#i made so many random hades 2 gifs

[lady-arryn]

HADES II — 8/?

[genericpuff]

Can you call Tina Belcher driving through a parking lot at an anxious snail's pace a driving "style"? So why do we try to use "style" as a defense for LO's pacing problems?

There's something about how Lore Olympus engrosses people within its weekly doses of H x P content and cliffhangers that makes people not realize just how long Lore Olympus takes to get to the point of, well, anything. Many plotlines are setup, and then go untouched for weeks, sometimes months at a time, before seeing any sort of progress, much less a resolution. In this, I'm going to actually give you time ranges on some of the more egregious payoffs and continuations of plotlines that were setup - some that are now resolved, others that have yet to see the light of day.

CONTENT WARNING: I will be discussing the SA plotline, and there will be spoilers for Episode 265. I will also be showing pictures of some rancid ass tattoos, I know that sounds random for what we're discussing, but trust me on this one, I have a point to make. Also there's a Junji Ito panel from The Enigma of Amigara Fault... yeah, that one.

LEUCE

Let's start with an easy one that's not exactly tied to the main plot. The Leuce plotline. She was first introduced in Episode 201 as a 'bargaining chip' from Zeus to Hades, in a misfired attempt to get Hades to call a truce over the embargo between the Underworld and Olympus.

At the time of this episode's release, by all accounts this seemed to be a cut and dry reference to Hades' first wife, Leuce, unfortunately reduced to a mail-order bride who Hades, of course, turns down, because he doesn't want the "I can't believe it's not butter" Persephone, he wants overpriced, tastes-the-same-but-costs-more-because-of-the-brand-name Persephone.

But then she came back, 36 episodes later - in real time, this was roughly 38 weeks for free-to-read users as the series went on a 2 week hiatus near the start of S3 - only to be used as a cliffhanger leading into a recycled Minthe plotline, in which she attempted to seduce Hades in Episode 238, only to be shot down for the second time.

If you're having a tough time wrapping your head around how long 36 weeks really is, that's nine months. If you got pregnant when Leuce was first revealed, you'd be entering the final window of pregnancy by the time she returned, assuming the baby didn't come pre-term.

Another 7 weeks later, enough time to actually get pregnant again following that first baby, we got the sudden continuation of that plot, with Persephone invading her home and filling it with barn animals, with a not-so-subtle threat to Leuce to stay away from her husband.

"But what about the text messages? Were they really from Hades?" Well, if you were someone reading this comic in real time, you wouldn't have this question answered for another SIX EPISODES - that's a month and a half in real time - and the answer would ultimately be "she made it up, she was 'manifesting', none of it's real, they should call her Deleuceional!" Six weeks for a nothingburger answer to wrap up a nothingburger sideplot, all in the pursuit to 'prove' for the 1275903729 time that Hades and Persephone are truly meant to be together.

EROS AND PSYCHE

This is a big one. The Eros x Psyche plotline was one of the most popular romance subplots, second only to Hades and Persephone, throughout the comic. And yet, despite people holding their breath to see what would become of the star-crossed lovers, a mortal and a god-

-readers in September 2021 would not find out how their recent skirmish with Apollo in Episode 171 would resolve itself until Episode 218, A YEAR AND TWO MONTHS - ROUGHLY 60 WEEKS AND A MIDSEASON HIATUS - LATER, and even then it would only show us Eros, who quickly summarizes what happened to him during the entire trial and Kronos arc that his anticipated romance storyline got sidelined for - he got married and now he has a child.

And it wouldn't be for ANOTHER six weeks that his wife and the mother of his child would actually show up, not alongside Eros, but Aphrodite and Hephaestus, in Episode 224.

What happened to her after finally having her 'true form' revealed to Eros? Well, that's not shown for another three weeks in Episode 227. During this a bunch of info about how Psyche got out of that sticky Apollo situation is dumped on us and we just have to go along with it as she becomes a goddess, not because she earned a place among the Olympians, but because Zeus needs her to spy on Apollo, which was actually shown one episode prior in 226.

So let's say you got knocked up again after that Leuce baby, when Eros and Psyche were shot out of the sky. Welp, in the time it took for Rachel to get around explaining what happened to the both of them, now you just had your second baby and for all we know, you could have gone for a third and already be well into or near the end of your first trimester, if you really wanted to get busy. You'd have a Dionysus, a Melinoe, and maybe even a Demophoon. Congratulations.

And speaking of Melinoe-

MELINOE

Turns out the interloper and the child in Tartarus were one and the same, or at least that's what I'm assuming, because otherwise that would mean there's some whole ass other baby to worry about that we haven't even been introduced to yet.

Melinoe, or "the child deity", was first established in Episode 218.

But as per LO tradition, the child would only mentioned in passing every now and then until finally being revealed as Melinoe in Episode 252, a whopping... THIRTY EIGHT FUCKING WEEKS LATER.

And that waiting is still ongoing as Melinoe is, of course, still trapped in Tartarus, with no end in sight. Since then, Hades and Persephone have gotten married, kidnapped a child, Persephone has terrorized a nymph and caused yet ANOTHER genocide, and they've resurrected a child that was suddenly revealed to be Demeter's. Thirty eight weeks and counting of dragging on a plotline that we're supposed to believe is dire while the characters do sweet fuck all.

What was the name of that other dream baby that Rachel referenced from some obscure non-legitimate source?

Riiiight, Brimos. Congrats, there's pregnancy number 4. But can we find a way to make a fifth happen?

KASSANDRA

We're first introduced to Kassandra, another implied victim of Apollo's, in Episode 226 when a photo of her is found on Apollo's pen drive which was conveniently left on the ground for Psyche to swipe.

In Episode 227, they theorize on how they could track down this mystery woman, using either Eros or Aphrodite's abilities to find her through the power of

✨love✨

How will that actually work though? Has anyone ever been in love with Kassandra, or has she ever been in love with anyone else?

Any bets on how long it would be until we'd get our answer?

Episode 251. The same episode where we're finally told about Leuce's delusions, we suddenly skip to the reveal of Kassandra being Apollo's personal oracle.

And it still doesn't end up answering our question as to how Kassandra was tracked down, by the way. Eros and Psyche sorta just conveniently find her at the same time Apollo happens to be there when he's getting her to deliver her big prophecy to him.

That's twenty four weeks, meaning you're now near the end of your second trimester with child #4. Whoever the child is remains to be seen but I'm sure Rachel will find a way to shoehorn another helpless baby into the plot for Hades and Persephone to rescue who we can use for this metaphor.

But none of these come close to the greatest unresolved plotline of them all, the one plotline that has outlasted even the main H x P plotline of Lore Olympus' story-

APOLLO

Or more specifically, the SA. Rachel has tried so hard to twist Apollo into a villain of Disney proportions, through his sudden involvement with Ouranos, while also using him as a mouthpiece for her own critics by having him literally dish out word-for-word the criticisms that have been made towards Rachel's writing of Persephone-

But the core foundation of his plotline goes all the way back to 2018, when he assaulted Persephone, a plotline that has yet to resolve itself or show any progression beyond Rachel's half-baked attempts at speedrunning Persephone's healing process, while Apollo is still at large and hasn't been brought to justice.

We've seen her in very poorly-written therapy where her assault was addressed once. We've seen her grapple with the potential consequences of the SA through a gynecologist scene that, as I've discussed before, does more harm than good in helping the discussion around women's sexual health. And of course, Rachel will pepper in vague references to the SA every now and then when she's bothered to remember that it's a plotline she wrote and still hasn't resolved:

And judging by how the story has been progressing, Rachel seems far more intent on simply using Apollo as a mouthpiece for criticism and a puppet for Ouranos rather than focusing on the bigger issues, all while Persephone has helped more people cope with the assault that happened to her rather than receiving help herself.

What's really telling is that despite half of the Olympians at this point knowing what Apollo did, not one of them even tries to convince Persephone to come forward, or say something themselves. Daphne has more than enough reason to come forward. Artemis, Hera, Eros, Hermes, and Hephaestus all know what he did, and yet none of them say a thing, even when those of them who haven't been conveniently shoehorned out of the plot are still in the same room as him-

The assault scene happened in August 2018. It's been five and a half years since it was established, and while there have been small efforts made to resolve it - from Hera and Hephaestus having the photos deleted to Persephone seeking therapy - there's less reason now than ever for it to not be addressed, especially with so much at stake. I could side with Persephone not wanting to say anything in the beginning, when he was blackmailing her with the photos and her TGOEM scholarship was on the line, but now that she's a Queen, rich, and married to Hades, living in the Underworld where he can't get to her, without any schooling or scholarship or job to worry about or the photos hanging over her head, it comes across as flat out irresponsible that not a single person thinks it's worth mentioning. Even the narrative itself seems to be trying to undo the SA entirely.

At this point, I'm not confident it will be mentioned at all, and that Apollo will be conveniently dealt with as a pawn of Ouranos rather than as a perpetrator of violence towards women.

A FINAL ANALYSIS OF LO'S PACING

There are certainly far more examples of this weekly edging happening throughout LO, but I hope the ones I provided get across the point I'm trying to make about its pacing.

Of course, none of these gaps in time are happening back-to-back-to-back. This is Lore Olympus' writing "style", if you can call it that - constantly bombard the reader with separate plot points so that they'll either not remember the ones that were left behind, or so that Rachel can buy herself time to get herself out of the corner she wrote herself into. It's the equivalent of clickbait, constantly grabbing your attention with shiny new things that will replace whatever you just saw in your brain, on a constantly repeating cycle. It's the writing process of inexperienced amateurs, like what you'd see in short stories written by fifth graders - "and then this happened, and then this happened, and then this happened", with no theme or overarching meaning tying them together; and if you were to ask them why a certain thing happens, especially if it logically doesn't make sense, the answer is just, "well, because it does." There's no rhyme or reason, they just thought it was cool.

