it changes AGAIN in the kr. it’s so fascinating he is a completely different version of himself in all three versions and i just need to ask. what are your opinions on this. am i making this up. do you understand how my brain is firing

you are NOT making this up and i DO understand how your brain is firing. listen. listen. in that same post about light/achilles (intertextual comparison not ship) (although?) and prompted by a response from someone else cool i reposted these tweets (which you have literally just seen because i shoved them at you but ill post them again so everyone can see)

to me it is like, very key that every iteration of light yagami SEEMS really different. in their behaviour, their values, what it takes to push them to acting and how they react, etc - obv you've brought up light as he appears in the three most well known languages the musical exists in, but i also am a huge fan of comparing his animanga self (already two different iterations to an extent) with the tv drama, which has maybe the most distinctive version of light out of all of them and which i BELIEVE? drew criticism? but i am not 100% because i was not here for this because i watched death note for the first time in fucking february. because i am hip with the kids. #rad

anyway this is part of a much larger ramble of mine that i am not really doing justice here but i actually really like that that version of light is so incredibly different - and yet he really isnt, somehow, because he ends up not only at the same ending but recognisable as the same person. that's what i think is so interesting! these differences are undeniably there and they're BIG - as you said, between musicals he ranges from being a vengeful guy on a power trip to being an idealist with a martyr complex, and you'd think those are two totally different sets of core values. between animanga vs tv drama he goes from being this cool and collected hyper prepared cynical idealist to being a depressed nihilist who's working extremely hard to shed his own ability so he doesn't have to deal with the pain of caring. again, these seem, and factually are, completely different sets of values.

and yet they're actually perfectly reconcilable. every iteration of light no matter how distinct and no matter how much their core values seem to oppose or contradict each other ends up reconciling into the same guy partway through the story, where all of these different directions he's been going in all converge. his priorities even out - regardless of if it was the power trip that came first or the desire for the perfect world, they balance ultimately and coexist. regardless of whether his idealism led him to bitter radicalisation or nihilism, they also balance ultimately and coexist. is light affected by his first murder? yes - how does it show it? that differs, but none of the lights are actually deluded enough to think that murder is good. they all think it's bad but defensible and justifiable and then visibly cope with that fact in different ways. light looks like a VERY different man depending on which of his values are being pushed to the fore in a given interpretation, but all that really does is serve to spell out exactly how complex he is internally once you watch them all converge at around similar points in the story, even when at the barest and most uncharitable interpretation he just looks like a maniacal serial killer with a delusional god complex. this is why i like him so much unfortunately

also none of this applies to netflix light who is irreconcilable and irredeemable. and white

[centrally-unplanned]

I don’t remember you doing Gorbachev’s VOR (apologies if you already did), so, if you are willing: Gorbachev, middling VORcel or negative VOR?

I didn't! He is hard because essentially you need like a third axis for people like Gorbachev - someone who was hugely impactful but in a 'fuck up' sort of way. It seems wrong to mark Gorbachev and like Rudy Guiliani during 9/11 as the same tier, right? The latter just did nothing and took media credit, the former made massive, bold plays that blew up in his face. So yeah, lets use negative VOR for that.

I tend to be on the team of "the USSR was not in crisis" in 1985; it had reached the limits of its model for growth, and was definitely going to go through a budget crunch and stuff, but that isn't terminal for a lot of societies. The reformist faction in the CPSU was not the majority, and even dissident groups at this time were overwhelmingly looking at marginal changes. Gorbachev himself was elected by his supporters as a younger, status-quo 'tinkerer' - he by no means outlined a revolutionary agenda to get in power.

Gorbachev's killer talent was playing the party system - he played the long game, essentially coming up the ranks as a quintessential moderate and then revealing himself as a radical to break the illusion of consensus in CPSU thinking. Its a rare talent and I think he deserves credit for that; iterated over dozens of major events, he broke precedent policy and reigned in the conservative faction to back his new way. He does a *lot* of political gamesmanship in this period which is generally underappreciated, which he does to stack the deck against halting reform. I think there are very high odds the USSR does not embark on Glasnot & Perestroika in 1987 without him, and the nature of those reforms is really critical.

They are critical because they are complete cock-ups, and went far into imploding the Soviet economy & system of governance. At this point he deserves less credit; the fall of Eastern Europe was probably not a coup of Gorbachev's political daring, but instead a system moving into freefall and trying to cut its losses; it is in fact amazing how little opposition it got inside the USSR (they also did not see it coming at the speed and scale it did). And by 1990 Gorbachev is out of ideas, desperately begging for aid abroad to 'transition' the economy while others like Yeltsin are building parallel state structures and people like Yavlinsky are building the 500 Days Economic Programme. He is clearly out of his depth; he knew how to manipulate the party system to obtain power, but was inadequate to the task of what to do with that power once he had it.

Though while he was never in the drivers seat on the later reforms, something he did do was serve as a block on the CPSU getting better leadership in power; even during the August 1991 coup they had no intention or plan to replace him as GenSec. In this way he has (negative) VOR value as well - how well he stacked the deck came back to haunt the USSR, and not many others could have done it like he did.

There are deep structural forces at play here too, just don't have time to get into those. Overall I say essentially [B+], with the understanding that its pointing into the 'failure' direction of the 'impact' chart compared to his fellow B-tiers.

[ecargmura]

Wonderful Precure Episode 2 Review - Cure Friendy Takes No L's

This episode surprised me a lot. First, there’s the debut of a second Precure already. Second, the formula seems a lot different than previous iterations. Third, it makes me wonder what will happen later on. Regardless, I really liked what I saw in this episode.

I’m still new to Precure, but is it normal to have the second Precure debut in the second episode? Hirogaru Sky had it so that Prism debuted in Episode 4, as well as Delicious Party. I feel like this was to make it so that Wonderful has a motive to keep doing Precure stuff. Despite that, Cure Friendy’s transformation sequence was legit amazing. While Wonderful’s is good, Friendy’s is super well done from the hair animation to the brooch animation to the running animation. I love it a lot! My only gripe about Cure Friendy is that her skirt is poofy like Wonderful’s. Given that Nyammy and Lillian have different skirt patterns, it made me wonder why both Wonderful and Friendy have the same skirt. Also, Friendy? Really? That’s the name you’re going with? Not Friendly? I guess her design and transformation rocked so hard they took the L off of her name. She takes no L’s.

