#this is my first time using the microns I got for Christmas

[charlotte-family-apologist]

I hope the Kenshi harem gives him a good valentines day fr 🙏

He got chocolate :)

[lunammoon]

The Problem With Hetalia (As told by someone who actually in the fandom until like, 2016)

I'm hoping this post will explain to people who are still into Hetalia why a lot of people have an issue with from the perspective of someone who knows a lot about the show. 

TL;DR: By making the WW2 axis powers come across as a lovable idiot, his serious friend, and the stoic voice of reason, it downplays the serious nature of what the Axis did and seeing as the real-life Axis harmed real-life people, many people have a justifiable huge issue with this. 

I will go more into depth about this under the cut.

A lot of people are talking about how Hetalia is coming back after 5 years and a lot of people are rightfully annoyed at the show. But what I'm seeing is that a lot of the people who are upset are people who clearly haven't watched the show and therefore are unable to explain to people who have watched it why it’s bad. The most that you hear is:

"it glorifies the Axis Powers" (which isn't 100% accurate although the assessment that they are portrayed in a way that makes them seem less bad is accurate) 

"Hetalia Cosplayers wore Nazi uniforms in front of a Holocaust memorial" (which I'd say is more of an issue with fans than the show). 

That is not to say that there isn't an issue with the show, because there really is. But these observations are unlikely to mean much to someone who watches Hetalia. So, in this thread, I'm going to explain why Hetalia is Problematic with the added context perspective of someone who was into the show during most of middle school and until Freshman year of high school. 

I knew the human names, used to jam to "Always With You" and "Pub and Go" and “It’ll Settle Itself Somehow” and “Light my Heart” and “Absolute British Gentleman” and “Mein Gott” and “World Rondo” and “Excuse Me, I’m Sorry” and so, so many more. 

I lost my shit with everyone else when the season 6 ep dropped and Italy danced like he was possessed by a demon. When I hear “ACE” family, I don’t think of Youtubers. I actually took a side on the FruUK vs UsUk debate and if you look in my archive, you can probably find some Hetalia posts that I’m too lazy to delete.

The point here being, I’ve actually seen the show so I know what I’m talking about. This isn’t an outsiders perspective is what I’m saying.

So, let’s get right into it. While technically only seasons 1-2 are officially actually called "Axis Powers" (Seasons 3-4 are called "World Series" Season 5 is "Beautiful World" and Season 6 is called "World Twinkle") WW2 and things relating to the Axis Powers are an important part of every season and appear prominently.

While Hetalia has covered many things from all different time periods, the two most common periods covered are the modern-day and of course, the second World War. The show is Japanese and (I assume) because Japan was on the Axis side, these portions focus more on the Axis Powers of Italy, Japan, and Germany. The Allies do come into play. And while the Allies aren't directly like, evil, which would've been FAR WORSE they've got a kind of Team Rocket-esque thing going on? They're not exactly mustache-twirling villains but they're clear antagonists. Make no mistakes.

I think the deserted Island arc is the best example of the problems many people have with the show.

Take for example, that beach fight. If you've watched Hetalia, you'll know the one I'm talking about. The one that they reused like, 50 times. The Allies are clearly shown as the antagonists/aggressors while the Axis are literally just vibing on a (kinda) deserted island and defending themselves. 

Now, if this was three dudes chilling on the beach and they suddenly got attacked by another five dudes also on the beach who they then fought off until the five attackers ran away that’s be one thing.

The issue is that this is supposed to be a representation of WW2. It's basically saying "oh, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy were literally just vibing, not bothering anyone when suddenly, the Allies attacked for no reason. Luckily, they (the Allies) retreated because the Allies are Cowardly but they keep coming back and bothering them,". Do you see the issue there? Most of the beach arc seems to be the writer forgetting that these are supposed to be Nations, not a random Italian dude, a German dude, and a Japanese dude.

“Oh, but they don’t glorify Nazi Germany. They don’t really even talk about what Germany was doing! Look at this pic of Germany in a lab coat holding a dandelion :)“

That’s not the defense that you think it is and it’s actually a main part of the issue that I, and many other people have with Hetalia.

I think the scene where this issue is the most obvious is the one where they are gathering around a campfire and talking and one of them comes up with the name "the Axis". The whole scene has the same energy characters in a moe anime coming up with a band name.

They’re sitting on a beach at night. I think there might’ve been a campfire, the stars are out, and the three of them talk about their dream of making a world that revolved around them. One of them comes up with the name “the axis” and then they all talk about how you would translate "axis" in their language. It’s all very found family-esque. The way the scene is framed is to encourage you to route for them to reach their goal. It’s the same kind of tone you’d see in a shoujo with a girl telling her friends about how she wants to win the singing competition no matter what or in Sword Art Online when Kirito talks about saving Asuna.

The issue is that their goal isn’t to win some competition or to save someone they care about. It’s to spread facism, imperialism, and bring about genocide.

There of course don’t SAY that that’s their goal, and outside of a one off line in the English dub that’s been since censored, they don’t really bring up what Germany was up to during WW2 vis-a-vie the Holocaust and if they did bring it up, I either wasn’t paying attention, it was in the manga, or it was in one of Germany’s character songs.

The issue is that during WW2 the show seems to at best forget and at worst, gloss over it that the main trio that they're focusing on are the villains. And not like, fantasy villains. Actual real-life villains that hurt real people in the real world. Imagine if instead of Ludwig Beilschmidt and Feliciano Vargas, it was Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. 

Are you seeing the problem yet?

I get why people like to watch the show. Ignoring the WW2 bits, it’s actually pretty good. I, as an American, really like Alfred F. Jones and the way he’s portrayed.

If Hetalia had stuck to non-WW2 related things such as that episode where the nations all talk about how horror movies differ in their nations, or they talked about their Christmas traditions. Or the ones where America and Japan are roommates. Or when they showed that time when America airdropped XL condoms on Russia labeling them as "small" for intimidation reasons. Or that series of episodes where they talked about Micronations. Or that time they all had to come together to fight aliens. Or the bit where they talked about the WW1 Christmas Armistice. Then it would be fine.

The issue is that they didn’t.

If they kept WW2 stuff for SOME reason. They had two options. 

Make the axis as proper villains

 Be explicit in showing that the nations will doesn't reflect what their leader wants. 

The first option wouldn’t be ideal if they wanted to cover any time period other than World War 2. The axis would be too unlikable and I doubt that an anime where Japan is the villain would appeal much to Japanese audiences.

But what about the second option. Have a bit where Ludwig is passing out White Rose pamphlets or smuggling people to safety.

Have Kiku (Japan for people who don’t watch Hetalia) purposefully looking the other way as Sugihara writes visas to get people to safety and covering for him against his boss. SOMETHING!

But instead of doing either of those, they took the bad third option which was, their choice to instead make the axis seem like likable individuals who are a group of three good friends who work together will in contrast with the “bumbling Allies” who are barely cohesive and constantly fight and argue. At best, makes it seem like both sides had a point and at worst, makes it seem like the Axis was a better than the Allies.

All of this is to say that liking Hetalia does not make you inherently a bad person, but you need to be more critical of what you watch and understand that there is a reason that some people have a genuine issue with it and they have a very good reason for that. You can still watch it the show, but do keep this information in the back of your brain as you do

[psyrapmafia]

Day 4 - "freeze"

I've got a lot of boring stuff to say about this piece. First about the medium - black ink brush pen (I forget the brand). This is only my second time using it exclusively to ink a sketch (first time being for yesterday's prompt, a small doodle of a paper boat). I was very nervous and my lack of confidence in this particular tool shows through in many places here. My original instinct was to use microns, but to me the entire point of Inktober is to get me out of my comfort zone and experiment with inking, so brush pen it was. I've owned this pen for months but haven't dared use it lol. Now I am excited to use it more often and get "good" at it.

Second about the subject, beloved Loki here I have depicted him in his Avengers garb and hair (yes his Christmas tree hair is my favorite of all his styles) but with his Ragnorak helm. The horned tiara took a long time to even grow on me and now I love it more than any of his previous hats.

Anyway, after inktober I will color all my prompts and it will be fun making him blue.

