#dwk 5

a maybe too in depth “analysis” of the movie i was obsessed with as a child

observations, hcs, thoughs; vanessa x maxi cause i can

disclaimer: uhm so this whole post (except for a few edits and additions) is from last year (summer 2025). I rewatched dwk 5 for the first time in about a decade, so don't be too harsh on me ^^" i watched the first part before it, but i haven't touched dwk 2-4 since i was a child (i intend to change that). So I wasn't aware that maxi's feelings for vanessa are actually canon and i figure that out like halfway through this post xD it is quite entertaining, reading this back a year later. I have nothing agaisnt leonessa, but i am quite fond of maxinessa, so you will find quite a few comments about that in here (don't like don't read applies here as well). I have some other drafts about this movie and some ideas for maxinessa fics/oneshots, but also maxi x reader stuff I tried to divide my thoughts into kinda understandable paragraphs but it's still very chaotic (durcheinander), please forgive me jumping from here to there with my thoughts Okay I think that's enough rambling, let's get to it. Enjoy!

maybe it is the general absence of leon in this movie, but am i the only one that thinks vanessa and leon have a really weird relationship? like they have weird dialogue and no chemistry. he also pisses me off with what he did in the beginning when they were doing the "volleypässe" (?) in the woods together, kicking the ball where she couldn't reach, scaring her, just behaving like an asshole generally.

maxi and vanessa

maxi definitely has some kind of feelings for vanessa (cause i say so) evidence (don't take this too seriously please): he checks up on her, everyone looks expectantly at him when they need someone to talk to nessa when they want to leave the woods, he sits down in front of her and immediately reaches to tuck her hair behind (generally a romantically "coded" gesture in media)

when vanessa and leon run off together in the beginning and maxi looks after them...

god vanessa is so pretty

and holy i love their clothes and general style

maxi being the one to reach her first at the lake, and the way he looks at her and asks if she's okay.. i can't

he has this look of a puppy, but maybe he just always looks like that

OMG i just noticed that, but the way maxi presses his lips together when raban asks "what happened here tonight?" (istg he's trying so hard not to think of vanessa and leon together, alone.)

vanessa looking at maxi after the other kerle's explanation of what happened (he actually looks rather scared in that shot xd)

him being the first to go after her when she runs off

the way maxi and nessa look at each other after klette asks maxi what the old factory is

maxi looking at vanessa and waiting for her decision after the stone guy tells them what happened to leon and that they shouldn't go into the factory

also,, when did they like establish that maxi is their "new leader"? was he always? i don't remember movies 2-4 (still gotta rewatch)

not to say maxi has a death wish or anything buuuut... lecturing the team that they stay together with a partner and never go into dark rooms and then turning around to explore alone and full on sprint into a dark hall when he sees a child running and taunting him... what is wrong with him (affectionate)

does he want to know if the others (vanessa) will look for him too if he goes missing or is he normal

and why did vanessa and markus team up and not him and her? why did he decide to go venturing around alone?

maxi bringing vanessa leon's necklace... something something the guard/hunter character being dutiful but utterly in love with the queen while she looks for her husband (or smth idk i was going for smth with this)

maxi always being around and close to vanessa, which was most likely not the case 10 month ago when leon was still around. back then, when everything was still normal, still okay, leon and vanessa, the leaders, together. maxi was around markus then. now he sits next to her; guarding, comforting, just being close i don't think it was a conscious decision made as like "leon's gone, now is my chance" but more like a being there for her, willing to do everything to make her happy again, even if he wont be. even if that means she will be with leon once again

him risking the whole team's safety just so they have a chance at getting leon back. for her.

short intermission: maxi is so amused by klette, i can't it's so cute he's so cute goddamnit

wait wait so i googled their shipname but i read something about maxi "telling vanessa how he feels (about her)" with no detail as to what he actually feels and omg is it actually canon that he's in love with her and i don't know cause i haven't watched parts 2-4 since i was a child??? or rather i think i never actually watched part 4... i have to investigate

omg no. no. they did not. repressed feelings much, hello??? omg i can't no no why help no i watched the "confession" scene on yt and no omg i need to watch the whole movie asap that's so amazing actually, so much potential for angst, i love this omg i love this help i caught the brain worms i fear, i need to write about them now

(idk where else in the post to put this, so i'll just put it here) what the hell did they actually *do* in the ten months they were looking for leon? we never got an explanation what happened in that time, except for them driving around i guess? i am so curious what they were doing, where they went, and how they ended up at the old factory in the end did they just stay away from civilisation entirely? what's going on with them just livin their best life in the woods? i am so confused

(Also: tattooine-ahh shot, showing the stone man with his hood up on the rooftop in front of a pastel sunset)

shipping aside...

