#anyway hi i have replayed this mission several times already bc i want to see venom tenderly hold his face over and over and over

[feline-evil]

Thinking about how Kaz looks in the rescue mission and how different that appearance is from how he subsequently looks through the rest of the game; his eyes are green and without visible cataracts, his eyebrows less bushy, his face just a little less aged, i even think when we see him through the rest of the game his stubble on his upper lip looks almost greying whereas in this mission he's just very very blonde as he always is. He doesn't look like nine years have passed. And like, you could go 'oh yeah they just reused his model/ his models face from GZ's for this so as not to have to make two different Kaz models for TPP when this ones only going to be visible in one mission, and to free up resources and time with a simple shortcut' but knowing this game and how detailed it is at times i just. Feel like it's more deliberate than that, thematically.

Because like, we know Venom's perception isn't always 100% accurate, he's suffering from a myriad of visual anomalous experiences due to, WELL. THE SHRAPNEL STICKING OUT OF HIS HEAD. Sources are telling me having shrapnel (and human teeth) embedded inside your body isn't good for you. :( Alas. But anyways yes, we see that he hallucinates, we see that his vision can be impacted and his view of the world distorted, it's a fairly common theme in this game; so what i think when i see that scene is that this isn't exactly what Kaz looks like in this moment, this is what he looks like to Venom though. Seen through the eyes of an unreliable narrator who's had the image of his comrade and friend in his head through the mission briefing, through the entire helicopter ride over, as he's searched for intel and infiltrated to seek him out; this is Kaz as Venom expects to see him, injured, tortured and roughed up yes but still his face is that face he last saw nine years ago for the most part. He hasn't seen him since, maybe photographs but i doubt Diamond Dogs were taking many glamour shots during those nine years, and especially not of him in rough shape or without the armour of his glasses; he can fill in blanks in those years through the intel he's given, change the image in his head a little- but outside of that it's just. The man he knew that he see's. And it's not until reuniting with him and seeing him again that he can find the image in his minds eye correcting itself to how Kaz actually is now.

I need to educate myself more on supplementary info on this game that exists outside of just playing it, because i know i could just be wrong or misinformed, but. This is how it reads to me right now in my own personal interpretation- that Venom see's the face he has been hoping to see, the one he's so relieved to see, through rose tinted glasses of hazy memory; until he finally gets to reconnect with him, and see him for how he really is after those nine long, terrible years.

[greensaplinggrace]

Saw you're post about how much Ada values her own life and that's something I never really thought about before! I think the only time I thought about her feeling of her own value was the end bridge scene when Leon is holding on to her. She looked pretty open to his attempt to save her until she realizes that him trying to save her could result in him falling too. Her "It's not worth it" always sort of translated to me as "I'm not worth it", so just wondering how you interpreted that scene! 1/2

Do you think she saw more value in his life than her own in that instance? (Side note: I know a lot of the anti-Ada people would say she only wanted him to let go bc she knew she was going to live as a part of her diabolical plan, even though there were clear instances in the game that shows she obviously underestimated the severity of the mission she agreed to take on and wasn't fully prepared.) 2/2

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Tbh I’ve never really thought about it much before recently either, so I’m definitely welcoming comments or asks with other people’s impressions here!

I think that saying she knew she would survive isn’t so far off base. Ada has her grappling hook and we’ve seen her tackle any height with unflappable confidence that she’ll come out unscathed. At the same time, she was about two decades younger in the re2 remake and much less experienced. Leon catching her was probably what saved her as well, if we’re being honest. I doubt her reflexes would have matched up to the speed of her fall or the rate of her realization after the initial surprise when the bridge starts to crumble.

And let’s not forget that Ada looks honestly afraid here. 

Like, legitimately afraid. 

There are two instances where she looks down and her expression is blocked from Leon where she shows fear. If she were manipulating him, that fear wouldn’t be there when she’s looking away from him and doesn’t need to put on her act. There are (I think, I’ll have to replay this part - and also get better screenshots because all I have right now are the ones that didn’t get fuckng eaten when I reinstalled steam) a few scenes where she is showing fear when looking at Leon. These can be read differently, but I’m of the opinion that at least her last words were sincere. Once I get better screenshots I’ll try to show what I mean, but there’s an instance where she looks up at him after looking down that the fear there is at it’s most honest when facing him. That’s right before her expression shifts into the calm at peace “it’s not worth it” phase, and she tells him to take care of himself. 

Her “it’s not worth it” translated to “i’m not worth it” for me as well! I’m curious how many people read that into the scene. Based on what we see of Ada, it isn’t much a reach to interpret that subtext. Especially considering her next words.

And she does have a moment of realization (probably around the same time Leon does lol). So her evaluating her life’s importance versus Leon’s isn’t so far off the mark. Anybody would have to. After all, it’s either one person or two people dying at this point. Any person with even 1% of human decency would choose the obvious option, and we already know Ada possesses at least that much.

I think her value of her own life in this situation versus her value of Leon’s is hard to determine, because Ada’s options here are limited. We already know she’s a good person, if a horribly morally grey one. What could she do, if not ask him to save himself? I’m thinking, ideally, she would let Leon know she has a chance of survival. But Ada’s also an opportunist. This gives her a chance for a fresh start from this absolutely abysmal job fuck up. It also gives Leon the motivation he would need to leave and survive. Believing Ada dead would save him.

She doesn’t want Leon to die, that’s clear. I’m thinking that she doesn’t want Leon to die for her, especially. Which, I think, is where she’s currently at mentally in this scene.

Tbh knowing that antis use her knowledge of her own survival as an excuse to misinterpret and devalue the entire scene is pretty frustrating. Because Ada is afraid in this scene. That fear is definitely not faked. Leon has saved her life again, and her wish for him to survive is sincere. She does value his life here, and more than that she seems to also value his mental health what will happen to him in the future. None of this is faked. And I’m sorry but anybody who actually respects her character can generally tell when she’s lying. Like maybe the characters in the game aren’t supposed to know but it’s pretty clear as day to me when I watch her scenes in any game or movie lmao.

Also this is slightly off topic but I constantly think about how much of a rookie Ada herself was in the re2remake. She didn’t have half the experience she has now, which makes her falling for Leon all the more realistic in terms of her story. Because Leon isn’t just the “somehow changes an experienced and dangerous woman’s entire sense of self” stereotype that usually comes with most depictions of such a relationship. He meets her when she’s young, too. He gets under her skin early. And he stays there for years, cementing their bond with every new meeting. Ada’s feelings for him are genuine and probably incredibly unwanted lmao. I think that she often values his life more than her own and hates that she does, because she knows it’s a dog eat dog world but her feelings won’t let her be as cold as she should be.

So anyways, sorry this response probably wasn’t the best it could have been. Her value of her own life was something I only considered recently as well, and I encourage people to participate a bit more in this discussion! I’d welcome some more opinions or impressions on it to help me work through it.