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destinygoldenstar · 1 year ago

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I Analyzed The Ninjago Movie Instead Of Sleeping

I have real mixed feelings on this movie. But not for the reasons you might think from a fan of the TV show.

The movie didn’t NEED to be connected to the show. And it clearly wasn’t trying to.

It was meant to be an AU in a way.

(If you look at the behind the scenes one of their original rewrites was a plot of them going back in time to save Lloyd’s dad from becoming the villainous figure he is in the present day.)

So I can forgive the inaccuracy so long as it could stand on its own as a proper story.

It doesn’t do that.

If you DON’T compare it to the show:

You got a movie with SOME good jokes, amazing animation, (SERIOUSLY THIS MOVIE LOOKS BEAUTIFUL AND VISUALS ALONE ARE A CHEFS KISS TO ME) but is so strangely paced that it feels like the movie starts at the middle of the story and never shows the beginning, and feels like a completely different movie halfway through, and is also very choppily edited.

(I even double checked a clip of the movie just to prove my point there: When Lloyd uses all his dragon mech weapons on Garmadon, they play the exact same sound effect and explosion, just with different angles, SIX TIMES. FSM WAS THAT EDITOR HUNG OVER WHEN DOING THEIR JOB THAT DAY?! And that’s just one example I’ve got. I think this was the first time EVER when I was in a movie theater and I distinctly remember asking “What is wrong with the editing here? Who thought this was good editing?? Who thought this was appropriate in any way???” So I thank this movie for giving me such a memory and making me value good editing.)

You also got a world that isn’t very well fleshed out, characters that the movie chooses to not focus on except the main character and the main villain. And you got a movie that tells its audience it’s okay to forgive your parents that neglected you and are active terrorists even if they earned or done absolutely no redemption whatsoever.

I mean Garmadon in this movie BETRAYS them and leaves them to rot so he could terrorize the city again at the end. Then gets eaten by the cat. Then Lloyd forgives him. Idk what more you want me to say.

I’m not gonna act like Crystalized did it any better though. Pick your poison.

But then you got fans of the show. The people who watched the show since kids (that includes me). Who are naturally bias towards the shows lore and characterization…

OOOOOOHHH boy…

I don’t hate EVERY portrayal of the ninja in the movie as much as other people. I actually think there’s some good ideas for an AU version of these characters here. Problem is the movie never does anything with them.

Well, I say I don’t hate every portrayal, the one I truly cannot stand is Zane’s.

There’s just so much wrong with how they portrayed Zane that it just does not work. Not as an adaptation of the character. Not in any way that makes sense for this universe and is actually kinda insulting.

There’s no other robots in this city. (Like there are in the show) Why is Zane the only one and why is he in high school? Why would Wu ever pick a robot to be a ninja?

In the show the reason is pretty simple: Wu didn’t know at the time.

But everyone knows in the movie. What’s movie Wu’s excuse?

There’s also in terms of personality.

Keep in mind later seasons of the show have the same issues, so I’m talking about what it was at the time of the movie.

Zane’s whole robot identity is crucial to his character. The show introduced him as ‘the strange one’. As he couldn’t understand social cues, took things very seriously, didn’t share the same sense of humor as the rest of the team, had a hard time displaying his emotions, and bonded with things the others didn’t and excelled at certain areas like cooking.

He’s a character that connected to a lot of neurodivergent people in the audience who could relate to him. No he’s not intentional autistic rep, but one that definitely mattered to the people that headcannoned him as such.

(Also helps that they introduce other robot characters later that clearly don’t have the same characteristics he does. So really it depends on what you see.)

So the reveal that he was a robot was such a huge deal to not just the plot but to him as he finally got a concrete definition of what he is and who he is. And the show NEVER decides to say “You know, it would be so much better if you were a human!”

“Why can’t you just be normal?!”

That’s part of why I personally can’t stand fics that make Zane human. It just doesn’t feel right to me and misses the point of the character.

While I absolutely did not expect the movie to cover his… really heavy backstory with his inventor/father and how he outlived him, then got his memory and sense of identity wiped by him moments before death, which was meant to be an act of sympathy but would actually harm Zane’s mentality for the entire show…

The movie didn’t need to adapt that. For all we know, movie Zane could have a very happy backstory. And that would be fine. All I wanted was for the identity-seeking aspect of Zane’s character to matter in some way.

It didn’t.

The jokes they use for Zane in this movie are that of “Haha, he’s a robot. Isn’t it so funny that he doesn’t understand humanity very well?”

You know, something that in one episode of the show was portrayed as a BAD THING for people to think that of him! And that those people needed to learn to respect him for who he is!

And that’s the ONLY thing they do with him. Just robot jokes. Very stereotypical robot jokes.

Again, later seasons of the show are guilty of this too. So I will not act like the show is perfect.

For the reasons I listed, these are actually far more offensive and harmful than you think. Especially fans of the show watching the movie. Him being the only robot in this movie world makes me think even more that this actually is autistic coding… and that makes it so much worse.

Zane being a robot being equal to autism is its own discussion. And has its own problems on paper alone. Whether or not this is your headcanon of him, and whether or not you think this is good representation either way is up to your feelings and experiences. (Personally I think it’s better than some live action shows attempting this)

The others don’t even seem to trust or want to be around him that much. The others seem annoyed by him half the time. Like they’re only tolerating him because he’s on their team. Yeah they don’t say that but simple looks and gestures are enough to get that impression. And not once does anyone ever express Zane’s value in their team. That’s the ONE thing that would’ve had me forgive this all.

But there’s my rant. The others?

Jay is mostly fine. I think this personality for the movie is a neat AU concept. Yes show Jay is openly terrified of things and awkward, but if there’s something he wasn’t was SHY.

Movie Jay is a shy and nervous wreck. And you know what? For a high school AU, I think it works. It doesn’t erase Jay’s essence entirely. They at the very least kept the detail of his character that he’s a fast learner.

I appreciate that.

Cole is actually a REALLY interesting concept to me with the AU idea they gave.

On the surface it’s just ‘He’s a DJ and willingly old school’

But if you see the show, this is actually an ODD approach. Because show Cole has a very complicated relationship with music.

In the show, Cole’s parents thrived in singing and dancing. His father specifically was a performer that won several awards with his band ‘The Royal Blacksmiths’. After Cole’s mother passed away, his father proceeded to push his ideals and his passions onto his kid and pressuring him to become another version of him. It got stressful enough that Cole ran away from home and resented music, something that used to be a bond of family for them, and that’s where Wu found him and made him a ninja.

Throughout the show, Cole would open up to music again more, but it’s pretty gradual and a very subtle bit of character development for him throughout the show. He doesn’t need to say “I hate making music” to get the point across. He only starts the music route again whenever it has something to do with making a family member, blood or not, happy.

So movie Cole is interesting to me for that reason. Because at the start, he basically IS a mini Lou. His whole thing is music and it’s heavily reflected on his personality.

To the point where his element in the movie isn’t even animated or portrayed as earth like it’s supposed to, instead it’s… sound waves?

Weird choice. Interesting one though cause maybe that’s just how movie Cole functions.

So it’s “Oh, what if Cole DID follow in his fathers footsteps and DID want to become a musician?”

Very interesting approach for a completely different approach of character development.

But the problem? Just like the others, not utilized.

But I do think this was an interesting AU idea. Is it accurate to the show version of the character? No. But that’s kind of the point I think.

Then there’s the RGB siblings. This is where it gets kinda weird for me.

Thanks to the movie, a lot of my friends mistook Kai and Nya for being twins.

They are not twins in the show. Kai is older.

I don’t think that dents their characters too much in the movie so long as the same points were across. They’re the blood related brother and sister who raised themselves when their parents abandoned them, and climbed out of the ashes to protect each other, and found a new expansion on their family that didn’t have to be blood related to count.

These two, in different ways, are the support of the team and especially Lloyd. They’re usually the lancer characters that Lloyd goes to when he can.

I still say that about Nya even though originally, she was NOT a ninja, but rather was a Samurai with a mech of her own invention that acted as a Tuxedo Mask for the ninja. She didn’t become the water ninja until Season 5.

Which… I know the movie takes heavy inspiration from the first two seasons, the beginning, so for those who haven’t seen the show watching the movie… yikes I feel bad about the lack of a spoiler warning. Same goes for Zane being a robot.

But I think that’s also a factor into Kai, at the former half of this show, (again I’m talking pre-movie with this). He was the first character we were introduced to and we’re following in the show before Lloyd ever showed up. So naturally he’d be the one with the most attention to supporting the Green Ninja. Something that was very vital character development for him individually as well.

He’s the old school one. He’s the cool one. He’s the one who looks out for you even if you don’t want them to. He’s the one that will jump to anything without thinking. He’s also the one with the most value in tradition out of the ninja, as a blacksmith instead of a techie and as a traditional sword fighter rather than a fancy complicated weapon. He doesn’t get involved in tech willingly till he learns Twitter is a thing.

And in the movie, I think they took this characterization and said “Eh, give it to the girl instead.”

So most of show Kai’s character traits are now movie Nya’s. She’s the cool one with the most passion for traditional stories, she’s the one with arguably the most talks with Lloyd to calm him, and she’s pretty loud and brash in personality.

Not saying show Nya is not those things, she is. But the difference in the show was that Nya was HUGE on independence and doing her own thing. Being the only woman and a younger sibling in the main cast is actually a big deal to her. Not wanting to have her destiny be decided by the world or her brother as a damsel in distress or a sacrifice, she took to tech to invent her own ways of helping. Her own character.

Until destiny told her “Actually no, you can’t be the person you want to be. You have to stick to tradition that your mother had and be the water ninja.”

That’s… honestly a very brutally honest message that not a lot of people I see give credit for. Cause yes, expressing yourself and being your own person and being able to make your own fate is amazing… but it’s not always possible.

Sometimes you can’t be the person you want. Sometimes the world just will not let you. That doesn’t mean your identity is worthless, though. If you go with the flow, you can actually find that fate has plans for you that might not suck after all.

Basically a ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ messaging there.

It’s part of why Nya’s whole thing throughout the show is her starting as a damsel trying to reinvent herself and her stereotype, and ending as a willing sacrifice and death of her whole identity that she doesn’t regret because she’s embraced the flow of life and purpose. Even if she forgets herself in the realm of spirituality, her loves one’s never will.

…Until Crystalized undid ALL of that. BUT LETS NOT.

Movie Nya just really isn’t any of that. She’s basically just her brother.

Which… I’m actually fine with. The show has some bumps in the road in execution of her story anyway. And they want the only female of this team to not be a background character cause that’s look bad. I totally understand that. And her being a sibling to Kai makes me forgive it a whole lot more cause it does make sense.

But again, we don’t know what their lives are like or if they have similar backstories to theirs in the show at all.

But where does that leave Kai?

Well his whole character in the movie seems to basically be “I’m the loud one and a complete klutz and meathead.”

Basically TD Tyler.

It’s a personality in the movie that bled in the show post movie. While I personally think it was not THAT bad in the show, Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitsu made me go “Okay. I understand now.”

As for movie Kai, that’s really about it.

It really was an early indicator of just giving Kai’s character traits to other characters. Before the show was visibly doing it.

Cause movie Lloyd is also basically just Kai but with a different backstory and context to situation. But honestly, I DO see what they were going for here.

As the ONLY ninja to get ANY focus, this version of Lloyd is well explained on what his life is.

In the show, he’s an abandoned child in an abusive boarding school who heavily idolizes his father, Lord Garmadon, and runs away to become a super villain. Only for Destiny to tell him not to, and we see his true colors and that he just wanted his family together and to love him. Something that was… hard. Considering who Garmadon is.

That is actually carried into the movie. Just cut out him running away. Here’s the difference.

Show Lloyd loves his dad and refuses to hurt him until he has to. While he is the Green Ninja, he didn’t resent himself being Garmadon’s son. What he resented was the destiny that took them apart.

Movie Lloyd HATES his dad for abandoning him, terrorizing the city, making said city cancel him for EXISTING, and he wants every excuse to shut this man out of his life forever.

