#there can't be a baby switching threat if you don't know you're not carrying your own baby

[primordialruin]

All of the pregnancies that she had prior to Charlie resulted in miscarriages without exception. Very few reached the third term, but none went past the 6th month.

Some of her miscarriages were excruciatingly painful, while others happened without her knowledge due to not feeling anything off. There has always been great anxiety when she was with child. She tried to maintain her hope each time it happened, while dreading the inevitable and the pain she would experience both physically and emotionally.

Unless she's gifted with the ability to produce healthy eggs, you can consider Lilith virtually infertile. If you impregnate her, there's a 90% chance she won't be able to carry your child to term. Charlie is not even her biological child. She is unaware that the egg in her uterus didn't belong to her.

[komotionlessqueenmm]

One man's trash, is another man's treasure.

(3-4)

Short story # 6

2,216 - Words

Fandom - House of Wax (2005)

Pairing - Bo Sinclair X Reader

Summary - The reader finds herself & her 4 month old son stranded in Ambrose. While Bo finds himself enamored with the woman, wanting nothing more than to protect and provide for the two of them.

Warnings - Some dark topics, talk of abusive relationships, eventual blood & death, eventual smut. (I'm not sure what else tbh)

Notes - At this point both Bo and (Y/n) are really feeling that connection between them.

Pt. 1 ~ Pt. 2 ~ Pt. 3 ~ Pt. 4

----

By the end of the day (Y/n)'s jeep was all fixed up, but with as late in the evening as it was she decided to stay another night, with some encouragement from Bo of course. While (Y/n) and Von slept soundly in the guest bedroom, Bo met his brothers down at the garage, discussing what they should do, and if they should do anything in the first place. "I don't know Bo, her ex tried killing her because she was pregnant... She'll be running her whole life from a man like that." Lester sighed, not wanting anything to happen to (Y/n). "So we let her stay here, we can protect her from him easily." Bo shrugged. "What about when she realizes what happened to the people here? Or she finds out about Vincent's projects." Lester argued. "We'll explain it, make her understand." Bo countered. "How?" Lester asked feeling a little concerned. "I don't know yet." Bo admitted with a sigh. "I think we should start by introducing her to Vincent." He continued his thought, glancing to his twin, who made an almost concerned groan. "If she can accept him, I'm sure she'll accept the rest." Bo lit a new cigarette after finishing his statement. "And if she doesn't?" Lester asked. "That's not an option." Bo's smirk made worry spark in Lester's heart. Despite this however he chose to keep his mouth shut, and allowed his older brother to do whatever he had in mind.

When morning came, (Y/n) woke up early and cooked breakfast. "Morning." Bo murmured with a sleepy smile on his face, having been woken from the smell of bacon. "Morning Bo, I hope you don't mind." (Y/n) smiled sheepishly as she looked to what all she had cooked. "Not at all." Bo shook his head, happily accepting the cup of coffee she handed him. "Great." (Y/n) smiled brightly, the pair of them taking a seat beside eachother, eating their breakfast in a comfortable silence. Excluding the occasional hum of approval Bo gave when he bit into something new. And by the time they finished Von began crying from upstairs, cueing (Y/n) to fetch him to begin his morning routine.

"Hey I was going to do those." (Y/n) pouted playfully when she entered the kitchen, finding Bo working on the dishes. "Eh don't worry about it, you cooked I'll clean up." Bo winked making (Y/n) blush as she sat at the counter, adjusting herself to feed a fussy Von. "My brother wants to meet you before you leave." Bo stated casually. "Really?" (Y/n) smiled softly. "Mhm." Bo nodded his head with a hum. "I'd love to meet him." (Y/n)'s grin widened a little, feeling honored that he'd want to meet her. "We'll meet him up at the house of wax in an hour." Bo confirmed as he finished up the last dish. "Sounds fun, I've never been to a house of wax before." She hummed as she propped Von onto her shoulder, burping him. "I'm gonna go take a quick shower, let me know when you're ready." Bo insisted casually as he moved to wipe the spit up off of Von's chin. "Okay will do." (Y/n) smiled with appreciation, hopping up from her seat to get herself and Von dressed.

