#'why was there a flashback in my own ass dream'

[f1angelz]

𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒆 — charles leclerc x f!reader

summary: the F1 off season has begun and Charles has gone off to New York along with his fellow drivers to enjoy their break. Little did he know, he would encounter a familiar face.

content warnings: slight angst? (during flashbacks)

this fic is inspired by chase atlantic’s song, paradise. go give it a listen while reading!

── .✦

Flashing lights, big signs, and the night life— the city that never sleeps.

It’s the off season, which meant that drivers finally get to unwind and reset before the new season begun.

Charles, along with several other drivers, decided to come back to New York to enjoy its amenities once again like they did a few years back.

He was a bit hesitant at first, knowing that he had to leave his dog Leo, but his brother Arthur offered to take care of him for the mean time.

And now Charles is in his shared hotel room with Pierre, both resting as they waited for the night to come. Lando was going to DJ at some club tonight, and obviously they wanted to come and support him.

Night quickly came and Pierre woke up from his nap. Upon checking his phone, it was already 9 pm. He leaves bed and looks at Charles who has also fallen asleep. “Mate, it’s already 9. We have to get there at 10.” He gives Charles a small nudge on the shoulder, before going to the bathroom to change his clothes.

Charles groans, “Do we really have to go?”

“Do you want Lando to kick your ass?” Pierre shouts from the bathroom, his mouth filled with toothpaste.

Pierre exits the bathroom in his changed clothes, which meant it was Charles’ turn to go.

Danny and Lando were waiting for both of them, since they rented a limo for all their destinations in New York. Eventually, they were now complete and left for the club.

They arrived after around an hour later and line was already crazy long, but they were able to skip the wait since they were with Lando, who was the main act for the night.

The loud beats and dancing lazers welcomed them— Charles squinted, unable to adjust his eyesight immediately. The four of them made their way through the crowd, but Lando parted ways and went to the stage side, since his set was next.

The rest on the other hand, snaked their way out of the crowd and finally found the bar to get their ‘pre-game’ drinks.

Charles hasn’t gone clubbing in a hot minute, probably because ever since Leo came into his life it’s all that he’s been busy about aside from racing.

But it’s good to unwind your gears for a moment, right? It’s the main reason why they went on this boys trip.

All three of them suddenly turned their attention when Lando’s name was introduced by hypeman, making the crowd go wild.

Lando’s set began and the three of them made their way to the dance floor, but a security member was quick to pull them away from the crowd and towards the DJ’s booth.

To say the least, three of them were shocked. But Lando gave them a smug smirk, “See, told you that I’d make this night fun.” and he did.

The crowd grew larger and by the minute, alcohol was slowly taking its effect. Not a single thought was going into Charles’ head, it was like his body had a mind of its own. The adrenaline was rushing to his whole body, his view of the crowd hyping him up even more.

But not until he saw a familiar figure among the crowd.

That hair, those eyes, and those lips.

Charles practically froze, processing what he saw. Did he see things right? Or was it the alcohol?

—

“I swear, one day I’ll be working in New York pursuing my dreams of becoming an author.” Y/N proclaims, biting on her croissant as she watched the sun slowly rise.

“And when that happens, your face will be all over those fancy LED screens in Times Square.” Charles presses a kiss on her forehead.

“You’ll be there for me, right?” She looks up at him, waiting for an answer.

“You know I will, chérie.”

—

Pierre looked over to Charles, realizing that he stopped dancing and had a frozen look on his face. He nudged his shoulder, “Comment ça va?”

Charles jolted, snapping out of his flashback. “Yeah.”

He wished that it was the alcohol.

The rest of the night was a blur, and Charles woke up that afternoon with the worst hangover possible. He slowly peeled his eyes open and the light pooled his eyes, causing him to groan.

Pierre turns to his direction, “Afternoon to you, mate.”

Charles sits up slowly, “What time is it?”

“It’s 3 PM.” Pierre answers.

He groans and buries his face in his hands, taking a deep break before standing up slowly. Unable to keep his balance, he holds onto the wall for support.

“How’d we get home?” Charles asked, watching his footsteps as he made his way to the bathroom.

“We called an Uber. You were so wasted last night, mate. You were drinking uncontrollably and talking about this girl. We didn’t understand who you were talking about, but you mentioned a name.” Pierre said while he filled up a glass with water, then handing it to Charles.

Charles, who was sipping from his glass, almost spat it out. “A name?”

“Yeah, I don’t remember what it was.”

Charles sighed.

He had an idea whose name he probably mentioned.

Charles shrugged and entered the bathroom to take a shower, getting rid of the remnants of the alcoholic scent that stuck to his skin.

Trying to puzzle the pieces of last night’s incident, something urged him to leave and find what would make his mind at ease.

Charles quickly changes his clothes and grabs his phone, coat, and wallet.

“I’m going out, mate. I’ll be back in a few hours. Maybe before dinner.”

Before Pierre could say anything, Charles was already out the door.

As soon as he left the hotel, he didn’t know where to go. He didn’t know how where he was going to look for this peace he needed.

But one thing is for sure— it was bugging him, like a broken record.

So he walked around Times Square for a few minutes to see where his feet would lead him, looking at the different flashing billboards.

One billboard caught his eye.

He stopped his footsteps and saw the same girl from last night.

The same girl.

—

“Y/N, I’m sorry please. Forgive me.” Charles begged, clinging onto her arm. “Don’t leave me, please.”

“You always say sorry, Charles. But you never really are.” Y/N forcibly tries to pull him away from her arm, carrying her suitcase towards the door.

“Chèrie, please, I’ll do better.”

“God knows that I’ve been patient, and all you’ve done is hurt me over and over again. Charles, I’m so, so tired. Let me go.” She clicks open the door knob of Charles’ apartment, taking a step outside.

Charles cried, still trying to get a hold of her.

“Please.. Please, Y/N.” He sobbed.

“Goodbye, Charles.” She walked away and closed the door, leaving him devastated.

—

It was her, Y/N, on the billboard— advertising her book signing event for her New York Times best selling book which happened to be on the same day.

Charles quickly took a picture of the address and called for a cab, telling the driver the destination.

He didn’t know what to feel, or what to do.

But he needed to see her, even just a glimpse.

Charles arrived at the event and fell in line, despite it reaching almost the end of the block.

He checked his phone for the time, 4:15 PM. The signing starts at 4:30.

He waited for a while, nervous about their possible encounter.

A sudden commotion was heard from near the entrance, a limousine pulled up to the front and body guards were surrounding the vehicle.

A man opened the door and revealed a woman, dressed in heels and a pair of beige slacks along with a white button down polo.

It really was her.

Charles really couldn’t believe his eyes. The girl who once aspired to become a best-selling author, was now already one. All of their memories together in the past all flashed before him.

And she walks down,

I noticed that she does it for real now

Y/N waved at her fans and greeted some of them, walking along the barricaded line and taking some pictures.

He was nervous, was she even going to recognize him?

When she got to where Charles was, they immediately locked eyes.

She remembered who he was— and like Charles, all her memories came flashing back.

“Charl—“ Before she could even finish his name, a fan pulled her to take a picture. But she looked back at Charles once more, confirming if it really was him.

And she talks loud,

She’s telling me what I wanna hear now

Is it real now?

How do I know for sure?

Needless to say, Charles was speechless— and Y/N was too.

── .✦

[morownic]

of fever dreams and jamais vu

And, of course, like all fever dreams, he had to wake himself up from it. (But this one? This one was real.)

warnings/tags: NSFW MDNI (non-graphic smut), non-ultraman AU, afab + fem pronouns

next — series masterlist · my other works · ao3

a/n: there were a lot of songs that i listened to while writing this (animals) and i do have a playlist of them but i would recommend color tv to listen while reading the flashback part bcs i did write this part with that song on repeat lol. enjoy!

All the world and his wife was scrutinizing Ken Sato the moment he stepped out of the airport and took his first deep breath in his homeland after twenty years. Of course, he welcomed and basked in the attention even if it suffocated him—quite literally, he must add, what with how the reporters and photographers were almost wrestling each other to get a scoop on him. What came after that only gave him a headache after a headache. He had to settle in his new residence, a mansion he bought just 15 minutes away from where his father lived, one that felt way too big for just one person and his supercomputer assistant. He finalized his contract with the Yomiuri Giants, followed by a meeting with all the staff members and a less-than-formal outing with his new teammates to some club in Shibuya he didn’t bother to remember the name of, where he was just constantly reminded that he was alone. The day after that, he had to deal with a hangover, a press conference, and an interview that ticked him off—Ami Wakita, was it?—before ending the night with a bar fight that left his shoulder aching.

Ken was sure he wouldn’t even have considered moving back to Japan nor would he have let his father somehow slip back into his life if it wasn’t for his mother.

With his injury, your father needs you, kiddo.

And so, Ken Sato began his baseball career in Japan with the Yomiuri Giants. He brought the team to their first victory of the season despite a lot of things: how the media was still on his ass about why he would leave his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers behind, how Coach Shimura seemed to have a chip on his shoulder when it came to him, how the pain in his own shoulder would stab and dull with every movement he made. The way his shoulder ached left him wondering if he should have treated it more seriously rather than seeing it as an inconvenience, perhaps put his pride aside to admit that yes, that drunken brawl was fucking stupid, and my shoulder fucking hurts. That was why he didn’t think much of it when Coach Shimura was talking about bringing in some new guy—something about a new performance analyst or whatever—as a matter of fact, he couldn’t care less.