[mysticsparklewings]

The Purrfect Present

This artwork is now available as a free Coloring Page! ____ We have another seasonal kitty to add to the RedBubble shop I admittedly just really wanted to make a cute Christmas kitty design, and a kitten poking his head out of a gift box was the first idea that came to mind, so I ran with it. Unfortunately, I did make the mistake here that I've made a couple of times before of making my sketch so that I couldn't transfer the sketch directly on to the paper I wanted to do the final on.  So I had to make an unpolished version of the lines on a separate piece of paper and then use that to make the lines for the final. I don't like having to do that, but it worked out well enough. I knew right away that I wanted the box to be red and green, but I hadn't yet decided on the cat color. So I went forward and selected my colors for that and colored that part in. And I know the coloring/shading on the big part of the box isn't super smooth; I knew going in that it would be tricky to get that area to blend smoothly before I started, so I made my peace with that knowledge before I got started. And in a way, I don't really mind it that much since it kinda just looks like the texture of the box. This was also my first time drawing and shading a present bow like this and that turned out much better than I expected. By that point, I had been leaning towards gray for the kitty. I just wasn't sure if I wanted to make him a solid gray or a gray-tabby, as most gray kitties I've encountered in my life tend to have a tabby print more often than not. But I also knew the tabby print would be harder to capture correctly, as is was when did the orange tabby for Pumpkitten Spice Latte. After a few test colorings of various tabby techniques (much like I did also for the orange tabby) I tentatively decided to make the kitty solid gray, with the knowledge that if I changed my mind it wouldn't be too hard to add tabby stripes on top. And sure enough, after much struggle to get the shading with just the gray (no stripes) that's exactly what I wanted to do. Just in case though, I scanned it in without the stripes first. Because if I have learned nothing else from my two tabby attempts and the many practice pieces I've done between them, it's that it's almost impossible to make the stripes the same way twice, and there's no guarantee they're going to turn out right, even after multiple tries. Fortunately, I'd say these stripes turned out pretty good. Evidently, they turned out well enough that I'm comfortable with and posting the version with stripes.   I am also happy to report that the Winsor and Newton brush markers didn't appear to smudge this Micron ink at any point during this process; I used only their grays for the kitty working around the thick line art. I was a little concerned about that after how much they smudged my cobalt Copic Multiliner the first time I tested them out. I'm beginning to wonder if it was something about the multiliner ink in particular that caused that? I'm not sure. Either way, he turned out really cute and I'm quite happy with him.   And a plus is that this design can easily be re-worked (digitally or traditionally) with different colors to make different kitties for different occasions since it's as simple as it is.  I haven't decided when and if I'm actually going to do that, but it's nice to have the option! (Purrhaps if I have the time I might make it into a coloring page too; it's simple and cute so it'd probably be fun as one, right?) Until then, I do have one other Christmas kitty design sketched out that I plan on taking to completion, and a couple of other unrelated ideas in the works, so stayed tuned. ____ Artwork © me, MysticSparkleWings ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram

[kichimiangra]

For poor artists...

Okay so weeks ago I came across a post (That I can’t seem to find now...) that roughly went like this: “All you tumblrites with depression need some hobbies to help with depression because hobbies help.”

“Not everyone has the privilege of being able to afford hobbies!  Hobbies cost money!”

“You don’t need expensive stuff to draw!!!  Draw on scrap paper!  Napkins!  Go to the dollar store!”

Now for weeks since seeing that post it keeps coming back to me... almost hauntingly.  It’s not that I can’t comprehend that people can’t afford expensive art supplies, on the contrary I very much remember being like that!  But today you poor artists have access to something wonderful that I didn’t growing up:

Under the cut let me tell you a tale about a wonderful place that could have granted my wish for art supplies growing up!

And that place is called Wish.com!

(Disclaimer #1: Almost everything I’m talking about here are supplies that I myself have personally purchased and tried using AND STILL DO!)

(Disclaimer #2:  I don’t believe that good supplies make a good artist, but good supplies can help make a good artist better/ make their life easier!)

Now growing up I did not come from a wealthy family.  I had 3 siblings, all of us close in age so we were kids/ teens together.  My father worked in a warehouse and my mother was a stay at home mom because it was impossible to find an affordable babysitter considering that My older sister had trouble in school with bullies and a reading disorder, I was an un-diagnosed autistic devil-child, my younger sister had severe asthma and was always sick, and my younger brother was deaf.  We all kinda needed special attention.  As you can imagine we didn’t have a lot of money, and as I got older and more Artish meant I had to make due with what I could get.  That didn’t mean I went without, just often had to save and wait for what I could use, which followed me to adulthood.  Had Wish.com been around in my teens it would have been a godsend and I’m patient enough to wait a few weeks to get my order!

God I love these things!  These ball point pens with 10 colors are what I use for story boarding comics and note taking!  I used something like these when I was in college because notes were much easier to organize and read when color coded!

“But KC!  I like to sketch with blue/red pencil first!” Lookie here!  Colored pencil lead refills in all sorts of colors!  Cyan works great and so does the red!

Now I didn’t know they came this small until recently but I LOVE this 0.3mm Mechanical pencil!!!  The lines are so thin and small!!!  I have literally never seen anything smaller than a 0.5mm in a store!

Now I like mechanical pencils for their consistent lead size as you draw! They’re just a click away from being back to sharpness!  But you may want a 0.5mm and a 0.7mm and this 3pc set is soo sleek looking!  It’s good to have a 0.9mm too! I used to have a spongebob .16mm pencil I stole from my brother but it went missing!  I have never found another one that HUGE again! T_T

Speaking of pencils this nice little set comes with a mechanical pencil+lead+a white plastic eraser.  They work great though the eraser is not my personal fav...

THESE are my favorite erasers to use!!!  Not only are they cute colors but they’re a good consistency!  They’re softer than a plastic eraser but a bit harder than a gum eraser so they feel really good to erase with and do a good job!!!

If you really like working with Pencil you can prolly just get a cheap #2 pencil at a dollar store or a box of them at Walmart, but I Really like the feel of a 2B pencil!  This lead holder comes with some replacement lead too so you don’t have to worry about sharpening it to nothing!!

This set of Graphite sticks are a little messy but it comes with all kinds of lead hardness and you can use an x-acto blade to sharpen them to different size points!!!

This is a pretty basic but nice sketch set and has a lot of size options to pick and buy from!!  I’ve used the small 32 set and it has everything you need if you love pencil art!

FINE LINERS!!!  I have a story about Fine liners! Internet shopping hadn’t quite taken off yet for my family and the only store I knew that sold Microns/Fabercastelle fine liners was a local store.  They didn’t sell them in singles so the cheapest set you could buy was a $15 Faber Castelle set with 5 pens (Sm/Med/Lrg/Brush/Chisel).  Now $15 doesn’t sound too bad until you remember my family was poor.  How poor?  Poor enough where my sister and I would each get one of these sets for Christmas and store one away while sharing the other set in hopes of getting them both to last until June where I could get another for my birthday that will hopefully last BOTH of us until next Christmas.  I noticed when you buy Microns off of Wish.com you have a 50/50 chance of getting a knock off brand but these ones here worked pretty good for their price!

“But KC!  Not only am I a poor artist... I’m a poor HIPSTER artist! I wanna kick it OLD SCHOOL!” WELL This is a nice cheap little set of dip pen nib holders and nibs!  The pink one is cute but I have the black one.  I personally love my Cork nib holder more but for plastic this one is decently comfortable to hold and a good price!  I find Nibs are a bit of “You get what you pay for” but if I was displaced into an apartment somewhere without any of my stuff and I wanted some dip pens this set would do just fine!  Dip pens take some skill to get used to so even if you want to just cheaply try some this is a good set to start with!  And if you want better nibs later on they fit right in these holders!

I also have a very decorative (but functional) glass dip pen!  Unlike the metal nib dip pens above the glass one doesn’t really allow for a lot of variation in line weight, but if you want the line work to stay a consistent size then this one is pretty good for that, though depending on your paper it can bleed a bit... once again takes some practice to get used to it.

Now you’re gonna need some ink for those dip pens!  I haven’t really gotten to try any black ink from Wish.com because I have a few bottles of black ink that I keep getting for birthdays and Christmas and such, so I haven’t run out and gotten to try a new brand.  COLOR ink on the other hand...  These little 5oz bottles have gold sparkles in it!! And they look nice to boot!  They can get a little expensive because on THIS particular order you can only order them one at a time (And pay shipping for each bottle) but you really don’t need all 24 bottles as a lot of the colors look similar to each other.

Here’s a sketch of Keira Hagai from Jak and Daxter along with the supplies used to draw it (Notice the ink, glass and black nib pens and the 0.3mm pencil.  The only thing used not from Wish.com is the feather sweeper I made from sculpey and chicken feathers.)

The ink doesn’t work great as paint though but you know what does?

PAINTS!  I didn’t buy this one but it’s a nice little affordable starter set with pallet and brushes!