Once inside of the wax Museum (Y/n)'s attention was drawn to just about everything within sight, making Bo chuckle as he watched her ogle everything. "I take it you like it?" Bo mused with a grin. "I'm a little obsessed, is everything in here really made of wax?" She asked turning to look Bo in the eye. "Just about everything, most of its wax, but some of it isn't." Bo shrugged a little. "The vase?" (Y/n) asked as she pointed to the large decorative vase. "Wax." Bo nodded. "The couch?" She pointed to the couch two wax figures sat upon. "Wax." He chuckled. "How about the...." (Y/n) looked around before realization struck her. "The building?" She turned her attention to Bo, her eyes widening when he nodded his head yes. "Wow that's insane." (Y/n) chuckled with astonishment. "But you like it yeah?" Bo asked. "I love it! I can't imagine how long this must have taken to craft all of this, but it's very impressive." (Y/n) beamed making Bo chuckle softly. "Vincent will be happy to hear that you like his work." Bo mused. "Wait he did all of this?" (Y/n)'s eyes widened. "Not all of it, but a lot of it." Bo explained. "Wow I wish I had that kinda talent." (Y/n) chucked softly, jumping when a statue in the back moved. "Alright no need to scare her." Bo chuckled with a shake of his head, the once statue approaching the pair. "I was not expecting you to move, I really thought you were a statue." (Y/n) chuckled nervously.

"(Y/n) this is my brother Vincent." Bo introduced the two, the masked brother timidity offering (Y/n) his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you." (Y/n) smiled looking at his mask with curiosity. "Is your prosthetic made of wax?" She asked without thought, but he only tilted his head to the side. "Your mask." She clarified, smiling when he nodded his head yes. "That's very cool, did you make it yourself?" (Y/n) asked chuckling when he nodded his head again. "You don't talk much huh?" She tilted her own head a little. "He can't." Bo clarified unknowingly making (Y/n) suddenly feel guilty. "Oh I didn't know, I'm sorry." (Y/n) ducked her head down, feeling stupid for opening her mouth. "Vincent do you wanna show her?" Bo asked his brother, who hesitated for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. (Y/n) picked her head up, watching in amazement as Vincent removed his mask. "Wow." She muttered under her breath, taking in the sight of his face, frowning a little when he looked away from her. "What happened?" (Y/n) turned to Bo. "We were born as Siamese twins, and our daddy was an unorthodoxed doctor. He was able to separate us as infants." Bo explained suddenly feeling subconscious himself. "Wow... That's incredible." (Y/n) murmured softly. "You're both incredible." She chuckled softly looking back to Vincent, who smiled back at her before putting his mask back on.

--Later that day--

Having decided on stay one more day (Y/n) sat with Bo in his living room talking about this and that, and joking about nearly everything. "(Y/N)!" A voice yelled from outside, cutting off (Y/n)'s laughter, a look of terror filling her eyes in an instant. "(Y/N)!" The man yelled from outside for a second time. "It's him... It's Trent, he's come for me!" (Y/n) panicked, explaining to Bo why she suddenly got so fearful. "(Y/N) I KNOW YOU'RE HERE!" Trent yelled, sounding a bit closer to Bo's house now. "I'll keep you safe." Bo promised before he rose to his feet, grabbing the shotgun he kept near the front door. "Wait he's dangerous." (Y/n) rushed to follow Bo outside, leaving Von in his crib asleep. "COME OUT COME OUT COME OUT!" Trent taunted from the center of town, his attention turning to a pissed off Bo Sinclair. "Found yourself a gullible local huh?" Trent sneered at (Y/n) who ignored her fear and continued following Bo. "I suggest you get outta here and forget about (Y/n)." Bo warned, resting his shotgun on his shoulder, standing about eight feet from Trent, who only scoffed at his threat. "How about you go fuck your sister, and leave me to my business." Trent hissed, his words only fueling the hatred Bo felt for this man. "Your business best consist of you getting outta my town." Bo glared Trent down, who only chuckled. "Sure I'll get outta your town, once I have her." Trent pointed to (Y/n), but Bo only pushed (Y/n) to stand back a little.

