#unpopular opinion but i actually like ethan winters

[away-ward]

i just finished the dn series and i have some conflicting thoughts...

Hey, do you think will would cut off any ties damon, alex, michael, kai, rika, banks and winter for emmy if she asked? I really wanna believe this, but i dont get this vibe from him, which might be why i found his arc so unsatisfying. Now the least expected horseman was the one who surprised me when he pulled this move, michael. I only got this will-cut-everyone-off-for-my-soulmate-even-bff vibe from michael, and not even damon got this vibe. Sometimes i'm confused if he would save and choose winter or will first, and that dampens my ship for them. I hate non-poly relationship that's so poly coded only for the author to choose a non-poly ending between a man and a woman. Feels so?? Questionable. Now, Kai? even less so. If i have to rank, michael > damon / will > kai.

What do you think? Like at this point only words can reassure us that yea yea yea, ofc they would choose their women before anything else, but would they really? i am haunted by the idea that will would actually cut emmy off instead off cutiing alex or damon from his life and this thought would not leave my head. Why did we never see will address his relationship and past and emmy talking about her hard boundaries and how uncomfy his past made her feel? She was so uncomfy throughoug the book, she made ME feel uncomfy too. But suddenly she fucked alex? What?

I am not convinced that will, or any of the horsemen would choose their women first, and this lack of a firm HEA was what made me not able to enjoy devils night series as a whole 😭 i didnt feel liek this when i read other dark romance series, like the l.o.r.d.s. because it was clear to me that each couple were ONLY made for each other. i've also been spoiled by contemporary romances that have HEA endings for hears, that when i did read dn, i was like? Huh? That was it? And just like the previous anon, i found myself asking, why is this alex still here? Why was emmy's ending like that? Why was winter's man looking like he's pining for his bff or wanting to jump into a poly relay? Will winter have to share him? Why was banks' man checking out rika? Why was there still tension between them in conclave? Why was rika's man like THAT? But ngl, by the end of fire night, i dont get these vibes from michael, which was surprising because he's the least fav of the series... I feel so bad for these fmcs, but then they're just fictional characters, and they also choose to be in relationships with these mmcs themselves, so what was even the point of my worry? Ahhg! Idkidk

Side note, damon's book felt so unromantic to me because of this, and i wished winter had a better storyline and love story where her man was just focusing on her and not trying to bring eberyone in their relationship, like arion, banks, rika, will etc. I can't stand kill switch because of that. Felt like damon was cheatinh on her throughout the whole book. I hate it when mmc have other thoughts about OW, which was why i also didnt like will and kai as much. In nightfall, i knew because pd fucked up with the plot and characters, but i didnt feel like pd f up kill switch, but damon's character in general felt really unromantic for a dark erotica/ romance hero whoks supposed to be possessive obsessive non-sharing heroes, like the rina kent, hd carlton, shantel tessier, emily mcintire heroes. i cant root for him or the mmcs of this series because of that 🫠 os this just a pd thing or something? Should i be prepared with the element of sharing in her books? unpopular opinion, i was rooting for ethan in kill switch, lmao, but ofc!!! Pd just had to ruin his character by making him a creep, even though damon himself was a certified sexual assaulter and criminal 🙄 how convenient!

idkkkkk

do you think will would cut off any ties damon, alex, michael, kai, rika, banks and winter for emmy if she asked?

If she asked on a random Tuesday afternoon?

No. Probably not.

There would have to be something happening that’s caused her to make that demand. Like. . . it can’t just be like the worm test, you know? “Would you still love you me if I were a worm?” / “Would you leave your all your favorite people for me if I asked?”

He'd be like, Emmy, shut up, drink your drink, and stop coming up with make believe scenarios (They'd banter about it for hours, though).

But if there was a legit reason she was asking, I think Will is more than likely to take Emory’s side. Emory doesn’t typically make a big deal out of small things, so if she’s making a big deal out of something, it’s actually huge. Along with that, he knows how it is to be without her, and I can't see him going back to that again. Not willingly. He needs to be the one she holds on to. He's never served that purpose for anyone else.

