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erin-bo-berin · 4 years

Text

A Game of Chess

MASTERLIST

This was an anon request to write a fic that involved Spencer’s childhood friend Ethan that appeared in season 2′s episode Jones. To the anon who requested this, I’m so sorry it took so long to write, but I seemed to have trouble getting this fic perfect. But finally, I tweaked it and molded it into a story I’m proud of and really like how it turned out. Shoutout to the wonderful @multifandommandy for helping me with the inspiration for the unsub in this fic. With her suggestion of using the real Axeman of New Orleans from the 1900′s, the unsub in this fic was born. I hope you guys enjoy this fic. Enjoy some sassy, jealous Spencer. Happy reading!

Spencer Reid/Reader

Rating: M (smut)

Word Count: 6,907

New Orleans.

Home of jazz, amazing food and beautiful sights.

Unfortunately, it was also the home of a current and active serial killer.

You and the rest of the Behavioral Analysis team had been called in for a serial killer running rampant in New Orleans, which meant that left little time to actually enjoy the sights.

“Remind me before we leave to take you to this jazz club I think you’d like,” your friend and coworker, Spencer nudged you with a smile.

“If we have a moment to breathe,” you groaned, taking a peek at the murder board that had already been set up by the local detectives.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make time for my favorite agent.”

He gave you a slight smile and a sly wink as he headed in the opposite direction of you to get started on some geographical profiles.

You felt a flush creep up from your neck all the way to your cheeks. It was no lie that you fancied the intelligent Dr. Reid and some days, you thought he actually reciprocated your feelings.

It felt like the two of you had been circling one another constantly for months, either pretending the feelings didn’t exist or shamelessly flirting with one another. At this point, you weren’t sure anything would ever happen between you two.

That still didn’t stop how flustered he could make you. Such as how he had just done.

It was something special to have his undivided attention. That was a recurring thing for you though. You always seemed to receive a more special kind of attention from him than the rest of your friends—aka the rest of the BAU team.

You were heading towards the table in front of the murder board to set down your things when JJ quite literally appeared out of nowhere by your side.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice that wink,” she smirked knowingly, settling down in a seat at the head of the table.

“Don’t start,” you retorted, cutting your eyes towards her in a warning glance.

“I’m just saying,” she smirked, opening the file and flipping through it before she spoke her next words.

“It’s just a matter of time before the other shoe drops.”

Whatever that meant.

•

You hooligans think you can catch me, but you can’t. You won’t. I’m much more cunning than you think.

You’ve found victims one, two and three. What about four, five and six? Seven? Maybe they exist, maybe they will exist soon. That’s for me to know and you to find out. If I wanted to, I could slay thousands of your best citizens, for I am in close relationship with the Angel of Death.

“Well, that’s not chilling at all,” you muttered.

A letter had been sent to the NOLA police department, apparently from the killer himself. He was taunting them and your team, that much you knew.

“Definitely a narcissist,” Rossi said, relaying your thoughts, “He thinks he’s untouchable.”

“Not to mention he actually took a line from the infamous Axeman of New Orleans case,” Spencer pointed out.

Everyone blinked at him, clueless.

“The Axeman was a serial killer from May 1918 to October 1919 here in New Orleans. He was never caught, but he typically murdered couples with an axe; axes that belonged to the victims. It’s similar to our current unsub although he’s killing women with an axe. That’s actually kind of similar to the Axeman because he did actually slay a few single victims, some being female and-”

Spencer paused, noticing the entire team staring at him, once again.

“I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

“Just a bit,” you nodded, holding back a grin.

Once the boy got started on something, it was hard to get him to stop. Or not talk 100 mph.

“Is this guy a genius or something? I didn’t even know about that serial killer,” the local detective, named Valadez, whispered to you as Spencer started back up and more to the point.

“You get used to it, trust me,” you grinned.

“The Axeman actually sent a few letters of his own,” Spencer said, looking at the copy of the letter, examining it, “He quite literally copied one sentence word for word.”

“Which one would that be?” Tara asked.

“I could slay a thousand of your best citizens, for I am in close relationship with the Angel of Death,” Spencer read.

“That’s the copied line?” Emily asked.

“Yeah,” Spencer answered distractedly, still studying the writing, “From the Axeman’s letter on March 13th, 1919.”

“So is this just a copycat?” Matt asked.

“I don’t think so,” Spencer answered, “Although the similarities shouldn’t be ignored. He kills women with axes and then sends a letter that has a line that’s verbatim for what the Axeman said.”

“So maybe he’s getting his inspiration from this Axeman guy?” JJ questioned.

“It’s possible,” Spencer nodded.

Spencer was totally in the zone, looking at the writing, tongue poked out of the side of his mouth.

“At most, he has an ego that needs to be stroked,” you said, “There will definitely be more victims.”

“Victim three, Raquel Clayton was discovered outside a jazz club,” Detective Valadez said, studying the murder board.

Spencer’s head jerked up.

“Did you say jazz club?”

“Yeah, does that mean something to you?” Luke asked, curious.

“The Axeman also mentioned in said letter he would spare anyone that was listening to jazz music on a specific night. That night the entire town had dance halls filled with people listening to jazz music. Either his motive is somehow related to this or this guy is just fascinated by the Axeman case. What jazz club was it?”

You were glancing over the detective’s shoulder, reading the file. The name struck you as one you’d just heard earlier in the day. With a smirk, you looked at Spencer.

“Up for a trip to your favorite jazz club?”

•

“It doesn’t surprise me that I managed to actually bring you here, but under the fact of work circumstances,” Spencer grumbled.

“Hey, we’re here aren’t we? We can enjoy a little music while we ask around and see if anyone has seen anything.”

The club was darkly lit, but was filled with soothing sounds of jazz music. You could see why Spencer liked it here.

“The music is pretty.”

“It is, isn’t it?” he agreed.

You stood for a few moments more taking in the pleasant sights and sounds around you before sighing.

“Guess we better get to work, huh?”

Spencer nodded.

“You start with the bartender and workers around there, I’ll start at the back. I’ll meet up with you later,” Spencer said.

You nodded and headed off to start your first rounds of questioning.

An hour later you met a disheartened Spencer. He’d had no more luck than you had. No one had seen anyone suspicious, no one had seen anything, there wasn’t even the first hint of who a suspect was.

This guy seemed to be as invisible as the real Axeman.

“Maybe Jazz was just a coincidence?” Spencer asked.

“You know as well as I do, that there’s no such thing as coincidences in our line of work,” you commented.

He was about to say something when a voice interrupted him.

“Reid, is that you?!”

You and Spencer turned to see a tall man, roughly the same age as Spencer with dark hair and dark eyes. His long beard would’ve been unruly on anyone else, but on this man it seemed to fit him perfectly.

“Ethan?” Spencer’s face lit up, as he hugged the guy.

“It’s been quite a long time since I’ve seen you. What’s it been? 13 years?”

“About,” Spencer nodded, “I didn’t know you were still here in New Orleans.”

“I just got back after some traveling. You can take the boy out of New Orleans but you can’t take New Orleans out of the boy.”

You watched the exchange back and forth, smiling politely.

“Are you gonna introduce me, Spencer?” you asked.

“Well, does Reid here have a girlfriend? Cause if so, he sure does have mighty fine taste,” the man said.

“No, he’s not my boyfriend,” you chuckled, “I’m his partner.”

You held out your hand.

“Supervisory Special Agent Y/N Y/L/N. But you can just call me Y/N.”

He smiled, shaking your hand.

“Reid, you didn’t tell me the FBI had such beautiful girls like Y/N here. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have dropped out of the FBI so long ago.”

You smiled bashfully as you dropped your hand from his.

“Y/N this is an old friend from Las Vegas, Ethan. We grew up together.”

With a sidelong glance at Spencer you could see him jaw clenching and unclenching. Something he did when he was annoyed. That intrigued you. What was annoying him?

“So you were in the FBI?” you asked, curious.

“Nah. After the first day of training, I dropped out. Left it to this guy here,” Ethan nodded to Spencer, “I knew Reid would be the better agent anyway.”

“What made you drop out?”

You winced, realizing your tactlessness.

“Sorry if that was too personal of a question,” you apologized.

“No need to apologize,” he held his hands up, “With a pretty agent like you, I’d spill all my secrets.”

A slight blush grazed your cheeks and you smiled brightly up at him. It was nice to hear such compliments. It was something you weren’t used to.

“I figured out I wasn’t up for being in the FBI. Much more of a musician, I guess you’d say.”

“Oh, you play?”

“Sax, piano, a little guitar.”

“Impressive,” you grinned.

“So, Reid. You doing better now? No more addiction?”

“Addiction?”

You furrowed your brows, looking at Spencer quizzically.

“It’s nothing,” Spencer mumbled.

“Last time I saw him he was pretty messed up,” Ethan said, demonstrating a shaking hand, “What was it you were on again?”

“Dilaudid,” Spencer answered, lips pressed in a thin line.

“What?”

You had joined the team only eight years ago, in your early twenties, just shy of Spencer’s thirtieth birthday. He’d already been with the BAU for eight years himself by that time. There were a lot of things you didn’t know about his past and apparently, this was one of them.

“Y/N is a newer member to the team,” Spencer said, suddenly seeming more relaxed, “She only joined a couple of years ago.”

“How long has it been since you’ve been in the BAU again man?” Ethan asked, taking a sip of his drink.

“Fifteen years.”

“Damn. That’s impressive. I could never. Guess that’s why I ended up here,” he motioned with his glass, indicating this certain jazz club.

Spencer’s phone rang, but he ignored it.

“Speaking of,” Ethan turned to you, “How would you like to hear some great music sometime? I could get you front row seats. Maybe even play a request or two just for you.”

He winked at you, increasing your flush. It’d been a long while since you’d had a guy hit on you, hence your constant flushing. You were flattered and you were seriously thinking about taking up his offer.

Spencer’s cell started in again. Once again, it went ignored.

“If I get a chance, I’d love to come hear you play.”

He was about to say something when the cell rang again. For a second you actually thought it was Spencer’s phone again, until you felt the vibration against your thigh from your own phone.

“One second, excuse me,” you apologized, taking your phone out of your pocket.

You had a missed call, followed by a new text.

New body found. Meet us at crime scene ASAP.

It was from Emily.

“I’m awfully sorry to break up this reunion, boys,” you said, “But we gotta go. The job calls.”

“No problem. See you around dude,” Ethan said, patting Spencer on the back.

“Anytime you want to take up my offer, just drop by. I’ll hook you up.”