"That ain't gonna happen." Bo shook his head with a mocking grin on his face. "How did you even find me!?" (Y/n) asked the question that had been plaguing her mind. "Remember my buddy Stan? I had him bug your car with a GPS tracker." Trent mocked as he flashed them the receiver of the tracker. "Now get over here." He growled as he pulled a pistol from the back of his belt. As Trent trained the pistol, Bo stepped in front of (Y/n) training his shotgun on Trent. "I'll only warn you one more time." Bo hissed, resisting the urge to just blow the motherfucker away. "Fuck you, you fucking redneck." Trent taunted before he pulled the trigger, but his gun jammed and Bo smirked. "Nah fuck you." Bo retorted before pulling the trigger, blowing open Trent's chest. (Y/n) screamed at the sound, her heart racing in her chest. Almost like everything was moving in slow motion, (Y/n) watched Trent's body hit the ground with a thud, dead as dead gets. Bo was quick to spin on his heel, gently setting the gun on the ground he scooped (Y/n)'s shaking form into his arms. "Sh darling it's alright, I've got you. You're safe now darling, I've got you." He murmured against the crown of her head, carrying her back into his house. "It's okay (Y/n), rest now. I'll take care of everything, I'll take care of you." Bo promised as he laid her down on the couch, lovingly stroking her hair, before he kissed her temple. The events suddenly flipping a highly protective and tender switch within Bo, not that (Y/n) was complaining in the slightest, taking great comfort in his words and actions.

A few hours passed and in that time, (Y/n) had calmed down, and thought about a lot of things. Bo had dealt with the body and come back to (Y/n)'s side within the first hour, allowing her to cuddle into his side and think. "Bo what is this place?" (Y/n) asked with worry laced in her voice. "What?" Bo frowned his brows, a confused smile on his face. "Please don't lie to me anymore, please tell me what this place is. This town its just not right, in all the time I've been here I've only seen you Lester and Vincent." (Y/n) explained, suddenly feeling concerned for her baby's well being. "I want to tell you, I've wanted to tell you for a while now... But I don't want to scare you away." Bo hung his head. "Not telling me is scaring me, Bo please tell me." She insisted. "You know I would never hurt you or Von right?" Bo asked, his eyes the tiniest bit glossy. "Of course I know that." (Y/n) licked her lips, ignoring the worry bubbling at the back of her mind. "The town been abandoned for a decade, me and my brothers took it over a few years ago." Bo began. "Brothers?" (Y/n) asked having caught the plural. "Lester is mine and Vincent's younger brother." Bo explained frowning a little when (Y/n)'s eyes filled with worry.

"Lester convinces people to come to Ambrose, and me and Vincent kill them." Bo revealed, his confession making (Y/n)'s breath hitch in her throat. "Lester called me after he dropped you off at the gas station, and he told me to help you out, he insisted that we spared you." Bo licked his lips nervously. "I wasn't going to listen to him, but when you didn't snoop around town like everyone else, I was curious about you... Then I seen you, and your baby, and any dark thought I had washed away in an instant. The more we talked, the more I was intrigued with you... The more I wanted to protect you, especially when you told me about your ex." Bo admitted, his words surprisingly soothing (Y/n). "I'm sorry..." Bo muttered under his breath. "I forgive you." (Y/n) smiled softly, sitting up she adjusted herself to straddle Bo's lap. "I forgive you." She repeated herself as she took his face between her hands. "You've been better to me than most people in my life, and while the knowledge of what you and Vincent do... Is almost heartbreaking... I forgive you. I know you won't harm me or Von, to proved yourself to me today when you saved me from Trent." (Y/n) leaned in and gently kissed Bo's lips, pulling away all to soon. "I don't want to leave, I want to stay here with you... To love you despite the things you do, to love you despite the monster you can be... I want you for who you are, darkness and all." (Y/n) confessed, making Bo's mind go hazy with adoration. "Please stay." He muttered subconsciously. "I am." (Y/n) rest her forehead against his, smiling when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

----

Part three is complete!!!!

