#maleon

[thereceivingendofrays]

drunk celebrations // sketch

[funsetsunset]

Strawpage request: Leon playing with a flustered bat!Mathias 🦇

[starvion]

Leon being annoyed that Mathias got even taller after he turned and Dracula loves how much easier this makes manhandling Leon.

Leon also being flustered by the increased height difference.

[beevean]

Hi, I've followed your stories on AO3 for a while, though I rarely comment because I'm shy. I'm curious about your thoughts on Leon's character, especially his relationship with Mathis/Dracula?

Aww, thank you! I'm happy to know that ^^

I'm not a big expert on Leon like @kachimera is, but I like him a lot. He's my third favorite Belmont behind Trevor and Juste! I think he's overall a simple but compelling character. He's a honorable knight - at least, honorable enough to drop his sword when he left the company but not enough to not plan to loot corpses to get another weapon lol - who is determined and fierce against enemies, but compassionate towards his allies. Sadly he's also victim of manipulation, from Rinaldo who carefully curates the information he's willing to give him, to obviously Mathias who knows him so well he can plan everything around his reactions to Walter kidnapping Sara. And after that, after being forced to kill his beloved, Leon is simultaneously cold towards Mathias, cursing him for all eternity, and loving towards his Sara, choosing to uphold her last wish over succumbing to Mathias' temptation.

His relationship with Mathias is... woefully underdeveloped. We are just told they used to be the best of friends before Elisabetha died and Mathias fell into depression. And sadly, the prequel manga that could have given us more information has been lost to time (apparently Leon postponed his wedding to make sure Mathias could attend, and that is just heartwrenching 😭). In any case, there is a lot to infer from how Mathias honestly didn't think Leon would be angry at him for making him kill his fiancée, and immediately proposed him immortality at his side. Mathias is an intelligent, but emotionally brittle man: he was grieving and terribly lonely, and was latching onto Leon hard, but as some sort of possession, or comfort object. Which is very Dracula of him :)

So there are mostly my thoughts. For everything else I defer to Kachimera who studied the guy and his whip wifey more than I could <3

[addled-egg]

Do you have any headcanons for Leon and Mathias (together or separately at your discretion)? :)

ohh that's a good question!

I'm admittedly always a little scared to share my hcs because what if they're somehow ooc LOL but I'm gonna be brave and share them anyway ᕙ(⁠˃͈⁠ ⁠દ⁠ ⁠˂͈⁠ ⁠༶⁠ ⁠) I also haven't come up with too many yet but here is what I got :>

I feel like Leon would be quite physically affectionate with everyone around him, like the type of person to not know what personal space is. Now, admittedly this one is more of a vibe so I can't really explain why I think this haha. With him being a knight, I imagine that there must have been celebrations after successful battles, likely with alcohol, which I imagine would only make him even more affectionate. I also think he'd either be a lightweight or the type of person who never gets drunk, no in-between lol. I personally am fond of characters being lightweights though, so I'm leaning towards that.

He seems like a very selfless person, considering that he gladly gave up his title and with it his status in order to go and save Sara. I imagine this extends to him just overall being quite kind and never hesitating to help others and perform tasks for them etc. I imagine he probably has a hard time sitting still and not having something to keep himself busy, considering the non-stop fighting they were probably engaged in. Suddenly having some free time when you're always busy can be quite daunting sometimes after all haha

He just generally strikes me as someone who's guided by his emotions (I mean my guy ran into a cursed forest with nothing but his fists lmao) rather than logic. Not that he's stupid, he just probably doesn't think most things through very well and acts on impulse often. Thankfully he has Mathias there with him to act as his brain/talk some sense into him lol.

We know he was a fierce fighter and very courageous and I imagine he must be quite terrifying in battle. I wouldn't want to have to face him LOL. I'm personally a huge fan of characters being very kind and happy but also scary as hell when they get angry haha. He could probably snap my neck with one hand xD

Another thing I always like to imagie is how characters would laugh. I imagine his laugh would be really loud and boisterous, matching his more outgoing personality (or at least how I imagine it to be). I think he's not one to easily get shy except on very rare occasions. I think he probably still has some insecurities though and probably isn't super happy nearly as much as he pretends to be (because what fun is it if the blorbos don't suffer at least a little ^0^). I think he'd probably also be the person to prefer keeping his worries and problems to himself, not very fond of talking about them at all. Like, he seems very outgoing and like an open book, but when you really look, most of what he shares is like really basic, shallow stuff instead. So he seems like an oversharer to people that might not know him well but is actually not at all. Does that make sense? I feel like he might be the type of person to be scared of burdening others if he shows weakness. Perhaps Mathias is the one person he's somewhat comfortable with opening up to after years of friendship.

Oh, and also Leon probably has quite a few scars, what with him being a fighter and all :} I could see Mathias always pulling a face whenever he catches a glimpse of them, telling Leon to be more careful. After all what would Mathias do without his boyfriend bestie and their company without their best fighter?

As for Mathias, I imagine he's Leon's complete opposite in almost every way. He strikes me as a lot more quiet and reticent, preferring to keep to himself. My guy looks like he probably cherishes having some peace and quiet while he peruses his ancient tomes. He seems like he just isn't very forthcoming with sharing his feelings and thoughts with anyone, he's probably a little haughty too, considering how learned he was in a largely illiterate society. I also can't see him really showing his emotions much, and as such he has a very quiet laugh, more of a chuckle really. I can imagine Leon setting himself the personal challenge of making Mathias laugh somehow and breaking through that unflinching façade of his. I'd like to think it would've been a great honour for Leon when Mathias eventually opened up a bit more around him and let his guard down as their friendship developed over time. And he would have been ecstatic the first time Mathias earnestly laughed around him I think!

