Chapter Text
chapter one & chapter two
The first character change that I subtly tried to hint was that ada was afraid of storms, it was just something I decided to play within the au, as Ada is portrayed as not afraid of much, I thought it would be interesting to also showcase her fear with storms as her apprehension on her own feelings for Leon as the weather would be an allegory for her feelings for the duration of the fic. Each time there’s a significant amount of descriptors for the weather, it’s meant to show how troublesome their relationship is at the time.
I kept Leon mostly bored, and as if this were just another iteration of Leon in another universe. he still has aspects of his “previous life” as if he were reincarnated. I kept his bullet wound as a transferred injury in this “new Leon,” how he develops the injury I keep vague so that the reader can determine how he developed the injury.
I liked the idea of Leon and Ada both being methodical and routine based creatures. In a more relaxed universe, I like the idea of Leon having little routines he always does- not only in a way to keep things sorted, but as a way to show that he makes these kind of dumb lists of things to do to make it seem as though his life is more interesting that it is. He finds little things to do so that he doesn’t have to think about how repetitive it is. Similarly with ada, and her meticulous way of coming in every Friday so it quickly doesn’t go unnoticed by Leon. And so when she doesn’t appear, he finds it extremely concerning.
(While Ada doesn’t return for almost two weeks, it was my general idea that she was plotting out how to break into the gallery at this time. she does a lot of planning and Leon was simply distracting her at this point. she would’ve also began her studies of him and drawing and sketching him as she was mostly interested in how handsome he was. but it was only in chapter two, does Leon’s persistence win her over.)
I do write that Leon can still be a bit messy at times, he’s a DUDE but also it’s more-so an added way to explore the idea that he’s messy with his life, not happy with it and generally lost feeling. I also made it so that they were both adopted to keep it more simple instead of both of their families being probably killed off.
Helena is early on depicted to be a lesbian. I don’t even headcanon her to be bi to be completely honest. and i’ve always had the notion that helena and leon would be closer friends as opposed to anyone else in the universe so i kept her as his friend in this fic as well.
The raccoons mentioned was just a simple nod to raccoon city (as they live in a just general american city in the mid western area)
I INITIALLY wrote it so that leon asks her out, but it made more sense for ada to ask him instead, which lead to me delaying the second chapter as i wanted to release it earlier but i wasn’t happy with how i wrote the scene.
I also had written this but it didn’t fit within the chapter so I deleted it.
[Her words begin to repeats in his head like a cacophony of her voice. Then like it was a mess of every single thing she’s ever said to him, overwhelming him and leaving him unable to process what she just said.]
I like to think that Ada daydreams a lot (or rather night dreams?) and ends up staying up most nights just thinking and fantasizing things. thus the whole night sequence where she talks about looking up at the stars so she can feel like there’s more out there than what she experiences.
Ada does have feelings for Leon by the time it’s the second chapter. her eagerness to drink was merely a way for her to manage the fact that she already knew that she was “somewhat” using him to learn more about the gallery. But she already had feelings for him at this point.
I really just like the song “everybody wants to rule the world” it fits in their timeline and it’s just an oldie that i imagine that the both of them have heard. i like the lyrics and it’s a good song to me. i also had the thought to use the cure’s “friday i’m in love” but i felt like it was a bit on the nose, so i opted to add it in a song that plays from leon’s record player but he quickly changes it. (I opted to use this song later on in chapter 6.)
This was a paragraph I ended up omitting. There was some characterization in how Leon does things that I thought would be fun to explore. His eagerness to be romantic but it ending up being a bad idea. But Ada finds it endearing either way.
[ Their dinner smelled delicious. Despite the fact there was a light soot smell from when Leon tried to light a candle to set the mood. Said candle began tunnelling horribly, the wax never melting and pooling and created plumes of soot to shoot up from the centre of the table. Ada merely laughed at the effort, finding it endearing as he finally decided to listen to her to just snuff out the candle.]
