#haie westhus

[tenth-sentence]

Katczinsky was still alive then, dear old Kat, and Haie Westhus, they were something quite different from this lot back here; I lean on my elbows and become oblivious of everything going on around me because I can see them again so clearly.

"The Way Back" - Erich Maria Remarque

[vera-gemini]

Thinking about them (Tjaden, Westhus and Detering in the 1930 adaptation of All Quiet On The Western Front)

Have some shitty pictures bc I love their dynamic

[speeedyquick1245]

Character Changes in the 2022 Movie

So I’m pretty sure Ludwig Behm in the 2022 movie wasn’t in the book and was based off of Joseph Behm in the book. They both have the same glasses and last names. Also they both are the first to die among Paul’s friends. However Joseph never wanted to enlist unlike Ludwig and gets blinded and killed in no man’s land. Both of them are pretty similar in the end and make me and Paul feel very sad. :(

Tjaden’s character change is definitely the more noticeable as book Tjaden is a lot younger. He is Paul’s age but they were not school mates. He’s known in the book for being a big eater who loves food more than anything yet still manages to be as skinny as rake (He reminded me of Sasha from aot). He is laid back and humorous and so is the older Tjaden at times. Both also have serious sides as Tjaden is able to give a very insightful answers that explain the futility of war but he hides it under his usual comedy.

2022 Tjaden borrows parts of his character from Haie Westhus from the book. Haie was a peat digger the same age as Paul who loathes the job. This makes him want to be a military officer like Tjaden after the war. He dies when his back is injured fatally. 2022 Tjaden dies from a way that is inspired from the book. There is another injured soldier in the Catholic hospital Paul goes to, who attempts suicide with a fork after he learns that his leg had been lost. Unlike Tjaden he was stopped in time.

I didn’t think that I would like the older Tjaden very much because he was too unfamiliar but I enjoyed his character greatly. I loved seeing Kat have a friend his age and the actors chemistry was really good. His last scenes with Paul made me sob. He later felt like a natural addition despite me being a little weirded out at first and I feel bad not knowing that this version of Tjaden doesn’t exist in most forms of All Quiet on the Western Front.

[mansnooziesmoosmutzel]

I have tried a translation of this intense and heartbreaking text passage nearly at the end of the book when the protagonist called Ernst has a mental breakdown or something like a nightmare / horrible vision

(I am sorry for mistakes, english isn’t my first language)

------

In the sallow light of the open door stands a shadow.  He staggers and floats, he gets closer to me and waves, a shape is forming, a face with dark eye sockets, between them a crack gapes deeply, a mouth, speaking witthout a noise – isn't this ...? "Walter?", I whisper. Walter Willenbrock, fallen in August 1917 at Paschendaele ... am I crazy? Am I dreaming? Am I sick? ... But behind him already someone else is pushing himself in, pale, crooked, curved – Friedrich Tomberge, whose back was smashed by a splinter at Soissons, when he was sitting on the steps of the shelter ... And now all of them are pushing in, with dead eyes, grey and ghostly, a crowd of shadows, they have come back and fill the room – Franz Kemmerich, amputated at the age of eighteen years and died three days later, Stanislaus Katczinsky, with dragging feet and a lowered head, where a thin thread trickles out darkly. - Gerhard Feldkamp, shredded by a mine at Ypern, Paul Bäumer, fallen in October 1918, Heinrich Weßling, Anton Heinzmann, Haie Westhus, Otto Matthes, Franz Wagner – shadows, shadows, a long trail of men, an endless row ... They are floating inside, they are perching on the books, they are climbing up the window, they are flooding the whole room ...

FYI for those who liked All Quiet on the Western Front:

The novel actually has a sequel! It’s called “Der Weg zurück” and it’s about a soldier who survived the war and now has to integrate back into society and his struggles. They also seem mention Paul and Kat!