This was said to you.

He raised his tumbler in your direction with a flirty grin as he backed away.

When you turned to follow Spencer out, you realized he’d already left.

•

You and Spencer arrived at the crime scene ten minutes later.

“What took you guys so long?” Emily asked.

“Sorry, my phone was off and Y/L/N didn’t tell me you needed us.”

You shot Spencer a look.

What the hell was he talking about? You certainly had. Especially after he’d ignored his own ringing phone twice.

“It’s fine, you’re here now,” Emily said.

“Another body was dumped. Female, approximately 25-30, seems to be wounded from an ax,” Detective Valadez said.

“Man, he really did a number on this poor woman,” you mumbled, shaking your head, “She must’ve really pissed him off.”

The victim was so wounded and bloodied, it was difficult to identify much else about her.

“I know what that’s like,” Spencer mumbled.

You glanced at him again, your questioning glance being plainly ignored.

What was up with him?

“Split up. Witnesses said they had just seen her get off of the bus down the street. We need to know how she ended up here,” Emily said, “Y/N, Spence. I want you to start at the bus stop and see if you can retrace her steps.”

So that’s how you and Spencer ended up at the bus stop, him mumbling to himself and you exasperated at his silent treatment.

“How are we going to figure anything out when you won’t even talk to me?”

He continued to ignore you, walking up and down the sidewalk, thinking.

“If you’re mad can you just please tell me why?”

“I don’t know. You might be too busy flirting with some passerby,” he grumbled.

You were even more confused.

“What are you talking about?”

Back to ignoring you again.

“I think we’ve figured out about as much as we can from here, let’s go,” Spencer said, taking off.

He left you behind feeling even more confused than to begin with.

•

The only bright spot of the next few days was that there was a break in the case.

Thanks to Spencer’s excellent geographical profiling skills, he’d managed to narrow down the unsub’s hunting ground.

The icing on the cake?

In the dead middle of his hunting ground was a jazz club. The same jazz club you’d been to with Spencer the day before, the one where Ethan frequently played at.

Two more victims had been murdered, something that made your heart twist painfully in your chest. You’d been too late to help them, but now, you could get justice for the poor women who had met their untimely end.

To attempt to catch him, the team came up with the idea of sending an undercover in and staking out the place in an attempt to lure him out.

You were going to be the one that would be sent in. In fact, you yourself volunteered to. You wanted to arrest this guy and throw him in handcuffs. It’s what the bastard deserved after his heinous crimes.

Even though Spencer had hardly talked to you for the last few days, he still flat out refused. He kept trying to talk you out of it and convince Emily to send someone else in. But you’d already made up your mind.

“You’re not going in there, Y/N,” he protested.

“Yes. I am.”

Your voice had a steely edge. He wasn’t going to change your mind.

“Do you know how dangerous it is?!” he’d thrown back at you.

“Gee, no. I never thought about it,” your sarcastic tone was harsher than you intended, but it felt good.

If he was going to be mad at you for whatever reason, then so be it. But you had every right to be just as angry at him for giving you the cold shoulder.

“This is serious, Y/N.”

“You know what, Spencer? You have some nerve acting like you care about me all of a sudden. You have no right to order me around like you’re my father. Especially since you’ve been passive aggressive with me all damn week.”

With that, the plan was set.

And you went in.

•

“Remember, Y/N,” came Emily’s voice in your invisible earpiece, “If you encounter our unsub, we have to catch him in the act. It’s very likely he will attack you and try to hurt you, you know that right?”

You trailed a finger around the lip of your tumbler, looking around the mostly empty bar before answering.

“I’m aware. I’ll be alright.”

“Okay. Just act like a normal young woman out having a night out. We know he’s picked up all his victims here.”

“Got it.”

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Agent Y/LN,” you heard.

You turned around, seeing Ethan stroll up to you, a sly grin on his face.

“Well hello there,” you grinned, leaning against the bar, “And please, call me Y/N.”

“Y/N,” he said trying out the name, “Might I say you look outstanding tonight.”

You smiled down at the deep teal ruched dress you had donned for the evening. It was a simple dress with thin spaghetti straps and a deep plunging neckline, showing off more of your breasts than you ever had at work. It fit on your body perfectly, hugging your curves and highlighting them. A pair of strappy, gold, stilettos were the only accessory you’d paired with it.

“Thank you. I’ve been anxious to hear you play.”

“Where’s Reid? Did he not come with you?” Ethan asked.

“Oh, he’s around,” you replied coyly.

Just outside, down the street sat Luke, Rossi, Emily and Spencer in an undercover van, watching the entire thing on their monitors.

The styrofoam cup in Spencer’s hand crumpled from his grip on it as he watched the scene unfold before him. Thankfully, he’d already finished his coffee earlier.

Rossi glanced at the cup then to Luke, with a raised brow.

“You okay there Reid?” Luke asked, knowingly.

“I’m fine,” he gritted out.

“Right,” Rossi drawled, clearly not convinced.

“Isn’t that your childhood friend?” Emily asked.

Yup,” Spencer said and nothing else.

“I saved you a seat at the front, just like I said I would,” Ethan said.

Spencer’s blood boiled when he saw Y/N’s hand on Ethan’s arm. She was doing that thing she did when she flirted: that cute half smile and a peek up through her lashes.

He’d seen it before many times. It was just one of the many things he’d noticed about her before.

“I’ll personally escort you.”

Ethan wrapped an arm around her waist, leading her towards the stage. They were briefly off camera for a moment and Spencer couldn’t help but feel the jealousy tugging at him. He wouldn’t even be in this position if—well it wasn’t important right now.

They appeared back on camera, near the stage. He sat her at one of the tables at the front.

“I’ll try hard not to mess up. It’s a bit nerve wracking when you have such a beautiful girl in the audience to cheer you on.”

Spencer fought the urge to roll his eyes.

Y/N actually giggled in response.

“Reid, you’re seconds away from snapping that pencil in half,” Rossi said.

He peered down, not even realizing he’d picked up a pencil to worry in his hands.

“Anything you’d like to share?” asked Rossi.

Spencer looked at the three expectant faces staring back at him and grimaced.

“Not particularly,” he grumbled.

“Reid’s just mad that his friend is making moves on his girl,” Luke stated, nonchalantly.

“She’s not my girl,” Spencer replied.

“Dude, come on. We all know that you like her and just refuse to make a move.”

Spencer glanced at Rossi and Emily who seemed in agreement to Luke’s statement. A glance at the monitors showed that nothing exciting was happening anyway, so there was no way to avoid this conversation with his teammates.

“It’s like a game of chess,” Rossi said, steepling his fingers together.

“What is?” Spencer asked.

“You and Y/N,” he replied, “But it’s like you’re both stuck in a stalemate waiting for the other to make a move.”

He had no reply to that. What was there to say? Rossi was right and it was all his own damn fault.

“Take this as a lesson, kid,” Rossi advised.

“A lesson how?”

“Let this be your motivation.”

Ethan had left you since he was up next.

You sat at the table, sipping on your drink when you heard an unfamiliar voice to your right.

“Looks like you’re awfully lonely tonight.”

You turned to see an average looking man dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. He seemed out of place in such a casual outfit. That didn’t qualify him as the unsub though.

“Maybe I like to be alone?”

That stopped the guy in his tracks. He quite literally backpedaled and left you alone again. You heard a muffled snort in your earpiece.

“You sure know how to tell ‘em,” Luke scoffed.

“Yeah, well, if our unsub is picking up women with lines that bad, we’re in even more trouble than we realized,” you muttered.

You knew from the profile that this unsub was full of himself and egocentric. He would have to be smooth enough to actually lure a woman back with him.

“We’ll keep watching,” Emily said.

You sat alone in peace as Ethan played. He was rather good and you had to say you were impressed.

Your drink eventually disappeared and when you caught Ethan’s eye, you held up your glass just slightly, nodding towards the bar so he knew you were getting a refill. You stood, heading towards the bar, deciding you’d just go for a simple water. You were on the job, after all.

“I’ll take a water, please,” you told the bartender.

He was young, maybe early 30’s with dark hair. He seemed put together, even for a bartender. His outfit was neat and mess free and not a hair was out of place.

“For a beauty like you, you should have a drink, it’s on the house. It’s my specialty.”

He leaned forward to you, giving you a sly wink, as he reached for a glass without even hearing your answer.

“No, that’s okay, really.”

“Oh come on. One drink won’t hurt. I make the best drinks in the city,” he said.

Something in your mind was trying to piece together, but you couldn’t get it to completely form. Shaking it off, you reluctantly relented.

“Okay, I’ll take one then.”

He mixed the drink, poured it in the glass and slid it towards you.

“Now tell me that isn’t the best drink you’ve ever had.”

You took a sip. It was too strong for your taste but you smiled anyway.

“It’s very good,” you lied.

“So, have you heard about these weird ax murders happening around here?” he questioned, wiping the bar.

“Mhm,” you hummed, “Scary stuff.”

“It’s amazing these deadbeat feds can’t seem to catch him,” he shook his head, as if it were a real tragedy.

Neurons in your mind were sparking and there was something about him that was setting you on edge.

“What did you say your name was, again?” you smiled, flirtatiously.

“I didn’t.”

His grin was icy.

Red flags were going up. If he wasn’t your unsub, then this guy surely wasn’t someone to mess with.

“Oh my bad,” you giggled, playing the part of a flirty, young woman, just there for some fun.

“Anyway, all I gotta say is, is that this guy is really proving a point.”

“How so?” you asked.

“You just gotta give the ax to some people,” he replied, slamming his palm down on the bar top, making you jump, “You know what I mean?”

You nodded, seeming interested, but goosebumps were forming on your skin. It was too much to be a coincidence that this guy wasn’t the unsub and he sure had the ego to match the profile.

“Oh excuse me,” you said, reaching for your phone in your purse, pretending like you were getting a phone call, “It’s my boss. She can’t leave me alone even on a night out.”

You smiled apologetically and put the phone to your ear.

“Hello? Yeah, just a minute, I can’t hear you.”

You covered your other ear as if you were trying to hear as you headed towards one of the side doors.

Once you were out of the building, you pulled your phone away, hitting the speed dial for Emily.

“Prentiss.”

“Emily, it’s me. Did you hear any of-”

Before you could finish your question, you felt a hand over your mouth and you were jerked backwards. You kicked and screamed in tandem as your phone hit the pavement and you were dragged back into the darkened alley.

