don't talk of worlds that never were

shipping supply specialist

[forget-my-charms]

The interesting thing about the human brain is that it tends to cherry pick information based on the individual's culture, upbringing, lifestyle, etc. That's basically the only thing I've learned about being in any fandom. You will have people who agree on headcanons but for entirely different reasons than your own.

Isn't that cool?

[forget-my-charms]

Discourse will always exist in any fandom. Fans who claim there isn't any in their fandom have done a remarkable job in catering their experience to see positivity.

Be those fans.

Immersing yourself in discourse is only going to make you bitter and disillusioned. Write beautiful stories and detailed headcanons. Draw gorgeous art. Flood the tags with positivity. Use the block button liberally. Take a break every now and then.

But don't allow strangers on the internet to destroy what you makes you happy. I'm not saying to start attacking bad fans, just don't let it affect you. Don't give negativity space in your head or your social media.

I know it's easier said than done. But it can be done.

[ffxvcaps]

Final Fantasy VII: Revelation → Vincent Valentine

[forget-my-charms]

So the nonogram in my previous post resulted in a dumb lollipop. Here's one I liked better because Final Fantasy reference. I'm only on level 3 and each level has 9 sublevels with about 60-70 puzzles in them. The last ever puzzle is this fucking nightmare:

[forget-my-charms]

This is what I like to do during my downtime when I don't want to write or doom scroll.

[requiem01r]

[forget-my-charms]

I love that lock of hair on the left. It conveniently curls just right to accentuate his cheekbone. Also. His eyebrow game is on point. He's got better eyebrows than most women I know.

[forget-my-charms]

Why are we sleeping on werewolf!Leon x vampire!Ashley?

[forget-my-charms]

What? Leon's new costume (perk) in RE9 is wolf ears and tail. What if he meets vampire!Ashley (dressed in her romantic costume, natch)?

[forget-my-charms]

RE4R L X A 045 - and let's move to the beat like we know that it's over

Summary - sex pollen. Forgive any errors, edited on the fly.

They're in the conservatory.

It's the shittiest game of Clue he's ever played but there’s a shortcut here somewhere. The castle was goddamned labyrinth. Everywhere they turned, they have had to pull a lever, find a key, push an icon into a slot. It's been a never-ending freakshow of a place that he'd be more than happy to see blown up. He's tired, frustrated, and probably in shock.

Maybe he's looking for a puzzle piece. He can't really remember.

“Leon!”

Ashley's voice. She sounded excited and breathless. She's in danger. Finally, something he can handle. He charged through the foliage and greenery to where she stood staring at flowering bushes. He's slightly disappointed that she appears to be fine.

“Aren't they pretty?” She asked, turning to him.

He's fucking out of breath from a short sprint. The air was thick and muggy like the tropics. Sweat trickled down his spine. He’s annoyed by her guileless question and even more annoyed that he can't find what he's looking for. Pollen tickled the sensitive hairs in his nose and he sneezed, once then twice.

“Fuck,” Leon griped and rubbed his nose with his forearm. “Did you yell for me to look at some flowers?”

“They're pretty,” she repeated with a pout.

He felt bad for taking his frustration out on her. She's been nothing but helpful and a little break to appreciate weird looking flowers never hurt anyone. He glanced briefly at them. They kind of look like… well, he's not going to say it out loud. Like sex organs. Pulsing, glistening sex organs.

“No, they don't,” Ashley laughed.

Fuck it, he’s said it anyway. “Yeah,” he huffs after sneezing again, “they do.”

“They smell nice.” She leaned toward a flower and inhaled. “Like…like…”

Like sex.

Ashley laughed again. “Wow, Leon. Have something on your mind you need to get off?”

Leon opened his mouth then snapped it shut. He did say that out loud; his brain to mouth filter completely shut down. Ashley wasn't faring any better; her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were glassy. And she's jittery, as if she's about to jump out of her skin.

“Are you okay?” he asked, keeping his voice neutral.

“I'm hot,” she announced with a giggle. “Like, really hot.”

Leon pressed the back of his hand against her forehead. “Fuck, you're burning up,” he growled, “did you eat or drink anything weird?”

