#hopefully all the drawings load- they look iffy from here

[bunkernine]

i forgot 2 ask in the last ask 2 ☹ who drew ur pfp 👀

it's from the readriordan website, here's the link to the spotlight article about drew tanaka. since I've only been using official art lately, im counting the website as official 🤔 if it wasn't official I'd put the artist in my bio

but anyway long answer short, I'm going to fucking murder you rn for bringing this up 🤣 because i can't find out on the website nor wikia so i needed to search.

here's my thoughts and my journey😭🕵️:

at first i looked at cover artists of rrp books

Vivienne To did the art for Dragon Pearl and The Last Fallen Star so the art style feels familiar and she is clearly tied to the Riordan label, but it didn't feel right.

Vanessa Morales also did art for Paolo Santiago and the Forest of Nightmares, which was also kind of similar but her work was like, too dynamic to feel right for this profile. the colors she uses are so vibrant!!!

....then i got lazy and only did those 2 😭 the rest felt too off anyway

The problem with those two is that it seems they only draw for things related to their culture (which is a neat move on riordan's side i think) but the pjo artist all seem to be the same for the pjo articles.

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so i went to insta (@readriordan) 😭😭😭 and this motherfucker doesnt tag nobody and doesn't say shit in captions 😭😭😭

i went thru a couple of posts of the pjo art to find an artist. i realized that there seems to be at least 2 artists but neither have been named. someone on insta also felt this way but no response 😭😭😭

i tried not to cry when i go thru so many posts . there's this one about Zoe nightshade with #warriorcrushwednesday that someone commented their WCW was Leo Valdez and others say Nico Di Angelo. i try not to think about this too much.

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→ anyway insta tells me nothing. Twitter tells me nothing or at least not that i can search too much as i don't have an account.

→ Facebook. i just fucking know the answer is probably there because it's fucking facebook but i don't have an account and it won't let me keep scrolling. so fucked up 😭😭 the @readriordan about page never fucking loads

all the fucking links at the bottom of the page lead to Disney, like DISNEY DISNEY. i skimmed thier terms of use for no reason.

finally i straight up Google search the images... nothing shows 😭 the first one i did was the hyacinthus image which was a mistake because it kept bringing up tsoa. so i didn't the pic of jo and emmie which only brought 5 or 6 Google pages. nothing.

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i look up many variations of "who draws the character art for read Riordan?" nothing but the old artists we already know show up, but this is not their style!!!! sobbing

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my last resort: email this man. i head to the rickriordan website, which is different from readriordan. his contact info says something along the lines off "fuck off!!!!! i took down my email 🤣 and u gotta contact me on twitter insta or Facebook to get a hold of this rich guy 🤑🤣🤣🤣 even tho i don't run that shit!!!!! gl fans 💓"

🛐 can not wait for the purge, i thought

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my final option: i expect to mail a letter to the publisher. i am not to expect an answer.

so i do not actually mail him.

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anyway i do not have a conclusive answer. i can only say this is official art and perhaps one day Riordan will answer the people. tbh some of the art is real iffy and kinda gross but LOL no clue who did it 😭 i hope this pain satisfies you but there is no answer here from me. hopefully someone can find them out there 💓

frankly imo, it's really irresponsible to not say who ur artist is! but i am not millionaire nor am I the artist not getting the clout so where does that put me. just a blogger with a drew pfp and hopeful asker who gets nothing 💕 stay cute bro

[catgirls4misa]

g!p mina x trans boyfriend

a/n: i’m sorry for the long wait with this (＞﹏＜) this draft ended up magically disappearing earlier in the week and it was tough for me to find time to rewrite it with all the schoolwork i had! nonetheless, i hope you enjoy this (.❛ ᴗ ❛.) thank you for the request <3

you and mina have been together for a couple of months now, and your relationship was everything you could have asked for and more. one of the best parts is that she’s incredibly supportive and understanding of your transition, and even though that’s the least someone could do, it still means a lot.

you’ve had a couple of experiences with potential partners that have still leave a bad taste in your mouth, but the love mina showers you in manages to make all of that go away. being with mina is like a dream come true... but if there is something you had to change it would be your sex life, or in this case the lack of it.

you get it, you really do. mina wants to be respectful of you and your boundaries and you guys have never really talked about having sex, but you have needs and you know that she does as well. which is why hopefully tonight the two of you can take your relationship to the next level.

