I was commissioned by @acapelladitty For this watercolour portrait of Heisenberg! Thank you so much for commissioning me, I had a lot of fun with this and the original will be in the post to you very soon.
Sadly you only see hints of it on the computer but that background is metallic. You’ll also be able to find it on my instagram: - https://www.instagram.com/thescottishcostumeguy/ in the next few hours :)
In the last few weeks, I’m rewatching Markiplier’s playthroughs of RE7 and RE: Village. And an opinion started to form inside my head - the further I’ve watched, the stronger the opinion got. Honestly, I watched these games being played by multiple people (I just love having creative noise in the background) and this was the first time this shit hit me.
But before I get to say what I think, it would only be fair to explain my personal relationship with this particular game franchise:
Personally, we were a Silent Hill household, and Resident Evil games weren’t a big part of my childhood, so please, I am in no means any sort of an expert regarding this super convoluted storyline and timeline, I just know there’s some sort of Umbrella Company baddies and that Milla Jovovich portrayed the main character in the first movie (which, in all honesty, is one hell of a nostalgic blast for me and one of my all-time favorite horror movies). And… Yeah, people mutate because of T-Virus and they turn into zombies, and then there’s some G-Virus? That’s where any sort of extended knowledge regarding the game series ends.
Now, let’s move to the protagonist of Resident Evil 7 and 8, the one and only Ethan Winters, and why I think he deserved better. I’ll explain why some of it doesn’t make sense to me, but don’t forget this is just an opinion and you don’t have to agree at all.
Ethan Winters. Your normal everyday guy. He’s your neighbor, he’s someone you can bump into anytime; in the downtown, in the restaurant or Home Depot, wherever. Why? Cause he’s just your regular normal everyday motherfucker (author’s notes: if you know the song, I think it suits Ethan perfectly). This guy’s charm lays in him being so normal. He comes to save the day, whips out his ✨ enormous big dick energy ✨ and murders all the bad guys in his way, one by one. Doesn’t matter if it’s the Bakers possessed by Eveline or if it’s Miranda and her lords, Ethan is literally the definition of ‘man literally too angry to die’ and he will make them all perish. And I think he deserved so much more, he deserved better and a lot of it is Mia’s fault, and here is why:
Why the fuck did he go after Mia after that ship video log?
I cannot seem to empathize with this decision made by Ethan and I also know that I am biased against Mia cause I simply cannot stand her. First off, I know Mia was manipulated into sending the video by Eve. I also know and realize that Mia was his wife, I know he loved her insanely much and that he suffered when she allegedly died on the tanker that had crashed during the hurricane (not sure if Ethan was even aware of what happened). She disappeared for three years, right? And I realize that everyone needs their time to mourn and that the pain never truly passes away… But he thought she was missing (without any explanation in that matter), maybe even thinking she died. What would I do if I got to know that my wife not only lied to me for possibly the entirety of our marriage but then she also suddenly fucking disappears for 3 entire years? I’d make sure I take my time to mourn, make myself feel better, start living step by step, and ✨ I’d fucking move on ✨. What if Mia sent the video to a completely different, changed man who moved on - what if she sent the video to thisEthan Winters? What if she contacted a new, changed man? What if Ethan met a new, amazing girlfriend, then proposed to her, settled down, and started anew? What then? Would he still just storm off to Louisiana just like that?
And just by the way - Ethan is not ugly, he’s actually quite handsome… So don’t tell me there was not one single woman who’d be interested in him.
But okay, canonically, he did what he did and it was what needed to be done to put the story in motion.
Why, in the name of Lord, did he stay with her AFTER Louisiana?
Now, after everything that happened, Mia and Ethan are saved by no one other than Chris Redfield (hooray!). We know she’s a liar and that she was living a double life. We know Mia has tons of shit to explain and Ethan won’t leave until he listens to all the shit. All of it. Okay, let’s say she explained herself and everything that happened and that she was really sorry and mentally exhausted. They are strangers now - Mia lied, was completely absent (held hostage by Eve), and also is the source of all the shit coming Ethan’s fucking way.
Sure, I get that he had to stay under Umbrella’s little eye (since he came to contact with the mold), but why on Earth did he stay with that woman? They loved each other, but was that love this great? Sure, it could be, but… It just doesn’t seem too logical for me to stay with her. All of the above, I’d be repeating myself.
She continues lying and keeping things away from him. And also, Village happens, having Ethan die just to protect his daughter, whom he loves above all.
This wife, aight. This bitch has the audacity, she has the nerve… Goddamit, just gimme a gun and I’ll finish the deed myself because she’s the cause of everything going down. She doesn’t learn throughout the time skip, she still lies to Ethan, she still doesn’t tell him everything that is going on, and then, when she gets swapped by Miranda - Ethan doesn’t even fucking notice? That speaks volumes about what Mia is like.