Part four will hopefully be posted tomorrow evening.

（＾_＾）

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

UT character wakes up in the middle of the night because he head weird noises in the house. They goes in the living-room and finds a man standing there, their TV in his hands, ready to cross an opened window with it. What does they do do?

The first part of the ask is here, with the skeletons.

Undertale Toriel - "I don't think so young man." She grabs his wrist and leads him gently but firmly on the couch. She will lecture him to death. The man won't even look her in the eyes because he feels so ashamed (and he's scared she might call the cops). But once Toriel is done, she makes him promise to never doing something like that again and lets him leave. The guy can't believe his luck.

Undertale Asgore - In 10 seconds, there's 50 royal guards holding him on the ground. I mean, how stupid are you to break inside the house of the King of Monsters? There's cameras everywhere! You will have a nice night facing Undyne screaming at you. You absolute idiot.

Undertale Undyne - One second, Undyne is in front of you, the second later, she throws you so hard you're crossing the wall of the living-room. Undyne alone is already dangerous, but Alphys is here too, and she won't risk her life. If you're threatening her, she's killing you in a blink of an eye. She's not joking. If the man surrenders, she's bringing him to the police station herself to question him aggressively. Maybe don't break in the house of the head of the royal guard.

Undertale Alphys - She squeaks in shock and screams her girlfriend name with panic. You grabs her arm to make her shut up. BIG. MISTAKE. Undyne jumps on your back, and slams your head in the wall, knocking you out. Welp, you're going to the hospital. DON'T THREAT THE HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD'S GIRLFRIEND.

Undertale Frisk - They shrugs and takes advantage of the fact the man is shocked to casually carry the TV to its place. They then waves at the guy pacifically. The man waves back. Wait... What? The man is so confused he leaves to have an identity crisis in the nearest parc. Frisk just closes the window. What an eventful night.

Undertale Chara - "Greetings." Chara said, eyes entirely black and leaking creepily. The man screams in fear, throws the TV at them and falls of the window trying to flee the house. They fell on the car in a loud crash. Chara called the cops and said there's a man with multiple fractures waiting in the alley. The man is confused. He's hurt, sure, but he doesn't have any fracture? Then Chara takes out a crowbar from their inventory and walks to the man with a creepy smile =)

Undertale Mettaton - He switches on the lights dramatically and gasps. "Oh boy! Look at that! This TV is a bomb!" The man just said "wait... what?" before the wall is blown away. Mettaton claps his hands, happy. "You caught that on camera Blooky? That was amazing!"

Undertale Gaster - Gaster doesn't know what to do. So, uh, slowly, he takes an egg out of his goop and gives it to the man. The man takes the egg, confused. Now you are both looking at each other blankly. Uh... What now?

Undertale Grillby - Uh, you know Grillby is a war veteran, right? The man tries to run to him, Grillby makes him fly and pins him on the floor with ease. Still holding his arm, he sits on his back and calls the police. He will patiently waits for Undyne to come while the man is crying like a baby because it hurts. Grillby is enjoying that way too much.

Undertale Muffet - Suddenly, a lot of spiders climbs down the window. The man crushes one of them, laughing at their stupid try to stop him. He then feels a gentle CRUSHING hand on his shoulder and meets with a very pissed off Muffet. The man can only screams, no one will ever hear you. You're going to have a nice meeting with her pet. Have fun.

Undertale Burgerpants - "Come on, man, that's the only thing that cheering my day, you can't do that!" The man laughs at his face. Burgerpants is tied on a chair and he can't do nothing to stop the guy. That's his fate. He will even be fired the next day by Mettaton because he's late. He doesn't even know why he's still trying.

Undertale Flowey - FINALLY. He can FINALLY hurt someone with a good reason. He's throwing pellets at the man until his HP reaches 1 HP. He's laughing maniacally the all time. The much fun he had since he decided to go to the Surface with Frisk. But then the noise wakes Toriel, who then lectures the both of them because killing and stealing are bad. Flowey is not happy.