i firmly believe that no one in this movie actually "falls in love", or at least not naturally

darkside turned blossom because she was scared of ageing and dying. he made her feel wanted, too

darkside and blossom both have the supernatural abilities of "seducing"/manipulating humans into doing what they want/something against the person's will

darkside wants vanessa. he sends blossom to manipulate leon to come with her because he wants vanessa to "come to him"

when leon comes to his senses again and realises what has happend, he goes into the sun, effectively killing himself, hoping for vanessa's forgiveness and her rescuing him

once the team is there, darkside manipulates vanessa because he's "in love"/obsessed with her and wants to posses her (like he did with terry, marry, düse, blossom)

and blossom manipulates maxi, not because she loves him but because she wants to feel loved again, the way darkside made her feel in the beginning, before he discarded her

terry and marry were also thrown aside and once they realised what had happened and that they couldn't leave, they just got angry (seen in the way they handled joschka and rabban) - (it feels like they don't like them. also joschka and rabban are not interested in them (and possibly gay. who said that))

darkside is emotionally and psychologically manipulative and all of them are scared of him and what he will do to them if they aren't obedient - cue the next point

düse isn't capable of the supernatural manipulation and actually likes markus. (they're also they only couple i can see who could actually fall in love, but also just as really good friends. and if lovers, first friends for some time.) darkside told her to seduce markus and she's afraid of what will happend if she doesn't succeed. she tries really hard but ultimately fails, but they bond "normally", markus likes her too. they share interests in bikes e.g. and so he agrees to help her by wearing the outfit. friendly rivalry in the game, they respect each others goal keeping skills

the kids just don't make sense whatsoever. also klette and nerv together ehhh maybe wait a couple years but also like please don't force it

(also just a quick sec - uhm, why the FUCK are there children?? who turned them? why are they there? which one of them assaulted fucking children???)

darkside only wants these girls so he can continue to live and be young. and so he can share his misery and romanticise it.

further proof of my points: after his spell over vanessa breaks he storms away and shatters his glass cup on the floor. he has anger issues and when being sweet talking and manipulative doesn't work he lashes out

thoughts on vampire powers

what if vampires can only seduce people that are already in love?

that's why it had to be vanessa and maxi, for it to work for darkside and blossom

they first needed to get rid of leon, the obstacle in the way of darkside manipualting vanessa into falling for him

and with her comes maxi, the perfect victim for blossom, because whiel he is in love (with vanessa), it isn't reciprocated and he is not in a relationship, or has anyone that would get in the way of blossom manipulating him

i was wondering how exactly their powers work, because you can't tell me there wasn't some mental manipulation happening

so i was thinking, either only some vampires are able to manipulate their victims (in this case darkside and blossom - maybe because they're older and know more/have more power)

or! as i said, they can only redirect existing feelings

i am however stumped by the instant change of clothes and hairstyle i was toying with the idea that maybe they put their victim into a trance that they later son*'t remember and either make them change themselves or they change their victims outfit (or rather darkside does that with vanessa and düse changes her own clothes and makes it seem liek it was instant) theoretically her change of wardrobe could be explainend with her doing that while "flitzen" buuut i kinda doubt that the other explanation is magic i guess .-.

when vanessa says she's afraid because she doesn't remember leons face anymore, and only thinks about him - (and this is very freely interpreted, ein bisschen Spinnerei if you will) it is darkside focusing her love for leon on him

after he bites her and then runs away to catch the others (tss, no aftercare smh) she just stands here, disassociated when he gets back, she's sitting in the hanging chair and it feels like she's so out of it, almost as if she's high, or just simply not present mentally "where were you for so long?" "Me? Oh, I was playing with your friends" "and who won?" - she's so not registering what is happening around her. she's smiling as if they're not in danger, behaving so untypical for her. like there's some sort of spell over her

i also have a draft started (and leon/leonessa fans please don't rip my head of for this one, i beg of you) that basically runs on the idea, that darkside is actually "erasing" her feelings for and memories of leon, and even after she breaks free from him, they don't come back this storyline would include darkside being successful in shattering leon's statue when he takes nessa's feelings & memories away after the events of the movie, vanessa and maxi save each other from being vampires (vanessa realises that her feelings for him grew stronger over the past 10 months, and with no lingering feelings for leon she acts on them) - they either step into the light together, holding hands and kissing, or nessa kisses maxi after they win the match and he sacrificed himself and got turned into stone (okay i actually didn't wanna put this idea into this post, oh well)

them meeting up again after being dressed up

klette being vanessa's biggest fan, just jsdhjfdg

also klette being maxi's fave (out of klette and nerv)

also klette and their/her gender fuckery in general mwah

aaand also klette being werewolf coded

klette is just so freaking cool!!

maxi going straight to nessa after them all being divided

them bonding over being manipulated i can't

okay yeah never in a million years jesus christ darkside be like "i love you" my brother in christ YOU DON'T KNOW HER he fr just wants to force the feelings (on both sides) so he can live for another hundred years

vanessa fawning/being rendered a hull of herself through darksides mental manipulation..

blossom not asking but stating that maxi wants this too and him saying "i don't know", her kissing him again him saying no very clearly and her saying "yes you do" and biting him... hey so if anyone wants male SA representation...

this movie really does imply a lot huh

maxi went back for vanessa, not blossom. statement.

the way maxi checks his bite marks and looking so scared.. get your male SA representation here folks

not darkside literally locking her away in a coffin

omg i forgot that stupid skull wtf was that

wtf is that infantilising of the children legit what the hell

blossom's glass coffin is so pretty, her entire room is so damn beautiful

the more i watch this movie the less i understand,,, everything about it

the way maxi winces and his little head twitch when the "stone man" tells them that vanessa and klette will turn to stone too, should they try fighting the vampires with his weapon

