#but goddamn man

[blackkatmagic]

I think the term "fanon drift" should be used more re: characterizations that are solely informed by popular fanon and have only tangential relationships to the actual canon characters.

Also see: interpretations of characters based entirely on fanfic and not any knowledge of canon at all.

[armyofpsychictrashcans]

Fuck the Squid Game the challenge discourse, just go watch total forgiveness in order to understand how fucking crushing living in a capitalistic hellscape is while still being entertained

[sparkly-caroline]

Basically Tails if he was as edgy like Shadow.

My thoughts on him are: "i love you, but I hate you, but I love you, but I hate you-"

[sapphire-weapon]

My favourite thing ever is the way Ashley gets Leon to smile. Honest to god, his most sincere and genuine smiles are the ones he's given Ashley.

Now if she could just get him to laugh, that would be something completely unprecedented.

Sorry, it just occurred to me literally today that Leon never laughs -- even one time -- at any point in this series. Other protagonists, at the very least, laugh at how stupid a villain's plan is sometimes. Not this guy. Not our Leon. He's too dead inside. Bro doesn't even laugh at OG Salazar, who may as well have circus music playing in the background any time he's on screen. We stan a depressed king.

I was actually thinking about this a little last night -- again, in the context of the whole "Ashley is Leon's anchor to reality/his road back to himself" thing that I've talked about before, while also paired with the shitpost-but-not I made the other day about Leon's sense of self-worth and identity.

Leon drifts further and further away from himself as the series goes on, and not only does he not smile anymore, he becomes downright sullen. There was a time -- a significant period of time, actually -- where you could have said that one of Leon's defining traits was his optimism. That stops being true by the time of Damnation; Leon's optimism is replaced by hollow machismo in a poor attempt at a coping mechanism in that movie -- and, by the time of Vendetta, even the machismo has fallen to the wayside. By the age of 37, Leon has completely and utterly embraced the creeping sense of despair that's been hounding his steps for years.

That has never been who he was. But it's who he is now.

And, as soon as I had that thought, something occurred to me that I somehow had not noticed in the 18 years since RE4 OG has been out:

Ashley is a foil for Ada.

That wasn't her intended purpose when she was created, but it's the narrative role that she's come to inhabit as the series has gone on and Leon's character has progressed without her.

In OG canon, Leon thinks of Ada as a part of himself that he can't let go. But the longer he clings to her, the less of himself he becomes.

And the last person to actually see him as his true self, lifted up from the despair, and without hiding (fully) behind a veneer of machismo was Ashley -- someone he did let go. Even in OG, he is very genuine and very sincere with his affection for her (platonic or not) in a way he really isn't with anyone after RE4.

So, when you point out that his smiles for her are genuine, there's really something to that. He trusts Ashley with a piece of his heart that he doesn't show to anyone else post-RE2. Like, literally, the last person who probably saw him like that was Sherry, and we already know that Leon estranges himself from her almost completely after they're taken into CIA custody following RE2.

And the Remakes make this way more obvious than the OG games did, too -- not only because of the RE engine being great for facial expressions, but because of the way the script changes make certain parts of Leon's character more noticeable. If you go straight from RE2make to RE4make, the entire opening sequence involving the cops and the hunting lodge is absolutely horrifying. If I was a new fan coming in from RE2make to RE4make, I would be knocked on my ass and going "This is not my Leon. This is not the sweet boy that I know. What the fuck happened to him?"

RE4make does such a good job with sharply juxtaposing who Leon was with who he is now. By the time of RE4make, Leon is so beaten down and tired and closed off and angry and, honestly, scared -- that he almost kind of feels like a completely different character. Except, he's not a different character. He's still Leon -- just, Leon with his blinders ripped off and his heart broken.

And, we know that he's still Leon, because every once in a while, the sweet boy that we know comes back. It's infrequent, and it's only for a few moments, but he's still in there. And it always -- every single time -- is only ever Ashley that pulls it out of him.

And Ada? She forces him to retreat again immediately, and he locks himself back up tight.

