it's 2:30 in the morning and I've binge-reading everything you've written for the FFVIII fandom. I know I'm almost 4 years late into this but I just want to say that this is the best FFVIII fanfic, to date. This one toppled my other favorite, Into Thin Air, and believe me I thought that was impossible. idk how to go about this without fangirling as much but I've been saying this in my previous reviews and I will say it again, you write action very well and you do a great job and getting into your characters' head. While there were times that there were jumps in POV, Squall's stream of (un)consciousness was written out very well here. It sucked us into his tactile and imagined realities too far in that I almost felt like Rinoa was close to me. It was that fricking creepy. the psychological twists here added intense suspense. I mean, great plot twists for a two-shot but I swear to god my heart beat faster whenever Seifer pointed out Squall's hallucinations. It's like there were two battles being fought, and we didn't know who was winning. It was a great, great character study set in a beautifully twisted context. And of course, the team dynamic never fails in your stories. Everyone had a part to play and almost always Seifer and Quistis are among the best written. It was believable, it was compelling. Reading this is like watching a mix of Pulp Fiction, Inception, Breaking Bad and all those bad ass media that screws us over. it's that damn good. I'm ignoring the minor grammar flaws because to be honest, your writing has made the story so vivid, those little mistakes couldn't obscure such a narrative. Thank God I read that the WIB challenge dictates a happy ending so I'm guessing the last bit is a positive one. However, as a last piece of praise, it was a great, great touch to add something ambiguous to top it all off. It was a culmination of Squall's psyche, fears, desires, and realities that to see such a testing, confusingly happy note at the end of it makes me feel like I really was in his shoes experiencing all the hurt, pain, loss, confusion, relief.

Even though this was a one shot and you said it was rushed it was incredible. I'm sure I've said this in a review to you before but I really love the friendship Squall and Seifer has. Love.. it to death.

I honestly don't think she called him. I think it was just something he hallucinated but in some weird way it brought him to her. When Squall looked at himself I was honestly really scared because it just made me really upset how far gone he got. I loved the violence and the action scenes. You write them so wonderfully. It's like I only want to read these types of stories from you. I swear you write them the best.

I don't know why I just now read this or why it took me so long to find this awesome story. very well written and I really enjoyed it. I love your writing style and the plots you come up with. They're dark and deep but they still have some rather random humorous parts. The Seifer hanging from the tree made me literally laugh out loud. Good stuff, thanks for writing.

Noo! This story was so sad, I have to believe that the phone call was real. I think Cid even knew it was real and wanted to discredit Squall before he uncovered the conspiracy... Or! Maybe Squall actually died and went to join Rinoa in the next life (but then, it doesn't really make sense how he is still so poorly-looking there).
His squad are ridiculously loyal, I'd be dragging him off to the doctor o_o.

Oh God... I'm not going to start with the number of hours I spent reading your two insanely-addicting, mind disorientation-inducing chapters. This tale was a well-woven mass of gripping, hair-rising, chilling, dark, violent, self-psychology-challenging moments. In here we get to see a totally different kind of Squall, and along with it, a more personal character story that reaches into even the smallest crevices of the mind and makes it hard to forget. (Pardon if I don't make sense here and throughout. My brain is tired, but I'm happy. )

You mentioned how you think you should have divided this work into a greater number of shorter chapters, but I think keeping it this way is better - and is even way more effective than you think, as having only two insanely-long chapters for this kind of story has this certain effect on the readers (or just me), that will keep their eyes glued to the screen and their cursors on the scroll bar. Long hours of reading and immersing themselves in the story will enable them to feel the central character's emotions more (as compared to short bursts of thought and dialogue - that's just my opinion, though), to the point that they will start questioning themselves, as well, along with the character, and will also drive them into many thoughts that will have them question their own sanity along with the protagonist. The brutality is very vivid (and at times disturbing), and the way it was written out forbid the reader from forgetting it right away. (Squall will make sure you never forget it, and he'll imprint everything that happens/happened/will happen into even the deepest subconscious of your mind in certain ways only he can pull off.) But it's addicting, and every paragraph leaves your breath on hold, while your mind craves for what happens next.

The words "Find Me" tied in well at the various important moments in Squall's mind, and every moment of Rinoa's appearance reflects the deterioration of his mind, but the transitions from reality to dream are written in such a fluid manner that even we ourselves are puzzled over when the hallucination has started, making us lose our minds in a way along with him.

