Here's this week's chapter!
This viewing will focus on Inglourious Basterds - one of the films made by Quentin Tarantino. For those that don't know - it's a film about WW2. The part I will be showing is the first part of the film (since it's split into 5 chapters) - "Once Upon A Time in Nazi Occupied France".
It was a struggle to find the full scene on YouTube - but luckily, I had Amazon Prime. I watched that, plus Spider-Man: No Way Home (still the best film of MCU Phase 4), The Boys Season 1 (will watch the other seasons soon), and Invincible!
Now, on with the chapter!
I DO NOT OWN RWBY OR ANY OF THE SOURCES THAT I WILL HAVE THE CHARACTERS REACT TO. That being said, all of that is implied since it's fanfiction.
Once Upon A Time…(INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS)
"This next movie is a war film. I would say a historical war film, but it takes liberties with some parts of history." Chrono said to the audience, giving them information about the movie they are about to watch.
"I see. I assume this war film focuses on a past conflict not from Remnant, but from the prime universe then?" Oobleck deduced.
"Correct. It is a film about the Second World War," Chrono clarified.
"..."
"...t-the second world war?"
"What type of people would fight two world wars?"
"That's horrible!"
It was safe to say that most of the audience as a whole were appalled at the idea of not just one, but two worldwide conflicts.
"Why would they fight each other when the Grimm exist? It makes no sense!" Ruby pointed out.
"Well, there was the Great War, which was about Grimm in a way - Mantle wanted to stifle emotion to prevent Grimm attacks," Weiss answered.
"Yeah, but they only fought once! They never did it again!" Ruby answered back.
"Maybe the losing side of the first war wanted payback?" Jaune said.
"Perhaps there is a lack of Grimm in that world," Ozpin stated, "after all, that skit we watched a bit back did seem to insinuate that concepts such as aura were kind of…out there. So it wouldn't be too farfetched to assume the same thing for the Grimm."
"Hmmm…that would make sense…" Ironwood agreed.
"But shouldn't there be peace then?" Ruby pointed out.
Qrow let out a sigh, "unfortunately, the world doesn't always work that way, kiddo. I wouldn't be surprised if the lack of an entity like Grimm meant that countries ended up fighting against each other. Right, Chrono?"
"Indeed. However, this viewing will not focus on the battlefields of the conflict itself, but on a more…unsavory part of the war."
"Unsavory how?"
"You'll see. Before I play it however, I should clarify, this viewing actually shows two of you guys, this time!"
"Didn't we see two people just a few viewings ago?" Sun asked.
"The skit doesn't count, only Ren really appeared," Jaune grumbled, not liking that he was portrayed by another actor in that skit.
"Precisely. I should note that whilst this viewing mostly focuses on the first one of the two to appear, the viewing is very slow at first - so there is not much action. However, once the second person appears - things will ramp up. Just stating this so I hear no 'this is boring' rants from some of you". Chrono added.
The audience nodded at the information.
"Alright, let's begin."
The screen sprang to life.
A faraway shot showed a small farmhouse amid some plains. Next to it was a farmer chopping up wood on a stump, with a woman putting up some laundry a bit further away from him.
As the man was hard at work, hacking away at the tree stump with his ax, the woman heard some rumbling in the distance, and looked from behind the white blanket she just put up on the clothesline. She noticed a car and a few motorcycles in the distance. Ominous but non-diegetic music proceeded to begin to play. [1]
"What a quaint little place," Ozpin mused. It saddened him that not many homesteads like that were in Remnant, due to the Grimm.
"I wonder who the people in those vehicles are?" Pyrrha asked.
"Perhaps they're bad guys! Especially with the evil music!" Nora guessed.
"Nora, classical music isn't evil." Ren told his partner.
"Well, it sounds ominous!"
Immediately alarmed, the woman turned around and got the attention of the farmer. "Papa!" she called out.
Right in the midst of another swing, the man stopped and looked at his daughter, and then also took note of the approaching vehicles. Putting the ax away but swinging it firmly on the wood so it stayed attached, he then looked behind him and noticed two more of his daughters coming out.
He pointed at them and spoke in French [2]. "Go back inside and shut the door."
Oobleck looked positively thrilled. "Another language! How thrilling!"
"That language is French, spoken by the people of France," Chrono informed the audience.
"How interesting…especially since we only speak the language of Basic," Oobleck muttered to himself. [3]
"I'm just glad there's always subtitles, so we can still understand," Weiss stated.
After hearing him, both of them went inside again. The father then asked his last daughter for help, as he proceeded to sit down on the stump. "Julie, get me some water for my wash up…then get inside with your sisters."
Julie went away from the clothesline and ran towards the tap at the other side of the house, and proceeded to put water into a bowl. As she was doing that, her father proceeded to wipe his face of sweat in trepidation, whilst looking at the approaching vehicles.