And I say "style" because while fans of LO have definitely defended the story's pacing as just a writing style, the actual execution of what they're implying is painful to watch and not what any experienced writer would call a legitimate style. It's not uncommon at all in long-running series like this to jump from plotline to plotline, often times longform stories like these have to balance multiple side plots at once to keep things engaging and to bulk up the plot with more actual content.

But in most cases, the reader will expect the speed of a plot's resolution to be relative to its urgency. If a casual B plot with low stakes is introduced, it's not necessarily doing any harm if it just sits there for a bit before finally being resolved. After all, it's low stakes and no one is being hurt by it existing on the sidelines. It might feel a bit like pointless fluff, but there's nothing necessarily wrong with fluff and it can offer fun and relaxed reprieves from the overarching narrative, assuming you integrate them well so they're not drawing attention away from those more urgent plotlines at the worst possible times (looking at you, Stranger Things S2 Episode 7-)

But when even the high stakes plots are being hung out to dry and treated like distractions and fluff, it comes across less like a decisive writing "style" and more just directionless pantsing from an inexperienced writer who's gotten themselves in way too deep.

And that's what really separates Rachel's writing problems from "style". Style is decisive. Style is the act of referencing over a set period of time, crafting what you like and what you've learned into something new, with rounds and rounds of fine-tuning. Style is experience put into action.

And, while I don't typically like using my own work as a comparison, LORE | REKINDLED is meant to try and recapture the original magic of Lore Olympus' art style and writing foundations - and even then, you can still see the clear difference between Episodes 14 and 44, which use the same panel from the same scene, but look vastly different due to the improvement and refinement that's happened over time.

Same style, but different levels of experience and skill, which is to be expected after weeks and weeks of fine-tuning and deliberate practice.

If you're lacking in your fundamentals, whether in art or writing, you can't equate that lack of skill to "style" because you're not choosing to be inexperienced, you just are. And that's okay! But to try and pass it off as 'style' implies that you're choosing to be inexperienced - when in reality, if you tried to put out anything beyond your skill level, you simply wouldn't be able to, because you haven't gained those skills yet. Like fifth graders writing short stories with the "and then this happened" model, "it's just my style" is often used as an excuse by young artists and writers who don't understand that style is not exclusively an end result of inexperience.

I'm gonna go on a tangent here, but there's this controversial but trendy style in tattooing called 'ignorant', and it's best defined as "tattooing badly on purpose".

These tattoos are regularly praised for their simplistic ingenuity and visual aesthetic but equally criticized for being the opposite of what many artists have worked to overcome - being "bad at art". After all, who would willingly pay for a bad-looking tattoo? It's because it's the style that's in demand. I would argue that it takes a lot of confidence and mastery of the craft to be purposefully bad at it and make it look good, as contradictory as that sounds.

As much as the lines may be wobbly and the anatomy poor, ignorant style tattoos are done purposefully by experienced artists who still know how to properly tattoo. As much as they may look like they were drawn by a middle schooler, they will still heal properly, the lines will hold up, and the client will not (or at least, should not) experience any excessive scarring or unhygienic practices as one would experience from an actual inexperienced artist-

In a genuinely poorly-done tattoo, the evidence of the inexperience is literally written all over the body. The skin swells, the ink bleeds out, the lines are inconsistent in their depth, and there's clear signs of trauma to the skin that will undoubtedly result in a poorly-healed tattoo (and that's not even getting into the larger health risks such as contracting blood diseases due to a poorly kept space). It's not hard to see the difference between a bad tattoo and a tattoo that's intentionally bad.

It's the age old saying in a different medium - only once you learn the rules can you properly break them.

Rachel never learned these rules in her writing and it's evident to anyone who knows these rules and is viewing LO through a critical lens - or in my case, experiencing it on a week to week basis. It's a regularly occurring problem in the medium of webcomics as a whole - thinking that knowing how to draw is enough, and that writing comes dead last, if at all. When in reality, comics are a marriage of art and writing, you can't simply do one really well and allow the other to drag behind. That's not to say there aren't comics that succeed at having bad art and good writing, if anything a well-written comic can save bad art-

But if you have a comic with good art and bad writing, that's when a comic opens itself up to harsher criticism. As much as art may be the visual forefront of comics, if you want to keep your audience along for the long road that stretches ahead, you need to have a strong foundation in writing, or at least, enough of a plan to ensure you're not driving in the dark. The art can be as gorgeous as you want it to be, but if the plot is weak, then no one will have any reason to check back in week to week.

And such is Lore Olympus' biggest weakness. Much of what we praise LO for back in its first season was simply its foundation. It's very easy to praise a story's writing when it hasn't had to payoff what it's setup. Having ideas is easy, and early LO is rife with good ideas - but many of those ideas have since fallen flat, even the ones you wouldn't expect.

Ideas are a dime a dozen, but actually executing them in a way that can be engaging from start to finish and resolve itself in a way that's satisfying is a whole other challenge that many creators, including Rachel, find themselves unable to tackle; and nothing is a greater example of that than LO's third season, which is now fumbling its plotlines that have failed to resolve themselves properly after 5 years, while introducing new ones that serve as mere distractions, as if they were a laser pointer aimed at a cat.

I hear the argument, "LO is a better story if you binge read it" a lot, which - while I can certainly understand in today's culture of content that's churned out to be binged - I still fail to see how it actually makes LO a better story. Binge-reading LO doesn't remove the pointless plotlines. It doesn't fix its blatant timeline problems, its retcons, or its inability to stay focused on one topic for more than 5 panels. All it really fixes is the waiting, the ritualistic toiling over each and every cliffhanger that caps off the weekly episodes just for them to either be resolved in the next week or left behind with no in-between. And while having all that waiting removed certainly makes the reading experience a lot smoother, it doesn't make the story or its writing better.

The relationship between a story's writing and how the audience experiences it shouldn't be overlooked. Many stories depend on how the audience experiences it within the mind to succeed and leave an impression.

Junji Ito utilizes the dreaded page turn to scare his audience, an effect that can only be truly gained and appreciated if you read his books in traditional print.

Marvel spent years meticulously building up its Avengers franchise, culminating in a once-in-a-lifetime cinematic event through Avengers: Endgame, which is truly the epitome of "you had to be there", because if you watch Avengers: Endgame in 2024 in your living room, you're likely not going to experience the same level of hype as audiences experiencing it in the theater in 2019.

The same can be said for James' Cameron's Avatar, which entranced audiences with its innovative motion capture CGI and immersive 3D effects, an experience that could only be lived to the fullest if you saw it in 3D in IMAX theaters back in 2009. Without that experience, most people in 2024 find the movie to be pretty generic and uninteresting, a reverse Pocahontas with blue people in space, but when it first released in IMAX theaters in 2009, it was a cultural and technological phenomenon due to how advanced it was in its VFX. I can't even share with you clips of it, because obviously it would just be proving my point to try and show you how groundbreaking Avatar was in theaters through a bad shaky cam Youtube upload of its IMAX release on Youtube, but let's just say that it wasn't uncommon for people to brag about how many times they'd gone back to watch the same movie just to feel what they felt from the first showing all over again.

All that's to say that while Lore Olympus may offer a 'better' reading experience when binge-read - regardless of whether or not it actually helps the story's pacing problems - the reality is that LO is still being written exclusively with the weekly format in mind, and its been very much to its detriment, both in the short-term and in the long-term. Readers are often left in the dark on plotlines for weeks at a time, Rachel loses track of what she has and hasn't addressed, and the extended waiting times trick readers into believing that weeks have passed in the comic's story, when in reality it's only been a day or two, sometimes as little as hours depending on the sequence; meanwhile, if you binge episodes that had those problems in hindsight, you'll likely be a lot more quick to notice how many plot beats are either retconned or abandoned entirely, because you don't have the weekly waiting times artificially inflating the pacing of the story and causing you to forget what was established weeks before, because when binged, those weeks are reduced to hours and minutes.

And worst of all, with the assumption that you're reading on a weekly basis - as it wants you to do - Rachel tries to pull clever stunts by matching up LO's episodes with real life dates and holidays, which often just makes the story beats feel rushed or random in their execution - because to the vast majority of readers who haven't caught on to this or are reading the episodes through the physical books, they are rushed and random, and they can't exactly explain why.

Binging these episodes doesn't solve the problem, if anything it exemplifies them because, as a shining example, Hades and Persephone suddenly get married right in the middle of an ongoing issue, which isn't exactly the best time to wrap up the story's main plotline. Since then readers have become less and less interested in their story, and can you blame them? By all accounts their story is over. Everything now just feels tacked on to give them something to do in a story they no longer fit into.

There's an episode behind the FastPass lock right now, Episode 265. It unlocks for free on February 17th, three days after Valentine's Day. Guess what episode it is?

Ah yes, the episode where Hades' initiates sex without consent with his wife who's suffering from panic attacks, who also happens to be a rape victim. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

I actually made this particular discovery while writing this essay, so that was a very unwelcome surprise, but it explains the sudden random shift from Persephone being so stressed over the ongoing situation that she's passed out to Hades just deciding for the both of them that now's the time to have sex. As much as the fans will defend this as a husband and wife's last chance at intimacy before diving into a dangerous situation, they'll also still conveniently forget - just like the narrative and Rachel herself - that Persephone is a rape victim, and Hades initiating sex with her after nearly having a panic attack isn't exactly a good look.

