Janilopka

One of the things I absolutely love about the story of RE4R is that...

When Ashley was kidnapped, she was an untrained, sheltered, privileged 20 year old civilian.

No combat training. No firearms training. Limited life experience. Literally a rich college student who probably never experienced a day of real hardship in her life.

Like, this girl probably had never been thrown into anything close to this. But in a matter of hours, she was thrown into literal hell. Hunted by cultists while she was experiencing the nasty symptoms of the plaga infection.

Anyone -- grown adults -- would lose their minds.

She could have not lifted a finger. She could have freaked out and froze. She had every reason to. And Leon would never blame her.

But she didn't let the fear paralyze her. She helped. Not only did she help, she saved Leon twice.

She went and got the key to the cage for him despite being terrified out of her mind.

She hauled his passed out ass into the surgical chair and removed the plaga from his body.

That wasn't training. That was bravery beyond what anyone could reasonably expect from her. That was her character.

Once she adopted the mindset that she and Leon were a team, she locked in. She did what needed to be done.

Leon saw all of that. He understood what it was like to be in her position and how terrifying it was for her. So when she stepped up? He took notice. Saw her make harder choices when she didn't have to.

It's easy to be brave when you know you can defend yourself.

But Ashley did it scared, hands shaking, because it was the right thing to do.

Her actions were impressive not because of what she accomplished. They were impressive because of who she was.

All of her privilege went out the window when Leon needed her the most.