So, imagine his surprise when he showed up to practice and saw a face he hadn’t seen since graduating college in the States. A face that made his breath hitch because one, she was just that beautiful, and two, he had no idea why she would be here. A face that was so familiar he almost threw up from shock, anger, guilt, longing. A face that contorted into contempt at the mere sight of him.

Ken Sato was sure of one thing at that moment.

He was completely, utterly, thoroughly fucked.

Ken Sato wasn’t always the famed world-class baseball star he turned out to be, and she wasn’t always the blunt and tight-lipped new analyst for the Yomiuri Giants she turned out to be.

He was a doe-eyed, lanky Japanese kid who had above average grades in his classes and showed promising results as a slugger for the baseball team. He spent most of his freshman year being stereotyped and made fun of for how he looked and talked, and it only changed because he had his growth spurt in sophomore year. Not only did he become a cleanup hitter by the end of the year, girls were suddenly giving him bedroom eyes in the hallway and guys tried to make up for their borderline bullying by letting him into their cliques. His friendships with them were shallow, really, because they would still poke fun at this old accent even after he had nearly perfected his American accent. Ken took it in stride only because he knew everyone would never make fun of him in baseball, not when he had practically put his school on the map by winning tens of titles and playing in the Senior League. And so, by the end of high school, Ken had baseball to thank for almost everything in his teenagehood.

She, on the other hand, came to high school smart and pretty. Where Ken stood out like a sore thumb, she stood out like a broken finger. Someone being academically gifted and socially relevant was practically unheard of at that time. She was among the top 10 students in freshman year, earned her spot as the leadoff hitter for the softball team in sophomore year, won a national debate championship in junior year, and passed 4 AP classes with flying colors in senior year. She, too, had put the school on the map, perhaps even more contributively than Ken did, so the teachers only kept their grievances for when she skipped class to smoke. Even so, everyone seemed to like her regardless of their cliques; she was always greeted in the hallways, was almost always invited to every party, and had gone out with all the popular students. She could have had it all, and whatever her secrets were, Ken and the other students in their school only knew her as the high school sweetheart, the kind you would see printed next to the definition of high school sweetheart itself.

Ken had seen her in passing during freshman year, but he never really talked to her until they shared three classes together in sophomore year. He remembered that she had approached him first during PE, suddenly speaking to him in fluent Japanese that he nearly had a whiplash. She told him that yes, I know you’re also Japanese and sorry I didn’t talk to you sooner, then babbled something about how she felt guilty that she had just been watching while others made fun of him. He didn’t think much of it at first, still surprised that one of the popular girls—if not the popular girl—in his year was actually talking to him. But then, he found himself understanding every word she said whenever she talked in Japanese and replying to whatever she was saying in English; he found himself exchanging notes and numbers with her in math class; he found himself going to the baseball field with her during lunch breaks and seeing who could hit the farthest. He was somehow roped into bringing her home after he offhandedly mentioned her to his mother, and then, they somehow became best friends. He would cover for her whenever she skipped class to smoke, much to his dismay, and she would introduce him to other social circles outside his baseball team, where he found his first girlfriend—who, admittedly, broke up with him because the way he spoke about his “best friend” was laced with more adoration than the first kiss he had with her. He would wait until their practice sessions were over and drive her home, where they would spend at least three hours talking on her porch before he went home, and she would show up to his games with an obnoxious handmade banner that read “KEN SATO THE G.O.A.T,” cheering the loudest whenever he hit a home run. He would pick her up from anywhere almost every time she asked, even if he had to get himself out of bed at two in the morning, and she would hang out at his place every other weekend, bringing fruit baskets and takeouts for his mother. It was somewhat domestic, how she settled in his apartment (and his life) whenever she came over. Ken almost always had to ground himself because his brain would feed him thoughts of a future with her, and his heart would beat so hard it threatened to break out of his ribcage.

But they were just best friends, he thought and said to his friends whenever they asked him about her. Best friends who happened to suck off, eat out, and eat each other’s faces pretty regularly. He found it funny at first, really; one time, their classmates told her that she just wasn’t human, what with how she juggled school and being popular. She only laughed it off, but he thought of how right they were when she came over while he was home alone at the end of sophomore year. There was no way the girl kneeling between his legs was fucking human. Not with that tongue of hers. Not with the way she looked up and batted her eyelashes at him. Not with how she literally gulped down his load in one go and played Tekken on his console as if she hadn’t just given him the best head of his life. She quite literally sucked the soul out of him that day, and he never had another head like that ever since. Even as they started hooking up—strictly platonic, she said, and he just went along with whatever she wanted as long as it was with her—that was still the stuff of his wet dreams, and it remained that way even long after they never saw each other again.

“Do you think we’ll be friends forever?”

The question caught Ken off-guard not only because it broke the comfortable silence between them, but also the feelings it evoked. Where is she going with this? he thought. A frown was etched on his face as he turned to look at her. Under the soft glow of the star projector in her room, she laid on her back, eyes tracing the constellations that danced across the ceiling. Her breathing was far more steady than his, chest rising and falling slowly behind the thin fabric of his shirt. Her hair fanned out around her on the pillow, framing her face as if it was her halo. At that time, her expression was probably the most serene and somber he had ever seen. She’s beautiful, he said to himself, and he thought it wouldn’t be so bad to keep a picture of this moment in his head for his selfish reminiscing should they ever stop being friends. (He hardly thought she meant that they could be more than friends, and he didn’t want to entertain the thought of not having her in his life.)

“Yeah?” He answered and mentally cursed himself for sounding so unsure. After clearing his throat, he corrected himself: “I mean, yeah, why not?”

There was no way she hadn’t seen the way he was staring at her from the corner of her eye. Even if she did, she didn’t turn her head to face him and only hummed in response to his answer. A look of contemplation appeared on her face as she kept quiet for nearly another minute. Ken swore it felt like an eternity.

“What if–” She sighed. “What if we fuck up and hurt each other? What then?”

Ken somehow knew that she already knew that there was no way she could ever fuck him up. (She already did, anyway, literally and figuratively.) Not with how he looked at her, not with how he reached out to hold her hand, not with how he promptly turned his head to face the ceiling once she was turning to look at him. Perhaps, what she was looking for was the reassurance that he wouldn’t fuck her up. He squeezed her hand when the thought crossed his mind.

“I’ll still be your friend anyways,” he said, softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

A chuckle left her lips then. She didn’t let go of his hand as she moved to hover over him, replacing the twinkling manmade constellations in his sight. (He thought she was brighter than any star in the sky, anyway.) He raised his brow when he saw the mischievous glint in her eyes as she leaned down, her lips nearly closing in on his.

The grin she had on her face was enough to tell him she was up to no good. “Are you a masochist?”

“You–seriously?”

He might’ve groaned from annoyance, but the way her body shook with laughter on top of him was enough to make that godawful warmth bloom in his chest. He pulled her in for a kiss, though he wasn’t sure if it was to shut her up or if he just wanted to, and he thought that if anyone were to see them like this, no one would ever believe him if he told them that they were just best friends. Hell, everyone had enough of his answer whenever they asked him about it at school, and he was even picked on again at some point—but not for how he looked or talked. No, he was picked on for being her “best friend” because no matter how many people had tried to make her theirs, she kept coming back to him. But then they would find Ken making out with one of the cheerleaders under the bleachers and her sucking off some guy from the football team at some senior’s house party. It was confusing for everyone, but even more so for Ken, because every time she asked him to pick her up from God-knows-where, he would see red when she saw her huffing out a smoke, disheveled because of someone who was not him.

And, of course, like all fever dreams, he had to wake himself up from it.

“–Sato.”

Two things snapped Ken out of his trance then. First, it was the voice that called out to him, then it was the pain in his shoulder. Ken found himself standing on the batter box in Tokyo Dome, a bat in his hand, and his breath was ragged. The seats were empty, the sky was turning dark, and then he remembered that he was at practice. He was at practice, not on the porch at her old house in Los Angeles holding her close as she cried over that one guy who supposedly broke her heart. He was at practice, not at the frat party where he met her again for the first time after months of no contact and saw her giggling on the lap of some jock. He was at practice, not in front of the diner they used to go to almost every other day where he said awful things he didn’t mean and maybe, just maybe, that was the reason why she had left for Japan the next day. (She had waited for him to come to the airport, to at least apologize, but he never came. He had turned off his phone during practice.)

Ken sighed and lowered his bat, hissing when he rolled his left shoulder. He steadied his breathing and regained his composure before his eyes flickered to the field. His teammates were waiting for him to hit another ball so they could continue their fielding practice. Then, he turned to the one in front of him—Yoshida, right?—whose voice pulled him out of his train of thought. Yoshida raised his brow when he locked eyes with Ken.

“Are you distracted or something?”

It was his turn to frown. “What?”

“Are you distracted by the new girl or something? You kept looking back at the dugout earlier.”

Ken almost dropped his bat when he heard that, his neck turning so quickly that he was surprised he didn’t give himself a whiplash. “What?”

Yoshida nodded in the direction of the dugout, and Ken turned to look. His grip around the bat tightened as his eyes darted towards the dugout. Her back was facing the field, leaning against the metal fence that divided the field and the dugout. Her arms held a clipboard to her chest, and he could only see her side profile from where he was standing as she spoke with Coach Shimura. The two of them looked familiar already—he really didn’t know how she did it, given that he was still at odds with the coach, but it was so her, he thought, the way she could get along with all the people he couldn’t—as Coach Shimura was talking more expressively with her than he had ever seen him. She was nodding to whatever Coach Shimura was talking about with a smile on her face, one that didn’t reach her eyes, and he berated himself because why and how the fuck could you tell from this distance? Ken’s lips parted as Coach Shimura’s expression changed and nodded in his direction, and his breath hitched as he saw her turning slightly towards him.