“This whole place is weird,” she sighed and grabbed his wrist to nuzzle her cheek on his palm.

He's inclined to agree with her…

“Hey, uh, Ashley?”

“Hmm?”

It’s difficult to think when she started sucking his thumb and giving him the sultriest look. Far be it from him to guess her sexual experience but she's pretty good at simulating fellatio. Leon can't help his blood rushing south. He's dizzy with the thought of allowing her to continue with something bigger to occupy her hot little mouth.

He shook his head. Nope. Getting a blowjob from the president's daughter was definitely not part of his mission sadly.

“Let's, uh, take a break for a minute,” he suggested, slipping his thumb out of her mouth and guiding her to a nearby bench. “Catch our breath, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said, a little too eager.

The bench was wide enough for the both of them to sit on. He's on the far end hunched over, trying in vain to quell the ache in his groin. He's never been so hard; it's really messing with him. He's usually more focused. Sure he's noticed that she's the cutest, sweetest girl he's had the pleasure of nearly being brained by, but that's part of her charm.

“They did look like sex organs,” Ashley admitted after a moment of quiet.

Leon kept his head down, staring at her feet in front of his boots. He took too long to parse out where her shoes went. His eyes tracked up her bare legs. He can't recall when she'd taken her tights or her skort off, leaving her in a modest pair of white panties. She's lost her orange sweater too, revealing the perfectly rounded globes of her breasts.

It seemed natural for her to straddle his lap. Even more so for him to hook the gusset of her drenched underwear aside. It's down right convenient he's has his cock out, sliding the blunt head through the slick heat of her, before guiding her down every thick inch of him.

“Oh God,” she cried once her ass meets his thighs.

"Yeah," he said, gripping her waist. "You're fucking tight."

"Thanks," she chirped and rose up slightly.

"You're—oh fuck—welcome," he gasped at the echoing slap of her body coming back down.

Leon looked down at where they're joined. There's a strange disconnect in his mind. Distantly, he knows he shouldn't be driving into his boss' daughter when there's more important things to do. But the sight of his skin glistening with her arousal superseded all thought.

She smiled at him, wide and bright. He hoped he was smiling back because fuck, she felt good.

“You feel good too,” she gasped at him taking control, guiding her hips to roll on him harder.

"Don't have a condom," he managed to say after a particular grind of her body that threatened his dwindling restraint. "Is it okay if I fill you up, baby?"

“Yeah," she sighed.

She leaned down for a dirty kiss, more spit and tongue than anything resembling finesse. They're beyond that, just an incessant need to copulate for reasons unknown. He suspected the weird fucking flowers but the thought drifted away when she arched her back with a moan.

Shit.

Condor One, come in.

Leon pressed a finger to his lips and Ashley responded by kissing him senseless, licking into his mouth to draw out a whorish moan from his throat. Lost in the enthusiastic bounce of her body on his lap, he'd forgotten about answering Hunnigan.

Condor One, I repeat, come in.

Do you have Baby Eagle?

“Yeah,” the word was muffled against the skin of Ashley's chest.

He has her all right. Balls deep.

Say again? What's your status?

I need a sitrep, Condor One.

"Uh. Can't say."

“Kinda busy plunging through enemy territory here…”

Ashley slapped him across the cheek, an offended pout on her face. “I like it rough, baby,” he whispered in her ear.

“It’s been rough but I've got her in my hands.”

Good. Proceed to extraction.

Ashley's extracting something all right. As tight as she's getting, Leon was damn near about to blow his load.

[forget-my-charms]

Why is no one talking about that little lip bite that Leon does just before he enters the RPD in Requiem? It is literally the thing that makes me tear up every time.

[forget-my-charms]

Hear me out, an AU in the style of Harlequin romance with the classic cover of a bare-chested man grabbing a barely clothed woman. There's wind blowing for some reason. She looks indignant but also intrigued.

Anyway.

Leon is a hardened warrior of the mountains and he's set to marry Ashley, the golden princess of the valley. It's not for love, it's for politics. Blah blah blah. Of course he's got to keep her warm during some random winter storm.