The formula is a bit different from previous series as it seems to revolve around healing corrupted animals without using finishers or combat. I guess it’s to tell kids to not hurt animals in a way? I said that it’s a bit different because the focus character isn’t Komugi but Iroha in a way. She feels more like the main character, which makes sense because she’s a human while Komugi is a dog meaning she has the intelligence of a dog and not a human’s. Because of that Komugi is rather simplistic as a character compared to Iroha who’s more prone to worrying about Komugi because she cares about her so much. I really liked the part where she starts thinking back to the day she met her dog and how her life changed because of her. Despite Animal Town being known as a harmonious place where humans and animals coincide, Komugi was abandoned. This means that Komugi is from outside of the town or there’s someone in Animal Town cruel enough to abandon their pet. I legit felt a bit emotional when I saw Iroha shielding Komugi from the rain with her umbrella. I am a HUGE sucker for any scene where someone shields the other from the rain.

Speaking of Komugi, I was worried about how they were going to handle her human form but it turns out that she can change back into a dog; as a dog, she can finally talk now, which is a whole new set of shenanigans for her as Komugi’s animal instincts have a hard time helping her keep things a secret. She accidentally tries to speak to Yoko, which Iroha covers her mouth and then speaks again when Satoru was nearby. Dogs do have short term memory, so it makes sense if she had forgotten about keeping her newfound talking abilities a secret.

Mayu makes another appearance in Iroha’s family’s pet center. It turns out that Yoko is a veterinarian and Tsuyoshi is a pet groomer as he’s the one who made the collars that Mayu seems interested in. I hope Mayu paid for that blue collar. Satoru seems to be a familiar face at Iroha’s place as he comes in with Daifuku and asks if he could use the dog park. Daifuku is so adorable. There’s a very soothing aspect about Satoru in a way, like his demeanor and aura. The official website for Wonderful Precure states that Daifuku is male, so I will be using male pronouns when talking about Daifuku going forth. I do wonder if Daifuku and Satoru will be mid season Precures.

The animals of this show are so cute. The ostrich was cute and the GaruGaru form was rather adorable looking compared to Mey Mey’s GaruGaru form last episode.  Mey Mey is super adorable! Maybe I’m just biased because I like sheep but look at him! He’s a fluffy sheep! His schtick of saying “Dameeeee” with him crossing his arms reminds me of Lacey in the Indigo Disk DLC who does the same thing with her arms. Mey Mey is from Niko Garden where animals live harmoniously, like Animal Town. I do wonder what sort of darkness befell the garden that it caused all of them to become GaruGarus. It’s also the first time I’ve seen a Precure show where the villains haven’t shown up—just the monster of the day but not sight of a villainous team anywhere. Will they appear later on? Or is the villain just darkness? Mey Mey is voiced by Shinnosuke Tachibana. He’s actually not a newcomer to Precure as he voiced Prince Kanata in Go! Princess Precure. I haven’t watched that show yet, but I’ve heard so many good things about it. Speaking of returning casts, I looked up that Atsumi Tanezaki, Cure Friendy’s voice actress, has voiced Puka in the All Stars F movie, which I haven’t seen yet. It’s cool that they’re getting many returning voice actors to play new characters.

I can’t wait to see what Niko Garden looks like and what our heroes need to do to restore peace and balance to the other world. What are your thoughts about this episode?

[mutantninjamidlifecrisis]

How did you come up with leon's stage name?

*rubs my grubby hands together* so glad you asked.

Honestly, I kind of struggled to come up with a stage name for him. Rōnin was a strong contender for a while due to the connotations attached to that name (someone that has deserted their homeland, someone who finds the way without belonging to one place, a wandering samurai with no lord or master), but that's Mikey's name from the Ronin-verse, which is already well-known and beloved, so I didn't really want to re-use that. I went through a couple iterations of other names that didn't quite feel right, and got to the point where I was like 'I am about to throw this old man into the pit with a slutty outfit and call it a day'.

Then I went back through what Big Mama knows of Leon (since she'll be the one picking out a name, not me) and I went over that little speech he gave to her when he was trying to bullshit his way out of his predicament.

"... he may be an annoying, egotistical, self-centred little shit, but I can assure you, he’s nothing compared to me. A true natural disaster, worse than any pitiful tornado, earthquake or flood this world has ever laid witness to..." He reconsiders this idea, finding it lacking for all that he's done, not dramatic enough. "No. I'm worse than that. I’m a meteor. An extinction event. I unleashed the Krang onto this world. I’ve destroyed the lives of millions of people just to stand before you now. I’ve sent the people I love most in this world to their graves for nothing more than a small possibility of success. I've obliterated everything that I've ever enjoyed.”

So. Turns out I didn't have to go scrounging around my brain bank for a moniker. Leon's kind of already chosen a dramatic ass name for himself here. Unfortunately, I do not speak Japanese. I use and abuse google translate.

Also meaning shooting/falling star. Also also Ryusei is apparently a boy's name meaning shining bright, or one who is reborn as holy and prosperous. I enjoyed the irony here.

[dg-outlaw]

Blue Beetle - Movie Review

Finally got to see this on HBO Max... yes, "MAX" we still think of you as HBO just as Grogu is still Baby Yoda. Deal with it.

So, back to 'Blue Beetle'.

Long review, short, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and think it's one of DC's best in their quasi-DCEU/not DCEU or whatever is going on with WB and the DC movies these days. From what I understand, James Gunn/WB is not scrapping everything from the Snyder-verse/DCEU, but changes are coming and there's rumor that this iteration of Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle will stick around and I really hope so. I also think it helps that there were no character cameos in the film, only mentions of heroes like Superman, Batman, etc. so this Blue Beetle could easily be folded into the upcoming Gunn-verse.

As a latino I'm both ashamed to say I don't know much about Jaime Reyes' Blue Beetle outside of his appearances on the 'Young Justice' animated series, but I was also excited to see him on the big screen (metaphorically) and plan to go back and check out his comics.