The task done, Julie ran towards the house, and put the bowl just outside one of the windowsills. "Ready, Papa." she said, to get her attention.
His face now clean, the father put away his cloth, took one last worried look at the vehicles, and then got up and went towards the bowl. "Thank you, my darling…now, you go inside with your sisters."
Julie complied and almost ran back, but her father told her: "Don't run." She proceeded to slow down to a slow walk. The music ended.
"I get it. You have to look like you're not scared," Yang noted.
"Doubt it will do much though. They only appear to be civvies." Qrow added on.
"Maybe the dad's a secret butt-kicker!" Ruby said.
"Butt-kicker?" Mercury scoffed. "You can just say badass like a normal person."
Ruby blushed. "I'd…rather not…"
Now at the windowsill, the father took a deep breath and then proceeded to wash himself. He grabbed the water with his hands and used it to scrub himself as clean as he could be.
"What? They don't have showers there?" Roman said, with an eyebrow raised.
"Well, the house does look very small, so perhaps not. Plus, it's a historical film." Neptune noted.
"Man, I don't even care! I was just making a joke!" Roman exclaimed to the blue-haired Huntsman.
Whilst he was doing that, the vehicles stopped, and it became clear to the audience what they were. The vehicles were military.
The drivers of the motorcycles were up, and holding guns - while looking back at the car. Meanwhile, the driver was up and saluting the man at the back, and speaking to him in German. The man, his superior, was getting up from his seat and holding a suitcase. The superior gave thanks to his driver.
As he approached the house, the superior spoke out to the farmer. "Is this the property of Perrier LaPadite?" he asked.
The farmer nodded and spoke back, "I am Perrier LaPadite."
The military officer held out his hand to Mr LaPadite. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Monsieur LaPadite…I am Colonel Hans Landa of the SS," the now-named Hans Landa said with a genial smile.
"Wow. Even in another universe, you're still a military man," Ozpin noted. The man who was portraying Hans Landa was none other than the Headmaster of Atlas.
"Indeed…" he knew it was possible, but his widened eyes made it visible that Ironwood was shocked at him being in a viewing.
"Gotta say Jimmy, it seems weird that you're a colonel and not a general," Qrow added.
"A Colonel meeting with a farmer? How odd," Ironwood also noted. He couldn't think of any reason for a Colonel to visit such a person. Of course, he did think to himself that the SS may not follow the same rules as the Atlesian Military.
"Not particularly fond of the uniform…" Winter said. Something about it just seemed off-putting to her. Especially with her boss technically wearing it.
LaPadite accepted the handshake, and immediately got to business. "What can I do for you?"
"I was hoping you could invite me inside your home and we may have a discussion."
"Certainly. After you." The farmer said, and gestured towards his home.
"Well the Colonel seems nice so far," Penny said.
"Maybe they were just being worried for no reason?" Blake pointed out. Or maybe guilty of something? She mused.
Both men entered the house, and Landa was introduced to LaPadite's family. "Colonel Landa, this is my family."
There were three women. The one in the middle was Julie - who was wearing an apron. The one to Julie's left was Suzanne, and she was wearing a brown jacket. The one to Julie's right was Charlotte, and she looked different from the others - having blonde hair and blue eyes.
Landa took a glance at the others, and made his way up to Charlotte. "Colonel Hans Landa of the SS - Mademoiselle - at your service." he said, as he took her hand and gave it a kiss. The girl looked scared.
"Well that was kinda rude…" Nora said. "She just skipped the other two!"
"And I think he's creeping her out! Who kisses a person's hand like that?" Emerald exclaimed.
"That's actually normal in some areas of the world…" Pyrrha noted. "But she does seem scared. Maybe it's because of the same reason the rest of the family were terrified?"
Still holding her hand, Landa continued. "The rumors I have heard about your family are all true." The girl looked tense.
"I guess there's bad rumors about them." Ren stated.
Landa took a step back whilst continuing to speak. "Mr LaPadite…each one of your daughters is more lovely than the last," he 'complimented'. [4]
"Thank you." the farmer simply replied. "Please," he then gestured to his table, "have a seat."
"...or not. Still rude, however. You were right, Nora."
"Of course I was!"
Landa nodded in thanks, and proceeded to put his hat on the table and sit down. As that was happening, Mr LaPadite told Suzanne to get the colonel some wine.
However, Landa objected. "Thank you very much, Mr LaPadite, but no wine. This being a dairy farm, one would be safe in assuming you have milk?" he asked Suzanne.
"Yes."
"Then milk is what I prefer."
"Very well."
"Okay, he just seems a bit too nice now," Qrow stated.