“Y/N? Y/N?!” Spencer yelled, panicked eyes looking at the others.

“Everyone move. Now. We believe the suspect has a federal agent,” Emily barked into her walkie talkie.

“Cover the parameter. We have no idea which direction he could’ve taken her,” Luke added over the radio.

Spencer was out of the door before anyone could stop him.

“REID! REID!”

He heard Rossi yell out after him, but he didn’t stop running.

If that son of a bitch dared to hurt a hair on Y/N’s head, he was going to leave here tonight in a body bag instead of handcuffs.

Spencer would make damn sure he’d see to it.

•

Your back hit the brick wall, the nearby streetlight hitting something metal just right that it gleamed for a split second.

Your heart stopped when you saw the blade of a hatchet in the bartender’s hands.

“I knew the feds had been around here snooping for me,” he sneered.

“How?”

You tried to act cool. This was part of your job, to be in dangerous situations. But truth be told, you were terrified.

“Your little boyfriend Ethan mentioned seeing you and your partner here the other day asking around about me. Little did he know he was really doing me a favor by letting me in on that little piece of gossip.”

Ethan. He had just gotten back from a tour of the world. He was innocent in all this, yet somehow he still ended up mixed up in it.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” you scowled, wriggling against his grasp.

He held you tight with one arm across your neck and shoulders, his arm almost to the point of choking you. You had to stall, had to do something. Where was Emily and the team?

“Where were you that day anyway? I never saw you here.”

“That’s because it was my day off. Lucky break huh?” he snorted, “Besides, I was in search of victim number five.”

Lillie Newton. She was victim number five. She had a name, she wasn’t just a number.

Anger boiled within you. Pure hatred for someone as evil as this man that stood before you.

“Why? Why do it? Were you just trying to be another copycat?”

“You know, one of the things said about the Axeman of New Orleans was that his crimes were mostly ethnically motivated. He killed mainly Italian-Americans or Italian immigrants. For some reason, he must’ve hated them. I found it...inspiring. Of course, I have nothing against the Italians. Unless they’re women, that is.”

“Oh so that’s it? You hate women? Talk about typical psychopath 101,” you spat.

A sharp sting came across your cheek as he slapped you, hard. Hard enough to bring tears to your eyes.

“Listen here, bitch. I’d watch my mouth if I were you, because this baby?” he lifted up his machete for you to see, “This can do a lot of damage. I can’t wait to strike it into you and chop you up so your FBI friends won’t even be able to recognize you.”

You swallowed hard. Your brain was scrambling for a way to escape. You were just about ready to kick him in the groin when he was suddenly yanked away from you, his hard grip leaving your body.

You blinked quickly, not understanding what had just happened until you saw Spencer a few feet away, punching the guy. It wasn’t just one punch either. Two, then three came. You bounded into action then.

“Spencer! Spencer, stop!”

You tried pulling him away as the rest of your team came running into the alleyway. He managed to get one more hit in before you successfully pulled him away and Luke had pulled the unsub up, slapping cuffs on him faster than you realized he even could.

Spencer grabbed you and pulled you close, holding you tight. His head went into the crook of your neck as he clung to you, all of his apparent fear and worry being transmitted from him to you through the hug. No matter what tiff you both may have been in the middle of, he still cared about you.

“I was so scared something happened to you,” he mumbled.

He pulled back, looking over you, assessing you to see if you had any injuries.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I promise.”

His finger brushed your cheek lightly and you winced.

“Did he hit you?!”

“Slapped me, but I’m okay. It’s just a little sore,” you told him.

“You might have a nasty bruise there in a few days.”

“Least it’s just a bruise, huh?” you smiled a tiny bit.

“Yeah.”

He was gazing directly at you as if no one else were around, as if there wasn’t a bustle of activity around you. In that moment, it was just the two of you.

“Spence.”

You both turned to see Emily, motioning for him, needing his help.

Spencer let go of your arms, stepping back a bit.

“I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

With a nod, you watched him head in Emily’s direction. It had been a long day. A long week actually. But the murderer had been caught and there would be justice for the poor families who had lost their daughters.

That wasn’t all though.

Something had seemed to shift between you and Spencer. Sort of like a chess piece in it’s hesitant movement to another square.

•

By the time you’d handed over the unsub to the local precinct so he could be their problem, it was well past midnight.

Everyone had been way too exhausted to even think of boarding the jet tonight, so it was mutually decided that they’d spend one more night in New Orleans and head home tomorrow. Everyone had gone their separate ways once back at the hotel.

You headed to your room, managing to score an ice pack for your sore cheek. Unfortunately, after all the excitement, there was no time to talk to Spencer and he’d left the precinct before you had anyway. You made a mental note to check in on him tomorrow and maybe even see if things were okay between you two.

You’d changed out of the dress and into more comfortable clothes—sweatpants and a t-shirt. You were sitting at the small table in your room, icing your cheek and pretty much about to fall asleep when there was a knock at your door. Sitting the ice pack down, you walked to the door, opening it. You were surprised to see Spencer standing on the other side.

Before you had the chance to say anything, he grabbed your face and kissed you.

After your brief initial shock, your lips moved with his so fluidly it seemed natural, like you did this every day.

Minutes may have passed, or it might just have been seconds as you kissed him back, your hands naturally finding a spot to rest against his chest.

You were so stunned when he pulled away, that it took a moment for you to realize he had said something.

“Huh?” you asked, still dazed.

“I asked if I could come in,” he repeated.

“Oh, yeah, of course.”

You stepped aside and let him in, closing the door behind him. Your head was still reeling from the kiss as you turned around and saw him sit down on your bed, his hands running through his hair.

“Come here,” he whispered.

You walked over to him, standing in front of where he sat.

“I’m so sorry,” he began.

Your confusion deepened. Was he sorry about the kiss? About you getting hurt? About being mad?

He said nothing else as he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close to him and holding you tight.

“When I saw the unsub had you…” he mumbled into your neck, trailing off as his voice cracked.

You pulled out of his embrace to look at him. You now stood in between his legs, even closer than you had been before, your body mere inches from his.

“I was so afraid I might never see you again. Suddenly, me being angry at you was the least important thing in the world.”

“Why were you mad? If I did something I’m so sorry, I-”

“Shh, no,” he mumbled, his finger covering your lips gently to silence you, “It was my own fault, I’m so sorry.”

You waited silently, seeing if he was going to elaborate. His eyes closed, his expression looking pained and even a bit embarrassed.

“I was jealous.”

“Jealous?” you questioned, your brows furrowed, not understanding.

“Of Ethan flirting with you,” he sighed, “And you flirting back.”

“I,” you paused, your mind racing, not being able to piece everything together quick enough, “I was just being nice to him, then just playing the part earlier. Why would you be jealous?”

He gave a half laugh, almost a humorless one.

“Because I’m crazy about you, Y/N,” he whispered, his gaze finally meeting yours.

His hand cupped the side of your face, his other hand resting lightly on your waist. You didn’t move from his touch nor did you make a move to push his hands away.

“And seeing you with someone else made me see red. Just the thought of you being someone else’s and not mine because I’d been too scared and stubborn, locked in this chess game, if you will, with you, not making a move. I was afraid I had been too late and I was mad at myself.”

“I’m not interested in Ethan. I only have eyes for you,” your eyes slid to his lips, unable to stop yourself.

You were still thinking of the way his lips had felt against yours. The softness of them, the passion in the kiss, the way his hands had cupped your face and held on firmly like he himself was afraid the moment was just a fluke.

“It’s always been that way.”

Your voice was barely a whisper now as your eyes slid closed and your lips found his again.

This time, the kiss was more heated. Your feelings for one another had finally been laid on the table, igniting a need to act on them.

Your hand tangled in his curls as you kissed him back fervently, suddenly feeling like you couldn’t get enough of him. You had spent years not knowing what kissing him would be like and now it felt like you were simply making up for lost time.

You smiled gently against his lips when he moaned into the kiss. Apparently, he was just as eager for your touch against him, as you were for his against you.

His hands reached for the hem of your top, pulling away to pull it up and over your head. His tongue moved out and over his lips slowly, his eyes taking in your newly exposed skin. Your own hands pulled at his loosened tie, dropping it once it left his body.

Spencer’s mouth met your neck, leaving soft kisses down it as your fingers fumbled with the buttons of his shirt. The simple task seemed so much harder as you were distracted by the feel of his lips on your skin.

In one fell swoop, he’d picked you up and turned, tossing you in quite a gentle manner against the mattress of your hotel bed. His hand ran over your exposed stomach, his kisses moving lower. You chewed on your bottom lip as you watched him, unable to control the growing desire forming between your legs.

You were so caught up in the sensation, it didn’t even register what he had been doing until you felt the slight tug of your waistband being pulled downwards. His fingers gripped the material and pushed it down over your raised hips until it was completely off.

You wasted no time in ridding him of his own pants as well.

Left in only your undergarments, you and Spencer laid practically skin to skin, taking a moment just to enjoy one another. He kissed you again, his slight scruff tickling your face, while his hands roamed your body.

You, also, took your sweet time exploring the new found territory of his bare skin underneath your hands. They ran over his back, his chest, his arms, his sides before finding their way back to his face, your lips moving in a fluid dance with his own.

He reached behind you, unhooking your bra, pulling the straps down until the item had completely left your body. You were almost positive he held back a groan as he took in your naked top half.

“Fuck, you’re beautiful,” he whispered.

Your legs inadvertently clenched at his cursing. It wasn’t often he did it, but something told you that in bed it was a good possibility that he could be a completely different person.

His hands cupped each breast, his lips kissing your throat as he massaged them. His fingertips briefly moved over your peaked nipples, making you moan softly.

Spencer wasted no time though, his touch quickly retreated downwards to the only item left on your body. His fingers hooked into the waistband of your panties and pulled them off, leaving you completely exposed and turned on beneath him.

Maybe it was a mixture of how close you came to death tonight and your feelings for him, but you didn’t want this moment to end. You wanted to hang on to it forever. That’s why you took your time, hands pushing off his underwear, your eyes meeting his.

It was like he could read your thoughts. Being as close as you two had been previous to this, it wasn’t surprising, but knowing you so well in this instance was just on a whole other level of mind blowing. He nodded, wanting to enjoy this for as long as he could too.

His hand covered yours, interlocking your fingers together as he pushed into you. The new feeling of him inside you was overwhelming but really good.

Your hands stayed laced together as he kissed you and moved within you. Your body met his rhythm and soon instead of two, your bodies moved as one.