As an example, the Damon and Emory at the gazebo scene: Emory says she has to tell Will what happened the night she helped him bury Natalya, and Damon response that Will’s going to kill him (or something like that). It’s clear that this issue isn’t even that big of an issue anymore, but the very fact that Damon put Emory at risk years ago and keep it a secret from him is still enough to piss Will off.

Unless she gets brainwashed or otherwise manipulated into betraying them, Will is always going to choose Emory over them. Just because we didn’t get the scene doesn’t mean there isn’t a “She is everything” moment. Although, depending on how you look at it, the fact that Will was down bad (crying at the gym🎶🎶) for literally all of the series because he didn’t have Emory sort of indicates who he’s capable of not living without. It was kind of a silent "she is everything".

i am haunted by the idea that will would actually cut emmy off instead off cutiing alex or damon from his life and this thought would not leave my head. Why did we never see will address his relationship and past and emmy talking about her hard boundaries and how uncomfy his past made her feel?

If you’re haunted about it, I can’t help you. I’m just words on a screen, after all.

It's an assumption that Emory still feels uncomfortable about Will’s past after she “comes into her own” on the train. You can see the train scene however you want – I personally detest it, and feel there were much better ways to communicate whatever Emory was supposed to be going through at the moment. However, I think it's pretty clear the scene was supposed to mark a change within Emory. Would a conversation between the two of them been more satisfying for readers? Probably. Was it something that the characters needed though? Was it something that Emory needed? I don't think so.

I see Emory no longer caring that he’s been “on top of half the graduating class”, or ever thinking that he’ll leave her for Alex in a heartbeat. These things just don’t matter anymore. They’re small issues that she has the confidence to handle if they come up, but she’s not going to waste her time worrying about them. Not when she as a life to live, finally being happy with Will.

Those conversations happened between Rika and Michael. Rika had to have the “You won’t be sleeping with anyone else, right?” talk with Michael, which he didn’t answer because he was fully planning on sleeping with other girls while waiting for her to turn 18. Again later, she had to tell him she doesn’t like being followed, or told where to go, or that she’s expected to stay home, waiting for him to come back.

Will isn’t Michael, though. And he made clear that if she gave him half a chance, he was going to be exclusive. That’s what he wanted. Additionally, Will doesn’t have any expectations of Emory’s behavior, other than she's exclusive to him as well (you'll be the mother to my children, sit at my table, warm my bed - but of course, this is also where he wants to be: the father to her children, giving her a home to live in, being in her bed). She runs this show, and he loves that. More importantly, she knows that. All he expects of her is to be happy.

At the same time, we got the "She is everything" scene from Michael because there was miscommunication between him and Kai. I don't think there's any confusion from the guys what position she takes in Will's life by the time Will and Emory are married. As long as she let's him stay, she'll be number one.

But, of course, I'm used to shipping couples that were never canon, so then maybe I'm off in an OTP happiness bubble.

but i didnt feel like pd f up kill switch, but damon's character in general felt really unromantic for a dark erotica/ romance hero whoks supposed to be possessive obsessive non-sharing heroes,

I think this may be the issue some readers are having. Because what do you mean “non-sharing”? There was never the promise of no-sharing at any part of DN. Every book had sharing. Every book was going to have sharing, regardless if it fit into the plot or not.

And while I don’t consider the rikamichaelkaibanks bonus scene to be canon because PD didn’t even really write it, they just thought about it, it’s a clear indicator that whatever poly situation they’ve got going on is something the characters enjoy. If you don’t enjoy it as a reader, that’s one thing, but it’s not the author’s responsibility to write something you enjoy. The main responsibilty an author has is to write something that's true to them. And edit. Please, edit.

And I don’t say all this to mean that you’re wrong in any way.

DN doesn’t follow a lot of the trends. It adds different twists to common trends, which can be misleading for people who are reading based on tropes. Sometimes I feel that PD is trying to be too edgy and it falls flat and is cringe. I feel that sometimes PD missed the mark in executing their otherwise very good ideas because they were so focused on other things. It’s not a series that's going to work for everyone.

Based on everything I’ve read/seen/heard, I can tell that PD is not an author for me. There were so many things about this series that didn’t work for me, but the few things that did really caught me, and those are the things I like to think about. Everything else I headcanon my way around.