(i caaan't xddd joschka and nerv looking at maxi with the expressions of "you seeing this shit?" and "what the fuck is wrong with that weirdo and why is he of all things the one we have to trust and take up on his offer for help")

i.. don't think we have to talk about the sun cannon,, do we? but i do want to know more about the stone man's past, imma be honest unrelated, but there's is a deleted scene of darkside stepping into the sun, what's up with that and why wasn't it kept in the movie (i mean, basically suicide in a kids movie.. yeah i guess that would've been a bit bad to have in there)

nerv saying "klette and vanessa" and maxi saying "vanessa and klette"

"you promised!" "yes, i did. and i will give my life to keep this promise." ("und ich werde mein Leben geben, um dieses Versprechen zu halten")

very unsuspicious behaviour of you maxi, the hood and sunglasses are very stylisch and not at all giving away ur secret

the kid telling maxi of the legend they all believe, that love can save them and maxi yelling "why didn't you tell me earlier?" "what, are you in love? oh, you are. it's blossom, that snake" no, he's in love with vanessa and thinks that either she can save her and leon or that maybe, just maybe he can save her

oh i forgot blossom's already over a hundred years old.. yaayyy diversity wins! the controversially old vampire is a woman!! this time the old woman manipulates and SA's a teenage boy!! (obviously is darkside doing the same)

urgh i hate everything about that whole scene (blossom manipulating maxi into her biting him again)

his face after realising what just happened feels like someone stabbed straight through my heart

vanessa running straight to maxi, how she can't bring herself to be mad at him

ugh maxiiii no you don't love her, urgh hate that actually

markus pulling him out of the spiraling?? (okay them being brothers irl, actually so sweet) amazing, no notes, perfect

"you ready?" "if you trust me" pleeeeaaaaassseeeee

AAAAHHHHH Vanessa my loooveee!!! she looks so fuckiingg cooolll!!! Maxi as weellll aaaahhhhhh

nerv holding klette's hand oml

"what did maxi promise you?" "nothing. absolutely nothing. just that he's ready to die for you and vanessa." SOMEBODY SEDATE ME!!!!!

maxi blocking all of blossom's tries to get him to switch sides, that's how you do it!!

the shadowseeker's outfits are just a tad bit ridiculous... darkside calling for jekyll and hyde to rhyme the rules to the game on the other hand... and once again, i am asking myself WHY THERE ARE KID VAMPIRES also terry and mary's pose xc

darkside charging up the canon and maxi's reaction is concern for vanessa and calling out for her immediately

nice callback to the beginning of the movie with markus holding the ball without being able to see

OMG I FORGOT HE ACTUALLY SACRIFICES HIMSELF FOR HIS TEAM AND VANESSA

I get what they were trying to do/what they did, but i don't have to like it okay? i don't like it!!

darkside you manipulative bitch, he keeps up the "you wanted this" facade until the very end, huh

so what actually happens to darkside (and the fucking children!!) after the movie? because if they took out the scene where he kilsl himself with going into the sun, what happens instead? or is that still canon and they just didn't wanna show it? (and even then wtf is with the children??)

aaand the award for cringest end goes toooooo......

why do they leave their helmets?? helloo? anyone still there?

what happened to their face paint?? why did that vanish too when they became human again? what sense does that make? (and düse's hairgel too??)

leon taking markus' bike without knowing he would have a another ride is so peak him

The only semi hint we get is that Nerv should know now that they kissed, but he never really figures out, because as clusterfucky as the last two films are, they really challenge the view on gender.

Also if you're not convinced, one of the first lines we hear from Klette is "I'm not a girl", later denying she is a boy and throughout both films only challenges Nerv on multiple levels to "find out/figure it out"

Man I love nonsensical children movies to challenge gender views, gender roles and have nonbinary/not-gender-confirmed characters

I'm sorry my dear. You have to get used to it. That's the price for eternity. For the fun that you had until just a moment ago.

[Deutsche Version]

+ Bonus:

Okay anon, I finally did it :D I hope you enjoy what I have written!

Maxi x F!reader

Warnings: no one

She was beautiful. So beautiful. Her curly, blonde hair, her bright green eyes, shining in the candle light as if they were smaragds. Her way with words.

Oh God, she surely would take Maxi because she can. And there was nothing you could do about it.

The moment she stepped out of the dark and Maxi’s eyes were fixed on her, you knew it was over. You had seen this look. You knew what that sparkle in his eyes meant - he was in love. Maxi had only giving Vanessa this “glare” before, but never you. You had not mind Maxi crushing on Vanessa during your problems with the Silberlichten because Vanessa was still happy with Leon - but this? This woman was a solid 10/10, and you were barely even a positive number compared to her. The dirt under your fingernails, your hair sticking to your head. Your trenchcoat was ripped apart from the months of searching. The journey to search for Leon had taken its toll on everyone. But you came with them, because you loved your friends. And especially Maxi.