#How could I survive re5 community

[lxndonorris]

sending you a virtual hug because you seem to be needing one

Anon, thank you.

Right back at you!

[tiredsurvivoronmain]

Thinking about the Chris clone BOW in RE8. - How exactly did it die? - What was the life expectancy of it? - Was it a prototype being tested? - How did nobody suspect it was a BOW until they found it dead? - Could the clone communicate like a normal human? - When did they start making the clones? - How did they get hold of Chris's DNA? (though I'm guessing blood samples from health checks because he's frequently in contact with BOWs he'll have to be tested to make sure he wasn't infected with something, which would mean regular blood tests right? Which would also mean a somewhat reliable and consistent way of obtaining and being supplied his DNA.) From what I can remember when we talked about cloning during my college courses, cloning humans can't happen as it will result in an early and painful death due to major genetic errors. It took nearly 300 attempts to successfully clone Dolly the sheep. Assuming it's Wesker that's responsible, just how many attempts did it take him to successfully make a clone? Or clones which is most likely the case. He's smart and would have the resources and technology but considering how difficult it was to clone a sheep, cloning a human would be much harder. Making BOWs from already existing humans and animals is easy enough for him, MAKING a BOW clone of an existing human from scratch with science is another matter. When it comes to making clones the modified embryos would have to be implanted into a host, be born and grow from a baby to an adult. Surviving long enough is a challenge in it's self as many clones die prematurely or be riddled with defects and die later on. In RE8's case, that doesn't seem to have happened, he'd found a more effective and efficient way of doing it. Then there's the reason for as to why it's Chris and not Wesker that's being cloned. - Pettiness to get back at Chris and mess with him? Wouldn't be surprising. In CV Wesker would threaten his sister to his face just to get him angry (in the novel he really went to a new low solely to make him angry). Making BOW clones of him would horrify Chris and affect him psychologically, especially in his current mental state. - His strength? After RE5 Wesker would have clearly seen Chris was unusually strong for a human however physical strength isn't genetic, Chris gained it by training for years, the clone would have had to be genetically modified to be muscular and strong, it wouldn't have happened naturally. - Why didn't Wesker makes clones of himself? UNLESS he has and we just haven't seen them yet. What other reasons are there for him to create clones of Chris if it's not out of pettiness or power...?

[sapphire-weapon]

I can't say how long it's been this bad with A/eons bullying and harassing people who ship anything but A/eon [I've been in and out of the fandom over the past few years, but after RE4R, I got hyperfixated on RE so I've engaged more with the fandom lately than I ever have in the past], but coming from fandoms outside of RE (where what ship is endgame doesn't matter), I feel like at least a good 95% of the bully A/eon shippers came from those outside fandoms too where canon endgame ships seem to have more bearing on that media's quality than what the relationships in RE have. For example, Stranger Things is about one of the WORST fucking places for ship wars I've ever seen because the narrative of that show puts a lot more importance on character relationships and whether or not they'll work out than Resident Evil does. People in that fandom are used to fighting for their lives in ship wars over what ship should be the canon endgame for each character because they stress the importance of relationships and community between characters in that show so much. So I feel like it's possible that some of the newer A/eon shippers could've come from fandoms like that where they think they have to fight for their life for the endgame ship, because that vibe just feels so similar between fandoms. A/eon and Cl/eon are the new Twilight love triangle it seems. But regardless, it's no excuse for them at all to bully fans who don't ship A/eon (I've seen them bully some Cl/eons off of Twitter before even and now finding any content for that ship is so scarce over there these days). And I feel like with Death Island coming up, another piece of RE media like Infinite Darkness where Leon and Claire are present in the same location together and Ada is no where in sight and hasn't been since RE6 [aside from the remakes], it feels like they're losing some false hope for A/eon being an endgame ship when Capcom isn't about the romances in RE for the most part in the first place.

This has been going on since 1998 and I'm not joking.

And you know what other huge video game fandom was in vogue in 1998? Final Fantasy VII, which has the nastiest ship war in all of video game fandom history that still goes on to this day. Old Guard Aeon fandom was forged in the fires of ship wars, and they are stuck in their ways and will never, ever change.