Ken’s heart dropped as the smile on her face faltered, replaced by an unimpressed look and an air of disdain that made him shiver. The world seemed to stop right then and there; even when she looked at him as if he was the reason behind her suffering—which was probably true, to an extent—he couldn’t help but think of how beautiful she was. Even with the hint of blood between her slightly cracked lips and the dark circles under her eyes that she didn’t bother to hide with some concealer. Even with how she looked even paler than she was when they were still in Los Angeles and how her cheekbones seemed to protrude and her cheeks seemed more hollow. She was beautiful, yet she contrasted her old self, which bothered him so much that dread started to pool in his stomach. Ken knew her and would even say he knew too much of her. But, right at that moment, it was as if he was looking straight into a stranger’s eyes and not the pair he had fallen in love with, as if he was looking at the stuff of his nightmares and not the girl of his dreams, as if he had never known her at all.

(What if it was true?)

Ken pinched his arm, hard, and winced when the pain seared through his body and kickstarted another throbbing ache in his shoulder. None of the stuff of his fever dreams, the dread and peculiarity of it, should have been real. This was real. So, if this was real, then God must not only be fucking joking, but He must’ve been thoroughly fucking evil to be putting him through this.

“Oh, fuck.”

[riririnnnn]

Warning: Anime Spoilers.

I think about this panel a lot:

And this one too:

I don't understand why people think that Sae changed after Spain. I mean, that boy has always been blunt and rude. After calling Rin incredible the day the younger Itoshi barged into his soccer match, Sae never actually praised Rin; that boy literally said, "If it's you, then you can be the best after me." He had always criticised Rin's play/goals and was never really like, "Ooh, my cute patootie lil otouto."

Also, this:

Imagine coming back home after 4 years, and your little brother accuses you of changing. Further, this was the first time, when Rin talked back to his Nii-chan; we need to get Sae's perspective of this flashback too.

Sae literally had his suitcase with him when he came to that field; that boy's ass landed and the first thing he did is to go to his little brother.

And:

Of course, Sae would bet like this. Rin himself said, "Nii-chan doesn't like losing." Also, is that just drawing style or those are eyebags/dark circles under Sae's eyes? And Rin literally pointed out, "Have you lost weight?" It's clearly visible that whatever happened in Spain, Sae wasn't in his happiest state.

It also wasn't like Sae jumped onto Rin on sight. The older Itoshi had tried to explain how different is the world stage and lalalalala, it was Rin himself who was acting naïve and immature, and didn't give Sae proper time to explain himself.

But this:

I agree is really harsh, but if we take in account of the fact that Sae has been a rude person from the start, then what he said isn't really wrong. Rin's inner monologue was literally, "Can I be cool like Nii-chan too?" when he barged into the soccer match.

It isn't/wasn't completely Sae's fault for Rin to idolise him.

Also, I don't blame Sae for hating Japan's soccer/football (whatever you call it) because imagine being treated as a nation's treasure at the age of 13 years old, only to find that you ain't shit in the world (as pointed out by Sendou, Sae is only a reserve in Royale Madrid/Re Al).

To sum everything up, I do think that Sae got a really harsh slap from reality in Spain, and he really didn't want Rin to go through the same. That's why he tried to explain Rin about everything only to realise that Rin's main aim was never to be the best striker in the world, it was just to be with his Nii-chan, and it irked Sae. After whatever happened in Spain, Sae must've made some kind of safe place in Rin that he could see his dream come true through his younger brother, but Rin wasn't heading to that direction especially when he couldn't even defeat Sae and there are, as stated by Sae himself, better player in the whole world than him— must've been a hard hit for Sae to know that his dreams have really ended; maybe that's why he was so interested in Blue Lock? He could finally see someone who could make his dream be true after all; maybe that's why he is so obsessed with passing to the best striker in world (I'm referring to his wish to make the best pass to the best striker in the world if it were to be his last day on Earth) because he is seeing his own dream in that person.

.

.

.

This post might seem jumbled and it is jumbled, but it's my first time trying to make some kind of theory, so please be kind.

Edit: Sae isn't a reserve in Royale Madri/Re Al. He is a second division player. Sorry, I misread some things.

[respectthepetty]

The people at Idol Factory earn their paychecks AND deserve raises!

Who else is giving me great shots like above or of Kim not being seen as an actual person in the first half of episode four?

She doesn't even see herself!

She never takes a second to focus on herself.

Because even as she leaves, all her focus is on Wan, which is where her focus has always been!

Even homeboy's drone didn't see Kim, but it was great that he was introduced much MUCH higher than her since it seems like he owns the resort, the bar, the gallery, and who even knows what else.

Even when Kim is confronted with some hard truths about Wan never being able to follow through with her promises, KIM STILL DOESN'T LOOK IN THE MIRROR! She is not having a Hot Girl Summer, yet refuses to *reflect* on the reasons why she is not living her best life.

Thanks to her buddy, she getS some clarity, but per usual, Idol Factory puts the focus back on funky sex, and I love that for us.

But while Kim refuses to have a Come to Jesus moment, Wan is being confronted with some hard truths of her own, like her mama gotta a drinking problem.

But her mother is quick to slap people in her defense, so she gets my approval. Sidenote: They go to IDF = Idol Factory School where the the motto is "Knowledge Make Dream Come True" and once they realize they love each other, their dreams will come true . . . literally. *gasp*

Back to the drinking problems! Kim choosing a blue drink when that is one of Wan's colors as she was missing her girl was *chef's kiss*

But the fact that she went from blue light to pink light as she decided to drink the red strawberry margarita instead of her original drink when one of her colors is pink WAS EVEN BETTER since she is starting to pick herself over Wan! This is how you get nominated for a Colors Award.

Also, I do not care how many times Heng plays the disruptor, I will always enjoy him, and I especially like him as Mawin because he immediately appreciates Kim the way she deserves with her tiny lies about not being drunk.

But back to the ladies and colors! As I thought, in the dream world, Wan is in black.

And Kim shows up in white.

But I liked the fireworks showing "Sorry" yet Kim not taking the apology like she usually does.

Because even though they have been through a lot, and Wan used to show up for her, now Wan is all about herself.

I did enjoy the flashback scenes in general since they are wearing crowns with blue and pink jewels.

I'm making no comment about the Pink Box though.

But I am going to state that this blue candy cane dress is fugly just like Wan's wild ass decision to tell Mawin to NOT hire Kim.

However, Kim is in a floral print and they're standing next to Anastasia Balabina's painting of the Redhead Girl and Butterflies, so Kim is ready to spring from her cocoon and be the beautiful butterfly she was meant to be.

So the only butterflies Wan will be left with are the ones on her ears.

And her body

Because the color-coded girl she loves is about to spread her wings and FLY AWAY!

Alexa, play Mariah Carey's "Butterfly"!

[kaontic]

Oh my actual Lord, the dream’s come true. O_O

*Kicks down door* OH THUNDERCRACKEEER~

BUSTER’S ‘BOUT TO GETTA NEW FRIEEEND~ (´∀`)//🐱

He’s got a pet human now too, I guess—

Why my dumb human ass, with my crappy art, could almost wish upon an evil shootin’ star, that it was me instead “What?” What—? 😶

Alright. Now we just need Skywarp to get one. Or two. Or a few. Someday. Maybe.

Um—

*Whispers* Psst, hey, Megs, I don’t wanna be that betch—I make unintentional mistakes I gotta edit for my sanity all the time—but, it’s “What do you say?”. That’s probably why they’re givin’ ya looks.

I mean, that’s pretty accurate Megatron dialogue ngl. Like this is the same guy that said in G1 “Power flows to the one who knows how”, as if that was an actual full sentence.

Ik, that’s beside the point of what the frag’s goin’ on, so, “respectfully” (with heavy emphasis on the quotation marks)—

Can ya just…rip out your own chain-smoker soundin’ aft voice box, and shove it? Pretty please? Mr. Geneva Suggestions?

“YoU kNoW tHe LiMiTs Of My PoWeR! i NeEd SoMeOnE tO wIElD mE!”

“But my leader, you have your fusion cannon—”

“Do NoT qUeStIoN mE sTaRsCrEaM!”

Unless Skybound’s gonna give us a ���good” aft explanation for this, like some Cybertronian gunformer curse we dunno about yet (given the serious corruption goin’ on, from the looks of it, with Star and Op)—

I would say more about Megs’ gun mode as an effective concept, but I’ll save all that for another post.

Instead I’ll just spout out this scrap to review:

Most explanations are welcome for why villains do what they do, even if it’s just “Cuz I’m evil”. 😈

(TF One Sentinel tho…yeah. Gotta make a post regarding him as well)

Here, they wanna save their home planet as energy sources dwindle.

Ok, so resources. Got it. Yes. #1 reason why wars are fought, and wars need soldiers to fuel ‘em. Enemies turned potential recruits who are prisoners don’t comply? Well, logically speaking then— 🤡

Or maybe, just maybe—this might sound crazy, but—how about not start a whole goddamn war that will worsen this crisis, Megs?

How about not turn fellow Cybertronians into the worst versions of themselves, and delete their innocence? Cuz great, now ya created a monster that will betray ya!

Ask yourself: What the frag are you fighting for?

Cuz you’re just makin’ the problem worse, mate.

At least Jetfire tried to look beyond Cybertron peacefully for a solution, which despite how well that went, sounded a helluva lot better than exhaustive in-fighting, but no, frag exploration.

Frag trading with “filthy” organic alien species.

Frag experimenting for new sources of energy (lookin’ at you, Shockwave. Now I know your aft was enabled).