Breaking the kiss, your head fell back against the pillow as you moaned. You couldn’t wrap your mind around the fact that he felt so incredible. His teeth bared into his bottom lip as he gazed down at you, his desire written plainly on his face.

“Spencer,” you whimpered, pulling your legs up his sides, allowing him a deeper access.

His movements quickened as your pleasure heightened, fulfilling the need for more. You couldn’t help but smile, even as you moaned, at the curl that fell over his brow, moving with each thrust.

“God, Y/N,” Spencer groaned, his forehead falling against yours, eyes closing, “Fuck.”

You briefly registered the other noises in the room besides both of your moans: the bed creaking and the headboard hitting the wall.

“Spence,” you mumbled, whimpering as he hit a sensitive spot, “You're gonna wake up the entire team.”

“Let them hear,” he grunted, “Let them know who you belong to.”

“Whatever you want,” you mumbled, pulling him towards you once again.

Your fingers dug into his back as your high built deep within you. He moaned against your lips, his hands gripping your sides as you both moved frantically, desperate to reach complete ecstasy.

“Fuck, Spencer,” you moaned, your noises suddenly higher in pitch and volume, “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

He kissed you as you came apart, the fire in your veins shooting through you as quick as lightning. Luckily, his kiss muffled most of your loud moan.

He buried his face in your neck as he soon followed, his own moans filling your ears, much to your delight.

Your fingers tangled in the back of his hair as you panted, starting to come down from the high. His body was slick against yours as he finally turned his face to yours, kissing you once again.

The cool air of the hotel room hit your sweaty skin, cooling it gently, but your insides still felt red hot, both in reaction to the sex and the fact that it was Spencer, the fact that he was as crazy about you as you were him.

The fact that both of you no longer played this complicated game you’d inadvertently been involved in for so long.

It was only after he’d stilled, his body still flush against your skin that he smiled one of his heart stopping grins, before finally speaking.

“Checkmate.”

TAG LIST: @dreatine @reid-187 @groovyreid @reidslibra @iamburdened @cindywayne @sundippedprincess @missprettyboy @hushlilbabydoll @sammy-jo1977 @haileymorelikestupid @lemonypink @teamkiall @redbullchick @ifeelloved @one-sweet-gubler @nanocoool @delightfullyspeedyearthquake @unsteadyimagines @ughitsbaby @inkwiet @pennythetechgoddess @capt-engr-ssa @sixx-sic-sixx @spencersdolore @reidsstudies @disney-dreams-world @chocolatecalzoneherringbonk @mggwhore @andiebeaword @cupcake525 @be-the-bravest @gretaamyk @hopebaker @prisonreid @httpnxtt @daviddoughboy @pastathighs @marvels-gurl @blushingspencer @simp-for-dr-reid @victorzsaszmydaddy @inlovewithamess @im-inlovewith-mycar @xshakesqueerx @queenofmischief @mattgraygubler @graceluvsyouu @itsarayofsunshine @alexisparmentier

#spencer reid #Spencer Reid fic #dr spencer reid #dr spencer reid fic #Criminal Minds #criminal minds fic #spencer reid gifs #spencer reid gif #spencer reid smut #dr spencer reid gifs #dr spencer reid gif #dr spencer reid smut #Dr Reid #criminal minds gif #criminal minds gifs #criminal minds smut #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you

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homoo-wan-kenobi · 3 years

Note

Not the anon from earlier but I have seen anti-Mia discourse on The Tumblr as well, and it really boils down to three things: her involvement with the bio-terrorism group that made Eveline in Biohazard, her keeping said involvement a secret from Ethan along with his megamycete infection, and the fact that in the recent months of the marriage she'd gotten more aggressive about shutting down conversation about what happened to them in Biohazard. So, she'd made some bad life choices and also the marriage did have a lot of lies and some toxicity seeping in, I won't deny that.

HOWEVER, I'M GONNA SPEAK IN HER DEFENSE HERE: all evidence points to her having just found out about Ethan being a mold man in the past six months, and that's kind of a rough thing to tell your spouse, so we don't know if she WOULD'VE before she was kidnapped. Some of her aggressive defensiveness could 100% be her reacting badly to the trauma of what she'd been through, which doesn't excuse her shutting down Ethan but it's not like she was being deliberately cruel. And finally, while I can't defend her having a criminal past or lying about it, some of the same people who villainze her for that are fans of the Lords, who are objectively just as bad, so. That's a weird line to have IMHO.

TL;DR: yes there is canon reason to dislike or be uncomfortable with Mia but in a fandom that's constantly like "The Lords deserve better!!" it feels weird to have so much hate is centered on HER specifically. Sorry for the length of this ask I just have a lot of thoughts on the matter.

oh wow, I really don't look through much of the tags on here and just stay within the dimitrescu's and donna tags! so I had no idea that there was anti-mia discourse on here! yeah, it is a bit of a double standard to be one way toward the lords and another way toward mia, but to each their own. and I, honestly, cannot speak on anything mia related in re8 so I'm not trying to shit on anyone's opinion on her or anything. anyway, don't apologise for the length of this ask, it's completely fine! thank you for kind of looping me in with like a gist of the situation, I really appreciate it! and Imma have to look more into this cause I'm still kinda surprised by it!

#jacquelyn's ask box #resident evil #resident evil village #resident evil 8 #mia winters #ethan winters #lowkey tho

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screechthemighty · 3 years

Text

Okay, so, I just replied to a post with this information, but now that I’m thinking too much about this, I want to run my theory past other people, especially since I can sometimes miss fine details and other people might’ve picked up something I missed. So, for the consideration of the fandom, here is my working timeline of How Shit Went Down With Miranda And Rose (based off the information that I know is in the game and a healthy dose of speculation). Under a cut for length (as it usually is with me).

Unknown point after Biohazard: The BSAA is infiltrated by a mole from the Connections. I don’t think the exact timeline on this matters; the presence of the mole is the most important thing.

Now, this is speculation on my part, but I’m assuming they moved to Europe sometime after Mia found out she was pregnant (which probably would’ve been late 2019/early 2020). There’s nothing concrete that I know of to prove this, but a) Ethan always discusses the move as something they did to give Rose a chance at a normal life, b), they’re established enough to have a doctor in the area, work for Ethan, and be mostly unpacked (aside from that one junk room they haven’t deep cleaned), BUT c) it’s recent enough that the move, combined with the pregnancy, still feels very sudden and new to Ethan.

Unknown point during Mia’s pregnancy: Mia starts having her suspicions about Rose being different. We can establish this based off the Benevientio House hallucinations, where the radio plays Mia having a startled reaction to Rose having such a strong kick.

Aug. 2, 2020: Rose is born (established by the Medical Checkup you can find in the Winters house at the start of the game).

Unknown point between Aug. 2, 2020 and Feb. 6, 2021: Rose undergoes some test, and the results mention that “Results for additional fungal pathogen tests will be provided by BSAA.” (Same Medical Checkup File that establishes her date of birth.) If I had to guess, this all probably happened in late January, but this is more speculation. The file isn’t dated, unfortunately, but based off the evidence below, late January makes sense.

Early February: The fungal tests come back positive. Again, this is nothing we have a solid date for, but based off evidence in the next bullet point, I’m gonna guess early February. This is most likely when the Connections mole found out about Rose (though put a pin in that thought).

Feb. 6 (?), 2021: Ethan and Mia have an argument that is started by a phone call from her doctor. The call, specifically, says that they want to discuss some “test results” next Thursday (possibly Feb. 11 if we go off the IRL calendar). This is the reason why I think the fungal tests came back as positive in early February. The question mark is because I’m not clear on if the fight takes place on the 6th or if it took place the day before; Ethan’s diary entry discussing what I assume is the same fight is dated the 6th, but that doesn’t mean he wrote it the same day. I should also note for clarity that the flashback fight and the diary fight might NOT be the same fight, but the mention of wanting to discuss test results for Rose leads me to believe they are. (It’s possible those test results are the ones we see in the checkup file, in which case the flashback fight could’ve happened earlier? In that case, I’d say flashback fight is sometime the week of Jan. 24, and they receive the checkup results Feb. 4, which takes place two days before the diary fight. However, I still think Feb. 5/6 is the best start of the gap I’ll discuss in the next point due to some differences in behavior between Miranda and Mia, again see below.)

This gap right here between Feb. 5/6 and the start of the game is most likely when Miranda had Mia kidnapped and took her place. The most concrete evidence I have of this is the difference in temperament between Mia in the flashback fight and Miranda-As-Mia; Real Mia is definitely defensive, frustrated, and more in line with the “exploding” Ethan discusses in his diary. That’s a stark contrast to how Miranda behaves, namely dismissive (”[Dulvey] was so long ago”) and condescending (”yOu’Re BeInG pArAnOiD”). She snaps at him once, but she’s mostly just bitchy (not the same thing as explosive). Flashback!Mia also expresses concern about Ethan that Miranda wouldn’t have bothered expressing (I have another post covering this if anyone is interested), and also, Ethan probably would’ve noticed eventually, so a shorter time span makes sense.

Feb. 8, 2021: The start of the game; Miranda fakes her death, then attacks the convoy carrying her, Rose, and Ethan (Ethan’s first entry in the diary he keeps throughout the game is dated at dawn on Feb. 9, and Chris shows up at dinnertime, so things really kick off on Feb. 8).

Now the reason I wanted you to put a pin in the “most likely when the Connections learned about Rose” thing is that we don’t have a clear idea as to when Mia realized Ethan was probably a mold hybrid, or how she confirmed her suspicions. If it was something she did on the sly through the BSAA, that might’ve tipped off the Connections mole, and lead them to more closely watch her during the pregnancy. Even without that, they might have suspected something would be up with Rose based off everything else going on, but it was only once she was confirmed as a mold hybrid that Miranda made a move to take her.

As to why Miranda didn’t make a move earlier...most likely she knew she had to be careful, since the BSAA (and most importantly, Chris Freakin’ Redfield) was monitoring the family. That and she probably wanted to wait until she knew for sure Rose was worth the time and effort before striking. Honestly, you could make the argument that she replaced Mia early in the day on Feb. 8, as the game taking place over two days would account for Mia’s roughed up appearance when Chris finds her, but I see nothing wrong with leaving the gap open to interpretation so people can tweak it depending on their fanfic needs.