I won't do a random synopsis as you can easily hit up a Youtube trailer or read an IMDb blurb to get that info, but I will talk about some of things I really enjoyed about this film. Warning: Slight Spoiler's ahead.

First off, this was overall a well-polished, well-written, directed, acted, and enjoyable film. The CGI was CGI, but it never felt janky and I could see the attention to detail in a lot of the VFX work, even with Jaime's practical Blue Beetle suit. I also truly appreciated that this film took risks and didn't shy away from taking those risks, creating stakes and sometimes following through, and addressing certain cultural and socio-economic subject matter without being preachy. In some ways I compare it to the MCU's 'Black Panther' in tackling the cultural and socio-economic things that mainstream, especially Disney, often tries to shy away from.

While 'Blue Beetle' isn't as serious in tone as 'Black Panther' there were several moments in the film where you knew that the writer and director had some creative leeway as opposed to having lots of studio oversight, just as Ryan Coogler had in the first 'Black Panther' film. I'm not sure if this is because WB wasn't paying attention because the DCEU was dying off or if they were somehow convinced to let the creators do their thing.

There were also so many moments where my Hollywood Blockbuster/MCU-trained brain said, "now is where they pull away from the hard moment, make a joke to pull away from a real emotion, or water down the stakes", but that didn't happen in this film. Yes, it was funny throughout, and jokes were made to lighten the mood where appropriate, but it was never at a disservice to the story or the characters. There were no moments where I felt like some director/screenwriter/studio-exec was getting embarrassed because it's a superhero movie so [insert Whedon-esque quip here] to avoid showing feelings.

Plus, you had George Lopez bringing his well-known loud, wild humor as the conspiracy theory spouting, 1% hating, mad-scientist Uncle Rudy, but if anything I think he was needed to give light to a story that potential to be really dark and sad at times. This is not to say there weren't moments that tugged at your heartstrings and made you feel or think. This movie went there because yes, we can think it's cheesy because it's just a superhero movie, but in-universe these events are reality for the characters and I think other superhero movies need to remember that. This was really well done in the first transformation scene of Jaime into the Blue Beetle as it started with light humor and slowly morphed into an almost horror-film like scene. There was no gore, but you felt the terror that Jaime and his family were feeling by watching things unfold. We, as the audience know what's going on, but for him and the family, the shit was hitting the fan and they didn't know what was going on.

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from this film. Having recently watched Shazam 2, which I thought was really funny and better than the first, but also forgettable and the Flash movie (which I also thought was fun but forgettable), I just expected more popcorn fun--the last sugary drops of the DCEU slushie before the Gunn-verse got underway. What I recalled about the trailers and vague reviews about this film was that it was a fun superhero movie that focused heavily on family.

But unlike the popcorn, turn your brain off and enjoy chaos of the Fast franchise, it didn't require Vin Diesel, 30 movies, and an endless string of memes to drill that concept into your head. Yes, Jaime Reyes is the hero in the film, but it's the collective efforts and support of his family that ends up helping him win in the end and it's what gave the movie heart.

This is also not meant to take away from Xolo Maridueña's performance as Jaime Reyes as the hero, an actor I've enjoyed since first seeing him on the Netflix series 'Cobra Kai'. Just like in 'Cobra Kai', I continue to enjoy his almost innocent boyish charm, shyness, and vulnerability he exudes on-screen. In some ways his character and performance remind me of Tom Holland's Spider-Man as just this kid trying to do the right thing, but is totally in over his head as a teen superhero (even though Jaime is a recent college grad from Gotham U). And just like Peter Park, Jaime didn't ask to be a hero and had no real aspirations for being a hero, other than to his family, but in the end he stepped up. This was not for cool points, though Jaime eventually learned to embrace the scarab's many cool powers, but because he knew it was the right thing to do. And yes, Mr. Vin Diesel, because of family.

I could go on and on about all the cultural moments and subject matter addressed in this film that I thought was really brave and refreshing in a superhero movie, but I won't as that's a giant article in it of itself. But I honestly think Disney/Marvel could take some pointers here as they often pull away just as they are about to get there. Also, no hate on MCU. There are many of the MCU films I enjoy, but the overall formula hasn't gotten tired and needs a revamp. Again, another post for another day, but just putting in a BIPOC, female, or LGBTQ character in a movie doesn't make it good and marketable. And no, we don't need PSA sob-story movies beaten into our heads, but what does it mean to be part of a marginalized community and be a hero? What does that look like? What different perspective does that character bring to the table?

In the end, yes, enjoy 'Blue Beetle' as a superhero movie, but also keep an eye out for the smaller messages and heart of this film as it was a delightful surprise for me. I hope we get to see more Blue Beetle in the future of DC films and I'd even be down for a live-action adaptation of 'Young Justice', with Jaime on the team.

[radroller]

HANK PYM COSTUME RATINGS

At long last, here are my thoughts on the many looks and identities of Marvel’s own Hank Pym!!! Being a fan of this guy is a real rollercoaster, but his costumes are always so great and interesting, ive wanted to talk about them for ages!!! As some of his looks kinda blend together Ive tried to stick with the bare essentials (barring ones i especially like) but you can generally assume that i rate most of the suits of a given identity the same unless i specifically state otherwise. So here we go!!!!!

Ant-Man 10/10

What can i say? You can’t make an ant themed character much cooler than this. The irresistible 60s scifi charm of his big chrome helmet, the red, black, and blue color scheme with patterns that say “i am a super scientist” but gloves that say “im attemptint to look visually interesting.” Naturally Hank forgets he’s wearing some of the coolest headgear in comics. Ant-Man has had some good looks and updates but the charm of this one is pretty undeniable.

Giant Man 8/10

I think we can all agree that Giant Man kinda sucks, but damn if he didnt look cool! I guess he kept the antennae to keep some Ant-Man functionality, but you rarely see him using it. That’s fine though, it gives him a cool and distinct silhouette. It’s strange, if this were a new look for him as Ant Man, id call it a more considerable downgrade, yet Hank becoming Giant Man is a downgrade in just about every sense of the word. And even so, i LOVE Giant Man! It’s a conundrum!

