Hello everyone and welcome back to HellFall!

Is it just me or did this past week go by really slowly? Probably just me.

Also I'd like to apologize for last week's angry little rant. That was extremely unprofessional of me to do. This isn't a blog, so my opinion really isn't wanted or needed here. And also, sorry about the bleeped out language. I know it wasn't horrible (and relatively censored), but it's more than what's in HellFall itself, so I really shouldn't have talked (or I guess written) like that. Whether this apology is really needed or not is not known to me, but I felt the need to get this off my chest because I don't feel particularly good about it.

On that note, the review. Yes, I'll post it in today's chapter, just at the end. Despite saying my opinion doesn't matter above, this is at least a bit more related, so yeah. Plus I hadn't been saying that an angry rant was coming for the past few weeks. Whether or not it'll be as long as it originally was is unknown to me, but this time around I will type it in a regular Word document. That way I can't lose it to internet issues (which is what happened last time).

Anyways, last chapter was a bit of a cliffhanger (not really), so let's get on with it.

"Octavia?" She asked, staring at me confusedly. I began to wonder if I should have greeted her, considering we hadn't spoken in years. "What're you doing here?"

I shrugged, "I just thought I'd take a day off to see my sister fight." I replied. "How've you been?" I still felt a little tense.

"It's been who knows how long, and that's all you can think you say?" She asked. I prepared for the worst, "You haven't changed a bit, sis" She snickered.

My tension slowly trickled away at that.

"Come 'ere. Aren't you going to give me a hug?" She asked.

I didn't move for a second.

"You okay?" She asked, "What is it?"

"I'm just surprised." I replied, "I thought you were still mad at me for a second there"

"About what?" She asked, "Davy?" She laughed, "Davy Pickle? You really think I would still be mad about him?"

"Well," I started, "we haven't exactly maintained contact. And you know how some people can be"

She spread her arms and started walking towards me, "Come on, get that booty over here"

I ran towards her, wrapping her in my arms.

"Did you ever date Davy?" She whispered into my ear. She didn't sound happy.

"Uh," I stammered.

"Just kidding." She said, "But did you?"

"No," I replied, unsure of how to feel about Hail right now, "Why?"

We separated, "Just curious." She replied, "I never did either"

"Hey, Hail!" Gazini called, walking over whilst heaving Gyro's body. "What the heck was that about?" When he saw me he fell silent, and so did I.

"Oh," he said, "hello Octavia"

"Hello" I replied simply.

"Oh come on!" Hail slapped us on the back, "Don't be so awkward! Remember how chummy you guys used to be?!"

"Right" He said, forcing out a laugh. He just looked awkward though. I felt the same.

"Well, come on over, Octa, let me show you my place" Hail said, taking Gyro and walking away. I hung back with Gazini for a bit.

"I'm done with all that, just so you know" He said.

"Okay," I replied, "you did some good there though"

He stopped and looked me straight in the face, "Nothing good came out of that job." He said, "All it created was death and desensitization to it. There was no silver lining"

"The money was good, wasn't it?" I asked.

He sighed, "You can't pin a price tag on a life." He said, "You should be with your sister"

I nodded and ran ahead.

"Hey." Hail said cheerily, "What was that about? Gazini's a serious dude but not like that"

"I'll tell you later" I replied.

"O-kay," she said, "Then what's going on with you? Good? Bad? Meh?"

"Well," I started.

"Meh?" She asked.

"It's been fine." I replied, "A bit of both, really"

"Did you ever reconnect with your team?" She asked.

"Yeah, I did. Sort of." I replied, "I mean, I've been with them since Beacon, but we started working together more"

"Oh yeah?" She asked, "What, you guys were just hanging out before or something?"

"No," I replied, "We've been living together since Beacon, but now we're working together more too"

"Oh, that's good." She said, "So I guess that you weren't before then?"

"Not so much" I replied.

"What made you guys change your minds, if you don't mind me asking"

"Well," I started, "I lost my semblance in a job"

"What?" She laughed a little, "What are you talking about?"

"I mean that I can't use my semblance anymore." I replied, "It's gone"

"How?" She asked.

"On a job." I replied, trying not to talk about it in fear of revealing too much information, "Look, we really shouldn't be talking about this right now. What about you, how've you been?"