“i thought the movie could have been better, i’m kind of sick of cgi, do you know what i mean?” mina rambles from the kitchen, the faint sounds of glasses clinking as she looks through the cupboards.

“yeah totally,” you say absent-mindedly as you watch your girlfriend come into the living room with two glasses of wine, one of which you gratefully accept as she sits to the right of you to cuddle up with you on the couch.

“and i’m a little iffy on the ending, i’m not sure how to feel about it.” mina continues, taking a sip from her glass, and immediately you follow suit, taking a sip of your own as well.

“it was still fun though, i like going to the movies with you,” you hum.

mina rolls her eyes at you playfully, “you just like going because you like to hold hands and makeout.”

“true, true,” you admit shamelessly, causing mina to let out a small laugh.

“you don’t have to take me to the movies to do that though, we can do that here for free.” mina says, looking up at you with hooded eyes, prompting butterflies to erupt in your stomach.

“oh?” you manage to croak out dumbly.

“mhm,” mina hums in confirmation as she takes the glass from your hand and places both yours and hers on the coffee table, turning back to you when she’s back in her original position.

you blink at her a couple of times before you’re able to form a coherent sentence, “is this the part when we hold hands and make out?”

“if you want it to be, yes,” she replies, intertwining her left hand with your right one as she leans towards you and places her right hand on your chest.

instead of offering her a proper response, all you do is lean in and place your lips on hers. and almost immediately mina responds the hand on your chest snaking up to the back of your neck to bring you closer.

the two of you continue to exchange heated kisses until you bite down slightly on mina’s lower lip, causing her to let out a moan. shifting your body to get a better angle, you begin to direct your kisses down to mina’s neck, biting down tenderly on her pulse point.

mina throws her head back, letting you continue your assault, “m-maybe we should slow down?” she asks.

you pull away to look her in the eyes, “if that’s what you want, we don’t have to go any further if you’re not comfortable.”

“it’s not that, i definitely like where this is headed, i just don’t want you to feel pressured like we have to do this.” mina replies, looking at you with all the adoration in the world.

“i-i really want to go all the way with you mina,” you say, cheeks bright red.

mina smiles softly at you, pressing a short but sweet kiss to your lips, “i want to go all the way with you too y/n.” she mumbles on your lips, “but maybe we should go to the bedroom for this.”

your heart thumps loudly in your chest, “okay” you exhale shakily as you follow mina to her room. she leads you to her bed and the two of you sit next to each other, mina’s hand still holding onto yours.

“are you sure about this?” she asks softly, searching your face for any signs of discomfort. you nod eagerly, causing her to laugh under her breath, “okay then,” she murmurs before laying you down.

pulling away from you, mina begins to undress, starting with her shirt then following with her pants, leaving her only in her bra and boxers. you stare at her body for a moment before removing your clothes in the same order. mina smiles at you lovingly before moving in closer to plant a kiss on your lips.

she continues her kisses downward, stopping at your chest to gingerly kiss your scars before moving lower to your stomach, only stopping her descent when she meets the elastic band of your underwear.

“is this okay?” she asks.

“more than okay,” you provide, and she kisses at your hipbone before pulling your underwear off.

mina pulls away to take off her own underwear, and heat rushes to your face at the sight of her length. settling in between your parted legs, mina comes close to you, pressing her forehead to yours, and a shiver runs up your spine at the feeling of her member against your center.

“are you sure you want to do this?” mina asks once more.

“i’m more than sure.”

placing her hands on your hips to keep you steady, mina starts to slowly slide into you, searching your face for any signs of pain or discomfort. and a few moments later, mina manages to bury herself to the hilt, both of you gasping at the feeling.

“y-you can move,” you stutter out.

planting a kiss on your lips, mina starts to move her hips, the feeling of her so deep inside of you sending shocks up your spine.

“you feel so good,” mina mumbles, her eyes closed in concentration.

picking up her pace, she starts to thrust into you quickly, each thrust managing to draw a noise from your lips. hands shooting up to grip onto mina’s biceps, you let out a particularly loud moan when she shifts slightly to reach a certain spot you didn’t even know existed.

lifting up your leg, mina presses deeper into you, making sure to thrust repeatedly into the spot that drew such a reaction from you.

you let out a sharp gasp, “i- i think i’m close, mina.”

