ties that bind

idk how this started actually but at some point i began sharing headcanons about STARS shenanigans + leon over on my twitter and began receiving prompts through my strawpage that grew to be me regularly sharing other headcanons about leon and other RE characters.

it has grown so much to the point where i now want to archive all my posts on tumblr for its more extensive tagging system and for people to have a one-stop shop for things! you can find my dedicated page on it (and links to the tags) over here.

once again thank you to everyone who has left these asks, i appreciate it very deeply!

-> About the sad Leons. I like to think RE4R Leon is very cuddly because he is very sad and being plastered to your side is his only peace of mind. Meanwhile Vendetta Leon is an angry kind of sad and probably avoids you so he doesn't accidentally snap at you (he'd feel awful if he did)

i agree, but i hold the belief that 4R leon is so guarded and closed off (at first) that it takes him a while to get to the point where he is either comfortable to ask for it or believes he is deserving of the comfort. Vendetta era leon is certainly a “rough patch” for a relationship, and i do think vendetta leon would have the habit of pushing his partner away. he might be more likely to say something hurtful, as it is a “low” point, but as you say, he is QUICK to realize his mistake and would feel bad (though it’s debatable if he would do something about it)

-> I'm curious what you think Leon would argue about with a partner (or honestly, what habits he has that might annoy someone and make them argue with him haha)

good question! i think a lot of conflict between leon and his partner would lie in what he doesn’t say.

leon has the tendency to put himself last, and that may lead to decisions that are possibly reckless or unnecessary. he may withhold things from you or push you away as a result, and that creates conflict because his partner WANTS to help. that “lone wolf” complex isn’t the healthiest and i think a lot of any potential conflict in a relationship is in that withheld information/lapses of silence. maybe it feels like you don’t really know what he’s thinking. i think that secrecy is the worst thing.

he might even be resistant to you prying, too, and walk away from conversations he might not want to have. in addition, the drinking might be a thorn in the side of your relationship, especially if he lapses in and out of periods of excessive consumption.

as for more daily annoyances - he drinks from the carton in a hurry. he might not always clear his hair from the shower. he can be passive aggressive and mask it with a quip. he is a bit too reckless when driving. he might also not tell you when you’re running out of/are out of something. he is BAD at texting and calling you back. he can get a little cagey about his partner out of over-protection (and conversely that button pushing he does is hard to reign in) and he probably always puts in the toilet paper the wrong fucking way !!!

-> I've always pictured Infinite Darkness Leon as sadder than RE4R. RE4R seems a bit guarded and hardened but easier to crack. Infinite Darkness is just... so sad :( And Starting to grow into a loner

-> what kind of books do you think the re characters would read? i think leon has a small library, he’s not necessarily a staunch bookworm per se, but that scene in death island makes me think he has a lot of nonfiction. maybe someone else would think his non-fiction choices are boring but he’s happy to read it. he has an approximate knowledge of many things!

when i think of big bookworms, my mind immediately goes to rebecca, luis and sherry. rebecca and luis probably have the problem of “buys new books to read but their TBR list is massive”, whereas sherry doesn’t have this issue. luis has a penchant (of course) for rereading the classics!

rebecca and sherry have a good blend of fiction/non fiction ratio, and i can totally see rebecca’s curiosity leading her to pick up those cheesy grocery store smutty love novels. i bet she’d rope someone else into reading them with her lmao

ada also enjoys a fair blend of fiction to nonfiction. i think she probably has a lot of books on international theory and geopolitics that fill her nonfiction space. she doesn’t enjoy the theory per se, but it’s more about dissecting differing perspectives on global events (that she can apply in her line of work, what with negotiating with power people and whatnot)

when my mind wanders to chris, i feel like he’d inherit a fair bit of books from barry. some practical bits and guides, but for all his tendencies he likely has a lot of cookbooks. and as an alternative, i’m sure chris has plenty of subscriptions to news/journalist outlets that he shares with claire. i think jill is also someone who inherits some books that accumulated on barry’s bookshelf, too! i think she likes to flip through magazines as a mindless activity, but maybe also has a penchant for crime fiction (she snorts when she encounters something unrealistic, all things considered.) mia and ethan’s shared library was also quite varied, in my opinion. ethan still had a bunch of old engineering literature from his university days (“just in case you never know”) and mia had a pretty good horror novel collection. it probably collects more dust now than anything…

there's so many more but this is where my brain stops for now! -> thinking about RE characters in books (in a modern era), who would be a "real books only" person and who would be an e-reader user blasting through hella books?

mia and sherry strike me as the e-reader type - something small and practical that they can take on the go or on the move. the other readers likely prefer physical books! while e-readers aren't the same as staring at screens, i think it would likely be more of the mental blockage of having Yet Another Screen that it would deter them. plus, the book smell is a nice change of pace!

-> Oh my god Rebecca roping Claire into making fun of badly written smut books with her

-> I like to think that Leon gets jealous easily, and beats himself up for it because he knows it's ridiculous. So you'll have Leon Sulk Kennedy. the one and only correct! once he’s all alone he’s grumpy at himself, grumbling about how it was dumb, and he didn’t need to do all of that just because someone else had just talked to his partner. all the more reason for you to scratch under that chin and do all the reassuring for all that sulking.