Another matter: you apologized for having rushed some parts and for having mistakes in spelling and the like. As a reader, I can't say that I haven't been distracted at times, but hey, with a fic this long, you're not bound to have perfect English all throughout unless you thoroughly check it several times. (And checking stuff like this is really tedious work, I tell you. I got tired checking my own short two-chaptered fic *cough* for WIB. And it's absolutely nowhere near this stuff. Forgive me; I digress.) My point is, you can actually incorporate these mistakes in your fic as a distinct writing style that represents Squall's disturbed state of mind - that he has gone so insane to the point that even the very core of his basic mind, represented by his foundation on language, has been shaken. His mind is very clouded to the point that he may already have misheard words, mixed verb tenses up and all, yet he doesn't care as he pushes back everything to think about finding Rinoa. So that's pretty much remedied. :)

The really fitting ending gives you the feeling you get when you view psychological media (books or movies). The way you left it open really fitting the nature of this whole fanfiction. On the surface, it has a happy ending, but the way it was left open allows for the entry of doubt at the very last moment, that maybe the evil has not left - or better yet, has never left and will forever be there to stay. (The "You thought you killed me, but I am still here, mwahahaha" trope, for short.) Well, since WIB guidelines proclaim that the ending has to be something positive for our main couple, I'll just take it that way and infer that Rinoa did call Squall. The true happy ending in this story, in my opinion, is not just the reunion of Squall and Rinoa (that is just the icing on the cake), but also the immense relief Squall will feel that comes with the knowledge that he is, in fact, still sane, after all, despite all the hallucinations and nightmares he has experienced. (Suppose it has gone the other way, and Rinoa denies having called him him. He would question himself, and may eventually feel that even having Rinoa by his side is already too late and that he will never recover. It will this time leave Rinoa in grief and in extreme guilt over what Squall has gone through, that the love of her life is irreparable and will never return to her. And the cycle continues...)

Allow me to wrap this up, since I know I've reached beyond the limit of what I'm supposed to say for this fanfiction. It's really, really good - as in REALLY GOOD, and it's a perfect plot for a classic Horror Master's psychological film, given the deep and intricate plot and the even more incomprehensible mind of the protagonist. (In my opinion, these kinds of films are better than straightforward horror films.) Kudos! Well-done. Thank you very much for this fic. (Again, sorry for not making any sense.) I did enjoy reading this as much as you enjoyed writing it. God bless!

All signs were pointing to Squall being a mentally unstable zombie looking for vengence, and even so I didn't doubt him. It hurt to read that he had actually imagined workingout and training. The whole time he thought he was built and fit was actually him thin and frail. Seifer exposed him to his reflection.
It sucked and made me cry because even so I didn't want to doubt Squall.

Squall was all zombie-like and mentally unstable while Rinoa was fine the whole time. Oh man... I'm happy it wasn't a tragedy in the end. But Squall kinda kicked his own a** on this one lol

Gotta love all the fighting and gory acts to the story though! Definitely awesome, always expected from your work.

Good Work!

This is far grittier than I normally read, but you are definitely very, very good at that style. I cannot write fight scenes for anything, but you excel at them. My favorite parts though were that Squall's primary team were Seifer and Quistis... I absolutely love the idea of the three of them working together and being just *brutal* about it. And the ending was almost like a cross between Fight Club and Inception, with the reality/not reality aspects of it... Very cool!

Just now rediscovering FF8 fan-fiction. I really enjoyed the story. The brutality of it caught me off guard at first. (It has been a while since I read your stories.) But it works. I think people tend to forget that SeeD are basically mercenaries, and that's not a nice thing. I really liked how you took that notion and amped it up a notch. Almost Tarantino-esque.

I loved the relationship with Seifer. They are almost always portrayed as bitter enemies who hate each other, and while that is partially true I always saw they had a deeper respect for each other. Maybe it's based on honor, or skill, or the determination each has for their goals. To me the Squall/Seifer relationship is deeper than some friendships because they won't be afraid to call each out on their BS. They respect each other too much for that. That was perfect here.

Honesty though, my favorite moment throughout it all was Quistis unloading on Squall. She's never really taken as seriously as as should be, especially in regards to her skills. And not only did this story cover that, it went much further into her relationship with Squall. I loved it.