Undertale Gerson - "What a brave little guy, stealing little old man like me. Want to see what little old me can do?" He then shows him his cane and beats the hell out of him. The man is begging for mercy, but Gerson is having fun, too bad. When Undyne came, she cheered him as he kept hitting the guy on the back.

[itsbenedict]

Two-Faced Jewel: Session 14

A Ferry Good Experience

A half-elf conwoman (and the moth tasked with keeping her out of trouble) travel the Jewel in search of, uh, whatever a fashionable accessory is pointing them at. [Campaign log]

Last time, the party finally wrapped up their business in the small town of Barley, and headed back to Cauterdale to catch the ferry to Thunderbrush across the Bay of Uneasy Repose. In this session, they make a few more last-minute preparations, and embark on a nautical voyage!

Said nautical voyage is swiftly set upon by a few different kinds of trouble.

Before they leave for the docks, Looseleaf catches Orluthe alone while he's having some trouble with street food. There's some sort of tough overcooked octopus dish he can't quite figure out how to eat.

Looseleaf: "You could, maybe, use a knife?" "Or, I guess, maybe you're not supposed to because overcoming a challenge like extremely overcooked seafood is, like, a triumph or something and you're not supposed to back down from those?" "Is that how the cleric thing works?" Orluthe Chokorov: "Sorry, um..." He looks around nervously. "What, um, makes you say that?" Looseleaf: "Well, you know, the fact that, all your combat cantrips involve you declaring how victory is certain or whatever, the fact that after Oyobi dealt with that bobbledragon you channeled your divine avatar to heal Mr. Cutter and your god was all like 'ah, that great beast you have overcome and slain is a honorable offering and you're super cool for having overcome this challenge my man' or whatever..." "Like, I'm just, puttin' all my cards on the table here, it's pretty obvious?" Orluthe Chokorov: "..." "You, uh..." "That's not... something you can, um, prove," he says, unsure.

Looseleaf manages to talk Orluthe into putting his cards on the table, too. Apparently he's next in line to be the head of the Temple of Diamode in his hometown, and he's been sent to study at Blacksky to prepare. Only problem is- he's not a cleric of Diamode. Or even a cleric, for that matter- he's something else, instead. His disposition is noticeably non-Iska-Peakstrider-Goddess-of-Triumph-ish, you might've noticed.

Remember how Orluthe is a shifter? Apparently he thinks of his other form as a different person, and that person is way more in line with Iska and her obsession with victory and superiority. Iska chose his feral warball champion alter ego- the Alpha Doomhound- and has been helping his more mild-mannered side fake being a cleric of Diamode in order to help him attain the headship of the temple for some reason.

Looseleaf... attempts to pry a little more.

After asking a few more questions about how exactly channeling divinity works and feels (kind of incomprehensible sometimes, since godthoughts connect to godmemories you don't have when the channeling ends), Looseleaf reassures Orluthe she'll keep his secret, and the party sets off for the docks.

At the docks, they meet a few goblins from Cauterdale Harbor Management, who tell them all about the amazing deals! Ferry vouchers (like those provided by Blacksky) are four gold, good for any ferry at the harbor- but some ferries cost extra on top of the voucher. Their options are:

The Satellite Islands Transit Company is the budget option, which will get you across the bay for only the price of the voucher- if you're fine riding a crowded and dubiously-seaworthy old tub.

The Cauterdale Armored Navy operate a smaller and more secure ferry- an armored military vessel with advanced protection against sea monsters, for an extra two gold.

Cabana Jim's Pleasure Cruise is an enormous yacht with an onboard spa, for an extra ten gold on top of the voucher- and comes with a coupon for half-off at Cabana Jim's Luxury Resort and Spa.

Looseleaf sees no reason not to cheap out, so they pick the SITC- except Vayen, who goes for the Armored Navy so as not to be on a crowded boat with the rest of the party. Until... the surprise reveal that oops, they've got fantasy airport security, and in order to go on the SITC ferry, they need to submit to an inspection due to an "elevated maritime threat level".

