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my-current-obsession · 1 year

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My second playthrough of Engage is going well (just finished chapter 17) and I’m still enjoying the gameplay and have definitely had a better time getting supports with my knowledge of how to game the arena as well as having access to the new support-gaining options from the start. However I’m starting to worry about the game’s long-term replayability.

In most FE games, even if the gameplay is only so-so, I can power through several runs basically because of shipping - I’d play the game multiple times to get different paired ends. I’ve already complained about that a lot in other posts, so I won’t rehash it here beyond saying obviously that’s not possible in this case. Sure, you can get different paired endings for Alear, but honestly most of the pact ring scenes and ESPECIALLY the endings are weak. Even for the people who care more about the self-inserting and picking who they want to be with as opposed to matchmaking, I doubt this would be satisfying enough on its own to merit multiple runs of the game.

So if that aspect and reason to replay the game is gone, what’s left? Gameplay, obviously. And yes, the gameplay is good - great, even! This is the most fun I’ve ever had in an FE game when it comes to actually playing the maps. However I can already feel myself falling into complacent gaming - I KNOW from a previous run which characters are better (unless they get super RNG screwed) and which combinations of emblems/units works best, and I find myself defaulting to those rather than experimenting.

It doesn’t help that this game makes it kind of difficult/punishing to do so. There are A LOT of resources to track and use in this game, and they’re all somewhat limited. Up until chapter 17 you’re limited on how many master/second seals you can get, and even once you have unlimited access... they’re expensive! And more than ANY other FE game, this one makes it hard to get money. Even knowing NOT to spend as much money donating to the countries on a second run, you’ll probably run out of cash FAST between buying seals, weapons/staves, and forging the weapons.

There are certain units that basically NEED to be reclassed in order to perform well - in particular, Anna, Etie, Lapis, and maybe Clanne would be better in classes they can’t promote to naturally. But it’s hard to justify using them and wasting TWO seals (a master AND second seal) when the rest of your army only needs one seal to do well or comes as a VERY good pre-promote. That’s not even getting into how due to the relative lack of seals and their cost, I’m less inclined to reclass units just for fun or to see how they fare in radically different roles.

3 Houses had a lot of flaws and overall the gameplay is NOT as good as Engage, but I DID appreciate being able to build my starting class however I pleased. It was a tedious process, but it was rewarding to play the same route multiple times and use most of the same units, but with VERY different classes/roles. In particular, the more balanced, well-rounded units were SO fun to teach since they could perform well in almost any class!

Meanwhile in Engage, I spend a lot of time LOOKING at the classes available to everyone and thinking it might be nice/fun to reclass some people, but ultimately, they’re doing “well enough” in their default class and I can’t justify wasting the seal(s) just for an experiment that might not pan out. If I use that seal, either one more person doesn’t get to promote/reclass or I’m wasting 2500+ gold.

That’s not even getting into the scarcity of the forging resources or how quickly you can blow through your bond fragments (and in ways that aren’t ideal) if you’re not careful. With so many resources to manage, all of which you CAN technically gain more of but only through playing extra battles (which are at best boring or difficult, and at worst DEADLY on classic), it really feels like you’re discouraged from experimenting. You want to hold onto as many resources as possible for as long as you can, so you can’t throw them around for fun to see what works.

What this game needs (as several people have pointed out already) is some kind of new game plus. There NEEDS to be a version of this game where you carry over at least SOME of the things you gained/accomplished into a new game. Personally I’d like to see it carrying over your donation levels, emblem bond levels, and MAYBE bond rings and the weapons you had/forged (though obviously removing any engravings. Also probably still erasing all the special S rank weapons).

I don’t see HOW people are expected to “complete” the game without that, honestly. Donating to the countries is too much of a money sink for one contained run, but if you had multiple playthroughs to do it, it wouldn’t be an issue. Especially since you’d get a bunch of money at specific chapters each run, and if you retain weapons too, you’d spend less of it on forging. If you don’t retain weapons... well, at least the higher donation level means you’re getting more iron/steel/silver from every map from the start, so you don’t HAVE to do skirmishes just to get resources.

Retaining bond levels means you don’t have to waste fragments getting the SAME bonds and skills and conversations with the same units. Instead you can chip away at the CBA bond level for every Emblem/unit pair. As for bond rings, I’d mainly want to see them retained so you don’t have to deal with as much gatcha hell in getting all the rings.