Giant Man Redux: 6/10

I think they were trying to recapture the scifi tech charm of Ant-Man with this one, and it does kinda work! I think my main issue with this one is that it doesnt stick around long enough to really win me over. There are far more minor and insignificant variations of Hank’s suits that stick around way longer than this one. And id say this suit’s pretty damn significant, he left the Avengers for the the first time wearing this shit! I wish they’d played around with it some more.

Goliath: 8/10

Goliath is extremely solid. I have to wonder if Marvel was conscious of Giant Man being a loser that they felt the need to rebrand him like this, there’s little significant changeover from his previous identity other than color scheme and name besides him being stuck at 10 ft tall for a bit. I LOVE the addition of the goggles btw, one of my earliest exposures to that design trope i love so much.

The weird thing with Goliath is that they make him look more and more like Giant Man while refusing to change his name. Like again i know the guy got his ass best plenty of times but when you add antennae and red to his costume….that’s just Giant Man! But whatever the case, i give Goliath and all of his iterations a solid thumbs up.

Yellowjacket: 10/10

The PINNACLE as far as im concerned. What if you took Ant-Man and refined his charming but clunky scifi elements into something sleek, aerodynamic, and downright badass, while still having bright colors? You get Yellowjacket! I can’t stress how much i loved this suit as a kid. Do you know how rare it is to have a primarily yellow superhero who looks cool? It’s mostly just Wolverine, and he didn’t even exist at this point! I also like how it sorta resembles Wasp’s original outfit, though you probably wouldn’t get a chance to compare given Jan’s ever shifting wardrobe. It’s really a shame how maligned the Yellowjacket identity is because id love to see this design again, but its lasting association with the worst shit ever done with Hank pretty much made sure that’ll never happen.

West Coast Avengers: -/10

It’s funny that what is arguably the height of Hank’s superhero career comes from when he’s vehemently not a superhero anymore. Thus, in terms of costumes…well this isnt a costume! But for what it is, it’s great. A nice practical super science getup. But i have trouble rating it on the same scale as the rest. Just know that I love it!

90s Hank: 5/10

I was ready to rip this thing a new one, but tbh it isnt bad. The only thing that keeps it from being truly good is the stupid pouches, but i cant outright call it bad when it’s basically a worse version of Atlas from Thunderbolts’ costume without them. It’s passable.

Giant Man???: 10/10

Yeah, I know. Confusing, isnt it? Well listen, regardless of names and costumes and what have you, this is by far my favorite variation on the original Goliath look. The red goggles just do it for me! I love primary color schemes and i prefer a touch of red to a touch of yellow, yknow?

Goliath??????: 8/10

So NOW he can be Goliath. That makes perfect sense. Yeesh. This suit is cool though i like it. It’s based on a Goliath suit Jan designed for Hank, but by then he’d had become Yellowjacket, so Hawkeye became Goliath for a while instead. It’s a nice callback, and while I don’t actually care for that Goliath look, there’s no way a redesign by George Perez at the height of his career and abilities is gonna be anything less than great.

Wasp: 7/10

Was Mighty Avengers good? I read a couple of issues and remembered enjoying it, but that was when i hated every other Avengers book do idk if that means it was actually good, yknow? Anyway while losing Jan as the Wasp and gaining Hank is about as big a net loss as i can think of, this is NOT a bad look. There are only a few gripes i feel: I get what they were going for with the design on his chest but it makes him look like he’s The Stickbug and not The Wasp. Secondly, i think the goggles are kinda lame compared to some of his other eye/headwear he’s sported throughout the years. That’s about it! Not bad for the worst Wasp in the main continuity!

[ut-versotale]

Update Time, Update Time

Welcome back, everyone. Hope you all had a very happy New Years! I come bearing a late present for you all: A Versotale update!

Game Progress

As I anticipated, I needed to take a break around the middle of November so I could focus on schoolwork. Now that we've been on break for a little while again and will continue to be for the better part of January, I've already gotten a sizable chunk of stuff done. Still not as much as I would've LIKED to have completed - There are still like only three fully-completed rooms at the moment, and even then they have a ton of WIP assets and first-pass dialogue and all - but, that is the way of coding a game solo, mostly from scratch, and with the occasional glances at Undertale's code, isn't it?

Unfortunately, while I really want to share stuff with you guys, it's all in some way a spoiler that I don't want to spoil for the people who'd rather experience everything fresh for themselves.

...

So, if you DO wanna experience everything fresh for yourself, feel free to bow out of this post here. If you're sticking around, enjoy some mild spoiler-y content, some character designs, and some fun vague allusions to things I still really wanna talk about! I need to give you guys SOMETHING after this long wait, right?

Game Progress: Slightly Spoiler-y Edition

The OPENING CUTSCENE you saw a while back has been tweaked slightly to make Hercine more likable, and so the dialogue can flow a bit more naturally.

Two new cutscenes have been added to the beginning, albeit with some rough visuals. These three all flow into each other, and if you're speaking through each line of dialogue, they only take up about six minutes total. Still, it is a TAD bit too long for my liking without any gameplay behind it, so there's a chance I might cut a cutscene or switch the order of things around so there's a brief gameplay section before the last one. Who knows.

Undyne has been redesigned. Undyne now sports some less bulky armor that combines aspects of her canon casual and armored forms. If she's gonna be there the entire game, she may as well have a visually-interesting design rather than the blob of bluish-grey her armor used to be. I'm sure some people will consider this a downgrade, which is always the risk you run when you redesign a character you've already shown off... but I personally just can't stand working with that old design any longer. The colors barely pop, it looks messy, the armor's boring and flat-colored and almost even blends into her scales, etc.

You didn't get to see the outdated Frisk design I had for this iteration of the project, and I'm glad you didn't, because upon writing more of their scenes and reconfiguring their personality, I HAD to redesign them again. I don't anticipate this one changing ANY time soon, but, as with Undyne, no promises.

Next up, some important human characters in the first area that AREN'T Frisk! You'll meet them later on, and I really hope you all end up liking them and the story behind them! In the meantime, here, have their designs. Again, they might change, but I'm comfortable with these for now.