"Have you told anyone?" She asked me, ignoring my question.

"Yes, my team knows" I replied.

"Anyone else?"

"No"

"Why?"

"Because I don't need to." I replied, "We can handle it"

"Handle it?" She asked.

"I've said too much." I replied, realizing my mistake. "How've you been?"

"I'm fine," She replied, "But this is reason to worry, Octavia. Do you still have your aura?"

"Yes, yes," I replied, "don't worry, that's intact"

She sighed, "Okay," she said, "I'll stop talking." She took a deep breath, threw Gyro into the back of a pick-up truck, then hopped into the front seat. She looked through the window at me, "You coming?" She asked.

"No, I don't think so," I replied, "I think I'll drop by some other time, if that's cool with you"

"Yeah, that's fine." She said, "Come over anytime. Just shoot me a message"

"Sure thing." I replied, "Have a good day" I began to walk away as she started up the truck.

"Octavia," she called. I turned, "Be careful" She said.

"Of course" I replied.

I arrived home shortly after talking to Hail.

"Look who's here." Azure said from where she sat on the couch. The television was on.

"Is this all that you've been doing all day?" I asked, snickering.

"So what if it is?" She asked.

I went to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of soda out. I popped the cap off and sat down with her.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked.

"Nello went to the gym," She replied, "I don't know where Xeyrus is"

"Was Nello here earlier?" I asked.

"Yeah" She replied.

"Did you guys do anything?" I asked.

"Yeah, we watched TV" She replied.

"Anything else?" I asked jokingly.

"No," She replied, "you're such a creep Octavia. Seriously" She adjusted herself.

"Uncomfortable?" I asked.

"Yeah, we need a new couch." She replied, "This one's all squishy and weird"

"Those are the best kind" I said.

She didn't reply.

"What?" I asked, "I like couches like this. You just sink right into it"

"Please don't tell me that you're still talking in innuendo"

"No, of course not. I love couches like this." I said, "And how could a squishy couch be associated with innuendo?"

"You'd find a way." She said. "Anyways, I think I'll go outside for a bit" She stood and left.

"Bye" I said, watching her leave out the front door. When it had closed behind her I turned to the television started flipping through the channels. There was nothing interesting on so I turned it off and laid down on the couch. Slowly I drifted off to sleep.

So there you have it. I really chill chapter, just to tell you about Hail and Octavia's relationship. In case you're still unclear as to how Gazini and Octavia know each other then let me explain: In the first chapter it is stated that Gazini received a job to kill someone from Miss Strom. Octavia's last name is Strom. So yeah, that's it. Nothing crazy really.

Also, it has just occurred to me that the lines that I place in between paragraphs to divide them and show the passage of time aren't being put in. So if anything has been confusing in the past few chapter (probably not a big deal though) then I apologize. Although I doubt it's a huge problem, if the problem is even there, but I only just noticed it.

So in case you didn't read the intro, my spoiler-full review will be at the end of this chapter, so check that out if your interested and tell me why I'm wrong in a review (everyone tells me that, so I'm used to it)

Anyways, a really unproductive chapter for the most part. As usual, favorite, follow, review, tell your friends, tell your enemies, or don't if you don't want to, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!

I was super excited for RWBY volume 3. I've quite enjoyed the past two, and with the recent death of Monty Oum I figured that it could either be better or worse. Under a new director it could quite easily be improved upon, but it could also be quite easily ruined. Unfortunately, it really wasn't that great.

The plot is almost nonexistent. Sure, in the past two volumes there has been little hints at what the plot of the baddies really is, but there was enough progression (or at least feeling of progression) that it felt like we were still getting somewhere. In volume 3 there's almost no plot. It's all just the tournament. There is little to no development between each fight, so it really doesn't work out too well. Each episode is just fight after fight, maybe a bit of cheering in between. But that's it. Typically we'd get a little clip of the baddies hanging out and talking at the end of each episode, but it was always the exact same, and very rarely shed any light on what was going to happen. It'd just end with Cinder staring menacingly into the camera and saying "It's all going according to plan" or "The plan has been changed". In what way? No clue. It's never said, nor can we really figure it out because we have no clue what the plan could be. Now I like suspense; I think it's great to be left in the dark. And as a writer, I love leaving people in the dark. But I also love progressing a story and revealing major plot points and seeing people's reactions to said plot points. RWBY volume 3 doesn't have that. You get a picture of someone that the baddies are looking at and you know they'll be in the next episode, but that's about it.