Also, full disclosure, I am aware that the Resident Evil fandom dot com wiki presents a slightly different timeline than mine, but their sources aren’t cited, so it’s probably another fandom reconstruction that viewed the evidence differently than me. I am open to criticism or alternate theories, though NGL, I fully expect that there’s never going to be a concrete fully “canon” picture of what happened because video game timelines are a hot mess in general and I’m not sure how much thought Capcom put into this other than “this is what happened, exact dates and details don’t matter, just go fight the big monster lady.”

#resident evil #resident evil village #ethan winters #mia winters #rosemary winters #mother miranda #I feel like brian david gilbert in the zelda timeline video after writing this lmao #ethan lives au ref

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teamhawkeye · 3 years

Text

unfiltered and massively spoiler filled thoughts on RE8 below the cut [MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD]:

The Good

The first half of the game

The initial village segment and the castle portion and even “the house in the mist” sections were all pretty taut and well put together. i loved exploring the castle - was more than a little disappointed that you get locked out after Alcina’s boss fight, i didn’t explore it fully D: - and the unexpected terror of Donna’s section really pulled me out of the sense of comfort i had started to fall into, right as i was saying to myself “this hasn’t been scary at all”

The return of some series high notes

Revisiting things in previous Resident Evil games is not always a bad thing. I really enjoyed the return of weapon customization and treasures, those were aspects i enjoyed in RE4 and RE5. The return of the Merchant, in the form of the Duke, was welcome as well. The Duke is a G - he’s a good guy and i respected him most

Graphics, scenery, etc.

It’s a pretty game to look at, there’s no getting around that. I liked the set pieces, especially the Castle portion

Ammo crafting

Now this was something i greatly enjoyed. There are often times you get too much ammo for the gun you use least or you run out of ammo in harder difficulty levels. Being able to collect scrap material and make your own ammo was a very nice addition that i greatly appreciated

The Bad

(some of these are going to be personal opinions about the storytelling and narrative choices, so be prepared for that)

Pacing and direction

RE7 was a return to the series’ “roots”: so back to the footnotes of RE1 and RE2. If that was the case with 7, then RE8 did a speed run of RE3, Code Veronica, RE4, RE5, and RE6 all at once.

I know i said earlier revisiting hallmarks from previous games isn’t a bad thing, and it’s not - but while RE7 did it masterfully with sticking to mainly RE1 and RE2 and pulling in just a few old hallmarks, RE8 went absolutely buck wild in trying to cram in as many past enemy types and encounters as possible. A callback to one standout enemy is one thing, ala the Stalker type that is Mr. X, Nemesis, and Ustanak that Lady Dimitrescu also serves as...but then also the giant water monster from RE4, the Executioner of RE5, the “chainsaw” enemies (here, drills instead) of RE4, RE5, and RE6. hell, even the Lycans after a time started to feel very Las Plagas-esque in their ability to use weapons and track and coordinate. And you can’t tell me you didn’t see very similar designs/similarities between Miranda’s boss battle that you did with Alexia’s in Code Veronica...

The pacing started off solid with the initial few segments, but quickly seemed to lose its footing once it oscillated violently between wildly different styles of play and storytelling and didn’t regain its stride the rest of the game. One moment, it’s classic RE. The next, it’s P.T. + Outlast. The next, back to “a mash up of action and horror, leaning more on action” styles of RE4 + RE5. Then the finale straight up started to feel like an entirely different game before you reached that final boss fight - it felt like i was jerked in one direction one minute, and a completely different one the next

There is a lot of exposition and explaining that doesn’t happen until legit the last 45 or so minutes. Not new for the series to withhold information until the back half of the game, but there was legit almost no build up to the very sudden plot bombs that got dropped successively in the last throes of the story. Previous games rewarded you with fragments at a fairly even pace - i felt like all of RE8′s story gets dropped on you in a single monologue and a handful of notes just before the endgame

I’m not even gonna go that deep into how hard it was to keep up with all the different infection methods the mold managed to have - it was just A Lot and i’ve played a lot of Resident Evil in the past, so i know just how many different ways a single pathogen can have on humans and animals...and it still felt excessive

I honestly felt like the third segment with Moreau wasn’t even necessary. they really played up these “four lords” to not have them do a whole lot of anything. and i know there’s always been mini bosses before you actually reach the final Big Bad, but seriously, Moreau’s segment can be blitzed through in a span of 20 minutes or so first playthrough. the castle segment with Dimitrescu was solid, the house segment with Donna was nightmare fuel, lmfao, but still engaging and challenging. by the time you get to the third and sprint right through, you’re left wondering what the point of it even was. you can tell that was the least cared about narrative arc in the whole story

A giant point of note is that a huge chunk of RE8′s story could have been avoided or altered had Chris just actually fucking spoken to Ethan at the start about what the fuck was going on. And for him not to is completely unlike Chris past RE5 and RE6, that made no narrative sense whatsoever. Just another opportunity to pile on some more trauma and guilt onto Chris’ shoulders by making him “responsible” for Ethan being pushed to far and dying as a result

“Ethan actually ‘died’ when first meeting Jack Baker and was completely taken over by mold, it’s a big secret to everyone but Mia. also, he’s gone too far, there’s no saving him, he had to die”

You’re going to tell me that Ethan still being infected or impacted by the mold from RE7 is some big secret??? did the BSAA not run tests on him and Mia to make sure they were back to normal levels??? how do they not know?!? the government was able to figure out that Sherry’s exposure to the G Virus altered her permanently and study her healing capabilities, how the fuck was that not the same with Ethan???

Also, how is it that the mold’s impact on him is so much higher? he was at the Baker estate for like, 2 days max and while, yes, he did sustain some serious damage, he never fell prey to Eveline’s control and showed absolutely no signs of infection outside of being able to heal/use his hand after it was chopped off. and depending on how you played RE7, the only major injury he sustains aside from probable bruising or broken bones is that hand being cut off as mentioned before

You’re also going to tell me of the number of Resident Evil characters who have been infected with viruses and parasites and what have you and have been cured or had the negative effects negated, Ethan was the only one “too far gone” to be saved??? Jill got infected with T Virus, Claire has been infected by two separate viruses, Leon has survived a parasite infection, both Zoe and Mia were exposed to mold for years and seem to be okay...why is it that Ethan was the only one who couldn’t be saved? because he “died”? how in the world did he get infected so fast - he’d been there an hour, max! - that he was able to be revived in the first place and it wasn’t even noticeable that he had changed at all???

“the BSAA can’t be trusted anymore, they’re involved in shady shit, like deploying bioweapons into battle”

we already went through this a bit back in Revelations 1 with the blackmailed director and double agents. but to full on go “well, the entire organization is now dirty” after it was legit founded by Chris, Jill, and Barry to combat bioterrorism really sits wrong with me. all i can think is that they are running out of villains at this point and now are poising the BSAA to be a Big Bad in the future. which, again, doesn’t sit right with me

Retconning

Tying Ozwell E. Spencer back to Miranda wasn’t such a huge dealbreaker for me, but it is a bit obnoxious to now have to go back and amend “he came up with the idea for Umbrella and its pursuits with Marcus and Ashford, its other founding members” to “well, he didn’t actually come up with the idea for Umbrella and its research with Marcus and Ashford, he already had the idea from his time spent with Miranda uwu”

More so, the retconning around Eveline is a bit of a pain in the ass. So she only came about as a result of Miranda crossing paths with the Connections and giving them some of her mold to work with? And Eveline was only a failed experiment to Miranda in her attempt to be able to transfer her daughter’s essence/subconscious/whatever into a living child? And there are pictures of ‘10 year old” Eveline in Miranda’s possession - how come Evie didn’t have any memory of her at all (speaking of Evie, why the fuck did she appear in 8 briefly as a hallucination [?] to explain to Ethan his condition???)

How are you going to try and tell me that some village from prior to the 19th century was using the “Umbrella” symbol and Spencer just snatched it for himself? that was just stupid, honestly - even more stupid how Ethan didn’t recognize the symbol, despite flying off in a Blue UMBRELLA helicopter at the end of RE7

Mocap and cutscenes

Was it just me or did parts of this game look severely unpolished compared to RE7??? some parts looked good - like the Dimitresus all seemed to be rendered very well. It became very noticeable to me in the back half of the game, mainly with Chris and Mia, but a little with Heisenberg too, where their mouths didn’t match up with the dialogue a lot and they looked a lot less put together than previous scenes and characters. Mia in particular, i was struck by how much better her mocap seemed in RE7 compared to RE8. Maybe because there was a bigger ensemble cast in 8 that they spread themselves a little too thin in that regard?

#i don't know how i feel throwing this in the main tags so i'm only putting my warning on the top of the post and not in the tags

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bitch-banshee · 5 years

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If you’re craving some teen wolf my dear. I’m still not over Issac not coming back. Could really use some action from my favorite pup. Maybe movie night? You can always take it how you’d like but you know, I’m always a perv for smut.

A/N: I got a bit carried away..hope you don’t mind, but Jesus..Issac can absolutely ruin my life.

Warning: SMUT. 18+ af. Issac is a rough and sly little sucker. Scenting (if that makes anyone uncomfy) and marking, biting, choking(not really, lightly)

Word count: 2147

Thank you so much for the ask babe 💖💖💖

@teenwolfechoes @terminallygenius @just-jordie-things

——————————————————————————-

Being apart of the hale pack was always interesting. Kanimas, Nogitsunes, Beasts and Ghost Riders we've all been through so much, so days like today, where we had a mandatory pack bonding is so mainstream.

"Der, are we doing a movie?" I slid up close to my alpha and he growled at me.

"Yeah, everyone's coming, even Issac" his treacherous and glorious eyebrows wiggled at me.

I'm sure he heard my heart jump at that small piece of information. It was no secret that I adore the sweater wearing, floppy haired beta, since before he was pack. The little flip of my heart made Derek snort and i pushed him.

"I thought you were "over" your crush on him" he teased throwing up quotes. Issac had left beacon hills for a long time, but one day he just showed up at the McCall household and slithered his way back into my fucking heart.

"I'm so not ready to see him der...i-" the words got caught in my throat as someone pounded on the door. I screeched as i smelled Scott, stiles and Malia.

"My family" i pulled the door open and tackled them. "Hi! Where are Allison and Lydia and everyone else??" I skillfully avoided that name. "We all know you mean where Issac" Malia rubbed against me, scenting thoughtfully.

I nipped at her before getting wrapped up in Scott's arms. "He's coming Eve" he whispered as he scented me as well. I grumbled "I don't care" and shrugged but my pounding heart and sweating palms definitely made it hard to make that the truth.