That's all I feel comfortable showing off for the first area at the moment! I'm hoping to record everything up until the first save point and post it on YouTube at some point before the end of January (Again, as I must reiterate, in its very unfinished form), but no promises!

While that's all for the first area, I have been poking around with redesigning some of the later characters you guys have not even seen yet. Particularly, the primary antagonist of the new Cold West. I have to admit, I was a little worried that, if I didn't switch up his design, people would start comparing him to Clover since Undertale Yellow is still fresh in a lot of our memories right now, but... I think you guys will really like "The long scarf of the law." He's a fun character.

Alright, that's all from me! I hope you guys enjoyed this brief little peek at some mild spoiler-y content! I hope to be back soon with some neat stuff for y'all to see in action!

[whyamiheretumbled]

TMNT Smarts(Spoilers for IDW!)

@smudged-kaleidoscopeThis part will be about TMNT and how the fandom and creators view their smarts! And how it can be extremely weird..

Everyone assumes that Raph is genuinely too rash and reckless to make good decisions.now,Raph is reckless and easily stressed(even in 1987 or Rise), but that doesent mean he's stupid compared to Leo, which a lot of ppl *seem* to think

Raph is protective of his brothers, and is constantly shown that they shouldn't follow his behaviour(Seen when Leo allows Karai to enter the Turtle's car in 2012,the Pizza Puffs ep of 2018,or even in 2003,City at War!)

While he IS reckless, it seems he really wants his brothers to just stay on the damn task and get the job done. Not to mention, he tries to keep them safe. While he can be irrational, that doesent mean he wants to watch them follow his behaviour(2003 Raph says, "I hate when Leo starts reminding me of myself",not a direct quote)

Raph's smarts are less analytical focused and way more SURVIVAL focused, which actually brings us to Mikey <3

First of all, Mikey has never been a baby. In mirage, his anger and violence actually rivaled Raph's,Dr.Feelings and Delicate Touch both exist, in 2012 Mikey straight up punched someone hard enough to break their nose, hell, he threw a couch out of a window.

Mikey is constantly underestimated due to his baby face, gullible tendecies, empathy, etc, bcuz adding on to being genuinely the youngest, he is ALSO the most optimistic out of his brothers, and the one who understands emotions the best

Mikey is typically street smarts, or emotional smarts, seen in Mutant Mayhem with his Improv Club, or seen in 2003 where he instantly gets along with kids, or 2012 and the whole Acne episode

Mikey isn't stupid by any means. Sure, he may not pay attention or have a difficult time understanding stuff, but even in Bayverse he's shown to have smart moments. Unfortunately,due to his silly persona,he is constantly downplayed(Though The Last Ronin shows what happens when Mikey needs to focus because he's lost everything)

If Mikey had more motivation, say for example, being tricked into sex and having babies(mirage),he would probably try to be way smarter. But either way, it's constantly shown he picks things up easily and can think quickly! 2012 and Rise are both great examples <3,as well as moments in 2003

Now, we all know Donnie is smart. That's his big thing, his smarts. But he's his own special kind. He uses his own pros to his advantage, and while this can also slow him down due to not wanting to change his ways, this can also help him!

Seen in IDW, Donnie uses his flaw of ignoring Leo's orders and his pros of his tech to trick the Shredder, I won't go in full detail, but it comes at a price.

Anyways, Donnie is shown to havequick thinking at least, when he can anyalze a situation. He is actually VERY reckless, seen in 2003 building missiles into his car, or 2012 going on a killing rampage.

When he can't anyalze something, he jumps into it.Unlike Mikey, he lacks the ability to quickly access a situation, but he gains the abilities unlike his brothers to quickly map out a plan using logic,common sense, and his brain

Now Donnie had his dumb moments, because he DOESENT WANT TO ACCEPT THAT OTHER PEOPLE CAN BE RIGHT. you may think no, he wants to listen to others, but being so smart he sometimes thinks he's better than other people and superior,shown in multiple iterations, highlighting Rise, 2012,1987,and IDW.

Donnie's smarts run way deeper than knowing mathematics and engineering and etc, they stem into being able to study a problem and find out an efficent way to solve if, unfortunately,he doesent always want to realise he's allowed to need or want second opinions...

Leo's will be very short. He is a analytical and strategic thinker. He maps out plans, focuses on the battlefield, uses people like chess peices, highlighting in 2012 and Rise. I'll go deeper another day(that's what she said)

AHEM. Now, people constantly assume because Leo's brothers aren't the same type of thinker he is,that they're not smart. They're easily stubborn, can be tricked, not fully access a situation, doubt themselves, etc...

But Leo struggles with many of these things, the narrative is just pushed to make it seem like he's always in the right, however, he does almost always go through character development(at the cost of his childhood)

Leo is can be emotionally stunted, act manipulative(seen in 2003),jist be plain rude(2012),because he's leader/strategic,and wonders why no one would listen to him.

If he allowed his brothers to have input,it would be beneficial for the four of them, as they all contain qualities needed to make good plans.,and are all smart,and while I hate this saying, they're smart in their own way.

Mikey can answer philosophical questions, he doesent have the general care for others or his own regard like Raph generally does, Raph has survival skills but doesent know when to be calm, etc etc

[howlingday]

I must say your Jaune is Hades au has peaked my interest to the max. After rereading my favorite manga Record of Ragnarok, which probably has my favorite iteration of Hades, for the 100th time I was wondering, is this jaune based off any kind of iteration of Hades, or does he follow the actual Greek mythology of Hades. If so, how much of the mythology stories does he follow? Like does Jaune ever use a bident, did he ever get married to Persephone in this au, are there other Greek gods? Then there are questions like was he properly born into the Arc family or did he just make up the whole persona. Many questions for a fascinating au looking forward to more.

So, real talk. I LOVE Greek mythology, and Hades is one of, if not my most favorite of the Greek Pantheon. I feel like each iteration I've met has entertained me in some way or the other.

Be it as an antagonist in Hercules

As a vengeful boss in God of War,

Or as a sympathetic final boss in his own titular series,

It's kind of sad how he's always seen as the bad guy when his brothers have done so much worse than he has.

But I digress.