I can imagine that Mathias might even have found Leon annoying at first, also considering their ten-year age gap. Suddenly there's this loud, clingy boy who finds him perplexingly fascinating and is always pestering him about things, asking what he's doing, what he's reading about and stuff. I can imagine his pissed off face very well haha. Before he knew it he probably grew fond of it though, much to his chagrin.

Despite how different they are and how Leon sometimes annoys him probably, Mathias knows just how capable Leon is and respects him for it. Generally, I imagine they both have immense respect for the other and know they can always rely on the other. They're partners! They really complement each other, Mathias coming up with the plans, having full convidence that Leon will execute them perfectly, and vice versa. They trust each other fully and unconditionally!

Since I mentioned Leon's possible alcohol tolerance, as for Mathias I think he wouldn't be a heavy drinker at all, but still would have a high tolerance. As such he'd often be the one stuck with taking care of Leon when he's inevitably had too much to drink again. Mathias likes to grouse about this, but deep down, in his deepest, most depraved thoughts, he actually likes taking care of others. What a perv :P.

I think they would've ended up sleeping in the same bed more than a few times this way. Or sometimes Leon would knock at his door in the dead of night after being woken up by some nightmare (because I can't imagine all the bloodshed to be easy to deal with) and Mathias—still awake and doing research or something—just lets him in, leaves whatever he was doing and just holds Leon. Maybe that's just because I'm a sucker for stuff like this :")

I do think that, as time goes on and they are away from home for longer and longer, their relationship probably turns more intimate. Something something knights have needs, even on the battlefield :) We already talked about this all a bit, but I feel like theirs wouldn't really be a traditional relationship, more like a queerplatonic one? Maybe? (If only for the reason that neither of them would have a proper label for it/they feel like their bond goes beyond your average romance. At least Mathias has his relationship with Elisabetha to compare it to, and it probably is quite a lot different in ways he can't really define. So I feel like no label/qpr would likely be the most apt descriptor.) Mathias would definitely have one hell of a time coming to terms with any of his feelings, especially considering that he was married and also likely very religious prior to him becoming a vampire (assuming they were crusaders, which seems to be the common interpretation, and also considering that he explicitly turned away from God after Elisabetha died), so having less than pure feelings for your male bestie probably would've driven him insane lol. I can imagine him trying to justify everything they do to himself in the most convoluted ways. They're both men, they have needs and there isn't anyone in the world he trusts more than Leon. They're soulmates brothers in arms, they're friends, they're the dream team of their company. If there's anyone he trusts to relieve his urges with in a totally platonic! way, it would be Leon. It's not gay if you leave the socks on and say no homo!

Leon probably would enjoy it too, the closeness and having Mathias' attention to himself. I don't know at what age he would've gotten engaged to Sara, I'd assume when he was made a baron at 16 (iirc), but I can't see him needing to do the same mental gymnastics as Mathias lol. He seems like the type to just go "oh well, that's how things are now" and not think too hard about it lol. He also just doesn't seem like he'd be as devout as Mathias. Obviously still in some way, as he was a crusader too. I remember reading that he lost both his parents when he was very young and was thus orphaned. Considering that he was knighted at 16 and then went on to fight for the church, I suppose it's a possibility that he was potentially adopted by the church? I don't know. Still, he doesn't strike me as someone who would fight for the sake of fighting for God, more so to have a purpose in life, like the fighting in general, not because it's specially in the name of God. Does this make sense? I hope it does.

I feel like I've kind of lost my train of thought here lol...anyway, the fact that of all the things Mathias could've said to Leon when they met again at Walter's castle, it was him asking for Leon to join him in eternal life, coupled with the fact that Leon put off his wedding until Mathias was better so that he could attend? That alone shows to me that they must've meant quite a lot to one another, no matter what label you do or don't want to put on their relationship.

They obviously had quite the tragic end with Mathias betraying Leon in just about the worst way, and as such I'm glad that Leon refused the offer, because it was the logical thing to do. But it is quite fun to ponder what would've happened had he accepted :3c.

I just think it's very fun in general to imagine what their relationship would've been like before the game's events, since all we ever get to see is that scene at the end and the fact that they "trusted each other completely, and they were bound by an old friendship." I say we were robbed of some great content here, I find their dynamic (or what could've been I suppose) very intriguing.

I'm also just a huuuuuuge fan of characters that are pretty much total opposites developing a relationship, because it usually goes from them disliking each other to begrudgingly growing fond of one another and I just think that's really neat :)

I hope this isn't too much of a disjointed mess, I feel like I've said a lot but still forgot a lot more of what I wanted to write down haha. I hope none of these are too jarring or anything oTL

Edited to add some more bits I was missing

[beloved-belmont]

I don't think Leon could ever bring himself to actually kill Mathias, even if Mathias had stayed to fight.

[radiant-featherball]

I think the only Maleon content I would be interested in is a comedy of Mathias trying to convince Baron Leon "Honest to a fault" Belmont to commit adultery, and fail spectacularly. Like, the guy who gave up everything to save Sara, but wouldn't keep the company sword to save Sara because it wasn't his anymore, is neither going to betray Sara nor do anything he sees as wrong even when it would be convenient. Bonus if Leon faithfulness and honesty is ruining whatever flimsy excuses Mathias made for himself why it fine and Elisabetha would be totally okay and eventually feels too guilty and gives up.

Alternately an AU where Leon accepts Mathias's offer but he was still "Honest to a fault" despite being a vampire

Leon: We can't steal someone's coffin.

Mathias: What part of "cursed creature" and "spiting God" are you not getting!?

Leon: I just think it doesn't sound appropriate

Mathias: Deeeeeeeeath, Leon is driving me mad 😭

[alzenidkk]

Oh well,