This is why our theories as to when LO ends are so firmly cemented in one specific time range, because the story's pacing and distractions seem only intent in one thing - getting the story to last until spring, when the series will most likely conclude. It's basically been all but confirmed by Rachel, from her stating the series would be ending in early 2024, to Inklore - an imprint that seems designed specifically for Rachel and LO - launching officially in spring of this year, undoubtedly just in time for Rachel to wrap up LO for good.

(and boy, do I have some words about Inklore and its plans for "Rachel Smythe Presents", but that's another essay entirely.)

At the end of the day, LO's pacing is equivalent to paint drying on the wall, but it relentlessly convinces us to keep watching because the paint is blue and pink and maybe, maybe it'll turn into a piece of art. But as is evident in the comment sections of the newest episodes, even the fans are starting to realize that paint will not magically turn into the final piece of art they've been waiting to see if the hand that wields it doesn't know what it's doing.

Though style may be gained as an accidental side effect of one's influences and experiences, what Lore Olympus' intent is remains to be seen, and the longer the story goes on, the blurrier whatever intent it could have becomes. Unless it somehow manages to pull off a twist of Attack on Titan proportions that thoroughly explains and ties together the plotlines that have been left in the rearview mirror, the vehicle that is LO will continue to trudge along at a snail's pace, until it inevitably either crosses the finish line or crashes - but by that point, anyone waiting for it could very well be gone, their good faith left behind at the starting line when there was still plenty of time to change its trajectory or stop.

Such a time is long, long gone.

[asvterias]

𝖢𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝟨: 𝖢𝖺𝗉𝗍𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝖥𝗅𝖺𝗀

the cast // series masterlist

chap. 1 || chap. 2 || chap. 3 || chap. 4 || chap. 5 || chap. 6 || chap. 7 || chap. 8

‼️  DISCLAIMER FOR THIS CHAPTER  ‼️ 

Adrianna & Reader are 💯 bestie goals, Funny Sibling Antics from Reader and Percy, Typical Daily Foreshadowing, Protective!Reader, Reader is a simp for Clarisse (rightfully so), #MuscularGirlsCanGetIt, Percy & Reader have a sibling emotional moment, Dealing with Grief and Loss, Doubts of being unable to protect loved ones, Slight Mentions of Death, Slight Sludge of Angst, Kinda Flirty!Reader x Kinda Flustered!Clarisse

Italics Alone are Reader’s Thoughts

Bold Italics are Other Various Character’s POV

word count: 5.1k+

tag list: @starless-nightz @starvviss @lov3rgiiirl @random-girls-loves @coolgirl458 @kjisbae17 @s0r0ws @a-fucking-sappho

author’s note: anyways, i hope you liked this chapter! please don’t be a silent reader and interact within the chapter.

🌊 🐚 ✘ 🔥🗡️

CHAPTER 6, EPISODE TWO

The following day was Capture the Flag, a day everyone seemed to love, filled with unsparked competitiveness and victories to win.

“You’re gonna love this. Camp-wide mock warfare, all glory to the victors,” Luke informs the siblings. You and Adrianna walked ahead of Luke and Percy as you all passed many campers practicing for a weekly game of Capture the Flag.

Your friend, Adrianna spotted a young teen out in the midst of campers. The young girl was brown-skinned, wearing braids, appearing to be the same age as Percy.

Then, it all suddenly clicked together, she was the other girl during your first night here in the infirmary.

“Annabeth’s the head counselor of the Athena cabin. She’s led our team to three straight wins, it’s been a long time since anyone won the fourth,” Your best friend stated.

“So she’s strategically smart, huh?” You asked, now intrigued.

“Like you wouldn’t believe, but being an Athena kid means you’re just blessed with intelligence.”

“She was there in the bathroom,” Percy recalls.

“Wait, what? Why was she in the bathroom with you?”

“I don’t know, Y/N, but she said she’d been waiting for it to happen,”

“Waiting for you to screw up?!” You raised an eyebrow.

“Haha, Y/N,” Percy replied dryly,

Annabeth stares at the sibling duo in the distance, maintaining her attention on Percy, while she slightly smiles at you. Smiling sweetly in response, you waved at the girl, and she refocused her attention on the practicing campers before her.

“Annabeth sees the world differently, always six steps ahead of everyone else,” Luke explains to your brother as he turns to the familiar girl.

“Whose side are you on, anyway?” Percy questions.

“Oh, hers, always, she’s my little sister,”

You stared at Percy in confusion, looking down at your brown skin and glancing back up at Luke’s skin. “Ain’t y’all got different parents on the whole? Unless it’s a non-blood type of sibling bond.”

“The second option,” Adrianna nods to you.

“Maybe I should back up,” Once Luke observed the cluelessness on the blonde boy’s face.

“Very,” You crossed your arms.

Back at the dining pavilion, the four of you sat down, breakfast already finished as Luke tells his arrival backstory to this camp.

“Before camp, I was on the road, me and a forbidden kid I met along the way. Her name was Thalia.” He smiles in remembrance.

“What’s a forbidden kid?” You whispered to your blonde friend.

“Children of the big three, Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon,”

You nodded in understanding, returning your attention back to Luke.

“A long time ago, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades agreed their children were becoming too powerful, so they made a pact not to father anymore. It held for a long time, until Zeus broke that pact…until Thalia.”

“Long story short, a forbidden kid attracts trouble, monsters everywhere, it’s just a constant battle to stay alive,”

“But…forbidden kids are being more hunted than regular?”

“Yeah,” Adrianna hums.

“One day, we found this little girl hiding in an alley, Annabeth. We were worried about taking her in, exposing her to all that danger. Then we saw her fight…” The Castellan boy says, holding a small smile but it quickly disappears as he continues, “Thalia didn’t make it, but Annabeth and me…we did. We’ve been family ever since.”

“She’s been watching me since I got here. Why?”

“Someone’s high and mighty of themselves today,” You snorted.

“I’m not.” Percy deadpanned, “Everywhere I go, I always manage to see her, even catching a simple glimpse.”

“Annabeth is the strongest warrior in camp. The only way left to prove herself is to go on a quest,”

“But what does this have to do with me? What makes me so special?”

“Who told you those lies?” You chirped up.

Percy rolls his eyes at you, ignoring your remark.

“Chiron’s been promising her for years. One day, two demigods would arrive who were fated to go on a quest that even Chiron couldn’t prevent, and when that happened she could join it.”

“Every new arrival, Annabeth watches, looking for a sign they’re the one. Usually, she gives up after a day or two, but she’s still watching you,” Luke concludes, “the both of you,” he clarified, now shifting his eyes to you.

“Can you ask her to knock it off?”

“She’s not…like mentally deranged right?” You hesitantly asked.

“What, Y/N?” Adrianna asked incredulously, “No, she’s not, just observant, that’s all,”

“She could be hiding her deranged mentality from all of us, and we wouldn’t even know it. I really hope you don’t underestimate what Annabeth is capable of, she’s pretty impressive,”

“How can you make that assumption?” The Castellan boy asked.

“I just have a thing, I suppose,”

“A thing?” Adrianna was skeptical of your plain explanation.

Luke finishes off, “You’re not serious, are you?”

“Deadly, I never joke about my intuition with people, that’s why I’m mostly right.”

“Please, Y/N, focus on what’s important here,” Percy said. “Anyways, what’s the deal with Annabeth, does she think I’m special?”

“Yeah sure,” Luke tilts his head, “But what if she’s right?”

“Imagine that, if we managed to be forbidden kids too, oh that’d be absolutely ironic,” You joke, sipping on the last of your orange juice.

“Maybe you are,” Your blonde friend nudges you with a slight smirk.

“Wait…what?” You panicked, choking slightly on your drink. “I was just joking, can’t you guys take a joke in this camp?”

“Just screwing with you, Y/N,” she laughs.

Oh, okay! That’s good!

A swift noise in the air interrupts your conversation as Chiron smiles fondly.

“Heroes,” Chiron announced, glancing down at his pocket watch, “It’s time. The game begins.”

For some reason, an exciting feeling ran through your veins as you prepared in the mandatory armor with Adrianna. The blonde girl had to literally hold you still, trying to contain your buzzing excitement as a smile adorned her face at your enthusiasm while she redressed you in armor for the game.

Heading to the main campgrounds alongside Adrianna as you talked on the journey there, reaching upon a river that disperses into a waterfall, each two teams standing on a riverside that separated them.

Chiron stood up, front and center as he read the game rules from an old scroll. “The first team to retrieve the opposing flag and return it across the river shall be the victor,”

You stared over at the red team, your opposing team. The very same team that Clarisse happened to be leading.

Admiring the way she walked down, dressed in battlefield armor made your heart skip multiple beats at a time as your eyes remained focused solely on her.

“Isn’t she so pretty?” You muttered dreamily to yourself. Adrianna’s ears perked up at your murmurs, causing a perplexed look on her face.

“Aren’t you losing your mind?” Percy murmured, judging Clarisse. “You sure you weren’t dropped on the head when we were younger?”

“What the fuck is she talking about?” Adrianna shakes her head, chuckling when she realizes who your reference was about, and her face instantly hardens.

“Clarisse, well at least I think,”

“Don’t even think about it, Y/N!” She grits her teeth.

You broke your attention away from Clarisse and turned to look at Adrianna.

“What?! I wasn’t even thinking of anything,”

“You’re not an airhead, Y/N, that’s your brother.”

“Oh, right,”

“Hey!” Percy took offense to that jab directed at him.