I opted to not include the year of the movie they watch but i do want to reiterate that it is dawn of the dead (1978.) Which is the one I decided to pick as that film is heavily credited when talking about the resident evil series.
I felt as though it made sense if they didn’t kiss prior to the first night they share together in his bed. they aren’t made for tender kisses in this universe. the second they would kiss, they would explore the rest of their bodies. there’s an eagerness that’s present in re2, and it makes sense to me in a modern retelling that they would sleep together the first chance they have.
WRAP IT UP FOLKS. WEAR A CONDOM NO MATTER WHAT. I JUST DON’T LIKE WRITING IT IN MY FICS SO I DON’T BUT WEAR ONE IRL
DO IT
OR ELSE
YOU WILL GET PREGNANT
AND DIE
“you have to earn the sleepover,” is simply a reference to one of my fave shows, the vampire diaries and one of my fave characters, Caroline.
Also I opted to remove any potential lines of things like “I don’t normally do this with anyone” etc. as at this point, Ada is still kind of just toying with him. She feels bad, hence why she’s drinking during the night.
chapter 3 & chapter 4
Chapter three I was worried was gonna be a bit just of a filler chapter but I asked and people said as long as there was smut it was fine (lol.) i don’t have much to say, other than that i enjoyed writing it as there weren’t many plot developments. it’s also one of the last times that everything is good and happy, which says a lot.
I sprinkled in a bit more of Ada’s backstory. Focusing on her estranged relationship with her parents. A lot of daddy issues LMAO. But also that idea of her parents thinking that gifting things makes things better also adds to her own idea of what is a way to “heal relationships.” She sees her parents gifting each other expensive things to fix their broken marriage so she sees that as the solution, but then realizes that it doesn’t fix anything when her father just gives her an expensive car for no reason. Leon starts to doubt their relationship early on, even though everything seems relatively normal.
I left it ambiguous for a while since i wanted to hint that Helena would run off to Hunnigan, but found it difficult to back track to that since I didn’t imply anything between Helena and Hunnigan until after the breakup.
The first sprinkling of helena’s break up was actually in chapter 3 when helena focuses on shoving Leon out the door instead of tending to her girlfriend.. her seeing the missed messages was connected to chapter three as 3 and 4 are literally the same night.
I realized that Leon should have a parking spot, but since ada had it (parked in it,) i just subtly wrote that helena parks on the street. no particular reason except for the fact that if helena consistently parked in leon’s spot, then she would’ve seen ada’s car and then the reveal wouldn’t have made sense lol
But also in her distress i supposed she could’ve just parked on the street as it was faster and didn’t bother to turn into the parking lot to find Leon’s spot.
Leon struggles with social anxiety i dunno- i think this would manifest as well even with Ada. He would just blurt things out sometimes. his questioning of her is also just a manifestation of his realization that he still doesn’t know ada that well. he would end up choosing to trust her, and not realize that more things were happening behind the scenes.
I opted to leave ada’s feelings out until as late as possible into the entire fic. you aren’t supposed to know if ada’s feelings are true or not. this also tracks back to how even during the first night that they spend together, ada spent a good bit of it drinking as her nerves are killing her. she did want to get to know leon better as a whole- but she also felt bad because she knew what she was going to do and didn’t know how leon was going to react to her doing it.
also Leon doesn’t drive. NOPE.
I decided to do a dear jane, because i didn’t want to write john lol and it’s been very clear that helena’s a lesbian lol
chapter 5 & chapter 6
These chapters are throughout Christmas and i opted to ignore the holidays since they are not doing good lol (I wanted to maybe write a bit of Leon celebrating Christmas alone but just ended up not writing it. I might maybe explore it later on as it’s still something within the universe that I think COULD maybe be explored.)
I originally was gonna write that she leaves him a card with a kiss print but then realized that’s too cute and didn’t flow lol so I opted to go modern and it also makes the interact more ambiguous.