As for Jaune's role as Hades, I wouldn't say I based him on any of the previous iterations, and more just made him into his own god of the dead and the underworld. He's in charge of taking care of souls when they die and guide them to where they need to go. He's a lesser god compared to The Brothers, which is something I headcanoned for The God of Animals.

Thus far the only comparison I can make to Jaune and any Hades is that he sits on a dark throne in a dark cavern, has blue fire, and views his job as the most important and necessary thing in the world.

So far, there's no bident, and he uses, well, a sword that looks similar to Crocea Mors, though I can't say for certain now if it is the one and the same sword and shield of the Arc family.

Also, there's no Persephone. Being a god may make you a heartthrob to all of creation, but unfortunately, any potential love interest he holds won't last forever. He is to be a king without his queen. Forever alone...

Thus far, there are only four gods in this RWBY universe; the major gods, The Brothers, and the lesser gods, Jaune and the God of Animals. I'm thinking of following a Percy Jackson role for the latter, where they're a fading relic that grow weaker with every prayer that isn't made. In other words, there are those who still worship Jaune, but perhaps one day, his power, too, will fade until he is nothing more than ancient history.

And as for the Arc family, I'll just come straight out with it; I don't know. I thought of maybe making his sisters into lesser gods as well, with Saphron making her decision to become a mother with Terra. I thought of Jaune always existing since the Age of Magic and he's just always been there. To be honest, I'm not really sure what to do with his family. Maybe the answer will come to me at a much later time.

[thesherrinfordfacility]

so i saw this post and the reply underneath it

and what if ... god was turned mortal and born as ... agnes nutter ...

oh i love-loved that art, i know it was meant to be based on the moon meme but it's so good!!!✨ but let's get into a little bit of speculation, eh? now's a good a time as any!!!

hmm, came to earth as agnes nutter? it's an interesting thought and would be really cool, but im not entirely convinced. but agnes was absolutely meant to be a personification of god, i think that's without doubt.

but i think there might be some kind of clue as to what happened - and will happen - to god in agnes' brief but important narrative. if we take her story as a hypothetical direct parallel to god, agnes ended up being hunted down and burned on a pyre as a witch, but then did an ol' bait and switch and blew everyone and herself up (bitch behaviour, gorgeous, stunning).

but what if this is similar to what happened to god?

we know that the last canonical time her voice appears is speaking to job, when she starts challenging him on asking her questions. to me, she's essentially saying that he has no right to do so, which echoes the same kind of rhetoric that is implied by the fall. aziraphale and crowley can't seem to hear what she is saying - her voice from their perspective is muffled - and i know others have remarked that her voice sounds manufactured (like, in the narrative itself). also in job, there is a key lighting difference - heaven is swathed in golden heavenly light, compared to the stark white it is now.

however, despite the voice being fake school of thought, im inclined to believe that she is actually present. this, to me, is supported by aziraphale's dynamic in heaven; gabriel and michael obviously have the wrong end of the stick where concerns job's fate, that much is true, but i do think the general vibe is that they are a touch more collaborative with him than in s1, where it felt much more cold, and laden with subtle but aggressive superiority:

essentially, it feels more here that they are indeed following god (obviously still immoral in doing so, but they seem so much more innocent and almost teamlike?). im possibly projecting and misinterpreting here, but i do think nonetheless there is a big difference between the character behaviour of the angels between job and 2019.

now there was this brilliant meta put forward by @amuseoffyre✨ that looked at gabriel's weird iterations when he 'remembers', and how it overlaps with what sounds like god's voice. it frankly hasn't left my brain since, because to my mind, the book of life might come into this. the theme of memory being lost, but also possibly memory being scattered, is very prevalent in s2. my thoughts on the book of life are that it essentially doesn't necessarily erase life/existence, but in the context of angels specifically erases the essence of their divinity (ie. falling) - which maybe to angels is the same as losing who they are, and by extension parts of their memory.

so what if god was written into the book of life? well im not 100% convinced that it's as simple as that - it's GO after all, it never is that simple. in any case, for what purpose she might have been written in (other than metatron essentially being machiavellian by nature but that's by the by) is similarly uncertain; i could imagine a good ol' fashioned power struggle possibly has a hand in it somewhere. but again, this just doesn't seem to be quite right.

for this next bit, where i think possibly god might have gone/done, im going to refer to nietzsche and his famous statement, "god remains dead, and we have killed him." to me, this doesn't mean that god never existed or a lack of belief in god is now absolute, but instead that other belief systems potentially will replace, and have replaced, god. now, that could be belief in science, or other theology and philosophy, or just plain belief in oneself. and the prospect is dangerous, as nietzsche also elaborates, because it's irreversible, and there will always exist the need to replace it with something in order to avoid complete nihilistic belief.

so going off of this, if god is no longer untouchable - unquestionable - where does that leave us? well, it leaves us like job; being put through trials and horrors that are being challenged for their necessity and the morality in exacting them. it starts us on the same journey as aziraphale - does god truly intend this to happen? if so, why would she? is this a system - a god - i want to trust and believe in anymore? (coincidentally, crowley on the whole, and particularly at start of s2, appears to have gone straight to the nihilistic end of the spectrum following the fall, and through his development since the fall is instead slowly working his way backwards to finding faith in something again, and meet aziraphale in the metaphorical middle).

but back to the story, and agnes: i think the above is going to be posed in s3, and would tie in narratively with what i anticipate will be a recounting of the fall. that collectively - same as the witchfinders and the village did to agnes - humanity and heaven and hell may start to question the power behind god, and whether god herself can be challenged in her plan, the morality and ethics of it, and what it means for true free will. the only issue is, i think, is that in god possibly having retreated after job, because that's when that line of questioning kind of started amongst her people and amongst her angels, metatron has rushed to fill the vacuum and pretends that he is still acting in her name.

the conclusion i come to after all this ridiculous rambling is this: i think that god did intend to step back from heaven, but didn't leave anything to fill the void - hence the absolute chaos that has ensued since. i think she has surrendered herself over to the allegorical pyre, seen it coming and has accepted that her death - the loss of blind faith in her - is needed for humanity to progress.

maybe the last thing she'll do is a bait and switch; who that metaphorical mix of gunpowder and roofing nails will hit, and why, i don't know...

or maybe it won't happen at all, and this is where the parallel diverges from agnes' story? actually reaching a peaceful and acceptable ending, where free will will actually flourish and determinism borne of her omniscience will dwindle into nothing?

if you or anyone made it to this point, well-bloody-done because that was A Lot!!!✨

[divinemackerel]

--

--

“Jesus man, don’t sneak up on people like that.” Wilbur hissed through his metallic teeth, voice sounding strained due the fact it was hard to properly open his mouth. 