That does make sense. And to the movie’s credit, the movie logic DOES work to make this version of Lloyd make sense.

It makes the movie pretty mean spirited and kinda unpleasant at times. But it works for the story.

I described Lloyd as ‘The Emo Child’. In the show. But that’s two words.

Emo. CHILD.

He’s still a kid. He’s still the youngest. He still has his own child-like wonder of the world and the aspirations that of a child would.

Yeah he’s a lot of angst. But he’s also a sweet kid who deserves hugs.

That’s not very apparent in movie Lloyd. Not that it needs to fit movie context.

But because we never see how the ninja in the movie got together, we have no idea why Lloyd even accepted being the Green Ninja in the first place. He even says in the movie that he’d give it up if it meant he didn’t have to be Garmadon’s son.

Movie Lloyd is the only ninja in this movie with an actual character arc. He resents his dad, tries to be rid of him, only to get consequences for it, goes on a quest to fix his mistake, bonds with his dad to learn he’s… sympathetic? I guess?? And in the end forgives his dad and chooses to let him in his life again.

Simple. Fine. It works on Lloyds end just fine. And I have to give credit for the movie making Lloyd resenting Garmadon more logical than Crystalized ever did.

It’s Garmadon’s end that just makes the whole thing a bad message in the end of ‘forgive your abusers.’

Yes he’s funny. That doesn’t undo his actions.

No it’s not undone in the show either, but at least you can buy the forgiveness there because every character knew that he had no choice.

In the show, Garmadon is the Oni Child of the FSM. Thus all it took was for another Oni creature, the Great Devourer, to trigger his blood and FORCE him into the evil role without his consent. It forced him to do nasty things to his loved ones and the land his dad created, and by the time he became his evil form, he was forcefully stripped away from all of his loved ones and a chance at normal life. So the only way he could ever get that back was to turn the world into his own image, thus having the world become him too. A monster.

The show made it abundantly clear that most of Garmadon’s evil deeds are either out of ambition for what he deems as helping the family, or not his fault at all due to snake venom influence.

I THINK the movie also has this because they do address him getting bit and becoming the creature he appears as in both versions.

Better than nothing I guess.

But then you get his ‘sympathetic backstory’ which is pretty much just a love story between him and Koko-

Yeah Lloyds moms name is actually different in both versions. And in role.

Misako abandoned her child to try and solve the destiny crisis, then returned to his life to help her kid out.

Koko remained a mother to her kid and supported him even when everyone hated him.

These are very different characters basically, and which one you prefer is up to you. Personally… I actually prefer the movie. I do think the mom was the one character that the movie actually improved upon. Especially with a very interesting story for her.

In the show, Misako is a researcher and just the fair maiden figure that Wu and Garmadon fell in love with. To which she chose Garmadon because of Wu’s letter that Garmadon forged his name on… it’s complicated.

In the movie, she was actually a fighter as well and took a part of the wars Garmadon was in. She enjoyed the thrill of the fight and fell in love with her opponent in a pretty cute montage.

But then they had a baby and her reality changed, realizing she could not raise her child on the battlefield. And when Garmadon refused to change his mind, she took Lloyd and left him behind. So she could be a mother.

Explains her actions in the movie all throughout very well and I never got lost when it came to her. She’s probably the one character in the movie I felt the most sorry for. She’s such a sweet parent and her interactions with Lloyd are probably the best parts of the movie. I wanna hug her.

But that’s all that’s shown of Garmadon. Apparently Garmadon was oppressed, but that’s told at the end and not shown or been significant at all.

They don’t hate you cause you look funky. They hate you cause YOU TERRORIZE THEIR CITY ON A DAILY BASIS AND SHOOT PEOPLE OUT OF A VOLCANO

Yeah show Garmadon did similar stuff, but again, WASNT HIS CHOICE.

Here, it’s absolutely his choice cause nothing indicated otherwise.

Garmadon doesn’t even PROCESS his kids existence or his own negligence three quarters of the time. And you expect me to buy a redemption from him?

You know, I’d be fine with it if he was just a one dimensional villain and the story of the movie was about Lloyd putting his energy away from a family that doesn’t care about him and more towards a surrogate one he has.

But no. You gotta have Lloyd forgive Garmadon and have Garmadon redeemed.

Cause that’s what the show did.

Even though this is supposed to be an AU not connected to the show so we can do whatever we want.

The most they do for Garmadon’s redemption is force him to be the mentor after Wu got yeeted off a bridge by a butterfly, have him go “Oh yeah, I DID shoot people out of a volcano!”, teach his son how to catch, and tell his son his backstory.

(Speaking if, Wu to me is basically the same. Just different voice actor delivery. I got nothing to say on him)

And then if that IS redemption, then he failed it. Because he offers Lloyd to be his general when they take over the city again, showing he’s learned nothing. Then when Lloyd says no, he steals their magic weapons and ditches them in a temple leaving them to DIE. Then he goes to terrorize the city again.

What redemption. /s

Again, this was all HIS choice. If it was not and if it was snake venom, they couldn’t at least give a visual cue or address it?

And now LLOYD has to apologize?

NO. LLOYD WAS RIGHT. THERES ABSOLUTELY NO REASON WHY HE SHOULD LET HIS DAD INTO HIS LIFE. THE DAD HIMSELF PROVED THAT.

It just paints an unintentional bad message of ‘you have to forgive your abusers’

I’m sorry but Lloyd doesn’t owe this Garmadon anything.

I do like Lloyd’s VA delivery though, and the speech about green being the color of life. I actually like the idea of Lloyds power being his heart. Yeah it’s not flashy powers like in the show, but for an AU, it’s a really cool idea and I wish they used it more.

I have mixed feelings on the celebrity casting. Did I expect the original voice actors? No. But this casting wasn’t awful.

Garmadon’s VA is amazing in this movie. Jackie Chan as Wu is very subjective I feel, love it or hate it. Nya and Jay’s were really good too. I think the only one that didn’t work for me was Kai’s VA. Just… why does this teenager sound like a 50 year old man??

But honestly, I think the thing that got to me the most about the movie was something I praised about the show not too long ago.

The bond between the ninja.

I talked about how the show is a master class at character dynamics. There is almost no point where the characters are just standing there in one big clunk. Someone is saying something, someone is making a comment, someone is doing something, and it’s usually there for others to see and react to. It’s a very small thing, but it keeps the scenes alive and fresh the whole time and helps the audience be sold on the characters bond.

They don’t wait for the scenes of “Okay it’s time for characters to interact”. They just do it all the time.

And guess what the movie did? They’re just there in one big chunk all the time. With “okay it’s time for characters to interact” bits.

It’s one thing to not explore the other ninja at all. It’s another to ignore their bond.

In the show, they’re a found family. They all had rough upbringings in life and find a new sense of purpose in each other.

That’s NEVER emphasized in the movie except for one speech at the end Lloyd makes. Mostly cause we don’t know the other ninjas lives, and we don’t know how they even got together. Cause as I said, the movie starts at the middle, and awkwardly cuts after Garmadon is forgiven to be the end. We don’t know what it is about THIS ninja team that we should care about. It’s not shown.

All were shown is them being a team by circumstance only. Then Lloyd pulls out the cat laser and the cat nearly kills them. Then they hate Lloyd for it and spend the rest of the movie making fun of Lloyd.

Which yeah they make fun of each other in the show too, but where it ended in the show was playful teasing in the middle of moments that showed they cared about each other. And when one bond between two or more of them was broken, you felt it.

Here? I don’t know that and there isn’t anything besides the high school montage to show they cared. Just some comments about “Oh it’s okay Lloyd, it’s just awkward that your dad is a terrorist”. And then they make fun of Lloyds expense.

It’s mean spirited. It makes me think they don’t like each other. And it’s not like they ever apologize for it. They’re just teammates because Wu said so. They’re just tolerating Lloyd cause Wu said so.

Honestly the bloopers for this movie show more personality and more of this bond than the entire movie does.

…OOF that took awhile. I don’t even know why I did this, I just didn’t feel like sleeping. Uh… you read this, congrats. Idk why you did.

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jabberwockymoreau · 7 months ago

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So very excited to finally be able to post my @aftgsecretsnowflake gift for the wonderful @sturmdunkel! I'm incredibly in love with this AU I came up with for your robot prompt, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it <3

Tags: T, Andrew/Neil, Alternative Universe – Sci Fi, Sci Fi AU, Robots and Androids, Robot AU, Aftg Secret Snowflake

Length: 10k

Summary:

Andrew Minyard has drawn his lot in life. Working a boring job as a gas station attendant by day and earning some extra cash fixing up whatever cyborgs and androids pass through the small town of Millport, Arizona was never his dream, but then men like Andrew don't have dreams. The money's good, and that's all that matters because he has a brother racking up student debt in med school. It also means that when a runaway android from the nation's most notorious tech company stumbles into his store, Andrew is forced to help him out to protect the investments he's already made. Or something like that. - Or, an Andreil Robot AU

Excerpt:

The smile turned into a grimace. “Right, right. Well, you see, my bike’s battery died, so I’ll need one of these...uh, can you recommend any?”

And Andrew should probably let him leave it at that. It wasn’t his business what his customers got up to, especially not the lying kind. But before Andrew could think better of it he asked: “How far out?”

“Some miles. Not too bad. An okay walk without the bike.” He shrugged.

And Andrew really should just let it be. Except this was the middle of nowhere in Arizona. The gas station’s address was nominally listed as Millport, but it was several miles out from the town that was really a few streets clustered around a church and a general store, it’s existence only excused by the fact that it sat along a major highway and the occasional passersby needed gas, food or a roof over their head. Dozens of miles of barren wasteland accompanied the highway to both sides of the gas station, offering no shade with which to protect against the aggressive, early summer sun.

Even inside the air conditioned shop Andrew could feel the heat press in, sweat collecting underneath the black armbands he wore with his T-shirt. In a few weeks it would be unbearable – yet there was no perspiration on the man’s pale skin. Or sunburn. His sluggish, odd behavior could be heatstroke. Andrew had seen that before, and the symptoms weren’t off. But his professional guess was a different one.

Without a word he stepped past the man, heading towards the coolers that lined the front of the shop. The man followed, then paused by the last row of shelves before the gap of the aisle, holding onto them for balance. His expression was confused, but Andrew delivered him an answer before he had time to ask. Grabbing a bottle of water, he tossed it at the man and then watched it bounce of his chest and drop to the floor. The man blinked, only understanding after the fact, and bent down carefully to pick it up.

It was supposed to be a simple test to prove Andrew’s theory correct: All commercial androids lacked an esophagus and the appropriate organs to imbibe and digest food and drink. After all, there was no point in such vanities, when the space inside the faux-human body could instead be used for more storage and better ventilation to help the machine exist. That the man wasn’t human Andrew had really no doubt about: He’d seen enough of them in his life to be able to tell the small differences in the way the machines moved and perceived the world, compared to humans.

But after slowly deciphering the label, the android made no excuse for itself. It simply uncapped the bottle and downed the entire thing in three large gulps.

Andrew let the freezer door fall shut, unable to tear his eyes away from the way the android’s throat moved as it drank. A shiver ran down his spine, and it had nothing to do with the cold that had escaped from the coolers: There was only one android manufacturer in the world whose machines could have passed this little test, and that meant this one was trouble. Not the kind they had been expecting, perhaps, but this million dollar investment in its filthy rags was broken. Andrew doubted it would make it out of the desert even with a solar charger to substitute for its busted battery, and if its body was found along the highway that would lead the wrong people right to Millport – and Kevin.

It was a risk Andrew couldn’t afford.

[read on Ao3]

#aftg #all for the game #andreil #andrew minyard #neil josten #aftg secret snowflake #my fic

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twilightofthesandwiches · 1 year ago

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Sometimes when fandom discussions come up about how to make the ending of ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’ less… y'know, treating Penny as an object that Dr. Horrible is punished by losing and not as an actual person with her own emotional arc, a common solution that comes up is that the story should end with Penny becoming LA’s newest superhero and Dr. Horrible’s new nemesis.