If you speak German you can find the pdf of the book online! :)

[iseberg408-blog]

Journal Entry #1

My name is Paul Baumer. I am a soldier in the Second Company of the German army at the western front. I am in the company of my closest allies and friends Albert Kropp, Muller, Tjaden, Haie Westhus, Leer, Detering, and our leader Stanislaus Katczinsky. Together, we have been assigned the very front line opposing the French army. Just a few days ago, the many of us sat together a meal. Today, we sit in the cover of the trenches, shaking in fear as the artillery shells obliterate the trench surrounding us. Many of the soldiers with us are newly trained, having no war experience. They enter with only what they have been explained to; they know nothing regarding the skills necessary to avoid death. They die quite often, only to be replaced by soldiers of the same caliber. Though they cannot fend for themselves, we are all the same. We are petrified by the thought of being struck by an enemy-being left to die in great pain. However, this same fear adds to the desire to avoid such an ending as well. The trembling of the ground, the steady fire of the machine guns from both sides, they are constant. We are starved, exhausted, and afraid. The attacks eventually end. The sounds of the weaponry are now replaced by the sounds of the dying. The trenches are flooded with cries for help; they last for countless hours, possibly days. They cry out until they can no longer muster the energy to sustain a yell, slowly fading into a faint weeping. Some are rescued, only to live the rest of their lives in pain and disability. Most do not even share this fate.

[tenth-sentence]

In his mind he's probably already enjoying the clear autumn evenings, the Sundays on the heath, the village church bells, afternoons and evenings with the girls, the buckwheat pancakes with bacon, the hours of aimless conversation in the bar—

"All Quiet on the Western Front" - Erich Maria Remarque

[vera-gemini]

I would love to see more fanarts of Detering, Haie and Tjaden... I find their relationship in the 1930 film so cool 

[tenth-sentence]

They throw them as fast as they can, and the grenades are handed to them ready primed.

"All Quiet on the Western Front" - Erich Maria Remarque

[vera-gemini]

Just saw a photo of Devid Striesow in real life (like, not as General Friedrichs lmao)

And he looks so much like the image I had of Haie while reading AQOTWF for the first time ?! He’s older ofc, but it’s uncanny

[vera-gemini]

Where is the love for Haie Westhus from All Quiet On The Western Front tho :(

[tenth-sentence]

Haie has also snaffled a thin loaf of French white bread and tucked it in his belt like a spade.

"All Quiet on the Western Front" - Erich Maria Remarque

[vera-gemini]

my ideas for AQOTWF fanarts suck so I never talk about it

but consider :

Haie Westhus with a cardboard sign. he wrote "need a fat bitch" on it

Franz Kemmerich and Albert Kropp growing weed in their basement

Paul Bäumer listening to The Smiths while holding a photo of Kat

Leer's profile on Tinder (with only shirtless photos on it. of course)

[vera-gemini]

Piano Man

I have to finish my Paul/Kemmerich fanfiction, but here is a short text that I wrote while listening to Billy Joel’s song. I will publish it on AO3 later, I think. 

Basically, we’re in 1923, Albert Kropp is playing piano every Saturday night and he feels sad. 