Keep in mind Miranda probably didn’t know how Mia acts at home, she probably had really sporadical access to modern technologically, she couldn’t know how Mia talks to Ethan and she didn’t have her memories - and her own husband, the one who vowed to spend his entire life by Mia’s, side doesn’t see a difference? Don’t forget he witnessed Louisiana - by the logic of things, he’s probably noticed something being out of place like that, right?
No. No, he doesn’t. Ethan just goes ‘aight’ - and then she’s “killed”. To be fair, Ethan could’ve been overlooking it just because this pour soul wanted to take a breath and have a normal life; he was struggling with trauma (to be fair, Mia was surely too), they just moved to the other side of the world, and they had a newborn that was undergoing some monitoring and testing since Umbrella must’ve known that Rose is a mold baby. And… In addition to that, Ethan isn’t the brightest bulb. I digress. But holy fucking shit. I don’t think he’d notice anytime soon - God knows for how long was Miranda fucking around his house. And he was like 'okay wifey, let’s have dinner!’.
Then, when this is said and done, Ethan goes on a rampage once more - just to find he has a mold baby with Mia (that had been to cut into fucking flasks and), that he HIMSELF is made out of the mold (which Mia clearly “forgot” to mention to Ethan since, again, she has a tendency to lie and don’t tell things) and that HE FUCKING DIED, BEING KILLED BY JACK BAKER IN 2017. THAT HE IS DEAD FOR 3 YEARS ALREADY. I digress and once again, I wanna remind you that Ethan is not the brightest - but did he just think that re-attaching limbs at will are normal? He got his hands sawed off, torn off, his entire skull got crashed… How the fuck didn’t he figure out he’s fucked up too?
And this, all of this, ultimately leads him to his death in the village.
While he could’ve lived a full, beautiful life.
___
That’s my 3 points about why Ethan Winters deserved so much more. And that Mia is actually the driving force behind all the conflicts. I try to understand her side of the story and her troubles, but I… I just find it so hard to sympathize.
✨ Ethan winters is the world’s best dad and deserved better. ✨
*Please do not replicate/rework/translate my work, I do not give permission. This is on A03, Tumblr, Wattpad. Anywhere else, it has been stolen.*
I thought I was going to drown.
I could see nothing as the light left my vision and I was thrashing in the pitch black as the grip on my ankle held fast. I wasn’t able to shake it and, when I felt fingers adjusting their hold on me, I knew Arthur had found me already.
If his plan was just to kill me in the water, he was going to achieve it. I was woefully underprepared for a scenario like this.
Just at the point where I was seriously starting to panic, I heard a rushing in my ears and it felt like the water fell away from me, like my feet were now standing on something solid. I still didn’t dare take a breath until there was a pat on my back.
“Take a lungful. I’m not interested in you being a corpse.”
*Do not replicate/rework/translate my work anywhere else without my express permission. This story is on A03/Tumblr/Wattpad. Anywhere else, it is likely stolen.*
“Luv, why are you looking at me like I’ve grown three heads?” John gets a little worried.
I wanted to ask him about what Superman had said before I went any further, just in case it was something terrible. From the sounds of it, it might be and I wasn’t prepared to journey on with him at my side if that was the case.
“Spit it out!” he’s shuffling nervously. “I don’t like the way you’re starin’.”
“Why did you impersonate my husband?” I finally ask.
Summary: You have to face the Joker and Harley before you can get anywhere near Arthur Curry
Warnings: Lots of clowns, death traps, past trauma, violence, injury detail, panic attack description
CHAPTER 4 - A Fear of Clowns
*Do not replicate/rework/translate my work anywhere else without my express permission. This story is on A03/Tumblr/Wattpad. Anywhere else, it is likely stolen.*
The path to Joker and Harley’s compound was littered with graffiti, streamers and garish neon lights.
I had no idea how they had so much electricity to power this stuff out here but, when I looked more closely at a neon Joker sign I jumped out of my skin as a Jack in the Box erupted from nowhere, springing a clown into my face that laughed in a tinny mechanical fashion. I tripped as I tried to get away from it, landing on my ass on the mossy ground as I tried to get a grip on myself.
*Do not replicate/rework/translate my work anywhere else without my express permission. This story is on A03/Tumblr/Wattpad. Anywhere else, it is likely stolen.*
I had to get out of here.
Swinging like meat on a hook was not on my to-do list today so I did the only thing I could and started moving my legs to get some momentum. Higher and higher, I swung until I grabbed onto one of the hooks and started trying to use the point to saw the ropes.
It took me so long to even get some fraying on it but I lost my grip halfway through and ended up spinning as I fell away from the hook. My sawing had done enough though because the rope unravelled with my weight pulling against it and I hit the carpeted floor hard. I landed on my left wrist and there was a sharp pain up my forearm but I didn’t think I’d broken it.
I tried pushing up using my left hand and there was a grating feeling in my bones as I got to my feet but I was okay. I was alive.
