#None. NONE. you were this scared the WHOLE TIME. inconsistent. I could not emphasize with you.

[beartes22]

he was the ONLY one character (along with his wife) that did not wise up he was in a horror movie at ANY TIME and I respect him so much for that. SO MUCH. He went down very quick when he caught up what was going on but then again, his losses were not "oh i woke up and a weird ugly corpse is feeding from my chest while thrusting into me - i love my pants. thank you pants. i love you pants - so maybe the horrors are real" his losses were "my wife is dead of pestilence and my two daughters were violentally murdered while I was asleep and STILL you insist on your nonsense specter vampire thing which is obssesed with your MAD UNREASONABLE wife, who i cared for during MONTHS wasting no expense and losing sleep over - a thing all of you are judging me, btw, oh how could i tie the convulsing, raging, sleepwalking woman to the bed i should let her wander into my home convulsing sexually (why? how? Eww) where my TWO LITTLE DAUGHTERS plagued by NIGHTMARES live bc better they be scared that a woman confined? Excuse me for being down about that while all of you center about an hypothetical being of darkness while everyone dies around us and oh! also that fucking NIGHTMARE WOMAN."

Like this movie was very beautiful, the aesthetics were on point and they got the repulsion aspect of the dark romanticism very well but ohmygod the characters and the dialogue were all awful and rushed and just...incoherent.

I only stan Friedrich in this movie and maybe his wife (she was far too lax with the lilyrose character to be believable) and i did not even like them. They were just the only believable people there, for me.

(And maybe the dove-eating servant. He was very consistent with his shit. He wanted to be king of rats and was ready to salivate over his lord at any time any motive anywhere. Disgusting but! consistent)

funniest part of nosferatu 2024 is when the boys are trying to roll out for boys night but one dude is a no show so they go to find him and he's like. it turns out he's awol from boys night because he went mad with grief and died of the The Plague while he was defiling the corpse of his beloved wife. and the other lads just have to go wow sad and leave it at that because they're on a CRAZY time crunch trying to kill this fucking feratu. you know how it is with boys night.

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: Vol. 6 “Seeing Red”

Well this recap is massively late. Blame foolish past!me for purchasing Minecraft two days ago... 

Still, deja vu, anyone? This recap feels like an almost exact play-by-play of last week’s: good second half, awful first. Honestly for those of you following my metas there’s nothing much new here to tackle, but we’ll dive in regardless.

Our episode summary asks "How far am I willing to go to win?" and Team RWBY answers with, “As far as it fucking takes.” If that attitude was directed against Salem and her subordinates or even a mess of grimm? Admirable! Now that it’s aimed at an ally and is screwing over Argus in the process? Not so much…

We open on base where a group of Atlas personnel are watching the mech fight go down, all of them cheering. I mentioned in a brief post that this is an interesting choice. No one else seems to think that Cordovin is overdoing it with the massive robot, so either a) everyone in this military is incapable of thinking through repercussions (i.e. “If we use something big and scary people will, astoundingly, get scared and draw grimm”) or b) they acknowledge that, to be frank, you kind of need a mech for this fight. Ruby says herself that they’ve fought giant monsters before. What hope does Cordovin stand against huntsmen—particularly a whole mess of them—if she doesn’t bring out the big guns? As we’ve already established ad nauseam, no military operative in their right mind is gonna go, “Sure! Cross the closed border without reason or qualifications! I’m going to 100% believe that you have a perfectly good reason for crossing, even though you won’t tell me what it is, even though you’re a bunch of armed teens, and a drunk, and a woman I despise. It’s not like this goes against common sense or anything!” Basically, Cordovin has perfectly legitimate reasons for feeling like she needs to stop this group and she’s using what’s probably the only means capable of doing that.

Interestingly, our supposed villain here remains the only one with a shred of critical thinking. She homes in on Maria, not as a rival, but as an adult who “[roped] in children to fail with you.” Cordovin is assuming, logically, that the adults are calling the shots here… because that makes sense right? The 17yo wouldn’t really be in charge of this group. And even if she were, the adults around her wouldn’t really help her with an idiotic plan like this. Cordovin is re-highlighting for the audience exactly how stupid this whole situation is.

While everyone is going gaga over the fight we pull back to see an ominous red dot heading across one of the base’s screens. Later we’ll learn it’s exactly what the fandom assumed it was: one monster of an ocean grimm. For now though, we return to Ruby still hanging off that cliff… dangling uselessly… before suddenly, miraculously pulling herself up in about three swings of Crescent Rose.

This entire setup is ridiculous. As you’ll recall, Ruby was about to get blown up by Cordovin’s cannon because she’s suddenly vulnerable, to an OOC extent. No one on the cliff helps her, she doesn’t drop down into the water, doesn’t use her semblance to fly up, and doesn’t climb the mountain like we see her doing here. This sudden ineptitude “necessitates” Oscar and Maria coming to her rescue, despite the fact that they’re supposed to be keeping the airship out of the fight. We had a cliffhanger last week that was less about whether those two are okay (we knew Oscar would be at least) and more about whether that explosion destroyed their ship. …No such luck. The airship is totally fine! As promised last recap, I’m rolling my eyes.

You’ll see throughout this episode that the plot continues to twist in on itself to ensure that the consequences of the groups’ actions are never so horrible that they’re actually forced to confront their choices—at least not yet. The airship somehow manages to survive. Maria’s eyes are working again. No one has sustained serious injuries. No one has died. The real question is whether this will continue on into the finale.

For now, Ruby has the gall to be pissed off about being saved.

Oscar: “Are you okay?”

Ruby: “Are WE okay?”

Yes, Ruby. Tell us more about how annoying it is to be rescued from death via dust cannon, even if it comes at the cost of endangering your stollen ticket out of here.

Of course, we’re immediately given another justification for Maria and Oscar’s sudden involvement: Oscar thinks he’s come up with a way to take down this mech, but they’ll need to actually use the airship to do it. We get some explanations about how the missiles are vulnerable by popping out of the mech’s arm. “We could destroy the entire cannon. Oscar that’s brilliant!”