You might think it's bad now, but you have absolutely no idea how bad Aeon vs Cleon actually was back in the day. You literally could not engage with the fandom as a Leon fan at all without taking a side. Those were your only two options. And, for someone like me, who didn't really fucking care about either of them, it was so, so exhausting.

There was no Leshley. There was no Chreon. There was no Serrennedy. Those were not options that were available to you. In fact, Resident Evil fandom (and survival horror fandom in general lbr) was actually very homophobic for a very long time until RE5 turned Chris Redfield into a gay icon with two of his alternate costumes (1, 2), and all of the gays finally started flooding in and saving this fandom from itself.

So, pre-RE5, you were either Team Aeon or you were Team Cleon and you kept your fucking mouth shut if you liked anything else, because you would get booted the fuck out of communities on LiveJournal if you mentioned it -- and, back then? That's all there was. You didn't have tumblr AND twitter AND tiktok AND whatever the fuck else. Fandom lived on LiveJournal. Period.

And don't misunderstand me. Back in the day, Cleon fandom was just as batshit crazy as Aeon fandom is today. I feel like Cleon fandom has mostly chilled the fuck out these days because the vast majority of them have accepted by this point that they lost the war, but back in the mid aughts? Oh, dear god, they were insufferable and just as cult-like.

Degeneration poured so much gasoline on the fire that RE4 started, especially when the director of that movie, when asked why Ada wasn't in it, responded with "She cannot be in everything."

And then Darkside Chronicles happened and made it SO MUCH WORSE because Aeon fans were pissed off that Claire was Leon's co-op partner for the RE2 campaign, and then Cleon fans were pissed off because the Leon/Ada kiss happened, and I just.

Seriously thank god for every single person who started playing these games solely because they wanted to take Chris to pound town. They are the real, true heroes of this fandom, and I am so, so, so, so grateful for them.

And, idk, maybe that's a huge part of the reason why Aeon fandom is still feeling so insecure -- because there was a fairly significant amount of time when it was possible that Capcom was going to tip the scales in favor of Cleon. Damnation and RE6 finally squashed that notion, and the ending of Infinite Darkness coup-de-grace'd it, but it was a real thing for many years.

And now with Leon/Ashley now also being a canon ship of sorts... all that shit is probably bubbling right back up to the surface. Because now, Aeon isn't The Only Canon Ship in Resident Evil anymore. Hell, Aeon isn't even the only canon ship for Leon anymore.

And after taking eighteen years of abuse and shaming and knowing just how nasty RE fandom can get, Leon/Ashley fandom better stay the fuck humble. I swear to god. Y'all motherfuckers just keep your fucking heads down and nod politely and say "Thank you, Mr. Capcom, for this wonderful gift." because no one in a million fucking years would have ever thought that we'd be the ones to become Leon's secondary canon ship.

And this next part isn't directed at you specifically, anon, but at all of my followers and especially the ones who've been contributing to the discussion tonight:

DO NOT fight with Aeon fandom, because I DO NOT want to see us become them -- or even become the second coming of Old Guard Cleon Fandom. Block them and let it go. I mean it.

[pathoscleaved]

@chainsawcutiie sent:

✨ I know we haven't interacted but I do enjoy writing I've seen on my dash along with your portrayal of Wesker. the time and detail you've put into your interpretation really shows! you do a fabulous job & I can't wait to see more! stay gold ✌💛

↳ send ✨ if you like my writing and feel free to tell me why !! the rpc is in serious need of some positivity.

Yunie, thank you so much for your kind words. Albert has been my oldest muse - since around 2007/2009 with the Umbrella & Darkside Chronicles - and as silly as it is that I hadn't given it a chance to explore the lore fully until Sol helped me delve deeper, Wesker had popped into brain for a long time, almost fully developed.

For my interpretation, I wanted to truly showcase a villain that could be morally off kilter while still being traumatized, and his search for power, for meaning... I wanted that to dominate his focus.

Despite the fact I have already written out how he survives, and haven't yet posted the full drabble on it (I want to finish RE5 with Sol before doing so), I still want him to be a tragedy.

All of these words aside, I want to thank you for sending me this, and uplifting me. I am so glad you are in the community, shining your brilliant (very pink!) light.