And of course on a new game plus, with all the extra resources at your disposal and less ways you NEED to spend it, you’d be free to experiment more with reclassing units!

I’m just disappointed because I genuinely LOVE this game but there are so many ways it could be better and give me a reason to keep playing it. A lot of the characters are great and I honestly see a ton of shipping potential in the supports... but they all go nowhere without paired endings. The gameplay is the best it’s ever been for FE, and I’d love to experiment and come at it with different units and builds... but I’m so scared of wasting valuable resources that I’m mostly unwilling to experiment and instead stick to the units that are reliable as-is.

#fire emblem #fire emblem engage #fe17 #we should be getting one more free update to go along with the 4th dlc #so there's a slim chance we'll get new game plus or paired endings then. but i wouldn't bet on it #it's just depressing because honestly EITHER ONE of those by itself would mostly save the game for me #either i could focus on shipping and replay for different paired endings #or with new game plus i'd be able to relax and actually use my resources. so the gameplay would get a shake-up #and every run being more unique i'd be able to get by more on gameplay alone. right now it's getting a bit stale #for the record i haven't bought the dlc so i don't know how much it impacts the whole resources issue #i know you get a bunch of free money which would be nice but... the story AND gameplay are SO tightly designed #around having specifically 12 emblems (plus the lategame spoiler)#HOW am i supposed to get into chapter 11 or 22 when I have an army of dlc emblems?#or 17 which is explicitly a 6-on-6 emblem war? but uh with dlc that's very much not the case #hell the final battle specifically wants you to have and use all 12 emblems. but if you have dlc you probably used some of them instead #i like the added CONTENT of the dlc - more maps and more characters that the units bond with #but i don't like how they break the story and probably also the game. so i've abstained.#i know i COULD buy the dlc just for the story. but it would feel ridiculous to HAVE these characters and powers and NOT use them

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lightsinthedistancee · 3 years

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City Midnights, Chapter 2: Poe Dameron x Reader

Pairing: Poe Dameron x Reader

Word Count: 2.3k

Summary: “There is always something missing in his headspace. Something vaguely shaped like you.”

Poe reflects on past times with Reader while he hopes for their survival.

Warnings: Violence

Read the first chapter here.

A/N: This work is 3 chapters long, and this is the last one in this sort of “group-of-one-shots” format. The last chapter will be super short and sweet. Hope you enjoy!

If you wish to be tagged on future works, just drop a reply/comment.

He cannot sleep. Worry and distress are consuming him, wrenching his insides around, tampering with the portions of his brain that allow him to relax. When he’d heard you’d been taken, he had returned to his quarters, laid on the bed, and unashamedly sobbed. The captured often never returned.

He wakes during the night. Sometimes because he believes that he can hear you. Sometimes because he is missing the familiar weight of you on his chest. Sometimes because he has nightmares, and there are only empty sheets beside him.

It’s a month after your disappearance that he finally gains the courage to enter your quarters. It screams familiarity, and that is the worst part. Your shoes are still casually strewn by the door. The bed is still messed up from when the two of you had woken up, made love, and then gotten ready two weeks past. It feels like a lifetime ago to him.

Your pillow still smells like you. Something subtly sweet and distinctly citrusy.

He ensures that he is the only one to suffer from his grief. Poe Dameron is not one to fail to get the job done. But he goes about the day with a numbness to his actions. In some ways, it’s a good thing. He is hyper-efficient, immune to distractions, for that is what numbness does to him.

But there’s always something missing in his headspace. Something vaguely shaped like you.

He lies in his bed that night, staring at the ceiling, eyes tracing the bright stripes that the light from the moon reflects onto the surface. He replays memories in his head. Good and bad. Hopeful and hopeless. Tragic and beautiful.

He watches you. You’re on your stomach, in the grass, your hands wrapped around a sniper rifle. You mutter numbers under your breath, running them in your head with an extraordinary speed, something he knows he’ll never be able to do.

You handle the rifle with a delicacy, like it’s a work of art that you love dearly. You treat it as such, and he knows that he cannot possibly count the number of times he has seen you polishing it, oiling the trigger.

You’d always loved your job. Why you did, exactly, was revealed to him one night years ago, in the early hours, whispered beneath covers that felt like they could protect the two of you from anything.

You were on the side of the Light. You’d grown up on the side of the Light. And the Light did not believe in death. Death was cruel, unnecessary in many situations. It had the potential to be the ultimate act of barbarism. And the both of you had been raised on that idea like it was religion.