“Sorry not sorry, blondie boy!”

The young demigod boy rolled his eyes, shuffling closer to Luke.

“Anyways, back to us, you can’t be serious,”

“I’ll just distract her for some time, how hard can it be?”

“Very much so.”

“Wow, you have no faith in your best friend,”

“I do have faith in you, just not in your fighting skills…well lack thereof,”

“That’s a minor issue,”

“Minor issue?! Clarisse is the best fighter in camp, she’s the most ruthless kid of Ares here, you’d be foolish to go against her,”

“I don’t have to go against her, silly Adri,” you chuckled, “I just have to get under her, keep her occupied until we win. Easy-peasy.”

“That’s the most ridiculous plan I’ve ever heard in my life,” She closes her eyes, frustration settling on her face.

“Either way, I’m doing this with or without your support,” You quipped. “It’s a foolproof plan, really,”

“Fine,” she gave up, “Just be safe, okay! If you get hurt by her don’t say I didn’t warn you,”

“Safe is my middle name,”

“Reckless is your middle name!” She mutters under her breath.

“What was that, Adri?”

“I said reckless is your middle name so pay attention to the rules. End of discussion.”

You huff in annoyance at her demand, regardless continue to listen to Capture the Flag rules.

“As always, there will be no maiming and no killing. I trust these rules will be respected.”

Finally, Clarisse stops, settling down, right in the front, with an amazing view to politely observe her. God, you hoped you didn’t sound like a stalker when saying that.

“Any magical items you may possess are permitted as well.” You looked down at the regular pen in your hand, “Every camper who is not injured has to play.”

Luke noticed your uneasiness with your weapon, “It’s okay, let her rip,”

“Last time I ‘let her rip’ a Minotaur died by my hands,”

“I doubt you’re gonna kill a human,”

“You never know,”

“Oh, I’m certain.” He chuckles.

“Prisoners may be disarmed…but may not be bound or gagged.”

Bound or Gagged? Campers tried that before?! Are these campers into some kinky shit or something? Hold up, ain’t most of these kids under 15, nah that’s more concerning!

“I still don’t know what my job is, maybe a sword is useless to me.”

“Let the games begin,” Chiron finished. The boy beside him blows into the conch shell, initiating the start of the game, and earning a crowd yell from the red team, Clarisse included.

You were startled at the unexpected noise, “Oh hell nah, I’m not fighting them, I want everything on me to stay connected with me,” You began to unbuckle your breastplate, internally panicking at the mere thought of fighting the red team. You were definitely not losing a limb or more because of a mock game, you simply refused to! No doubt why the red team seemed so loud and ruthless, the entire Ares cabin was there, highly determined to gain glory from the losing teams.

“Leave your armor alone, Y/N,” Adrianna swatted your hand away from unbuckling your breastplate.

“Oh my god, we’re gonna die out there,” Percy groans in defeat.

“You got that right,”

The blue team stands at attention, hitting their sword against the ground and their shield, synchronizing a loud yell before divulging into their assigned locations.

Annabeth walked over to the four of you. “All right, we have 20 minutes before the second conch and game-on. You know what you’re doing?”

“Yes ma’am,” Luke smiles, motioning to leave with Adrianna.

“Hey.” Annabeth halts their movements. “Today feels like a winning kind of day to you?”

Luke contemplates answering her question, but ultimately decides to leave her in the dark, “I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Company! Move out!” Adrianna yells, instructing the other team members, pointing straight ahead with her sword.

“Kleos!” They yelled and started to jog away.

Looking at Adrianna, sending a smile your way, you returned the kind gesture, ready to follow her but a familiar voice stopped you and Percy.

“Not you sunshine, you’re with me,” Annabeth confirms, getting a move on, “You too sunshine protector,”

Sharing a confused look with your younger brother, you shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly, starting to follow after the Athena girl.

Looks like Annabeth had a pretty convincing plan, supposedly having a major plan involving the two Jackson-Matthews siblings.

Oh, this was definitely gonna be a fun adventure!

Throughout the trail of the walk, Annabeth was quiet and kept up her pace, continually peering at the Jackson-Matthews siblings.

All of a sudden, Percy stumbled on a fallen tree branch, causing him to trip and fall to the ground. You stifled a laugh, stretching out a hand to help him up, and he accepted it, standing on his two feet again.

Annabeth stops, facing the two siblings with a neutral expression.

“I’m fine, thanks. But I appreciate you, you know, standing there silently,”

The young girl raises an eyebrow, turning around and continuing her walk, picking up the pace even faster. You had already caught up to her and Percy speed walks towards the two girls, getting closer.

“Listen, I– I get it, okay. You’re better at this than me, but I need this to go well today,” Percy starts, “I can’t really get into it, but I need my father to see it go well,”

“Do we really need his attention? He’s been a shit dad so far, he’s not going to change just because we asked him to,”

“Anyways…” Your brother dismisses your comment, “So, if you’re gonna expect me to know how to do something I don’t know how to do and I end up falling flat on my face, I can’t really have that right now…”

Once again, Annabeth stops walking, facing Percy, staring at the boy, her eyes drifting to his armor. She leans in, firmly buckling the breastplate for his safety as Percy keeps his eyes trained on her actions.

Yeah, you definitely see something going on between these two. Because your brother’s a dumbass, they’re probably gonna be a slowburn too. Only could be your brother’s obliviousness to get himself in this predicament.

“You still didn’t get where you two fit into all this, do you?” She questioned, looking at the two siblings.

“I may have a theory, but I could be wrong,”

“Let’s hear it, then.”

“Umm okay,” you cleared your throat, “Maybe me and my brother are more powerful than necessary, which could benefit you in a way.” You snorted, “Or maybe, we’re forbidden demigods, that monsters desperately seek to kill,”

“You know, you should listen to your sister more often, she’s smarter than you realize.”

“Hey, thanks,” you grinned before recognizing the deeper meaning behind her words, “Was that a compliment or insult?”

“A compliment,”

A second conch shell blows, echoing around the forest, catching the trio’s attention.

“Game on,” She smirks, putting a cap over her head, instantly shielding and making herself invisible.

You gasped in bewilderment at the sudden action, not believing your own eyes.

“Wait, what?”

Annabeth appears again, removing the cap from her head, and smiling down at the item, “Gift from my mom. Don’t worry you two will do great.”

“Do great? Do what great?” Percy persistently asked.

Of course, to keep your brother guessing, she placed her cap on, becoming invisible again, and walked off. The deft footsteps signified her departure, only further increasing your boredom with this game overall.

“Well, I quit,” you started unbuckling your breastplate.

Sitting on a big rock on top of a hill, the armory discarded across the dirty ground as you talked with Percy. Capture The Flag was long forgotten in your minds as you both quit mid-game.

“I can’t believe everything that happened in the last few days. This was all so crazy.”

“Should we talk about it?” Percy was hesitant. You stared at him in question but instantly knew by the spark in his eye where this conversation was heading.

You knew this talk was coming. You just didn’t expect it to be this soon. Something in you was telling you to avoid this conversation, but you had to manage through this, at least for Percy’s sake.

“What do you mean?”

“About our moms, Y/N.” He deeply sighs.

“Don’t, Percy…” you quickly dismiss him, closing your eyes momentarily, “I can’t talk about it, not right now.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N…” He breathes out.

“Can everyone please stop saying sorry, it doesn’t lessen the pain anymore. Saying sorry is just a go-to card expressing sympathy and sometimes not actually mean it. But not you, or Sally or Grover should feel obliged to say it, you were there, experienced it too. You deserve to mourn too, she is— was your mom too. If anything I should be asking you, how are you dealing with our parents’ losses?”

“Wait, are we talking about your mom or my mom?” His cluelessness brought a small smile to your face.

“Both, dummy.”

You pulled him into a hug, gripping onto his shirt, anything to ease the heavy burden in your heart. You wanted to feel safe and Percy wanted to be safe.

“Promise me something…” You start, the tears already forming in your eyes.

“Yeah, anything, sis,” he mumbles into your shirt.

“Promise me you won’t do any stupid shit to get you killed.”

“Y/N…”

“Promise me! I can’t afford to lose another family member, you’re my baby brother, I’m supposed to protect you from dangers, and can’t bear to lose you too as well.”

He didn’t want nor need a protector, in fact, he was sick of people trying to protect him. At this point, he was scared of people protecting him, all because they’d end up in danger. Or even worse, risk their lives and unfortunately take their last breath at Percy’s expense. All he needed right now was you. He didn’t want a protector but he needed his older sister, the last person of family in his life.

He just wanted his sister to be with him. Only his sister, not another demigod, just his older sister.

Percy noticed the urgency and desperation plastered on your face and nodded against you. “I promise.”

“Thank you,”

However, your sibling moment was short-lived when Percy glimpses at Clarisse walking up the hill, alongside two other Ares kids. You stood up, at their sudden presence, steadily shielding Percy away from them.

“The flag’s that way, it’s not here.” You gulped at the trio as Clarisse discarded her helmet.

“We know...” her voice was sultry, indulging more than she should have let on.

Her intense stare lingered on you as you gulped down the slight fear….and possibly something else, leaning towards fluster.

Clarisse shifted her eyes onto Percy, nothing but malicious intent in her eyes.

“Yeah glory’s fine, but revenge is more fine,” She states and slams her spear against the ground, watching it flicker on, an electric spear, her eyes sparkled in admiration.

That was kinda…no definitely hot!

“What did you do, Percy?” you glared at your brother.