But I am sorry the series had such a bad reaction for you. Since reading is supposed to be an enjoyable past time, I hate the idea that you spent so much time reading something you couldn't enjoy. I hope whatever you move on to next is better!

Thanks for stopping by 😊

KO

[toosicktoocare]

I finally got to play Resident Evil Village, and I’m having feelings. Below is set after the big Lycan attack, and Chris is not just who the heck knows where keeping his secrets but instead nearby to help Ethan. 

Ethan’s faced death more times than any average man should ever even have to consider, and each time does not get any easier—again, a sentence he wishes he could physically rip straight from his lexicon.

He stares into the beast’s eyes, irises so dark he can see his own pale reflection looking back in ghostly, frozen horror. He is sure, in this moment, he’ll be ripped into two, with his own inverted terror as the last image he’ll ever see. But then, completely on par with this twisted village, something grabs the beast’s attention, and the beast is leaping away, his large jump flinging drops of muddy water at him.

As the remaining Lycans race away, the ringing in Ethan’s ears begins to die down, giving way to the faint sound of the stream below him. His mind is a dark hole of delirium and disbelief, and his heart is a jackhammer in his chest, beating so hard he can hardly catch a breath.

He should focus on what the hell just happened, but instead, he turns to the arrow sticking out from his leg. The cold stream he’s half submerged in has done its part to numb the pain at the edges, but it still hurts enough to have him yank the arrow from his leg. Nausea overtakes him briefly, from his leg and from the pressure on his mangled hand that is beginning to look worse, concerning even.

“Ethan!”

The voice behind him is a sharp, familiar whisper, and Ethan jerks around, ignoring the unnatural sway to his vision to squint narrowly at the unwelcome addition to his day.

“Chris? What the hell—” Ethan tries, words cutting off when Chris slams a hand across his mouth.

“Quiet,” Chris mutters, and Ethan watches how Chris looks over his shoulder with muted alarm, and he follows his gaze, craning his neck to see an old woman with her back to them.

Ethan grabs at Chris’s wrist, and Chris’s gaze finally snaps back to him, eyes going wide at Ethan’s hand. Chris keeps one hand to Ethan’s mouth but snags his wrist with the other, bringing Ethan’s injured hand close to his eyes for trained inspection.

“This doesn’t look good,” Chris mutters, and Ethan groans against Chris’s palm, and he pulls his face into a look he hopes screams ‘no shit’ as loud as he can manage.

“I’ve cleared a house,” Chris starts again, motioning with his head toward a run-down house not far from the two. “I have a few of my men in there.” He pauses, eyes narrowing. “I’m going to move my hand now, so keep quiet.”

Chris moves his hand, and Ethan glares. “Fuck you,” he starts, “you killed Mia.” He moves to his feet, staggers, and Chris reaches forward with a hand to his shoulder that he quickly shrugs off. “No. Back off, Chris. I’m only in this mess because of you,” he growls, but when he moves to turn on his heel, his vision swims again, and the cold he’s been pushing down creeps up to ice over his body. He teeters to the left, and his limbs begin jerking through shivers.

“Easy, Ethan.”

Ethan can feel Chris snake an arm around his waist, and he weakly tries to fight him off, failing against waning energy as he’s pulled toward the safe house and dumped onto a ratty bed. He is sure he can feel a spring digging into his back, but the bed is just warm enough to have him clawing at the blankets, too tired to be aggravated when Chris helps by tugging the blankets over his shaking form.

“Let me see your hand.”

“Screw you.”

“Your comebacks get worse when you’re half out of it, Winters.”

“Fine,” Ethan spits out around a weak cough. “Fuck you, Redfield.”

Chris pinches the bridge of his nose with his free hand, and he gives Ethan’s wrist a light squeeze. “You think you can save your daughter like this, Ethan?”

The second the words leave Chris’s mouth, Ethan yanks his hand away and pushes himself up on his elbows, but before he can chase the hot words threatening to rip up his throat, Chris grabs his wrist once more, and he loses his balance, falling back against the bed with a rough fit of coughs.

Chris makes silent work of his hand, careful, surprisingly gentle, and Ethan watches through half-lidded eyes, exhaustion pushing a large hand down atop him.

“Why did you do it?”

“Look, Ethan, I can’t really explain much right now.”