When he finally did show up i knew. I'd know that smell just about anywhere, I'd tattooed it inside my mind and locked it away to alway be able to sense him. When he walked in my mouth nearly dried out. Long gone were the oversized sweaters, and too long shirts. Issac filled out the door frame, broad taught shoulders that pulled and stretched the fabric of his gray t-shirt. Jeans that fit well, molded over his muscled legs.

His hair had grown, not a lot, but enough that the pieces fell into his eyes, eyes that were covered by a pair of glasses that made him look sexier than sex itself. Tiny amounts of facial hair surrounded a big smile. I froze as everyone who hadn't seen him yet went over and hugged, scented, and clapped him on the back.

I tried to pull my libido to heel but God he looked so good. I caught the icy blue of his eyes as he looked over me. My blonde hair was curled softly, my bangs too long now. Erica and I could be twins, we joked about it often. Once i thought i had a handle on my smell i made slow steps toward him. "Everleigh" he breathed, the sound raspy and nearly brought me to my knees.

"Lahey, long time " I heaved a dry laugh punching him the arm. He offered his neck to let me scent him, and although I wanted to, so bad, I couldn't trust myself not to take it too far. "S'ok, you smell like us already" i shyly backed away before turning toward the kitchen.

"Is she okay, she smells a little different" Issac asked Derek and before Derek could cover his betas ass, Malia blurted "she smells like sex" to which i slammed my head on the counter.

Erica laughed and patted my back, "don't worry babe, if Boyd wasn't my mate, I'd be on him like white are rice" she laughed openly and I growled at her, which only made her laugh harder.

I'd stayed away from him, through the pack games and pizza i was always across the room from him. Catching his eyes and quickly looking away. But like a magnet i slowly found myself closer to him, until we all sat down for the movie and i was next to him.

I was sat in the seat on the edge, angled toward the tv so we wouldn't touch. It was hard to maneuver, but it's just like the universe to not give me what i want, Jackson and Ethan squished in next to Issac, pushing him closer to me. "Sorry doll" he turned trying not to touch me, but my heart had already jumped into my throat.

"S'fine, just lay on me, since those idIOTS don't know how to share" i raised my voice and Jackson stuck his tongue out at me. "I uhh, is this okay?" He'd turned further so his back was resting against my chest. I'm sure he should feel and hear this damn organ thumping right out of my chest, but as i listened, to the sounds of the room i realized that the quick patter of mine matched his.

Throughout the movie Issac had started to run his fingers over my jean clad legs, the slow descent leaving my skin hot, only for him to ascend just as slowly. Into the second movie most everyone was dozing off but my body was wired, all too aware of Issac who had slid up and his head rested in the slope of my neck. It felt like my body was on fire, there was no way I could pay attention to the movie now. Issacs nose pressed gently into my pulse and he moved it slowly. He was scenting me.

"Don't move" his breath fanned over my hot skin, his words soft so only I could hear, even with the wolves in to room. He turned even more, my arms were laid lazily over the front of his chest. I pulled them up to thread through his hair as his lips barely touched my neck.

He rubbed slowly, deliberately over my neck, ear and shoulder. Back and forth, the soft scratch of his facial hair making my blood raise.

"You're so pink, i wonder what the color would look like somewhere else" the hot words were whispered in my ear, before his nose trailed the outer shell. I stifled a mewl, my scent floating to his nose.

"C'mon" he'd risen from the couch and pulled me with him. We walked down the hall, hidden by a wall when he pushed me up against it. His mouth was on my racing pulse point, a sharp jut of his tongue making my knees wiggle.

"Do you know what it's like to watch you flitter around to everyone, smelling your scent on them knowing that it's not on me. Do you know what it's like to want someone so bad" his whisper was harsh, just like his teeth on my throat.

"Yes, Issac, i know. I wanted to scent you, but i smelled like sex, i couldn't do that to you" my voice came out choked, strained. "Eve, please, if you would've smelled me you would've known that i smelled the same. I saw you and my cock jumped in my jeans, now show me your room" he pulled his lips from my neck and pulled my face into his hands before his lips crushed against mine. It was a needy kiss, trying to get everything and nothing at the same time. To build me up and tear me to shreds.

"Dammit" i pulled away and grabbed his shirt pulling him into the room farthest from the living room. I was so thankful I'd picked this one. We were just in the door when I pushed him against it. My face smashed into his neck, rolling my tongue over his neck and he shivered. His arms circled me, they felt strong, large hands cupped my ass. "Jump." He wasn't asking and i could only comply. My legs wrapped around his waist and as soon as i was settled he slapped his hand down onto my right ass cheek.

A moan ripped from my mouth, loud, and nasty. "You like that princess, you like when I spank you? Say it" his human teeth clamped over my neck and I whimpered out. "Yes Isaac, i love it" i breathlessly said.

He carried me to my bed, dropping me unceremoniously in the middle. "Do you want this?" He looked seriously at me, his chest heaving, staring down at me pupils blown out with lust.

"Yes, yes i want this" i tugged my black tank top over my head. I flung it across the room and he was on me, lips sliding over mine. My hand wrapped around the back of his neck and the other reached for his belt. He let me struggle while he made quick work of my bra.

It was off and then he broke away from me to pull his shirt over his head. I rolled my eyes "oh my god" I pulled myself up to my knees on the bed and latched my lips to his torso. He pulled my hair back away from my face as I pulled his jeans open.

His long fingers rolled over my peaked nipples and I groaned out. His jeans fell to the floor with a soft thud and he kicked them off. "Stand up princess" he rasped to me. I stood and dropped to his knees, kissing over my hips as he peeled my jeans from my body. "Hmm you knew I was coming" he looked up at me smiling brightly before he pulled my lace panties off my heated body.

I sighed out when he slid his finger through my folds.

"Oh you definitely knew i was coming, and soon you will be too" he kissed my stomach as a finger sank into my heat. "Ungh Issac" I moaned out, my hips rolling against the pressure.

"I'm gonna teach you not to scent me baby" he added another finger and I gripped onto his shoulders. "Issac" i squealed as his fingers curled. He pumped his digits quickly, rubbing and tugging at the part of me that made me see stars.

I came, harshly, loudly and all over his fingers. He wasted no time laying me down on my bed and as i watched he slipped his fingers into his mouth.

That elicited another dirty moan from my lips.

"Shhh baby, there are people sleeping" his dry hand slid around my throat gently. I groaned and reached for the rather large tent in his boxers. "You want this baby girl, you think you deserve it, you didn't want to scent me earlier, didn't want me to smell like you" he used his hand to turn my head, leaning down and kissing behind my ear. "Issac, please, fuck me please" i pulled at his hair and shoulders.

"Okay beautiful, anything for you" he kissed me slowly, his tongue slipping into my mouth just as his length slipped through my opening. He swallowed my sigh, I'd waited for so long for this. I wanted this for so long, to be his, for him to own me. "Yes Issac, move, please" I urged him on, eyes shut rolling against him for something, anything. For everything he'd give me. He was more than compliant.

His hips snapped to mine, before he pulled all the way out. My pussy gripping p, trying to bring him back. "Ungh, everleigh" he slammed back into me.

The pace was set and I was screaming. It felt so good, he filled me so good. "Oh god, Issac yes, ungh, please" I begged, unaware of for what.

He sped up, his lips swallowing my land while pushing his own into my mouth. He pulled away to look at me. "Let me mark you, let me make you mine, please" he held my gaze, unwavering, full of certainty. "Yes" I choked out, in between a sob and my orgasm.

With gold eyes and careful placement, his teeth sunk into my neck and a feeling like no other ripped through my body. My orgasm on top of the euphoria of being tied to another for the rest of time.

My pussy clenched and milked him before i sunk my teeth into his neck as well.

He came shaking, coating me with his love. The only coherent word on his lips was my name. He collapsed on top of me, breathing deeply.

"You're mine" he licked at the mark and I shivered. "Yes, yours, let me show you how much" I turned us so i was riding his hips. Sinking further down his length.

We made love long into the morning, the sun warmed my back and I mewled, curled around Issac. "Here’s to forever, love�� he kissed me softly and I smiled, eyes still closed.

Forever Finally.

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atlas-of-a-human-soul · 5 years

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omg what if Ethan planned the baby shower I fell like he would go all out and he would do it without her knowing and all their family and friends are there it would be the cutest thing

Feel good kind of love - Series Masterlist

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ ~ * ~ * ~ *

“Yo, Gray. Need some help.” Ethan whispered, pulling his brother aside as Bella and Y/N chatted away, giggling about something Ethan couldn’t even comprehend...girls...

“What’s up, bro?” Grayson pressed his lips together, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly as if he’s trying to read Ethan’s mind. Wouldn’t be his first try, either.

“I need help to organize a surprise baby shower.” Ethan continued to talk in hushed voices, smiling widely like a goof whenever Y/N or Bella looked back at the pair, slightly suspicious, but not enough to pester them for answers,

“Why me?” Grayson spoke through a fake smile, blowing a kiss to Bella right after. “Ask Bella or Cam, or mom!”

“Bella can’t keep a secret, Cam isn’t going to be here until the shower and mom’s already involved, but I need more help. You’ve been thinking about kids since you were old enough to grab your own dick, so don’t lie and tell me you never had any ideas about how you’d make one.” Ethan hissed, waving to his girl when she caught his eye, but she seemed unsuspecting and that’s what he needed.

“Fine.” Grayson gave in, sighing, rubbing his chin in annoyance.

“Great. Cause I have a great idea!”

In only two weeks time, Ethan had managed to plan a party and just in time for Cameron to arrive. His mother and sister were a distraction - their task to get Y/N and Bella home in time, but keep them away until then. Meanwhile, Ethan and Grayson set the whole house up - everything was covered in pink - balloons, pillows, cake, each decoration, even the sign: FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOM (sorry mom, I love you!).

The guests arrived, bringing an abundance of gifts with them, all her friends and the few family members she had left. She didn’t have a big family growing up, but Ethan was ready to give her everything and more. And he had a surprise within a surprise.

“She’s here.” Ethan whispered, running back to his position as he awaited her entrance any moment now. However, he wasn’t clear on instructions earlier, leading to a small disaster.

The moment she walked in, everyone screamed “SURPRISE!”

“What the?!” Y/N held her stomach with one hand, the other on her heart as she nearly fell backwards from the shock.

“You don’t fucking scare a pregnant woman, Ethan!” Y/N screamed first, hissing in pain as she doubled down, her face contorting. Ethan’s heart dropped, running to her with incoherent words leaving his lips, his arms open to grab her and get her to a car and to a doctor.