Now I’m a bit snooty, I prefer to buy watercolor paints in tubes and an empty paint pallet.  The paint pallet I have isn’t THIS one specifically but this one is a bit nicer than the one I DO have and a bit cheaper as well!  (Mine doesn’t have a lid the folds out into a paint mixing area)(Now I wish I had this one!)(Maybe when my current pallet runs out of paint...)

If you use watercolor paints you’re gonna need some brushes!  This is a pretty good deal!  You get 12 brushes and get to pick either flat or round tip brushes!  They’re also not too shabby!

I use a set like this though!  They has a water reservoir in the handle so you squeeze the water out and onto the paint!  The reason I prefer these is I have a lot of pets and they like to get into mischief, so having a pallet that can be closed if I get up for a bathroom break or water that can’t be knocked over is a must for me!!

“But KC I like more... dry mediums...” Lucky for you colored pencils are all over the place on Wish.com!  You can get all kinds of different sets and sizes and some even have nice carrying cases too!  I haven’t bought any because I own a LOT of colored pencil sets already and don’t use them frequently...  I’ve also tried some chalk pastels from Wish that worked well enough on their own but the way I use them is grinding them into a fine powder and brushing them onto paper and that didn’t grind well...

And What’s art without PAPER!?!?  Wish.com is tripping paper!  Whatever is in your price range look around!  I can promise you you’ll find a sketch book or two within your budget!  Some even name brand sketch pads!

And now some miscellaneous stuff:

I LOVE binder clips!  Great way to keep all my paper together and in some places hang stuff up so I can stare at it a bit before continuing working on it!

I like art markers and not many truly can fill in the shoes left by Copic brand markers.  I have tried a handful of copic alternatives (And watched even MORE comparison videos by other people who own said markers.)  I feel like there is no such thing as a GOOD CHEAP QUALITY art marker.  There are lots of sets on Wish.com that (For their prices) are what I consider “Cheap enough to tinker with”  When I was in highschool back in 2007-9 I really really really wanted Copics and was resentful that I was poor and couldn’t get any.  I would get so angry when I saw 14 year olds on deviantart who drew like ‘14 year olds on devintart’ but had no less that two 72 sets of copics. I know, it was rather petty of me to be resentful of younger more fortunate artists... The trade off with my parents was that I would settle for Prismacolor markers, bought 1 per week with a 40% off coupon provided I did all my chores and kept my grades above failing.  That was the closest I ever had to an allowance.  Throughout the years I’ve settled with ‘Tinker Markers’ (Cheapish alternative markers) and Ohuhu, Prismacolor, and Touch New seem to be the better alternatives.  Just don’t go looking for a brush nib >.<!

MASKING TAPE!  Always good for taping things to other things!!  Unfortunately I feel like Walmart gives you bigger rolls for better deals so if it’s going cheap I’d say you don’t need tape from Wish...

Aaaah!  A light board!  And another long trip down memory lane!  Last October going into Inktober I noticed there were people throwing little fits about Inktober itself and if it’s okay to do it with a digital medium.  One persons comment stuck out (And echo’d in my brain) where they said (And I’m paraphrasing): “How am I supposed to focus on my ‘self improvement’ with traditional art if I just can’t draw from the anxiety of knowing that every pen stroke is permanent and I could completely ruin my drawing at any second without the CTRL+Z and layers!?!?!?!” To which my first knee-jerk reaction was: “Wow kid... I think you have waaaay more problems than inktober if your anxiety levels are THAT high that you can’t just accept an oopsie doodle and try again...” But then I do remember a time when I was like that.  In college I scheduled a really bad semester with too many classes, mostly art classes.  One was a classic Pen and Ink class which I did fear screwing up, not because of anxiety of failure but because I would have to start over on my homework, and that would take time from all my other homework.  Time I didn’t have.  I found a large sum of money on the ground ($100.00) one day, waited a month (Nobody claimed it), donated half to my local animal shelter (As is a karma thing in my family with ‘found money’) and used the other half to buy a light board (With a 40% off coupon.)  It was the size of a shoe box, thick and clunky, and didn’t get very bright, but it did what I needed it to.  If I screwed up on ink homework I’d throw a new paper over it and start again.  You can be cheap and use a window on a sunny day, but light boxes (or light boards now) are so affordable and sleek and thin and wish has a lot of them!  I have a cheapish but large A-Line tracing board that sits on my drawing table and fits well and honestly saves 40% of what anxiety I would have putting pen to paper (If I hadn’t been drawing freehand so long that I just don’t get that kind of anxiety over it)

If Wish.com was around when I was a teenager art supplies would have never been THAT big of a deal and I wouldn’t have had to ‘Carpool’ 3 fine liner sets per year with my sister!

Really, I know there will still be people out there who still can’t afford some of the things listed above, but if you have an inclination to try art whether it’s with pencils, paints, markers, pastels, ink, dip pens, fine liners, whatever you lean towards, Wish.com has a cheap affordable version that may not be the best quality out there on the market, but thinking back 15 years ago little KC would have loved to save up some money, order some new supplies, and wait a month for them to arrive so she could use them.

Once again most of the supplies listed above have been bought and used by myself.  There are some great materials at mostly affordable prices on Wish.com so if you are poor like Little KC was you probably know the patience of putting aside a dollar here and there and having to wait, or if you are well off but don’t want to spend too much on a hobby you haven’t tried yet and don’t know if you’d like Wish.com has you covered!

And if you’d like to, Reblog this for other poor artists so they know they don’t have to share their fine liners!

[firebirdtransam68]

Which Work Am I A Bigger Fan Of?  I Cannot Choose!

I have two works that I really like, and they are Transformers and Sonic The Hedgehog.  Both enhanced my creativity, and I grew up with Transformers (the live-action films, anyway; but I got into G1 when I got into the 1980′s); they have extraterrestrials that are allies or enemies with humans (and they have anti-heroes as well (I’m looking at you, Armada Starscream and Shadow The Hedgehog)); and they have English and Japanese versions of their own media (the original Unicron Trilogy and Sonic X are all anime series in which the Japanese versions with English subtitles are better than the English dubs).  I have been fans of both works for a couple years (I saw Transformers first, and then Sonic The Hedgehog).

However, I am debating whether I like one more than the other; I believe I am, but I am going to differentiate between these two works to see for myself.  Here it goes; I am going to start with Transformers, first.

The first Transformers work I saw was the first live-action film directed by Michael Bay.  It looked very realistic, and the graphics were nice.  I saw two more live-action films, and they were okay, but the third film went downhill, especially since they killed off some of my favorite characters from there (especially Ironhide; I really liked that black truck, and Sentinel killed him).  I don’t remember when I saw the 1986 film, but it is one of these factors that got me into the 1980′s (among The Transformers, in which that animated film was based on).  I started to prefer G1 over Bayformers since their styles looked fantastic, and it is also how I got a little into Mecha anime (Golion/Dairugger/Voltron got me even more into Japanese anime).  

I then looked to see if there are any other Mecha shows I would watch, and I remembered fans talking about Transformers Armada, and I searched via Anime News Network; when I saw that Ironhide was in there, as well as Starscream, I got the urge to watch it.  I saw all 52 episodes of the show (called Micron Legend) with English subtitles, and I was hooked into it.  Micron Legend became even more of my favorite Transformers work than even G1 because of many G1 callbacks, certain soundtracks that sounded 1980′s, and many complex characters from both sides.  I then saw another show, in which it is called Energon (actually, it was Superlink), and I got as much hooked as I did with the other show, despite some flaws such as not giving certain characters enough screen time.  I was upset when the characters from Micron Legend got killed off (especially Ironhide/Demolishor), but was amazed at some new characters, especially those that were based off of their G1 counterparts, such as Inferno, Lazerwave (homage to G1 Shockwave), Wheeljack, Springer, and Omega Supreme.  I saw Galaxy Force (original version of Cybertron) once, and lost interest, despite some interesting characters such as Soundwave and Chromia (Thunderblast).  Similarly, Headmasters made me lose interest, since some of the characters were really bland, and they were lacking some character development in some of the Transformers (and even humans).

Since the first Bayformers film was the one I liked a lot, I didn’t want to watch anymore live-action films until 2018, in which the Bumblebee film debuted.  I was skeptical at first, until I got the chance to saw it; it was fantastic; the film was set in 1987, and it had many themes and styles of the 1980′s, and it stayed true to the G1 continuity (besides Micron Legend, Superlink, and Galaxy Force).  And the villains were phenomenal, especially Shatter (ROTF Alice didn’t give me enough excitement for a believably evil Decepticon who is female (or at least feminine), she was too bland, in my opinion).  And don’t forget the music, especially when Stan Bush’s song appeared in one scene where Bumblebee was encouraging his human friend, Charlie Watson, to dive off a cliff (which is safe, and has water).