The characters are, like I pretty much said above, not great either. Like I said, there's little to no development between each fight, so in terms of character development or growth, none of it really is noticeable if it ever happens. Occasionally we might get a conversation here and there, but they hardly suffice, considering how rare they are. It really ended up just feeling like it was trying to make the fandom freak out. All volume 3 really did was bombard you with new characters and do nothing with them. Generally they were built around clichés, so there was nothing special about them.

The fights were, to me, the driving force of the show. In volumes 1 and 2 there was enough character development and plot to keep me interested, but the fights were mesmerizing to watch, which is primarily why I stayed with it. In volume 3, they are the most average anime fights in the world. Summoning giant spells and unleashing huge attacks while making loads of scene cuts really doesn't make an engaging fight. Monty choreographed most of the fights in one shot and used plenty of melee combat instead of magic. It's just not really that engaging to watch someone throw a giant ball of ice at someone. It's way more interesting to see them exchanging sword blows back and forth, displaying quick and fancy footwork, and putting it all into one, fluent shot. It's really beautiful to watch. But now it's just lame. Lots of cuts, lots of big moves, and lots of close-ups so that the actual attack doesn't have to be animated, nor the impact it has on the opponent. Probably the best choreography during a fight was in the last episode when Ruby fought Neo and she twirled her scythe around. That looked pretty cool.

Now let's go into specifics. The new Grimm, specifically the dragon. I hated that thing. Why? Because it made the show feel more like a video game than a show. It was like the boss of a certain area is summoned and it's oozing Grimm. Seriously? Could this be any more like a boss battle? I get the feeling that the dragon exists simply for the sake of the RWBY video game that came out recently. Just so the boss would make sense. I understand how it got summoned, but it was just too much like a video game to suddenly throw him in there. The mountain breaks open, the grand introduction, and then it starts flying around. Then it's just like a video game, like Legend of Zelda or something where you have to work your way to the boss. Speaking of boss battles, at the end of the last episode when Cinder fought Pyrrha it felt way too much like Cinder was the final boss or something. The way she was constantly floating and rejecting every attack, like there was a specific puzzle that you had to solve to defeat her. The floating was my biggest issue with that fight though, that was just stupid.

I had one issue that isn't really a problem with the show itself, but was more of a personal issue. Monty made the show with the intention that all ages would be able to watch it. So why the heck is Qrow swearing? I know it's really minor stuff, but it's still there, and it's still a problem to me.

When Grimm die the animation was changed. Before the stubs of the severed body parts would be bright red and evaporate into red rose petals. Now they're black and evaporate into black smoke. I personally think it was way more artistic and cool-looking to do the rose petals, but that's just me. Either way, this is a continuity error. You can't just go off and change the show because you thought of something that you thought was cooler. You have to commit. Now I know that it's a small thing, but it was very noticeable to me and still definitely an issue in the show.

Also, when Roman dies. Now I typically don't complain about character deaths. I love killing off characters in my own stories, but it was just so stupid and poorly timed. We were finally getting some hint as to why the coolest bad guy is doing what he does, and then he dies. Just like that. It's as if that line was improvised and Kerry (the director) suddenly realized "Oh shoot, he's developing his character. Quick, get him out of here!" and then killed him. We finally had a reason to give a crap, and then he got eaten. The reason was good too. He did it because he was afraid, and then got eaten for it. Also, his method of death. Eaten by Grimm, really? In a different situation that would be used for comedy, not for a dramatic death sequence. Considering this show clearly isn't a comedy or anything like that it just felt out of place.

The death of Pyrrha was extremely predictable. The fandom has seen it coming, everyone has seen it coming. That doesn't make it a bad thing, but if they'd killed off a different major good guy then it would have made the show feel just a bit darker, as well as a little more unpredictable. Everyone was expecting Pyrrha to die and then all of a sudden Blake dies instead or something. It felt like they were just doing the audience a favor by killing her off, because now we can move on to anticipating someone else's death or just stop worrying about it altogether.