“Are you okay?”

But the moment his hand rests on her back, she bursts out laughing.

“That’s payback, bitch.” She had a wicked grin upon her devilishly tasty lips as she kissed him, hugging him as tightly as possible with the visible bump between them.

“Not cool, babe.” Ethan breathes out, finally able to feel his face after the fright of his life.

“But, seriously. I love this. Thank you so much for doing this for me.” She sniffled, waving her hand in front of her eyes as they parted, unable to stop her eyes from welling up. “It’s fine. Happy tears...stupid hormones.” She wept, making the guests laugh.

Ethan lead her to the couch, giving her all the cake she wanted, and one gift at a time. She was radiant...absolutely gorgeous in his eyes and he never knew that such happiness, such bliss was possible. Even so, he never thought he was destined for this - this whole thing was Grayson’s dreams of an ideal life, not his. But he found his dreams have molded into what he now can’t imagine life without.

So, he saved his gift until the end.

“Y/N, beautiful, beautiful Y/N.” She smiled as he continued. “You’ve made me the happiest I’ve ever been. Since I met you, it feels like the sun never sets. Without you, I’d never know true love or true meaning of life. You’ve opened my eyes to so much beauty in this world, given me hope for the future and a family I can call my own. I hope I make you even the tiniest fraction as happy as you make me.” But then his words turned into actions and his gift had revealed itself as he got down on one knee, a single box in his hand.

“And I never want to spend a day without you in my life. I want you...the good, the bad, the crazy jokes and silly nicknames, the recklessness and insatiability, stubbornness, all of it. So, will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Tags: @xalayx @dolandolll @godlydolans @dolanstwintuesday @ethanhes @peacedolantwins @loserdolan

#ethan dolan #dolan twins #ethan dolan x reader #ethan dolan fluff #ethan dolan soulmate au #ethan dolan series #ethan dolan fanfic #ethan dolan fic #ethan dolan fanfiction #grayson dolan

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spicynbachili2 · 5 years

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Scary Games to Play on Xbox One This Halloween

So, you drew the brief straw and bought positioned on sweet obligation, leaving you at residence ready for trick-or-treaters to reach on the lookout for a candy deal with — what an ideal time so that you can go to a few of our favourite and scariest video games to play on Xbox One! From survival horror to post-apocalyptic wastelands, there’s just a little one thing for each horror fan to be discovered under, lots of which can be found on Xbox Sport Move and assist Backward Compatibility. Now shut off the lights, flip up the amount, and set out on a spooky journey… in the event you dare! Shortly, earlier than the subsequent spherical of tricksters arrive in your doorstep.

Resident Evil 7: biohazard (Xbox One X Enhanced)

The latest entry within the Resident Evil franchise delivers not solely one of the realistic-looking chapters, however ranges up from its leap scares and campiness to downright horrific and terrifying encounters with the residents of the Baker mansion. As Ethan Winters, you’ll enter the creepy property in search of solutions to the disappearance of your spouse, solely to return face-to-face with essentially the most vile and ruthless household molded after these present in horror movie classics like “The Hills Have Eyes” and “The Texas Chainsaw Bloodbath.” Their antics and conduct will all make sense ultimately, in addition to the overarching connections to the RE franchise itself as soon as the credit begin to roll after this hellish journey. – Mike Nelson

Little Nightmares

If you happen to scare your self with how a lot you’re keen on Limbo-likes, Little Nightmares is the stuff of screams. As a toddler captured on an enormous ship and doomed to turn into delicacies for its grotesque clientele, you run – normally from left to proper, however extra usually from upsetting monsters that leapt out of Tim Burton’s nightmares after he fell asleep watching Swedish marionette theater (once more). This creepy enterprise by way of creaky crawl areas proves as soon as extra that the most effective horror comes from a easy premise, like: “What if cruises had been even worse and there have been cannibals?” – Ludwig Kietzmann

Slender: The Arrival

If being stalked by a creepy monster in the midst of the woods with nothing however a flashlight and camcorder wasn’t terrifying sufficient in Slender: The Eight Pages, simply wait till you strive Slender: The Arrival. With a brand new storyline and improved visuals, the official online game adaptation of Slender Man takes survival horror to a brand new stage. Like the unique recreation, Slender: The Arrival begins with one easy mission: Acquire all of the lacking pages with out getting caught. However every web page collected solely ratchets up the issue, finally making Slender Man practically not possible to flee. – Lisa Eadicicco

Useless House (Backward Appropriate)

All of it begins with a misery name. Whereas Useless House takes its sci-fi cred critically – the hero is known as Isaac Clark – rigidity and leap scares rule the day as you slowly discover the deserted mining spacecraft USG Ishimura. Thought that hallway was clear? Not anymore! However Useless House’s intriguing, slowly unfurling a backstory retains driving you ahead by way of a sequence of unlucky and horrifying, even grotesque occasions. Whether or not you favor the tense and atmospheric unique, the extra bombastic Useless House 2, or the expansive Useless House three, all can be found on Xbox One through Backwards Compatibility and included within the EA Entry vault. – Jeff Rubenstein

Among the many Sleep

Once you’re a toddler, the world feels prefer it’s continually in one among two states: both every thing is superb or every thing is terrifying. In Krillbite Studio’s Among the many Sleep, the main focus is firmly on the latter, presenting a world that’s directly acquainted and hauntingly nightmarish. Accompanied solely by a stuffed bear named Teddy (which emits mild into the murky setting if you hug it), you play a toddler that’s navigating his home in quest of his mom. Issues aren’t at all times as they appear although, with every setting feeling increasingly more indifferent from actuality. Ultimately, Among the many Sleep is much less a horror recreation and extra a rumination on the challenges of life, however that doesn’t make it any much less scary. – Will Tuttle

The Evil Inside 2 (Xbox One X Enhanced)

Issues are going actually badly for Sebastian Castellanos, and never simply because his dad and mom named him after a designer champagne label. In The Evil Inside 2, he willingly re-enters STEM, a digital world that’s identical to “The Matrix,” besides it’s a simulation derived from “Twin Peaks” and one has to decide on between the blue tablet and a cup of screaming milk. With actuality out for the rely and freaky multi-mouthed monsters all over the place, The Evil Inside 2 is a shocking, atmospheric seesaw with hold-your-breath stealth on one finish and bullet-counting battles on the opposite. How will we not have you ever with atmospheric seesaw??? – LK

Alien: Isolation

Not solely is your complete recreation dripping with authenticity, treating its supply materials with the utmost care because of unimaginable world element and sound design, but it surely additionally continues the legacy of getting a Ripley again on the middle of the Alien mythos. You play as Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen, desperately in search of solutions to her mom’s disappearance from the primary “Alien” movie (considerably required viewing). The thriller slowly reveals itself over time on board Sevastopol station, as soon as a extremely populated hub in deep house which has given strategy to lawlessness. Better of all is the title character who exists as an at all times studying, listening boogeyman that’s ready within the shadows so that you can give your self away. This can be a horror gaming expertise you don’t want to overlook. – MN

Oxenfree (Xbox Sport Move)

A bunch of garrulous teenagers sneak out a wooded island after darkish and uncover mysterious phenomena in a cave. What’s the worst that may occur? Properly… Oxenfree’s model of slow-building dread and X-Recordsdata-eque creepiness are the best “scary recreation” for individuals who aren’t into extra hardcore horror. Greatest performed in a single (prolonged) setting, Oxenfree is price a second playthrough (or at the very least a visit to YouTube) to see alternate endings, as issues can finish fairly in another way, for higher and for worse. Bonus: no recreation earlier than (or since) has nailed the movement of pure dialog higher than Oxenfree, all of the extra cause I’m trying ahead to Evening Faculty Studio’s subsequent title, Afterparty. – JR

Resident Evil four

What hasn’t already been stated about this Shinji Mikami basic? Unfaithful issues, in all probability: Like the way it lures you in with a household barbeque, nestled in a humble Spanish villa. There’s an intimate meet-and-greet with everybody on the native church. The townsfolk don’t even like chainsaws and their pitchforks are purely meant for stabbing … wily produce! You catch a whopper of a fish, dispense some headache reduction and assist a person good his intense Wolverine cosplay. There aren’t any decapitations in any respect and each time somebody screams in regards to the “Los Plagas,” they’re making a spirited suggestion about that new dental clinic. – LK

Friday the 13th: The Sport

Ch-ch-ch-ah-ah-ah, ch-ch-ch-ah-ah-ah. If you happen to acknowledge that music, there’s a great probability you spent a while within the 80s and 90s peeking by way of your fingers as serial killer and hockey masks fanatic Jason Vorhees hunted down nubile camp counselors within the woods round Camp Crystal Lake (and, in a single case, outer house?!?). In 2017, developer IllFonic gave gamers the possibility to step into Jason’s boots, in addition to these of his prey, with the discharge of Friday the 13th: The Sport. This asymmetrical multiplayer title discovered one participant (as Jason) looking down as much as seven others in a gory model of hide-and-seek, with the advisors in a position to work collectively in an effort to beat Jason’s otherworldly looking powers. That includes dozens of memorably over-the-top kill animations by grasp particular results artist Tom Savini, Friday the 13th: The Sport may really be higher than a number of the films (we’re taking a look at you, “Jason Goes to Hell”). – WT

Layers of Concern (Xbox Sport Move)

Because the online game equal of a portrait with eyes that observe you across the room, Layers of Concern has, effectively, precisely that. It makes you witness to the whole meltdown of a superb painter, crushed by a stroke of tragic luck, left unable to discern between occasions on the canvas and people in his head. If you happen to hate doorways disappearing and rooms respiratory and rearranging themselves in upsetting methods, you must play this – and perhaps contemplate shifting out of your clearly haunted home. Plus: As a scary recreation sans fight, Layers of Concern makes for a great palette cleanser. – LK

Left four Useless (Xbox One X Enhanced / Backward Appropriate)

This practically decade-old co-op zombie shooter is all about working together with your crew to beat swarms of the Contaminated – as a result of surviving the zombie apocalypse is not any enjoyable alone. Seize your shotgun and prepare to mow down the subsequent mob of frenzied mutants earlier than it’s too late. Simply you’ll want to be careful for these Boomers and their zombie-luring bile. And even higher, this Halloween you’ll be capable to fend off the hordes with an unprecedented stage of element now that Left four Useless is Xbox One X enhanced. – LE

