#ada characterization

[agonycrossbow]

Up to this point in SW, Ada's exposure to Leon has been:

Seeing him during the village fight and then ringing the bell for him

Seeing him getting choked out by Mendez, then watching him stumble his ass over to the gate, unlock it, and head back towards the village

Luis's radio call to him at the start of his castle section

Their very first scene together in his campaign

The "babysitting's tough, huh?" conversation

Seeing him run over to a dying Luis

The "I guess you're not heartless" conversation

That's it.

So, let's explore Ada's feelings as she goes through Separate Ways with regards to Leon, Ashley, and herself.

The very first time Ada hears Leon's voice, it's him teasing Ashley with:

"I wanted to go home, but Ashley had to see this castle first."

The very first time Ada speaks to Leon herself, the first expression of emotion he shows is when she tells him to leave Ashley behind -- and it's anger at her.

The very first time Ada sees Ashley in person, it's this moment ^^^ in the shots.

This is what I mean by SW making the main campaign feel like "The Leon and Ashley Show" from Ada's perspective. Of those seven encounters, four of them have been about Ashley. In fact, the only conversations that Leon and Ada have had up to this point have been about Ashley.

And this happens over and over and over and over again. Ada can't seem to catch Leon at all without Ashley also being in the picture in some way. The boat scene is literally the only conversation they have or moment they share where Ashley doesn't come up at all.

This is what I mean when I say that SW feels like Ada's being forced to bear witness to what her relationship with Leon could have been in Raccoon City if only she'd been honest and genuine with him up front.

The point of having Ada listen in on the "Ashley had to see the castle" line was so that she became aware of what the relationship between Leon and Ashley was actually like. It isn't just business between them; it's warm and playful.

And Ada rejects that, at first. She outright denies it to herself. That's what's really at the heart of her telling Leon to leave Ashley behind -- because Ada, at first, almost doesn't confront Leon at all. She damn near leaves the room before he walks in, but then she thinks better of it at the very last second.

The full line of dialogue of:

"Leave the girl. She's lost no matter what. You walk away now, and who knows? Maybe you'll live to meet me again. And then I might get you that 'greeting' you were looking for."

immediately follows her openly hitting on him ("Not a bad move. Very smooth."), to which he has no reaction. And so she gets more explicit with him. Let's break it down:

"Leave Ashley. She's not important. If you leave her, you'll finally get to have me. That's what you really want, right?"

That's why her actual line isn't framed as a warning. She doesn't double down on it when Leon pushes back on it; her response is: "Right. How about we continue this discussion another time?" It's not about Ashley turning or not turning -- it's not about Leon saving her. It's about Ada offering herself and then feeling "what the fuck" about it when the offer is refused.

But she still denies it to herself. That's why her follow-up line of dialogue once she jumps out of the window is a very coy "See you around, Leon." She still isn't ready to accept that she's been replaced as the focus of his attention and affection -- hence the pettiness of her "Babysitting's tough, huh?" line.

Her attitude only starts to change after Luis's death -- when his dying wish is for her to help Leon. So, Ada puts her pettiness aside and switches from demeaning and belittling Ashley to referring to her as "your friend" instead. It shows a degree of respect while still removing the overt affection from the equation.

But then Krauser runs off with Ashley. Leon's anger boils over, and he shoots Salazar in the face. And now, Ada's reaction is:

But when she finds him right on her heels because he's that fucking pissed and that fucking determined to go after Krauser for Ashley's sake, it still catches her by surprise. It speaks to the depth of Leon's concern and affection for Ashley.

Once again, it reaffirms that Ashley's not just a mission objective to Leon. It's personal, for him.

This leads directly into the boat scene, where Ada tells Leon that his greatest strength is still the love and compassion he has for other people...

... though it's not as if he hears her at all.

The next time Ada sees or hears from Leon, it's her walking in on the "for Luis" scene.

Along with the pep talk scene, this is the most intimate scene in the game. Ada is intruding on a very private, vulnerable moment between Leon and Ashley that ends in a promise:

"For Luis."

This is Ada's affirmation that Luis wasn't jerking her around -- he was being genuine about wanting to help Leon and Ashley, and now they're committed to honoring his memory and granting him his dying wish.

And Ada's pettiness finally melts away -- at least, for a time. They have their way of honoring Luis, so now it's time for her to do it her way.

Suddenly, Leon and Ashley's closeness doesn't matter to her anymore -- because it's not about them, and it's not about her. It's about Luis.