Ironwood frowned. "It's always good to keep citizens calm."
"Ignore him, James. He's probably just annoyed that you didn't decide to have wine," Glynda snarked.
"Hey!"
As Suzanne went to get milk, Mr LaPadite asked Julie to close the window. Julie proceeded to go to the window showing the soldiers, and closed it.
Colonel Landa then got his glass of milk, resulting in a smile from him. "Thank you." He then promptly finished the entire glass, and told the farmer - "Monsieur, to both your family and your cows", he gestured to Julie and the glass respectively before putting it down, "I say, 'Bravo!'", whilst making an 'okay' gesture with his hand.
"Thank you."
"His compliments could use some work," Sun said.
"I know, right? That is so not how you compliment a beautiful lady!" Neptune agreed. "Comparing them to cows? Preposterous."
Landa then said to the farmer whilst gesturing once again, "Please, join me at your table."
"Very well." LaPadite replied, before walking to the table and taking a seat.
The SS Colonel went forward to LaPadite. "Monsieur LaPadite, what we have to discuss would be better discussed in private. You'll notice I left my men outdoors. If it wouldn't offend them, could you ask your lovely ladies to step outside?"
"You are right," the farmer agreed, "Charlotte, would you take the girls outside? The Colonel and I need to have a few words."
All the daughters followed their father, and got out of the house, with Charlotte closing the door.
"I guess he's going to show his real self now!" Nora declared. "Now that there's no one else for him to be super nice too!"
Afterwards, Landa began to remove his gloves, whilst beginning a private conversation with LaPadite. "Monsieur LaPadite, I regret to inform you that I've exhausted the extent of my French."
"To continue to speak it so inadequately would only serve to embarrass me." Landa continued, saying the sentence in perfect French. [5]
"I can't speak on behalf of the French people, but it sounds like he nailed it," Mercury said. "Just saying."
Many nodded in agreement.
"However, I've been led to believe that you speak English quite well."
"Yes." The farmer said, confirming what the Colonel thought.
"Well, it just so happens, I do as well. This being your house…" the Colonel said, "I ask your permission to switch to English for the remainder of the conversation."
"By all means." Mr LaPadite said, giving his permission.
Landa took immediate advantage. "Well, I'm very familiar with you and your family, but I've no way of knowing if you're familiar with who I am. Are you aware of my existence?" The Colonel asked.
"Yes."
"He switched so easily!" Ruby said, shocked. "And English is our language? Basic?!"
"Since I can speak Basic, I guess it makes sense that he can speak English if the languages are truly the same." Ironwood uttered.
"It seems logical that Basic would have another name if other languages are spoken in that world," Oobleck noted. "What land does the English language originate from, Chrono?"
"England."
"That seems appropriate."
"This is good," Landa said, "Now, are you aware of the job I've been ordered to carry out in France?"
"...Yes."
"Please tell me what you've heard," Landa gestured.
"I've heard…that the Fuhrer's put you in charge of rounding up the Jews left in France, who are either hiding or passing for gentile?"
"Rounding up the Jews?"
"Hiding?"
"What's a Jew?"
"What does Gentile mean?"
"What's a Fuhrer?"
Murmurs and questions were heard throughout the audience. Chrono answered them all.
"The Jews are a group of people and a cultural community whose traditional religion is Judaism, and who trace their origins through the ancient Hebrew people, who came from the land of Israel. They are being rounded up on orders of the Fuhrer (leader) - who the SS answered to. Revealing any more of the reason will result in spoilers, but you can infer later in the viewing. Because of them being rounded up, many chose to hide to avoid getting arrested, and Gentile refers to any person who is not Jewish."
"So it's followers of a religion…" Oobleck noted.
"And people from that Israel place." Qrow added, simplifying what the host said.
"So they're targeted for who they are…" Adam said darkly.
"And they're either hiding or pretending not to be Jewish to avoid being captured…" Blake said morosely, as she remembered the cat ears that she had been hiding.
Regardless, now having their answers, the audience began to pay attention to the viewing again.
Landa gave the table a light smack. "The Fuhrer couldn't have said it better himself."
Getting his suitcase, proceed to bring stuff out of it, whilst LaPadite then asked the Colonel his own question. "But, uh…the meaning of your visit, pleasant though it is…is, um, mysterious to me. The Germans looked through my house 9 months ago for hiding Jews, and found nothing."
As Landa finished getting the things out of his suitcase, which included some files, and some ink, he nodded and replied. "Yeah. I'm aware of that. I've read the reports of this area."
"But like any enterprise, when under new management, there's always a slight duplication of efforts. Most of it being a complete waste of time", Landa flashed a genial smile to LaPadite to put him at ease, "But it needs to be done nevertheless."
"While my character does seem shady, he does make a good point." Ironwood noted.