Now let’s go with Sonic The Hedgehog.  I have noticed some people playing the games, and I never got the hold of it until I noticed that there was an anime show based on the games (especially the Adventure series), and I decided to give it a watch.  The anime was Sonic X, and it was in Japanese with English subtitles.  I was blown away because of Sonic’s tendency to break the fourth wall and throw in English here and there, the graphics which looked similar to Micron Legend in many angles, one original character with his many racing supercars (Sam Speed), contains Mecha (usually by Dr. Eggman), the soundtrack, and, of course, Shadow The Hedgehog (the first time I understood that character was in this show).  Also, the anime had many callbacks from the previous games (1991-2003; 2003 was when Sonic X was first broadcasted); and the Metarex saga gave me a feel from the part where Unicron debuted in Micron Legend.

One of my cousins have many different Sonic games, since he is a huge fan of them.  He had spin-off games as well; one of them was Shadow’s own game.  The first time I took interest was when I heard some fans talk about him using guns; at first, I thought it was a joke, until I saw for myself.  Many die-hard Sonic fans don’t like the 2005 game, but I certainly liked it, especially after I saw Sonic X; it was dark and edgy, yes, but it also gave the main character more depth and characterization, he can use firearms if he chooses to, and drives vehicles such as motorcycles and cars; I even have the option to play it in English or Japanese (of course with English subtitles for both).

I also did some reviews for three Sonic TV shows during the 1990′s.  Adventures Of Sonic The Hedgehog came to mind, especially this one episode, Zoobotnik, in which it featured a villainess, Katella The Huntress, who is the most underrated Sonic character of all time.  I found her costume appealing (including the circlet she wears on her forehead), and I found it amusing to see her with Dr. Robotnik/Eggman (I believe this is the only time I will ship Eggman with anyone else; besides Sera/Sara from the OVA, of course).  The English shows were not as appealing, but at least I got some insight after watching a few episodes.

I think I like both works because they are related in many ways, even though the Transformers originated in the 1980′s, and Sonic The Hedgehog originated in the 1990′s, among many other differences.  I really like extraterrestrial characters, but I also like Mecha robots (especially sentient robots).  Maybe I like Transformers even more than Sonic The Hedgehog.

Another thing these two have in common is their voice actors, who appeared in both works; seiyuu are more prominent.  Here is a list of English voice actors first, and then I will go with the Japanese voices:

English

- Charlie Adler (Silverbolt in The Transformers (1984-1987), and Starscream in the live-action films (2007-2011); Snively in Sonic SatAM)

- Jim Cummings (Afterburner, Rippersnapper, and a Sharkticon in The Transformers (1984-1987); Dr. Robotnik in Sonic SatAM)

- Frank Welker (Megatron, Soundwave, Skywarp, Rumble, Frenzy, Trailbreaker, Wheelie, many other Decepticons in G1 (Megatron is the most well-known in other works); SWATbots in Sonic SatAM)

- Rob Paulson (Haywire, Air Raid, and Slingshot in The Transformers (1984-1987); Antoine Depardieu in Sonic SatAM)

- Cree Summer (Blackarachnia in Transformers: Animated; Dulcy The Dragon in Sonic SatAM)

- Michael Bell (Swoop, Sideswipe, Bombshell, Brainstorm, First Aid, and Scrapper in The Transformers (1984-1987); Naugus in Sonic SatAM)

- Kath Soucie (Professor Princess, and Trisha in Transformers: Animated; Sally Acorn, and NICOLE in Sonic SatAM)

- Jason Marsden (Cade Burns in Transformers: Rescue Bots; Dirk in Sonic SatAM)

- Gary Chalk (Optimus Prime in Beast Wars and Armada; Grounder in AOSTH, Dr. Robotnik in Sonic Underground)

- Ian James Corlett (Cheetor, Maximal/Sentinel, and Sea Clamp in Beast Wars; Coconuts in AOSTH)

- Scott McNeil (Dinobot, Rattrap, Silverbolt, Dinobot II, Waspinator in Beast Wars, Jetfire and Omega Supreme in the Transformers Unicron Trilogy (2002-2006); MacHopper in AOSTH)

- French Tickner (Bulkhead in Transformers: Energon; Dr. Warpnik, Big Griz, and Professor Von Schlemmer in AOSTH)

- Venus Terzo (Blackarachnia in Beast Wars; Breezie in AOSTH)

- Samuel Vincent (Sideswipe in Transformers: Armada; Sonic’s singing voice in Sonic Underground)

- Kathleen Barr (Botanica in Beast Wars; Momma Robotnik, Katella The Huntress, additional voices in AOSTH)

- Brad Swaile (Kicker Jones in Transformers: Energon; additional voices in AOSTH)

- Matt Hill (Carlos Lopez and Ironhide in the Transformers Unicron Trilogy; Max in Sonic Underground)

- Brian Drummond (Jetstorm in Beast Machines, Blurr in Transformers: Armada, Shockblast in Transformers: Energon, Jetfire in Transformers: Cybertron; Knuckles The Echidna in Sonic Underground)

- Terry Klassen (High Wire, Sixshot, Skyblast, Brimstone, Tim Hanson, and Mr. Stanton in the Transformers Unicron Trilogy (2002-2006); Doctor Brandon Quark, additional voices in AOSTH)

- Maurice LeMarche (Six-Gun in The Transformers (1984-1987); Uncle Chuck, Sleet, Oracle Of Delphius, additional voices in Sonic Underground)

- Tabitha St. Germain (Alexis Thi Dang in Transformers: Armada; Sally Acorn in Sonic Christmas Blast (1996) from AOSTH)

- Cathy Weseluck (Boy at carnival in Transformers: Armada; additional voices in AOSTH and Sonic Underground)

- Lacey Chabert (Dani Burns in Transformers: Rescue Bots; Princess Elise III in Sonic The Hedgehog (2006))

- Roger Craig Smith (Jetstorm, Slipstream, Airazor, Blastwave, and Mayor Mayhem in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2014-2017); Sonic The Hedgehog in the Sonic games (2010-present) and Sonic Boom)

- Kirk Thornton (Dr. Onishi in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2001-2002), and Shadelock in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2014-2017); Shadow The Hedgehog and Orbot in the Sonic games (2010-present) and Sonic Boom))

- Travis Willingham (Sideswipe in War For Cybertron, Fall Of Cybertron and Rise Of The Dark Spot, and Motormaster and Menasor in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2014-2017); Knuckles The Echidna in the Sonic games (2010-present) and Sonic Boom, Storm The Albatross in Sonic Free Riders (2010), and Zavok in Sonic Lost World (2011))

- Colleen O’Shaughnessey (Jenny in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2001-2002); Miles “Tails” Prower, Zooey, Chumley, and Belinda in Sonic Boom, and Charmy Bee in the Sonic games (2010-present))

- Michael Yurchak (Zorillor in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2014-2017); Jet The Hawk in the Sonic games (2010-present))

- Keith Silverstein (Rumble and Frenzy in War For Cybertron, and Blast Off in Fall Of Cybertron and Rise Of The Dark Spark; Vector The Crocodile in the Sonic games (2010-present))

- Troy Baker (Jetfire in War For Cybertron, and Kickback in Fall Of Cybertron and Rise Of The Dark Spark; Espio The Chameleon in the Sonic games (2010-present))

- Wally Wingert (Mirage and Side Burn in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2001-2002); Cubot in the Sonic games (2010-present) and Sonic Boom))

- Sam Riegel (Starscream in War For Cybertron, Fall Of Cybertron, and Rise Of The Dark Spark, and Snarl in Fall Of Cybertron; Zor in Sonic Lost World)

- Liam O’Brien (Underbite and Kickback in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2014-2017), and Air Raid and Cyclonus in War For Cybertron; Zazz in Sonic Lost World, and Infinite The Jackal in Sonic Forces)

Japanese

- Kappei Yamaguchi (Rattrap in Beast Wars and Transformers: Animated; Sonic The Hedgehog in AOSTH and SatAM)

- Masashi Ebara (Skywarp, Spike Witwicky, Brawl, Ratchet, Teletraan-I, Steeljaw, Long Haul, Smokescreen, Blitzwing, and many others in G1; Erazor Djinn in Sonic And The Secret Rings)

- Ken Yamaguchi (Blurr in G1, Arblus, Rumble, Slag and Sharkticons in The Transformers: The Movie (1986), Blitzwing, Broadside, Dirge, Silverbolt, Golder, Hot Spot, Cloudracker, Lazerbeak, Ratbat, Superion, Rewind and Slugslinger in Transformers: Headmasters (1987-1988), Hydra and Darkwings in Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (1988-1989); Decoe and Nelson Thorndyke in Sonic X)