No, that’s willful destruction of military property. Yang’s line later on about being smarter than Adam really hammers home that yes, all these kids are brilliant when it comes to battle. Jaune, Oscar, Yang, and Ruby all demonstrate fabulous quick thinking in these fights, but this volume their intellect has been limited to the literal combat. Any great leaps of thought that take long-term repercussions into consideration—like what’s going to happen if we use an invaluable question to steal our leader’s hidden past, or whether there’s a way to get into Atlas that doesn’t involve making an enemy of the world’s strongest military—go straight out the window. This is why they need Ozpin. He’s the only one in this group capable of thinking about long-term strategy. (I thought Maria was another candidate, up until she went along with this plan just so she could taunt Cordovin with more cashews.) The gang has so far been learning that instant gratification is their best policy. Well we just took Ozpin’s secret and managed to survive—never needed him anyway, right? Well we just took the airship and managed to defeat the mech—so what if it required some close calls? This is why that end grimm attack is so important. The group has got to experience a consequence that they can’t easily shrug off.

And, you know, the writing has to emphasize that.

Anyway, back to this current nonsense. Ruby is all gung-ho to take on this crazy dangerous task in the name of destroying the mech they shouldn’t be dismantling in the first place. I would have appreciated the parallels between “Can you make that shot?” and Ruby’s first team battle (Ruby: “Think you can make the shot?” Weiss: “Can I”), but like everything in this fight the enjoyable aspects are lost to the awful context. Despite realizing that she’ll be “Staring down the barrel of [Cordovin’s] cannon,” Ruby hops into the airship with no hesitation, leaving Qrow to reach out to her in fear.

The butchering of their relationship in the name of Ruby’s Can Do No Wrong attitude is particularly annoying, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

For now, Maria is all smiles as she flies them straight at the mech. Ruby is confident in her ability to make an incredibly difficult shot. None of them can even conceive of the idea that they’d fail, a pretty egregious position given that nothing has gone to plan since the Fall of Beacon. The only one worried is Oscar—“Are you two crazy?!”

Which… doesn’t make much sense? Oscar, this was your plan. How exactly do you hope to enact it without Cordovin preparing to shoot? That’s the entire point of all this: her missiles are vulnerable when they’re about to launch. I’m just so over these inconsistencies. Maria shouts that, “Sometimes the best approach is simply the most direct!” which had better be the theme that comes back to bite them in the finale. No. Usually the most direct approach is far from the best option. Particularly during a war. 

Inside the mech Cordovin has an incoming call from the base and looks like she’s about to answer it… but at just the right second Maria starts taunting her again. Cordovin is distracted and she misses the info about an incoming leviathan.

The goading is, of course, about how they have one missile left and plan to stick it somewhere unmentionable. As the group knew she would, Cordovin reacts by pulling out her own missiles, giving them the clear shot they need. We get a long moment of Ruby setting up the perfect shot…

…and then Cordovin sees what she’s doing, pulling her missiles back just in time. The bullet bounces right off the mech’s armor.

Ruby’s little “Huh?” was amazing. Serious kudos to the voice acting because that one sound managed to encompass all that indignant surprise. I failed? But how is that possible! And like always, there’s nothing resembling a backup plan. Ruby’s confidence here—her arrogance, rather—nearly gets the three of them killed. Cordovin shoots the airship, Maria’s glasses short-circuit, and Oscar is forced to crash land them in the forest. There’s a moment afterwards where he comments that they’re all okay, but none of the shots include Maria. I honestly thought she’d been killed, or at least seriously injured, thereby hammering home that Ruby’s stupidity just lost her a new mentor.

…but no. Everyone’s fine. And trust me, Ruby is about to get a whole lot stupider.

She exits the airship and immediately makes a beeline for Cordovin, despite the fact that the plan failed and pretty much everyone is exhausted. We get a closeup on the relic as Qrow grabs her hand, “Ruby stop.” She gives her uncle another hard look and tells him he needs to trust her.

For one brief moment I thought that Ruby might put a stop to this, that her “Trust me” might be reframed as, “It’s okay, because I’m about to do what you’re going to suggest anyway.” After all, the Ruby Rose of five volumes makes empathetic and (usually) well thought out decisions. Surely she isn’t going to continue this fight out of pure stubbornness? Surely she hasn’t lost so much faith in Qrow that she won’t even listen to him when he’s (again) speaking sense? Yes, Ruby claimed that she doesn’t care what he thinks, but that was in a moment of fury. Before this we got her comment about learning so much from great mentors. Surely she’ll listen to her most important mentor now?

Nope.

Cordovin has ceased her attack, something that tells me—despite all her theatrics—that she’s got a more level head than most would assume at first glance. If she’d truly cared only about destroying this group she could have blown them all up immediately. Instead she tells Ruby to surrender and accept the punishment for her crimes. Ruby’s response?

“No!”

Everyone realizes that she comes across as a child throwing a temper tantrum, right? Ruby did something bad, started a fight to try and avoid punishment when she was caught, that failed, the adult sensibly tries to de-escalate the situation, telling her that it’s over, she needs to own up to her mistakes… and Ruby all but stomps her foot, giving an emphatic ‘Screw you.’

How are we meant to feel about this moment? Let’s take a look at the rest of the cast’s response for our cue.

Check out all those smiling faces. Yeah, screw authority and responsibility! We’ll do whatever the hell we want!

Ruby then gives another thoroughly ridiculous speech, the core of which is:

“We’re supposed to be on the same side. We’re supposed to use our power to protect people. But you just use yours to look down on everyone. We didn’t want to steal from you, we did it because you gave us no other choice. Now I’m giving you one last chance to stand down and hear us out.”