He stares at you in bewilderment, “What did I do? There was a toilet, and Clarisse and her sisters were preparing to shove my head into the toilet, and the next thing I knew the water exploded at them. Which also broke the nearby bathroom stalls by the way. If anything, this is all her fault.”

“What? How does this—“

Clarisse interrupted, “It’s not about what he did or how he did it. This is about whether you two can fight to save your own asses.”

Percy’s eyes widened as he turned back at Clarisse.

“It was just a harmless thing, I- I didn’t even know I could do that.” Percy was quick to defend himself.

“And a few days ago, you didn’t know you were Poseidon’s latest mystery son.” The Ares girl rebuts back, clearly dismissing his reasoning, “Some things tend to change overnight, your powers being one of them.”

“Hold up, you mean to tell me that you’re getting revenge on my brother because he humiliated you? You threatened to shove his head into a toilet, insisting that he lied about killing the minotaur and now you’re furious that he defended himself.” you stared at her in astonishment, “Oh, that’s really sad and pathetic.”

The Ares girl huffs impatiently and blatantly ignores your whole statement, precisely focusing on her insight into the situation.

“No maiming it’s like the one rule, right?” Percy stumbles to grab his armor, and hurriedly puts it on.

“Yeah, I guess I’ll lose dessert privileges for a while.” She seems as if she is reconsidering her consequences, “I’ll live.” she concludes with a neutral expression. “Besides everyone at this camp truly knows you killed the Minotaur single-handedly, don’t let your brother get all the credit.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“You two take the punk,” Clarisse commands her two sisters, looking at Percy. Her head cranes to you with a mysterious grin as you hold strong eye contact, “The pretty girl is all mine.”

“What are you going to do?”

“You’ll see..” Clarisse darkly chuckles.

“Oh this is just great.” you shrug your shoulders, “We’re not even here for a week yet we have bullies on our asses.”

“Don’t get me confused, pretty girl, I’m not a bully. I just like to set people straight, especially the newbies, so no hard feelings right?”

“No hard feelings,” you agree, scoffing. What exactly was this girl’s thought process?

“I know you’d understand…” Sending you a half-lipped smile, “There was always something about you that I always liked.”

Right now, you have two instinctive choices, which are flight or fight. Long story short, you chose the easier way, relying on your adrenaline to save you this one time. Without much thought, you chose flight and god, you only hoped it would be your rescue.

Slowly backing away from the trio of girls stalked closer to you, shielding your brother away from the teenage girls.

“Percy,” you whisper to him, attention on the three girls unwavering in the slightest, “Get ready to run.”

“What?” He breathlessly exclaimed.

You quickly grab his arm, turn on your heel, and immediately run away in the other direction. Aiming towards the woods, the two siblings sprinted off, hoping to lose the Ares trio of trouble. In the midst of many trees and bushes, the wilderness provided you with endless possibilities but very few solutions.

How the hell are you going to get out of this mess now? You hardly know anything about this camp, much less about the vicinity of those woods. The bottom line is that you’re so fucked.

“I always loved a good hide and seek,” She speaks to herself, a playful smirk resting on her face. Oh, Clarisse was loving you already, feisty and frightful, a wicked combination. A combination that Clarisse certainly loved to cherish…or demolish, depending on the other person. But you were different, you were the first to stand up to her; you were her challenge and she was determined to put you in your place.

“Stop,” she puts a handout, halting her sisters’ movements, “We’ll give them a head start, they’ll probably need it.”

At her statement, her younger sisters chuckle in agreement, urging their boastful ego. A few seconds passed, and Clarisse’s patience was running very thin.

After a while of running away from the trio of girls, you lost Percy during it and groaned in annoyance upon realization.

You became exhausted from running, and the next best thing was to hide and pray that Clarisse wouldn’t find you or just give up and leave.

Her pride and unnatural stability wouldn’t allow you to escape from her clutches so easily. Oh, who are you kidding? Clarisse was the daughter of Ares, a literal war god who possibly killed for fun. If she was anything like her father, she possibly is, then she’d be extremely persistent and dedicated to ending this childish game, and declaring her victory. She seemed entitled to her glory, the ultimate root of her reputation at this camp.

Tired and out of breath, the adrenaline is still pumping in your blood as your eyes frantically dart everywhere for a decent hiding space. Using your last amount of energy, you stumbled towards a huge green bush and stayed in a crouched position without any movement. Just a slight movement might get your cover blown and you didn’t want that.

Soon enough, she makes her presence known and your heart sped up at the sound of her voice.

“You can run but you can’t hide forever, pretty girl.” Clarisse taunted you, light on her footsteps and she surveyed her surroundings. “I’m gonna find you eventually, so don’t make this harder for yourself and just come out.”

Her chuckle was not so much terrifying as it was hot. You rolled your eyes, internally panicking as her voice grew closer.

Truth be told, you thought of a plan. Now was the plan a brilliant or well-thought-out plan, no, it certainly was not, you weren’t secretly Athena’s daughter. Guess it has to be one of those; figuring it out along the way type of plan.

Spotting the curly-haired girl, her back was turned to you and her stealthy movements made you nervous. Would it really be that easy for you? No, but you decided to deceive the possibilities and just seized the moment in its unawareness.

Without any second thoughts, adrenaline pumped through your veins as you sprinted towards her, not stopping until you tackled her, possibly knocking the breath out of her. You both landed on the ground with a hard thud, the dirt smearing onto your clothes and you staggered to get back up.

As Clarisse is still recovering from the strong hit, you took the opportunity to straddle her, taking her by surprise as you kept her trapped underneath you. Her spear landed a few feet away from both of you, making immediate eye contact, seemingly knowing the other’s movement, as you both scurried to retrieve the spear, you beat her to it.

The spear felt weird in your hand and you analyzed the supposed weapon.

“Be careful with that,” Clarisse demands with a sharp tone.

“Relax, I’m not gonna break it or anything,” You reassured her. Catching her by surprise, you aimed the spear at her neck, pressing the cold metal there.

“Leave me and my brother alone, that’s all I ask.” you breathed heavily, inching the spear closer to her neck. The girl below you barely flinched, staring into your eyes, and lifted her neck upward, as if she was challenging you to puncture her neck.

Were Ares’ kids really this fearless? Never revealing their vulnerability, even when getting injured, they remained so cold and brutal to others. You understood why no other campers truly messed with Ares’ children, they were all so terrifying in a way. You assumed they were all psychotic, and you were beginning to believe it, maybe Clarisse’s psychotic tendencies made you attracted to her.

“Is that all you got, pretty girl?” she whispers hoarsely, gazing into your eyes, “It’s gonna take more than that to convince me.”

She had that menacing look, a dangerous fire dancing around in her eyes. Her thick eyelashes flutter at you almost innocently as her eyes pierce at yours.

You lean closer to her face, merely inches from your lips touching, discarding her spear away, hearing the metal clink against the forest floor. Clarisse felt flustered, her eyes widened as the unfamiliar butterflies swarmed around immensely in her stomach.

She began to internally panic at the new position and you were aware, reveling in some joy. For a girl who was convinced of being ruthless and cold by others, your presence made her timid, and vulnerable….an unusual feeling for her. Of course, Clarisse was overwhelmed with her emotions, something she was taught to control by her father, and she stared at you, dark-chocolate eyes twinkled, not filled with malicious intent, but rather an observant curiosity.

It came as a surprise to Clarisse, being left speechless, unable to make a snarky remark on the spot. Usually, she was the one with the last word, yet, her thoughts were all hazy by the image of you, everything regarding you. It was all about you, you, you. As always, Clarisse’s mind was consumed by other priorities such as finding ways to impress her father or practicing her fighting skills to remain the most victorious Ares kid at this camp. For once, Clarisse wasn’t upset by this revelation but more confused…or was it frustration?! Clarisse was clueless and it scared her, unaware of how to handle this situation but with your lingering gaze and gentle touches, you made it impossible for her.

So much for her being a bully. You found her reaction to this entire interaction quite entertaining, inclined to provoke her even further.

You made Clarisse La Rue blush. You made her nervous. You made her feel vulnerable, and you loved every ounce of it, you practically relished the exciting feeling.

Still, you decided to tease her further, just to see how much she’d allow herself to take.

“Would a kiss suffice?” you meekly ask, refusing to come onto her too strong. Yes, you had the upper hand but you still had morals and respect, it’s common decency. Some people really ought to learn that.

By now her eyes were as wide as saucers and her eyebrows furrowed in shock.

“W-what?”

“You heard me, La Rue,” you chuckled, settling some distance between you two. The Ares girl hated how she missed your proximity, your scent enticed her in ways beyond her imagination.

You got her, right where you wanted so now all there was to keep her there for the time being. Just like you said, a foolproof plan…as long as Clarisse doesn’t catch on. Going off purely based upon the hope that Clarisse is too enamored with you to realize the distraction from her hurting your brother.

likes, comments, and reblogs are highly appreciated!

© asvterias, 2024. please do not copy, repost, or translate any of my works onto any other platforms without my permission.

[nyehnyeh12]

Hello!!! I'm NyehNyeh, but you can call me Nyeh for short, and I'm an artist! I do some other stuff besides drawing but I will not be posting it here lol. I will be reposting occasionally on my main blog, but mostly posting my own stuff. Secondary will be probably undecorated and will be purely for reblogging! I will be using “#nyehnyeh art” for all my art/important posts, to make it all a lil easier.

This blog is going to be 2 things:

1: Art blog owned by someone who has no idea how Tumblr works and only just now decided to try it

2: Silly freak out blog where I will occasionally pop up to rant about either stuff that made me have a strong enough opinion to care, or something that made me go absolutely crazy, or as I like to say, balls-to-the-wall-insane. It will all still be mostly lighthearted though lol.