“Why not?” Ethan shouts, his anger keeping him awake just enough, a small flame from a match burning against his heart.

“There are things we still don’t understand,” Chris mutters, hands moving through muscle movement as he wraps gauze around Ethan’s hand.

“Well, you could start by explaining to me why you and your men broke into my house and killed my wife.” Ethan’s voice is, though rasp-ridden, is dark, and he’s sure he can see one of the men watching a window flinch at his words.

“It’s complicated,” Chris sighs, and Ethan wants to say more, he wants to rip his knife from his pocket and cut into every detail Chris is dodging, but a sharp shiver jerks up his spine, interrupting his heated, malicious thoughts, and Chris, finishing the bandaging, sheds his own jacket and drapes it over Ethan, frowning.

“Rest.”

“I don’t have time to rest,” Ethan mutters, his voice shaking, and Chris rests a palm to his forehead.

“We are keeping an eye on Mother Miranda. We will make sure nothing happens to Rose, okay? For now, you need to sleep and stay warm. You’re practically a block of ice right now.”

He’s not wrong, Ethan thinks, teeth chattering. But Rose needs him, and every second he rests, she’s thrust into more danger, growing farther from his safe grasp. Losing her is the last thought he has before he drifts into an unsettled rest, waking hours later to a key in his hand, windows and back door boarded up, front door padlocked tightly, and a note nailed to the wall beside his bed.

“Get rid of the key when you let yourself out. Left some supplies by the back door. Good luck, and we’ll meet up soon.” -CR

Though he still feels relatively terrible, with a hint of a migraine gnawing at the edge of his vision and his limbs still tight and shaky from the cold, he adjusts to his ailments quickly, a perk of his military training after Louisiana.

Near the back door, he finds boxes of ammo, and he makes quick, practiced work of reloading his guns. When he’s sure he has looked over the house completely, he quietly lets himself out of the house, unsurprised to see the old woman still standing outside, still drawing shapes in the dirt and muttering under her breath.

[chemicalreal]

My personal take on Mia Winters' background and development

Mia Winters is the second most neglected character in Resident Evil Village (and in the franchise in general) after Donna Beneviento, and to add insult to injury, half of the time it's just her being possessed or someone else completely (yet she manages to be blamed for that too). So here are my considerations on this mysterious character that can't help but honor her name most of the time...

Very little is known about her past, even her complete name is unknown for that matter despite being such a pivotal character in the current arc. Considering that everything is headed towards the company that is actually the root of all her misfortunes, it's probably time to finally get to know about her and finally form a proper opinion.

She likely wasn't a scientist at all, but a more ordinary agent dealing with weaponry and other stuff delivery to other companies. Her official cover is "working for a trade company" and is known to travel so that sounds incompatible with a researcher position. In that case she probably wouldn't need a cover at all.

She seems skilled enough in combat and weaponry management (from what was shown in RE7). That implies that her deliveries aren't often supposed to be peaceful routine, and a high risk of injuries. Weird bruises on her body and prolonged time far from home is likely what led her husband to be suspicious of her real occupation.

She doesn't seem to occupy a high rank in Tentsu/The Connections. As soon as Eveline loses control she becomes an extension of the experiment the company is supervising from afar. Hence a disposable employee (for unknown reasons), but paid very well I suppose.

It is unknown how Mia ended up working for Tentsu, but as we know with corrupted organizations, it's not easy to get out of them. It's also unknown how they bribe people into working for them.

Becoming Eveline's handler is a fairly recent job and likely a promotion from her boss, considering the package's higher status. From Mia's last videomessage before the incident it could be implied that she was promised a long break afterwards or she intended to leave.

Another good question being raised here is how did she get away with suddenly being a babysitter. Could be covered with the claim that she was temporarily looking after a superior's kid while being on the job, very common trope in works of fiction.

Zoe and Mia have been in friendly relations since the Baker incident (trauma pack/deluxe version), despite the latter is technically responsible for what happened to the former's family and she is aware of it. Documents in the Baker house prove they have been in an active collaboration since Mia's arrival.

Mia immediately releases Ethan from his obligations as soon as she realizes she is infected. She isn't expecting any kind of help and silently accepts her destiny.