The inspection is pretty thorough, and Saelhen's sleight-of-hand rolls to conceal her knives fail- which they apparently don't care about. What they care about are the party's magic items. The cloak, rug, and pillow all check out, apparently- too minor, not waterproof.

Unfortunately, Saelhen is unable to conceal her bracer, and as it's apparently an ancestral heirloom. They're going to need to put it in a lead carrying case, which costs extra- and also, oops, it doesn't come off Saelhen's arm, so it's going to cost extra extra to stow her entire body in a lead vault.

Why? Because Darkflame Retribution Everwatchful Black Sapphire, Mistress of Turbulent Waters might be out there, and she has a habit of attacking ships to steal powerful magic items. Unnessie just likes fish, and Krakalackie "plays with boats" but is harmless, but "Darkie" is a genuine threat if she senses a magic item.

So, the party instead springs for the Cauterdale Armored Navy ferry, since they have certain measures in case of dragon attack. They head to the boat and find it manned by Medd Cutter, the guardsman they rescued! Also, they find a rich dwarf, a family of gnomes, and Vayen, who is unpleasantly surprised that the party changed their minds and followed him.

Medd explains the security measures on the ship:

The mess hall inside the cabin, which locks with an airtight seal

The recessed seating area on the deck, featuring seatbelts

The diving-bell helmets under the seats, which have an air supply if they get pulled underwater

The magical water-repelling forcefield that holds out long enough to get everyone's helmets on

The levers on the helmets that switch on to make them soundproof in case of dragon

There's a cacophany of acknowledgment from the load of gnome children, and the ferry gets underway.

As they're traveling, Saelhen and Looseleaf ask Kensa why exactly she's so excited to get to Corolos.

They show Kensa the Anycloak, and she immediately loses her entire got damn mind. She offers to do ANYTHING, ANYTHING to have it! Saelhen... takes this as a teachable moment. Kensa needs to learn to haggle.

She doesn't do a particularly good job, and Saelhen gives her some pointers- and eventually agrees to four conjurations per fashion lesson. With that, she puts on the cloak... and makes the Wisdom save that using the cloak triggers.

She gets a 1.

And what happens is... the last thing the cloak transformed into, a super-opulent fancy armored winged battledress... bleeds into the sundress Kensa imagines up. And those elements of the design, leftover from Looseleaf's imagination, seem to Kensa to have been her idea, somehow.

That's... probably... safe??

And soon after Kensa revises her design again, she looks out at the sea, and points at something in the distance, and asks "What's that?"

It's some sort of huge mutant plesiosaur, sniffing at the SITC ferry.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Yamatake, I swear to heaven, if you try this again I will tell the dean that you tried to murder me in my sleep for my valuables." Oyobi Yamatake: "Gods, don't freak out. It's not like I could even fight it anyway! It's under the water!"

Then Unnessie cries out in pain and dives back below the water, leaving the SITC ferry alone. Just as a giant tentacle spears out of the water right next to the party.

Everyone scrambles to get on their seatbelts and helmets as the tentacles wrap around the ship and begin pulling it underwater. The gnome kids scream in terror and/or delight as the parents try to corral them, and the dwarf retreats into the cabin. The party stays out on the deck, and the layers of magic forcefield begin to fail as they're pulled underwater.

So, this incomprehensible warball-field-sized eldritch abomination pulls both the CAN and Cabana Jim ferries underwater, and starts swinging them around. Everyone but Saelhen passes their CON save against nausea!

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "I AM A DELICATE FLOWER AND DO NOT DESERVE THIS TREATMENT."

They both roll high on perception, though, and are able to notice...