Ruby, newsflash, you’re talking about yourself. You’re the one who betrayed an ally (twice if you count Ozpin). You’re the one who is using your power to start and continue a fight. You’re the one looking down on everyone because you think your mission—the mission no one else knows about—gives you carte blanche to do whatever you want. Also, people love to paint Ozpin as the manipulator, but check out Ruby’s word choice here:

“Now I’m giving you one last chance” - What was the first chance, Ruby? Because, uh… there wasn’t one. You said, “Let us through.” Cordovin said no. You jumped straight to theft. There were no choices presented to Cordovin except the one that involves her going against a direct order for absolutely no reason.

“Hear us out” - Hear what out? There’s no argument here. “Hear us out” implies that Ruby has a persuasive stance to take, a presentation of why they should be allowed to go into Atlas. But she can’t give Cordovin anything like that unless she explains the whole Salem situation… which we know very well Ruby won’t do. In this case, “Hear us out” is just a dressed up way of saying, “Do as I say or else.” Ruby’s threatening her because as we see in a moment, she’s come up with another plan to cripple the mech.

“We didn’t want to steal from you, we did it because you gave us no other choice.” - You did have other choices. Lots of them. Not only is that a straight up lie, but Ruby tries to paint Cordovin as personally responsible, as if this one woman is the only thing standing in their way and not, you know, a whole kingdom that closed its borders. Her “We didn’t want to” tries to re-characterize the group as victims here. This sounds a whole lot like other false equivalencies, ones with a lot more weight. You know, things like, “I didn’t want to hit you. I did it because you gave me no choice.”

In fact, let’s consider the bigger issues at play in Ruby’s attitude. Bear with me a moment, but you know what all this reminds me of? Bullying. Over the last few weeks the vast majority of the fandom has been using logic often applied to bullying situations, wherein people are more focused on whether the victim had an “appropriate” response to the bullying, as opposed to whether the persecutor should have been acting upon them in the first place. Quick story time. When I was in middle school there was a kid who, looking back, had a number of behavioral problems that he chose to take out on me. Let’s call this kid Ryan. Ryan used to level a great deal of verbal and physical abuse my way, getting away with it because he was careful to do it out of earshot of teachers, careful to claim that any injury was an “accident,” and ultimately people were more willing to believe that the goody-goody teacher’s pet (me) had suddenly developed a taste for lying than accept the more complex scenario that a student was violently acting out. One day Ryan, in another “accident,” slammed into me hard enough to knock me into the gym’s concrete wall. When I got back on my feet I finally lost my temper and kicked him in the shin.

Guess which student finally got into trouble.

I chuck this story into my recap as a way of demonstrating a pattern. We tend to be far more concerned with how someone reacts to a situation than why they felt the need to react that way. Surely we’ve all heard, “You just can’t let them get to you!” placing all the responsibility on the victim to, somehow, turn off their emotions, rather than addressing the inappropriate behavior that’s causing those emotions in the first place. The fandom is applying this same pattern to Cordovin, emphasizing that she shouldn’t have gotten the mech out (a response deemed inappropriate) as opposed to acknowledging that our group shouldn’t have been lying, stealing, and beating up officers in the first place.

Granted, Cordovin isn’t a middle schooler still learning how to manage her emotions. Are there discussions to be had about how she might have handled the situation better? Absolutely, but that conversation is tangental to the underlying issue: that RWBYJNR are the perpetrators and she (representing Argus) is the victim. Telling Cordovin she shouldn’t have gotten the mech after two of her warnings is akin to telling someone they shouldn’t have punched someone else after twice telling them to keep your hands off me. Saying that the plan might have worked is just… so far off the mark I don’t even know where to begin. Getting away with illegal activity doesn’t suddenly make it right. It certainly doesn’t change the fact that a) the relay tower still would have been disabled for who knows how long, b) Argus would still have been out of an airship, and c) they still would have realized at some point that the ship had been stollen, further damaging these relations.

“I might have gotten away with it” isn’t exactly a defense.

ANYWAY, god. Cordovin has “heard enough” (so have I) and prepares to shoot another blast directly at Ruby. And then this girl throws herself into the cannon—oh sure now your semblance works—so she can take the shot directly from inside. Once again we’re encouraged to view this as the epic, heroic conclusion: Jaune’s awed voice over explaining what she’s attempting, the close up on Ruby, the dramatic lighting, music rising in the background… She takes out the mech’s arm and does serious damage to her aura in the process, getting knocked out for a few seconds. Ruby’s lucky she didn’t die. Hell, even Nora exclaims, “She’s nuts!”

And for what? Not to take down a grimm to protect the people. Not to defend her family from Salem’s subordinates. Ruby endangered herself and her team simply because she can’t take “No” for an answer right now.

When Ruby wakes up the first thing she says is a smug, “Told you” to Qrow. I’ve never wanted to put a fictional character into time out before, but I do now.

Luckily, at this moment we return to Blake and Yang, the well constructed portion of this episode. Honestly, nothing but praise from me for what they managed to pull off in this fight. Adam starts us off by demanding to know why Blake thinks she can win this time and it’s a simple answer: Because she has to. She doesn’t have a choice. Adam himself made sure of that.

Undaunted, Adam tries to undermine that determination by pointing out that Blake abandoned him. Who’s to say she won’t do the exact same thing to Yang? Blake has another wonderful answer—she only made that promise to someone he was pretending to be—but it says a lot that this doesn’t even put a dent in Yang’s conviction. You know, the thing she’s feared since Blake originally left Beacon: abandonment. I said last time that the writers might be going full perfection with Blake and Yang’s face-off here and this episode solidifies that. Relationship perfect. Strategy perfect. Control of their anger, perfect. I still don’t think we were shown how the girls got to this place, especially so quickly, but it is still satisfying to see.

During the second half of the fight we get to see the girls doing a reverse of their standard combo, wherein Blake is the powerhouse at the end of Gambol Shroud’s ribbon and Yang is providing the momentum. Adam manages to block it though—their normal finishing move won’t be enough—and Blake takes a hard hit against the rocks. As she struggles not to go over, Adam turns his original question on Yang. You couldn’t beat me last time, why is this any different?

And for a moment Yang collapses. Her whole body goes limp in terror.