- Akimitsu Takase (Blowpipe, Fastlane, Hot Rod, Freeway, and Monzo in The Transformers (Rebirth); the President’s aide in Sonic The Hedgehog (OVA))

- Ken Narita (Caliburst, Cerebros, Stylor, Cloudracker, Triggerhappy, and Sureshot in Transformers: Headmasters (1987-1988); Black Narcissus in Sonic X)

- Banjou Ginga (Ultra Magnus in Transformers: Scramble City (1986) and Transformers: Animated (2007-2009), Scorponok/Mega Zarak in Transformers: Headmasters (1987-1988), Black Zarak in Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (1988-1989), one of the Primes in Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009); GUN Commander in Shadow The Hedgehog (2005))

- Masaharu Sato (Alpha Trion, First Aid, Bee Drone, Grotusque, Hook, Grimlock, Scourge, Kaen, Punch/Counterpunch, Skydive, Sureshot and Tantrum in Transformers: Headmasters (1987-1988), Gilmer and Leftfoot in Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (1988-1989), Perceptor, Frank, and Mayor Burns in Transformers: Victory (1989); Dr. Eggman in SegaSonic The Hedgehog (1993))

- Hochu Otsuka (Ultra Magnus, Crosshairs, Wingspan, Big Serow, Freeway, Ratbat and Abel in Transformers: Headmasters (1987-1988), Ranger in Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (1988-1989), and Guyhawk in Transformers: Victory (1989); Red Pine in Sonic X)

- Takeshi Kusao (Clouder in Transformers: Super-God Masterforce (1988-1989); Sonic The Hedgehog in Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car (1991), SegaSonic Cosmo Fighter Galaxy Patrol (1993), and SegaSonic The Hedgehog(1993))

- Hinako Yoshino (Pipo in Transformers: Victory (1989); Ray The Flying Squirrel in SegaSonic The Hedgehog(1993))

- Chafurin (Cicadacon in Beast Wars, General Bryce in Transformers: Prime (2010-2013), Octopunch in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2014-2017); Old Man Owl in Sonic The Hedgehog (OVA), Zomom in Sonic Lost World)

- Wataru Takagi (Cheetor in Beast Wars, Glenn Whitmann in Transformers (2007), Jetstorm and Safeguard in Transformers: Animated (2007-2009), Jazz in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2014-2017); Cubot in the Sonic series (2010-present))

- Nobutoshi Canna (Nightscream and Oracle in Beast Machines, Inferno, Lazerwave and Sixshot in Transformers: Superlink, Swindle in Transformers: Animated (2007-2009); Knuckles The Echidna in the Sonic series (1998-present) and Sonic X)

- Mitsuo Iwata (Silverbolt in Beast Wars, Roadbuster in Transformers: Superlink, Wreck-Gar in Transformers: Animated (2007-2009), Hardshell in Transformers: Prime (2010-2013), Blurr in Transformers: Cyberverse (2018-present); Orbot in the Sonic series (2008-present))

- Toru Okawa (Optimus Prime/Convoy and Scourge in Transformers: Micron Legend, Ratchet and Porter C. Powell in Transformers: Animated (2007-2009), Simacore in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2014-2017); Pachacamac in Sonic Adventure (1998))

- Koji Yusa (Ironhide and Thrust in Transformers: Micron Legend, Ironhide/Irontread and Wing Dagger/Wing Saber in Transformers: Superlink, Prowl in Transformers: Animated (2007-2009); Shadow The Hedgehog)

- Daisuke Kishio (Kicker Jones in Transformers: Superlink, Bumblebee in Transformers: Animated (2007-2009), Quillfire in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2014-2017); Jet The Hawk in the Sonic games (2005-present))

- Kenta Miyake (Landmine and Omega Supreme in Transformers: Superlink, Bulkhead, Alpha Trion and Blackout in Transformers: Animated (2007-2009), Shockwave in Transformers: Prime (2010-2013), Razorpaw in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2014-2017); Vector The Crocodile in the Sonic games (2003-present) and Sonic X)

- Katsuyuki Konishi (Optimus Prime/Grand Convoy and Overdrive in Transformers: Superlink, Angry Archer and Spike Witwicky in Transformers: Animated (2007-2009); Lucas in Sonic X)

- Joji Nakata (Megatron in Transformers: Galaxy Force; E-102 Gamma in Sonic Adventure, Zavok in the Sonic games (2013-present), Dark Oak in Sonic X)

- Kotaro Nakamura (Megatron in the Transformers live-action films (2007-2011); Dr. Eggman in the Sonic games (2015-present))

- Kenji Nomura (Jetfire in Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (2009), Hardcore Eddie in Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011), William Fowler in Transformers: Prime (2010-2013); Storm The Albatross in the Sonic games (2005-present))

- Takashi Nagasako (Issac Sumdac, Snarl and Brawn in Transformers: Animated (2007-2009), Bulkhead in Transformers: Prime (2010-2013); Big The Cat in the Sonic games (2004-present))

- Sanae Kobayashi (Carly Spencer in Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011); Chris Thorndyke in Sonic X)

- Yuki Tai (Wheeljack and Makeshift in Transformers: Prime (2010-2013); Zor in Sonic Lost World, Leon in Sonic X)

- Yutaka Aoyama (Dutch in Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (2011), Nightstrike in Transformers: Robots In Disguise (2014-2017); Zazz in Sonic Lost World)

- Ryuzaburo Otomo (Galvatron in Transformers: Age Of Extinction (2014); Black Doom in Shadow The Hedgehog (2005))

- Yutaka Nakano (Harold Attinger in Transformers: Age Of Extinction (2014); the President in Shadow The Hedgehog (2005))

- Aoi Yuki (Windblade in Transformers: Cyberverse, and Shatter in Bumblebee (2018); Sticks The Jungle Badger in Sonic Boom, and the female Avatar in Sonic Forces)

Like I said, Sonic and Transformers have a lot in common, but they are unique in their own ways.  Maybe I like Transformers the most because it was from the 1980′s (which, by the way, is my favorite decade).  I wasn’t too much of a 1990′s fan, but I did like Sonic, which originated in the 1990′s.  So, I suppose Transformers is the winner, and Sonic The Hedgehog is in second place.

Well, that is all I will be saying for now.  I will be posting more soon, but I have other things to do, as well.  Stay tuned for more posts.

This is FirebirdTransAm68 signing out.

[ruoxin]

Hello everyone!!

I noticed that I gained a lot of new followers recently, and I realized I haven’t really made a post introducing myself like ever lol so I brain dumped 50 random facts about me and hopefully you guys know me better! ^-^

My name is Angela, but I also go by Ang/Angie/Leighann

I’m currently 22! I was born in 1997 (Chinese zodiac is year of the Rat since I was born before the Lunar New Year)

i’m quite short at 4′11″

My Myers-Briggs is INFJ

For those into Astrology: Aquarius sun, Sagittarius moon, Cancer rising

I just graduated last month from UCSB as a psych major with a minor in English literature!

Born and raised in the Bay Area ❤ Hoping to live in SF someday!

I’m ethnically Chinese/Dutch, but both my parents are from Taiwan

I have a HUGE birthmark from my ankle to my thigh (it’s insane haha but it faded a lot throughout the years)

I have 8 piercings! All in my ears (6 lobes, 1 tragus, 1 helix)

Only countries I been to: U.S., Mexico, China, Taiwan. Top of my bucket list include: Iceland, Santorini, Japan, South Korea!

I guess I’m bi? Still figuring it out tbh. But guys my type include: Doctor Mike, Andre Hamann, Nick Bateman. girls my type: Hyoyeon, Seulgi, Maggie Q, Lucy Liu

My fav (American) TV shows are: OITNB, Grey’s Anatomy, Burn Notice, and FRIENDS

My fav kdramas are: Encounter, City Hunter,  IRIS, Legend of the Blue Sea

My fav movie is Breakfast at TIffany’s

I listen to a lot of indie/alternative (Foster the People, Lana Del Rey, Naked and Famous, Mumford & Sons), kpop (right now loving Red Velvet, SNSD and Gfriend), and classic 60s - 80s (Beatles, Motown, Frank Sinatra, etc.)

I got into kpop in 2009 but stopped listening around 2013-2016 and started again in 2017. My ult kpop group is pROoOBably SNSD and my (ult) bias is Hyoyeon ❤ PLEASE STAN HER AND LISTEN TO HER NEW SINGLE BADSTER WHEN IT COMES OUT JULY 20 6PM KST!!

I was raised Catholic but now I am spiritual but not religious. I believe in constantly working on becoming a better person and doing good.

