⋆ A Resident Evil themed blog for posting my occasional writings, ramblings and art away from my main acc. This is also a place for me to gush on anything horror related, so there will be some gross and scary reblogs from time to time, sorry!
⋆ I am a multishipper. If that bothers you, this place might not be for you. Oc/canon and self-insert slander is not welcome here either! Lots of oc posting to expect on here.
⋆ Inbox is always open for anything and everything! I'm not taking fic requests, but if you want to jump in and babble about RE (or anything really) with me, you're more than welcome! I might write up a one-shot in response to an ask occasionally if I get inspired, but it's fully random on my part, sorry lol. My dms are also open :)
⋆ If you want me to talk about a specific version of a character (ex: Vendetta Leon vs RE2R Leon, RE6 Ada vs RE4R Ada, etc), make sure to state so! Otherwise I will go with my gut.
⋆ Unless stated otherwise, I try to write my reader-inserts as gender-neutral. If you want me to write with a feminine/masculine reader in mind, you'll have to specify so!
Thinking about how in the last 3 years of Wesker's life him and Jill were the only ones around each other who knew each other's history, who could weaponize against each other all the pain and betrayal and death that came from S.T.A.R.S., the Spencer Mansion, and Raccoon City. That Jill would've been in his orbit daily, forced to still see glimpses of the captain she once worked with side-by-side in the genocidal monster before her. That Wesker wasn't happy with the full effects of P30, because he wanted her to remain recognizable as the person he knew to be Jill Valentine, even as he confined and tortured and punished her for it. That as much as he tried to forgo any of his humanity he was still as stuck in the past as she was. That Wesker wanted her as his loyal right-hand. That Jill who fought against bioweaponry for so much of her life would become one herself, at his command once again. That they would be certain survivors of an uncertain 'new age of humanity', nearly a decade after the days of coffee runs and call responds and late nights in the office. That originally in RE5 Jill would've taken out Wesker's eye permanently, scarring him as he scarred her - and that this would've been the injury that made his death possible, all down to her. That even after he's dead and gone, and as much as she despises it, his legacy still lives on through Jill, from her altered appearance to the way she fights. That when he died she might've been the person who knew him best.
Okay have some nonsense that is me ranting about the character parallels in RE Requiem specifically and also the respective endings.
MAJOR Requiem spoilers, there is basically a "live post" of the bad end, because OW.
First. I love Grace. Grace is amazing. The epitome of "doing it scared," and so relatable in her anxiety. She is scared but she is trying and she is surviving. Leon might save her from some of the monsters, but she still faces them down herself, terrified but determined to make it out.
And her contrast and parallels to Leon in the game are just *chefs kiss*. Grace is Leon's mirror, but specifically a mirror of who he was in Raccoon City, in RE2. She is the spark and love for life he's lost. So much of the game is about confronting the past; Leon seeing himself in Grace and facing Raccoon City, Elpis as a cure (though whether or not it is actually a 'redemption' by Spencer is questionable, it could be another power play, and Grace isn't without her own blindspots here). AND the "whatever it takes count me in" line is EXACTLY what Little Leon said to Ada in RE2!! (Capcom, trying to make absolutely sure we pick up the character parallels--)
And how Grace and Leon save each other over the course of the game. Like, getting the good end requires trusting Grace. Leon is the more experienced fighter but he only survives thanks to Grace. Even if he hadn't been impaired by RCS, he still would have died because he would have destroyed Elpis, thinking it was a bioweapon instead of a cure. But also, them saving each other is often well, painful. It hurts.
Like, for starters, the scene with Emily... Grace's voice actor did so good, oh god... she's begging Leon not to hurt Emily, but Leon can't or won't listen. And then Grace's line of "It's my fault I wanted to save her"---that feeling of failing of someone she wanted to save--and Leon's response of "I get, trust me I get it." And he DOES get it but again, after 30+ years of fighting this stuff he's learned to force himself to look past who people used to be. To focus on the survival, to keep going. And while he did save Grace, she just watched someone she trusted kill someone she tried to protect despite her pleas not to...
And then, this reverses later! In the good ending, where you release Elpis, Leon ends up saying "Grace what are you doing?!" It's very much his side of the Emily scene. From Leon's perspective, he made Grace to promise him to finish it, to destroy Elpis in his place if something happened. And now he's watching her release it and probably thinking he got betrayed for virus samples again. (The parallels with RE2 and Ada strike again!)
Just, each of them saving the other, even as they ask them not to.
Also the bad ending. I know everyone went "waaahhh" at seeing Leon die but look, it's not the gunshot that does it for me, it's everything preceding it. Like, here, my "live-post" of the RE9 bad ending aka "traumatize the fanbase"
As if to make sure you think you're doing the right thing during the decision to destroy/release you get Leon reiterating his mission to destroy Elpis and also a "promise me-", as if to hammer home "Yes this is what Leon wants us to do, this is what we need to do"
Zeno is mad, and Leon yelling for Grace to "Get out of here"
Zeno stopping Grace, and IN COMES LEON WITH THE HATCHET (He's dying. He's actively dying. He is in organ failure mode right now.)
Leon, pushing Grace to run to a still-intact balcony and giving her a boost with "Go I'm right behind you" (he was not, in fact, right behind her)
And then the floor immediately going down and when we cut to Grace's perspective, Leon's too far to jump and clearly wavering on his feet. Even if he wanted, he's not making it.
Grace asking what he's doing... asking him to jump... holding out her hand for him. THE RE2 PARALLELS.