That’s what I was looking for, especially since it’s a legit question. Yang hasn’t done much training recently. Her sparing with Tai was meant to get her used to a new limb and it was primarily emotional/strategic. She missed all the practice at Haven and you can presumably only learn so much from a single battle. By all accounts Yang shouldn’t be much better, physically, than she was back at Beacon and for a second I thought the writing would just straight up ignore this.

Instead they acknowledge it, giving us Yang’s line about not needing to be faster, just smarter. She catches Adam’s blade with her new arm and then Yang revs up her semblance, hitting Adam hard enough to tear up the rock around him.

It is, without question, a pretty epic moment.

Which makes the actual finale that much softer, something I was glad for. It would have felt cheap if Adam went out in some awesome blaze of glory, given that this is what the girls do to every dime a dozen grimm that comes their way. Instead we get the reverse. When Adam makes a break for Blake’s weapon she just manages to grab it first, Yang takes the broken piece, and without hesitation they both skewer him through. Adam’s final word is a broken, disbelieving “Oh.”

I really enjoyed the composition of this shot. Both girls taking a half of a broken weapon to make a new whole, Blake getting to face Adam as he goes down, slowly watching their fighter instincts give way to horror. Adam topples over the edge of the cliff… which I have to point out is pretty convenient for them. Yes, this was 100% in self defense, but considering that the rest of the group is currently battling the military, the last thing anyone needs is for Blake and Yang to get caught with a body on their hands.

Blake takes one look at Gambol Shroud and breaks down, collapsing under the weight of it all. Which… yeah. No matter what he might have become, it was clear a part of Blake truly cared for Adam long ago. No matter that it was self defense, the girls just took their first life. That’s going to be a lot to work through, so it says a lot that what Blake first focuses on is reassuring Yang that Adam was wrong. She’s keeping her promise this time.

With the girls comforting one another we return to the main group. Makes sense. With the mech’s arm disabled and Adam dead, both of the conflicts have pretty much been resolved. What do we have to look forward to in the finale?

By the Power of Plot the airship is still somehow able to fly and for a moment it looks like everyone will just leave while they still can, especially since Cordovin is calling for reinforcements. (Seriously. Did the kids think defeating the mech would keep the rest of the military from coming after them?) However, the call reveals that Argus is in danger. A leviathan grimm is heading this way and a mess of others are coming in from the opposite direction. We see the group’s shocked faces… and then a pan to the mech, re-emphasizing that it’s now pretty useless in this coming fight.

The group ought to be disgusted with themselves for putting Argus in this position. Their fight brought the grimm to Argus, they destroyed the primary defense, and they’re all so exhausted that, presumably, they won’t be much use in this fight. I almost wish the timing was a little different and they’d grabbed Yang and Blake, flying off to Atlas. What a kick it would have been for them to reach the city and hear reports of Argus being overrun by grimm. The military was missing a crucial defense. There were no huntsmen on scene to help push back the tide.

Still, the connection between their expressions and the mech is a hopeful sign that, after an entire volume, the consequences of the nonsense they’ve pulled might finally start seeking in. I honestly never expected to go 11 episodes with them blithely ignoring the impact of their choices. In my opinion, in order to maintain their heroic status, we should have started this process immediately after the relic. I’ve heard a lot of people claim that it’s only been a few days, but as we saw with Jaune, when you do something horrible we should see regret almost instantly—if there’s any regret to see. By all means, give us a volume where the group is grappling with their anger vs. their sympathy… but that’s very much not what we got this year. Ruby, and by extension everyone following her, has become downright callous. I miss rooting for our main characters.

Actually, you know what I want at this point? Back to the basics. As other fans have pointed out, let the group get to Atlas via arrest. We close the volume on them all in a jail cell for the crimes they’ve committed. Next volume James pulls some strings to get them released, but they’re all blindsided by a lack of support beyond that. Show us a James who took Ozpin’s words to heart—don’t scare people in a time of peace—and is utterly horrified at what this group has now done in the name of their mission. After all, he might have made mistakes, but he didn’t forsake the job of a huntsmen so badly that he knowingly attacked an ally and put a whole city in danger. He was overconfident in his technology, not arrogant about his place in the world. 

Frankly, I want James to throw them back into school. You want to stay out of jail? The requirement is you join Atlas Academy instead and learn everything you obviously missed out on at Beacon. There’s a reason huntsmen aren’t chucked into the world at 17 with one year of training, and you’re an A-class example of why. Want to continue the fight? Get your license first. Demonstrate that you’re responsible enough not to use the skills we’ve given you as weapons against the people. Anymore than you already have. Give me a volume where the group has to come to terms with the fact that they’ve put themselves up on a pedestal because of their super secret mission. Have them interact with students who have never seen the same sort of combat they have, but who are also level-headed enough not to use that as an excuse for any and all actions they might feel like taking. Let them start finding a balance between the near total freedom Ozpin gave them and the militaristic organization of James’ school (which probably isn’t all that different, if Neon and Flynt are any indication). In short, give the group some stability so they can get some perspective.

After all, no one knows what to do after they secure the relic. No one has even discussed yet if they want to do more. Is popping into each of the other schools just to say, “Is your relic still safe? Yeah? Great!” so important? The Salem battle is currently at a standstill until a) they figure out a way to beat her or b) she drops some hint about her next attack. So give the group some breathing room. Have this emotional growth about their attitude, yes, but also explore what it is to have Faunus students in an Atlesian academy (expanding that world building beyond just Adam and the White Fang). What it’s like for Weiss attending the school she originally rejected, so close to her father again? Give Blake and Yang time to come to terms with the fact that they killed someone, even in self-defense. Let Oscar get some actual training. Let Ozpin reconvene with his inner circle. Let Qrow get some help with his drinking. There’s still plenty of conflict to be had—be it internal, grimm, or (a good arc for the end of the volume) Watts, Tyrian, Cinder, and Neo finally showing up in Atlas. I realize that a lot of people would probably find a volume like that boring, but I think it’s needed after the mess of volume 6. If Ruby and the group ever hope to reach a place where they realize “just keep pushing forward no matter the cost” isn’t always the answer, they need to be in a space where they don’t feel like they have to push forward all the time. Peaceful Argus apparently wasn’t enough; they didn’t take that breathing room to think through a better plan. So slam them into a safe place that’s also governed by rules. Give them boundaries again.