And… I do see the internal logic in this. That sort of ending does retain the tragedy of Billy ‘losing’ Penny (and I do think that DHSAB, unless you wanna change it much much more radically than mostly just making it less shit to Penny, should be a tragedy) but without ‘punishing’ Penny purely as a proxy for punishing Billy. And in a way that gives Penny way more agency, and gives more space to condemn Billy for the way he treated her throughout the narrative.

Plus, both DHSAB itself and other canon material constantly reinforce that Penny is the kindest and most altruistic person in the entire cast. And her hinted backstory of being inspired to do activist work as a way of coping with her parents’ death

calls to mind the backstories of many famous superheroes.

The main narrative of her prequel comic is basically about how hard it is to be altruistic as she is, and how it kinda stops her from having a normal life - including a normal dating life. Both in the ‘oh, I’m just too busy for that kind of stuff’ sense

And in the ‘my sense of duty interferes with my ability to have a Normal DateTM’. Which are also very familiar Superhero Struggles. Only that instead of something like ‘oh no, I accidentally stood up Mary Jane because Dr. Octopus is attacking the city and I must stop him!’, it’s ‘oh no, I’m a buzzkill on dates because I only wanna talk about Big Depressing Social Justice Issues.’

So all of this put together, I can understand why some people see Penny turning into a Superhero by the end of the story to be a logical end of her narrative arc. She’s always been the best and most moral person in the cast, and now she can prove that she’s the real hero!

Except… within the logic of DHSAB, Penny is kinda… too good to be a Superhero. Because superheroes in the Horribleverse are good for fighting superpowered bad guys and upholding the status quo and maybe giving an inspirational speech or too - but they can’t actually solve the big societal problems that Penny is working so hard to change, as she herself directly states.

The whole point of the parallels between Penny’s life and more typical superhero narratives is that Penny is already a ‘real hero’. Penny’s activism is the real kind of heroism, with all the self-sacrifice and dedication and kindness that it requires - and the one that can really save the lives of people, even when they’re not almost stepped on by giant robots. Superheroes can talk big game about justice and goodness, but they’re not really changing the system as it is and if anything they only reinforce it. Villains (or at least well-intentioned villains like Dr. Horrible) can talk big game about changing the world, but at the end of the day, they are still fueled by resentment and self-profit more than anything.

And those are the big flashy guys who capture the public attention for good or for ill, while the people making real positive changes in the world just get overlooked and dismissed and ignored and shoved to the side.

That’s the kind of superhero world DHSAB exists in, and that’s kinda dour and cynical but… I don’t think that’s inherently a bad thing - narratively speaking. And I don’t think that Penny gaining superpowers and dedicating her life to punching Dr. Horrible in the face is really a culmination of her life of activism. If anything, it kinda goes against it? Like, even if you do, like, “oh and also Penny finds a way to do a Superhero and Punch Dr. Horrible in the Face while also being an actual activist who’s doing positive change in the world!”I feel like this still kinda weakens the message about the importance of the kind of boring, unglamorous and very realistic work Penny was doing as a ‘civilian’.

But… I also don’t think that necessarily makes ‘Superhero Penny’ a bad choice for an ending. Because ‘Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog’ is still a Tragedy, after all. I think Penny becoming a Superhero can really work for the ending, if you emphasize the idea that becoming a ‘True Hero’ is as much of a tragedy for Penny as becoming a ‘True Villain’ was a tragedy for Billy.

Like, you know, Billy got to defeat Captain Hammer and he gained the respect he always felt he deserved and money and fame… but he lost the emotional connection he had with Penny, which is the thing that could've actually made him happy. Penny finally gets respect and attention and gets people to actually listen to her… but by giving up on her ordinary activism work - whatever it’s because of societal pressures to do Superhero Stuff now that she has superpowers, or because she feels a duty to stop Dr. Horrible specifically, or because she’s just really really pissed at Billy, or because she has lost her faith in the ability of the common man to effect change after the “Everyone’s a Hero” debacle or… any combination of the above - she has actually given up her original strong ideals and the hope of actually doing good in the world.

Maybe for extra symbolism, a fight between Super Penny (Working Title) and Dr. Horrible ends up destroying the Caring Hands shelter Regular Penny worked so hard to secure - just to really drive the point home.

Super Penny (Working Title) can absolutely work as an alternative DHSAB Ending that gives her more agency and more consideration for her character, but… as part of this consideration for Penny’s character, you need to also understand that Penny becoming a superhero is her getting Everything She Ever…

#dr. horrible's sing along blog #dr. horrible #doctor horrible #penny #musical #musicals #musical theatre #musical theater #dr horrible #dr horrible's sing along blog

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sparatus · 1 month ago

Note

Salty asks: 4, 6, 9, 24, and 26 pretty please!

salty asks

4. Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?

sparatus/shepard and saren/shepard. also frankly i used to be more ambivalent and "it's not for me but have fun" about it but the more i see of it the more i hate shryik (shepard/nihlus) lol. none of these pairings understand the characters. sometimes characters just don't fucking like you, it's not UST you're just causing problems for sparatus and he's annoyed about it, also he's not going to fuck his subordinate. saren hates humans and shepard literally encompasses and symbolizes everything about them he hates. and nobody who wants to ship their shepard with nihlus actually knows the character lol it's always an oc wearing nihlus's tattoos (see: the shryik who got pissy with me for pointing out that saren and nihlus are literally canon best friends and wanted me to prove it. it's right there on the wiki bestie it's a whole paragraph did you not even do that much research on your alleged fave) and if you actually understood the character you'd know he's not going to fuck his student much less somebody accusing his best friend of being a cartoon evil villain

thankfully they're all rarepairs but i DO block over the first two. i blocked a former mutual over sparatus/shepard i dont play with those two

6. Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?

answered here!!

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

jack "the illusive 'timmy' man" harper. for both in-universe reasons that he fucking sucks as a person, he's super space racist and builds a sexy robot based off the dead lady he had a crush on but who didn't like him back but now she's completely obedient to him and uses his stupid amounts of money to torture both humans and aliens including children in the name of space racism and also he's so fucking stupid he literally watches what happens to desolas in evolution and goes "okay but i can do the same thing and it'll definitely work for me because humans are more specialer than turians" AND I HATE HIM SO MUCH--

and also for out of universe reasons that somehow HE gets held up as the smart chessmaster ultimate bad guy instead of like, y'know, harbinger?? sovereign?? SAREN who is actually genuinely always 3 steps ahead and outthinking you at every turn?? i have this old vid from watchmojo like 10 years ago burned into my memory that was like, "top 10 video game betrayals you didn't see coming" and timmy was #2 and i was so fucking incensed what do you MEAN you didn't see it coming BASICALLY THE WHOLE GAME SPELLS IT OUT THAT THIS MAN IS GOING TO BETRAY YOU ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID--

ahem. anyway yeah both in-universe he's the actual worst sapient being in the game and out of universe everyone somehow falls for his own propaganda. he's not suave or smart or cool he's just rich you morons

24. Would you recommend XXX to a friend? Why or why not?

honestly that's hard, it depends on the friend? like, if it seems like something they'd enjoy then yes, but also in general probably not? me1 is still kind of a potato to play even in LE, bioware's writing is 13 plot holes in a trench coat piloted by rule of cool, there's a lot of places you can unknowingly fuck yourself over, i think it's really something that depends on what kind of game you're looking for

also don't play it unless you're willing to let me explain lore and character stuff and also why the council are being reasonable and not stupid actually. i am not going to recommend my friends play this game unless they are prepared for the category 5 autism event.

26. Most shippable character?

honestly. liara. i think she just vibes really well with a lot of characters, there's very few liara ships that ive seen that i'm not like "yknow what yeah, i'll hear you out" (with obvious exceptions like ?? saren/liara?? are you stupid. do you know who liara is). liara/feron (do we have a ship name??) and t'sovik and shiara are peak but i also like a bit of liara/tela, liara/traynor, liara/ashley, my liaramance shep zofiya also romances thane and i like to play with a thane lives shepard/liara/thane scenario from time to time, i think i've seen liara/tali around and i can get behind that, basically liara just fits really well with a lot of other characters and im about it

#press conference #daisywalletchains #thanks daisy!!

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astoundingbeyondbelief · 2 years ago

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Kaiju Week in Review (November 12-18, 2023)

The first two episodes of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters were officially released on November 17, but Apple gave me a stellar birthday present by dropping them in the last few hours of the 16th in my timezone. So far it's living up to the hype. Now, as one of the five people who remember Surface, I wasn't expecting much kaiju action on a TV budget. Fortunately, the characters are compelling (and many of the actors unfairly attractive), while the kaiju make the most of their handful of scenes. With more room to breathe than most Godzilla stories, it's able to show what it means to live in a world of nigh-indestructible nightmares like few before it. Subsequent episodes will continue to drop on Fridays (with an asterisk?), except for this week, which will see a premiere on Wednesday instead, I guess because of Thanksgiving.

Between Godziban, his stint as a Godzilla Battle Line juggernaut, Godzilla: War for Humanity, Godzilla Voxel Wars, and the upcoming Brave Like Godzilla picture book I think I forgot to talk about before, it's clear we've entered the Second Age of Minilla. Godzilla: Monster Island Summer Camp, IDW's first original Godzilla graphic novel, will give him another prime role. The plot:

This fresh Godzilla OGN proves that kaiju are for kids. Especially the ones who’d rather befriend beasts than fight them. As an aspiring cartoonist, Zelda has always dreamed of attending an art summer camp, and this year she finally gets to go! But when she arrives to Make It Summer Camp, she’s horrified to see the easels and sketchboards have been replaced with dodgeball and calisthenics. The camp is under new, suspicious management that’s turned it into an extreme sports nightmare. Determined to salvage her summer, Zelda escapes to a secluded corner of the island. Here she can finally draw in peace. At least until she stumbles into a portal to a fantastic world! Welcome to Monster Island, Zelda! There she makes a connection with baby kaiju Minilla and discovers the beauty of these legendary creatures. However, all is not well on Monster Island. Great evils are stirring and if Zelda can’t protect their home, the kaiju will unleash their wrath on the world.

Rosie Knight (writer) and Oliver Ono (artist) previously worked together on Godzilla Rivals: Vs. Battra, an intriguing tale with terrific monster art that I thought needed more pages than the Rivals format affords. Looks like IDW agreed. They've really got us nerds by the throat with this premise too. Releasing August 13, 2024.

Read Godzilla Rivals: Vs. Mechagodzilla. Not very good.

Mechagodzilla also looks to feature heavily in the first Rivals issue of 2024, although it's titled Mothra Vs. M.O.G.U.E.R.A. Johnny Parker II is writing, Winston Chan is illustrating. The logline:

Mothra is a great protector and friend to humanity, but not everyone believes the monster is always going to be on our side. When an anti-kaiju group controlling the powerful robotic Mechagodzilla and M.O.G.U.E.R.A. attacks Mothra’s home, it’s up to a few brave souls, an injured Mothra, and a little extra robotic help to save the day!

#godzilla #kaiju week in review #monarch legacy of monsters #idw #minilla #comics

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lostlegendaerie · 2 years ago

Note

Do you have any backstories concocted for Drew?

Oh man. OH MAN. DO I EVER.

I think I talked about this on a @torchickentacos post about the Deoxys movie but let's look at what we know about Drew:

He's from LaRousse City, a movie exclusive location that's super high tech that features it's own battle tournament

He cried when he lost his first Contest (according to Solidad)

Rosalia is his first Pokemon and he gets VERY upset when any of his Pokemon are injured and generally seems to baby them (except in one instance, but we can talk about that another time)

He can put on An Obvious Show of a suave coordinator but he dislikes doing it and will drop the act around friends (Fan With A Plan, Spontaneous Combusken)

For his origin, it's such a weird contrast to have your Grass-Type Coordinator rival come from the all-robots professional battle island city. He was in the perfect environment to do Battle Frontier (is that the name?) or other similar things, but he goes clearly in the opposite direction. However, it's clearly important to him and he needles May about being nervous/gimmicky with her frisbees. Additionally, he challenges Ash to a battle (and wins) specifically to make a point about type match ups not being everything and Coordinating needing battle skills as well. Coordinating is his Pokemon Journey, and he thinks people don't take it seriously enough.