Frag examining Cybertron’s history for answers.

Frag speaking with Optimus like a civilized individual.

Population control’s where it’s at, apparently. ಠ_ಠ)

Jesus, so many questions NOT ENOUGH DEETS. (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

WE NEED MORE FLASHBACKS STAT.

Skybound Megs so far, is coming off as a guy who, when the worst happens, will just use the situation/impending apocalypse to his advantage to do terrible stuff, and get away with it through all the chaos.

Furthermore, it’s like we’re watching him live out some sick fantasy of his while he’s all “This is for the greater good of Cybertron!”. Like no bitch! There’s other options! You have no excuse!

You wanna be a pred, who kills for pleasure and power, while demanding to share that experience with others with or without their consent.

There. That’s what kept me up last issue.

Well, this is one moral of this ongoing story, and life advice I guess:

BEWARE THE F*CKIN’ NICE ONES!

For they may be the worst of all. Great…

*Proceeds to pollute my sketchbook with more Megatron art cuz I am indeed that betch*

[captain-n-crunchies]

My Baby Boo

Yan! Ghost x Black Hoochie mam Reader

( Inspo for makeup and how I beileve she'll kinda look but it just inspo)

Moving from Memphis to the quite little city of Nothern Montana was a pretty start, from my own mama judging my dreams of being a biochemical engineer to my daddy being my only hero against my mama wrath of " All you going to be is pregnant and 23 Y/n! Just get a regular job a nurse or fast-food worker and quit this science shit!" My mama wanted to be a doctor since she was a kid, till she fooled around with my daddy and fucked it up! Now I gotta be the one to get all her anger! I mean if you told 15-year-old me I'd have a Master's degree of Biochemistry with a paid internship!? AND I moved to across the states to achieve my dream only at 25? I wouldn't believe you.

I've being living in the quite neighborhood for a good 3 months before all this shit happened let's go from the day I moved in.

*Flashback*

" Alrighty ma'am you all set, need anything?"

" Nah I'm but, thank you for helping me mister?

" Fred, sugar just calls me Fred"

" Well thank you Fred... You can gon on now"

I guess he was taken backed he just walked away no bye or nothing! His rude ass. Walking into my house I begin to stay unpacking, my bed was a little late gettin here buttt I got my living room and kitchen down so far when I heard a thud

*THUD*

" Now what the-"

*THUD THUD*

" Oh hell nah, MISTER FRED!"

I jog out the house to see Fred sitting on his rocking chair, I asked him about the house and hearing hard ass thuds and his old ass tells me it probably the squirrels scratching.

" Why you ain't tell me that when buying the house?

" Because it wasn't important then! Look the squirrels like peanut butter bye some and put it out to lead them out na"

I just look at him and I turn, and I thought I saw eyes peeking at me, but I just shake it off, and I ask him just to check it out. He heads to his garage for a ladder and trails me to my house only looking at my ass though, fuckin pervert.

" Hey! Go up there and see about the squirrels!"

" Huh- Ok ok I'm goin I'm goin...reminds me of Hellen.."

He climbs up the ladder and knocks on the wood

" Hm, Hey there girlie there ain't no holes for no squirrels up here

" What you mean? I heard a thud twice by now they probably in the house"

" No siree they aint nowhere without a way to get out, you just heard the house settle I'm guessin"

That wasn't no house settling, a house settling is like a creak not a loud ass thud like I dropped something! I see Fred old ass walk back into his house and I just go inside checking every but of the house, strange enough I set my phone down on the counter and it missing? I found it in the living room but I haven't been in there yet?

She's gorgeous... she a doll even! Pretty skin, her teeth glimmers with jewels and that voice so silky yet firm, she looks like Meleesa... my dear! My darling has come back to reach me from the heavens! Has God forsaken my body to never touch her again? To see her walk around for other to touch the skin of deity for everyone to be able to talk to her without a worry she runs and screams from me? I'll make her minds for she was my golden egg, my baby... I hope she still yearns for me in my state.

It's been a hot minute since I heard something and I finally have my place set, it a tiny bedroom but my vanity and bed fills it perfectly! It's about 9 something and I'm watching some movie on Netflix when I feel a chill, getting up to turn my heat on a see a note on my counter

" My baby, has been a long time since I see that smile of your, heard the soften voice, and smelled your devious scent. I see how you look very different from our last meeting, you've filled up quite nicely; later in the night I will watch you again, I will smell your scent and keep wanting to touch you like I once did. Til I met you again- Your Boo"

What type of mostly ghostly bullshit is going on! I look around and feel another chill as I turn on the heat and turn all all the light, fuck my bill I'll be cool! Running into my room I lock my door and turn on all my light and even the tv, I sit in my bed in my shorts and cami and I ask my friend if she can call, I don't know why I keep her around but she answer and I tell her everything including how Fred didnt tell me about the house.

" Girl I told you don't move nowhere that didn't have niggas til the 1700s!'

" Thats not important! What is that I got some Micheal Myers nigga trying get me!"

" Did it say who it was from?"

" No, it was signed My boo, ian have my boyfriend since FAMU"

" He funny at least"

" Now what so funny about me getting stalked?"

" He signed it my boo, and he's a ghost if you didn't see nobody and what ghost say? Boo! He funny!"

I stare at my phone, and I hang up NOT in the mood. I turn on some music and I just distract myself fixing my hair, painting my toes, anything when I heard water running in my bathroom, walking in there I see the mirror fogs with a message, ' She's quite clever dearest, maybe you should listen to your friends' words- Your Boo'

" Ok...OK I GET IT!" I yell getting anxious that some freaky ass ghost is calling me his dearest! MY DADDY DONT EVEN DO THAT MUCH! With this ghost here I run other the bathroom and lock the door to my room, taking the key and I just run to my car. I unlock my car and drove to the nearest hotel and just crash there for a few days, maybe ghost die if it no one to haunt right? As I drive, I heard a chime on my phone, then another, then a flood of chimes and I stop to check; all the messages from the same number talking about how I can't run, I have no one in this city, I have to come home soon, and he'll be waiting...all signed my boo. I turn off my phone and finds a hotel and pays for two nights, only in my night clothes I sleep for the night, and I prayed I still had some clothes in my car, luckily I had a few clothes and some body care, after a quick shower I head to bed with the lights on and my mind full.

How dare she! Has she no care what she leaves with! I show her care I fix the house; I chased Fred away with my bare hands all for her and THIS is my payment! My dearest must forget her punishments were all but nice with me. But I can't hurt her... no not ever again will I drain the life from her body, never again will I force her gaze upon my bloodshed, no... no will I force my hand to bruise a deity's skin. She cursed me that til I let her go I will never pass... I won't let her go, even if she takes her life, I will bring her back, I make her into me! A lost soul wandering this planet, YES! if I make her agree with my love at the next moon I can... NO! Have I lost my mind! Her skin will fade, her bones will break, her voice will turn to whispers... it's not worth it I WONT EVER AGAIN! It happened once and I failed her but it another chance... I will get her back.

Back in this spooky ass house again. It's been a few days week even and I tried to get Fred to check it out but all he does is ignore me, in my room set up camera around the house and hook it too my computer so that I can catch this creep, it was late today 12:45 am it was thundering today, in my room I scroll on my phone with the tv on some movie, I felt a chill... the same chill. I get get up and back to my door looking around

" OK DAMMIT! SHOW YOUR DAMN SELF OR I'LL BREAK MY FOOT UP YA-"

" So violent my love~"

I look around til a feather of a hand touches my cheek, jerking away I turn too see a pale man... see through even with a evil smile and a a stature shaped from God

" Oh my..."

"Hello, my dearest, I hope your aren't too mad at me for our last encounter"

" Who are-"

" As your friend said, your boo~"

It seems you've pasted out, never the matter it will be best your out for the evening. So much to do with a the body you claimed now Melessa... Hello my beautiful baby~

A.N: ( Ouuu not me making a creepy character , i know yall thought I couldn't do huh! I just be writing too yall, I mean I started this at 6 sum and it's 10... like I said Im Shakesphere! But hope yall like this and it more to come from our ghost companion! LOve y'all! MWAHH)

[theoxenfree]

I think I'm on the verge of a panic attack

because, because, my abuser — my own brother — reached out to ask if I was coming home for thanksgiving. and, initially, I just said no and was gonna leave it. but I'm so fucking angry at so many things right now that I just fucking erupted.

I completely went off on him. I can't believe I did that. "can't believe" in a "I've dreamed of doing this for almost twenty years!" sort of disbelief.

I'm waiting for him to deny it. I'm waiting for him to tell my family I'm a fucking cunt and trash and an addict and a failure

I'm waiting for my parents to ask what's going on, and it makes me sick at the thought of my mom finding out bc she's never been the same since a psychotic break she had years ago

but my dad???? he knew he knew he knew

he caught my brother and what was happening, and he kept it quiet. just told my brother never to touch me qgain

but he never told mom, or my sister. neither did my brother. and neither did I bc I was told not to, and I thought it'd be right bc saying anything would "hurt people"

it hurt me it hurt me that I suffered for 20+ years. I can't experience normal ranges of emotions, I can't keep friendships, I can't have relationships, I can't handle intimacy without flashbacks and disgust

but, I absolutely lost it. and he read it

I told him to never talk to me again, and if he tries, I'll just block him. but I can't believe it

I'm proud of what I said. the child in me is weeping from being scared of what will happen. the teenager in me is crying because someone finally stood up for her, her feelings, and believed her. the young adult in me has fallen to her knees and is thanking me for all the things she wanted to say but never could

here's what I said, because I want you to know that I'm shaking, and I'm fucking terrified, but I finally... finally feel closer to freedom

huge tw; childhood molestation, guilt tripping (I'm sorry, I got caught up in what I was saying but it isn't a lie), suicidal ideation, it's extremely vulgar I'm sorry, very raw

And I'm already in a shit enough mood, so I'm going to tell you part of the reason why.