That’s personally what I’d enjoy after all this, but I also recognize that I’m in the minority here for even thinking there are problems that need addressing.

Regardless, we still have a number of practical and thematic questions to answer. Will the group regret starting all this? Will anyone in Argus die because of this attack? Are the Cotta-Arcs in danger? (Please no). Is everyone going to be out of commission because of their aura, or will there be a very convenient second wind? Will Ozpin return in a blaze of power?

We’ll find out next week, and good thing too. I’m ready for the hiatus, folks.

Other Details of Note

Ren’s “Guys!” when he sees that Jaune and Nora are okay is the most wholesome thing. Jaune obviously took a hard hit though, further emphasizing exactly how not ready this group is for another battle.

I like how Qrow needs to jump off the cliff to transform rather than just…heading on over to his left. Like yes, I fully understand this is for practical reasons (showing us the transformation is a whole lot more complex in terms of animation), but it’s still funny in a ‘Qrow’s natural state is to be overly dramatic’ way.

RWBY’s a big fan of the split-screen this volume, isn’t it?

In case anyone missed it, Adam’s comments this episode made it pretty clear that Yang and Blake are set up to be a couple. You don’t ask an ex’s friend “What does she see in you?” That’s very much not the kind of relationship Adam is assuming they have. 

[catsundercherryblossoms]

|Ch. 14: Save Him, Save Her| Her Forgotten Past // Attack on Titan Fanfiction

Why does life have to be this way. Why does it give you everything, and then take it away? Levi could never understand this concept. But it always, always came around to bite the Survey Corps in the ass.

They were so close. Victory had grazed their fingertips, only to fall out of reach. The female titan called that horde of titans and had herself purposely devoured. At first, it puzzled every soldier who witnessed the sight. And rightly, it was quite the gruesome sight, the kind thats hard to erase from your memory. But Erwin, like always, was one step ahead of everybody.

"They escaped. The operator, the human inside the Titan, got away from us. Right under our noses." He had said as he, Levi, and a team of soldiers rode through the forest. They searched worriedly, desperately, hopelessly for the culprit.

Levi might've appeared fearless and unshakeable on the outside, but on the inside, he wasn't sure how much more he could take. So much effort and so many sacrifices, only for the convict to get away. This whole mission was a giant screw up.

A piercing roar. They all snapped their heads towards the sound. The whole forest shuddered as it reverberated from tree to tree.

There were two Titan shifters in the vicinity: the female titan and Eren. But only one of them was capable of a raging, lunatic scream like that. It was all too hot-tempered, and all too familiar...

Eren.

Levi flew off his horse, not bothering to tell Erwin where he was going. He didn't need to. They were all thinking the same thing: Eren wasn't allowed to transform unless absolutely necessary. Why would it be necessary?

But Levi began to get an inkling why.

Despite these suspicions, nothing could have prepared him for the horrible path ahead as he followed the distant roaring. First was Günther... Hanging upside down, bloody, eyes open but not seeing, Levi instantly knew he was dead. He proceeded. Next was Eld. Well, part of him. The rest was nowhere to be found, most likely swallowed. Levi tried to ignore the red stains on the grass and continued. Oluo wasn't spared either. After ten minutes of more flying around, Levi found him face down in the ground, mouth open with the ghost of his last scream still on his face. Levi did not dwell, although he noticed his heart felt heavier than before. Before all of this. Perhaps there was still hope. Petra was a highly skilled soldier, very independent, and very capable-

She was slumped against a tree. Blood smeared on her cheek. Like Günther, her eyes remained open just a peak, but absolutely lifeless. Dead.

Four beautiful people. A whole squad of the finest soldiers... wiped out.

He no longer heard Eren's monstrous roars. They had stopped. He heard only footsteps now, and far away, if he squinted enough past the trees, he could see a muscled pink figure running away. It was not Eren, but instead the female titan. And she probably had the boy with her.

Levi wanted to chase after her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, not until he knew where she was. Jet-black hair and blue eyes duller than the barrel of a gun. Where was she?

Levi's heart was now picking up speed. It thumped in his chest and it physically and emotionally hurt. He looked around frantically. Surely, she's alive. There's no way she can't be.

But then again... that's what he thought about his squad. Now look at them.

His eyes skimmed over the clearing, searching the grass, the rocks, the trees, until finally he spotted something. At first it looked to be an ordinary mossy rock, but a upon second observation he realized it was actually a Survey Corps cloak, camouflaged against a bush. And someone was wearing it, sprawled on the ground.

Levi didn't hesitate. He landed on the ground and ran towards her. "Johanna!" His own voice sounded like another person's. A scared person's. He kneeled and flipped her over to discover blood all on the left side of her face. It was fairly dry. How long had she been unconscious? Or worse... dead?

He took her pulse and felt a wave of relief. No, definitely unconscious. His rapid heart eased comfortably again. God, the universe, whatever higher power up there spared him this one. And although he reeled with grief of the others, he was thankful that she survived.

He shook her shoulders gently, trying to get her to wake up. "Johanna... Come on, dammit. Talk to me!"

She stirred. Her eyelids opened a crack, those dull blue irises peeking out from underneath. She was weak, he could tell. The focus in her gaze was fazing in and out. Inconsistent. "What... Corporal?"

"Yes, brat." He said, but there was a softness in his deep voice. Lines of consternation formed on his forehead. "Your head's bleeding. What happened?"