Some random fandoms I'm part of:

Undertale/Deltarune, She-Ra ATPOP, Welcome Home, Vocaloid, PJSK, FNAF, indigo park, RTA/TTS, Gravity Falls, Hellaverse, Stardew Valley, TOH, Ever After High, Hades, Danganronpa, Sonic, Heathers The Musical, Puss in Boots TLW, SU, DDLC, Spiderman ITSV/ATSV, Luca, MLP, The Mario Movie (Mario stuff in general, but less), Lackadaisy, Bendy and the Ink Machine, TADC, Tinkerbell (the movies), and a milion other things

I would list way more fandoms, or things I really really like, but there's so many it would be half the post... I'll eventually do that if i post enough of a certain thing, to the point where it is part of my account and worth following for! For now there's no such thing, orrrrr.... I'm too lazy to make a new pin. :))

As I previously stated, I'm multifandom and very inconsistent , so whoopsie daisy if I suddenly vanish and come back with completely random art...My apologies.

I will eventually pin commissions or anything I'm trying to sell here, but for now it's just a lil info post so yay :DD it will drown in reblogs for the sake of money 🙏💔🕊️

[neo-shitty]

toffeeeeee, i saw the book ask game and!! i had to shdjdk. sorry if there's too many, you can answer however many you like ;-;

17, 25, 28, 42, 50, 55, 60, 63, 80, 94 and 135 !! (´-﹏-`；) hehe <3

me when i saw how many numbers this ask had !! thank you so much ivy, i hope my recs deliver somehow ;n; (also this had me thinking harder than i did on an essay i just submitted HJSHA I LOVE IT)

book recs ask game!

#17 - a book with a yellow cover

men without women by haruki murakami, a short story collection about men with no bitches /j,, the stories aren't correlated to one another and i had no major takeaway but i enjoyed 1 story out of the 7 which was the independent organ (bc i related to the guy and it got pretty sad, i like that shit). this feels like a compilation of murakami's random thoughts, literal ideas out of nowhere and inherently hard to find any deeper meaning into it but maybe that's just my lack of analytical skill.

#25 - a book by your favourite author

unfortunately, i no longer have a favorite author but the last one i acknowledged was marie lu so... legend. prolly her most popular work but not my favorite. her writing has the ability to single-handedly bring me out of reading slumps and i think i read almost every book she wrote. got a few world-building, plot-twisting techniques from her too!!

#28 - a book you wish you could read as a beginner again

mentioned a thousand times atp, looking for alaska :'D by john green :'D the money i'd give just to reread that for the first time bc i have paragraphs of it memorized now HJSHA i think this sparked my love for angsty things

#42 - a book that made you want to scream by the time you got to the end

i had a different book for this at first until i remember this one read that was so bad i wanted to forget about it. never let this go by kazuo ishiguro. YES, the story had a serious topic in its undertone but i just couldn't appreciate it anymore with how much of a drag everything else was. it reads like one of those tiktok series vids that are like 'follow for part 2'. BITCH!! JUST GET ON WITH IT!! the number of times this book goes (not a spoiler, just a bad example) "i'll tell you why i burned the house down but first let me tell you about my friend's boyfriend" LIKE I CARE ABT THAT RN??? god just thinking abt it is making my blood boil

#50 - a book that made you cry a LOT

THERE IS ONLY ONE!!! HOUSE OF HADES BY RICK RIORDAN. i know, kinda hard to get to and i'm not even sure if this would make you cry. it had me bawling tho, tear-blurred vision as i waded to the last page. it was that bad. if you're looking for a tear-jerker that i know made others cry, a little life by hanya yanagihara.

#55 - a book with a satisfying ending

again, for me, it's a little life. there was something about how i finished that book that left me feeling relieved. not only bc it was one chonky ass book but bc i barely read things where the ending i want is the ending i actually get.

#60 - a book that you think about at 3am

things have gotten worse since we last spoke by eddie larocca. told in e-mail correspondence between two women, they have a 50 shades of grey-esque arrangement but it gets from 0 to 1000 so quick. i'm gonna step aside and let my review speak for itself.

#63 - a book that actually made you laugh out loud

the blood of olympus by rick riordan, last book of the hoo series. sorry my tearjerker and biggest laugh are from the same middle-grade series. adult fiction doesn't draw much emotions from me (except maybe frustration), they just leave me mortified.

#80 - a book that reminds you of a loved one

norwegian wood by haruki murakami. a close friend recommended this to me and because he said the book mirrored his life, it's forever tied with him now. while the story in itself didn't appeal to me that much, i had fun pointing out which parts of the book and his life overlapped.

#94 - a book about grieving

on earth we're briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong. while the book doesn't explicitly state that it's about grieving, it reads like it is. it's almost as if the main character is grieving for a life he cannot have and mourning for people who are still alive.

#135 - recommend any book you like!

i think i recommended this before when i mentioned your writing reads like a murakami book HAHA after dark !!

[achaoticeternal]

Confidentiality Agreement  [Asset Protection - Part 2]

masterlist // taglist

part 1

RANSOM DRYSDALE X READER

A/N: With so many people requesting a part 2 within the first 24 hours of the work being up, I just hade to write a part. I’m so happy you guys enjoyed my Ransom work! Lots of love!

Summary: With the Thrombey clan in quite the rabbit hole, Random and Linda decide it’s best for you to relocate. Will you adjust and stay safe? Word Count: 2.9k Warning(s): Language, Shirtless Ransom, Stalking, creepiness??

The three of you - Linda, Ransom, and yourself - sat in Harlan’s old office, attempting to discussing plans for a temporary living situation for yourself. For the past half hour, Ransom and Linda had been bickering back and forth about what was appropriate and what would work for all three of you.

“I understand that it would be efficient to have her here, but you already have one investigation going on in this house. Do you want two?” Ransom asked his mother as he si[[ed the brandy from his old-fashioned glass.

“I am not putting my secretary up in some Boston motel or hotel. The world has proven itself to be to dangerous even for a simple girl to be left alone,” Linda spoke as she scribbled words onto a sticky note, “and we still don’t know who invited that backwoods Kentucky detective.”

It somewhat surprised you that the pair could easily talk about you as if you were just another business pawn or not even in the same room as them. “Pardon me, I’m sorry, but I believe Hugh is trying to present another solution.”

Ransom’s nose crinkled slightly when you used his real name. He knew it was only because you were in front of his mother, but it didn’t settle right with him - or at least that is how he put it, “Exactly. I think that the solution is right in front of our nose and we just need to address it.”

There was a pause in the room. 

“Well, go on then,” Linda gestured at her son.

“(Y/N) needs to come stay with me. I have the room in my house, and she’s familiar with me and my habits. Ever since you put her on my tail, I’ve been more ‘behaved’. She’ll have her own room, an office, internet connection. She’ll be quite...” Ransom glanced over to you. His eyes met yours before scanning your face and returning his gaze to your eyes, “comfortable with me.”

The office fell into silence once again as Linda thought over the situation. Maybe you wouldn’t be with her directly and everything her son had said was one hundred percent true. He did come up with quite to solution.

“Fine, but you need to drive her to my office every Thursday and join her on any outings until things seem to calm down in both our current situations,” Linda’s attention turned to you and she sighed, “I guess you should go get your things gathered and pack to stay with Ransom until this all - blows over.”

                                                        -     -     -

“Mother I- I didn’t have much say in any of it. Everything just - no, I understand that, mother. You know coming home couldn’t be an option. I understand the severity of - No, she, - yes okay, the whole family needs me here still. I can’t pause my life just because some creep hid a note- Yes I understand that I was in the ER...” Your mother continued to nag in your ear as you packed your toiletries away. 

Entering your room again, you started skimming over the various suitcases and bags on your bed. Then you crossed over to your desk to make sure all your necessary technology was packed away. This routine kept looping - mother in your ear, frantically checking bags again, finding something else you mostly likely needed.

It didn’t stop until you heard a cough in your doorway. Turning, you caught Ransom leaning against the door frame, an eye brow raised in amusement at your frenzied state.

“Mother, I’ll call you once everything is settled and I don’t have a thousand emails to respond to. I love you too. Yes, tell grandmama I love her. Yes- okay. Bye now,” you hung up the phone and looked to Ransom for any relief.

He walked up to you and glanced over your face just like in Harlan's office. His eyes gave away his thought process of what to say or how to react to your current emotional and mental state. It seemed he finally made a decision when he grabbed your hand, almost in reassurance. 

Ransom opened his mouth to talk, but closed it quickly. His nose scrunched and he licked his lips before beginning to talk again, “I’ll start taking your finished bags to the car.”

                                                       -     -     -

“Do I need to give you a tour, or do you think you know your way around the house?” Ransom quipped, stepping into the modern playboy bachelor pad. Behind him, you tugged in two large suitcases, a  travel bag for toiletries hanging off one shoulder, and your laptop bag hanging off the other shoulder. Should you have made two trips to the car instead? Yes. Should Ransom also at least offered to help? Yes.

Sometimes, it seemed to slip your mind that though Ransom was kinder to you than he was to his family sometimes, he still was never the picture-perfect gentlemen. It didn’t matter if his background fit the story, Ransom never tried to be a gentleman to get further, he just learned how to manipulate things his way.

“Well, I mean, a real tour doesn’t sound bad. You’ve never given me one before and it lets you go ahead and let me know where you don’t want me to go,” You attempted to pull the suitcases over the little bump in the doorway, but they wouldn’t budge with both you and the items being so weighted down, “Can I just get a little bit of help please?”