“me too,” she groans out, “cum for me, baby boy.”

her words combined with her relentless thrusts sends you over the edge. your body tenses up as a wave of pleasure washes over you, your own orgasm managing to send mina into her own as her hips begin to stutter and she releases her load.

mina presses herself against you while the two of you ride out your highs, both of you gasping for air. lowering your leg, mina gingerly lays on top of you, resting her head on your chest as you both calm down.

turning down to look at your girlfriend, you nudge her slightly to get her attention, “i love you,” you say drowsily.

mina lets out a breathless laugh at your current state before replying, “i love you too.”

[inikavulpixelreviews]

Let’s Talk About Pokemon - Gen 8 Retrospective

This Generational recap itself might be a bit on the shorter side, since I already said my peace on the games themselves and their less than stellar impact on the fandom before I even started them. (Not that there isn’t a lot I’m talking about here today though, hoo boy.) Though just know between a repeat playthrough and my opinion on the Pokemon dropping as I've analyzed them more, I'd say my final verdict is that they're a decent enough swan song to the way Pokemon games used to be that made Gym battles feel special again but lacked in a lot of other areas. 6/10 overall.

Though obviously Gen 8 isn't done yet. Since DLC is on the way, as I've said several times already. My general thoughts on the concept of Pokemon DLC replacing the traditional “Third Version” is good. For one thing I'd much rather pay $30 for access to new content immediately over paying another $60 for a “Pokemon Armor” version that had most of its new content back-loaded in the postgame. $30 is still steep... but it's better. And of course, the prospect of releasing more new Pokemon via DLC is a good one too. Hopefully releasing DLC rather than a full game every year will relinquish some of the workload off Gamefreak... so perhaps we can get smaller batches of new Pokemon released mid-generation to help mitigate just how many Pokemon felt like they didn't get finished in time. But also hopefully it'll mean Gen 9 will be all the better when we get there... Gamefreak has stated they're really challenging themselves with the next major Pokemon games so hopefully they're taking the more level-headed criticism to heart and it's not all talk but we'll have to see.

Yeah, that's about all I have to say about the state of Pokemon as of right now, neverminding my multiple rants and tangents since I've already gone to great lengths to state that Gen 8 isn't as good as I might've initially thought. I still like it overall, and it's probably still not my least favorite Gen... but it's very much like Gen 4 with an EXTREMELY mixed bag. Certainly felt like for every excellently designed Pokemon they had below-average flunky that feels like it should've gone back to the drawing board once or twice. But even all that aside, one of my more annoying sticking points with Gen 8 is the severe lack of new animals.

So in place of my usual ramblings on my thoughts on a generation as a whole, let's do a little Compare and Contrast. Let's look at the past few Generations and see just how noticeable this flood of species redo's is. Green checks are significantly new enough animals, Red crosses are for animal origins that have been done before, Yellow slashes for Pokemon with vague or heavily mixed taxonomic origins, and Grey circles for Pokemon that are disqualified for being Objectmon, since we've yet to get repeats of those. (Also disqualifying Gen 8's regional evos other than Obstagoon since it's not necessarily their fault that they're repeats.)

Are there arbitration in places? Probably. But I feel like the point still stands that Gen 8 was waaaaay too reliant on touching up on animals already covered in Pokemon before. Especially when there's still so many animals that have yet to get a Pokemon to their name. The one plus Gen 8 does have in this regard is that it has a few more “taxonomically vague” Pokemon than usual. But repeating animals in and of itself isn't all that bad, if you make the repeat different enough to be interesting in its own right. The one thing you could do wrong in that regard is to just make your monster notably more “normal” compared to the Pokemon it's repeating. So how does that hold up?

As much as I've established that one's a crow and the other's a raven, the two animals are still very much similar creatures. But I do feel like Murkrow and Corviknight are differentiated enough while both still being a “fantasy” creature in their own way. Murkrow is very much a gangly, cartoony crow while Corviknight covers the more majestic side of corvids.

Another one that's pretty blatant is that we now have two regions with a Ladybird as the common bug. Orbeetle does however get to be more accurate to the Ladybird life cycle, starting out with a larvae and ending with the beetle. Again, Ledian and Orbeetle are very different flavors of the same creature, Orbeetle not skimping out on any outlandish elements. In fact, it's more visibly outlandish than Ledian was.

This is where things start to get hazy. I've stated that Nickit and Thievul are sadly my least favorite fox Pokemon to date, simply because it has the least to offer imaginatively than all the other foxes that accompany it. Ninetales has the kitsune thing going on, while its Alolan variant covers Arctic Foxes. Zorua is a fantastical take on the tricky nature of foxes by combining aspects of shapeshifting kitsunes or tanookies while throwing in a bit of Kabuki. And Fennekin grows up to be more of a wizard. Thievul is very much a stereotypical red fox while having the trickster nature of foxes that's not only been done by Zorua before, but also in a much more stereotypical thieving way like a Swiper the Fox sort of thing.