For a moment, she seemed brainless. Levi wondered if she had heard him. But then her eyes widened in terror, glazed over as she remembered. "We were overwhelmed. The squad, they- they tried their best, but..." She gulped. "She was too strong. Next thing I know they're all dead. Eren turned into a titan and tried to take her on, but he was defeated..." A single crystalline tear rolled down her cheek. She continued, choked. "I tried to stop her from running away with him but I wasn't careful enough- and- and she pulled on my wires and I hit a tree. Now he's gone!" She fisted his collar desperately. "We need to get him back, we have to save him!"

"There's not much we can do. Its too late for him." Levi said grimly.

She tried taking in these words, but they went in one ear and out the other. "No! We cant just let him get taken away, we have to-!"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" He cut her off. "Its too late. My whole squad has been wiped out! Anybody with a brain knows that the best choice is to return to the walls and come up with a plan there."

"He'll be dead by the time we do that! You know what? Forget it." That was enough. She pushed him off and got up, stumbling as she regained her footing. "I'll go by myself. He would do the same for me. Actually, he did once." She said, recalling the time they were on that training corps mission out in the desert and she got kidnapped. "I'll kill that bitch on my own. Who knows? Maybe I'll come back with the Eren and the titan shifter!" She started doing an assessment check on her gear. It was pretty banged up, but everything still functioned.

Levi's patience was running thin. "You're delusional! You can't do it alone!"

"Watch me!"

"Wait!" He stopped her just as she made to fly off. For a few seconds it was quiet, the female titan's footsteps barely audible now. He then sighed. "Fine. But I'm coming with you. And in case you've forgotten," He approached her. They stared at each other frigidly. "I'm the one in charge here. So do everything I tell you, and only what I tell you. Got it?"

She bit the inside of her cheek, but nodded in compliance.

"Alright. Let's go."

It took them about fifteen minutes just to catch up with the female titan. They followed behind her. She had expert stamina, running as though she were in a marathon.

"Is he in her mouth?" Levi asked.

"Yes." Johanna said, glaring daggers at her back. She yearned to just swoop in and get it over and done with. But they had to maintain their distance. Her movements were sudden and almost incalculable.

Levi's brow furrowed. "How do you know he's not dead? If she bit his nape-"

"He's still alive in there. This Titan shifter has a purpose. If she wanted to kill Eren, she could've just crushed him. She needs him for something. But she also needs her hands to fight. So she's been holding him in her tongue. It's common sense."

"Or maybe she just wanted to savor her prey. In which case, he's probably been swallowed already. If so-"

"He's alive." She emphasized. Her expression had never been more fierce.

"Tch." He rolled his eyes. "Someone's optimistic."

Johanna took her eyes off the female titan and glared at him now. "Listen here, buddy. If you had just done your damn job and protected him like you're supposed to, we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place!"

That's when it dawned on him. He cocked his head to look at her. The 'oh' moment was visible on his face. How did he not notice it before? Figures.

He faced her completely. His tone was somewhere between sly and repulsed. "I see what's going on here. Three years of cadet training, little stolen moments during lunch, sneaking out after curfew... It's all making sense now."

Johanna wasn't sure what he was implying. Actually, she did know. She knew all too well. But she hated being ridiculed. Her scowl deepened. She would've blushed if it wasn't for the immense life or death situation they were currently in.

"Right. For the sake of getting shit done, let's narrow down our goals. We forget about killing her." He indicated to the female titan jogging in front of them.

"No way. She's killed way too many soldiers to get away with that. She's dead." Johanna said.

"She's got defenses that none of us have been trained to deal with. Not even me. I'm telling you, it's a lost cause." He raised a blade, his reflection glinting on the shiny surface. "Instead, we act on your assumption that Eren is still alive. We'll focus only on getting him back before she leaves the forest. Thats all we're doing. I'll do all the cutting. You try to distract her."

"Got it."

Johanna didn't hesitate. She didn't even wait for him to say go. She sped off to engage the female titan. She flew in front of her gigantic feet. The female Titan's icy blue eyes peered down at her, surprised. Distracted. Just how they wanted her to be. Levi readied his blades.

The female titan, quickly catching on to what they were planning, took the contrary. She sensed Levi was right behind her and she swerved around, aiming a powerful punch at his body.

Ha. As if that would be successful.

Levi dodged it, and now that her arm was extended, he whirled his way up, slashing and shredding the skin like a tornado. When he finally stopped, his blades were fully covered in Titan blood, which instantly began to steam. He dived in again and cut her up, even going for her eyes. The torture was brutal to the point where she had no other choice than to stop, leaning against a tree for support. Her eyes were blinded. Her shoulders falling from their sockets. The ankles and knees were rendered useless. There was nothing she could do but wait and regenerate now.

Johanna watched in slight awe. The finished product was quite impressive.

That's when she noticed something. She stopped in mid air. Her nape is completely open! She thought, staring at the pink flesh just waiting to be carved into. She itched to find out who the hell was hiding in there. This is it! Now's my chance!

Johanna flew towards the nape at breakneck speed, raising her blades high and mighty. So close... the tips of her fingers, curled around the blades, buzzed with electricity. The anticipation was so unbearable, she-

"NO! DON'T DO IT!"

A shadow loomed over Johanna. She was barely given two seconds. But two seconds was all it took. She looked up and the first thing she registered was the female titan's hand about to swat her. Then, out of nowhere Levi came and shoved her aside and out of danger.

Johanna fell about fifteen feet before she finally pulled herself together. She shot an anchor into a nearby tree to keep her from hitting the ground, but as she hung there, the shock still hadn't left her body. Somewhere deep inside she knew she messed up. Big time.

She watched Levi. He landed improperly on the titan's hand, forcing it back with his feet.

Crack!

'Fuck, was that what I think it was?' Johanna thought.

Yep. It certainly was. Levi's foot had twisted the wrong way. He grimaced in pain, but seemed to ignore the injury and proceeded to slash the female titan's mouth. Her jaw popped open, tongue lolling out, and finally, there was Eren. Levi wasted no time and grabbed him. Together, he and Johanna took off.

"Talk about a screw up. What did I tell you? You shouldn't have tried to kill her!" Levi said. He carried Eren in one arm. He was an unconscious, slimy and disgusting mess. But he seemed okay overall.

