#ask me about any horror movie i'll tell you how the killer x final girl are actually going to have a summer wedding

[lumpsbumpsandwhumps]

I got a bit confused because the wife gave a few hints and tips on who to kill, so I assumed she was another serial killer but the running part is so right-

The closeness! Someone finally said it! I didn’t want to be the first and be delusional!! There’s an intimacy in how close Leslie always sticks himself to Taylor, and his patient interactions with her despite her being against his business/dream. And the way he grabs her and jumps with her when he’s so excited to get his aham(?)!!

It felt like he definitely reeled himself in when he was pissed at Taylor too. We know what he is capable of. He picked up high school teenagers and swung them around like it was nothing. And though he did do the rude thing of slamming her against the van, it felt like it wasn’t as strong as it could’ve been. He had enough resolve left to tack on the “please” as well.

I know you mentioned it but I have to too- the way he let her go! He had her right in the palm of his hand, caged between his fingers, and he opened up his hands. He was so genuinely concerned when Taylor became shaken up after the first murders that he forcefully took her back to the van, telling her to leave. Despite all of his talk about the symbolism and importance of the final girl, he was willing to give it all up in one moment.

She was right in the house! He could’ve manipulated her, trapped her elsewhere, but he let her go. (Maybe a non-yandere could argue instead that he stalked her well enough that he knew she was too kindhearted to go and was just getting some last brownie points in, but c’mon)

You're so right about him reeling it in around Taylor!! Like not even just his anger (although I feel like that's when it's the most obvious), he's keeping himself casual and friendly the entire time they're together to make her more comfortable with the super unethical practice of documenting a budding slasher. It's pretty apparent that he can flip like a switch and when he does, he's terrifying, he's not actually some loveable goofball 24/7. He's only like that with her. And he's still willing to give up his life long dream by letting her go at any time prior, even though he knows he'd be losing his real final girl.

God, even if he only became initially interested in her because of her final girl status, you can't deny he's smitten in one way or another. Especially since around that time in the early-mid 2000s, final girls didn't always survive. They made it to the end, sure, but not necessarily to the credits. He could have still killed her, turned the documentary into a found-footage type flick, by that point he had already killed all the other teens at the house and as such would have cemented his slasher legend for future kids to show up at the property for sequels.

But he let her live. He still let her go even though she had refused his offer three times before, because she knew that's what she wanted. He let her kill him. Was it just so he could come back as a now immortal slasher? Was it to set up the premise that she would be his first victim in the sequel if there was one? Maybe. But I still feel like his last words to her being "I knew you were the one" just cements the fact he's convinced they're meant to be with each other in some capacity, even if only as slasher and final girl. He doesn't want anyone else, he only wants her, she's perfect for him in all the ways he cares about.