Benedict I. (GM): After about ten minutes, as promised, the tentacles retract, and the boats begin their ascent back to the surface. The horror retreats back into the depths. Looseleaf: A very timely horror! Most children aren't so fastidious about keeping to their deadline promises. Benedict I. (GM): You break the surface, and after a minute of checks, the magic fields turn off. Water drains out the edges of the boat. Looseleaf: Is this not another example of the marvelous beauty inherent to this world? "That was... actually a lot more- a lot of fun!" "Nobody got hurt, right?" Orluthe Chokorov: "I'm all good!" Oyobi Yamatake: "Oh I have to kill one of those someday." Looseleaf: "Oyobi noooooo. It's just a little baby." Kensa Kanthalga: "That... was fun, right? That was fun? I'm not traumatized?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Well, I had a nice time."

And then, because two sea monsters wasn't enough, something huge and made of deep-blue crystal breaches the surface of the water right next to them, and lazily leans its upper body on the deck.

Everyone immediately switches on their soundproof helmets, and the dragon... pulls out from the water a terrified-looking sahuagin dressed in rags, holding a sign reading "Parley". The dragon performs a lip-zipping gesture, and points at the fishman.

Next time: oh my god a DRAGON in this DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS campaign

[plasticnightmaredoll]

"Resident Evil 7: Biohazard" spoiler-filled review

Well, I went ahead and replayed "Resident Evil 7" after finishing "Resident Evil 8" twice. I wanted to see if the former was still as good as I remember it being when I first played it several years ago.

Sure enough, it is still my favorite RE game so far (I have only played 4, but still, I don't think any of the other games will beat RE7 in my eyes) and one of my favorite survival horror games (my favorite gaming genre).

RE7 is why I even got into the RE game franchise at all. I always (and still do) prefer "Silent Hill's" games, and never had a strong desire to play any of the RE games. I just...wasn't impressed, I suppose, with what I saw and knew.

RE7 changed that and now I have played three other games in the franchise and have the intention to play most of the others (the ones on PC only because I don't have, can't afford, and don't need a console right now).

I actually have less to say about RE7 than I do about RE8, but that isn't a bad thing, mind you.

Anyway, onto the review!

The Good

Setting/Locations

I liked the location the game took place in. It was a departure from what RE had offered so far, bringing us back to the roots of the series in a way. The original "Resident Evil" took place in a creepy mansion, and RE7 takes place in three creepy, rundown houses.

Horror games taking place in a city (which RE2 and RE3's remakes did) doesn't mean they're not capable of being intense horror experiences, but I just like the classic aesthetic and age-old trope of "haunted" houses. Also, by taking place in the woods and not in a city (nowhere near a city from what I could tell), RE7 increases the tension by making you feel completely isolated. There's nowhere to run, except the woods, and who knows if you'll find help in time.

I also loved the part where you play as Mia and you have to initially explore the wrecked ship without any weapons, thus causing you to have to be cautious around monsters while still trying to get things done. Even when you get ammo, it doesn't turn the segment into a walk in the park.

Plot

The story was good, starting off as a bunch of fucked up mysteries (What happened to this house? What happened to this family? Were they always crazy? What's with the ability to "glue" severed limbs back on? What's with the crazy regeneration ability for Jack? Why is Mia so crazy and violent? What's with the mold?) and does provide answers at a steady pace as you progress until all is revealed by the end.

Still, it's not like it makes things less disturbing. In some ways, it makes it even more so. I mean, we have a kid with special powers who actually just wants a family but seems to lack any sense of compassion or mercy, probably because she was kept in a lab all her life. We have a family she "corrupted" and led to the deaths of 3 of the 4. Then you have Mia, Ethan's wife, who has been forced to turn evil on occasion, even against her own husband, and she nearly died. And, well, we have Ethan who is stuck in the middle of this giant mess.

It's not an over-the-top horror story, and while it relies on some horror game tropes, it never gets stale. It uses the tropes wisely, creating an atmospheric survival horror experience.

First Person

I am not a big fan of the 3rd person perspective that the other RE games have (minus RE8). I'm not a fan of it in general, and it actually makes the game less scary. You know you're playing as a character because you can clearly see them, so it's more like watching a movie, I guess. It can still be scary just not as much, in my opinion.