Johanna gritted her teeth. She wanted to be angry at Levi, but the truth is, she could only be angry at herself. "I didn't mean to, okay? I just-"

"Look, we get that he's your boyfriend. Just try not to act crazy next time."

"I- ugh, that's not..." Johanna didn't have the energy to explain herself at the moment. She couldn't care less what he thought. Right now, all that mattered was Eren's safety. And until they weren't out of this goddamn forest, she wouldn't be satisfied.

Out of curiosity, Johanna stole one last look behind her. What she saw, however, was beyond shocking...

There lay the female titan, against a tree, body regenerating slowly. And she was...

Crying.

End of Chapter 14

[shinyobjectreviews]

I didn’t like Infinity War

Infinity War was much more flawed than I expected it to be. I definitely see how people could have fallen in love with it, there were some bold choices made and some strong performances, but I had so much trouble staying engaged in it that I didn't enjoy the film. I'll leave the spoilers for after the break, but let's just say I have a lot to say. I based my format roughly off of Moviebob’s “Really that Bad” because I like the way he admits some things are minor and some are not.

Stuff I liked

Everything looked nice. I really liked the design of most of the aliens, especially horn lady and squidward. They were well designed and well animated. I liked most of the planets and spaceships, even if they were a little derivative sometimes. This doesn’t mean much when the richest company in the world is funding the biggest movie in the world based on a series with years of design behind it.

The infinity stones did stuff. I was happy that the infinity stones kept their specific abilities, mostly. It wasn’t just “collect all the mcguffins,” they each retained their abilities, mostly. The set up from the previous movies actually payed off in this respect. I’ll give them a pass for ignoring the soul stone, which would be a little tough to pull off, and the mind stone, which was just what the last one.

Thanos was amazing. I loved Thanos as a character. He’s one of the best villains in movies I have ever seen. He had a clear goal (kill half the universe) with a clear and personal motive (finite resources on his planet) and a clear pathway to that goal (the stones). Every decision he made and every word he spoke came from that very clear background, which made all of it carry weight. He had a very clear goal that the heroes had to get in the way of, so the tension coming from him was real. The audience knew what would happen if he succeeded, so they were engaged, and they knew what he needed to do that, so they were interested in the decisions. There’s a reason he’s the main character of this film, to the point of being the protagonist.

Random ending stuff. I liked seeing Thanos get home, sit down, and smile. I like hoe they clearly show the gauntlet was cracked, meaning he spent his one shot. I liked the choice for silent credits, and the title turning to ash. I liked them saying Thanos will return to emphasize both that while his mission is over his story isn’t, and that he was in fact the main character.

Minor Stuff that bugged me

Tony got nanites. This was something that bugged me in Black Panther, too. Nanites are a sci-fi writers crutch to explain why someone can do ridiculous things that look cool but easy. The trouble is that it makes it very hard to understand exactly what Tony can do and know whether or not he is in danger. At one point, he turns his arm into a scary laser cannon, and later he turns it into a knife. Was there a reason he chose a knife instead of a gun? Is it just a knife or was it something else? The Iron Man franchise had previously put a lot of effort into showing exactly what his suits are capable of, and putting enough limitations on him that you can be worried about his safety. But when his suit can turn into anything with telepathic influence it’s hard to be concerned.

The tone was inconsistent. A lot of people bug Marvel about this, especially in Guardians 2 and Ragnorok, their tendency to have a nice moment then immidiatley cut it with a joke. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. This film had some of that, but this time I noticed it within characters. Thor was simultaneously the saddened, desperate survivor and the boisterous, comical warrior. A lot of people liked the quiet moment he had with rocket, but to me it just felt so incredibly awkward. He lists off the people he lost, then chuckles, then rocket makes a sarcastic remark. It made me cringe.

Thanos tortured someone to get information from someone else... three times. First, he threatens Thor until Loki relents and gives him the cube. Then, later, he threatens Nebula until Gamora give him the location of the soul stone. Then again he threatens Tony until Strange gives him the time stone. It plays out exactly the same way each time. Each person swears they won’t give anything up, lets him interrogate twice, then gives up. It is repetitive and lazy writing. The very first time he did it I didn’t like it: it’s a super old cliche and an especially heinous one when you’re preventing the death of half the universe by letting your brother/sister/friend die.

Thor missed. Thor hit Thanos really hard with a weapon they had set up the whole movie as being able to kill Thanos, and he misses simply because he didn’t aim for a kill shot or lopping off an arm. I get that it’s just supposed to up the tragedy, making it even sadder that they lost when they were so close, but it wasn’t from not trying hard enough, or being unlucky, or being outsmarted, it was just because Thor was an idiot. A similar thing happened with Star-lord, but that was a little more forgivable since it was well set up and played well with the characters.

They break an infinity stone. Why can an ancient stone of limitless power from the big bang even be shattered, much less by someone who literally got their powers from the stone itself, and why does breaking this stone not result in anything other than a big yellow puff?

Thanos’s character is different from his previous appearances. His actions in the previous avengers films and in Guardains seems odd in retrospect. He literally gives away one of his infinity stones, despite in this movie being, in this movie, completely dedicated to finding them. He argues with Ronan in Guardians, but in this movie he’s calm with everyone. Granted, I like the new Thanos, but to everyone who says “they’ve been setting up Thanos for 10 years,” well, they’ve been setting up a different character. This one just has the same name, same daughter, and about half the attitude.

Bigger Issues

The characters were interchangeable. Marvel is wise enough to know only some of their characters will end up being popular. Spider-man shows up because he’s popular, but does’t do anything that any other hero couldn’t have done there. Tony goes to space, but if he had been ant-man or falcon instead, nothing would have been different. Thor had a Thor-specific plot (with Rocket for some reason), Gamora and Nebula had things only they can do, and arguably Scarlet witch and Vision, but everyone else was just generic fighter. Even Steve Rogers was nothing more than “a guy who knows another guy.” Wakanda served the exact same function as Sokovia in Avengers 2, it was just that Wakanda was popular. Tony never acted like an engineer, Hulk never acted like someone scared of their emotions, falcon was never loyal, spider-man unlearned his lesson from the first movie, the Guardians... well, they’re whole bit is that they’re weirdos in their own movies, so they didn’t seem that out of place. Still, it lessons the fun of throwing everyone into a movie together if they aren’t really doing anything that they need to be themselves to do. Everyone was there, but no one really needed to be.