"That's right. Students! If you ever take over a mission regarding grimm, from another team which covered an area - it does not hurt to circle back to place they've already covered." Glynda told all the hunters in training.
"Yep."
"Got it, Teach."
"Yes ma'am!"
As Landa got a pen out from his jacket and filled it with ink, he added on, "I just have a few questions, Monsieur LaPadite. If you can assist me with the answers, my department can close the file on your family.
The farmer had crossed his arms, showing signs of slight distress, regardless.
"Way to not act cool!" Nora said.
"Nora…remember, he's just a civilian!" Jaune said.
"I know, I know…"
Opening his file, Landa began to ask questions. "Now, um, before the occupation, there were four Jewish families in this area, all dairy farmers like yourself. Doleracs, Rollins, the Loveitts…and the Dreyfuses. Is that correct?"
LaPadite nodded. "To my knowledge, those were the Jewish families among the dairy farmers." After answering the question, the farmer then asked - "Herr Colonel, would it disturb you if I smoke my pipe?"
The Colonel gave a chuckle and gestured towards the farmer, "Oh please, Monsieur LaPadite, this is your house, make yourself comfortable!"
"What a power statement." Neptune noted.
"What do you mean?" Sun asked.
"Even though it's his home, the Colonel is giving HIM permission to be comfortable. A good subtle choice of dialogue, in my opinion, to convey the power he holds," Neptune said.
He was getting looks.
"I thought we established that I'm an intellectual!"
As the farmer got up to get his pipe, Landa asked another question as he perused through the files he brought. "Now according to these papers, all the Jewish families in this area have been accounted for except," Landa turned a page, "the Dreyfuses."
As LaPadite sat back down with his pipe, Landa continued. "Somewhere in the last year it would appear they've vanished. Which leads me to the conclusion that they've either made good their escape, or someone is very successfully hiding them. What have you heard about the Dreyfuses, Monsieur LaPadite?"
"He makes it sound like LaPadite is hiding them," Ozpin noted.
"Well they do seem kind of suspicious, with them looking uneasy." Glynda noted.
"I think anyone would be uneasy if Jimmy wanted to look around your house," Qrow chuckled.
"Only rumors."
"I love rumors!" The SS Colonel exclaimed. "Facts could be so misleading, where rumors, true or false, are often revealing. So, Monsieur LaPadite, what rumors have you heard regarding the Dreyfuses?"
"That's great advice as well." Qrow noted. "Alright kiddos, just like what the Witch said about looking back at things, rumors are a good way to find out the true story! Got that?"
Qrow was satisfied with the nods he got, and he smirked when he saw Glynda's glare targeting him.
"Do not call me a Witch."
"But you're a Good Witch!"
"Good one, Uncle Qrow!"
"Thanks Yang!"
"Oh come on! When I said that, you said it was lame."
"Yeah, but I said it this time as the cool Uncle, not lame dad, Tai."
"Tch. Whatever…"
As he proceeded to light his pipe, the farmer cleared his throat and responded. "Again, this is just a rumor, but, uh, we heard the Dreyfuses had made their way into Spain." Having said his answer, LaPadite lit his pipe.
"So the rumors you've heard have been of escape?"
"Oui. Er, Yes." The farmer responded first in French, and then English.
"Having never met the Dreyfuses, would you confirm for me the exact members of the household and their names?"
As LaPadite prepared to answer, Landa perused the files further to find the right page to take down the farmer's answers. "There were five of them. The father, Jacob." Landa looked at the page, nodded, and ticked the name off. "Wife, Miriam." Another nod and tick. "And her brother…Bob." Landa looked at the page and struggled for a short bit to find the name, before seeing it. Another nod and tick.
"I guess Bob was hard to find on the page," Yang chuckled.
"How old is Bob?" The Colonel asked.
LaPadite took a second to answer, as he was thinking. "30-31." Landa took note. He gestured for LaPadite to go on - "Continue."
"And the Children…um, Amos, and Shosanna." Another two ticks.
"Ages of the Children?"
LaPadite sighed, trying to think of their ages. Landa gestured with his pen, as if to say 'Well? Do you know?' The farmer then answered. "Well, uh, Amos was, uh, 9 or 10." Landa took note.
"That's not right…" Ironwood said. "Going after kids?"
Adam bit back a snarl. Now he cares when they're humans? What about the Faunus children who suffered under his hand?
"And Shosanna?"
"And Shosanna was…uh…18 or 19. I'm not really sure." Landa took note of the final member's age. As he did, the camera panned down to below the table, and eventually, below the floorboards. Underneath the floorboards, was a young girl and other people. That was Shosanna, and the other Dreyfuses. Shosanna had covered her mouth, presumably to prevent herself from being heard.