So, when Ashley gets permanently erased from Leon's life and Ada becomes more of a permanent fixture in it, that sweet boy from RE2 disappears, and he's replaced entirely by the version of Leon that's heartbroken and angry all the time -- because Ada is a constant reminder of all that he's lost, whereas Ashley, as his only true success story, was a hopeful reminder of all that he could potentially be.

I honestly don't think that Capcom even realizes that this is how they've written Leon's character. I don't think it was intentional for Leon's smile to fade with Ashley's absence in his life.

But that's just kind of how it happened.

[gamergirl929]

“That would be the last night we ever spent beneath the same stars.”

This line seriously gets me EVERY TIME... Terra, Ventus and Aqua deserved so much better, their story is so incredibly sad, my heart literally ACHES for these three.

[heliianth]

the thing abt my voice dysphoria is when im talking normally i sound fine like maybe theres some stuff i would change in a character customizer or whatever but its not worth me putting effort into it or feeling bad but then when i talk to any stranger ever my pitch shoots up and i talk like im asking them to pretty please not pull the trigger mister and i dont know how to fix this without sounding like a weirdo who is purposefully making my voice deeper when i talk to them

[gomiworm]

i do a bit of crying over it

[time-woods]

simon doodle in honor of fionna and cake dropping, sad old men gotta b my favorite species tbh

[oddthesungod]

calling 911 on sam riegel for emotional damage 😭😭😭😭

[ghouljams]

The Ghost distribution system... He really is like a stray cat, or a bear that learns minivans have food in them, he just keeps coming back no matter how many times you try to send him on his way. It doesn't matter how it happens but any scrap of kindness and he just determines he's going to attach himself to you.

Maybe he offers you a hand moving your couch when he passes your place and hears you swearing. You offer him dinner and Ghost has never been the sort to turn down a free meal, so he sticks around. It's weird that he doesn't even pretend to refuse, just takes you up on it immediately and even offers to help cook. You send him home and he's... there again the next day, waiting on your doorstep with a box of pasta asking if you could do anything with it. He's going to come back, he's going to keep coming back.

Maybe it's from meeting you at a bar. He's the biggest guy you can grab when your ex walks in, and somehow he seems approachable despite... well, everything about him. Fake boyfriend for a few hours at the bar is one thing, having him show up the next day to fix your sink because you mentioned offhandedly that it was leaking the night before is another. Having him sit in your kitchen and peal an orange for you because you said you were hungry is really driving home that this guy isn't leaving.

Hell maybe it's just a one night stand that never seems to end. You wake up and Ghost has already made breakfast. The two of you sit at your little table and eat quietly, Ghost scrolling his phone while you eye him warily, trying to figure out his game. He asks what you want to do today and somehow you can't find the right way to ask when he's planning on going home. He just sort of moves in, you realize he's printed a key for himself while you're grabbing groceries. It's nice he offers to pay, but you don't know when having him around became your normal.

Ghost sees you, he wants you, you're his. He's not leaving, he'll come back. He knows that this house has food and warmth, he knows that families forget to tie their trash up off the ground. He's a man of instinct, and you are going to be his perfect match.

[felixfeliccis]

I love getting infantilized on the internet it's so fun ^^ (irl too) (<- all of this is /s btw)

[yellowistheraddest]

I WILL NEVER STOP WITH 'DRAGON LOVE HIS SON AND IS A SILLY GUY' PROPAGANDA!!!!

[b-e-e-h-o-p]

DID YALL KNOW THAT SOMEONE MADE SPEEDRUNS DEDICATED TO HOW FAST THEY CAN GET TO THE PUNCH SOLAS SCENE 💀💀💀

[ann-archyy]

The sillies

[cheekylittlepupp]

oh my fcking god Halsin you big hunk of treasure

[sabertoothwalrus]

I know Senshi is canonically furry and kui doesn't draw him hairy to save time, but I think it's funny that the only character that IS drawn with body hair is Chilchuck. of all people.