#leon/ashley fandom are the true MVPs when it comes to analyzing leon's character in RE4make

[sapphire-weapon]

Hey you know that time when Ashley rescues Leon from the cage and he softly asks her to drop down so he can catch her? Well there's a ladder up where Ashley was, it would've been more convenient for her to get that so that he can also easily access that floor and yet he still asked for that... Leon absolutely saw that ladder and ofc he just wanted an excuse to hold her, like the way he was smiling looking at her in that moment C'mon.

Huh!! You know, I didn't even think of that.

But it makes sense now that you've said that, because my initial reaction the very first time I watched that scene and heard him say that was a brow-furrowed, taken aback "uhhh..."

Because there's just something about the way that Nick delivers that line that felt very reminiscent to me of like... the kind of way you would try to bribe a child? LMAO like "I'm going to offer you a thing that I already know you like as a reward for doing something for me." That kind of tone.

I still kind of feel that way when I hear it, too. Like it feels very much like "hey~ I'm deliberately offering this because I know you like it~"

And it always seemed so weird to me tonally, because it was like ... Leon, she already did the thing, you no longer have to try to bribe her, you NEVER had to bribe her, what are you even trying to accomplish LMAO

But to think that he was actually projecting in that moment makes it make so much more sense. RE4make does a lot to spotlight the way that Leon self-isolates and how incredibly fucking lonely it makes him as a result.

Like. Examples of Leon self-isolating in RE4make would be:

in the intro where he talks about how military training kept him from worrying about the s-word that he refuses to say or even acknowledge (Sherry)

him basically refusing to talk to Luis when they're chained up together, even though Luis is clearly trying to be friendly at first

Ada having to pull a conversation out of him on the boat because he won't volunteer his thoughts or feelings to her

KEEPING HIS PLAGA A FUCKING SECRET LMAO DEAR LORD, LEON

It's hardly an exhaustive list, but. You get it.

And the only person who he ever lets through that barrier is Ashley, even though it scares him to do it at first. (He won't even say "yes" out loud when Ashley asks him "you too?" re: his plaga, and his tense, terrified nodding is literally everything oh my god)

But it could have only ever been Ashley, because it all goes back to that very first time he caught her out of that church window and just held her. I find it so interesting that we don't see his face during that time where he just stands there, holding her, before he even turns his head to look at her. I've talked about this before, but he was very likely having A Moment there, because this was probably the first time in six years that he's held someone. It's the first truly vulnerable moment he has, and he has it completely involuntarily.

So then we go back to the scene in question, and you have to imagine the sheer terror and anxiety that was probably coursing through him the entire time she was out of his sight -- because all he could do was wait, and there was no way of knowing how long he'd be waiting or how long would be too long. And the whole time his brain was probably just going "she's dead she's dead she's dead she's fucking dead she's fucking DEAD and you killed her, you killed her by getting caught, you fucked this up like you always fuck it up and she's fucking dead" and to be completely fair to Leon's anxiety, in my first playthrough, she absolutely was fucking dead. 100%. over and over again. because my stupid ass was literally too stupid to realize that her lantern can be used defensively.

And then the sheer overwhelming relief when he sees her again, alive and well and about to save his ass.

Of course he would want to hold her. Of course he would. And, in OG, if you remember -- he did. He gave her a full-on, real-ass hug after her section in OG.

And now I'm kind of wondering if his offer to catch her was actually a callback to that hug in OG. He didn't offer to catch her because it was something that he knew she liked -- he did it because it was something that he knew he liked, and it was probably something that he needed in that moment. But it was framed as him offering it for her sake because he self-isolates and the only comfort he's allowed himself to have leading up to this has been holding her after a catch and HOLY FUCK ANON I DID NOT EXPECT TO HAVE SUCH A MAJOR FUCKIN BREAKTHRU WHEN I STARTED ANSWERING THIS ASK LMAO