I want you to understand just how ROYALLY you've fucked up my life. After everything you did to me as a kid. I need you to understand that I've NEVER forgotten, not ONCE. not ONE DAY in my entire time. I need you to understand what you did me and how I was raised in that family made it IMPOSSIBLE for me to survive my 20s without debt and sitting in psychiatric instructions and have to take fucking meds so I didn't goddamn OFF myself.

And do you know just how many times I've actually come close to actually doing it? Because dying would've been better than living with the reality and the memories and everything I felt day in and day out.

I need you to understand that I CANNOT have regular friendships or relationships. That any sort of closeness from people fucking disgusts me. I don't let people touch me. I don't let people in.

I need you to understand that whenever someone has ever TRIED to touch me, I think of my childhood and what happened and I become nauseous, I shake, I breakdown, and have panic attacks. And I can't stand the idea.

I've been severely depressed almost my ENTIRE life, but nobody ever took me seriously. I couldn't talk to anyone about it. And it took me until almost 30 to be able to get anywhere in my life where I'm even borderline stable.

My last straw back then before I left what WHATEVER that fiasco with Mom was at the time.

I've had to work my ass off to get any sort of decent, comfortable scraps that I get now. And coming home. Seeing you. Seeing anyone in that family will undo A DECADE of hard fucking work I've had to do to be able to function on a level where I could have a semblance of comfort and normalcy.

So, no, I'm not coming home for Thanksgiving or probably any other holiday. It's a shame, because the kids? I think about them constantly, and I worry about them constantly.

And I genuinely hope you didn't wreck those fucking kids like you did me. I don't know you. I've never known you. And I don't want to.

But just know, you're seared in my goddamn memory in the worst way anyone could possibly be. If you've forgotten all of that, well, good for you and I'm glad you can live with yourself everyday of your life.

I will never forgive you. So, you can tell everyone whatever you want to. You can make up a reason why I'm not coming back, you can call me the worst person in existence and that's fine with me.

But, I'm asking you this politely and as a final kindness: Never contact me again. And this is the ONLY time I'm saying it. Tell everyone what you want, I don't really care at this point in my life.

I've never forgotten, (brothers name). And, honestly, I hope it haunts you.

and jsyk, I do keep an open line with my older sister and the kids. they know they can always reach out to me and I'll take them seriously. I was going to write something else completely different, but that man reacts badly to threats—so, for my safety, I said what I did there.

[manygeese]

Ok so I finished the first series of Percy Jackson sooo

MY THOUGHTS ON PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS

Spoilers ahead but I think you know that

THE LIGHTNING THIEF

- amazing. impeccable. don’t remember shit because I read it a month ago

- THE PLOT TWIST WITH LUKE PUNCHED ME IN THE GUT but he was a little cartoony villain at the end with the scorpion. Cuz he was giving the villain of rocky and bullwinkle

- chapter titles? Masterpieces. You know the chapters gonna be good when “I BECOME SUPREME LORD OF THE BATHROOM” is at the top of the page

- fave character is probably Percy because well. He’s Percy. You can’t just not like Percy

THE SEA OF MONSTERS

- love love LOVE this book

- Tyson’s my new favorite because he’s got that big dumb boy swag

- love how the whole book is just a parallel to the Odyessy

- I love the battle between the cyclops vs. Percy, Clarisse, Grover, Anna Beth, and Tyson

- after they get back to Florida I thought they were gonna be on better terms with Clarisse but nooooo. Everybody hates clarisse…. I LOVE CLARISSE

- Hermes is my fav god

- I love Beckendorf nothing bad is EVER gonna happen to him I love Beckendorf

- idk why tf Chiron says KRONOS brought Thalia back to life because. Cmon. He’s in a million pieces. Which is more likely: the Golden Fleece, with nature magic comparable to the Wild God Pan, brought it to life or Kronos, who has been in a million pieces for a million years, brought it to life???? Think Chiron THINK

THE TITAN’S CURSE

- Thalia is great and all but I sort of want to punch her in the face

- Bianca is my favorite lesbian :)

- Scratch that Zoë is my favorite lesbian

- Thalia’s my favorite lesbian?

- fuck it they’re all lesbian and they’re all my favorite lesbian

THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH

- ANNABETH GETS HER OWN QUEST? YEAH

- ngl it could just be my gay ass but annnabeth and Rachel’s feud for Percy is so annoying and I hate it

- THE PART WHEN PAN DIESS AHHHGGHGHGH

- RIP Castor RIP Lee Fletcher RIP whoever else died

- unrelated but there are so many twins in these books. Like there’s Connor and Travis. There’s Castor and Pollux. And they’re the only ones but like how many twins do YOU know?

- Dionysus has feelings?

THE LAST OLYMPIAN

- BECKENDORF NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

- I was expecting it to have more Hestia bcz she calls herself the last Olympian but nooooooo. Nooo

- speaking of Hestia why so many of the goddesses’ human forms little girls but there are no little boy gods? Artemis and Hestia are literally babies. And with Artemis that makes sense but why Hestia?

- ok first Lee Fletcher now Michael Yew. What’s up with the Apollo cabin and losing their head counselor

- The part when Percy dreams of May Castellan trying to take the spirit of the oracle is so sad. Like HERMES REALLY LOVED HER. HE WANTED TO MARRY HER. The “No! NO!” Is fan fiction coded

- related to that when Thalia Annabeth and Luke go back to May Castellans house in the flashback and Hermes holds her as she has a vision AHHHHHHH I am deranged

- Percy breaking the cycle ❤️❤️❤️ a true comrade

I GOT THE FIRST BOOM OF HEROES OF OLYMPUS BUT I HAVE TO WAIT FOR MY FRIEND TO FINISH THE LAST OLYMPIAN FIRST BEFORE I READ IT

[humanradiojmp]

My blind reaction to the Murder Drones Finale Part 1

Contains spoilers

Of course, got to have Cyn’s theme for the world ending. Fitting

Wha- REBECCA?!

The teacher could not care less the apocalypse is happening again. He is such a mood

Well there is no air in space, so it makes sense that there wouldn’t be sound, and that Uzi can’t really talk. communicating with space rocks and screens is a good solution

I like the parental advisory sensor. Do the worker drones have that automatically, or can they remove it at a certain point?

Space ship pilot!!! Makes you wonder though how and why they crashed the first time. got distracted or nervous or something?

I half expected the Wall-e kiss, but forehead taps are still good. got to have that comedic sensor cut off as well. I love this show.

Stop that. get help.

Not the Falling for You theme as they fall back to the surface!

That’s the understatement of the century

The ship being brought in looking like the creepy-ass hand that the solver drones got at the manor is such a nice touch

So J is aware of who Cyntessa really is and working with her. interesting. Like to know her reasoning why

Lizzy could not care less she’s about to die-

Is- is it?

SHE’S ALIVE! V’S ALIVE!!! YEEEEESSSSS!!!!!

Was holding my N-doggo plushy and squeezed him so hard and did leg tappies when I saw she was alive. V is back ya’ll!

With a little bit of Eternal Dream as well. I love this soundtrack and the attention to detail to it so much!

Not the sentinel wearing Beau’s hat. I feel like that’s horrible in a way but matches so well.

I laughed so much when I saw the meme.

And the name for V in Lizzy’s contacts. Wow

So much like V with her initial antagonizing towards Uzi, J sided with Cyn out of fear and a need to survive. She rationalized this was the best course of action, even if it’s siding with the obvious ‘bad guy’. But it’s nice to see J does have some semblance of care for her former team mates. Wonder if she also did it all for their sake as well as her own.

The sunglasses and cool pose. Their so cringe

I really like the animation of how Cyn walks in Tessa’s sink. Like it doesn’t quite fit and she doesn’t have complete control over it. nice touch to the creep factor of her existence

Oh yes, emotional and mental torture and manipulation is simply just ‘hurting his feelings’. It’s tots fine, he just needs to get over it.

And just like with Uzi, he can’t shoot Tessa, even if it’s no longer her. or maybe he knows it won’t work?

Nice little moment, but lesson number one kids – never take your eyes off the enemy, ever. Because then you’re going to get your heart stabbed out of your chest

Trying to push her core back in with no hands is so morbid

Of course she has wings. Why wouldn’t she?

I take back the J cares about her teammates statement. Unless she’s trying to make it less hard on herself?

The callback ping with the hands trying to find them, with N on the verge of a panic attack seeing Cyn clawing him out as well as the manor flashback is just so (satisfied grunting)

And Uzi’s heart trying to leave her chest because of the callback ping, her trying to keep it in but it’s pushing out like the monster from Alien (grunting continues)

Oh shoot, they don’t know she’s alive, and you can see just how traumatized the boy is. I really hope they get therapy after this if they survive. They really need it

You protected her from a trap, but at what cost?

V really was operating on fear, I knew it. I know a popular theory is that V remembered most if not all of what happened before Copper-9 and I wonder now if that theory has been proven true. Because she knew what this thing was capable of, and thought if she were to just follow orders, keep her head low, and not incite any callback of former memories, then maybe, just maybe, everything would be ok. But it never was going to be ok, was it? *draws V in for a hug* you need this. A lot.

Oooh, it was N’s core she was going to eat. Oh no.