Walking out of the comms facility, she hears Ashley successfully fighting off Saddler. Interesting framing here with the jet ski in the foreground.

But interestingly, Ada's focus doesn't fall to her.

There's actually not a single moment in this game where Ada says Ashley's name out loud. Ashley is either "her" or "the girl" or "the president's daughter." No matter how far she comes in this, Ada still can't let go of that last little bit of pettiness. It's still personal for her, and the only reason why Ada helps Ashley at all is because it also helps Leon, which in turn honors Luis.

So, she does do it.

But not for Ashley's sake.

And she isn't about to go out of her way, either.

And then we reach the apex of it all.

Ashley's watching Leon's fight with Saddler with her hands clasped against her chest as though in prayer, as embers float around her like fireflies. This is overtly romantic imagery. I've said this before but: this is so romantic in its imagery and symbolism that it's just straight up on the level of Final Fantasy nonsense.

And not only is Ada forced to reckon with that, but the first and only thing out of Ashley's mouth to her is an order. Not a request. Not a plea. An order.

And all Ada can say in return is:

"I'm on it."

She's lost this fight.

Leon and Ashley (and Luis, to an extent) are a team, and Ada isn't part of that team. She sees it in this moment. Ashley is so comfortable in her place at Leon's side that Ada is a non-factor in the equation all together. That's why she wasn't in the lab with them. Ada acted as Luis's substitute, but in the lab, he was still with them.

"All of this -- removing the parasites -- this was Luis?" "Yeah. We're alive thanks to him."

The matching scars that Leon and Ashley end up with as a result of their radiation surgery are different from the matching scars that Leon and Ada have.

Leon and Ada's scars are a symbol that they once carried the same consequences born of the same mistakes.

Leon and Ashley's scars are a symbol that they once carried each other.

And that’s a huge fucking difference.

Ada feels that difference in that moment.

There is no "Who was that woman, anyway?" "She's like a part of me I can't let go" in this version of the story, because Leon has long since let her go.

And so her pettiness comes back. At the very end, she shoots her final shot:

It's a bookend for and a direct callback to what we were talking about earlier:

"Leave the girl. She's lost no matter what. You walk away now, and who knows? Maybe you'll live to meet me again. And then I might get you that 'greeting' you were looking for."

which really meant:

"Leave Ashley. She's not important. If you leave her, you'll finally get to have me. That's what you really want, right?"

and led into:

"Right. How about we continue this discussion another time?"

She's ready to continue the discussion. One last ditch effort to see if all love is lost between them.

Leon's answer is very clear.

The Leon and Ashley Show isn't over, but Ada's role in it is.

Which leaves her to wonder who and what, exactly, she'll be the next time she and Leon meet now that her status as The Love Interest has been completely and utterly usurped.

[idyllcy]

thinking of... Secret Dating!Ada Wong

secret dating!Ada who sends you the first message on her burner phone each time she gets a new one

secret dating!Ada who cracks the slightest hint of a smile when she catches you wandering downtown with the keychain dangling from your bag

secret dating!Ada who has your number memorized like a heartbeat

secret dating!Ada who sends you photos of the view from her flights, tapping back quietly when you tell her to take care of herself

secret dating!Ada who blows her salary on both you and herself

secret dating!Ada who stops by your apartment in an all-black trenchcoat, new red bottoms on with the newest designer jewelry because you had sent her a low-quality screenshot of the piece

secret dating!Ada who gets paid back in full with your smothering affection, your eyes glistening as you smile up at her bashfully

"That's it... ah..." Ada tilts her head back, eyes glued to the mess of your hair as you sit between her legs, gem glistening on your finger as you hold one of her thighs out, nose-deep in the slick of her body.

Your nose brushes her clit just so gently, earning the quietest of moans from her, and you take it as an encouragement to keep going, your thumb moving to circle her bundle of nerves as she throws her head back in pleasure.

"You're doing great, sweetheart."

"Mm." You hum, craning your neck further as you speed up, head spinning from her praise, fingers curling as you dig your nails into the plush of her thigh.

Anything to smother her in equal affection.