Also for the weather, i opted to do a “midwestern america” and also decided to reduce the amount of snow. they have a bit here and there. but it wasn’t integral to the story so i just assumed it didn’t snow much.
I know that it’s more canon that leon is afraid of storms and has ptsd from that (as is indicated in re6, but i decided to give that fear to ada instead as in this universe, i hc that ada still had it worse than leon growing up and since leon’s upbringing is mostly okay and healthy, and i had to transfer a fear onto ada instead)
i opted to remove this line during their text exchange
A: [think I can fit you into my schedule :p] (This was just a nod to Leon but since Ada was saying it, I felt like it didn’t fit.)
I also wanted it to be left ambiguous whether to not hey met up again or not. I want them to meet again but felt as though this would hurt more (but they do end up seeing each other. So ignore this lol)
Chapter 5 is also the first chapter to show ada’s pov. So I added a lot more of her background and shows more of her hesitancy towards the fact that she was initially seeing Leon for work but ended up falling for him.
I wanted to show her frustrated- her throwing her phone was a nod to her throwing her phone (that weird cube one) in re6 in a fit of rage.
I kept Ada camera shy, not as a way to make her seem unattractive, that’s not the case at all. But more so to add to the idea that she herself doesn’t find the need to photograph herself. The polaroids was a fun idea that Leon would find to compromise with her.
At this point, Helena had already had an idea that Ada was the one involved but had no real proof yet. Her also understanding Leon’s bursts of anger were not directed at her was a way to show that their friendship was more than just surface level. She understands him that his sudden rage was frustration. And that he would’ve apologized immediately afterwards for lashing out.
Ada had already seen Helena at this point as well, giving her the insurance note of her address to her to give to Leon.
There’s a bit of a back and forth with the povs but I was hoping it wasn’t too confusing.
Also 8 is a good lucky chinese number. that’s it. that’s the only reason why i chose it lol
When he sees her in her apartment and sees the palette of paint, he literally catches her blue handed. That was all. I just wanted this scene to happen.
Leon trying to go to bed but the bed reminding him of Ada is so Leon. He sleeps on the couch to torture himself because of how uncomfortable it is.
chapter 6
(about the intro) just wanted to write a nightmare, no other reason lol
BEAR KEYCHAIN MAKES AN APPEARANCE!!!!!
The whipped cream OH THEY FUCKIN (I generally hate food related stuff in smut but teasing to it is funny to me.)
The flowers on the table are forget me nots because ada is insane and dramatic like that (also i figured that leon would not know about flowers lmao. so he wouldn’t get that she was speaking to him in flowers also)
Leon is extremely depressed this chapter (lol obviously.) The breakup they (Leon and Ada) are compared to Helena’s with her unnamed girlfriend but I think we can see that Helena’s destain for his decision to “break up” with Ada is seen more as a frustration from her end. She sees them working well together but both of their stubbornness frustrates Helena.
There are reasons why Helena has Ada’s sketchbook. And it’s further explained in chapter 7.
Their breakfast routines are very important to Leon (lol.) Leon’s very contemplative and sentimental. The fact that he starts crying because of a table is important to me.
The visual of Leon literally putting the pieces together of the paintings and Ada’s sketchbook was always meant to be a very exaggerated depiction of the scene. Even in re universe, Ada does so many things behind the scenes for Leon that we rarely get to see if he is aware of them. To see him be able to put the pieces together visually and have it explain their feelings for each other was a scene I always wanted to see.
When Ada says she’s going to leave- she’s going to leave. She wouldn’t change her plans or wait for Leon to show up. I initially wrote it so that she WAS waiting for him at the gallery, but then it ruined the ability to move the story along if they figured everything out in the night. I wanted that ANGST. So I had her leave.
The little notes for Leon in her car were there because she always assumed that Leon would see her car at some point. Her parking it at the gallery was a calculated decision so that he would see it. (Why didn’t I do it just in his parking lot spot at his apartment? I fucked up there.) But also I wanted him to barge into the gallery so I did that.