Drew is very hard on himself, too; Solidad said he cried, but they're clearly on good terms now so he may not have been upset at her so much as upset at himself for letting his Pokemon down. He shows May a similar side by complimenting her Pokemon but reminding her that she needs to work on herself as a coordinator (specifically that her indecision will make her Pokemon confused when she's learning about combinations and that Bulbasaur doesn't listen to her very well in Fan With A Plan and shouldn't be used on stage). He also cites feeling "weak like (May)" as his reason for getting upset at Absol for not doing well. Aside from that specific instance right around a contest loss (I think) he babies his Pokemon and is very often seen treating them with Potions in background shots. He cares deeply about his Pokemon, and pushes himself very hard to do well with them.

That being said, he dislikes being the center of attention himself. He deflects compliments and avoids signing fan-made merchandise, and is clearly uneasy around the star-struck Brianna. While he always attempts to be graceful in his interactions with fans, he can be pretty scathing when it comes to coordinators like Harley and Jessie who dress up and make themselves part of the show. (He would NEVER have survived Sinnoh Coordination) Even when giving May the roses, he downplays the act and pretends they're for her Beautifly instead for the first one and a half, slowly abandoning the pretense without ever saying it out loud. And if we pretend him never discussing Solidad to May was intentional and not sloppy writing, Drew is someone who keeps people a bit at arms reach and avoids directly being friends with anyone who hasn't fully earned his respect.

So OVERALL I could absolutely see him having a falling out with a more Battle-focused family and leaving home with no intention of returning except to prove them wrong about Coordinating; very strong artsy son of a business-focused family energy, here, especially with Roselia. He picks a FLOWER, one that is both beautiful and dangerous, to be his partner when he leaves LaRousse. That feels spiteful and deliberate.

So that's why he's probably Ghetsis' long lost son, whose insistence of heading off on a Pokemon Journey that focuses more on peaceful displays of power than strictly combat would have influenced or been influenced by N, but the abandonment caused Ghetsis to crack down every harder on controlling his remaining child so that his company would have an heir and, failing that, fled to Unova to establish power in a different way entirely in a worst scenario Gozaburo Kaiba analogy. :)

#did I make that last paragraph up just to be funny? yes #am I implying Ghetsis adopted TWO boys just because they had green hair? also yes #pokemon drew #Pokemon anime

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the-firebird69 · 9 months ago

Text

Fisherman's village was in arrears the federal government was monitoring somebody came by and bought it and they have plans to fix it up those people are missing and we know who they are it is a group that's always wanted to buy it to make it better to repair it and make it more permanently repaired and not sick and definitely not as evil as this piece of s*** and he's horrendous I mean people don't want to be here with him there so he did something to these people and he's disguising himself as them and law enforcement is on to it

We hope they do something he's disgusting

Thor Freya

Olympus

Shut up you little baby you're asking me day and night so you can get mad then have your nuts and balls cut off and have you beat up your phone's broken and you shot so shut up Billy Hicks

Zues Hera

I'll tell you what I sort of get your point of view you're saying no you don't you're running around saying you have the laser light computer he says I'm saying I have that yes and it's not willing bills so you should be afraid and stuff

Trump

So you say it doesn't prove anything

Zues Hera

You know what m*********** this is what I'm saying I'm going to start harassing you okay I've been doing it and now I have stage 5 cancer so I guess it'll probably stop and you're saying what you're doing is killing yourself and you're trying to harass me and I'm getting rid of you but really you should go around and yell at people and tell them you have the laser light computer cuz I don't believe you do and even if you did who cares it's just another computer except it can take over cage you and run robots during a nuclear storm.

I got to tell you you're not listening what you're saying is I have the laser light computer and what you say is you're not listening I didn't say that so I say this you're implying I do and I said no I'm not you're f****** moron trying to remillard AKA Donald Trump what I'm saying is what you said and what you said is that you have it that's what I said like a newspaper reporter I'm just saying and stating what you said as a statement for many months and recently and now and you're trying to say that I said all sorts of other things and I did not and you're a liar. So I guess we have a disagreement and said no we don't have a disagreement you have a week brain and a weak mind and a weak memory... I guess I told you that I haven't and that's what I said and he says so what you told me something it's up to you to convince everyone else so they can blow your f****** brains out. Well I do see that and I'm not convincing them good I'm not convinced at all I don't think that you could do anything with it even if you had it but that's because I know that you're an amateur and a slime ball and a low life and a sleaze but a lot of people think you might or the cheeseman but cheeseman might because he has actual ability and he's exercising his brain instead of getting stage 5 cancer. I really take offense to it and that's great he says I want you to I'm insulting the s*** out of you to get you killed he says that and it's working and he likes it doesn't have a problem with it I do but he doesn't care he says I don't care I said it before get off the line you f****** homo you're using our line and having a safe stuff so we're going to cream you. Disgusting but really the kids got a point my own guy is doing it and we're getting ripped apart he's been taking tons of stuff so I have to go check he says thank you it's easier way to get at you and it works

Charlie Manson

Olympus we say to print now

And we do

Hera

A lot of people try and imitate you for how you're speaking with this dildo and they should because it's very basic he's trying to put words in your mouth he's trying to say you said stuff and people are hearing it straight right here so please print

Thor Freya

What it is is if he has this computer system laser light I want people to nail the son of a b**** and kill every one of them and take it if he doesn't have it people have to make damn sure he doesn't that's all I hate the piece of s*** I want him dead and he's open to his mouth and proven that it should probably happen

Zues Hera

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canmom · 2 years ago

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Animation Night 156 - THREE YEARS

I did it.

Happy birthday Animation Night, my weird little baby. You are now three years old.

Three years ago, I was watching the Japan Animator Expo. I was blown away and charmed and overwhelmed. So I was like, I have to make people experience Me! Me! Me! for themselves. And while I’m at it, everyone needs to absorb Aeon Flux. What if I were to... stream some cool weird animations on Twitch instead of my usual videogames?

Well, that was a hit!

So I did another week, pulling in package films like Robot Carnival. At some point I decided to try screening entire movies. My friends helped me research films I’d never heard of, and compiled two wonderful lists of animated music videos. At some point we switched from mostly short films to mostly movies. Runtimes got more and more ambitious. The writeups got stupidly elaborate. Every week I’d nerd out and research some new director or studio or subject.

Before I knew it, I was celebrating a whole year of that. And then another! And now, what do you know, it’s three. We have covered a truly startling cross-section of animated films from across space and time.

At this point it feels like if I missed a week, I’d die or something.

(You might be thinking, hold on, I thought you said the anniversary was next week? Well, I did a maths oops. I was trying to take into account the difference between ‘52 weeks’ and ‘365 days’ and I screwed up! No, 156 is the closest week to the anniversary. Except... actually all the previous anniversaries were actually celebrated a week early, since I was counting from a notional ‘Animation Night 0′. But uh... having established that tradition I’m not gonna break it.)

So, let’s go over a few highlights from the last year, as has become traditional. But what are we watching tonight? Well, previously we marked the occasion by rewatching some of my faves from the early days, like Aeon Flux, Tekkonkinkreet or Dahufa. This time, the spotlight is going back to the Japan Animator Expo, which was a thing that Hideaki Anno’s Studio Khara organised, pulling in an incredibly varied collection of short films from all sorts of different studios - a chance for some of the greatest animators to cut loose and make some concepts that would be too weird or elaborate to make normally. More on that in a bit!

So. The last year. The first week AN 105, we took a look at old school Imaishi at his most stylish in Dead Leaves, and a strange Japanese-French angle on LA in Mutafukaz. Fun movies, a promising start.

But the next week, I lost my friend Fall. It still makes no fucking sense, and it won’t ever. On Animation Night 106, I used this ritual to remember her by showing Haibane Renmei, an anime deeply important to her. It proved to be exactly what I needed to see at that time - one of the most truthful depictions of grief. I still miss Fall. I wish I could talk to her about everything that’s happened in the last year. (I’ve done my best to learn Japanese in part to honour her love of languages, but now I’m at the point I can somewhat hold a conversation, it hurts that I can’t actually talk to her in ‘her language’.)

The next few weeks, I kept this up despite everything. We visited the ingeniously grotesque ‘gekimation’ of Ujicha (AN108), visited Mamoru Hosoda twice to more or less charming effect (AN107, AN 113), recreated Studio Ghibli’s one-two punch of 1988 (AN 111), and had a look at some absolutely unique directors like Bill Plympton and Joann Sfar (AN 112, AN 114). I got to show @mogsk‘s original fansub of a film of Croatian animator Milan Blažeković (AN 116). On AN 117 I wrote another love letter to independent/web animation.

Short films would continue to have a presence all throughout - AN109 we checked out the latest Love Death and Robots and nearly every CalArts film of the year, and AN135 we did the same with a fantastic selection of Gobelins films as well as some unique animators like Poul Robertson and Pulpe. AN 141 took us out to China, with the glorious return of Shanghai Animation Film Studio, and the brilliant Mee’s Forest by Busifan of Dahufa fame, now with a fresh translation by the writers of Animation Obsessive.

On AN 119, I wrote a post about Richard Williams and The Thief and the Cobbler, telling the story of Williams’ lifelong project to try to live up to his ideal of Disney’s Nine Old Men, no matter the cost. That proved to be one of my post popular posts of the whole year and it’s definitely one of the bits of writing I’m happiest with.

The next week on AN 120 I was in America! We saw something just as technically ambitious in another way: Richard Linklater taking Bob Sabiston’s ‘rotoshop’ software and a great deal of animator sweat to portray the world of dreams, and then Philip K Dick’s tragic scifi version of his experiences at edge of society, caught between exploitative cops and the effects of heavy drug use. It’s a unique style, and an effective one. Another American week took us into the archives of Liquid Television, the incubator of Aeon Flux and Beavis and Butthead, to see what else they had in their vault (AN 121).

On AN 122, we had a look at The Hakkenden, an incredibly ambitious and varied OVA... if one that’s now mostly remembered only by sakuga fans. AN 125 took a look at the rest of Peter Chung’s career besides Aeon Flux, notably the delightfully strange Alexander Senki, which we’d revisit to finish a few weeks later, but also some of his franchise work like Riddick and Tomb Raider.

AN 127 took us to see the three adaptations of the works of ‘Project Itoh’, Hideo Kojima’s best friend and purveyor of sharp near-future scifi. Itoh died tragically young; these posthumous adaptations by three different studios each have a very distinctive style and are powerful films in their own right.

Halloweens are when we go and take a look at horror animation - they’re always memorable. On AN 129 we got to see more of the work of Ujicha, and dive into the baroque, slimy hellish dreamworld of Phil Tippett’s thirty-year magnum opus Mad God.

On AN 130, I got to have another headscratch at the old question of ‘what the hell is up with Hayao Miyazaki’, comparing his old film Porco Rosso against the most recent The Wind Rises, which both approach the tension between his pacifism and his love of old warplanes.

On AN 136 I took another leaf through Animation Obsessive to collate their writing on the Zagreb School into a film night. This unique group of animators put a unique spin on the UPA style, breaking all the supposed rules of animation timing.

Back in the day I wrote a monstrously long post about samurai to introduce an animation night on jidaigeki, Japanese historical stories. AN 137 returned to that subject, with three very different but all excellent films by Production I.G. and Toei.

AN138 was a chance to compare Pinocchios old and new, with del Toro’s new stop-motion interpretation making a hell of a splash. The new one was undeniably beautiful, but could its story hold together..?

On Animation Night 139, I had a look at the mighty realist animator and occasional director Hiroyuki Okiura. Okiura was one of Production I.G.’s secret weapons, renowned for his contributions to films like Ghost in the Shell, but we had a look at some of his more obscure works like Run, Melos. The next week (AN 140) I followed this up with a deep dive into Oshii’s ‘Kerberos Saga’, trying to figure out what Anpo man Mamoru Oshii was doing with all that nazi power armour. Of all the films in that sprawling story, Okiura’s Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade was certainly the most impactful and coherent, but Oshii’s bizarre pixilation film Tatsuguishi-Retsuden was a historical oddity I was glad to discover despite the wonky translation.