-> Which leons get jealous more easily and why is it re2 and re4. Death island too but he doesn't get sulky just very handsy the second ask is why we have the Jealousy Meter! the gravity of each reaction is era dependent but for the most part, the list is how quick each era tends to get jealous

-> RE4R is very cute because he always soothes your jealousy with a kiss to your forehead and gentle reassurance, but the moment someone looks at you #toomuch he's all restless and frowny. Needs cuddles. re4r's sharper edges give a little less kicked puppy than re2r, but i also think that re4r leon's glare is the most warding... i wouldn't want to be on the other side of this glare

-> What is bitchy nice??? bitchy nice is basically the behavior exhibited by your jealous leon when he's at the precipice of becoming The Incredible Sulk. he's definitely in your space at this point and whoever isn't taking the hint is actively being given that smart mouth with a smile. (taken aptly from that one episode of why women kill LOL)

Ki's "Burns to Tans" spectrum on the far end: burns every time: jill, ethan burns (wishes the sun didn't exist): grace, wesker, zeno middle ground: it’s a coin toss: the redfields, helena

nice n' toasty: tans (most times, burns may occur): rebecca, leon, jake, ashley tans (flawlessly): ada, carlos, sheva, piers, hunnigan, sherry (fight me) some nuances:

leon, sherry, hunnigan and piers do tan but prefer not to sunbathe

ada, helena, and sheva sunbathe maybe 1-2x a year and they’re like 'ok i’m good'

sheet white every summer with spf: jill, jake

carlos drives with the window down a ton during the summer and therefore has perpetual sleeve tan on the arm he keeps hanging out of the window… he can never even it out no matter how hard he tries

ethan knows he burns. he is a staunch indoor animal as a result

likes to sunbathe, more frequently than the others: the redfields, carlos

-> Do you think Leon likes it more when you go Ragdoll™️ and let him be annoying or prefers when you make him work for it. bc I can't decide if he'd rather have someone who gives in easily when it comes to him (he'd preen under the privilege and also demand even more affection) or not

i think leon prefers when you make him work for it, when you ragdoll and increase gravity it’s a dirty play and the fight is half the fun… he’s always preening for your affection -> also! When it comes to flirting (read: trying to get his #crush to like him back) how thin is the line between smooth leon and dork leon? I like him awkward, but the games game it clear he's got a smart mouth 😭😭

-> What do you think Ashley gets up to after 4? I think she'd get involved with the fight to stop BOWs on some front.

i think that ashley would try and be involved to stop BOWs as much as she could. while former presidents have lifetime secret service detail, the protection doesn't extend to their children - but in the RE world, i imagine ashley is kind of a special case. i think she’s probably out there leading anti bow advocacy groups, maybe met claire at some point. her being an agent would be super dope, though, if we ever got a crumb of her being an operative that would be cool, but ashley’s case is so high profile so i think she’d do public facing stuff in that sense, helping people affected by BOW or bioterror crises :>

-> What do you think would happen in Ashley joined terrasave after the events of RE4, cuz her dad wouldn't let her be an agent or sum, I love your headcanons so I'd really like to see your take on this

-> Y'all made me super fond of this tickle thingy with Leon, like at this point I think its an extension of his love language c: making you laugh and squirm (preferably into him) is his kryptonite.

i am a proud physical touch leon kennedy truther, he wants you to squirm into him so he can simulate living in your skin and breathe in your air. please touch and kiss your leon every day or he will die (so he says)

-> Do we think Leon likes the soft affectionate type of person... Because I always forget he's not used to softness and I wonder if he'd find it like Uncomfortable Zone

i think he does like it; even if it doesn't seem that way at first. imo the thing about leon (in all eras after re2) is that the physical touch develops with time. he falls fast but knows this and thinks it's a flaw, and still needs that time to warm up, especially in his later years. i think he would want his partner to know it's not their fault so early on i picture exchanges being kinda awkward, especially when he gets in his head. imo early on, it's about proximity more than anything, like a test of his resolve.

-> What happens to physical touch when Leon isn't doing so well?? :(

-> I think fondly of Leon who is not ticklish but finds tickling his partner very endearing. I like him when he's a dork. listen to me very carefully. you must never let leon find out you're ticklish. you have to keep it locked down like the nuclear football because the moment he even gets the whiff that you're ticklish? it's over. it's over you have made him evil! the depth of his evilness varies by era but that man can and will use this and his body weight against you to accomplish tickling.

-> Oh wait the tickle thing is very cute if paired with Leon's clinginess. I know plenty of people who tend to curl up / shrink in their partner when tickled and I'm sure Leon would find that adorable and hope for that reaction. leon IS gunning for the curling up/shrinking - if you're not going to laugh at his dumb jokes, you're gonna laugh somehow!!! the fact that he gets to be close to you while doing it is just the cherry on top. please give your leon physical touch it's like watering a plant

-> AW STOP leon waking you up with tickles because he likes hearing you laugh all sleepy... or using the "oh you didn't do anything, you're just a sweetheart and sweethearts get tickles" BS just to pester you. so cute. also yes he def squishes you with his weight and tickles you silly.

Oughhh my loverboy..... he's coming up with all kinds of bullshit just to be in your space, he's disgusting... i also raise the concept of a Kiss Tax... the rates get hiked up every minute

-> About the tickles, I think Leon would internally hope for his partner to try to tickle him so he could start the tickling war with all he's got (?) Like he's mostly not ticklish so he knows he can win.