Ransom sighed, taking both suitcases from your grip. He pushed down the extended handles and picked them up by the clothed handles. Lifting them with ease, he started walking towards the living room and you followed behind him quickly, muttering a small thank you.

“Alright, I’ll show you your room and where you can set up a small office or workspace if you happen to need it,” he set the suitcases down against the wall and you placed your bags on the couch for temporary holding. 

“Sounds good. And then dinner?”

“Sure. We can order delivery I guess.”

“Delivery? Ransom, I’m sure there’s something in this glamorous bachelor’s pad we could make,” you offered him a kind smile, “Besides, it can be some sort of payment or thank you for letting me stay with you for a while.”

The blonde smirked and shook his head a little bit, “I don’t quite mind you being here, you know that you’re one of the few people I... tolerate.”

His words caused a small giggle under your breath, “Okay, so which room will I be in?”

“Follow me,” he walked with a swagger across the floor and began to ascend the stairs. You tried to keep up behind him, but for the first time, you noticed how homey his house was. Fine pieces of art and autographs on the wall, a modern statue that fits well under the modern stairs. If there were pictures of children and a married couple as well, it could’ve been misread as a family home. Shaking your thoughts, you jogged up the rest of the stairs so Ransom wouldn’t think you were lagging behind.

“So this room,” he stepped into the first door on the right, “is my office. I really don’t use it that much, if at all. You’re welcome to set up whatever you like, however you like if you prefer a more formal office.”

“This looks like an office an author would use or sit in for hours.”

Ransom shook his head, “Harlan hopped that would be precisely why I used the office and why it’s eerily similar to his own. But I’ve been clearing out the large bookcases because I’m a man who really enjoys using his space. Let me show you the room, I think you’ll like it.”

The pair of you exited and walked across the to the second door on the left. When he opened the door, he revealed a room that looked like a hotel would book for hundreds - if not a thousand - dollars a night. The queen-sized bed had a white duvet with pillows of soft green hues.with a brass bed frame and bar headboard. A large, birch dresser was against the wall in front of the bed and had a large flat-screen TV mounted above it. One large window took up most of the wall across from the door where you stood. A brass bar lined the top and white, translucent curtains hung at either side. Outside, you could see both the woods and a lively town in the distance, yet also see the watercolor sky. It was absolutely beautiful. 

“Wow, Ransom, this is- perfect,” you were awe-struck.

“I just kind of guessed. I knew you preferred a minimalist aesthetic with a touch of chic so it kind of worked out,” He gave you a half-smile, “so, I’ll bring your bags up later, but dinner?”

“Right. Let’s go dig through that kitchen of yours and see what we can whip up?” You exited the room with Ransom on your tail.

“We?” He questioned.

You looked over your shoulder and threw him a playful smile, “Well it’s not like you’re going to be overly helpful so I’ll be cooking 85% of the meal while you help with a small 15%,” You stopped in your tracks as you looked towards his end of the hall, “Ransom, what behind that door next to your bedroom door?”

“I guess it’s what you would call a man cave. When old friends drop by and their wives are around, the guys and I hang out in there where I keep the good liquor,” he said seamlessly, “No female has ever passed through that door.”

“Ah, alrighty then,” You continued down the stairs with Ransom stalking down behind you, “I better not find leftovers that are older than a week in your fridge. Your mother will have me cleaning it out and I don’t need that.”

Both of you made your way into the kitchen. Ransom leaned against the counter by the sink and pulled out his phone. He knew well enough by now that you’d probably pick out something decent to make and wouldn’t poison him quite yet, or at least that’s how you perceived. 

“Alexa, play Two Chellos,” you called out to the AI before opening the pantry. Inside, it was well-organized thanks to one of your most recent visits. The spice rack was manageable and there was a clear distinction between his pre- and post-workout snacks. You pulled out a bag of jasmine rice and placed it onto the marble island. 

Then, you crossed to the fridge and opened its double doors. First searching through the vegetable door, you grabbed a head of broccoli for a second side to the dish. Once placing it on the island behind you, you started to search for chicken breasts, but your search came to a still. A hand rested itself on your hip as Ransom seemed to accidentally press himself against you as he reached for a water bottle above your head, “Pardon me.” 

Once he stepped away, you let out the breath you were holding in. You shook your head and took a deep breath, reminding yourself that small touch meant absolutely nothing. Grabbing the chicken and broccoli, you stepped away from the fridge and walked to the counter to begin prepping.

“Will you start cubing the chicken while I start on the broccoli and rice?” You asked, bending down to get to cutting board out of a cabinet. When you faced him again, he just seemed to look at you confused. “Never mind, just fill up a small pot with a cup of water and put it on to boil, please.” 

He set his phone face down on the counter as he pulled a small pot off one of the hanging fixtures. Then he made his way across the kitchen as you began to cut the broccoli florets from the stem. Once that was completed and the broccoli was separated into a bowl, you began trimming any leftover fat from the chicken breasts. Finally, you cubed the chicken and scrapped it into a separate bowl.

You crossed towards the sink to drop off the knife and cutting board, along with washing your hands, “Can you please get the soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, and sesame seeds out of the pantry?”

“Yes ma’am,” Ransom strolled into the pantry to get the needed ingredients for the marinade. Once your hands were clean from any chicken bacteria, you went to the stove to take the rice off the heat and fluff it. Then again, you set it to the side and placed a pan onto the gas lit eye of the stove top.

Ransom returned and placed the items, along with the bowl of chicken, on the counter adjacent to you before exiting the kitchen. You hummed to the tune of the cellos as you continued preparing supper. 

As you were stirring the chicken and broccoli in the teriyaki sauce of the pan, Ransom came up behind. His hips pressed against your lower back and his left hand met your hip. The close proximity entranced you by his warmth and his scent, until he placed a glass of white wine to the right of you. His right hand traced up your arm until his fingers rested under your chin.

With ease, Ransom turned your head to look up at him. He closed his eyes, took a sniff of the food cooking in the pan, and the corner of his mouth twitched up slightly. He opened his eyes again, “Dinner smells... delicious.”

Your heart beat against your chest and you realized how close your faces were. Licking your lips, you glanced down to his and back to his eyes before taking a shallow breath. You tried to savor what you could of the moment, but it could easily escalate too quickly, so you asked, “Would you be so kind as to grab us some plates?”

                                                      -     -     -

After diner, the pair of you decided to call it an early night since the past 36 hours had been quite an en devour. All too quickly your life had changed and you barely had time to react, much less cope. So you had taken a nice warm shower, and then slipped into some simple striped, cotton pajamas. 

Everything was peaceful. The fan blowing softly, the Alexa at your nightstand playing rain sounds, and the ease of sleep was astonishing. This was all until a loud crash, like glass breaking, echoed from the kitchen. If that wasn’t enough to only wake you, the loud rev of an engine could awaken a bear in hibernation.

In record time, Ransom was in your room, “Are you okay? Did anything happen up here?” He held a long, narrow knife in one hand as he stood at the foot of your bed in nothing but a tight pair of briefs. 

“I-I’m fine,” You responded, short of breath, 

His brows scrunched together as his mind raced with various thought before, “I’m going downstairs to check,” and he exited.

“No no no, I’m coming with you,” crawling out from the blankets and satin sheets. If an intruder was still in the house, Ransom could most likely overpower them better and quicker than you could. 

He motioned for you to stay behind him, but close, as the pair of you crept down the stairs together. Each step seemed to slow down time and make it harder to breath. This is supposed to be a safe place. Somewhere to lay low and live easy.

You both stalked towards the kitchen, lights coming on with Ransom’s call to the Alexa. Everything was clear. Any intruder was gone. 

As Ransom searched around to verify it was only to pair of you in the house, you looked around the kitchen. Something felt off, but everything still looked the same. You crossed over towards the sink where dirty pans sat when a small twinkle caught your eye. 

Once you approached the sink, the twinkle was confirmed to be a wine glass - the very glass you used earlier that night - that lay shattered on the floor in a pool of red wine. Next to the spill laid a piece of paper.

“RANSOM! Hurry!!!” you yelled out to him as tears began to spill from your eyes.

His stomps echoed at the walls as he met you in the kitchen. Once he saw the you were unharmed besides your tears, he hugged you too his chest. When he didn’t feel you relax into him, he turned his head to wheres your eyes were locked on the floor.

“Fuck!” He let you go as he knelled down to snatch up the paper. He opened it and his eyes scanned the page. He folded it back before standing and pulling you back into his chest. 

No matter how many times he shushed you or rubbed circles against your back, nothing calmed. You wouldn’t be able to relax into him until you saw what the note said.

“I- I need to read it.”