Wooloo always struck me as odd ever since it turned out it wasn't the region's common Normal-type. I can excuse plainness in the common woodland animal since they're rather uniformly not terribly interesting (and arguably are like that by design). So it turns out it's more of a common early-game fodder just like Mareep is, but Mareep is just a smidge more interesting by being elemental, and also it turns into Ampharos, a weird little bipedal lamb with little flippers for some reason. Which is reasonably more imaginative than a Pokemon that's mostly just a sheep.

Sandaconda is another one that feels significantly fantastical and unique compared to its previous serpentine cousins. The only snake Pokemon beforehand that was hugely different from the template of what a snake usually is was Snivy. Sandaconda is even unique as far as cobra monsters go, with its “hood” being a big ol' sac that it keeps its projectile Anakin-repelent in.

Centiskorch is a little iffy. It's cool that they turned a real centipede's grappling maneuver and turned it into an even more effective weapon via its heat spots. But in terms of body shape it's significantly more normal looking for a centipede than Scolipede's almost horse-like proportions, isn't it?

Another iffy comparison since they're both fairly “regular” looking Octopus monsters. But even so, I'd count it as a point against Gen 8 since there's been more than plenty of time to come up with a cool and unique body type for an octopus.

That's better! Eiscue, while normal-looking if you only count the penguin body, is still a funny and imaginative take on a penguin monster that is a completely different flavor from Empoleon's stern look to boot.

Another dodgy one to justify. There's neat theming in there, but there's hardly any denying that an elephant that rolls up into a wheel and rolls around is notably a much weirder take on an elephant that Copperajah going by an elephant's body shape to a T.

Had they gone for a look more purposefully weirdly geometric like they SEEM to be going for, I probably would've given it a hand-wave, but even with that in mind, Copperajah is pretty vanilla in terms of Elephant monsters. Especially compared to Donphan.

...So even then, it's pretty mixed in that regard. Some Pokemon feel like worthwhile additions to the biodiversity, but others I can't help but wonder what the point was. Did Wooloo really need to exist in a series that already had Mareep? Couldn't they push Copperajah's concept further to better contrast with Donphan? Having repeats isn’t BAD, pretty sure every Gen past the 2nd has done them. But it’s hard to find sticking points on Gen 6 and 7′s repeats. Aurorus is totally different from Meganium. Vikavolt, while being much more close to realism in body structure compared to Pinsir, is still a vastly different fantasy creature just on account of having a gun for a face. And the whole Goomy line is almost nothing like Magcargo. And all that is WHILE still bringing in plenty of new animals to play with.

So yeah, I hope all that can help with understanding why I was a little harsh on Gen 8. It's still not my least favorite, cause we still got a ton of good out of it, and I would much rather have a mixed Gen of “Some Really Good, Some Not So Great” over Gen 2 and 4's “Some are good but the rest are really plain and boring.” But of course, as per usual, we gotta do the lists...

Top 10 Favorites of Gen 8:

Like I said, the new Pokemon that are good are REALLY good. Still struggled to make a Top 10, for good reason!

Top 10 Favorites Overall:

That said, there wasn’t a ton of impact on my Top 10. Top 50 maybe, but not here.

Bottom 10 Least Favorites of Gen 8:

Sadly there was plenty I was just plain not a fan of. Has there ever been a Gen where I just straight up dislike the whole Bottom 10? Hmm...

Bottom 10 Least Favorites Overall:

And tragically, this Gen did make a pretty deep cut into my least favorites, oof. It is an unholy image to not see Gallade be all the way to the left up there.

The Cutest:

The Coolest:

The Prettiest:

Corviknight and Eternatus aren’t just there because I ran out of traditionally pretty ones, just so you know. There’s something about a sleek, nearly all-black design that is genuinely gorgeous-looking to me.

The Spookiest:

Most Creative:

Weirdest/Most Unique:

Most Forgettable:

Most Personality:

At least there were still plenty of personality-driven designs! Look at all these adorable little charmers and smug little shits.