Wait, Khan has the solver? Or was that a remote for something? (even watching it back, I’m still not 100% sure)

I really like how Uzi has full control of herself and her version of the solver, and how it’s hinted she has some control over the solver in general with how Cyntessa’s eye flickered purple. I kind of half wished they delved into that a little more in the fight to ensue, as it would have shown a cool mental version of a battle of wills. But…

Second part coming because of character limit

Second part

[pukanavis]

"Mystery on a Moonlit Cruise" Epilogue

Location: Sun Deck

Toi: Ani-sama, look at the way the HAMA port twinkles! It’s so pretty…

Ryui: I think your sparkle is even more radiant. Hey, take my jacket. I'll bet that the ocean breeze is making you cold.

Akuta: I always knew that food would taste a gazillion times better in a place like this.

Momiji: This really is an incredible spot. Thank you for showing us, Nanaki-kun!

Nanaki: Don’t mention it. It’d be a waste to hog this place all to myself.

(Even if this is the total opposite of the one-on-one vibe I was hoping for, I’m glad I managed to invite her either way…!)

Kafka: Definitely. The interior of the ship is stunning in it’s own right, but the sun deck is really something else ♪

Nanaki: Oh, Oguro-san—

Momiji: Kafka, you’re back. How’d your chat with the cruise ship director go?

Kafka: Since we’re all here, I suppose now’s a good time to break the news. I won’t ask you to stop eating, but lend me your ears, if you please.

While I was talking to the director, I pitched my proposal for a ‘Sailing to Dreamland’ project and he absolutely loved the idea!

Yukikaze: The combination of sleeping and cruising? That's quite the interesting pair you've come up with.

Kafka: My vision is to turn the time spent aboard into an experience unlike any other by utilising Netaro’s inventions to provide a premium level of relaxation. Pretty innovative idea, right?

Yachiyo: Waah…! That’s incredible, sir! Such a combination is something that us foolish commoners with our static brains stunted by preconceived ideas could never dream of conceptualising!

Yodaka: I see. I’m sure that this will be a warmly welcomed service for those living the fast-paced and taxing lifestyles of the modern age.

Ryui: Just making sure, but you’re not gonna be using Yowa’s inventions the same way he did tonight, are you?

Kafka: Of course not. What happened today was just one mistake away from becoming a far greater issue. I will see to it that nothing like this happens again.

That’s why I’m going to be asking Netaro to make some further improvements on his invention and to write up an in-depth manual! In it's current state, his creation will blindly put both humans and robots to sleep.

Netaro: This is the wo~rst. The invention I made to get out of work has become the very thing to dump a bucket of extra chores onto me~.

Ryui: Sounds like a good way to properly atone for your crimes to me.

Nanaki: Uh…excuse me, Ryui-san.

Ryui: What is it?

Nanaki: About earlier…

Ryui: (Earlier…?)

ーFlashback

Nanaki: If we keep digging into this, it might end up driving us mad with paranoia instead.

Ryui: …

If that’s how you feel then there’s nothing stopping you from sitting on your ass.

Nothing will change as long as you refuse to do anything. Things’ll stay the same as always, and you’ll get to keep hiding away from harm in that safe little bubble.

Nanaki: …Is there something wrong with that?

Ryui: ....Sigh.

Nanaki: I-Is something wrong?

Ryui: No, I just feel like that became a bigger deal than it needed to be.

Nanaki: Oh…I see. Still, I want to thank you.

Ryui: ‘s nothing worth thanking me for.

Muneuji: I’ve been thinking…since music was at the heart of this dilemma, wouldn't that mean that Nanamegi was closer than any of us to uncovering the truth?

Momiji: Oh, really…! It sounds like you were really busy while the rest of us were asleep…!

Nanaki: Oh, uh, it was nothing…besides, Ryui-san was the one who ultimately pressed Yowa-san into confessing everything himself anyway.

Yukikaze: Regardless, you picked up on things that completely slipped by the rest of us. That proves just how observant you are, Nanaki.

Muneuji: Indeed. You really take note of the little things, Nanamegi.

Nanaki: Muneuji…

Muneuji: Even on a daily basis, you translate the sounds Isotake makes, encourage Kinugawa to express his thoughts, and call out U~chan when he refuses to cooperate…

Yukikaze: It’s wonderful how much you care for your friends.

Nanaki: A-Anyone else would do the same!! But thank you!!

(These big brothers that’ll slap you in the chest with praise don’t play around…!!)

Momiji: But don’t people that care for others tend to hide themselves away more?

Nanaki: …!

Momiji: Nanaki-kun, I want you to know that you don’t have to be afraid to tell me anything!

Nanaki: Ah…of course…

Yukikaze: My caring little brother, you can tell me anything too.

Nanaki: T-Thank you.

(...I know I hold myself back, but it's not so much out of consideration for others as it is about being scared that I'll get hurt...)

…Anything, huh?

Kafka: I’m a little concerned…do you think we’ll be able to fall asleep again once we get back to the house?

Nanaki: (I don’t have the courage for that yet—)

Momiji: O-Oh no…I feel like I’m running on an entire night’s rest…

Nanaki: (...As much as I like your sleeping face, your smile really is my favourite.) 

I hope…I’ll be able to tell you someday.

Back | ★

[byemambo]

Word Count: 2,545 (Oneshot)

Relationship: Fang/Tan (We Are Thailand TV 2024)

Characters: Tan (We Are Thailand TV 2024), Fang (We Are Thailand TV 2024)

Additional Tags: Established Relationship, Introspection, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Comfort, Developing Relationship, Healthy Relationships, Character Study, Family Issues, Romance

Summary (Previews under the cut!):

“You fucking liar! All those band aids I wasted, I can’t believe it. See, you’re lucky you’re one of my best friends because I would have dropped your ass if I found out about it.” Peem points his finger at Tan with a grimacing expression, both reminiscing just how hot headed they all were back then as teenagers. They both knew that if there was one more slip up, Peem would have kept his word and abandon Tan’s friendship for good, as he had always been an integral person ever since they met. The rest of the friends being filled in on the lore only glanced at one another for not knowing Fang and Tan’s history receded back into their high school days...The story telling continues along outside of Fang’s presence, which Q posed a question as to why their relationship only began now despite having a one-sided love for all these years. Tan simply claims: “I’ve done the whole crush on a friend thing before, so I thought it wasn’t going to last.” But as we all know, that was not the case.

“'Well, do you at least know when you started crushing on him?' Chain adds with a curious eye, Pun also displaying signs of interest as he inches closer to Chain and wrapping his arm around his. Tan purses his lips in contemplation, wondering if it was even possible to pinpoint such a turn of events in his life like declaring a crush on someone else. Was it when Fang first confronted him on the soccer field that day?..."

The way Fang became the first person he thinks of when he wakes up to the last person he thinks of when he falls asleep at night, deep down hoping that one day the thoughts of him could become real and tangible, that instead of mere thoughts, he will be right in front of his eyes where pinches will be proof enough that this moment isn't just a dream.

I had been thinking about this particular scene a lot, really wishing that we had more flashback scenes from the series. But that's ok because that's what we're here for hehehe

P.S. If anyone would like any expanded fics from particular scenes in the series, I'd be more than happy to brainstorm and approach the request. I'm definitely #TeamTanFang but I love each couple for sure :)

[respectthepetty]

i will literally have to set the entire world on fire if it turns out soong did it. at the very least i will have. to lay facedown and sob for eternity like that one gif

Congrats, Anon, you've unlocked a

Playboyy Wild Ass Theory

This is truly the wildest ass theory I have ever had.

TLWR: The twins' dad is the sugar daddy and the housekeeper is going to be blamed.

I 100% KNOW Soong didn't do it.

My boy is innocent!

I knew that tape would come back to haunt Soong, and I liked that it came in the episode about people's sex tapes being leaked, even if the sex was consensual because the dad trying to force Soong into leaving his son by using that tape against him was disgusting.

The dad had that to hang over Soong's head, which Soong shrugged off, but whatever else the dad had on Soong has him pressed, and like I've mentioned before, I think Soong was the dog in the film.

I think the harness is in the perfect spot to cover up his tattoo.

I KNOW Soong did not kill anybody, but he also had a flashback to homeboy crying on his couch when First was crying.

I think this mysterious sugar daddy gave Soong good $$$ to film more sexually aggressive films,

but something happened that made the deal go south which is why the guys left the Playboyy Club since the transaction *should* be simple: sex = money . . .

Which is why I think Nuth is still lying since he is the only filmmaker on the roster who could've shot those films.

As @scarefox and @slonekaru mention in their post, all roads lead to this sugar daddy because we have been told he is very possessive and violent,

Which is why I think Soong is running scared instead of just simply breaking up with First.

And even though Prom had a dream about a body being found in a forest, which would later become a reality, this might be why Prom was in the hotel video since we know his life is being funded by this sugar daddy as well, so he might have tasked Prom with cleaning up a mess.

We've gone nine episodes hearing whispers of this sugar daddy, but I think we've heard more than whispers.

But how could Porsche not know his sugar daddy is his roommate's dad? How could Prom not know who his sex buddy's dad is? Because they DO know who he is!

Each episode begins with news highlighting sexual violence and a good portion of the cases have focused on people in power abusing their authority to either shame sex workers or sexually harm others as well as government officials being blackmailed for having sex in public restrooms or via webcam, parents forcing their children into sex work, and housekeepers being framed for murder.

All are interesting cases, but that last one is the most intriguing.

So like I wrote at the beginning, I think the twins' dad is the sugar daddy and this mysterious housekeeper is going to take the blame because if the dad is pissed about his sugar babies looking at other men, how livid would he be if he found out his own son was involved in sex work?