"Oh shit…" Qrow said. The entire theater pretty much felt the same way.
"Well this just got interesting," Cinder noted.
"...Blake's one of the Dreyfuses in hiding?!" Ruby exclaimed. Shosanna was being portrayed by Blake. She looked weird since Blake has amber eyes and black hair, not blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Oh my God…it is her! But her hair's different! Her eyes too!" Yang noted.
Blake and many of the faunus were most shocked. I should've guessed…Blake thought. I can see the parallels in this viewing with how Faunus were historically targeted. And Ironwood being the Colonel just lays it on thick.
Adam was clenching the seats of his chair. He knew that she left him, but seeing her in that position, especially with that Gene-, Colonel looking for her…He better not put a hand on her! He thought. Some part of him still considered Blake Belladonna to be his darling.
Kali let out a gasp in shock, and Ghira squeezed her shoulder to comfort her. The image of Blake being forced to hide her heritage in that manner reminded them too much of the past. Before the revolution.
"Well, I guess that should do it." Landa concluded.
The view still showing Shosanna, only the zipping of Landa's suitcase was heard.
"However, before I go, could I have another glass of your delicious milk?"
Mercury let out a false sigh. "Phew. They might've just gotten away scot-free!"
"Are you serious? They just showed her! Clearly she's not going to be fine!"
"Yeah! You might've jinxed it!"
"Yeah! Bastard!"
The assassin rolled his eyes at the Beacon students. "I was clearly just joking."
"Well find better jokes, ya moron!"
Going back up to the house, the eyes of the other Dreyfuses could be seen peering up from the floorboards.
"But of course."
"Probably not the best idea," Oobleck stated. "If Landa looks down, he can see their eyes."
As LaPadite went up to get the milk, Landa spoke up again to ask a question. "Monsieur LaPadite, are you aware of the nickname the people of France have given me?"
As the farmer began to pour the glass, he gave out a sigh and answered. "I have no interest in such things."
"But you ARE aware of what they call me."
"...I'm aware."
"What are you aware of?" Landa asked, as LaPadite sat back down.
Before answering, the farmer grabbed hold of his pipe and slid the glass to Landa, who promptly gave thanks in French ("Merci.").
"That they call you 'The Jew Hunter'".
"Well that sounds horrifying," Weiss stated.
"I don't think hunting down a group of people like that should result in a title…" Jaune pointed out.
"Maybe others gave it to him," Pyrrha added on.
"Precisely." Landa said, with a smile on his face. He leaned against his seat, and added on, "I understand your trepidation in repeating it. Heydrich apparently hates the moniker the good people of Prague have bestowed on him." Landa chuckled, "actually, why he would hate the name 'The Hangman' is baffling to me. It would appear he has done everything in his power to earn it. Now I, on the other hand, love my unofficial title, precisely because I've earned it."
Ironwood growled and got up. "How can you be proud of something like that?"
"James. You have to relax! It's technically not you!" Ozpin tried to calm his friend.
Ironwood realized, and promptly sat down. "Yo-you're right. Sorry. What was said just reminded me of the more…zealous soldiers who I fought with back in the day." Like Lagune…that man loved to hunt down Faunus…and it cost him his life. The fool.
Continuing on, Landa stated - "The feature that makes me such an effective hunter of the Jews is, as opposed to most German soldiers, I can think like a Jew where they can only think like a German," He chuckled again, "more precisely, a German soldier," before taking a gulp of milk.
The scene cuts swiftly to Shosanna once again, still in her position, before showing LaPadite, still smoking his pipe.
And he's disrespectful to his own troops as well. Ironwood thought darkly. He did not enjoy the fact that his face was saying those types of things.
"He's nothing at all like you," Qrow noted.
"Now, if one were to determine what attribute the German people share with a beast, it would be the cunning and the predatory instinct of a hawk. But if one were to determine what attributes the Jews share with a beast, it would be that of a rat." Landa added on, "The Fuhrer's and Goebbels' propaganda have pretty much said the same thing. But where our conclusions differ, is I don't consider the comparison an insult."
"Interesting…," Ozpin said, with an eyebrow raised.
"Usually, an officer would not be saying those types of things to the people they're interrogating," Glynda noted.
"Agreed, but that's not what I meant. Let's see what he means."
The SS Colonel gave his explanation. "Consider, for a moment, the world a rat lives in. It's a hostile world, indeed. If a rat were to scamper through your front door right now, would you greet it with hostility?" The Colonel said whilst gesturing towards the front door of the LaPadite farmhouse.
"I suppose I would." The farmer conceded.
"Hmmm. I think I see where this is going," Ozpin said.
"Has a rat ever done anything to you to create this animosity you feel towards them?" Landa asked.