Ransom let you go and opened the paper for you to read. Wiping away your tears, you read:

Maybe a change in scenery will do you some good. You can run, but you can’t hide. Many truths are sure to surface soon

Xx

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ransom drysdale taglist:

@melannie77 @heyiamthatbitch @hughrxnsomdrysdale @bval-1 @electrictaurus @princess-evans-addict @swagmonstertoes @everythingaboutnothingstuff @givemebooksorgivemedeath @widowlcver @bookgirlunicorn @wangdeasang @dumblani @anhelz @underratedmisfit @moonlightmvrvl @mrspeacem1nusone

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** a strike through your username means I couldn’t tag you :(

[ducktracy]

163. clean pastures (1937)

disclaimer: this is the third entry on the censored 11. while there are more cartoons out there that are just as vile, if not moreso, than the cartoons on this list, this is a good indicator of what we’re about to see. this review contains racist content, imagery, and ideals. i do NOT in anyway endorse any of the depictions here. they are gross and wrong. however, it would be just as wrong to gloss over them like nothing even happened in the first place. these cartoons need addressing. i hate reviewing these just as much as you hate seeing them, but these cartoons need awareness. PLEASE let me know if i make any mistakes or say something wrong or hurtful. it is NEVER my intention to do so, and i want my mistakes to be known so i can correct them and own up to them accordingly. thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

release date: may 22nd, 1937

series: merrie melodies

director: friz freleng

starring: the four blackbirds (vocal groups), danny webb (various), mel blanc (satan)

not a fun time in looney tunes history--the cartoon released right after this one, uncle tom’s bungalow, is another censored 11, so we have 2 back to back. nevertheless: phil monroe receives his first animation credit (he would have been only 20 at the time), one of my favorite animators. he traveled around quite a lot, working for friz, bob clampett, frank tashlin, chuck jones, and so on, even directing his own cartoon the iceman ducketh alongside maurice noble. the title is a parody of the 1936 film green pastures, and footage from this cartoon would be traced over in yet another censored 11 entry, bob clampett’s tin pan alley cats in 1943. many elements borrowed from friz’s 1934 goin’ to heaven on a mule, clean pastures chronicles the struggling economy of pair-o-dice, and what can be done to ensure hades inc. doesn’t prevail.

to give credit where credit is due, the opening montage is hardly anything less than impressive. harlem is bustling with night life, as displayed by the blinking neon lights of various clubs, ballrooms, restaurants, etc. the animation of a line of dancers is absolutely to be commended: very complex, very high energy, very fun with a lot of energy. stereotypes are, unfortunately, perpetuated as we see the hand of a man shooting craps and snapping in frustration as he misses his shot. another shot limited to just hands, this time preparing cocktails. the use of just hands, no faces or anything else identifiable, is certainly clever directing on friz’s part, adding an air of mystery and excitement. more dancing from a happy (and stereotyped) couple as we get a variety of overlays--the women dancing at the beginning, the couple dancing, and the word HARLEM in big bold letters for all to see.

more very clever animation as the HARLEM spins away, revealing the surface it’s on to be a globe: the earth. the earth gets smaller and smaller as we zoom out into space, complete with details such as shooting stars and other planets. the opening is wonderfully executed in approach and is undeniably very well thought out, though the stereotypes and content itself obviously cannot go unnoticed.

segue into a musical number provided by the four blackbirds, an original titled “half of me (wants to be good)”. the vocals are too wonderful and lovely to belong to such a nasty cartoon. i digress--a horizontal pan takes us further into space, where we spot a trail of empty milk glasses. a wonderful take on the milky way that only took me two watch-throughs to get. above the milky way are the golden gates themselves: pair-o-dice. pair-o-dice was referenced in the moral monstrosity that is goin’ to heaven on a mule, another friz cartoon from 1934.

hone in on a forlorn, elderly angel, saint peter himself, reading the newspaper: pair-o-dice preferred hits new low as hades inc. soars. sure enough, a glum glance at the stocks assert the newspaper’s credibility: the line representing stocks on the board literally goes out of bounds and onto the floor. saint peter checks his ticker tape: results are bleak. the underscoring song comes to an end as he decides to make a call.

and, of course, we are greeted with yet another insulting stepin fetchit caricature playing a trumpet. he’s more concerned about the foul notes he occasionally blats from his trumpet instead of answering the off-screen phone. saint peter on the other end loses patience, angrily pressing the buzzer in conjunction with the underscore. there IS some clever animation as the fetchit angel’s wings pick up the phone and tap him on the head. he answers and gives the affirmative (the whole time speaking in a cruelly stereotypical dialect), a sudden burst of energy prompting him to run to whatever task he needs to tend to.

friz certainly seemed to enjoy the lingering suspension brought on by this cartoon, with the introduction of the segmented hands gambling and pouring drinks and now the confidential phone call prompting the fetchit caricature to plummet down to earth off of a diving board. the animation is very fun, loose, and weightless, all things considered. while the fetchit angel plummets down towards the earth, saint peter places a pin on the globe in his office, right on the spot marking harlem.

more overlays of the bustling harlem nightlife we saw at the beginning, dissolving to focus on the fetchit angel peddling in the streets, trying to get more people to come to pair-o-dice, indicated by the sign on the platform he’s standing on: COME TO PAIR-O-DICE — BE CONTENT. to boot, there’s another sign à la uncle sam with the elderly angel pointing at the audience. “PAIR-O-DICE NEEDS YOU!”, as well as listing a number of commodities promised at the venue. most insulting on the list is the promise of watermelon. very tasteless, offensive, and deplorable. while the angel struggles to properly advertise, we’re met with an interlude of a random passerby tap-dancing. the synchronization between animation and sound at least provides some benefit.

another one of the passerby’s is mister al jolson himself (the blackface caricature of him, anyway. remember, jolson WAS white), singing “i love to singa” while he strolls down the street. as he mentions about wanting to sing about “a sonny boy”, a little ventriloquist puppet randomly plops down from the sky, right on jolson’s knee, the puppet greeting him “hello, stranger!” “sonny boy” was a popular al jolson song, whereas the “hello, stranger!” was taken from jack benny’s radio show. the same catchphrase and i love to singa song were both used in, of course, tex avery’s i love to singa just a year before.

as jolson wraps up his routine, he strolls into a nightclub (named the kotton klub :wince:), much to the fetchit angel’s chagrin: “you can’t go in there! i’m supposed to keep you out of those places!”

back to pair-o-dice, where saint peter and a variety of celebrity caricatures watch from above: fats waller, jimmie lunceford, cab calloway, and louie armstrong. cab calloway would be caricatured in a number of looney tunes cartoons, perhaps most memorably in porky at the crocadero, and fats waller would be rechristened as “cats waller” in tin pan alley cats, which traces over animation from this cartoon. as always, the caricatures are grotesque and one dimensional. there are so many other fascinating aspects to caricature, like fats waller’s eyes, and yet it’s always the lips that get the most exaggeration. 

what engages next is a wonderfully catchy musical number—as deplorable as this cartoon is, the music score is wonderful and doesn’t deserve to be in such a hateful cartoon. the celebrities all chastise saint peter for his poor business practices, and how rhythm in your soul, rhythm in your feet, etc. is the way to properly recruit more people. the patter song, the snappy, lilting tempo, the energy, it’s all wonderful and is certainly one of the better musical numbers we’ve heard in merrie melodies thus far. it’s a shame it has to be dampened by such grotesque imagery. the animation is rather nice though, all things considered.

the angels all go down to harlem where they play the big jazz number of the cartoon, “swing for sale” (this is footage from the cartoon itself, so be warned), on the platform the fetchit angel had just been peddling on, with cab calloway providing the primary vocals. calloway’s closeups and animation in general is very smooth, flowing, and fun, and the call and response aspect of the entire song between calloway and the angels is a lovely touch. the backup angels have their own soft interlude, gathering around a microphone, making the mouth trumpet noises present since the harman-ising days. 

fats waller provides a double piano solo, reused from goin’ to heaven on a mule where his angel wings play on the piano behind him. the close-up of waller after another scat solo from cab calloway would be recycled in tin pan alley cats.

after waller, calloway points to louie armstrong, who sings a few lines of the song and launches into a trombone solo. once again, the animation is very nice, thinking in technical terms. whoever does the celebrity impressions are quite good at them. a nice little detail is louie’s face turning purple and his eyes bulging as he pushes to get the notes out—i can only imagine the extremes this would be pushed to if the cartoon were made 5 years later. 

the song ends, allowing a transition to pair-o-dice, where the golden gates open to let the angels back in. a lovely up-shot of the gates, as well as the constantly moving background as the angels, still performing, traipse along the starry trail and prepare to enter. they’re not alone—a whole line of new recruits follow, wagging their fingers and dancing. the animation of the lead couple was reused from sunday go to meetin’ time, another deplorable freleng piece from 1936.

now, pair-o-dice is bustling. lovely choice on friz’s part to be looking inside pair-o-dice from outside the gates, the golden gates partially obstructing the view of the busy streets. angels line up to get their halos, distributed from a machine. saint peter contentedly places a NO VACANCIES sign on one of the doors, beaming with pride.

suddenly, a knock. he opens the little door window at the top to peer at his visitor. mel blanc’s gravelly voice grunts “may i come in?” saint peter disregards his own sign. “sure. there’s always room for one more!”

with that, satan himself marches inside, prim and proper, hands clasped together, providing a knowing side-eye to the audience as we iris out.

this cartoon is much livelier than the previous censored 11 entries, and its musical score is undeniably fantastic. with that said, this is a terrible, offensive, grotesque cartoon that parades a number of stereotypes and caricatures. it’s not in my place as a white person to decide what is racist and what isn’t, but this is a slight step above from the previous entry, sunday go to meetin’ time, which was just plain cruel. this cartoon is slightly more light-hearted, if that’s at all possible, but still lacks any sense or compassion. 

there are a few things that do deserve praise. the animation, again, in technicality terms, is very nice. lots of closeups, lots of flowing animation, lots of intricate hand movements. cab calloway’s animation during the big jazz number and fats waller’s animation playing the piano with his hands and wings are both to be commended. the music score is wonderful, fun, and lively, much too good for the cartoon it’s in. the layouts are also stellar, especially the scenes in pair-o-dice. but still, there’s no way in good conscience that i can recommend this cartoon. you’ll be fine without watching it. it’s certainly polished, but it still remains inexcusable. 

yet, like always, if you want to watch this for educational or historical purposes, here’s the link. obviously view this with discretion.