On Animation Night 143, I finally gave the Lupin III franchise its due. We took a look at some of the wonkier entries in the long history of Lupin, such as The Mystery of Mamo in which Lupin goes up against a weird blue immortal guy, and the recent attempt to reboot it in C.G. And we had another look at Takashi Koike’s dark, heightened take on Lupin, which is always... an experience.

The next week on AN144, I continued my efforts to get into Gundam by taking a look at Sunrise Studio 1′s overwhelming film duology Gundam Thunderbolt. Jazz and space battles, a nonstop orgy of robot violence, it was a ride.

On Animation Night 146, we commemorated Leiji Matsumoto, one of the most influential artists in the history of sci-fi anime, creator of such immortal characters as Captain Harlock. It was a chance to take a look at his whole career, even the early WWII comics, where we saw his fixation with the figure of a reluctant soldier on the wrong side. The next week (AN147) we saw the time that Daft Punk collaborated with Matsumoto and Toei to make a movie for their album - and some weeks later on AN152 we’d return to Captain Harlock again, with Shinji Aramaki’s odd CG interpretation.

Animation Night 148 was a long overdue return to the world of Korean animation, with a fascinating set of angles, from viciously dark drama to rural nostalgia to... kinda like yugioh? AN149 took things historical, looking at Toei’s adaptations of mythological stories from the earliest days of anime - which hold up really quite well.

Then on Animation Night 150 came the long-awaited day where I got to show everyone Masaaki Yuasa’s incredible film Inu-Oh. A blind monk and a cursed boy join together to tell the stories of the fallen in medieval glam rock. It’s such an expression of the joy of what animation can be, and honestly one of my favourite films, and I’m really glad everyone seemed to enjoy it as well.

After all that, were we running out of steam? Not at all! Animation Night 151 saw the release of Lackadaisy, showing that webcomic dorks on Discord can make animation to rival any big studio; Bani-Chan’s beautiful film for Toby Fox and Itoki Hana, and most of all, Studio Ponoc’s Modest Heroes, the effort of a bunch of former Ghibli staff to bring something new to anime. The third film Invisible, featuring the unbelievably sophisticated animation of Akihiko Yamashita, has to be seen to be believed.

And that almost brings us up to now! Animation Night 153-154 took us into a dive of an early work by the master of chuunibyō, Kinoko Nasu, with year-spanning nonlinear story of wizards and traumagirls and murder - as envisioned by the madly ambitious early Ufotable. And last week, I wrote a monster of a post covering the story of Kunihiko Ikuhara for AN 155 - the man launched from Sailor Moon to create such uniquely powerful works as Utena, Penguindrum, and Sarazanmai. Thanks for reading that, it means a lot that so many people did!

So... phew. Hell of a year.

I wasn’t sure I’d be able to bring new material every week for a third year running. I’m kind of amazed that I did - and it’s not like this is the dregs, we’re still finding things that amaze and delight. But that said, I am kinda running out of stuff to show. Animation Night will continue, but I’m going to start introducing more reruns - which I hope isn’t a bad thing because a whole lot of you joined quite recently so it will probably be new to you!

And with that in mind, it’s time to go watch one of the very first things I ever showed on this film night: The Japan Animator Expo.

If I was to write a full writeup on the Animator Expo, it would take so long that we’d have no time to actually watch the films. So with that in mind, here’s the short version.

So. Hideaki Anno (AN: if u don't know who she is get da hell out of here!) left the hot organisational mess that was Gainax to run his own studio Khara, their primary mission being to create the four-movie Rebuild of Evangelion series (see: AN 18, AN 66). But this mammoth project was not their only undertaking. In 2014, Anno and Khara organised a series of short films for the Tokyo International Film Festival, designed as a showcase of both new and old animators. The series was called the 日本アニメ（ーター）見本市 Nihon Anime(etā) Mihonichi or Japan Animator Expo. Each week, a new short would be released on the web.

The shorts vary incredibly wildly. Some of them are incredible technical flexes by some of the most experienced in the business; others rougher work by independent animators. Some tie in to existing franchises (mainly Eva), or function as pilots for later works; others are standalone. Some are music videos, some are short films, some blur the lines. Some use a relatively standard anime style, some are CG, some have a unique design aesthetic. It’s an incredibly varied and cool collection.

^a brief clip from the psychic bomb that is Me! Me! Me!

I will write up a full breakdown of every film in the animator expo and what’s interesting about who made each one at a later date. Tonight let’s just watch the thing - it’s not short! So Animation Night 156 will begin pretty much right now; movies will begin in 10-20 minutes once people are in so please get over to twitch.tv/canmom and watch for as long as you like! ^^

See you there!

#animation night

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fortuositywritings · 4 years ago

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I Said No (Wanda x R): Pt 6

Summary: You kissed Wanda. Where do you go from here? Camping. You go camping is where.

Challenge: Take a shot of preferred drink (water for you youngsters, stay hydrated) every time you read "s'mores".

Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4, Pt. 5

Wanda is beyond frustrated. It has been eight hours since you kissed her on the ferris wheel. Eight painful hours of rewinding the moment in her mind over and over again, wondering what it means because you haven’t said anything about it. You acted no different when you met back with everyone else. No different when Laura asked with a knowing smile how the view was from the top. No different on the car ride home nor when you said goodnight to her like you did to everyone else even if she had lingered behind a little longer in case you maybe wanted to say something while no one else was near.

It’s like it never even happened and now she’s wondering if she’s somehow messing with her own mind.

No, it definitely happened. Maybe there’s a reason. Maybe you’ll explain. Maybe she needs to sleep.

She can feel Nat stirring beside her, signaling her to close her eyes and feign sleep.

“I know you’re awake, Wanda. You’re going to have to do better than that,” Nat says. Wanda huffs. She should know better than try to pretend in front of the spy. “What’s wrong? You’ve been tossing and turning all night.”

Wanda doesn’t think Nat would like to hear the reason for her restlessness, but she also knows she can’t get away with lying, so she chooses to say, “I don’t think you would want to know.”

“Wanda,” Nat sighs, almost defeatedly, “I know I have my reservations about you and Y/N but I meant what I said. You are both adults who can make your own choices and if this is really something you both want then I’ll be here for you and her both. I know you might not believe this, but I’d much rather be here to help you prove me wrong than you two go and prove me right.”

Nat is lying on her back now staring at the ceiling waiting patiently for Wanda to say something. Wanda follows Nat’s lead and stares at the blank ceiling trying to get her thoughts in order. Wanda doesn’t like talking about her feelings. She’s one to figure things out on her own but if she doesn’t get answers soon, she is going to go insane. Nat knows Y/N well enough. Maybe she knows why Y/N acted so indifferent. So Wanda decides to trust Nat. “She kissed me.”

Wanda turns her head to see Nat’s expression. Nat’s face remains stoic. “Are you mad?” Wanda asks warily.

“No, but I am surprised,” Nat says with what Wanda could swear is amusement. “I didn’t think she had it in her to go against anything Clint or I say.”

Wanda smiles, “You don’t give her enough credit.”

“Maybe. I think I also give you too much credit. I thought it would be you to do it. You Maximoffs tend to be relentless until you get what you want.” Wanda chuckles acknowledging that sometimes she and her brother annoy the rest of the team until things go their way. “So she kissed you. What’s the problem?”

Wanda’s good mood comes back down as she falls back to reality. “I don’t know if there is a problem is the problem,” Wanda groans in frustration.

“You’ve lost me.”

Wanda can’t have this conversation lying down so she sits up. Nat does the same, giving Wanda her full attention. “It’s just, it’s so push and pull with her. She flirts and I flirt back. Then she says she can’t so I let it go, but later she pulls me in again but then reminds me we can only be friends only to kiss me at the fair. And now she’s acting like it didn’t even happen and it’s all so frustrating,” Wanda vents.

Nat takes a moment to process everything. “You have to keep in mind that Y/N doesn’t do the whole relationship thing. She tried it once and well it didn’t work out. Now when things get serious, she likes to ignore them or as I’m sure you’ve noticed she likes to joke her way out. So if you want to work this out, you’ll have to find a way to talk to her without her freaking out,” Nat advises.

The mention of a past relationship piques Wanda’s interest. “Y/N’s been in a relationship before? She’s never mentioned it.”

Nat smirks shaking her head, “Of course out of everything I said, that’s what you got. Tell me, have you told her about the robot boyfriend you had not too long ago?” Wanda looks down at the bedsheets in embarrassment. Nat wants to laugh but decides to give Wanda a break. “Look, if you really want to know you can ask Y/N later, okay? Now get some rest. You shouldn’t let guy, girl, or robot problems keep you from sleeping,” she finishes chuckling and gets up from the bed.

“Where are you off to?” Wanda still goes to lie down but looks up at Nat with tired eyes.

“Going to go for a hike with your girl,” Nat teases as she grabs her clothes and clothes for you.

“She’s not my girl,” Wanda says, tucking her head into her pillow to hide her blush but Nat still caught it. She also catches when Wanda mumbles, “yet.”

“And there’s that bratty Maximoff attitude. I see you’re feeling better now,” Nat laughs and leaves the room without giving Wanda the time to respond, not that Wanda was planning to because Nat was right. Wanda was feeling better now having talked it out with someone. She’ll do as Natasha said and ask you later. With that she closes her eyes and tries to get some sleep.

You didn’t fare too well last either, much like Wanda. You were trying so hard not to think about your kiss with Wanda, but it’s all you could think about. You don’t know what possessed you to do it, but you know you should not have done it. You should not have done it because now all you can think about is doing it again, about doing it again and letting her kiss you back. You shouldn’t have kissed her because you don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, including yourself. It’s happened to you once before and you’re scared because it is happening to you again.

So, you tried to play it cool. If you act like it was a friendly kiss that didn’t really mean anything, then Wanda will take the hint and when she inevitably goes, so will your feelings. No harm done. Friends kiss sometimes, right? At least that’s what you’ve been trying to convince yourself all night until you fell asleep.

You awaken from your two hours of Wanda-filled dreams by gym clothes smacking your face. You groan, “No, please. Not today, Nat. I barely got any sleep last night.”

“Oh, not you too,” she comments, rolling her eyes at you. You lift your head at that to look at her confused by what she meant. “Come on, some exercise will take your mind off whatever kept you up,” she continues with a knowing smile as she takes a sip of her coffee. You narrow your eyes at her but eventually give in. Maybe she’s right and it will help you take your mind off of Wanda for even a moment.

You still need the energy though, so you steal her coffee as you pass by her with your clothes in hand.

The one time you actually hoped Nat would be right, she wasn’t. You’re an hour into your hike and your brain has no vacancy for anything other than Wanda. You want to scream. Instead you push yourself harder. Another hour goes by and your head is still spinning, except this time it might also be because of the lack of oxygen reaching your brain. You go to lay on the dirty ground and attempt to catch your breath. Nat stops, not hearing your footsteps behind her.

She looks at you a little worried. You are heaving and you are sweaty and you are frustrated and it’s official; a pretty girl named Wanda Maximoff broke you. You start chuckling and soon a full resounding laugh comes out of you like you heard the funniest joke. Nat goes to sit by you warily but doesn’t say anything.

Your laughter dies, replaced by a solemn attitude. You sit up, your shoulder touching Nat’s. She still doesn’t say anything and you’re thankful for that. Without looking at her, you tell her earnestly, “I really like her.”

“Yeah, I know,” she sighs.

“She told you,” you say, no surprise in your voice. You were clued in this morning with Nat’s knowing smile. Nat hums in confirmation. “I know you and Clint warned me, but-”

“But we were wrong,” Nat cuts you off. That has you looking at her, your eyebrows raised in shock. You never thought you’d hear her admit being wrong so blatantly. She laughs, “Don’t get used to hearing that. Seriously though, you don’t need someone telling you what you can or cannot do. It wasn’t right for us to try. So, I’ll tell you what I told Wanda, whatever happens, I’ll be here if you need me.”

“Aww, look who’s taking accountability. Little Romanov is all grown up!” you joke. She rolls her eyes and nudges you saying, “I guess serious talk is over.”