Most Under-Appreciated:

Best Regional Variants:

I’ve probably said it already but I am legitimately ecstatic with Regional Variation being a mainstay feature now. There is INFINITE potential with the concept and totally didn’t deserve to get ditched after a single use just in Alola. In fact I think it’d be rad if they do any more remakes they retroactively made “Sinnohan” or “Hoenn” forms of Pokemon. I thought they might’ve made some “Kantonian” forms for Pokemon in Let’s Go and redesigned a few modern Pokemon to look a bit like they were designed back in the 90s... but sadly that didn’t happen. Despite how cool it would’ve been. But Kanto is sacred ground that cannot ever be changed, I guess...

Best Ultra Beasts: (????????????????)

h

Best G-Maxes:

I still love the concept of G-Maxes, and we’ll probably get a few more before Gen 8 is done entirely. But it does stink that the concept in the end felt a little half-baked. Speaking of which...

Pokemon That SHOULD'VE Gotten G-Maxes:

Because G-Maxes wound up being locked to only be for Gen 1 or 8 Pokemon, with only a handful of exceptions. MAYBE they’ll stretch into other Gens in the DLC, but until then lemme just make a personal wishlist of SQUANDERED potential. Though I’ll limit myself to Pokemon that are only in the current Galardex as to not be here all day.

I’m sure if you pay attention to the Fakemon scene at all, you’ve already seen a few G-Max Dhelmises where the seaweed has grown so massive that it’s now able to possess an entire haunted ship. And they are CORRECT to make such a thing because GOD what were they thinking NOT doing that?!? It’s right there under your noses!!!

Still bummed there was never a Mega Vanilluxe... but this could easily make up for it! A towering snowing mountain of ice cream is a super cool idea for a kaiju-size ice cream monster, maybe even ditching the icicle shaped cone in favor of having it rest in a “bowl” of ice!

Like??? Hello????? Are you telling me you’re making Kaijumon over here and you’re NOT gonna make a giant mecha?????????????????

Because a giant living beehive deploying swarms upon swarms of Combee is a badass concept just by itself.

Like c’mon this one was REALLY staring you in the face. A region set in Poke-England and you’re not gonna make a funny giant Zeppelin?

Just trying to imagine a colossal haunted chandelier is giving me chills by itself. Especially if you were to make it look elaborately regal and all that.

I’ve not got a specific idea, you’d just think they’d compensate for the lack of a Mega form.

G-Max Rillaboom has me feeling like this one’s likely to not happen, since I imagined a cool idea for a G-Max Trevenant was to make it a giant Deku-Tree looking haunted tree with a colossal trunk and even bigger canopy.

I guess Butterfree already had the spot taken for “Mothra stand-in”, but I feel like Frosmoth has just as much cool potential for a G-Max form as Butterfree did. Especially with the powdery snow scales it has.

Perfect opportunity to give Goodra a giant, more monstrous slug-like form. But no dice there either. Maybe next form gimmick...

Okay, C’MON. We KNOW they weren’t that bothered about giving G-Max forms out to Pokemon that already had Megas. This is the most obvious one of all! ESPECIALLY since its defacto-Mecha Godzilla got a G-Max but it didn’t.

Most “Unfinished” Feeling:

Since “least favorite” doesn't necessarily meant “unfinished.” (As much as I dislike Toxel, it doesn't really strike me as “not done.”) Not that I have clairvoyance on Gamefreak's internal workings, but some of these Pokemon definitely feel like they're not up to scratch with the series's usual quality standard.

My Disappointment is Immeasurable and My Day is Ruined:

To pick on Gen 8 one last time... and since it was a running gag anyway, here's the Pokemon that just crush my dreams the most. Except Appletun, mostly. It's good enough to be let off the hook. The rest? They were things that were on my wishlist of things and animals I would've LOVED to see get turned into Pokemon, only for my hopes and dreams to sink faster than the Titanic. Considering a majority of concepts within Pokemon don't come back, if not for a very long time, these Pokemon mean that I have to reluctantly strike a cake monster, a snowman, a coal monster, a train monster, a sea urchin, a pie monster, and some fresh Lapras attention off my wishlist. Sigh.

With two rounds of DLC coming, the main Pokemon review series probably won't be back until the tail end of this year shortly after Crowned Tundra is released. I am excited to get to talk about some of what they've shown so far, but I'd rather wait until the content is released and we know everything about the new Pokemon and Regionals. There will however be at least one more little bonus article about Gen 8 and the future of the series, but I wouldn't expect it to be out for a while. Before the DLC is out probably, but still a long ways off.

[Archive]