[pink-strawberry-kissess]

anyways i was literally crying over aeon tonight sjkbfdksjfs

something about how much angst and regret is in the ending of re4r and how ada made sure that leon (and ashley) had a way off the island even though she offered the helicopter, she knew that he wouldn’t accept it and had a escape route for him (and ashley.)

and that split second where he realizes that she made sure he was safe as well. i wonder if he regrets what he’s said to her, and that she had changed. and that even if she hadn’t changed 100% (obviously) she made it clear to leon that he had changed her. his face is stuck on her as she drifts away from him. he literally doesn’t stop staring at her until ashley shows up and calls out for him. 

he spends (imo) WAY TOO MUCH TIME CONTINUING TO STARE AT ADA when the ISLAND IS EXPLODING. WHAT ARE HIS THOUGHTS

the entire idea of ada wanting to atone for what she’s “done to leon,” while still working for who she works for, MAKES sense for the direction of re4r. 

having the ending of re4r to end with “she’s like a part of me that i can’t let go,” does not make sense in the script. there’s no connection between them that warrants that kind of reaction. in og re4, they have a much more relaxed connection and even though it’s campy. it makes sense.

but it DOES work if we flip the script. people who PAY ATTENTION TO THE GAMES know that ada is a simp for leon. she actively goes against what her mission is to make sure that leon is safe. often getting herself into danger to get him out. we even see that in re4r. and we still don’t even know what else she is doing behind the scenes with separate ways.

“she’s like a part of me that i can’t let go,” WORKS IF YOU FLIP IT FOR ADA. 

We (people who pay attention) already know that Leon changed Ada. We already know that Leon fell first, but Ada fell harder. 

The helicopter scene was a great reversal for the quote, but silently. 

we see and HEAR her “betray wesker” and don’t have to use nuances and pick apart the plot and story to figure that out. capcom seemed to be CLEARLY AND CONCISELY giving you a more fleshed out Ada. BECAUSE PEOPLE CAN’T PAY ATTENTION TO THE GAMES.

That re4r ada is meant to be redeeming herself in ways that she can. that she goes out of her way to save leon AND ashley and even luis. that she realizes what wesker is going to do and tries to stop it. THIS DID NOT NEED TO BE VERBALIZED, BUT THEY DID IT ANYWAYS BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE DUMB LOL 

[resizura]

i love ada wong and i so badly want her to have ANY and i mean ANY backstory/content outside of leon like please!!!!!! separate ways remake is the closest thing we’ve got on any expansion of adas character in almost 3 decades please im starved

[umbral-archives]

i don't know if you've answered this before, but why does murdoc choose to call reader "fawn?" it's very cute but knowing him there's definitely some sort of Evil Bitch Lore™ behind it in his lil head

I have answered this but some of the lore changed/I've better character insight on Fawn and Murdock so I'll link the old post and give a bit more info.

For one thing, take any lore I list for Fawn's background with a grain of salt as I'm wishy-washy with everything from Murdock's killing motives to his first name (Murdock is a middle name) and his eye color to Fawn's occupation and how they meet. As an example, previous post has Fawn being adopted, yet more recently I've rolled it back to bio-mother and stepfather. Fawn's bio-dad has a pivotal role in the story as he has from the beginning. Everything related to 'Fawn' as a nickname in that post remains true to my canon, but what I've changed is as thus: The night Fawn and Murdock meet, Fawn freezes up when faced with the threat of a murderer- ironically not the first one they face that night but they don't know this. In Murdock's mind, Fawn very much reminds him of the baby animal in question, and he mockingly refers to them as such. The intent is to remove a witness, glean information from them because he saw them interacting with the other murder, his longtime target- only for something about them, some old deja-vu to stay his hand, letting them escape... ... but they don't leave his mind.

[villageoflight]

and I was so engrossed with just how bad of a movie welcome to raccoon city was that I didn’t even notice the blatant racism until I was showering and meandering through my thoughts and I was thinking about Jill and Leon’s characterizations in the move

[meri-meri-mwah]

Idk if anyone else thought about this, but I think Lucy Liu as Ada Wong would've been SO FUN! Especially after watching her in Kill Bill and Charlie's Angels like...I think she would've been a great RE4 Ada.

[ghostcatoftheweb]

Bruh, why the fuck are RE shippers so serious. It was never that serious. Just let the pixels scissor who they're scissoring.

[visualheresy]

As an aeon fan, I’m glad there was little interaction between Ada and Leon in Separate Ways. This isn’t about him; in fact, I wanted less of Leon. I was so caught up in the urgency of Ada’s mission that I found myself growing impatient with the scenes they did have (it wasn’t the time or place for them to talk things over!). Besides I can write about their relationship all I want in my silly little fics; and I am so looking forward to reading whatever the fandom comes up with and sharing my own eventually.

Overall, despite some issues I had with the narrative, the DLC was some good trope-y fun. Again, as far as aeon content goes, I wasn’t expecting much, and I enjoyed the game for it was anyway. I just wished Ada’s story was longer and more complex.