"Rats spread diseases. They bite people." The farmer answered.
"Rats were the cause of the bubonic plague, but that's some time ago. I propose to you, any disease a rat could spread, a squirrel could equally carry. Would you agree?"
"Oui." LaPadite agreed in French.
"Yet I assume you don't share the same animosity with squirrels that you do with rats, do you?"
"No."
"But they're both rodents, are they not? And except for the tail, they even rather look alike, don't they?"
"It's an interesting thought, Herr Colonel." LaPadite admitted.
"That's a great analogy. Perhaps I should use that in my classes regarding the faunus!" Oobleck noted. It could certainly help people like Mr Winchester be more open-minded. Especially with his past…
"What a load of crap," Roman said with a scoff. "In that case, it's a false equivalency. Faunus aren't actually animals."
"But you like to call them animals, don't you, Torchwick?" Ruby pointed out with a glare.
"Just to get on their nerves, Red!"
Meanwhile, both Adam and Cardin were looking at the screen with wide eyes. Little they did know, they were having similar thoughts, but on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Adam put his left hand over his scarred eye. Yes, the SDC had scarred him, but it was a while ago. And the SDC doesn't represent all of Humanity.
Cardin thought back to the White Fang attacking his family. Yes, it had scarred him, but that was in the past. And the White Fang don't represent all of Faunuskind.
Can I let go of my hate? Should I? Adam thought...No. This isn't some disease that can be cured. I can't ever forgive them. And besides, it's like what-
-That eyeliner wearing crook said. What's the population at-large doing? Nothing. They might as well be complicit…Cardin thought.
"Ha!" The Colonel exclaimed, before pointing to the table, "However interesting as the thought may be, it makes not one bit of difference to how you feel," Landa gestured to the door again, "If a rat were to walk in here right now, as I'm talking, would you greet it with a saucer of your delicious milk?" The Colonel said that whilst sliding the glass of milk towards the farmer.
"Probably not."
"I didn't think so. You don't like them. You don't really know why you don't like them; all you know is you find them repulsive." Landa had made his point.
"And I guess those Germans thought the same thing regarding the Jews," Ozpin said whilst shaking his head. "Despicable."
However, he wasn't done. "Consequently, a German soldier conducts a search of a house suspected of hiding Jews. Where does the hawk look? He looks in the barn, he looks in the attic, he looks in the cellar, he looks everywhere he would hide. But there's so many places it would never occur to a hawk to hide. However, the reason the Führer has brought me off my Alps in Austria and placed me in French cow country today is because it does occur to me. Because I'm aware what tremendous feats human beings are capable of once they abandon dignity."
"Oh no…" Ruby said, quietly.
"You don't think-"
"He knows? Probably." Qrow finished the statement for Yang, and answered him.
"Dangit! I don't want him to find Blake!"
"Me neither, kiddo."
There was a pause.
"May I smoke my pipe as well?" Landa asked the farmer.
"Please, Herr Colonel, make yourself at home."
Landa brought out his pipe, which was much bigger and more ornate than LaPadite's. The Colonel then took some of the farmer's matches, and used it to light his pipe.
"Of course that jerk has a bigger pipe," Jaune grumbled.
"Maybe he's compensating for something?" Nora joked.
"Or he's trying to show his superiority…" Ren thought and voiced out, reading into Landa's actions.
"Now, my job dictates that I must have my men enter your home and conduct a thorough search before I can officially cross your family's name off my list. And if there are any irregularities to be found, rest assured they will be. That is unless you have something to tell me that makes the conducting of a search unnecessary. I might add, also, that any information that makes the performance of my duty easier will not be met with punishment. Actually, quite the contrary. It will be met with reward."
The Colonel then told LaPadite said reward. "And that reward will be, your family will cease to be harassed in any way by the German military during the rest of our occupation of your country. The farmer looked stricken.
Blake's eyes widened. "He's going to sell out the family." She said it as if it was a fact, like it was definitely going to happen.
"Tch. I can't even blame him. His family was being harassed - of course he'd want it to stop," Weiss grumbled.
"Damn! This sucks!" Sun stated.
As LaPadite seemed to lose composure, the face of the Colonel went from a genial smile, to a cold stern gaze. "You're sheltering enemies of the state, are you not?"
The farmer looked like he was about to cry. "Yes."
"You're sheltering them underneath your floorboards, aren't you?"
"Yes." The farmer said, with hints of emotion behind it.
"Yeesh." Jaune said. The Colonel switching from his false happy facade to a cold look gave his chills.
"You could see his face change in real-time," Neptune pointed out.
"Point out to me the areas where they're hiding."
LaPadite closed his eyes, as a few tears escaped his eyes, as he pointed out the area where the Dreyfuses were hiding. It was the area right beside the table.