She knows you too well. You smile anyway in appreciation. You both get up and start making your way back to the car. You feel lighter after that conversation. On your walk back, you begin to think, maybe you can give it a shot with Wanda now that it seems Nat and Clint are giving into the idea of you two together. You smile at the thought of you and Wanda together. You can make it work, you think. That is if you can allow trust in yourself to not hurt her and trust her not to do the same. But you have time to work on that.

When you reach the car, a daunting thought stops you. You don’t have time. “She’s leaving soon.”

Nat opening the car door simply says, “Yeah, guess you have to decide what you want to do quickly.”

“I’ve decided,” Clint says to everyone at breakfast. When you and Nat had gotten to the house, almost everyone was still asleep. You and Nat only saw Sam and Laura up in the kitchen. You’d guessed the fair wore everyone out yesterday. You and Nat helped Sam and Laura make breakfast. Well, Nat helped. You had been told to sit at the table and let the adults do the cooking. How were you meant to learn if they didn’t let you? At least Wanda had let you help.

Wanda, as if summoned by your thoughts, had appeared then. You saw her hesitate walking into the kitchen. You knew you messed up by ignoring what happened between the two of you. You gave her a smile and patted the seat next to you hoping to alleviate the tension. Luckily for you it seemed to do the trick. You two were back to your usual selves though you both knew you would have to talk about what happened at some point.

Everyone came downstairs one by one and when breakfast was ready, you all headed into the dining room to eat together. Everyone was having their own side conversations but they all hushed down when Clint spoke up saying he decided something.

“And what did you decide?” Laura asks him. You try hard not to laugh, recognizing the same tone she gave you two days ago when you told everyone you were going to the fair. Wanda sees you try to hide your amusement and pinches your side to get you to stop. Being ticklish, you nearly squeal but hold it in. By the way Wanda’s eyes spark up, you know she noticed. You give her a warning stare and mouth “no”.

“My sweet, beautiful wife,” Clint begins sweet talking your cousin, but you’re not paying too much attention as Wanda is trying to tickle your side discreetly with one hand and you are trying hard to keep it away. Across the table, Pietro is not paying attention to Clint either, instead watching you and Wanda interact. He feels so dumb for not noticing it before, but seeing you bring out the playfulness in Wanda, which he hadn’t seen in the longest time, you could make him feel like the dullest bulb in the box and he wouldn’t complain. All three of your attention is brought back to the subject at hand when Clint says, “I’ve decided we’re going camping today!”

The kids, Peter, Sam, and you let out a cheer. You squeeze Wanda’s hand that you managed to catch in yours. You don’t feel any excitement coming from her so you turn to her. She looks discontent at the thought of camping. “Oh, come on. Don’t say you don’t like camping.”

“Pietro and I have not gone camping but the thought of bugs and sleeping on the ground does not sound appealing,” she says tentatively.

“Thank you. She gets it,” your cousin says and Nat nods her head in agreement.

“Don’t listen to the two buzzkills. They never want to do anything.” You ignore the scoff and “excuse me” they give you to instead try to convince Wanda. “I promise it’s going to be fun,” you look into her eyes, practically pleading with her. She huffs, closes her eyes, and says, “Fine.”

“Yes! What about you Pietro?” you ask her brother though you already know where one twin goes the other follows. “Yeah, let’s see what camping is about. Maybe we can share a tent,” Pietro flirts throwing a wink your way, mostly teasing to see his sister’s reaction. You ignore his last comment and start chanting “Camping! Camping!” until Peter, Cooper, and Lila chant along. You don’t notice the glare Wanda throws her brother or said brother trying to hide his smirk.

You take two cars like you had yesterday. This time you ride with Nat, Sam, Wanda, and Peter. Cooper and Lila refused to let Pietro ride in Nat’s car, wanting him to ride with them. Nat is driving with Sam sitting in the passenger seat after having called shotgun. You sat in the middle between Peter and Wanda, having offered her the window seat. The ride to the lake where you usually went camping isn’t long, only about an hour and a half away, but you find yourself falling asleep twenty minutes in when Wanda rests her head on your shoulder to take a nap.

You and Wanda wake to the car door slamming shut. You both look out the window and see you’ve arrived and it had been Nat who stepped out of the car. From the car, you can see her stretch and take in the view with a disgruntled face.

“Well someone’s excited,” Sam said sarcastically, having noticed Nat’s attitude toward this trip also. All of you in the car watch her as she sprays a ton of bug repellant on herself while grumbling, “Stupid Clint. I should be relaxing somewhere with AC. But nooo, Mr. ‘I’ve decided we’re going camping’ and Ms. ‘I promise it’s gonna be fun’ want to go camping. Fun my ass.”

You can’t help but laugh when she mocks you and Clint, and everyone in the car joins in. Nat turns to glare at all of you through the windows. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Just don’t come crying to me when you can’t stop scratching your legs tomorrow. Now chop chop. We’ve got things to bring out.”

She leaves to help Laura out of the family car that just pulled up beside Nat’s own. She’s always so grumpy when you go camping. At the thought, a joke pops in your head that you can’t help but repeat out loud, “Yeah, she’s never really been a happy camper.”

“Did you just? Nice one!” Peter gives you a high five. Wanda and Sam shake their heads at you but you can see Wanda trying not to smile. Sam catches it and throws his head back groaning, “Bad puns? Really? I gotta start writing things down.” He pulls out his phone and goes to his notes to start a list. “Okay, confident but geeky, talk about Star Wars, bad jokes. Am I missing anything, Wanda?”

You and Peter look at her confused. You are especially intrigued to know what Wanda has to do with whatever the hell Sam is talking about when she flushes and kicks his seat. “We should go help now,” she says, opening the door and hurrying out. You follow behind asking, “What’s he talking about, Wanda?”

She ignores you. Peter reaches you and says, “I thought it was a good joke.”

Everyone helps out setting the tents, Clint wanting to get that out of the way first. No matter how much of a downer Nat can be on camping trips, you’re always glad she’s there or no tent would stand a chance holding upright. There are three sturdy tents set up a little ways away from the dock by the time you finish. Peter, the kids, the twins, and you run over to the dock in excitement, you pulling Wanda along with you. None of you are in the proper attire to jump in as Laura points out. “Hey, go put on your swim suits if you want to get in!” she shouts from where the rest are setting up everything for grilling.

You all turn back around to put on your swimwear. Best not to anger the pregnant lady. Before you can take a step forward, you feel like someone sweeps you up in their arms but it happens too fast to be sure and suddenly you are falling into the water. Everyone turns back around at the sound of you hitting the water. When your head springs from the water, you look for the culprit and see him smiling at you next to Sam. You do the only thing you can think of as revenge. You pretend to drown. “Help! I can’t-” you spit water everywhere waving your arms hysterically. You can hear footsteps running on the dock but ignore them to see Pietro’s reaction. His eyes widen and in a blink he is gone.

You hear a splash. Correction, you hear three different splashes. You knew one had to be Pietro and you’re right. He pulls you into him with one arm, saying, “I got you. I got you.”

You turn in his arm and say, “No, I got you.” He looks confused and you take the opportunity to wriggle loose and dunk his head in the water. The second and third splashes had come from Peter and Wanda, you note, when you hear them behind you say, “Y/N!” and “Are you okay?” You can’t answer because the sight of Pietro coming back up spluttering has you cracking up.

“I thought you couldn’t swim,” Peter says. This time you do answer, “I told you guys, I was learning on the job.”

Peter starts laughing then, swimming towards Pietro, who took it easy laughing as well. “She got you so good. You should have seen your face,” Peter chuckles. You grin, but that smile falls when you look at Wanda and find her glaring at you.The joy on your face morphs into confusion. You ask, “What’s wrong?”

“That wasn’t funny, Y/N.” She leaves you there with your mouth agape and heads to the shore without another word, swimming past Peter and Pietro who are basically water fighting. You float there for a second wondering what just happened. You don’t know what to do but you think you have to fix it somehow.

You swim after her. Pietro and Peter stop splashing water at each other, turning their bodies to look at you as you pass by them now able to touch the ground with your feet. Pietro teases, “Oooh, someone’s sleeping on the couch tonight.”

You wanted to point out that you have been sleeping on the couch the whole week and that technically you’ll be sleeping in a tent tonight. Instead you splash some water at him behind you and try to walk faster against the water to catch Wanda. When you are close enough, you reach out and pull on her wrist to get her to stop walking. You walk around her to stand face to face. She pulls her arm free from your hold and crosses her arms in front of her body looking everywhere but at you. You see her clenching her jaw in irritation and if you’re honest with yourself, you find this angry Wanda pretty attractive, but you remember she’s mad at you and you focus on the matter at hand.

Unbeknownst to you both, everyone’s watching. “Oh, she’s mad mad. Let’s see Y/N try to joke her way out of this one,” Sam says chuckling. Clint and Nat turn to him, Nat smirking and Clint chuckling. Laura is preoccupied putting sunscreen on the kids to be aware of what is going on.

“Oh, come on. Sure, Y/N is smooth but I know Wanda, and that girl is stubborn as hell,” Sam says confidently, remembering the time Wanda had not spoken to her brother for three days because he went to a party with some of the guys forgetting he was supposed to go to the movies with her.

“Want to bet?” Clint says.

“20, easy.” Sam shakes Clint’s hand. Off in the water, Peter and Pietro are having a similar conversation. Peter asks if Wanda is actually mad. Peter doesn’t live on the compound and has not had much interaction with Wanda, so it makes sense to Pietro why he would ask. Pietro laughs, “Oh, yes. One time I forgot to go to the movies with her and she did not speak with me for days. She has the same face now.”

You don’t really have a plan here, so you start the way you always do, using humor. “Wanda, are you actually mad? Am I in hot … water?” you flick some water for effect. She doesn’t find it amusing. She scoffs at you, but at least she’s looking at you now. “The water’s cold and jokes won’t get you out of this one.”

“We’ll just have to sea about that,” you try again. You didn’t think she could look more peeved, but look at you making the impossible happen. She says, “It’s a lake,” unamused, and she moves to go around you. So humor is a no go in this situation.

“What did I tell you,” Sam boasts, seeing Wanda look more irritated. “Easiest 20 dollars, I made.”

“Just wait,” Clint says. Laura goes to sit beside him and asks, “What’s happening?”

“Wanda is mad at Y/N. Sam bet Clint 20 dollars that Wanda will stay mad at her,” Nat explains. Suddenly, Sam doesn’t feel so confident when Laura shakes her head at him like he just got played and says, “Oh, Sam.”

“Okay, wait, wait, wait.” You step to the side making sure Wanda doesn’t leave. “I’m sorry. It was just a dumb way to get back at Pietro. I didn’t mean to upset you or freak you out,” you say, pulling her arms apart from where they are still crossed. “The last thing I want to do is make you mad or sad or any of the -ad’s.” You see her tense shoulders loosen up so you add, “You already know how I feel about Brads.”

You know you made the right choice when you hear her giggle at your last comment. You smile and tug on her arm. “So are we good? Or do I have to pull out the famous puppy dog eyes?” you jest and she gives you a real laugh when you actually go for the puppy dog eyes along with a pout. She shoves you playfully and you nearly stumble backwards but you hold onto her arms and pull yourself forward. In consequence you end up closer to each other and Wanda takes the opportunity to pull you into a hug.

“Just don’t do it again,” Wanda says. You wrap your arms around her waist, welcoming in her hug. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Now let’s go swimming,” you say quickly. She barely catches what you say before you pick her up and take off back in Peter and Pietro’s direction, Wanda laughing the whole way.

“What the hell was that?” Sam refuses to believe what he just saw.

“Easiest 20 dollars I ever made,” Clint chuckles.

“No, see she’s gotta have some kind of persuasion powers or something. Why isn’t that girl on the team? We could just give her a microphone before we go fight and have her convince the bad dudes to turn themselves in,” Sam says as he reluctantly takes out a twenty dollar bill and gives it to Clint.

Pietro is very much on the same boat as Sam. He decides he needs to learn your secrets. Peter says, “Maybe the movie she wanted to watch was really good?”