“Sorry.” Ghostbur readily replied, though he didn’t really sound too apologetic, and his volume was still like someone had cranked a dial to max then superglued it that way.

Honestly, if someone had done that to Ghostbur, Wilbur wouldn’t even be surprised. It wasn’t really like the ghost would notice, or be able to fix it. It hurt his ears though, or what was left of them after all the explosions and death rattle screams and fights on bare concrete floors.

“It’s- whatever.” Wilbur decided with a huff. “Could you be a bit quieter though?”

“Oh, sure!” Ghostbur said brightly, and as ear piercingly as before.

A volume display then appeared on his screen though, and gradually turned down from max to about 50 percent.

“Better?”

“Much.”

Wilbur relaxed back against the wall, letting out a compressed sigh. He almost swore he could feel his ears ringing but… that could’ve just been his pre-existing tinnitus, maybe triggered by Ghostbur’s near screaming. That was how tinnitus worked, right?

Maybe not. He couldn’t really remember.

Nearby, music thrummed gently, and it wasn’t all too loud, but Wilbur could feel it all the same, radiating through every bone in his metallic body, digging through him and into his chest and teeth. The wall was his only real comfort, solid and soundless.

No one else seemed that bothered by it, most people just mingling with one another, probably- talking about the weather, or something equally mundane. Maybe they were talking about their own worlds, how they compared, how they were different.

Wilbur watched them, but kept his distance.

He wasn’t sure why there were three other iterations of himself here, while everyone else only seemed to have- well, themself, but he wasn’t really too keen about talking to himself.

It was then he realized Ghostbur hadn’t moved, standing next to him, leaning against the doorway he had simply seemed to appear in.

“What?” Wilbur snapped, and the ghost’s blank screen turned to a question mark.

“What what?”

Wilbur wasn’t altogether sure.

“Why are you just standing here?”

“I’m hanging out with you.”

“Why?”

“I dunno.” Ghostbur’s screen became blank again, and the fridge stood up a bit straighter, though somehow rather than seeming intimidating it seemed almost- bashful, or embarrassed. Wilbur had never been the best at reading body language though, or rather he hadn’t been since his- death.

“I don’t really like parties.” The ghost admitted.

“Oh.”

They stood there for a moment, at what felt like a conversational stalemate, and Wilbur’s small area of available skin crawled.

He then scooted down the wall, trying to make more space despite their closeness to the corner of the room. 

Ghostbur moved to stand beside him.

Wilbur turned back to look at the room, leaning back against the wall.

He heard a thunk as Ghostbur leaned back too.

--

New Years Christmas Party :-) Part One. Maybe. We’ll See.

[usafphantom2]

China’s J-20 Isn’t A “Dominating Aircraft,” USAF General Says

Oliver ParkenPUBLISHED Sep 13, 2023 7:00 PM EDT

Chinese J-20 aircraft on the runway

PLAAF

General Kenneth S. Wilsbach, the head of Pacific Air Forces, has offered new comments regarding China’s growing fleet of J-20 stealth fighters. Compared to the capabilities of the U.S., and those of its allies and partners, the general says that the J-20 does not constitute a "dominating aircraft at this point" — a statement which is broadly in line with insights he made on the type last year.

Wilsbach’s remarks were given at the 2023 iteration of the Air & Space Forces Association's annual symposium ongoing just outside of Washington, D.C., which The War Zone is attending. The only operational stealth fighter within the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the J-20 first flew in 2011. Precisely how many of the type have been produced since that time remains unclear, although best available estimates suggest somewhere in the region of 160-200 airframes.

Under Secretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones and Gen. Ken Wilsbach, Pacific Air Forces commander, participate in a panel called “Preparing for Global Competition” during the 2022 Air and Space Forces Association’s Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, September 19, 2022. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Nick Wilson

"I don’t think that it’s a dominating aircraft at this point, compared to what we have [in terms of stealthy F-22 Raptors and F-35 Lightnings]," Wilsbach highlighted. "They’ve done some good copying… pretty much most of the technology from that airplane [the J-20] was stolen from the U.S."

Chinese J-20s on the runway. PLAAF

Wilsbach was unequivocal in his conviction that the capabilities of U.S. aircraft, combined with those of allies and partners, could counter any potential threat from J-20s. This multi-national coalition of partners, which regularly trains with high-threat scenarios in mind, would prove extremely difficult for any Chinese aircraft to counter, according to the general.

"What I will tell you is if you compare just aircraft to aircraft, you take the training that our people [U.S. Air Force] get. Interoperability with [U.S.] allies and partners… the Chinese [are] probably still at a pretty big disadvantage because of the way we train, especially with [our] Korean allies and partners."

"[For the Chinese] a fight that would be China versus us [the U.S.]... that makes their math pretty easy, but if you make it China versus the U.S. plus the other countries… their math gets pretty hard to do… When I think about some of the recent exercises that we've done together with our allies and partners like Talisman Sabre, and Northern Edge, [and] Valiant Shield earlier, you know, there's some extremely high-end exercises that are happening. In the past, when we've done some of those large coalition-type exercises… the level of complexity is reduced, so that everybody can participate. We're not doing that. We're making it a high-end, if you want to play you show up and you execute."

"And so I've used the example of last year, in [exercise] Pitch Black… we had almost 20 nations participating in a night[time], high-end surface-to-air missile take-down … It was super complex, and everybody that was playing, which may surprise some of you some of the nations that were playing in the exercise, but it was really well done and well executed. And we're seeing that exercise after exercise."