Landa got up from his seat, went to the area pointed out, and pointed with his pipe, the location of the Dreyfuses for clarification. LaPadite nodded.
"Since I haven't heard any disturbance, I assume, while they're listening, they don't speak English."
"Yes." The farmer said whilst trembling.
"Oh no…" Kali said. Ghira gripped her tighter.
Landa put away his pipe. "I'm going to switch back to French now, and I want you to follow my masquerade. Is that clear?"
The farmer glared at the Colonel. "Yes."
"Oh, so now he gets mad…" Mercury said. "Too late now!"
"Hey! There's not much he can do! But he can still be mad at something so obviously terrible!" Ruby defended the farmer.
Switching back, the Colonel once again adopted a false tone of geniality. "Monsieur LaPadite!" He got his hat, his gloves, the suitcase, and some of LaPadite's matches. "I thank you for the milk, and your hospitality. I do believe our business here is done."
As the masquerade was occurring, non-diegetic, suspenseful music began to play.
As Landa opened the door, the view only showed his boots, as he looked out and greeted the daughters of LaPadite.
"Ah, ladies!" The Colonel greeted, as he made away for the daughters. However, the daughters did not step into the house, rather - it was the soldiers under Landa's command.
"Wait a second…"
"No way…"
"They wouldn't-!"
"Are you serious?!"
The members of the audience seemed to understand what the soldiers were going to do when they started to enter the house with their guns.
"I thank you for your time." Landa said, as he gestured for the soldiers to come in, and pointed to the area where the family was. "We shan't be bothering your family any longer." As the soldiers went to the area, the farmer began to lose his composure once again. "So, Monsieur, Mademoiselle. I bid farewell to you and say, adieu!"
As he said the final word, it appeared that it was a signal from Landa. The music swelled to a crescendo, as the soldiers began to shoot down at the floorboards.
Many of the hunters in training felt sick.
"There was a kid in there…" Ruby said weakly.
"I know we saw worse in that airport viewing…but this still sucks," Sun added.
"What type of soldiers would do that?" Penny asked. She was angry, but mostly confused and saddened.
"Terrible ones."
"No. They're good soldiers regardless. But terrible people." Blake corrected Weiss.
Weiss felt slightly offended at that, it seemed targeted at Atlesian soldiers. But she let it go - she knew her teammate's past.
As the music clashed with the loud gunshots, LaPadite took cover behind his table and covered his ears, as bits of wood flew everywhere.
When the shooting subsided, Landa told his subordinates to remain quiet, shushing them, as he wanted to hear if there were any survivors. As he walked towards the end of the house, he looked down at the floorboards and saw movement. A person was leaving the house. He pointed out and said "it's the girl."
Ghira swore loudly.
"At least she survived…" Kali pointed.
"But now they've discovered her!"
"Cmon…escape, escape, escape…" Ilia muttered quietly to herself.
Shosanna nudged aside a cover in the house, and crawled out of the cellar of the LaPadite household. She was seen running towards the plains from the front door of the house - in a straight line.
Landa stepped out of the door, putting down his suitcase. As he looked at the girl, he brought out his pistol, and squinted as he aimed at the last surviving Dreyfus.
Kali, Sun, Ghira, and Ilia all covered their eyes. They did not want to see Shosanna get shot. Even Adam held his breath.
On the contrary, Blake couldn't look away. Her eyes were wide open
Meanwhile, Shosanna was openly sobbing as she was covered in the blood of her family.
A few tears welled up in the eyes of Blake's parents upon hearing her cries. Hearing it wrenched their hearts.
The Colonel exclaimed and said "oopsie!" as stopped aiming the pistol suddenly, with the music abruptly stopping as well.
As Shosanna proceeded to escape, Hans Landa bid his farewell to the young girl. "Au Revoir, Shosanna!" He said, with a grin on his face.
Shosanna running away from the household was seen, until the screen turned to black.
"So. How was it?" Chrono asked.
Uncovering her eyes, Kali answered. "You already know the answer." She growled. "You think I enjoyed seeing my daughter have her family get killed in front of her, being targeted, and crying?!"
"I did!" Tyrian said.
"Shut up!" Many in the audience said in response, mostly faunus and hunters-in-training, along with Kali.
"Noted. Perhaps I should quit asking and just let you all speak for yourselves then."
"With that in mind…I do find the analogy with rats interesting. It really can apply to our world." Ozpin noted.
"Yeah..I get that," Qrow added. "Too many people dislike one another without truly knowing."
"They don't know any better…" Ruby said sadly.
"And you can't just punch it out of them…" Yang pointed out.
Blake started to look at Adam and wondered if it could change him. Probably not. He's too far gone.
Unbeknownst to her, Adam had just tried to justify his hatred earlier. It didn't seem to work.