My fav colors are: black, white, most shades of light pink, turquoise (or TIffany blue), and recently I’ve been obsessed with yellow! I can’t pick a single one!

My favorite time of day is prob dawn but I haven’t been awake for it in years lol. I do love twilight too because it gives me a weird nostalgic feeling

I speak English and proficient-fluent Mandarin (I prob can’t have a deep conversation about economics or politics or something lol but I grew up speaking it with my parents 24/7). I also took 4 years of Japanese in high school (but i prob forgot most of it welp). I’m going to relearn Japanese/Mandarin and hopefully start learning Korean sometime in the near future! I know the alphabet and some basics from my countless of hours watching kdramas lol

If you’re one of my female friends, I will melt if you call me these: angel, sweetie, beautiful, babe, hun, etc!!

I try to avoid mainstream things that are talked about too much because I really believe that things are overhyped and people can lose their identity by liking things just because other people are. (no hate, but e.g. BTS, Ariana Grande, Game of Thrones, Beyonce).

I LOVEEE receiving and giving handwritten letters

Speaking of, I change my handwriting every few years since I haven’t really found one that stuck yet and I have like 5 different types of handwriting from all caps to very neat print to almost calligraphy-like cursive

Games I play(ed): Pokemon (Silver, Leafgreen, Emerald, Ultra Sun, Alpha Sapphire, and Pokemon Go lol), Animal Crossing (Wild World, New Leaf, Pocket Camp). I also did my fair share of League but stopped before it consumed my life with toxicity. I was a support main who used Nami, Janna, and Thresh!

27 is my favorite number but I really do not know why lmao

My guilty pleasure song is Britney Spears - Toxic and I still haven’t gotten sick of it. Some favorite songs of all time are prob: Aretha Franklin - Day Dreaming, Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World, SNSD - Gee, SNSD - Genie, Amy Winehouse - Valerie

My best subject at school was English and I received an academic excellence award at the end of my junior year out of all the juniors in my grade in American Lit

When I was younger, my first dream job was an artist. then I watched Grey’s and wanted to be a cardiothoracic surgeon. Other dream jobs I had for brief moments: makeup artist, fashion designer, motivational speaker. Now I’m hoping to go to grad school to be an MFT/LPCC!

I love black cats and german shepherds! But I’m more of a cat person

If I could travel back in time I would want to live in 60′s New York or the 90′s.

Biggest turn on: someone who can hold a deep and intellectual conversation with me about meaningful subjects! Biggest turn off: someone who is extremely vapid and has no ambition whatsoever

My fav season is autumn!

The perfume I use is Marc Jacobs Daisy but I think I want to change to Versace Bright Crystal after I finish

I have perfect vision!

I did track during my prime teenage days (long jumper!) and my fastest mile was 7:20. I haven’t ran for years after that and I just started again 7 years later around this March, and I improved from around a 10 min mile in the beginning to my recent fastest at 8:09! I am hoping to get back in the ~7 mins

I also did a little bit of swim team, and I can swim all four strokes (free, back, breast, butterfly) but I mainly raced freestyle and butterfly!

I am literally the least picky eater you will ever meet. Take me to any restaurant and I wouldn’t complain. I also have a decently high tolerance for spicy things. The only food that I ever really tried and disliked is liver and the one thing that I probably wouldn’t ever try is something way out there like snail or scorpion lol

Speaking of food, I love food on the heavier side and tend to over season and over-sauce my foods lol. I love onion, ketchup, ranch, black pepper, soy sauce, korean chili spice (what they use for kimchi)

I can crack all my toes at will (it grosses everyone out xD)

My favorite book of all time is East of Eden by John Steinbeck ❤

My super power of choice if I had one would probably be invisibility

I played piano for 6 years in my childhood and I can still read notes, but veeery slowly lol

I’m kind of VERY unhealthily obsessed with (Japanese) stationery. Moleskine journals, Uni alpha gel, Pilot Dr. Grip, Zebra Mildliners, Staedler Triplus fineliners, Sakura Microns, Uni-ball signo, Pilot Hi-tec-c... yeah... i have all of those and more... yiKEs

My fav holiday is Christmas. I love holiday spirit and Sleigh Ride (I only accept the Ella Fitzgerald version) is literally such a good song??

My favorite non alcoholic drink is prob earl grey boba tea. fav alcoholic drink is whiskey!

I do not have any tattoos, but the top two I am planning are: “♒” behind my left ear, and “英” behind my neck (my mom’s Chinese name, but it also means brave/hero/outstanding person)

city > countryside

How I would describe my fashion style: tomboy, casual, chic, comfortable

[noradarhkpalmer]

draw me like one of your french girls, miss darhk

Title: draw me like one of your french girls, miss darhk

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: Darhkatom gets a little suggestive

Summary/Notes: Ray finds out Nora can draw and then finds out she used to love to draw, so what does Ray do? What he does best of course. A big romantic gesture to fit the occasion.

I’m so sorry I fell behind on these! I had some personal health problems come up but I am going to try and catch up! This one is extra long! Enjoy!

Day twelve of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the through the tag to see the others! Basically, I will be posted all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

He had found the doodle when he was cleaning up dinner. They had had a quiet dinner in the galley while waiting for the rest of the team to get back from a mission. They sat there and talked, ready to get up and quarterback but also trying to enjoy a rare moment where they were the only two people on the ship. When Ray cleared the plates he noticed Nora had doodled on a napkin she hadn’t used. It was a profile of him, incredibly realistic, and Ray had tucked it into his pocket, reminding himself to ask her about it later.

Ray entered their room that evening once the team returned. It was now officially their room. It made him giddy every time he thought about it. Not only was that the only room Nora had ever stayed in on the Waverider but things were now sprinkled about the room that just made it theirs, rather than his and she just also happened to sleep there. Things like her houseshoes on her side of the bed, and Ray thought the fact that she wore them was absolutely adorable, she said it was because her feet were always cold but Ray didn’t care. He just thought it was one of the cutest things about her. Her books, the ones she brought with her and the ones she’d fabricated since were beginning to stack high in two stacks on Ray’s desk, which they now also shared. And of course her clothes were also in his closet, their closet.

He changed for bed and grabbed the doodle from his jean pocket before tossing the clothes in the hamper. Ray climbed into the bed next to Nora who was reading and humming quietly to herself. She looked up at him and smiled when he got in the bed.

“So ugh… I found something of yours after dinner tonight.” Ray handed her the folded up napkin and Nora took it with great confusion.

She opened it and her eyes went wide. “Oh I thought I had thrown that away with the rest of the food bits on my plate.”

“This is really good, Nora, and I’m not just biased because it’s a profile of me. You’re really good, have you ever drawn anything else or is this just some talent that is somehow magically wonderful the first time off?”

Nora smiled in embarrassment. “No… I used to doodle a lot as a kid, I was always drawing something, I much preferred it to playing with dolls or even reading, or playing with other kids. I stopped because I had a job to do but even when I got bounced around asylums and mental hospitals if I was able to have stuff to draw with I would, it usually wasn’t anything in particular but tonight you had moved your head to a certain angle and I don’t know, you maybe also had a look on your face and I just wanted to capture it and so I drew it.”

Ray placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’re really good, I think you should do this more often. We can fabricate any art supplies your heart desires.”

“So I can what, draw you like one of my French girls, Ray?” She rolled her eyes. “Thanks, but no thanks. I feel like I barely have time to read or spend time with you between missions. I don’t want to clog up all my free time by drawing stuff that doesn’t even matter…” She tried to put the napkin off to the side but Ray caught her wrist.

“Hey, your art matters. I have no idea what all you’re going to create or have created but it matters. If it’s important to you or ever was, it definitely matters. You’re allowed an outlet, if Zari can have her video games that probably will actually melt everyone’s brains one day, you can draw or paint or sketch or whatever you want.”

Nora looked away. “I’m sorry, Ray, but I just don’t have the heart for it anymore. This was a fluke. Just me trying to pass the time while you were nerding out about some science thing.”

Ray knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere trying to push her more tonight so he nodded sadly and let her toss the napkin in the trash bin. “Okay. I understand.”

xxxx

Apparently, Ray “understanding” meant he wouldn’t press the issue anymore that night. The next day, however, Ray spent probably too long fabricating sketch books of different sizes, fancy pencils, fancy colored pencils, erasers, and even some kits of charcoals and paints and pens. Ray knew he was probably going overboard but that was Ray Palmer’s MO, show love in absolute excess.

Ray neatly organized all of the art supplies while Nora was in the shower that morning and left it on her side of the bed and then disappeared to the lab to do work, slightly afraid of Nora’s quite possible negative reaction to the gesture.