[forget-my-charms]

And he has to treat her like dirt (nothing says romance like a guy ignoring you). He makes her work in the kitchens of his keep because, I don't know, he thinks she needs to learn the value of hard work. Then he feels bad. She does the work but you know, her hands, once delicate and soft, are getting calluses and stuff. But he doesn't know how to express emotions because he was raised as a warrior of the mountains not some touchy-feely knight of the valley.

And then! She runs away. She'd rather die out in the cold, unforgiving peaks, than be treated like a servant. She was trying to be a good wife. Or maybe she doesn't. Whatever floats your boat. So he realizes how much he cares and has to find her. Is he too late when he discovers her poor, cold form down in a ravine? Dun dun dun!

[forget-my-charms]

Hear me out, an AU in the style of Harlequin romance with the classic cover of a bare-chested man grabbing a barely clothed woman. There's wind blowing for some reason. She looks indignant but also intrigued.

Anyway.

Leon is a hardened warrior of the mountains and he's set to marry Ashley, the golden princess of the valley. It's not for love, it's for politics. Blah blah blah. Of course he's got to keep her warm during some random winter storm.

[forget-my-charms]

I still don't understand why some people can't see Ashley and Leon together shortly after RE4R.

She's young: The age difference is a moot point to me. She is a consenting adult. Even if saying that she's immature compared to Leon, by the time they get off the island, she's gone through hell and came out of it more mature and stronger. Not recognizing that and implying that she needs to be a little older falls into babifying her. She's not a child, nor was she when RE4R started.

His job vs her status: I'm of the mind that they are equals. If anything, the best person to be with would be someone that can and will protect you. Leon has displayed that he does that easily and I would imagine that Ashley would become a huge proponent in ensuring he's treated well in the DSO (not that Leon would allow that but he knows she'd stand up for him). And I would daresay the American public would eat up a relationship between the first daughter and the man who saved her. There would be opponents, no doubt, but I definitely wouldn't include her father as one.

His alcoholism: NO. Don't even bother bringing that up.

[forget-my-charms]

Thought of You - by Ryan Woodward

Credit to ryanwoodwardart

I watched this about decade ago and it's still one of the most moving piece of art.

Then just to make me cry, I thought of Ashley waiting for Leon to come home.

[forget-my-charms]

Here's my thing: just because I'm not big on fanon's interpretation of Leon, doesn't mean I'm completely closed off to it. It's fun to stretch your limits. Without further ado: Leon can't talk to women.

RE4R L X A 52 - boy, put that pep in my step

Her favorite outfit yet: tight sweatpants hung low paired with an open jacket. To ward off the morning chill presumably. No shirt.

Mmph.

Casually sipping at her mug, Ashley discretely watches her morning entertainment jog down the sidewalk until he rounds the corner and disappears. Every day that he passes by her apartment, time stills. Everyone vanishes and the only ones left on Earth is him and her. She admires his broad chest and shoulders as he comes up and his tight ass is to die for as he leaves. He's better than Baywatch, that's for sure. She leans back on her front stoop, elbows digging onto the rough concrete stair, and sighs.

Sexy Jogger, as she likes to call him, passes every morning at six-thirty sharp. He wears a different outfit each week. Some ridiculous and some borderline indecent. She still blushes thinking of the running shorts that had showed off his powerful thighs from last week.

How he can jog by without being chased by a gaggle of women is beyond her.

Ashley checks her phone and sighs. Time to get ready for work.

---

“You've been eye-fucking this guy for months and you've never talked to him?” Jessica, a fellow waitress and best friend, asks as she sets down her tray and places a hand on her hip.

“What am I supposed to say to him?” Ashley retorts. “Hello, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I've been drooling at you while you run by. Care for a date?”

“Yeah, that, except only the first part.”

“What, the drooling part?” She says with a roll of her eyes.

Jessica laughs, “No, just hello.”

Easier said than done, she thinks. Ashley finds it rude to try to converse with him while he's getting his fitness on. She hates it when people interrupt her when she's doing something important, it stands to reason that he'd be annoyed that someone would deign to speak to him while he's jogging. He'd be sweaty and out of breath and she'd be the same for different reasons.

Ashley turns her head at the sound of the bell above the door jingling and her eyes widen. What the hell is he doing here?