You have your fun in the water, especially when the kids and Sam join you deciding they want to play chicken fight. Cooper goes against Lila and despite her being younger and smaller, she manages to push Cooper off Sam’s shoulder. Pietro holds Sam up as he goes against Peter. Sam cheers when Peter falls backwards into the water. Most would be surprised by the win but it was mostly your fault, not having a good stance when trying to hold Peter on your shoulders.

You go to fight against Wanda next; she takes Sam’s place on Pietro’s shoulders and you sit on Sam’s shoulders. Cooper and Lila count down and when they yell go, you and Wanda are pushing each other’s shoulders. Wanda removes a hand from your shoulder and reaches for your stomach, but you catch her arm quickly. “Not today. You’re going down, Maximoff!”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that-” Wanda begins but doesn’t finish. You can feel her grip loosen on your shoulder when she gives you a look of befuddlement. “Actually, I don’t know your last name.” You smirk, taking this as your opportunity, and say, “Good. Now you can see how I felt.” Then you push her shoulder and she loses her balance. You can smell the victory, but the smell wafts away when you see what looks like a red mist coming from her and hurling towards you. You are practically flung from Sam’s shoulder into the water.

You resurface, spluttering water. You look around for the person of interest and head towards her when she gets up beside Pietro. “You cheated!” you yell. You’re not actually mad but you are a sore loser. She sees you coming toward her and Wanda can’t help but laugh at how silly you look trying to stomp over to her intimidatingly when you are moving so slowly against the water. “I thought you and I had agreed on no powers.”

“No, you said no more mind reading,” she corrects you with a pleased smile on her face.

“Well new rule, no powers in general and wipe that grin off your face, no one likes a smart-ass,” you huff. She replies whilst giving your cheek a poke, “Then wipe that pout off your face. No one likes a sore loser.” You shake your head to get her finger off your face, making her laugh again.

Pietro challenges Wanda next and before either of them have a chance to decide who will be carrying them, you dive under Wanda and between her legs, making her yelp in surprise as you lift her up on your shoulders. You hold on tight to her thighs and then reach for her arms to keep her steady. She giggles when she looks down not able to see you behind all the hair in your face. She helps you out and pulls your hair back out of your face. You look up at her, who keeps her hands on your head, and smile in thanks.

You look at Wanda’s opponent. Pietro, who is situated on Sam’s shoulders, is already looking at you like he’s thinking something over. Then he looks above you at Wanda and challenges, “If I win, you have to tell me what Y/N said to not make you angry anymore.”

Sam under him adds, “Yeah, I wanna know why I lost 20 dollars!” You give him a look of bewilderment. Wanda thinks it over and decides, “Okay, but if I win, Sam has to stop trying to be geeky like Y/N and Peter.” You pinch her thigh and Peter shouts “Hey!” at being called geeky. She ignores the two of you, continuing, “And you have to stop flirting with Y/N.”

“Why? Are you jealous, Wanda?” her brother baits her. Your ears perk up awaiting her response.

“No, you’re just annoying,” Wanda says trying to sound nonchalant, but Pietro knows her well. He continues badgering, “Well, what if Y/N likes it?”

You decide to partake in his teasing her and add, “Yeah, Wanda. What if I like it?” You look up at her with a cheeky smile and find her already looking down at you with an eyebrow raised and her tongue poking at her cheek, a look you feel says “you don’t want to test me”. Gut feelings shouldn’t be ignored, you think, so you look back to Pietro, “Sorry, I guess I don’t like it.” You follow with a dramatic whisper, “Totally jealous.” She tugs your hair in retaliation for your comment.

“So, is it a deal or not, ‘cause my shoulders are starting to hurt,” Sam says. The twins agree and you are thankful Sam got the ball rolling because you didn’t know how much longer you could hold up Wanda. Peter counts down this time. It’s over in less than 3 seconds. It seems Wanda likes to cheat. Everyone sees the red mist fading after Pietro falls into the water.

“That’s not fair. You used your powers. That’s cheating,” Pietro says when he comes back up and Sam nodding in agreement while Wanda defends herself saying they never said they couldn’t use powers. You tell Wanda to take a breath and close her nose and then fall backwards to get her off your shoulders. Another few minutes of swimming pass by before Clint yells for all of you to get out and go eat. You all head to the little cabin that has the restrooms and showers. Laura meets you there with towels. Those of you that jumped in the lake enter the showers with clothes and all to wash away the lake water and then head outside to rinse off.

Clint watches you hand your towel to Wanda for her to dry off first. You say something that makes Wanda let out a resonant laugh and in turn makes you smile vibrantly. He’s only ever seen you look at someone like that once. He grimaces at how that turned out. And Wanda he’s actually never seen act like this, so jubilant and lively, playfully rolling her eyes and pushing you away after you make a stupid joke. It brings a smile to his face despite the voice in the back of his head saying this can’t end well.

As everyone eats, they unintentionally group off to have different conversations. Clint, Sam, and Peter stand by the mini grill, Laura and Nat sit in some camping chairs complaining about the bugs, the kids are drawing things on the ground with a stick they found, and you, Wanda, and Pietro are sitting on other camping chairs.

Pietro and Wanda tell you stories of when they were children, both their eyes seem to almost glaze over as they reminisce on fond memories. Though their storytelling styles differ, Pietro with his animated gestures and Wanda with her attention for detail, they both have you captivated. You offer them a few stories of your own childhood, including the ones you found embarrassing like the three different times you called one teacher “mom” and the time you walked straight into a pole talking to your crush in middle school.

“So you weren’t always so smooth as I hear you are,” Wanda comments through her laughter.

“Nope, this awesome personality took years in the making,” you joke, making Wanda shake her head at you. Pietro comments, “Yeah, not everyone can be born with it like I was.”

Wanda laughs at this, which offends Pietro and soon the twins are bickering much to your amusement. Wanda recounts times Pietro was very much not so smooth with the ladies including things he’s done that caused certain girlfriends to leave him, Pietro obviously having excuses as to why something happened. He fires his shot at her when he tells her she can’t begin to talk about relationships when she’s only had one and it was 3D printed.

You tune them out after this due to shock and confusion. You’re shocked that Wanda’s only ever dated one person. You never really thought to ask about her exes because you thought it might bring up some bad memories knowing she had just gone through a breakup not so long ago. So you also find it shocking that she was so brazenly forward about wanting to try something with you if she doesn’t date like her brother does-like you do which you don’t even consider dating. You kind of want to smile thinking about it. You just know that she has people left and right who would kill for a chance to be with her, but she likes you. You are trying hard not to let it go to your head but can already feel your ego growing in size. The confusion comes from the 3D printed comment. You’ll have to ask about that later.

“-ask Y/N.” You bring your attention back to the conversation when hearing your name.

“She doesn’t do relationships. She’s too busy playing the game and winning,” Sam chuckles standing between the twins’ chairs. You hadn’t even noticed when he joined you three. You don’t know where they were in the conversation and don’t want to explain what you were thinking about if you ask them to repeat the question because you were distracted, so you decide to go along with Sam. You fake a laugh and say, “Yeah, tried it once and it wasn’t for me.”

“You? In a relationship?” You nod at both of Pietro’s questions. “With who?”

“Her name’s Skye and no, she doesn’t live here so don’t try going around town asking about her. I may not have known you for long, but I can just tell you’re both nosy.” You point at Pietro and Sam.

“Then don’t leave us wondering. What happened?” Sam asks. From the look in his eye, you know he won’t let it go. You don’t feel like recounting the details of how you were falling for someone who left you saying they couldn’t do relationships because they were distracting her from trying to do something important. It was a blow to the gut then; you’re sure your face would show it. You don’t want to be a drag.

“Nothing exciting. She told me relationships weren’t for her at the time,” you say nonchalantly, shrugging your shoulders like it doesn’t still hurt to think about.

“So you decided relationships weren’t for you,” Wanda speaks up, her stare hard on your profile like she’s trying to figure you out. You think she reads you too well already, there can’t be anything you hide that she won’t find.

“If you can’t beat them, join them,” you say, trying to look unfazed by it all. It seems to work because the guys move on, Sam joking saying that was the reason you partnered with Wanda after you lost the chicken fight. Wanda, however, is still staring at you, trying to decipher your words. You try not to focus on that. The guys laugh when you say that technically you won because Wanda cheated using her powers.

“So it is cheating! If you say you won, that means Sam and I won, so Sam can try to be geeky and I can flirt with you and you have to tell us how Wanda’s mood changed so fast,” Pietro says matter-of-factly. Now this gets Wanda to quit staring at you. Instead she turns her head to Pietro to give him a glare when he mentions flirting with you. You don’t know too much about Wanda’s powers but you would not be surprised if one was killing someone with a look; Pietro would be pulverized from being on the receiving end of her glare and you from how attractive you found it.

But now is not the time. As much as it hurts your ego that has now flown through the roof, you reach your foot over to loop your ankle around Wanda and say to Pietro, “Okay, then I didn’t win. It was a draw.” Wanda turns her attention back over to you when she feels your ankle against hers.

“Oh, come on! Just tell us how you did it,” Sam says.

“Guess she just likes me more than you two,” you offer with a cheeky smile. You miss Wanda blushing when Sam says, “That’s for sure.” You didn’t even catch that because the smell of marshmallows roasting called you. You look over Sam’s shoulder and see Clint helping Cooper and Lila make a s’more. You notice Peter talking to Nat and Laura sitting around a small makeshift fire pit starting to poke marshmallows on the ends of some steel sticks Clint must have bought. “Um, what the hell, guys? Was no one going to call us for s’mores?�� you yell more so towards your cousin.

Everyone turns to look at you but your group who look over to see the reason you were yelling. Your cousin gives you a well-job-done look when Lila says, “Ooo, Y/N said a bad word.” As your group heads over to the rest, you give your cousin your don’t-worry-I’ll-fix-it look you’ve given her countless times and tell Lila, “Yes, I did but you can’t. Not until you’re ten.”

“Y/N!” Both Clint and Laura yell while Nat actually tries to fix it and says, “Y/N was just being funny. Don’t listen to her.”

“But you say Y/N is never funny,” Cooper chimes in. Everyone stifles a laugh when you scoff. “That’s because your Aunt Nat wouldn’t know a joke if it bit her in the ass,” you say the last part directly looking at her. You hear Clint say something like “not this again” while most are saying “oooh” including the kids but they say it to point out you said another bad word.

“I don’t know about that one. Why don’t you bite mine and I’ll tell you?” Nat comes back at you and so do the oohs from everyone and a bonus “burn” from Sam. You reply, “No, thank you. Wouldn’t want to accidentally bite into the stick stuck up there.”

“DAMN!” Sam says and before Nat could respond from what you’re sure would be what ends you tonight, your cousin cuts in. “Enough! I thought I would be raising 3 children. I didn’t sign up for 5. Lila, don’t listen to Y/N about the bad words and if she and Aunt Nat keep arguing,” your cousin threatens, “neither will be having s’mores.”

Both your and Nat’s eyes go wide at that. One thing you and she will never argue about is how s’mores are one of the greatest contributions the US has given the world in terms of culinary delicacies.

“That got them quiet very fast. How good can s’mores be?” Pietro asks. You and Nat gasp so dramatically one would think Pietro insulted your mothers. “You’ve never had a s’more?” you ask both him and Wanda who shake their heads.

“Why was I never made aware of this?” Nat reprimands them as if it’s the twins’ fault they’ve never had s’mores. “Someone get these two a stick and some marshmallows ASAP,” Nat snaps, and you fetch four sticks and the bag of marshmallows, handing Nat, Pietro, and Wanda a stick each.

“Prepare to have your mind blown,” you say dramatically. Wanda finds your passion for s’mores adorable. She gives you a smile in thanks when you stick two marshmallows at the end of her stick. Pietro is excited to try s’mores after you and Nat having raved about them; he can’t help but wiggle the stick back and forth while you are trying to put some marshmallows on it. You and Nat are helping the twins make their first s’mores when Wanda asks, “Why don’t Lila and Cooper call you Aunt Y/N?”