Nobody does anything. I don’t mean this in the broader sense. I know that “the villain wins” sometimes makes it feel like the heroes didn’t get anything done, but usually you can have them get minor wins along the way, or build character, or get most of the way but fail in the end. Thor is the only one who gets a story like this: he must find or create a weapon that can kill Thanos. This involves going to a specific place, doing a specific thing, almost dying, but still coming out on top. Everyone else in the movie, though, has very unclear goals. They know they have to defeat Thanos, but that’s it. Tony and crew just follow a guy into space and end up on a planet where they plan to... do something? Fight Thanos, I guess? They don’t really have a plan, and the fight they do end up having is just a bunch of random punches and kicks. The whole fight at Wakanda is just a fight to save literally one guy but they act like its this huge war. The only character who makes meaningful choices or has actual growth is the main villain.

I stopped caring about death. The first character to die in the film is Heimdall, one of my favorites, but it’s sort of brushed away so I don’t really feel it. The next character to die is Loki, possibly the single most popular character in the Marvel universe. He dies graphically on-screen. It’s sad, but something about it lacks weight. This was not like agent Coulson dying in Avengers, or even like Quicksilver or Freya. This was like Captain Antilles dying at the beginning of Star Wars. It was a death to set up the villain and motivate the hero, which admittedly it did. But when the most popular character in your universe not to have a movie named after them dies in the first ten minutes, all the sudden death means nothing. People were so excited over the concept that anyone could die in this movie, but since none of the deaths were given time to grieve or even contemplate, they fell flat. I found myself detached from the characters. Since, as I pointed out above, all of the characters were interchangeable, I knew that anyone could die at any moment and not affect the overall story. In a film were major characters turn into minor characters, killing off a character always feels like killing off a minor character. I knew all these characters, cared about them in their movies, but in this movie none of them are doing anything so I don’t care. They all finished their arcs from their individual movies, they were complete characters, so killing them off just meant no more sequels. When the finger-snap happened, all I could think was “oh, there’s someone who’s contract ran out.”

Thanos was ridiculously overpowered. Thanos being a powerful and nigh-unstoppable force goes without saying. It’s a superhero team-up, of course you need someone powerful enough to require them teaming up. The issue is the word “nigh.” At the start of the film, he has the power stone. This is a good way to show how he’s strong enough to single-handedly take on the hulk and the asgardians. The power stone is also the vaguest of the infinity stones, so it’s a good one for him to start out with, because we can gauge its power level based on Thanos’s. Then, he gains the space stone, and gains the ability to teleport, which is actually a pretty clever way of allowing the villain to interact with multiple story arcs across space. Then, though, he gets the reality stone, and everything goes out the window. In a movie where the main plot is to kill the bad guy, it’s hard to think the heroes are going to be successful when he literally dies in front of us and comes back to life. The reality stone, as its name implies, alters reality. When Thanos comes back after dying, I at first assume this is some sort of illusion, and Gamora killed a fake Thanos. But then, Thanos turns Drax and Mantis into cubes and paper, meaning that it does have an effect on the real world. But maybe that, too, is an illusion, I think, in one of those “if you think you’re dead you’ll act dead sort of ways. But then he turns bullets into bubbles, and I lose all hope that Thanos can be defeated. From that point on, any times Thanos is losing, it feels forced and arbitrary, and anytime he’s winning it feels obvious and unpreventable. This would be fine if it happened at the end of the movie. The times stone is treated like this in the film: the moment that all hopes is lost. But instead, it happens less than halfway into the movie.

The action was poorly done. Constant shaky cam, the rabid aliens were poorly animated, characters doing their one thing they do then leaving, it was awful. The fight in Scotland is alright thanks to its minimal members and unique power sets. the fights with squidward were fine because his powers were clear and his limits were realistic. All the rest, though were a slog. The fight on Titan where everyone just kind of jumped around and somehow knew exactly how Strange would teleport them was boring to watch, especially when the color palette was “orange and brown planet, villain wearing gold, two heroes wearing red and gold, one hero wearing maroon and gold, and Mantis.” and somehow every punch and shot made him flinch an equal amount no matter who was doing it or how. It then transitions into them trying to get the gauntlet off, which makes sense but was hard to realize during the action and there was no reason they couldn’t have mentioned that at some point as a way to conceivably defeat Thanos. The fight in Wakanda was a mess, with the rabid aliens moving so much you had no idea what they were doing, and the directors apparently not even caring, since all they want to do is show off everyone using their powers. They even lampshade it and point out that the creatures were literally sent in just to die, and even kill themselves.

That’s probably everything.

I don’t know, I just wanted to get this in writing. I tried to stay professional but this is about 50/50 personal opinion and professional opinion. If you disagree with any of this, that would make sense. It was a lot harder to get some of this in writing than I thought. I’ll end it with a little list of stuff that I feel like poeple would bring up, but that I didn’t feel the need to.

Stuff I didn’t like or dislike. I thought the finger-snap ending was a cool way to write people out of the universe but I didn’t think it was as adventurous as people make it out to be. There weren’t any specific deaths that I was particualrly happy or sad about, even spider-man’s. As I was watching the film I was really upset about how they treated Gamora from a feminist perspetive, but it was a little helped byt the fact that they did the exact same thing to vision. I thought the performances were fine. I thought the score was fine. The fact that Thanos probably could have used the gauntlet to double the amount of resources rather than halve the amount of people didn’t really bother me much because the movie was written well around that fact.

Thank you for reading my rant. Have a good one.