M/N never thought he’d be the kind of person to get caught up in a whirlwind romance. He was just… himself. Not a nobody, but not someone who stood out either. He had his friends, his routines, his quiet life. And he was happy with it.
Then came Ethan Carter.
Ethan was everything M/N wasn’t—loud, confident, effortlessly cool. He was the guy who walked into a room and had everyone’s attention without even trying. Captain of the soccer team, the kind of guy teachers loved and classmates wanted to be around. M/N had never once thought they’d cross paths in any meaningful way.
But Ethan had other plans.
It started small. A lingering glance in the hallway, a casual “Hey, M/N” when they passed each other. Then, suddenly, Ethan was everywhere. Sitting next to him in class, joining him for lunch, laughing at his jokes like he actually meant it. M/N had been wary at first. Guys like Ethan didn’t notice guys like him, not really. But Ethan was persistent.
“I like talking to you,” he had said one afternoon, lying next to M/N on the school field, the sun warm against their skin. “You’re different.”
M/N had wanted to ask, Different how? But he didn’t. He was too caught up in the way Ethan looked at him, like he actually mattered.
It wasn’t long before things escalated. The stolen glances turned into lingering touches, hands brushing together just a little too long. Texts turned into late-night phone calls, whispered conversations in the dark. M/N had never felt so wanted, so important.
But Ethan wasn’t ready to be open about them.
“Just for now,” he had said, his voice barely above a whisper. “It’s not that I don’t want to—just… give me some time.”
And M/N, foolishly, had agreed.
He should have known better.
The truth unraveled in the worst way possible—careless laughter echoing in the boys’ locker room after school. M/N hadn’t meant to overhear. He had just forgotten his notebook and had gone back to get it. But then he heard them.
“Man, I can’t believe you actually did it,” one of Ethan’s friends had said, chuckling. “Dating M/N for a dare? That’s dedication.”
M/N had frozen in place. His heart pounded so loud it drowned out the rest of the world.
Ethan laughed along with them. Laughed. “Yeah, well,” he said, “I didn’t think he’d take it so seriously.”
The words struck like a knife. M/N felt his entire body go cold.
“So, when are you ending it?” another voice chimed in.
Ethan hesitated, just for a second. But that second was enough.
“Soon,” he finally said. “It was fun, but, you know…”
M/N couldn’t listen anymore. He turned and walked away, his vision blurred, his stomach twisted in knots.
He wasn’t sure how he made it home that night. The world around him felt muted, his chest hollow. He replayed every moment with Ethan, every whispered word, every touch, every look. It had all been fake.
That night, Ethan texted him.
Ethan: Hey, are you okay?
Ethan: You weren’t at lunch today. Missed you.
M/N stared at the messages, his fingers trembling. The anger hadn’t hit him yet. All he felt was empty.
Then, against his better judgment, he called.
Ethan picked up on the first ring. “Hey,” he said, his voice warm, familiar. The voice M/N had trusted. “I was just about to—”
“Was it all a joke to you?” M/N cut him off, his voice steadier than he expected.
There was a beat of silence. “What?”
“I heard you,” M/N said, his grip on the phone tightening. “In the locker room. I know about the dare, Ethan.”
Another silence, longer this time. “M/N, I—”
“Don’t lie to me.”
Ethan exhaled, and when he finally spoke, his voice was quieter. “I didn’t mean for it to happen like that.”
M/N let out a bitter laugh. “So, it’s true.”
“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Ethan said, almost pleading. “I swear, it started as a dare, but then… then I actually started to care about you.”
M/N’s chest ached, but he refused to let himself break in front of Ethan. “You could’ve told me the truth,” he said. “But you didn’t. You let me believe it was real.”
“It was real,” Ethan insisted. “At least, it became real. Please, M/N, you have to believe me—”
“I don’t have to believe anything,” M/N snapped, his voice finally cracking. “You got what you wanted, right? You won the game. Congratulations.”
Ethan’s breath hitched. “M/N, wait—”
But M/N had already ended the call.
—
Months passed. M/N picked up the pieces of himself and moved forward. It wasn’t easy, but he refused to let Ethan’s betrayal define him.
Then, one evening, sitting in a quiet café, the past walked through the door.
Ethan.
M/N’s stomach twisted, but he didn’t look away. Ethan looked different now—his usual confidence was gone, replaced by something else. Guilt? Regret? Maybe both.
For a moment, their eyes met.
Ethan opened his mouth, but M/N didn’t need to hear whatever excuse or apology he had rehearsed.
So he just smiled, a small, knowing smile, and turned back to his coffee.
Because in the end, the winner takes it all. And this time, M/N was the winner.
first story this sucks, english isn’t my first language
Sometimes I really want to read a short summary of what to expect from a game… and thankfully people can also submit their summaries of games they played and help me (and others) find games that cater to their interests!
submitted by @lairofsentinel
(click here for other videogames)
what to expect from THE VANISHING OF ETHAN CARTER
Detective-like game in the format of walking simulation with supernatural elements. You have to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Ethan Carter exploring areas of Red Creek Valley. A note of interest: the scenery was inspired by the giant mountains of Karkonosze, Poland.
It’s considered horror adventure, but there is not much horror: there are some supernatural events and murders. It’s more a “mystery” story.
Beautiful and relaxing scenery.
There are some dissonant sci-fi elements along the game. They are not whimsical. They are related to Ethan Carter’s stories: he is a child who wrote a lot of stories and you can find pieces of them all along the game. He is an innate writer.
Trigger warnings: It is a bit explicit when it comes to corpses: you can see a lot of blood, and disembodied limbs.
All the game is in first-person camera. It has some options in the settings to make it less shaky when running, but it’s a game a bit annoying for those who have motion sickness with first-person cameras.
Fully voiced.
It’s a high quality game: it is impressive the amount of details they put in the story and how the environment reflects it.
It has a really amazing plot twist by the end of the game.
Pretty short: it takes around 2 hours if you know what you're doing. It can reach 6 hours if you get lost.
——- Plot? ——-
You are a supernatural investigator that came to Red Creek Valley to understand what happened with Ethan Carter. In the process you begin to discover a series of murders that happened in the place.
——- Gameplay? ——-
It looks like a walking simulator in combination with a point and click game. You collect clues and objects, and then use them in the environment to activate mechanisms that help you to go further. When you find a body, you activate the “chronology” mechanism [apparently the supernatural power of this investigator]: a series of phantasmagorical captures of the moments before and after the death of the body are presented, and you need to arrange them chronologically to understand and see what truly happened.
——- Characters? ——-
Ethan Carter and all his family: his grandfather Edwin, his brother Travis, his mother Missy, his father Dely, and his uncle Chad.
——- LGBT? ——-
None
——- Sadness level? ——-
Low. The mystery is more important than the family drama. In the end of the game, the sadness level is higher.
——- Happy ending? Deaths? ——-
It’s a very sad ending. And there is a lot of death.
An excellent analysis to read once you finish this game can be found [here].