The story of the Four Maidens really rubbed me the wrong way. It's not that the story itself is bad, but it was just suddenly introduced and then used as a key plot point. There was no hint at it or anything, it was just thrown it at you and made important. It was way too sudden to give the audience something that we knew nothing about and make it extremely important all of a sudden.

The animation this time around was smoother, but I was still bothered by a few things. Certain things overlapping each other, awkward movements, and especially some characters inability to lower their arms completely to their sides. They walk around with them quite a ways away from their sides, as if they're allergic to hips or something. From the very first volume this has been a problem, and unfortunately it hasn't been fixed yet.

One of the fights in the finale, specifically the one with the robots, was pretty lame. When the third robot showed up it just tripped out of nowhere and died. Seriously? How fragile are these robots? And how bad are they at running? Pretty bad apparently. Also, Velvet's weapon. What a disappointment. It's been being hyped for an entire volume at least, and it's just a rehash of every other weapon. It feels like the weapon designers (or whoever designed it) didn't know what to do and then said "You know what? Let's just reuse the weapons that everyone already loves. That way they can't say that they don't like it". Well guess what? I don't give credit to unoriginality. To be fair though, it looked like she was using some kind of staff at the end that I didn't recognize, so I assume that maybe that was supposed to be her original weapon or something. Or maybe it's her actual weapon and everything else is just extra? I don't know. Either way, it was immensely disappointing and very unoriginal.

So what was good about volume 3? Well, I liked how Emerald semblance was hinted at (and used) but never blatantly said. Her ability to alter someone's perception of what is happening, like when Yang punched Mercury. She was able to alter what people saw, making everyone see Yang punch Mercury for no reason despite the reason existing. It was quite well done for sure. Also, the whole scene at the end when Pyrrha decides to go up against Cinder was pretty good. Arkos (the shipping of Jaune and Pyrrha) became a thing, and then it ceased to be possible. While it's something that we've all seen before, in this particular scenario it was quite well worked in, and pretty dramatic too (in a good way). Also when Penny supposedly died was pretty cool. Again, good use of Emerald's semblance. I liked the idea of Ozpin and Cinder fighting at the end. Two masters duking it out is a great set-up. But when it's, once again, the most average anime fight in the world, it's really not that cool. This time around it copied Dragon Ball Z, which has some of the most boring fights I've ever seen before.

The last episode was pretty good, however. Despite all the negativity I expressed specifically about the finale I was quite impressed by it. Every other episode before can be easily summarized in a paragraph because it's all the same, but the specific, more important parts are towards the end when it actually changes. While there were a lot of problems I had about the last episode, it set itself up for a great and dark fourth volume, as well as providing us with the best (and only good) fight in the entire volume (Pyrrha and Cinder)(which still wasn't even that great). The ending captured the dark and hopeless feeling quite well, and Yang losing her arm was an unpredictable twist. While most would say that it's obvious that she'll get a bionic arm, I'm not so sure. If the series continues with its current tone, then I wouldn't be surprised if Yang was pretty much gone from the show altogether. Ruby's outburst of unknown power at the end rubbed me the wrong way a bit. It was the cherry on top of the cake, only in this case the cake is the very predictable finale formula. Yes, the last episode is extremely formulaic, but hey, I'd rather have formulaic than effortless, boring bullcrap.

Overall RWBY volume 3 was a total flop. The plot is poorly developed, the characters are poorly developed, the fights suck, and everything else just isn't good that either. But, like I said, I quite enjoyed the last episode. Was it enough to save the volume? No, not a chance. I still had plenty of problems with the last episode, but at least it wasn't the same boring old crap that we've been watching for the past 10 episodes. While the ending did set it up for a great fourth volume, I have my doubts that it'll be able to live up to that. Will I still watch volume 4? Absolutely. Will I buy volume 3 when I can? Only if volume 4 is good. If it is then that means that volume 3 was just the bad apple of the bunch, so hopefully it won't ruin the rest of the series too. In the end I would only recommend volume 3 if you enjoyed the last two volumes. While it's not horrible, it really isn't that good either.

Volume 1 rating: 8/10

Volume 2 rating: 8/10

Volume 3 rating: 4.5/10