The first-person perspective is perfect for horror games because they make you feel like you're there. You are seeing things from the character's own eyes, like you're in their place, so the danger feels much more real. I'm so glad RE7 seems to have broken this trend as is possibly steering the franchise towards first person.

Weapons

Now, I was debating whether to put this in "the good" or "mixed thoughts" section, but I'm keeping it here. RE8 does have the benefit of weapon customization, so you can give your weapons more firepower, decrease their reload time, have them carry more bullets before reloading...RE7 has none of this. What you see is what you get.

Now, I don't see this as an issue, in fact, it's kind of a good thing. Since the weapons you find are going to remain as they are for the whole game, including the shotgun which only holds 4(?) rounds, you have to be smart. I think there is less ammo in RE7 than in RE8, too, so you really have to be careful. If you're not implementing some sort of strategy in fights in RE7, you could find yourself running out of ammo or not switching between weapons fast enough. You can only hold 4 in the active slots, too, which limits you further because you may have to swap two weapons during a fight.

It's not annoying...it's horrifying in its own way! I mean, if you have a bunch of ammo laying around and you can make your weapons Doom-style in terms of power, then where is the fun? Where is the horror? You can just blast away all day at enemies. By limiting what you have like RE7 does, you feel like it's a much more intense gaming experience, not to mention a more realistic one. I mean, in reality, you wouldn't be able to even carry that many weapons at once, nor would you be able to easily craft lots of ammo, nor would you be able to upgrade your weapons on the fly.

Graphics & Soundtrack

The soundtrack was very fitting, adding additional chills to the already haunting atmosphere but never forcing the "mood," so to speak. Graphics still look fantastic even now after 4 years have passed. Sure, RE8 has more polished visuals, but RE7 still is a very attractive game in terms of graphics quality. Lots of great lighting effects, including a lot of shadows to build more suspense since you're not running around in broad daylight or in places that are fully lit (most of the time).

Characters

While there aren't any remarkable characters in the game, I think they're all still memorable.

Jack is an absolute psychopath who loves to stalk Ethan while taunting him. When you see what he used to be like later in the game, it's almost sad because you can tell how distraught he was at what b became of him and his family.

Marguerite is the crazy bug lady, trying to get you to eat her gross food.

Lucas is the wide-eyed, sadistic killer who likes to make his victims play morbid games.

Zoe is the only sane one in the family and provides Ethan with much-needed guidance.

Mia comes off as the typical "wifey" type but she can actually kick some ass and knows how to use guns.

Ethan is a very resilient and noble character who cares about his family and would do anything for them.

Eveline is a creepy, weird girl (a trope but it still works here), but her backstory is kind of sad when you think about it: She has been raised in a lab her whole life as an experiment and has no concept of what love and compassion are, and acts out like a disturbed child more than an evil monster.

Bosses

I thought the boss fights were all pretty challenging, especially your final encounter with Jack and the fight with Marguerite. Eveline was easier to deal with, but when you think about it, it was still messed up considering you had just killed her and now she was mutating into a horrifying monster in an attempt to get revenge.

Sure, there weren't many boss fights, but a game doesn't need to have a dozen of them to be good. As long as what you get is entertaining and challenging, then it's all good to me.

Mixed Thoughts

The gross (and sometimes goofy) mold monsters posed a significant threat, a lot of it because you have to deal with them in small areas. They're so weird-looking, so inhuman, yet they make up the majority of the enemies in the game. It's the mold monsters and Marguerite's evil bugs.

They served their purpose well and provided some decent jump scares, but I wish there had been a bit more variety. I'm not sure what considering the location but I feel like there could have been one or two more monster types (like the nasty spider babies from "Not a Hero"). Hell, even having some gators around for Ethan to deal with would have been fun.

The Bad

Nothing!

Final thoughts:

I really love "Resident Evil 7." It's fun to play and chilling all at once, which is what I want out of horror games. It's easily the best thing to happen to RE since probably RE2 or RE3 (the original versions), and gave the series a much-needed change in direction.

Grade: A

Resident Evil Village: B+

Resident Evil 2 (2019 remake): A-

Resident Evil 3 (2020 remake): B-