Sexy Jogger stands at the entrance with two others, a hulking dark-haired man and a gorgeous brunette. All three are dressed in STARS uniforms, likely coming off shift. He looks even better than before if that were possible. Uniforms really do make the man.

“I've got to take a break,” Ashley says to Jessica. “My feet are killing me.”

“Okay, I'll get these guys,” her friend replies. “They should be our last customers for the night.”

“Great, I'll clean your stations when I get back,” she says as she backs away toward the kitchen, tray raised up to her face. She doubts he'd recognize her, but she's not taking that chance. “Be back in five.”

Jessica waves her away with a smile.

---

“Calvin Klein needs a refill.”

Jessica bursts into the break room, catching Ashley shoveling salad into her mouth. During busy service, she's learned to inhale her meal and the habit has become ingrained into her psyche even with the lulls. She chokes on a piece of julienned carrot.

“W-what?” Ashley manages to cough out.

“I've got to pee,” Jessica whines, dancing in place for effect. “And table seven needs a refill on coffee.”

Table seven is… Oh. Oh no. She's not going out there. She's done a fine job of keeping herself busy: wiping down booths, marrying condiments, filling napkin dispensers. All to avoid that specific table.

“They can't wait?”

A roll of eyes is her reward for stalling.

“Fine,” she sighs. “Which one is Calvin Klein?”

She knows the answer and dreads it.

“The one that looks like he stepped out of an underwear ad. Hulk and Glamazon are fine.”

Ashley snorts out a laugh, shaking her head. “Go pee. I'll take care of him.”

“God, don't say that! My bladder's about to rupture.”

---

She can do this.

She'll just swan in, refill his coffee and swan right out. She doesn't have to talk to him. Maybe she could grunt and hold up the pot, indicating her intentions. And he'd push his cup forward, silently giving his assent.

Right.

Ashley comes out of the kitchen a bit too forcefully in her determination to end their confrontation. The doors bang loudly as they swing to and fro behind her. The three at table seven swivel their heads in unison toward her at the sound.

“You're a moron,” she mutters and picks up the pot on her way to the booth. “Hi, uh, hello,” she stutters. “Refill?”

What happened to non-verbal communication? She screeches inside her head.

“Yeah, thank you,” Sexy Jogger replies as he picks up his mug and holds it up in the air between them. His fingers wrap around the ceramic. The perfect fingers for just about anything, her brain decides.

Ashley stares at the cup. He stares at her. This lasts for a decade. Or a few seconds. Time is pretty subjective at this point.

Restaurant etiquette is that you never fill glassware while the customer is holding it. It's really a liability issue. To prevent an accidental spill, especially when dealing with hot beverages, onto the customer.

“I'll just,” she pauses, contemplating how to maneuver her fingers between his to wrestle the mug out. “Um, could you set that down, please?”

She sounds annoyed and he takes it that way.

“Sorry,” he huffs, setting down the mug with a firm clunk.

“No, sorry!” Ashley cringes at her volume. “I didn't want to spill on your uniform.”

“Clumsy?” He smirks.

“No.” Now she is annoyed. She'd express it by pouring coffee in his lap, but she settles for filling the mug as angrily as possible. Which doesn't look anything like that. Figures. “Anything else I can get you?”

“We're fine,” Hulk says. “Thank you.”

Glamazon nods in agreement.

“You're welcome,” she beams at them and levels a glare at Sexy Jogger before turning to leave.

“You look familiar,” Sexy Jogger says, words drifting down to a low rumble. “Have we met before?”

Ashley stops cold, shock keeping her from running out the door screaming. She schools her features and rounds to face him, backing up a step. “No,” she shakes her head. “Never seen you before in my life.”

“Are you sure?” His brow furrows and he tilts his head. “I swear I've seen you somewhere.”

“C'mon, Kennedy,” Hulk mutters between bites of his pie. “Let the woman leave in peace.”

Yeah, Kennedy, let me leave in peace.

“Nope, complete strangers,” Ashley replies.

Kennedy's eyes grow large and he leans back into the booth. “Aren't you—”

“No, I'm not,” she firmly says.

“You look just like her.” He shifts forward, elbow on the table and chin propped up on his hand. His blue eyes pierce her straight through the floor, rendering her immobile. And isn't he all kinds of rude? First the mug, then the staring, and now this.