The song that plays in the car is The Cure - Friday I’m in Love, and was a nod to the fact that Ada always saw him on Fridays at the gallery. Every song I picked was meant to evoke certain feelings. “I’ll run away with you.” is a line from The Cure - Just like Heaven and is the second song played in the car.
At this point it should be clearer to the audience that Ada had been donating her own works and then returning to vandalize them to profit off the drama and glamorization of performance art. Scandal sells, and Ada knows that.
A lot of the paintings that Ada works on are reminiscent of ideas that I think of when I think of aeon visually. Lots of reds, blues, purples. Mixtures of the colours and stark contrasts of lights and darks. A lot of confusing imagery and beautiful ones as well.
Leon asking for her to draw him without realizing that she had been drawing him for months was just a fun way to show the irony of the scene. Nothing else. It was also something for Ada to realize as she sees that he trusts her that way.
Ada’s phone is not disconnected, but just turned off. She keeps it purely because it’s the only phone number that Leon knows.
chapter 7
(I did have to separate chapter 6 - 7 into two parts otherwise the two together would’ve made the chapter 10,000 words)
Spring begins here. Leon had spent a few weeks trying to figure out ada’s notes and where she went.
I started it on Valentine’s day because I wanted the visual of Leon sitting alone on the day. Watching people as couples were paired off to enjoy the romantic day. He’s a sadist that way lol.
Helena is ALREADY dating Hunnigan here and I left it ambiguous again but it’s hinted early on in the fic (in chapter 4 iirc that Hunnigan had feelings for Helena and thought that she deserved better. Since she had disdain for Helena’s previous partner.)
The entire exchange with leon and Helena in the cafe was just to show how pathetic but also love sick he is.
We finally learn more about Ada’s operation and how she got away with it. (Although I realize that any person with two brain cells could probably figure out it was Ada. Although the idea of her continually being in the same place as the art and the “Crime” in question and then her suddenly disappearing would be questionable lol)
This is one of my most favourite paragraphs in this chapter
[ The blooms on the dining table have aged, brown spots appearing along the edges of the wilted petals. The bright red colour that always reminded him of her was fading away with time. The few herbs and plants Ada had left behind are somehow still living despite Leon’s lack of a green thumb. Although three had already succumbed to his improper care, either by watering them too much or not enough. The little pots of dirt and dead plants were slowly emptied over time, the stack of empty terracotta growing taller as the weeks passed.]
I feel like it explains the little interests Ada had and Leon’s perseverance to keep them alive but not seeing the little things that is always left behind. This paragraph captures a lot of aeon feelings in a short but visually striking way. I especially like the stack of empty pots growing taller to show time passing.
Leon missing small things like just checking the back of the book makes sense to me. He didn’t understand the fucking key cap puzzle in re2r WHAT THE FUCK LEON.
I tried not to say over time lmao. But couldn’t think of any other word that would work so whatever.
The snowglobe was just a tie back to one of my fave shows. the vampire diaries where stefan fives caroline a snow globe keychain because he didn’t know what to get her as a gift. leon would be a bad gift giver sometimes.
Since raccoon city is supposed to be “mid western usa” most likely missorir Detroit or pittsburgh, it made it seem plausible that leon could drive to new york as he is afraid of planes lol i decided he’s afraid of planes. (He is seen in re6 to not be able to sleep on planes (iirc?) so I translated that into a fear of planes.
I was going to have Leon in a suit but changed it last minute.
The installation that Ada ends up sitting under was also to show ada overcoming her fears. the installation is meant to be a manifestation of a storm. the crystals being rain, the sound of it being almost annoying to the ear, and the rumble of the sound and the stimulated wind giving it the feeling of a cold rainy storm. but the sparkles were meant to distract you, keep you interested in how the rainbows refracted in the sun and against each other.