[agonycrossbow]

Poor Ada strikes out harder in this game than Leon did in OG.

There's something very poignant about the blocking of these two scenes when placed side-by-side.

Wesker stands in front, and he walks away from her.

Leon stands in back, and he makes her walk away from him.

They're both rejections. Wesker's become unhinged; he's going down a road that Ada can't follow him on, and he has no qualms about leaving her behind. Leon's become resolute; he makes a stand and puts his foot down because it's not that he can't follow her -- it's that he won't, and there's no love lost on his end.

The villain who's taken care of her for years has no further use for her, and the hero who wished he could've taken care of her years prior now looks at her with contempt.

Ada's left with no other choice than to take care of herself. These are the consequences of the decisions she's made since Raccoon City, the night that changed everything. She's able to start living a more honest life, but due to the mistakes she's made and lies she's told along the way, the start of an honest life -- for her -- is a lonely one.

But both Wesker and Leon are the past. Breaking away from both of them gives Ada an opportunity to move forward towards the future.

[dankovskaya]

Apparently there are no resident evil related tags that I can go in without feeling like banging my head against a wall but I think if you genuinely cannot see any moral complexity and nuance in new Ada to the point where you think she is flat out poorly written and actually unironically think she is mean or EVIL or lacking any redeeming qualities whatsoever I think you are a moron at best. And I swear to God the next person who says she's too much of a bitch to Poor Ickle Leon I'm gonna show up at your damn HOUSE❗️

[naerys-arryn]

How does Rodrik feel about the Targ incest, on a personal level? Does it bother him that one of his daughters is married to a man born from a brother-sister marriage? Did it bother him that his second wife is born from incest?

Since he's one of the few non-valyrians who married into the family

Honestly, the Arryn's are pretty incestuous, since there's only so many 'apt' marrying houses in the Vale. He, and people who remember the best years of Jaehaerys and Alysanne's reign in the Vale at this time, are a certain type of Seven Worshipper who do hold some certain views on Targaryen Exceptionalism, mostly that it's an actual thing.

He has been Jaehaerys and Alysanne's close friend since Alysanne took Lorra as her LiW and he was an advisor. He believes in Targaryen Exceptionalism whole-heartedly, but he also thinks Daella is 'purer' by refusing to marry into the Blackwoods or marry Vaegon (not that she really decided that but-) so double standard right there but not actively harmful enough for Naerys to call him out on.

He's okay with the Aemma-Viserys because power, he's still a Lord Paramount, he's still a close friend of Jaehaeryss & Alysanne, he's still survived pretty long in the Game of Thrones.

[daturas-are-pretty]

Benefit of the Doubt

Premise: ADA!Chuuya and ADA!Dazai, both going straight after a life in the PM, but they don't know each other.

--------------

Chuuya had a hunch.

A grave, destructive hunch whenever he saw Dazai's eyes darken when he thought all heads had turned away.

The Agency was ruthless, but only when it needed to be. It had been carved into them, one way or the other.

Switching sides was more than shedding a coat, but symbols made it easier to draw a line in the sand.

This is who you are |This is who you were

Now, in face of the truth, Chuuya sometimes wondered if Dazai abhorred black for the same reasons as he did.

If he looked in the mirror and realized how dangerously easy it would be to just slip into the grooves of what they had once been.

If his sins were the demons that kept him up at night.

Or if it was the mistakes, the losses, the screw-ups that writhed and crawled in his veins, failure a bone-deep, burnished black he would never cleanse his hands from.

Chuuya would wade through an ocean of corpses if it meant the Agency's safety.

Those two years had been so lonely. Hanging between the underground and the surface world like a stray mutt who had been only trained to kill, kill, kill, and knew nothing else.

Waiting for the light had been so lonely.

Surely, Dazai knew what it felt like.

Chuuya didn't know Dazai, but the Agency had given him the benefit of a doubt when he'd first joined, and then time and time again as a fully qualified member.

Assholery did not guarantee suspicion, and unless and until he gave off the slightest hint of malice, Chuuya would find it in himself to keep making excuses for him.

--------

[dennisboobs]

do you guys ever sit and remember that dennis takes a mental health day is an episode that exists

[resizura]

them omitting john and changing leons “late to work” story in re2r still makes me furious

[no-thanks-bro]

RE4 REMAKE IS A MASTERPIECE AHHXJCKVKELCKEOCMEOFNEFOENDNFBWMDSNFKEKCKWKSKWKSKKW