Untitled: Artist Formerly Known As...

I've been writing an RE:9 Leon fic since completing my first run in March, but I've loved him since I was a kid. I'm really trying hard to do older Leon justice and write him accurately, as well as pair him with an original female character that compliments his character and the canon. (So it's a slow burn — multi chpt fic.) Dropped the first three chpts this month, and barely broke a handful of notes or kudos and zero comments/reblogs. Every time I look in the tags I feel like deleting it from the internet, because it feels so futile to share work like this. The insane amount of reader fics and poor head canons posts out there with thousands of likes/comms/shares, which make no attempt to write him in character is just diabolical to me. The main male character in these fics/hcs could literally be anyone but Leon more than half the time. The irony of all this is that I'm a successful published romance/erotica author, who just writes fanfic for practice in my spare time. So I'm reasonably sure I know how to write a good story and accurately represent a character. I also don't find reader interaction essential to thrive as a writer, but with that being said — I feel so badly for the few other writers out there who are trying to do Leon justice but are constantly getting their efforts buried by so much content that simply is not even close to representing Leon properly. Nice to see I'm not alone in feeling this way. Thank you for calling it out. Sadly I don't think it will make any difference to this massive imbalance in fandom, but it makes me feel less alone to know others see and feel it too

Saw your posts and thought you might laugh or cry at this. I can't believe the RE fandom tbh. I've loved Leon since the original RE4. I posted a requiem Leon x oc fic last week and within hours someone messaged me to say that they really thought I'd captured Leon, loved the premise, and the oc was "cool" but they couldn't read the whole thing because they prefer reader fics. Literally asked me when the smut would happen and if I would consider rewriting it as a reader/you fic!!!!

Need to say I totally agree with what you posted about Leon. 🙌 Loved him since 05 and I am sickened by what I see here and elsewhere. The whole 🌟Possession Sue🌟 trope is rife with him right now and 90% of the smut is just boilerplate content. Half of these so called fans cant even get his age right FFS! Its apparently too much to ask for them to do basic canon fact checks on that so there aint no way they will make an attempt to write him in character. 😵‍💫 Its not just writers though readers are a big part of the problem! Its like they are incapable of consuming and supporting anything that isnt reader-insert-second-person-single-pov now which is perpetuating the issue with finding quality fics and also makes me fear for peoples literacy skills. Actually cant wait for these bandwagoners to move on to the next hot polygon man and leave those of us who actually care about Leon to enjoy him in an accurate and meaningful way again! ✊

I've been both a big fan of Leon and a fic writer since the early 00s, before I even knew fan fic was a thing other people did. He was actually my big sister's first fictional crush. (Yes, she's losing her mind over him currently lol!) I am also writing a fic about RE9 Leon (with an original female pairing) currently, which is in part a character study and largely from his POV. I think it's doing a decent job of reflecting who he is as a character. The thing is I am completely put off sharing it here and AO3 because it seems abundantly clear that the only thing the current fandom wants to support are works where he is completely out of character. Generally in short reader smut fics (totally agree with you about the reader vs oc thing) or AUs where he's damn near unidentifiable as the Leon I know and love. You only have to browse the tags to see how bad it is. Some of the worst representations of him as a character have thousands upon thousands of notes, while the ones that seem to be trying a bit harder to do him justice get so few by comparison. It's a sad state of affairs. He deserves better! Thank you for speaking out. ❤️

Do u have any Fics or one shots recommendations of Leon that is accurate? I would love to read your recommendations

Saw your posts about there being no Leon fics that are age appropriate and that are all out of character smut. Just wanted to say I think the reason why there are so few well crafted fics, is because of the lack of reader engagement. People love to read but they so rarely can be bothered to share their thoughts. Writers will feast on a simple keysmash and actual responses with even the tiniest bit of effort fuel the writing fires. When people read but don't bother giving anything but a click in return writers who are working hard to make something deeper for a character, just give up trying and walk away. It's really sad and something I wish the fandom would understand.