Also. Leon squaring up to try and fight Zeno with his fists. Fully boxer stance "Lets duke it out bro"... and in subsequent "fight" he does not land a single hit.
Grace is screaming his name while Leon gets his ass kicked. And then. Forget the gunshot, it's Zeno's final strike to Leon's gut that just stuns him in place that's the finishing blow T_T
LIKE LOOK AT THIS FACIAL EXPRESSION. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THIS CAPCOM.
Like, heck, that's the hit. That's the one that makes Leon stop, instinctively clutching at Zeno for support as he slides down. The exact moment he realizes he's dead. Just. Something punctured, he's RCS riddled organs bleeding, whatever it is. Air knocked out of him, on his knees, audibly wheezing for air, not even trying anymore.
And then Leon has the audacity to look up at Grace and say "At least I could save you" before o' lala Zeno
And then tasteful shot not showing the lack of head. Does not actually help capcom it just leaves it to the imagination. Oh and then as if we were in doubt that he's dead as Grace's elevator ascends we see lots of explosions from down below
But no. For me it's that face he makes when Zeno punches him in the gut. It's the breaking point. The moment of realization. The moment of no return. The moment he stops. The moment of acceptance. And then the parallels between Leon and Ada and Grace and Leon.... the hand, the falling into the abyss, the looking up as they resign themselves to their death, the screaming their name... AUGH.
Anyways, the entire story is mirroring RE2. I mean, makes sense, its about confronting the past and shipping Leon off to his trauma origin point - there are in-game flashbacks to RE2R for crying out loud - but you see it in the character parallels too.
But also, on that note, while I know Leon is arguably more popular + has featured in more main title games than Claire, I am salty we didn't even get a mention or flashback with her T_T Please give me the rest of the Raccoon Survivors... I mean considering their jobs it makes sense Claire gets looped into BOW incidents accidentally ala we see in Veronica and Revelations vs intentionally but still, she would also be dealing with RCS. As is Jill. Where are they. (But also, forget fandom popularity Capcom itself has staked so much on Leon. He's a lead character in 4 of the mainline games (2/4/6/9) and all the CGI movies which are part of its main continuity. Cash cow indeed.) But I am glad Claire's returning soon in Veronica...
Also one finally thing but when you're watching the canon / good ending cutscene they are just stuffing in potential threads they can follow later whether in another game or DLC. As a writer I recognize these tactical plot hooks. Capcom what are you planning.
I would actually go as far as to say that MOST abuse is unintentional. I think most people will go through their lives without ever experiencing intentional abuse. People are abusive because they're selfish, because they're stressed, because they care more about what society thinks they should do than the impacts of their actions on their children and partners, because they think what they're doing is correct, because they've made it make sense in their own heads, because they think they can fix their victims, they think they can fix their relationships, they think they can stop you from leaving, they think they can make you a better partner to them, they think that means you need to do what they want. We've sort of constructed mental illness in a way that doing this shit to other people counts as a form of mental illness because it is anti social behavior in the literal sense— it is behavior that causes social harm.
I don't say any of this to excuse it. I think everyone needs to be more aware of this because if you think abuse has to be intentional you will never realize you are capable of abusive behavior. You will never realize you are being shitty to the people you love, because YOU know what you mean, YOU know you don't mean any harm. But you're doing harm. You need to pay attention to the impact you have on other people, and you need to do it all the time, Especially when you feel least capable of doing so. Sorry! You live in a society. Get your head out of your ass.
genuinely I think so far one of the funniest scenes in the original RE4 is Luis and Ashley kinda arguing while Leon is looking around the house, clearly more focused on the literal mob of enemies outside.
like it’s obviously funny because he’s being the trained agent in the situation so duh he’s gonna be more focused on safety, but the way the cutscene is literally framed that kills me.
it’s the way Ashley and Luis are center frame, actively the two main characters in the cutscene, and you just see Leon behind them Not Listening and actively walking around.
I think people want to attribute Wesker to having a hard childhood which I believe he did but he was one of TWO survivors and as far as I'm aware of its unclear when the other wesker children dropped as they were given their other doses at different timeframe (atleast thats the way it seemed framed).
If anything I think his childhood looked like a stoic "well-trained" and educated boy who at best threw major temper tantrums and at worst purposely setback months of research. I think his traumas are less abusive and more repression and conformity. He and the other Wesker children were meant to be the setting standard for a new age of humans.
"Obedience breeds discipline, discipline breeds unity, unity breeds power, power is life."
+ telling a child whats right vs wrong is easy to do when their caregivers are a bunch of wacked out eugenic scientists
Victor is often accused of negligence – like, why did he leave Grace all alone and unsupervised in a hospital full of zombies if she's so important to him? And I think I have a solid defense for him.
Sure, Victor made plenty of questionable choices throughout the game, but in this case, people are missing one key detail: there are security cameras installed all over the clinic, and Victor has direct access to them right from his visor. This is clearly demonstrated to us the moment Leon arrives at Rhodes Hill.
He keeps an eye on Grace through the cameras the exact same way, sees that she can hold her own, and therefore doesn't intervene. But there was one instance early on when Grace couldn't handle it – the Girl grabbed her, slammed her against a radiator, and dragged her into the dark. And at that exact moment, when Grace was in real danger, Victor was already rushing to her rescue. But Leon beat him to it.
If you recall the cutscene, Victor was standing right in that same hallway, staring at Marie's shot-up head. He was just a second too late. If Leon had been delayed even slightly, Gideon himself would have been the one rescuing Grace from the monster. Which actually sounds pretty fascinating.
