#probs can't even ride bc rain!!

[sapphire-weapon]

Idk if Capcom were deliberately trying to make RE4R have at least some romantic undertone when it came to Leon/Ashley bc to me it's pretty obvious, there's a bunch of romantic imagery. Like a lot of the side characters reference it; Luis with his Prince Charming comment at that moment and calling Ash a princess (Dulcinea), Ada seeing that Leon actually cares for Ashley (calls her his "friend" at one point in a weird tone of voice), Ramon referring to them as knight in shining armor and princess and keeps taunting him when he loses her, the queen and king puzzle, the way Krauser taunts him and uses Leon's concern for her against him knowing the way to get to him is to mention Ashley, the merchant commenting if he's having a rough day after Ashley stabs him and runs away, Saddler using Ashley specifically to kill Leon knowing it would be torture for them both (he can read people's minds, right? So he knows), Ashley being so strong willed for resisting Saddler for trying to make her commit something she would never even think of and saving his life again when she jams the gun (yeah she prob didn't know that would happen but her unwillingness to shoot regardless of the mind control making her hand shake so much), Leon himself changing when getting to know Ashley and caring for her personally not for the mission he was forced into. He literally was ready to die for her even if it meant that she most likely wouldn't make it out w/o him. The way he carried her at the end!!! Like that's not just his professionalism and determination, there's devotion there and she shares the same sentiment. The way they ride off into the sunrise after "rain" starts pouring and they both smile at each other??? How is that not romantic imagery? If you saw that scene w/o context you would think they were the surviving couple of an action movie. There's more I'm missing bc I've been playing other games but there's a lot of evidence and context clues.

I mean, I absolutely believe that it was intentional on Capcom's part and the Leon and Ashley romance is actually, in fact, what the developers were going for. It would be absolutely batshit for this gigantic mountain of evidence to be an unintended coincidence. But I don't think that they went into it going, "Okay, this time around, we're going to have Leon and Ashley be The Canon Ship in RE."

What Capcom actually did was take Resident Evil 4 and turn it into a fairy tale. It was a really creative take on the game and was likely meant as appreciation for the fact that OG RE4 was such a major part of so many people's childhoods. (Ashley's line at the shooting gallery of "It reminds me of being a kid" plays into this, too, as a little tongue-in-cheek thing.)

So, as a self-contained story, yes, RE4make is a romance between Leon and Ashley. And that's where I think a huge portion of the fandom is getting tripped up on not being able to see it for what it is. They look at Leon and Ashley and go "okay, but this can't actually be the intention because we know xyz happens later in the series." That doesn't matter. That's not the point of what they did.

The point of it was to pay tribute to the way that so many people -- after coming into the series with RE4 OG in their adolescence -- thought of Leon as being a big, dreamy, hero-type character. So, they did that by actually turning him into one this time around who saves the day and gets the girl.

It doesn't mean that Capcom is committing to the actual ship, though. Just because this romantic storyline happened in RE4make doesn't mean that the next installment in the Remake series is going to confirm that Ashley is Leon's girlfriend or someshit. It is still entirely possible that we will never see Ashley Graham ever again.

As part of a greater whole, RE4make is just another stop along the horrible, winding road that is Leon Kennedy's shitty, shitty life. But, at least this time, he actually got to be the big damn hero for once.

[wildermouse]

whyyy do I agree to go to the barn so early do to physical labour when I know I’m not gonna get more than 4 hours of sleep and it’s rainy as fuck