It seems wild, which is why it is my wildest ass theory yet, but what I do know, without a doubt, is my boy Soong is innocent. I know it doesn't look good for him right now.

But I would bet mine and his life on it.

Let's hope the narrative doesn't demand payment.

[takeariskao3]

I was excited to see your post the other day about you working on Already Gone. I was very afraid for a while that you'd abandoned it forever.

If it's not too intrusive, can I ask why you pulled it down? And what all you plan on changing? I'm just getting started with fandom writing, I've only written a few drabbles, and I would love to hear more about your decision and your process? I look up to you a lot, especially for being able to juggle so many multi-chaps at the same time.

And do you have a specific way you plot out a fic? Or how you are plotting out the rest of AG?

Thanks for your stories. They are crazy good.

hi! thanks for the sweet message! i don't particularly feel like i am juggling the long fics well but i appreciate you thinking that i am lol. as for your questions, i tossed around a few different ways i could answer and i settled on both the short version and the long version.

the short version is that i typically plan a story around one fever dream climax/resolution that kick starts my excitement for the story, and then i build out from there. however, with already gone, my fever dream sequence was in chapter 5, when ginny finds the D.A. reunion and harry accidentally reveals that they are married. from there i got lost in the sauce because i didn't have a clear idea for what i wanted to happen next. i tried to pants it, and just write anyway, except i wasn't working toward anything so the words and the scenes just felt really aimless? and i started to hate it. so i made it private so i could rework it and write it in a way so that i would love it again.

the long version is below the cut because it's long

already gone started out as a side project/throwaway fic because i needed something to work on to take my mind off the path from you. at the time, i was reworking some later chapters and tossing around the idea of changing who the stalker was and i was really just STUCK with it, you know? so i pulled a classic fic writer move and started something else while tpfy sat in timeout. i'd always loved the idea of a harry/ginny amnesia story, and as i was ruminating one night, the scene in the hog's head just came to me and so i started working on it without figuring out what happened after ginny finds out she's married to harry. BIG MISTAKE.

because i didn't know what needed to happen next, i started trying to figure out what happened previously, which is where the flashbacks came in. except i've never particularly felt compelled to write summer '98 and to be honest, i don't think the timeline or the moments i came up with are very compelling, or even in character.

BUT i had a problem, already gone had taken off exponentially in readership, and because so many people were clamoring for more, i just kept going with that same aimless scene/flashback formula just to provide an update.

i am in no way blaming this situation on people being excited about the story. i am very grateful to the people who latched onto this version of harry and ginny who have been my cheerleaders from the beginning. i'm just trying to articulate how my own insecurities got the best of me.

everytime i would write and post and chapter, i'd just be sat there hoping beyond hope that inspiration would strike and i'd finally figure out what the ending of this gd story was supposed to be. spoilers: it never happened.

once i pulled my head out of my ass and actually started thinking. i did finally strike on an idea for how to wrap things up and how to have a big emotional payoff and how to solve the mystery of ginny's memory loss. except i hadn't been building toward this ending AT ALL, so now i have to go back to chapter 7 start over. mostly i need to rewrite it so it feels cohesive and like one singular story with a beginning a middle and and an end. instead of just this really fast paced first act followed by a never ending second.

the changes aren't that specific beyond the flashbacks being shorter and from harry's pov. i will change up the timeline for that summer, and also possibly change harry and ginny's reconciliation. because i don't like how it sits now. as for memory loss ginny, she's mostly staying the same, but 2002 harry is going to change a lot, i hope. he currently feels really inactive to me. so i want to make him more of an active participant in the plot.

all in all, i think it will be a better story, but i know i disappointed a lot of people when i announced i was rewriting. i hope you all can forgive me the self-indulgence. but at the end of the day, i needed to make it something i loved, instead of something i tolerated because so many other people loved it.

sorry for rambling and thanks so much for reading <33

[resurrection-of-soul]

Flashback | PSYCHOBREAK 2

Writer: Akira (日日日)

Characters: Rei, Kaoru, Adonis, Koga

Kaoru: Ugh, could you please stop caressing my chin? It's, like, totally gross actually! And like, the amount of disgust I feel seeing someone who looks just like Rei-kun going around doing stuff he'd never do is seriously unreal!

[ For the best viewing experience, please read directly on my blog! ♪ ]

Time: A few hours later

Location: In front of the AIIE Experimental Facility

Rei II: [Welcome, members of UNDEAD.] [So I finally get to meet the "real" me. I've been waitin' for this.]

Rei: Oh dear…

Rei: 'Twould seem our ill omen proved true.

Kaoru: Th-the fake showed up just like that, huh. I thought he'd, like, hide or something.

Rei II: [Hey Kaoru, shut up for a second. Can't ya see me n' Mr. Original over there're in the middle of a conversation?]

Kaoru: Ugh, could you please stop caressing my chin? It's, like, totally gross actually! And like, the amount of disgust I feel seeing someone who looks just like Rei-kun going around doing stuff he'd never do is seriously unreal!

Adonis: This is what is known as the uncanny valley. I came across the term while I was researching AI. It seems we feel an instinctive unease when faced with things that resemble us, but aren't quite the same. It's probably because our brains get confused when our internal memories and perceptions don't match up with reality.

Rei II: [I keep tellin' you~] [I'm tryin' to talk to the "real" me, so could you small fry quit prattlin' on about useless stuff?]

Kaoru: …The fake Rei-kun is like, weirdly mean. Is that an intentional part of the design, or?

Rei: This is oddly unsettling… I do apologize; my counterfeit has quite a poor attitude…

Kaoru: Hey, that's still better than complete silence, right? I mean, look — there are fake versions of the rest of us over there, but they totally haven't said a word?

Kaoru II: […]

Adonis II: […]

Koga II: [Hah? You wanna fuckin' go, punk? I'll kick your stupid taco-lookin' ass!]

Koga: Why's my fake the only one with a weirdly low IQ?!

Koga II: [Hah? You're makin' fun a' me, aren'tcha? You wanna get bitten to death, asshole?!]

Kaoru: Ohh, haven't heard that one in a while. You really used to say that kinda stuff a lot~

Rei: Hmm… Judging from the fact mine own counterfeit is one of those so-called "ore-sama" characters, 'twould seem these imposters are meant to mimic the past selves whom we were so recently faced with.

Rei II: [Ahaha. With only a week's worth of experimental data, it's pretty hard to get deep into your consciousness. All we could do was pick up on some fragments of the past.] [Replicatin' your current behavior's still beyond our reach.]

Kaoru: That's good, isn't it? It makes it easy to tell us apart.

Rei: Verily. Though I am equally abashed to be so relentlessly confronted with my youthful follies now as I was during our shared dream. Now then, let us cut to the chase. Pray tell, what exactly art thou intended to be?

Rei II: [You've already figured it out, haven't you? You and I are both the same super smart and clever Sakuma Rei-kun, after all ♪] [We're HELLSING, the imposters who have been pretendin' to be you.] [We're artificial idols, born from the AIIE experiment.] [To be more specific, we are entities with mechanical bodies who have had the data collected from you durin' the experiment installed into us.]

Kaoru: Actually, I've been wondering about that. If you were made from the AIIE experiment, doesn't the timeline not match up?

Rei: Aye. According to the records, HELLSING made their debut shortly after we began the experiment — within a day of our seclusion from the world, in fact.

Kaoru: Yeah, that's a bit too quick. I can't help but think they already had our fakes prepared before the experiment started.

Adonis: That's true. Perhaps data was pre-installed via the internet or the like, but the timing still confuses me. Why have the imposters begin their activities before the experiment's conclusion?

Koga: We might not know the details yet, but the whole thing already smells rotten.

Rei II: [That one's a mystery to us too. We machines are slaves to our human masters, y'know~ We can only move accordin' to the orders we've been programmed to follow.] [You could say we're just followin' our instincts.]

Kaoru: So basically, if we want to know the details, we'll have to go and ask the person who manufactured and programmed HELLSING directly.

Rei: Indeed. Though this may sound harsh, these four are ultimately nothing more than puppets dancing at another's whim.

Koga: But how're we s'posed to figure out who made 'em? Durin' the AIIE experiment, that plain-faced guy's robo-lookalike was the one handlin' all our meals n' stuff. We never saw another livin' person even once. They said it was to avoid muddlin' the data, but now that I think about it, ain't that kinda off?

Rei: By the "plain-faced guy," dost thou perchance refer to Mashiro Tomoya-kun? That aside, thou art correct in that there has been an unnerving absence of any contact with living humans throughout this ordeal. We were entreated to partake in this most peculiar experiment through HoldHands, and having assented, we were guided through the whole process by machines. There must be someone profiting off of this manipulation from behind the scenes, yet at present, we lack the information to so much as speculate on their identity.

Kaoru: AIIE is supposed to be some kinda top secret project managed by ES, so it might be one of the bigwigs at ES behind all this, y'know?