Nora came back to her’s and Ray’s room now ready for the day when she saw what she hoped was not a giant pile of arts supplies on their bed.

She got closer and realized that it was.

Dammit Ray.

Nora picked up one of the sketchbooks and ran her fingers over it, remembering how most of the time in the asylums and hospitals she maybe had loose leaf paper and a dull pencil but she’d draw everything she wanted her life to be instead of a scared, demon possessed teenager. She drew herself as a princess locked in a tower, being saved by a valiant knight, that one had been recurring after getting her hands on an anthology of King Arthur tales, she also drew herself in a world where her parents were still alive, doing normal parent stuff like picking her up for school or decorating the Christmas tree. She drew the fantastical and normal, because back then, even the normal was pure fantasy to Nora.

Nora threw the sketchbook down and sighed. Ray’s heart was in the right place but hers just wasn’t… but she would try, for him.

xxxx

Nora figured she would find him in his lab, she had a small sketchbook tucked under her arm with a set of brand new and sharpened art pencils. She also had erasers and a small set of micron ink pens. She might not even do anything with the supplies but she would try, for Ray.

She saw him tinkering somewhere deep inside the chest plate of the ATOM suit and knocked on the open lab door.

Ray looked up at saw her there and then his eyes fell to the art supplies tucked under her arm and broke out into a full grin.

“I saw you got my present.”

Nora walked up to him and grabbed his chin gently to look him straight in the eyes. “I did, and you are so often what I don’t deserve, and I thank you for it.” She pulled him in for a soft kiss and patted his chest. “Carry on, I just wanted to watch you work.”

“And maybe doodle me, while you work?”

“Maybe.” She smiled and hopped up onto his workspace table and put the supplies in her lap. She sat there, just enjoying watching him work as she often came down to the lab to observe but then she got an idea and pulled a pencil out of the box, discreetly so he wouldn’t get the satisfaction of seeing her actually trying, and opened to the first page in her sketchbook. She moved her pencil down the page, trying to get the perspective of him working on his suit correct. When she was satisfied she moved onto finer details, trying to capture the look of absolute concentration and amazement at his own invention on his face.

After a while the tinkering stopped but Nora kept tracing back over the same line, lost in the image of Ray on her paper and she felt someone touch her arm and she jumped. She looked up to see Ray standing next to her, trying to get a look at what she’d been drawing for the last hour.

Nora instinctively held the sketchbook to her chest so Ray wouldn’t see. “Can I help you, Dr. Palmer?”

“Just wanted to see what you were drawing.” He grinned.

“Well it’s not done yet so you can’t see it.” She gently pushed him out of her personal bubble and gestured for him to get back to work.

“Ah you want me back in the same spot so you can make sure you’re drawing me proportionally.” He started walking back to his suit and picked up a small wrench.

Nora smirked. “No, I know exactly how… well proportioned you are, Ray Palmer.”

“I am well aware that you do, Miss Darhk.” Ray abandoned his suit once more and went over to Nora, stepping between her legs and leaning down to kiss her gently.

Nora let the sketchbook drop and she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him further.

They jumped apart at the sound of a cough and saw Zari standing near them, now holding the sketchbook.

Zari narrowed her eyes at them before speaking, “I better not flip through this and find naked drawings of Ray.”

Nora, now annoyed that her moment with Ray was interrupted used her magic to bring the book back over to her. “There aren’t any but the ones I have planned are all tasteful, and are for no one’s eyes but mine and Ray’s. Did you need something, Miss Tomaz?”

Zari, now slightly disgusted, shook her head and held up her hands. “Nope, getting the image out of my head of you guys recreating the scene from Titanic has taken top priority. I’m gonna go now.”

Nora laughed as Zari made her exit and tugged on the collar of Ray’s shirt.

“You… you have plans to draw me naked?” Ray asked, completely flustered.

Nora shook her head, “no that was just to get Zari to leave us alone, however, the more I’m thinking about it, the more I am liking the idea. Just not here,” she said and pulled him in for a deep kiss, the sketchbook forgotten again… but not for long.

[beinglibertarian]

Shortcuts & Delusions Special Edition: The Absurdity of Gary Johnson

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutly free that your very existance is an act of rebellion.” – Albert Camus

Obituary:

Libertarian satirist and vengeful deity Dillon Eliassen (spelled with an E for comedic purposes), whose work I sincerely admire, has died. Spiritually. Only spiritually. He is to be succeeded in spiritual death by a micronation of homeless people, his fellow members of the Fictitious Cement Workers’ Union, and Being Libertarian’s very own Editor-in-Chief Martin van Staden.

Dillon “The Jesuit” Eliassen (née Ottovordemgentschenfelde) was probably born on Christmas morning 1949, somewhere in Canada. Known for his youthful shenanigans, Dillon brought a smile to the faces of all who encountered him at San Quentin. While fighting for our freedom on the blood-soaked soil of Vietnam, Dillon gave birth to a mostly healthy yet premature appendix, and he named it me.

Let us begin.

Introduction:

Dillon left off with an in-depth analysis of ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome,’ a very real ‘condition’ that ‘I’ have personally heard firsthand accounts of on multiple occasions. This was a fitting place to conclude. The torch was not passed to me, but I am hereby picking it up off the ground, wiping the dirt and canine feces from its gleaming bronze exterior, and running with it in the exact opposite direction of any achievable goal.

I am Nathaniel Owen. If you don’t recognize my name, it’s because I am legitimately the least important person you’ve never heard of. I’m unknown for my efforts to bear the heaviness of the Imperial Antarctic Crown, and my occasional bouts of productive cyber-vigilantism. In 2014 I made a mistake, and today that mistake is Being Libertarian. They locked me in the CEO’s office until I pay for this crime.

Like my obvious relatives, Nathaniel Bacon, Nathaniel Branden, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, I am a revolutionary. I haven’t got a Che t-shirt, and I never attend the meetings. But like many communist tovarisch, I do have an iPhone. In the postmodern age, that’s a clever weapon to have! Climate scientists, for instance, have indicated that it’s really all the humble revolutionary needs these days. I am constantly confused as to the value of my executive role at Being Libertarian but remain the least confused as to why I maintain this position.

Today is my favorite day of the year, second only to New Year’s Eve. For me, today acts as a reminder of the closest thing I have ever encountered to universal truth; a realization that haunts, comforts, astounds and enchants me. Yesterday, we were but individuals rolling boulders up a hill. Today, we will try again to roll the boulders up that hill. Tomorrow, yet again, we will return to this habit. You have been doing this with me since the day you were born.

I like to count the number of seconds it takes the boulder to reach the bottom of the hill each sunset. In the morning, we will start over.

We Are All Sisyphus:

It’s quite pointless, analytically speaking. You probably don’t remember being born, nor were you an integral part in making that happen to you. No number of artifacts can preserve the complexity of an individual human being, and even if one could live immortally in the memory of others, time turns existential into the mythological.

The universe is dying. It will live scarcely longer than we will. You appear to have come into existence at random, in a time and place inherently foreign. As a child, you wander into a adulthood without happening on the answer key to any questions relating to how or why you exist in the first place. Much less, how or why the universe itself exists. A consequence of this is that We, The People tend to convince ourselves conveniently that the answers to such questions not only exist, but can be found in such subtle hiding places as your local political party, whatever holy book you were raised to read, your arbitrary interpretations of the signs and seasons presented to us by the light of the cosmos, or even in our own imaginations.

And we know because we can’t avoid knowing, that whatever facade we’ve sold ourselves is, in fact, still a facade even if we fall for it.

Every day spent living is a performative affirmation that something about you, even if you can’t figure out exactly what it is, still wants to find those answers. If this weren’t the case, the players of this game would be dropping like flies when they discover that there is no point in playing and no conceivable way to win and that eventually there will be no evidence that you ever played at all. In short, that life itself is highly unlikely to be worth the trouble.

Albert Camus, French philosopher, and journalist, was plagued with thoughts like those stated above. Camus became a constitutive inspiration of the Existentialist Movement (a tradition of philosophy asserting the importance of human experience in the appraisal and interpretation of ideas), partially during the Second World War, while serving in fierce defiance as the Editor-in-Chief of the French Resistance newspaper ‘Combat’ amidst the Nazi occupation of his homeland, and continuing this roll into the post-war world.

Though such matters in the realm of fundamentals and absolutes can be difficult to define, you may have wondered similar things about yourself, and perhaps continue to. Camus was particularly perturbed by the sheer fact that the universe itself and all that exists within it have no objective meaning or purpose. The rational insights we are both blessed and cursed with poke holes in all our mortally limited attempts to invent meaning of our own, and in the Modern Age, the old ideas of Abrahamic deities, universal truth, and inherent ethical rules, each of which having been rudimentary to the shaping and formation of modern society in some way, have been penetrated into philosophical Swiss cheese.