“Because children recognize children,” Nat jests, but your cousin says her name as a warning anyway in case you two started up again. You call over Lila and Cooper for them to answer the question for you. Together they recite verbatim what you had told them to say when someone asked. “Aunt is for when you are old, boring, or married and Y/N is young, cool, and single.” You mouth along and give them a proud smile after.

“Exactly! Thank you, critters.” You give each a high five and they run back to their dad. Wanda looks impressed as do the rest. Nat, on the other hand, looks ready to argue again. “Excuse me, so which of the three am I, huh?”

“Well, you’re not married yet, so you take your pick between the other two choices.” Your eyes shimmer in merriment when she says nothing, opting to glare at you. Sam laughs and asks, “How long did it take them to remember that?”

“A whole summer two years ago. I told them I’d buy 4 pints of ice cream to whoever memorizes it first,” you explain. Everyone enjoys their s’mores, Pietro eating too many for his own good, as the sun disappears below the horizon. It’s not too long before Nat starts complaining about the bugs again. She’s cut off by her phone ringing. She stands off to the side to take the call. You joke around with Wanda saying it’s Bruce calling and you play out the conversation you think they’re having. Wanda laughs at your terrible attempt to mimic Nat and Bruce’s voices.

Nat comes back with news. “So, Rodgers can’t pick us up this weekend. He was called on a mission and had to take the jet, but Tony arranged for two agents named Bobby and Daisy to pick us up in 5 days.”

“You’re staying longer?” Lila asks and when Nat nods, she runs to hug Pietro cheering. You and Wanda look at each other after the news, both trying to see the other’s reaction. You give each other a shy smile. Wanda is happy to have more time with you. She was not ready to leave so soon not knowing when she would be able to see you next. You didn’t really know how you felt. You’re suddenly aware of your heart pounding aggressively against your chest. You were dreading your time with Wanda coming to a close but you were also somewhat prepared to hang on until the weekend without messing anything up. Hearing she’s staying for longer is a relief but you are not sure how long you can go without breaking and kissing her again, getting both your hopes up only for it to all come crashing down when she inevitably leaves.

Nat interrupts your internal turmoil by ways of complaining again about the bugs. “Okay, this is not gonna happen. Clint, let me see your keys.” Clint tosses her his car keys. She pulls the house key from the key ring and tosses the car keys back to Clint. “Cool, see you all at the house tomorrow. Whoever wants to sleep on an actual bed and not in this AC-less mosquito infested site, you are welcome to tag along.”

Laura stands up way too quickly for someone who is pregnant and says she’s going with Nat. Lila tags along, apparently not wanting to sleep here without her mom. “What a baby,” you say shaking your head as you watch Nat’s car’s lights disappear.

“Well at least now you’ll have more privacy in the tent,” Sam says, smirking at you and Wanda pointing out that you’ll be alone with Wanda in the tent, which you hadn’t put together until this moment. If your heart wasn’t beating like a drum before, it sure is trying to beat out of your chest now. You gulp at his insinuation. Maybe it isn’t too late to run after the car.

“Ew, I don’t want to hear anything,” Pietro says, Sam and surprisingly Clint agreeing by nodding their heads. Wanda rolls her eyes at him and Peter on the hand is blushing, trying not to look at you or Wanda like he’s already seen something. You’re suddenly aware that all of them are heading to their tents. The fire had been put out and all the leftover food had been put away sometime while you were watching Nat’s group drive away. Pietro and Peter share one tent and Sam, Clint, and Cooper another.

Wanda stands and looks down at you expectantly. You see she’s holding the lantern Lila always uses cause it’s in her favorite color of blue. “Do you plan to sleep outside?”

You roll your eyes and stand up to follow Wanda into your tent. There are three sleeping bags rolled out in front of you. “Guess we won’t be needing one of those,” Wanda comments behind you. The comment itself should make you nervous but what actually does it is the sound of her zipping the entrance closed. You gulp and can only let out a simple, “Mhm.”

If that alone had you acting this way, you didn’t want to find out what actually looking her way would do to you, so you quickly move, back hunching, to the back pack you brought. You kneel to comfortably search it. You gave her a better answer, clearing your throat. “Actually, Nat was right about the hard ground. You could use it as a double layer.”

“Or we could share it?” Wanda suggests. You stop digging in the bag as your breath catches. You reply, your voice an octave higher, “No, that-that’s okay.” You clear your throat when you notice your pitch and hope Wanda hadn’t. “I’m used to it, but I wouldn’t want to give you a bad impression of camping.” Wanda had. You are back to searching your bag for the sweats you had brought to sleep in.

Wanda notices you seem a little tense, having dug around that bag for awhile. She walks up to you and places a hand on your shoulder. Your body stiffens like a board under her hand. She has to ask, “Are you nervous?”

“Nervous? Pft, why would I be nervous?” You finally find your damn sweats. “I’ve done this a million times.” You are quick to change the subject when the only clothes apart from Nat’s you find beside your sweats are some pyjama shorts and a tank top. “Is this all you brought to sleep in?”

“I didn’t think we were going to be camping when I packed,” Wanda replies to your inquiry but she still has questions of her own she’d like answered. For example, why are you so nervous and what did the kiss yesterday mean for you two. “Y/N, we need to talk.”

“Luckily, Nat left her stuff so you can wear her clothes. Here.” You hand Wanda Nat’s sleepwear. She can obviously tell you were avoiding the conversation. “You can change. I’ll face the other way.” You turn around and change into your sweats. You would have to leave your top on not having planned for it to have gotten wet. You try not to let the sound of Wanda’s quick intake of breath make you blush knowing you didn’t give her any warning. You try really hard not to guess what Wanda is doing based on the sounds you’re hearing when you think she begins changing but your mind tends to wander especially when it comes to the girl behind you.

“I don’t see why you have to turn around. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of women undress.” The sound of clothes falling to the ground makes you gulp. You are never so nervous and it’s killing you. You try your hardest to find something funny to say but come up empty. Wanda is still waiting on a response, so you say facing a tent wall, “None of those women are you.”

Your words spark something in each of your heads- a decision. You decide to take a chance with Wanda because you do believe it in your heart. Wanda is not like any of the other women including Skye. Even though she has to leave in five days, you can make it work. Wanda, however, is reminded of how she isn’t like other women. She is reminded of what Nat had said before. She decides maybe Vision was right.

As much as you wish you could avoid a serious talk, you know you owe it to her. They do say the secret to a good relationship is open communication. The term relationship usually makes you want to run for the hills but when you think of it tied to Wanda, a flutter tickles your stomach. It’s a feeling you never thought you would welcome again and you have to suppress a smile.

“Okay, you can turn around now,” Wanda says. She notices you hiding a smile and she’s wondering what brought it on. Wanda watches you move Nat’s sleeping bag under the one meant for her and then settle into your own. Your kind consideration makes her smile weakly, thinking of all the things she’ll miss such as you opening doors for her or letting her have your blanket and remain sitting still for the sake of her comfort. You stare up at Wanda who you see is lost in thought but staring in your direction and finally manage to act like yourself. “I’m sure the view is nice from there, but I can assure you I look good from all angles,” you joke and pat her sleeping bag beside you.

The sound of your hand patting her sleeping bag brings her out of her head and when she processes what you said, she rolls her eyes at you. She grabs the lantern, setting it a little aways from both of you once she gets into her sleeping bag. Both of you turn onto your sides placing your hands under your heads to face one another. You stare at each other for a while before a question pops up in your head. You ask, “What did Pietro mean by 3D printed?”

“Sorry?” Wanda looks confused so you clarify. “When you and your brother were arguing, he said your last relationship was 3D printed.” A light bulb goes off in her head, now knowing you were referring to Vision. “That was just Pietro being a jerk,” Wanda says and then she goes on to explain her relationship with this synthetic being to you. You try really hard not to let the fact that this ex-boyfriend of hers quite literally has a connection to her because how were you supposed to compare to that.

You shake that off and scrape every corner of your mind for any trace of confidence and gather that to work up the nerve to say, “Off topic, or maybe on topic, but I feel like we need to talk about yesterday on the ferris wheel.”

Wanda sees you struggle trying to start a serious conversation. Trying not to have you freak out, as Natasha had implied would practically be impossible, Wanda meets you in the middle. She tries a bit of humor, something you are more comfortable with. “You mean our friendly date?” She adds in a chuckle so you would know she is kidding with you.

You smile, appreciating her trying to make it easier on you to talk to her. If she’s trying for you, you can try for her, you think. You sober up and a more serious expression falls upon your face. You want Wanda to know you mean everything you are about to say next. Wanda, however, misreads the intent behind your expression. What she sees is you finding the words to let her down slowly again. You had said relationships weren’t for you and talk of past flings proved that, so she took a page out of your book- if you can’t beat them, join them. She can play nonchalant too.

“Yeah, about that. I’m sorry I acted so weird after, like it didn’t happen. The truth is I tried to ignore it, but I can’t because it’s constantly replaying in my head. All I can think about is doing it again and I know I said we could only be friends, but-”

“You were right.” Wanda cuts you off early. “What?” you ask thoroughly confused. She continues, “When you said we should just be friends, you were right. It was silly of me to even suggest anything. I mean I’m leaving in five days, so what is the point right?” Wanda reasons with you and as you are about to rebut to say you can make it work, she continues, “I mean I’m probably not in the right headspace to start anything serious. Vision just broke up with me like a month ago.”

You are starting to feel like you were gathering up courage for no reason, Wanda not letting you speak and stepping on every butterfly that had flapped its wings in your stomach with every word she says. “I came here to take my mind off of it and like magic, you appeared at the door- the perfect distraction.”

That is the blow to the gut you thought you could forget. You thought Clint was the one with perfect aim but Wanda impresses you with her accuracy, choosing the exact word that kills the last bit of hope left in you. On her side of things, Wanda thinks she is doing the right thing even though it kills her to push aside her feelings. Wanda thinks she is sparing you from having to turn her down again and sparing her feelings from having to hear you reject her once more.

“So don’t worry about the fair. I can definitely say I was not thinking about Vision on the ferris wheel. You are most welcome to do it again anytime.” Wanda forces out a laugh. You didn’t think the sound that would always make you smile would ever make you want to cry. No, you were not going to cry about a girl, especially in front of said girl no less.

You are angry with yourself. Angry for being so silly as to think this wouldn’t happen. You really played yourself here believing she would be nothing like Skye. It’s not Wanda’s fault. You know this. Still, you can’t help but place some blame on her, her and her stunning smile and her witty remarks and her gorgeous hair and her soft hands that would hold yours or playfully punch you when you joke around. You are angry and upset, and there are normal ways to deal with those emotions. You could yell, you could cry, you could mope and eat all the ice cream you wish, you could even, god forbid, go for a run, but all of those options are too rational for someone with impulsive tendencies.

Instead, you blink away the tears that were forming, from anger or sadness you don’t know, and move exceptionally closer to Wanda reaching out to run your fingers through her hair. Her breath catches as she watches your eyes take in every inch of her face with a look she can’t quite place. Her heartbeat paces quickly when she catches your eyes glancing down to her lips and then coming back up to peer into her eyes.

“Friends kiss friends all the time, right?”

You hardly give Wanda any time to nod before you crash your lips onto hers. This time you give her time to respond and the second you feel her kissing you back, you push her to lie on her back.

If a distraction is what she wants, you’ll show her just how distracting you can be.

______________________________________________________________________

One eternity later... je suis retournée! Thank you kind person who asked about me. I’ve been busy with school stuff but I’m done and graduating in two days so I finally have time to get back to this. So next update will probably be Sunday or Monday. Two more chapters left.

Next chapter: ;) (aka writer struggles to describe things having no experience of doing such things)

Taglist: @madamevirgo @marvels-writings @gayarchnemissis @myperfectlovepoem @purplemeetsblue @magicallymaximoff @b0mbdotc0m @helloalycia @ironscarletwidowsoilder @cantcontroltheirfear @trikruismybitch @your-my-mission @imagine-reblog @fayhar @idek-5 @causeitswhatjesuswouldfreakingdo @bemyvitamin

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff x you

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