This ended up being much longer than I had intended so ill stop here. Loved the story!

Oh, and she so totally called.

Wow wow wow! I did not see the twist in this coming. I always knew that the visions/hallucinations were always pointing to something off but I never would have thought that it would reach to that extent. I really like how you described Squall's uncertainty between the now-blurred lines between the possibilities of what's real and fake. Admittedly, I'm glad that Squall was wrong when they'd reached the cabin. It made the ending (though admittedly WIB's ban on Squall/Rinoa deaths kinda made it obvious what the ultimate end would be) feel earned. Love the 'inception' style ending too with that last line.

All and all, awesome stuff! I wouldn't have been able to pull off a tightly-woven story of this calibre in a million years. :)

Gah, I've been so busy I didn't have a chance to read this til now. So glad I did though. What a wonderfully-intricate, gritty story you have here. I love it and all the details you just seamlessly weave into just make the images all the more vivid and real. Despite all the gruesomeness (which I don't have a problem with - I don't think this story could be told realistically without it) I rather liked the balance you struck with the sweeter dream sequences with Rinoa. It makes Squall seem more human, gives his motivations focus and meaning (ok, so we all know he'd go to the ends of the earth for the girl no matter the plot or setting but it's nice to see it outright).

Anyway, I'll have to wait until tomorrow to read the second chapter but I really like what I've seen so far! Love that twist at the end.

Omg! Maaan, what a friggin rude! Personallly, I think Rinoa made the call...women will defy some rules for love!(no major rules though)-Rinoa's spirit and heart was ever present, and Squall kept her presence alive, so even tjough she wasnt physically there, she was present. My god, my typos are hilarious! Haha, you had some great laughs in tjis story . Im glad to find someone here with a similiar sense of humor to mine. I never once doubted Squall's credibility-ol'faithful! I knew he hadn't completely lost it. Excellent work, Frey. You've inspired me to continue. This story is awesome, rich and deep..and you've capturd the loss of a love so well.. I thoroughly enjoyed it especially the reunion. Ttyl! Have a good day!

StardustRay

Whoa! This is ridiculously intense! I can't wait to get on to the next part! Typos are forgivable in this case, as I would pass out trying to proofread all that! I am still in love with your style and I mudt admit, I felt a bit squeamish during some of the scenes-and I'm glad Seifer stepped in! Don't tease me, I've grown soft while on my hiatus, LOL. Seriously, i love this plot ans have been working on something similiar so forgive the coincedences ( it is ti be called dollface)ANYWAY, im not trying to promote, hell no, but i am going to continue eagerly! Awesome work!

Really, your writing's good. I'm glad I can catch this update. You plot is unexpected. At first, I've thought that Rinoa was making things up with her being kidnaped, the 'ransom' she was talking about makes me hestitating if she was really kidnaped. Then, guess I'm wrong, hahahah.

I really like your story and eagerly want to read the next.

Sincerely,
Greyshade

I'm glad I devoted the time to sitting down and reading the entire story tonight. It was exciting and it kept me questioning what was real and what wasn't. Also, I must admit, I loved the ending the way you left it. After such an exciting, complex, action packed, story, it felt almost justified that we were given an ending where out minds are left still questioning Squall's reality.

I loved Nida, I loved Caraway, I really loved Seifer hanging in that tree. lol I loved the description of the final setting... There were obvious errors where I could tell you were rushing the deadline for the challenge, (believe me I'm sure my stories have them to) but even the errors aside, I loved this story. I knew it was going to be good based off of the first few paragraphs, but I didn't expect it to be this fun to read! All I can say is thank you for participating in this challenge, because reading this fic has definitely made it worth it for me to be involved as well. Had Ashbear never pulled us all together I never would have stumbled across this. :)

And the plot thickens... Holy... I never considered how SeeD operated outside of what we saw in the game. We assume they're mercenaries and they do some scary things, but I've never thought about trying to write it. All the shouting at the first interrogation was crazy and exciting, but the second interrogation was the best. Squall is a bit terrifying in this piece but that's what is making this such a thriller. I also want to applaud you for letting him and Seifer get along. I never took Seifer for being a bad guy in the game, just misunderstood. So I get excited anytime I see a story in which he and Squall are able to get alone well together. I can't wait to read the next chapter.