[ ☆ ]

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[theultimatekamehamehavoc]

Dream Ramble Time! This one's kinda interesting. Still weird. Still that classic dream nonsense as well Involved the survivor's of the first killing game, following Byakuya in this adventure. Most parts of this dream are a bit disjointed so I only remember a few specific moments but it's enough to talk about. Main plot was that Byakuya was trying to look for Makoto. Think it was some bizarro timeline where the killing game did occur since the survivor's where here and I believe there was at least one mention of a mastermind who they beat. At some point in the dream, Byakuya was doing some weird ass cryptic puzzle involving these giant machine's and mixing some paints together to open some doors like a weird cryptic puzzle one would find in a game. There was also a small flashback during this where Byakuya was thinking back to earlier in the day, think about how unlucky the group's all been where a bunch of crow's showed up before some disaster that caused some of the other survivor's to have 3rd degree burns. This part confused me though cus my dumb brain left a plot hole cus it showed a freeze frame of the group fine but never shows their burns or how the crows have anything to do with this. I digress though. Here's were the more interesting part kicks in. Basically, after Byakuya finds his way out of the weird puzzle room, he makes it into this mystical cave to find Makoto, however finding a fake. Essentially, the cave's entities mimic who they (the person entering the cave) miss most in the moment. At some point as well, some of the other survivor's were able to make it to the cave and they met their own fake people like Aoi saw Sakura and Hiro saw his mom. One other thing of note is that, if one is drawn to far into the cave, they will essentially be killed and go to the afterlife. Like, the cave's a sort of limbo from life and death though once one goes far enough, they can never go back. Back to the main plot though, Byakuya eventually deduces that this Makoto is indeed a fake and leaves the cave, eventually finding Makoto on the ground curled up. Or well, he was supposed to but my brain for some unknown reason represented Makoto as a weird chipped bowl for a few seconds so Byakuya was like, cradling a chipped bowl for a moment before my brain remembered that "Oh! Makoto isn't a bowl! He's a boy!" Once Makoto was presented as a human being though, (maybe this is game logic where Makoto just turned into a place holder item!) the two have a discussion on the floor in the grasslands, (forgot to mention but they're in a jungle for some reason or some jungle equivalent. weird version of the school greenhouse perhaps??) Makoto then talks about his experience in the cave. This is where the dream loses the plot. Cus, there's a flash back to Makoto and his mother in the cave. But, for some weird ass reason, she's like... a tiny giraffe? But she looked more like a little pony, no giraffe spots... and Makoto's reasoning as to why he was able to realize this wasn't his mother is that like... his mother isn't a shiny girafarig. I have no no words.... After the boys have their vague convo on the floor, Kyoko exists the cave. In my vague brain dream state, it showed prior that she saw her mother in the cave, but let's be real. It wasn't at all her mother realistically, I say when Makoto saw a baby giraffe in the cave so I dunno! Finally, Kyoko walks to the boys and like, they all have a vague convo about what they saw and if they're okay. Think it's implied the other survivor's escaped too but like, Toko was never mentioned in this dream. Poor girl was done dirty. But, after they talk, Kyoko guides them to a nook adjacent to the cave where she shows some archives about the cave siren people, talks about their lore, mentions how some of them are better at their craft than others and how some of them are banned from doing their siren shape shifting as they used bad material in the archives that was unconvincing. And then I woke up.

[kevinsreviewcatalogue]

Review: Terrifier 3

Terrifier 3 (2024)

Not rated

<Originally posted at https://kevinsreviewcatalogue.blogspot.com/2024/10/review-terrifier-3-2024.html>

Score: 4 out of 5

With Terrifier 3, the little indie splatter horror franchise that could has entered "franchise mode". On top of its advertising, its merchandising, its tie-in single by Ice Nine Kills, and its staggering box-office success, the movie itself makes Art the Clown as much the main character as its returning heroine Sienna Shaw, with nearly every kill now a horrifying set piece of explosive carnage and Art's sidekick from the last movie, the ambiguously demonic Little Pale Girl, upgraded to a co-villain in her own right as she possesses somebody and joins in on the action herself. The best comparison I can think of is A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, though I'd argue that this is the better movie of the two by a wide margin, one that not only cleans up the biggest flaw that held back its predecessor but also manages to be a twisted, explosive celebration of practical effects work unbound by the MPA (as in, they just up and released this unrated knowing damn well it would've gotten an NC-17 the second they showed up at the MPA's offices). It's a big, swaggering splatterfest that's as bonkers as its killer clown villain, and while it does unfortunately introduce some new flaws that leave me wondering if Damien Leone, the writer, director, and main visionary behind this series, is getting lost in the weeds a bit with his creation, this is otherwise one hell of an experience.

Set five years after the events of the last movie, our protagonist Sienna Shaw, who has spent her time in and out of psychiatric care thanks to what she experienced in her last encounter with Art the Clown, has just left the hospital to live with her aunt Jess, uncle Greg, and little cousin Gabbie. The idea of a slasher sequel focusing on how traumatized the final girl has become is not a new idea (all the way back in the '90s, Scream 2 and Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later built their heroines' arcs around it), but this movie does it well, in its characteristic fashion. Lauren LaVera gets another great opportunity to play Sienna as more than just the "tough chick" horror heroine, somebody who can undoubtedly still kick Art's ass but has also been left a psychological wreck by all the things she's witnessed. She has visions of her dead friends blaming her for their deaths, the last movie's implications that she was going insane all but spelled out in the text now, and she recoils when Gabbie goes snooping in her diary and reads about some of the things she described in there. We get a flashback to Sienna's childhood, her father played by Jason Patric in a cameo, illustrating how she loved him and driving home how much his decline and ultimate death broke her. I find it amusing how the Terrifier films, with their in-your-face violence and lack of subtlety, are sometimes seen as a rejoinder to the "elevated horror" boom of the last ten years, particularly how many such films use their monsters and demons as metaphors for some trauma in the protagonists' pasts, because Sienna's arc in these movies treads very similar waters -- and, for my money, more or less pulls it off. In two movies, Sienna Shaw has become one of the all-time great horror heroines, and LaVera is central to why.

It also helps, of course, to have a real monster for your heroine to face off against. And here, we have not one, but two of them. I've already sung David Howard Thornton's praises for his performance as Art the Clown before, and he largely sticks to what worked in the past, combining great physical comedy with a mean streak a mile wide to make for a sick, sadistic villain who treats everything like one big joke and is clearly enjoying himself as he hunts and torments his victims. At times, Art feels almost like a silent slasher version of Deadpool, a guy who's in on the joke and feels like he wants to let everybody else in on it too. The Little Pale Girl also makes a return, in a sense, this time possessing the first film's lone survivor Victoria Hayes, who begins the film institutionalized after Art had mutilated her face and driven her insane only for Art to break her out. If Art is a slasher version of the Joker, then the possessed Victoria is his Harley Quinn, a female counterpart who is not only just as vicious and terrifying but also serves as his "voice" throughout the film, being the one who directly taunts people through words as opposed to just gestures. Samantha Scaffidi is playing a character almost wholly different from what she was in the first movie, unrecognizable both literally due to her mangled face and figuratively as she partakes in the violence rather than trying to survive it, and she turned out to be the film's secret weapon, somebody who kept the scares grounded even as Art takes the Freddy Krueger route of becoming a more overtly comedic killer. Victoria brought most of the film's genuine scares here versus Art's more cartoonish carnage, and she proved to be a very welcome addition to not only the lore but also, more importantly, the movie as a whole.

That's not to say that Art isn't scary anymore, though. As I've said when discussing the prior films, sheer visceral excess has a weight to it all its own, and when paired with the more comedic elements of his character, that lends him the feeling of a sick, degenerate troll for whom nothing actually matters except his own amusement. This is a movie that happily crosses lines that other slashers wouldn't dare tread near, a gross display of viscera that offers Leone another chance to show off his special effects craftsmanship with the kind of set piece kills that feel like they were concocted by a schoolyard full of kids in a contest to come up with the sickest ways to die. We get a guy getting the skin on his head ripped off, liquid nitrogen being used to freeze a man's flesh before it's smashed off with a hammer, live rats being shoved down a woman's throat and then eating their way out through her neck, a shower scene to rival the infamous bedroom scene from the second film (...who says that doesn't fit there?), beheadings, dismemberments, the works, as well as Art actually "going there" when it comes to one of horror's biggest taboos. These movies are being hyped up at this point as gauntlets for seasoned horror fans to run (and shock others with), and while the tone is too lighthearted for it to really hang with the grossest examples of splatter horror, make no mistake: the warnings that theaters are putting up for this are there for a reason.

The pacing is tighter this time around, showing that Leone has learned from one of the main criticisms of the last movie. It's still just over two hours long, but it moves a lot quicker than before, each hour respectively feeling like the first two acts of a movie that's setting up for a smashing finale but still delivering the goods where it matters. The plot builds on the second film's implications that there was something more cosmic going on than just a simple slasher story, explicitly naming the Little Pale Girl as a demon and strongly implying that Sienna too has an angel in her corner, ultimately ending on a cliffhanger and leaving a lot of open questions that the fourth movie promises to answer. The added lore did a lot to flesh out the story, put some fun twists on a lot of slasher tropes (the final girl, the killer coming back from the dead), and got me interested in seeing the next one. That said, not only does it create a risk of continuity lockout for people who haven't seen any of the other films, especially with how the opening hinges so much on characters and events from the second film, it also naturally means that this movie's own story is incomplete. A lot hinges on whether the fourth movie sticks the landing, and right now, all I can say is this: at least they didn't try to expand on Art's backstory the way the Nightmare sequels did Freddy's or the Halloween sequels did Michael Myers'. His whole deal boils down to the fact that he was such an evil fuckin' bastard in life (which, if you've seen any of these movies... yeah) that the forces of darkness took a liking to him and revived him as their champion to keep killing. It's a simple explanation that preserves his mystique and doesn't detract from what makes him so enjoyable to watch, the kind of thing you'd expect a slasher fan to come up with if they were asked to develop the lore around a slasher villain, and I appreciated it.

The Bottom Line

Terrifier 3 isn't without its flaws, but it's still the best film in the series thus far. If Art the Clown isn't a bona fide horror icon at this point, then it's only because he's still fairly new. Check it out if you've got the stomach.