The Non-Aggression Principle is a rather useful little limerick when one doesn’t overthink it. But like all things implying morality, thinking it all the way through will lead you to fundamentals that cannot possibly be confirmed or denied. What, exactly, makes murder wrong? What about robbery? Or socialism? Or the unfairness of free markets? When all is said and done, is it really going to matter whether every little thing we chose to do was right, or wrong, or equitable, or unfair? At the top level, with capital crimes especially, it is not hard to find that the supermajority of humanity agrees on some basic ethical positions. But when applying these basics, they become more complicated. By the point that we are discussing the specific rights and wrongs of typical human behavior, no two people will find themselves in agreement on the application of what they may believe are universal, self-evident principles.

Camus asserted, rather poignantly, that suicide has always been an option. And the scariness, confusion, and uncertainty of existing in such an uncertain world have apparently not driven you to it. And why shouldn’t we die now? It all adds up to the same summary. Nothing is permanent. It’s very possible that nothing matters. Yet we, practically all of us, seem to be making the conscious choice each day to live on. It’s as though if we pull away some of that upstanding rationalism gifted to us during The Enlightenment, there is some other part of us playing such an integral role in our existence that it stabilizes and confirms our will to exist at all.

Camus was a hero in several ways, and today is his day. There are very few people who want to legalize murder, yet droves of people who wish to legalize marijuana, and to many hearty fundamentalists, these may be comparable issues. Sin is sin, oppression is oppression, and aggression is aggression. To many libertarians, and to what should be our collective shame, such things as unionizing the local labor force, stealing a sandwich from a street vendor, violently raping a helpless victim, and aborting the fetus conceived in such tragic circumstances are all comparably “aggressive,” and may not even be considered in terms outside of “aggression” regardless of how useful a new approach or perspective may be when considering such cases.

At the risk of losing all of my libertarian acquaintances, I will admit that once upon a time, I charged my iPhone (yes, my revolutionary weapon of choice) using a stranger’s charging cable without asking when he wasn’t around. I aggressed. I haven’t repented and I’m not sure my soul will be where yours will be on judgment day.

The point is, it makes so little difference whether we are right or wrong about what is “aggression” and what is not “aggression,” that it’s a wonder anybody even cares to discuss it for more than a few than a few minutes.

I do not care who builds the roads, or who decides what color to paint the bathrooms at Beacon Hill, or which Union and/or Confederate heroes/villains are memorialized in stone. I do not care to pay taxes of a meager nature. Of course, I will consistently support lower taxes; it’s my own self-interest at stake. I will not, however, declare that anyone who doesn’t concern themselves with it as deeply as myself to be a “sheep.” Sheep are blind followers. To the best of my knowledge, I have never met anyone who doesn’t fit that description, and yes, this includes myself. I’m no determinist, but I know that I know essentially nothing about the mechanics of what REALLY makes something moral or immoral. I also know that you don’t know either.

The universe you live in doesn’t care what you think. It doesn’t “care” in any way about anything, as far as we can tell. Clinging so staunchly to principles may as well be escapism from the dread and uncertainty of having existed in the first place. Cults operate by exploiting this inherent dread, and unlike the average man on the street who will immediately deny any experiences of being uncertain about his own existence, cults can see through this bullshit. The Liberty Movement should be no cult.

“The Absurd” is a boulder. Every second you live is an exercise in pointlessness. Searching for meaning, embracing the experience of uncertainty, and cracking a smile as your shoulders yet again shove that boulder up the hill… these are exercises in defiance. It is no coincidence that Albert Camus, espousing the conviction (or lack thereof) that no objective truth or purpose may ever be identified, was willing to put his life on the line to dignify and endorse the French Resistance Movement, and despite his eventual death in a car crash, his words live on.

We libertarians are the quintessentially anti-establishment political identity. When our fists are clenched around the chains of dogma and theoretical universal principles we may as well be chained to the same despotic foundation we’re trying to help others liberate themselves from. To think for one’s self, one must realize the degree to which the nuances and practicalities of the world we live in influence us. Peddling promises of applying some universal ethic that we, as representatives of the Liberty Movement, can’t even agree on the parameters of is no different than selling a religious experience; a method by which to keep the conscience clean, and supply some convenient, flimsy certainty that will never stand up to the scrutiny of the skeptical. If our universal truths were as permanent as they are constructed to be, we would never change our minds or opinions.

This rant will resume in 365.25 days when National Absurdity Day returns in all its glory, memento mori, and calendarial obscurity.

And speaking of scrutiny, I’m going to have to toss in a trigger warning. This isn’t even my first trigger warning. I’m a professional.

**TRIGGER WARNING** What you are about to read may cause severe bouts of Trump Derangement Syndrome. If you are a leftist, please do not read the following paragraphs while in close proximity to sharp objects. Symptoms may include blood shooting from the eyes, indecipherable screaming, close encounters of the fourth kind, and varying degrees of irritable face syndrome. Please notify a physician if you encounter itchiness of the spleen, cirrhosis of the autobiographical memory, or diarrhea of the oral cavity.

Why We MUST Defeat Gary Johnson You’re probably wondering about the guy in the title of this article who, thus far, has been absent from said article. In fact, he’s absent from things quite often, I’m told.

Gary Johnson is not a real libertarian. Why libertarians get starry-eyed in his presence is beyond me, with his espousal of blatant communism and acceptance of homonormative deconstructionist Islamomarxism. Johnson as a representative of libertarianism is a clear sign that the left is invading the liberty movement, further eroding private property norms and propping up support for the deep state agenda of the globalists.

Johnson has pretended to support unfettered free market capitalism, and even went as far as to insist that tearing down barriers of entry could give the average person better, fairer access to goods and services. “The model of the future is the sharing economy. It’s Uber. It’s Airbnb. I think it’s gonna be Uber everything.”

“Uber everything” sounds like a great idea until you take your morning Red Pill and see that this is just code for white genocide. Without a heterogenous government of the people, who will stop immigrants from driving Uber taco trucks and parking them on every street corner, forestalling traditional values and private property norms. Americans would lose their jobs, possibly to immigrants. Even libertarian heroine Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sees through Gary Johnson’s thin veneer of egalitarian lies!

He ran for president. Twice. On the second try, he broke every Libertarian Party presidential vote count record in the party’s history, surpassing even the likes of Our Lord and Savior Dr. Ron Earnet Paul. Mark my words, we will never forgive Gary Johnson for not being Ron Paul. His tax cuts were clearly a Democrat ruse to give spending power to the politically correct internationalist cabal of globalist elites like George Soros, Walt Disney, and Oliver Cromwell.

After making the Libertarian Party lose twice, Gary Johnson snuck in one more attack on libertarian legitimacy by losing in New Mexico in a Senate race where he only claimed 15.4% of the vote, singlehandedly handing victory over to communist Democrat Vladimir Len- I mean… Martin Heinrich (if that’s his real name).

Gary Johnson must be stopped. He cannot be allowed to run for office again, regardless of what degenerate socialist feminazis say about “free speech” and “democracy.” Democracy is a secret codeword known to the Fourth International for white genocide and subversion of private property norms. To Make America Great Again

, we must Physically Remove

this man that even the Democrats recognize as a tyrant. Socialists say that Gary Johnson is no threat to the system. This means Gary Johnson is probably a socialist (and a threat to the system the Founding Fathers put in place to protect our freedoms) because everything socialists say are lies.

What further evidence do you need? So far, I have used some of the most Red Pill buzzwords on the market, and even considered using “optics,” “LOLbertarian,” “SJW,” “libertine,” “postmodernism” and “open borders.” Libertarianism is an obvious right-wing ideology. We have standards, you know.

I won’t keep you here. Now that I’ve owned you with facts and logic, you are free to go.

Outro: Left intentionally long and with minimal editing, everything written above makes a single point that, in context, doesn’t mean anything. Most things, and probably all things, don’t mean anything. But that observation is no taskmaster; true freedom is the freedom to waste your time, and the time of others, in a way that is archetypically you. There are no strict parameters here. Drifting a little off the straight and narrow shouldn’t be cause for panic. If there was a takeaway in this article, I don’t know what it is. Perhaps there is a Gary Johnson in all of us, rolling a boulder up Mount Everest just to watch it roll back into the ravine, much like the Libertarian vote count will in 2020.

Do as thou wilt, and don’t overthink it.

Happy National Absurdity Day, comrades.

سُبْحَانَ اللہِ

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