Silence and secrecy do not make Mia a devious character, rather a flawed human who prefers to keep her burdens to herself under the perception of protecting others. Obviously a partial feeling of shame (she is aware at this point that she is not working for the good guys) and fear of losing her loved ones. While revealing her job could actually harm her husband, her keeping an extremely low profile in Village is actually a result of those feelings too.

The game shows Mia as a naturally good spirited character (when in her right mind), probably what led her to be assigned as Evie's temporary mother. Not treating the girl as a chore (in contrast to the kid's life in isolation) is what made Evie obsessively attached to her later on. At the same time she tries to save her coworker and prevent the Bakers from being infected by the bio-weapon.

Unpopular one: It's highly unlikely she knew Ethan was a corpse revived by mold. All she could know was him being a very unusual infected person, who only gained regenerative skills without losing his mind. It is impossible to actually establish his real condition since his vital functions are the same of a human person.

However, considering she starts looking upset after their sudden relocation in Romania, she must have sensed something wasn't right about it, but couldn't explain it to Ethan without telling him the rest of the truth, including his infection and her own history with bioterrorism. That explains why she states with confidence she isn't worried about Rose's medical exams, as Ethan erroneously assumes.

Her experience with The Connections is probably why she kept her knowledge about Ethan a secret. In RE's universe even apparently good organizations eventually get corrupted or hide shady activities. That was the case with FBC, and ultimately BSAA itself sending bioweapons on the field.

The reason why she doesn't tell Ethan (but actually she is shown trying to get to the point) is a more personal one, probably not to ruin the safe bubble they managed to create after those years, and affecting Ethan's own mental state. That doesn't mean it proved to be the right choice, but that at least it came from a reasonable place.

Ironically, Ethan becomes paranoid as soon as Mia gets kidnapped and replaced by Miranda. Both Ethan's and Mia's behaviour in the first cutscene and the subsequent flashback is inverted, showing that something changed between the two scenes, seemingly clashing with one another.

She had nothing to do with the events of house Beneviento, that's all a distorted reality created by Ethan's own projections on Mia and his own fears. The phone from RE7 should be enough of a hint that it's all an hallucination (not just a reused asset). As explained above she never seems to be concerned about Ethan and Rose as 'mold creatures', rather as targets of companies working with bio weapons. (Also, there's no way half of the Winters' furniture ended up in Donna's basement in such a short time, they clearly don't live near the village.)

The picture portraying both her and mother Miranda doesn't mean she knew her or they used to braid each other's hair. Alan, her supervisor during Eveline's shipping, is also present, meaning it could have been taken right before sailing. That's more like your average team picture, and probably a nod to the most inattentive players that it's the same lab from RE7.

That was my short breakdown on Mia Winters, a character with good narrative potential despite the short time she was given. For once, I find it interesting how she confidently addresses Ethan (and likely even Rose) as a special person when he is actually infected with mold and she witnessed and experienced in first person how it can corrupt the most honourable of men. Yet she never questions Ethan's nature and only informs Chris about it when he is about to leave him behind under the assumption that he is dead.

[meepdrawartgood]

You think you can do Ethan Winters??

oh HELL yeah i can

favorite thing about them: hes literally just a fucking guy, he is JUST a dude and its the best thing ever

least favorite thing about them: dead now :(

favorite line: oh my god i cannot choose it has to be one of his shitty oneliners uhhhhh "You're the one who's cursed."

brOTP: i honestly love the idea of ethan becoming friends with all four of the lords somehow, so all of em!

OTP: Dukethan good,,,,soff,,,

nOTP: mf, gonna be honest and say ethan and alcina, never personally appealed to me

random headcanon: for a man who could be infected with mold, heal multiple times from limbs being completely separated from his body, and stay human enough to not even KNOW he was infected, i dont think itd be that easy to kill him completely

unpopular opinion: he did actually feel bad about killing the lords, but didnt feel like he had much of an option with how things were going

song i associate with them: Plant Life by Owl City!

favorite picture of them: im going to cheat and not use a canon picture since there are barely any and say this art by @goosterbold i love how they draw ethan and duke so much

[two-nine-eighteen]

Apparently unpopular opinion: I actually like Ethan Winters as a protagonist

That man has seen some shit. The history of his hands alone is probably nightmare fuel for every artist ever. He also seems like a fun guy