Soma

It doesn’t take lengthy in your time in Soma so that you can notice that navigating your method by way of an deserted and slowly crumbling underwater analysis station is the least of your considerations. It’s the mysterious and creepy machine inhabitants who stalk you thru the hallways when you search to grasp how you bought right here and what you might be. And why do all of the machines assume they’re individuals? With an exquisite sci-fi bend on the fears of merging humanity with expertise, Soma just isn’t solely one of many creepier video games you possibly can play, but in addition one of many smartest with some nice philosophical factors to ponder with an ending that may go away you speechless. – MN

Condemned: Prison Origins (Backward Appropriate)

There was a time in my life once I trusted mannequins. That each one modified with the 2005 launch of Monolith’s Condemned: Prison Origins for Xbox 360. In a recreation crammed with memorable setpieces, none was extra terrifying than the deserted division retailer crammed with mannequins in varied states of undress (and dismemberment). As you progress by way of the extent, beating the sport’s deranged derelicts in a visceral first-person perspective with no matter melee weapons you could find, you’ll discover rooms filled with deserted mannequins. All’s effectively and good (effectively, pretty much as good as it may be if you’re preventing to remain alive and clear up the thriller of who’s pinning murders on you) till you discover one thing out of the nook of your eye: did that model simply transfer? I actually don’t assume I’ve ever screamed as loud as I did the primary time one lastly lunged at me. – WT

Metro 2033 Redux (Xbox Sport Move)

Not solely an incredible technical achievement on the time of its unique launch, giving players one of the distinctive and atmospheric settings in gaming, Metro 2033 launched us to an epic post-apocalyptic journey that mixes equal components of stealth, survival horror, and first-person shooter fight. Oh, and a solid of darkish characters and a well-paced story that retains you shifting by way of the chilly metro tunnels of Moscow in a bleak, miserable future. The Redux model cleans up the unique launch and enhances the graphics for the present gen, making it the quintessential model to play. – MN

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pcinvasion-blog · 7 years

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New Post has been published on PC Invasion

New Post has been published on http://bit.ly/2k8qYaO

Resident Evil 7 biohazard Review

I have spent an awful lot of time trying to work out what the hell Resident Evil 7 (or Resident Evil 7 biohazard to give it its full, weirdly formatted name, which I will never use again) actually is. It’s obviously not an isometric tank-control game like Resi 1 to 3, but neither is it a full-on blast-fest like Resi 4 to 6. Despite what you may have thought from pre-release videos, it’s also not an Outlast-ish stealth horror game. It’s something rather unique.

The best way I can think of pigeonholing it is to say that Resident Evil 7 is what I imagine Resident Evil 1 would’ve been like had it been made today, with no preconceived notions of how the series should be. It’s routinely creepy and has more than a few jumpscares, but it’s also got a fair bit of combat. That combat never feels particularly comfortable, though, because you’re almost always low on ammo and health items, and you’ll have to do a fair bit of inventory management to make sure you’re carrying what you need yet still have room for any other goodies you might find. All of which, I think, sums up both Resident Evil 1 and Resident Evil 7 quite nicely.

Also, you collect weirdly themed keys and solve highly implausible puzzles to continue on, but I think that’s true of almost every survival horror game since Alone in the Dark. It also has a sense of humour about this: “Who builds this shit?” asks the protagonist after a ludicrous shadow puzzle – and later on, you might stumble across a building contract for that very shadow-operated door. A brief bit of levity in something that’s unrelenting gory, grotesque, and dark.

This should set the tone nicely, I think.

Key difference number one is that, while other Resi games tend to cast you as some sort of staggering badass (from world’s-greatest-rookie Leon Kennedy to Chris Redfield, the only man to have smuggled watermelons in his biceps), Resident Evil 7 puts you in the shoes of some random nobody.

Protagonist Ethan’s wife Mia disappeared, and three years later, he receives an email from her asking him to come and get her. Said email leads him to a dilapidated rural estate… and then things go more than a little wrong. Fast-forward a little way past a couple of shocking scenes, and Ethan is desperately fleeing the murderous, nigh-immortal family that live there and really want to introduce him to the horrors within.

This is probably the stuff you’ve seen, but – while the family are your fiercest foes – they’re not particularly common threats. Most of the time they only patrol set areas or will only appear during fixed encounters, and they’re not usually too hard to escape as long as you keep your wits about you. This does absolutely nothing to make Resi 7 less scary.

Well, that doesn’t look foreboding at all.

About half of the fear factor is the atmosphere. The rotting house is a seriously eerie place to explore, especially with the excellent use of shadows (I jumped at my own shadow more often than I’d like to admit) and sound design, with all sorts of ambient creaking present to freak you out when you’re exploring somewhere new. It never really made me so scared I had to pause and Alt-Tab away, but it also never left me feeling entirely content to proceed. Thankfully, there’s no battery hunting for your flashlight or anything like that. Ethan apparently knows how to buy a torch with a running time of more than two minutes.

The other half of it is the sheer discomfort the gameplay mechanics create. Finding a room containing a save point and a stockpile of ammunition would be good, if it weren’t for the deep-seated (and usually painfully accurate) sense that things are about to get a bit rough. Beating a boss should be a moment of relief, except that it usually tanks your health and ammo and means you’re going to have to limp carefully through the next section.

The Molded are your regular enemies (and the only ones you can outright kill with your weapons) but – despite their freaky looks – they stop being particularly unnerving fairly quickly.

It probably says something that, even when you’re armed to the teeth, you still never feel comfortable until pretty much the very end of the game. It doesn’t take too long before you’ve got a bevy of weapons – a shotgun, a flamethrower, a fucking grenade launcher – but you still worry about what’s around the next corner, simply because of how frail you are and how little ammo you have. Yes, you could kill that horrible oozing monster by exploding it with a flame round, but then you’ll have one less flame round for the future. Risk multiple handgun shots to the head while backing off? Maybe try some knife-to-face combat? Good luck.

Backwards movement is slow and ponderous, and in traditional Resi fashion the only in-depth indication of your health is whether the little ECG reading on your wrist (should you have it) is green, yellow, or red. All of this, again, smacks of classic Resident Evil. And no, the game will not pause when you go into your inventory to mix up a healing item.

All of that said, combat is arguably one of the game’s weakest points up until much later, when you can finally cut loose a little and wreak some havoc. The wonderfully satisfying shotguns aside, few of the weapons feel particularly effective against the regular enemies, and there’s very little feedback as to whether or not you’re doing much damage. Enemy design is also a little weak, as there are only about four different types of foe throughout the entire game, and none of them are particularly unique.

In the end, I reasoned that David Cameron had put worse things down a pig’s throat, so…

Combat isn’t regular enough to become infuriating, though, and actually looking forward to the combat would lessen the horror a little, so – while I’m not convinced this is a deliberate design choice – it turns out it works alright. Desperately pumping round after round into a seemingly implacable foe as it lurches towards you works very, very well to ratchet up the tension of every encounter, and taking on one of the Bakers with weapons is about as effective as fending off the Xenomorph in Alien: Isolation. There are many, many cases where discretion is the better part of valour.

Slightly less fitting are some of the boss battles. The initial ones are clever and manic set-piece encounters, but then things disappointingly amble towards dull bullet sponges. There are some nice ideas present in these, too, but spamming out shotgun rounds and grenade launcher blasts is far less exciting than… well, let’s not spoil too much.

I’m going to say it again, though: that sounds an awful lot like Resident Evil. Maybe not for the best reasons, but hey.

I have no idea if this “tip” is trolling or not. This popped up after a death in which I did lose my leg (and found it as an interactive item) and I did die of blood loss, but it felt a lot more like an extended death scene than anything.

But Resident Evil 7 isn’t content to merely ape its legendary predecessors and adds some devilish twists of its own, of which one of the best is the VHS system. As you explore the Baker House, you’ll come across video tapes recorded by other ill-fated visitors, and these little playable slices tend to have a strong bearing on your immediate future. Some might give you a hint on where to find a key item, but (and I’m very cautious of spoilers here) one of the game’s most beautiful and elegant brain-teasers revolves around a bit of clever thinking based on what you saw in a video. It’s the sort of puzzle I’d expect from a top-tier adventure, and does not involve sliding any bookcases or rotating any statues.

I also like that Resi 7 isn’t just a linear trek through areas, and instead offers up a hub and a fair amount of (interesting) back-tracking. Once you’ve finished the first “area” and gained access to further parts of the estate, you’ll still have left various sections of that first bit unexplored because you lack the items needed to access them. Some of these are entirely optional (and there are a lot of entirely missable secrets tucked away; rushing will leave you far less equipped than you’d think), while others are required for progression. It helps make the estate feel more like a location than a series of corridors and rooms, and I approve greatly.

Hiding from and sneaking around the Bakers – and, inevitably, getting jumpscared by the bastards – are easily the most tense moments throughout.

It’s also not a game that overstays its welcome. Depending on how much exploring you do, you can probably expect your first runthrough to be somewhere between the 6-10 hour mark. That might seem a little short, but throughout that time it doesn’t feel like it’s boring or repeating itself; it routinely offers new twists and ideas and feels fresh throughout. I’m hungry for more, but with a sense of satisfaction rather than “What, that’s it?” and I’m planning a second playthrough already.

Another thing that Resident Evil 7 handles wonderfully is in the way it ties into the larger Resident Evil mythos. It’s playable entirely as a stand-alone experience, and for most of the game it feels that way, but pay attention and you’ll see both little call-backs and the ways in which this actually slots into the rest of that fictional world. It does a damn good job of keeping most of this (and, indeed, the mystery of just what the fuck is going on) behind the curtains and merely hinted at for quite some time, though.

On a technical note, I stand by what I wrote earlier. I suffered two crashes during play, which isn’t entirely unexpected when taking lots of high-res screenshots and alt-tabbing regularly. I did also lower the shadow quality to Medium to make the framerate a little more stable, and yes, the inventory is still kind of shit on mouse and keyboard… but that aside, it works wonderfully well on PC. Some slightly rough texture work, but the overall effect is damn bloody good, and it both plays and controls wonderfully. The only thing I might take issue with is that the “use” prompts can be a little finicky, requiring you to stand in very particular places and face a very particular spot to trigger them.

But that’s all boring complain-y stuff, and while Resident Evil 7 has its issues, it’s actually better than I’d hoped. It’s tense and thrilling, varied, well-paced, and seems to be the revitalising shot in the arm the series needed. It’s far from the scariest of games I’ve played (it creeped me out, but I played it at night, for crying out loud) but it’s still a bloody good time.

#Resident Evil 7

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