Seeing the grimace on his face, Blake started to hope that perhaps he could find the light. But she promptly stopped. I can't think like that…he could be thinking of something else. I can't allow myself to have that type of hope!
Trying to distract herself, she got up and went to hug her mom and dad, and tell them that she's fine here - she would be fine, as long as Team RWBY were all with her.
Meanwhile, Team CRDL was having a talk. "You know, you can talk to us if you want, bro…" Dove stated to their leader.
"I know that," Cardin growled. "But I'm fine!"
"You don't seem fine. You seem angry."
"I'm not angry! I'm going to be angry if you keep saying I'm angry though!"
"Why are you being like this? Just talk to us!"
"No!"
"Tch. You think that's gonna be enough?" Dove said.
"What do you mean?" Cardin asked, confused.
"What Dove means," Sky intervened in their argument, "Is that your shouting isn't going to stop us. When you want to talk, and you WILL, we'll be here."
Cardin was shocked.
"Alright! It's time for the show to go on!" Chrono said.
And that's it for Inglourious Basterds! I thought that the ideas in the scene - especially with Landa pointing out the discrimination and terrible things in the war, would resonate with the Human and Faunus conflict in RWBY. I just hope I was able to cover the aspect of the Holocaust in a tasteful way. While I was originally going to choose Watts to be Landa, I ended up choosing Ironwood. This was because I thought it'd be an interesting twist for Ironwood to be a person in authority - but be evil (since Landa is a Nazi of course). I hope Ironwood seeing his likeness commit atrocities like that would make for an interesting reaction. As for Shosanna, I chose Blake - so that she could represent the side that is persecuted - the Faunus in Remnant, and the Jews during the War. Both sides are similar in a way, with them being disliked by Atlas/the Nazis. I always thought the way the White Fang were portrayed made them too much like one-note villains, especially for a topic like racism, which has so much more nuance to it.
That being said, I felt that the reactions were a bit below standard. Mostly because, I didn't feel like writing too much. Of course, I still reach 7000 words so maybe I'm just overthinking it.
[1] - I can't remember the name of the classical piece in the scene. I've heard of it, but I can't remember. I thought it 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' but I was wrong.
[2] - Subtitles appear of course - for the audience. I doubt any of them understand French, since they're not spoken at all in the series! Jaune having a French name doesn't count!
[3] - Obviously the main language of Remnant can't be called English since England is not a real place in the series. I also didn't want to call it Valean or Mistralian, or something like that. So I settled for Basic - like in Star Wars!
[4] - Kind of a backhanded compliment to the other two daughters - if we think about it.
[5] - Christoph Waltz is fluent in French. I like to think that Landa is too, he just said that ironically.
AND NOW TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS/SUGGESTIONS FROM REVIEWS:
Greer123: You could very well say that! I always thought that one of the best parts of RWBY - one of the best implied parts of RWBY, was the team and Ruby herself, having to learn that the world isn't a fairytale.
Molag Vile: I was hoping for that exact type of stuff! Calling it "introspections" is good, since I want the characters to think about themselves based on what they watch. Of course, not each viewing is going to be serious like that, some will just be fun - like Beacon Beauty Standards.
KlabOriz: I didn't think that any character from RWBY could fit her looks, to be honest. That's something I also want in my chapters - for the RWBY character being focused on in the viewings to look similar to the character (or at least have several similarities to them in terms of character, voice acting etc). That's why I was fine with Jaune as Link (both are blonde, both are 'heroes' technically, and both are swordsmen).
A Guest: Since I just started watching The Boys, and other shows on Amazon, I think it'd be an interesting show to focus on as well. I don't think Neptune would be a good choice for Butcher though, in my opinion. I'd probably say Qrow or Ironwood (unless I'm forgetting someone…maybe Ghira?). Maybe I might do Invincible also!
REGARDING ARC CORP AND WHAT IF - THE DOCTOR STRANGE EPISODE (since several reviews mentioned both - and I covered both in a previous chapter in the review section):
Doing Dr Strange, but with Ozma instead of Ozpin could be very interesting! I like that idea! And whilst I would usually have the RWBY character being focused on in the viewing look similar to the character they're portraying - I think I can make an exception for Ozma being Dr Strange because 1. Ozpin and Salem seeing Ozma would be a great reaction, and 2. What If? focuses on multiverse stuff anyways - so Ozma-Strange could just be a variant that looked different. Salem as Christine would make the episode better too. As for ARC Corp, I like the idea for it - and I may do it in the future, either that fic, or another one of Coeur's. His page kinda implies that reactions are fine, so long as he's credited, that's why. That, and his work being great IMO.
See you guys next time!
NEXT CHAPTER: Operation Strix (SPY X FAMILY)