Two Chengdu J-20s at Airshow China 2016. Alert5 via Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA-4.0

Wilsbach was also pressed on the potential threat J-20s could pose for Taiwanese forces at the symposium, and how Taiwan would defend itself, if China were to conduct a military intervention across the Taiwan Strait. U.S. military officials have suggested that the PLA may be in a position to successfully execute a cross-strait intervention by 2027, if not sooner. For Wilsbach, the Chinese threat against Taiwan shouldn’t be pigeonholed to the J-20:

"They [Taiwan] have to have systems to be able to [prevent] the J-20… By the way, the J-20 is limited in my view to Taiwan. What is a major threat is the other aircraft that can come in and drop, draw their weapons on Taiwan, you know like their H-6 bombers, and then not to mention all the ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. So, you know, if I was Taiwan, I wouldn't be overly concerned with the J-20 at this point… they need to be concerned about it, but there's a lot of other things that they also need to defend themselves against to be that tough target we spoke about earlier." That is quite the statement as Taiwan’s most advanced fighter is the F-16V, with additional new-build Vipers on the way. Other upgrades are in play for the other fighters in its inventory. The island’s ever-evolving ground and sea-based integrated air defenses are also a factor here.

As Wilsbach himself indicated, his most recent assessment of the J-20 is broadly in line with the comments he made at the 2022 iteration of the Air & Space Forces Association's annual symposium. At that event, the general noted how J-20s "weren’t anything to lose a lot of sleep over," but that, "Certainly, we're watching them [China] closely and seeing how they… operate them." This viewpoint was supported by Air Force Chief of Staff General Charles Q. Brown, who was also speaking at the 2022 symposium: "Well, I'm like General Wilsbach… [The J-20 is] not something to lose a lot of sleep over, but I'm gonna pay attention to it."

Two J-20s break formation, November 2018. emperornie via Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-SA-2.0

It should also be noted that Wilsbach has cited concerns with other Chinese aircraft in discussions on the J-20 in the past, too, including long-range command and control capabilities such as the KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft. As we’ve noted previously, KJ-500s are regularly used to support combat aircraft flying sorties around Taiwan. In general, China has rapidly expanded its airborne early warning and control aircraft fleet while the U.S. has decreased its own, although the addition of the E-7 is now on the horizon.

If senior U.S. Air Force officials remain only moderately concerned by the rise of China’s J-20s, this likely has much to do with the capabilities that service will leverage in the not-too-distant future. Currently, the Air Force is developing various air combat capabilities under the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) framework. This includes work on a sixth-generation crewed combat aircraft, various tiers of uncrewed platforms, as well as new sensors, weapons, and battle management systems. Lockheed Martin and Boeing are currently competing for the crewed combat aircraft contract, with Northrop Grumman having recently removed itself from the running. The Air Force hopes to pick a winner in 2024. Older 4th generation fighters are being reduced in numbers, but are also receiving critical upgrades and new ones with unique capabilities — the F-15EX — are being added to the fleet, as well. Meanwhile, the F-22 and F-35 fleets are the ‘tip of the spear’ of the USAF’s tactical aviation roster.

Lockheed's crewed component of NGAD. Lockheed Martin

With that said, the recent comments from Wilsbach clearly reinstate confidence that the U.S., alongside its partners and allies, retain the technological advantage over China’s current fighter aircraft designs.

Contact the author: oliver@thewarzone.com

[dykedragonrider]

Finished Zeta gundam and uh. That's really fucking good. Thematically rich, a well executed tragedy, and it iterates on 0079 in ways fitting a sequel. In pieces bc I hit the character limit (THIS SITE HAS ONE?) making this post

First on the agenda, the Char and Kamille dynamic. It's very much father and son, and this is pointed out in the narrative, but what makes it *so* compelling is the fact that Char is the most fundamentally damaged father, and Kamille eagerly integrates his damage into him, he means well but there's a lot of things Char passes on that he really shouldn't. I think the one that sticks out to me by and far the most is Char's unique way of interacting with problems, that being throw yourself into them if you can fix them, and don't think about how badly the consequences hurt you. Kamille even passes this on to Katz towards the end with his grief over Sarah, telling him to not think about it. It's the right thing to say, of course, they're in a war and have no time to grieve, and his blindness because he's thinking about it is part of what sets off a domino effect of character death, but that's part of the tragedy babey! Something I'm a little more sour on is the way that Zeta interacts with its theme of gender? It was released in the mid 80s, so I do understand that it's very much a product of the times in some respects (the "everyone is either a man or a woman" line being the lowest hanging fruit of an example), but I think its actual struggle is how it depicts women? It does a pretty thoughtful examination of masculinity, in the ways that that ideal is something to aspire to that is ultimately a pitfall in the way that it hurts other people, could be better in some ways but it's the mid 80s. Kamille picks up both positive and negative traits associated with his manhood as he develops, and victimizes himself and others through the negative ones consistently. Zeta's women, however, don't really get anything like this? There's one conversation towards the end where women's relationship with their gender, and, notably, how men interact with that that's got something given the role women perform both in that society and ours. I think it's a problem of Zeta focusing on masculinity when it seems like it wants to examine both parts of it. If viewed as masculinity alone, it performs better, but the fact that there are attempts at conversations for both men and women and their gender roles leads me to believe that it's best viewed and understood as talking about gender as a whole, so you can understand the ways it succeeds and fails. Something Zeta wholeheartedly succeeds at though, is its tragedy element. I'll admit here that I wasn't *super* down for Rosamia, so that element didn't land with me well (we already had Lalah iterated upon so well with Four, doing it again felt out of place and she's compared to Four in universe through Kamille's perception, so it's just. Come on.) but every other element of the tragedy is done well towards the end. Char pointing out to Kamille that after the war, Amuro suffered with his soul trapped for seven years (which is also Char speaking about his own suffering, like everything Char does) and then Kamille getting his soul destroyed by Scirocco, leaving the hero coming back from his journey fundamentally different, and not in the way he communicated to Fa, it's just so good. The way that most of the deaths come from a place of love, too, that it's what brings the people down, but it it also humanity's emotions that give Kamille the capability to kill Scirocco. The beauty of Zeta's tragedy is that it would always end up like this as long as humans cared for each other, which is y'know. The point. (1/2 parts)