On Saturday’s night, a motley crew invades the seedy bar where I play the piano. My part-time job, as I call it, pays well - for seven hours a week, I get all the booze that I want. If I’m feeling generous, I “buy” a round of drinks for everyone.  A young man sits beside me. The battle of Passchendaele claimed his left eye ; the right one, dark blue, follows every movement of my hands. He always drinks a glass of the cheapest, strongest liquor he can find. His left hand is also missing, and small scars cover a side of his face. I don’t know if he ever saw that I had a prosthetic leg. Maybe that’s why he always comes… Along with a few prostitutes, he’s part of the regulars. Some middle-aged men attempt to mix with the crowd, but their elegant costumes clash with the other’s outfits. They ask me to play joyful songs, and I obey. No Liszt, Mozart, or Chopin here ; only drinking songs. Sometimes, a man recognizes me : “We were in the Second Company together, comrade. Don’t you remember me ?” I nod and shake his hand.  As the night goes on, people gather around me and my old black piano. Regularly, a fight erupts in the room, but I never pay attention to it - now I’m used to that . The fellow with the single blue eye never leaves before the bar closes. I don’t mind his presence, especially when he’s alone with me, at two in the morning. This is when I close my eyes. Suddenly, eight men appear ; their faces gleam in the dim, reddish light. The oldest is forty years old, thin, with a blond mustache and piercing blue eyes. Our dear old Kat. He left his wife and his children to be with us, what an honor ! A young man, whose delicate beauty I have always admired, sits next to me. Franz Kemmerich is a good piano player too, even better than me. His shyness prevents him from taking my place, but maybe we will try a duet one night… His lover, Paul Bäumer, holds his hand, his bright eyes beaming with quiet joy. He is my best friend. Another fellow, a sardonic smile on his face, sits on a bar stool. Müller always has a book in his hand, because he appears smarter with it - or that’s what he says. The plump one, Behm, smiles at me before sitting next to Müller. How does he always look so youthful ? We seem older than our ages, with our wrinkled foreheads and our bent shoulders. The three others are accompanied. Leer, the dandy of the group, brings a different woman each week. I wonder where he finds them in our small town : I suspect a majority of them are already married. Then Haie Westhus, his freckled, kind face leaning towards his plump little fiancée. He was so proud to present her to us… The last one is slightly withdrawn from us, but he seems content to see us all there. Detering never leaves his wife’s side ; sometimes, they bring me a good piece of cheese or delicious cherries.  Haie waltzes clumsily with his fiancée, Paul begs Franz to do the same, and Leer is too occupied with his new romantic conquest to dance. The others are quietly watching me. I love them all.  They stay with me until the owner taps on my shoulder and says : “Albert, we’re closing. It’s time to go.” Then they turn into mist, and I’m alone with him and the strange young man. He’s asleep on his chair, his light brown hair hiding his scarred face from us. When he wakes up, he simply says to me “I… I like it when you play late at night.”  I smile at him. My friends have all returned to their nameless graves, and I feel even lonelier than before. 

[vera-gemini]

My friends’ reactions to All Quiet On The Western Front (1979) characters

I’m French so I had to translate them, sorry (we were also drunk)

Himmelstoss :

“It’s Bilbo Baggins with a mustache !”

“His mustache is homophobic”

Paul Baümer :

“Of course he’s a twink !” 

“Totally a twink. Pretty eyes” 

Albert Kropp : 

“He looks like the Lady Of The Camellias” (the heroine of an eponymous book written by Alexandre Dumas fils - she has tuberculosis)

Franz Kemmerich : 

“He is at the top of his class, no ? I just know it”

“When you see his face, you know he’s going to be the first to die”

Kat : 

“He looks like a mobster”

“No, more like a farmer... who grows potatoes...”

Haie Westhus :

“He has the cheekbones of an heterosexual man. Don’t ask me why.”

“He’s got the vibe of a military man”

Tjaden : 

“He looks like my communist friends from high school... we drink alcohol together, he’s a good guy.”

Detering : 

“Very cute, very pretty... he’s totally a bottom.”

Peter Leer : 

“First of all, this is NOT an heterosexual man.”

“Why does he looks like Emmanuel Macron ?”

Joseph Behm : 

“He looks like Brandon Fraser, no ? Whatever, he seems nice.”

“Is he sleeping ? Good night then”

Friedrich Müller :

“I know he smokes weed”

“He’s gay. I know it because he looks like my gay colleague who makes YouTube videos.”

[vera-gemini]

They’re great characters, I don’t understand why they don’t get more love ? Like… Detering is so touching and Haie & Tjaden are clearly a comedic duo

I guess that’ s because Haie and Detering aren’t in the 2022 film :/

I would love to see more fanarts of Detering, Haie and Tjaden… I find their relationship in the 1930 film so cool