I kept the visual of her with her beret and her bag as those are the most consistent things she wears since she stops wearing her trench coat for the warmer weather.
She is at this gallery to scope out her new place to “work” at. So she can’t be seen talking to Leon so plainly.
Her simply having bought her own car was a way to show that she understands that this love language doesn’t work for her. Buying her things wasn’t going to fix things. The banter they have i struggled with a lot to make it feel aeon.
The idea of them at the cafe sitting in silence with shit coffee I thought would be a funny reveal afterwards when Ada takes them to her new home and she just IMMEDIATELY MAKES A CUP OF COFFEE lol
LEON GETS A INDIRECT KISS FROM DRINKING FROM HER CUP!!!!!
I struggled with the whole desk scene a lot because i was wondering if the implications of ada asking for sex in that manner would’ve been interpreted weirdly? but i figure that they are both on similar grounds at this point- leon’s not mad more confused and he’s still in love with her, and she’s still in love with him. feelings are complicated. sex isn’t sometimes.
He fucks her on the table.
They spend two weeks fuckin a lot. Jk, they talk a bit but they explore their relationship again, while trying to reconcile what had happened and what Ada did. Since she no longer lives where Leon does, she gives him the option to go back to his life how it was. And under no obligation does he have to return to her.
I didn’t want to explain their two weeks together. It’s left up to the reader to interpret how they reconcile. But also to keep it so that it’s unclear whether or not he goes back to her or not. I didn’t RIGHT AWAY want to show that Leon was ready to go to her. He’s still upset, and he’s allowed to be. But he has to question if his feelings for Ada are enough.
“I never make plans that far ahead,” was just a nod to Leon’s quote in vendetta.
YES IT’S HUNNIPER TIME. I opted to make Helena more of the dominant one since I thought it would be cute/funny if Hunnigan was more of a submissive lover (considering her job.)
It’s left unknown whether or not Leon gets the job or not in this chapter.
I ended it so that they meet, still together, it’s them against the world. The way that I always see aeon.
“A bind they can’t break,” was a nod to “the ties that bind,” which is one of the songs used for aeon a lot. (It’s a soundtrack title)
epilogue - muse and lover
I wrote these notes only at first
[The only additional notes i really had was that I was gonna have them fuck in the paint lol. But i figured that it might be TOO MUCH for some people and also realized that if I did, I would have them fuck like three times and that MIGHT BE TOO MUCH FOR LEON’S DICK LOL.
I wanted to work it so that they fucked lIKE A LOT but I didn’t want it to be that overt. So Ada still being tender and sore from the night before AND the morning I thought was HEHEHEHHEHHH CACKLES]
Also it's implied that leon got the job and now helps to sneak her into the gallery so she can continue to work.
The day is special yes, but we don’t know why until the end.
Ada always knew that Leon was more sentimental than her, particularly when it came to “relationship” things. So him wanting to celebrate the day but too bashful to mention it, comes to pass when she ends up saying it to him.
The table arrangement I thought was comical.
So the fuck in paint thing IS AN ACTUAL thing you can order. It’s a box of a canvas and body safe paint, but I thought that writing this scene out was too much for some people so I opted out of it. I also wanted to keep it teasing otherwise leon was gonna cum too much.
Shower sex is hot- send tweet.
The visual of Leon trying to feel Ada and not see her was sexy. That’s all.
I felt as though the tying of Leon during sex thing is very overdone (but it’s good, give that shit to me) but in this universe it means less imo, and shows with how she does it at first, but ends up untying him pretty early on in the session.
Leon deserves a nap. Been fucking for like SO LONG.
ANYWAYS
That’s all, thank you so much for reading if you read this too! It was just a fun way for me to really explain my thoughts and process. And if you have any more questions don’t hesitate to ask! >:3
tysm and love you! and if you want to keep up with me, for my new fic coming soon! You can find updates and little snippets over on my tumblr!