“Not me.”

He hums and relaxes into a smile. “Maybe you have one of those faces.”

“Maybe,” she agrees.

“My name is Leon. Leon Kennedy.”

“Good for you.”

“And you're...” He reads the tag at her chest, “Ashley.”

“Yep,” she chirps. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

“We're not strangers anymore.” He grins.

“We're not friends either.”

[paranormal-taters]

your honor im love them

[forget-my-charms]

I have to admit that I tend to disassociate when reading fanfic where Leon is an alcoholic. I just pretend I didn't read that part and carry on. Do I lose a portion of the story? Yeah, probably but I don't really care.

Maybe I'm wrong (most definitely I'm sure, since a vast majority of the fandom either believes Leon is an alcoholic or has a drinking problem) but there's no concrete proof he's got a problem. I'll break it down based on the CGI movies I've seen and games I've played:

RE2 (OG) - Leon's girlfriend breaks up with him and he proceeds to go on a bender, making him late for his first day. Not really an indicator of a problem. He's twenty-one and just had his heart torn out. If anything, it shows lack of maturity in dealing with strong emotions. Which he's twenty-one, so that kind of tracks.

RE2Remake - He's late because he was told to stay away (I headcanon that it was Marvin that called him because of how much he cared to arrange a welcoming party for Leon). The alcoholic bender isn't mentioned at all.

RE4 - Nothing to say here. I don't recall if Leon mentioned needing a drink but he did offer Luis gum. Which you can use to say he's hiding his breath. But for the most part, Leon is clean.

RE4Remake - Yeah, nothing. Not even an offering of gum.

Damnation - Finally something. Leon carries a flask and is seen drinking in his room. Sure. I'll give you that. That's a problem. Doesn't necessarily point to alcoholism.

Vendetta - Chris finds Leon drunk at a bar. I'm sorry but I've got to give Leon a pass on this. He just got off mission, everyone's dead and he lived. Again. It's become a never-ending cycle for him. Drinking so he could drown out the voices, the guilt, everything. Give him a fucking break. And for everyone that says, "Well I wouldn't do that if it happened to me." Good for fucking you. And for some that say, "There's better ways to cope." Because the Resident Evil franchise is all about healthy coping habits. Although it would be interesting to watch Chris barge into Leon's therapy session and Leon saying he still has forty-five minutes left and to wait outside. But I didn't write the movie, so there you go.

Infinite Darkness - No drinking for Leon here. Carry on.

Death Island - Same. It is a remarkably dry movie in terms of alcohol.

RE9 Requiem - The connoisseur badge is a bottle of something. Can't really tell. Whiskey? Bourbon? Who fucking knows. Not an indicator of alcoholism. And its effects are increasing firepower, which honestly doesn't make sense. Like, if Capcom wants to indirectly point to Leon having a drinking problem or is an alcoholic, the effect from the STARS emblem would fit better.

I feel like sometimes people have this view of an alcoholic as someone sitting at a bar getting blasted, stumbling home, and passing out. I wish that was fucking true. It'd be easier to deal with than watching someone you love destroy their body and relationships because "One more drink won't hurt. I'm not even that drunk" and all the million other excuses. That's an alcoholic.

OG Leon, eh. I wouldn't say he's an alcoholic or has a drinking problem. He was young and dumb. Other than the gum thing with Luis, it doesn't say a lot. Maybe Leon likes fresh breath.

CGI Leon, sure. He's got a drinking problem. I would hardly say he's an alcoholic. But I don't really feel it lasted to his later thirties early forties. Either he sought help or went cold turkey.

Remake Leon, nope. Nothing proves that he's got an issue with alcohol. There's the Easter Egg of the connoisseur badge (Yes, I'm going to include Requiem as part of the remakes), but that's not proof. Much like most of the game, it's just a nod to the lore.

[forget-my-charms]

Sometimes when I watch the bad ending of RE9, I can't help but think of what's going on in Leon's head when he says "At least... I could save you." He's on his knees. He looks up to Grace safe on the walkway. His eyes start to get distant. I wonder if he saw Ashley too, a haze of her figure smiling at him from a moment on a jetski.