And that night, you’d shamefully admitted that you loved your weapon for the cleanliness in which it got the job done. One shot, and it was over. One shot with the capacity to end someone’s world, someone’s life, someone’s love.

That memory is what he recalls as he listens to you take deep breaths, your figure relaxing. By now, he’s seen you work enough to know that that means you’re about to take the shot. He watched the target through binoculars.

Bang.

A yell. A thud. A burst of red like a blossoming rose.

It is done. Just like that. He grins immediately. “That’s my girl,” he says, too soft for you to hear.

You remove your focus from the scope and meet him with a smile. You stand, slinging the rifle over your shoulder. “Let’s go.”

Another shot in the distance sounds off, and his head is instantly on a swivel, looking for a perpetrator. “What the hell?”

He looks to you, and his eyes widen.

You’re on the ground.

You’re bleeding.

You’re gasping.

That had been a blaster bolt with your name on it.

He’s in shock for a moment. He just stares. But then, he’s at your side, pulling you into his arms, muttering profanities under his breath in distress. He activates the comm in his ear. “I need a medical team to….” He rattles off coordinates, and all he can do is wait.

His world is freezing, leaving just you and him and your agonizing pain that he can seemingly feel too. Your distress sizzles through the air, clutching at his heart, clawing at it, begging for him to help. And he can do nothing. Nothing to aid you clinging to life in his lap.

Your breathing is ragged, your eyes are blank. The only sign that you are still alive is the painful sound coming from your lips. “Stay with me, baby,” he begs, pleading to any higher power that may exist. “Stay with me.”

In short, once everything had run its course, you’d been fine. Fine after hours of surgery and a nasty scar, that is. He supposed that he should’ve been grateful that your attacker had not possessed the same precision that you had. If they had, it would’ve been a shot clean through your skull, and it would’ve truly been over.

But regardless, that did nothing to stop the feeling he’d felt from returning to him every night. He still feels it: in his dreams, in his fears. He feels it right now. It’s not as strong. It’s dull, like something that doesn’t cause him blatant pain, but won’t allow him to relax either.

And as he lies on his bed, unable to sleep, all he wants is you. You by his side, you in his arms, your presence gracing his. You are always there: after particularly long days, after lost battles, after deaths, after hard missions….

He paces down the halls of base, his hair disheveled, bags under his eyes. One pilot down, two damaged ships, three civilian casualties, and no information whatsoever. All under his command.

He pushes open the door to his quarters. The room emanates a soft, warm glow, alighted by lamps and candles, matching the feeling that you give him. You sit at the desk, working away at some logistics for an upcoming mission.

When you catch sight of him, you jump, for he’d been silent coming in. He watches your happy face fade as you see his state.

He almost feels guilty that he has brought his gloom with him upon his return. But you don’t seem to mind, like always.

You walk up to him, simply wrapping your arms around him, burying your face in the crook of his neck. He presses a kiss to your hair and relishes your warmth, breathing you in.

You pull away, fingers twisted in the fabric of his shirt to pull it over his head. A smattering of bruises lines his ribs, your eyes quickly flicking to his. “Don’t worry about it,” he says softly.

He glances at the clock, alarmed at the fact that it is nearly midnight. Wordlessly, you grasp his hand, leading him through the room, into the refresher.

“What happened?” You ask tentatively as your hands run tenderly along his body, soaping him up.

“Can I tell you tomorrow?”

You nod, moments of silence passing.

“Tell me about your day,” he says quietly. The sight of you washes over him, relaxes him in a way only you can achieve.

You raise an eyebrow. “I didn’t really do much—“

“Please,” he pleads, cutting you off, desperation in his voice. “I just want to hear you speak about something…anything…”

“Okay.” You smile warmly, standing on your toes to press a soft kiss to his lips. “Well I got to sleep in this morning actually, till around 9. I worked on some mission logistics—oh, and I watched Leia chew some colonel out…”

As you speak, he zones out, just letting the sound of you comfort him. It is euphoric compared to the sense of failure he’s endured the past two weeks.

When he goes to wash his hair, you stop him, instead turning him around and running your hands through his curls, washing them thoroughly. It is almost sinful how good your hands feel, tenderly running along his scalp, gently working out any knots. The water around the drain circles slightly gray from fallout ash.

When he goes to return the favor, you refuse. “Go to bed,” you insist, able to tell that he is very tired.

“But…,” he objects. There is some arguing back and forth before you practically push him out of the shower.

“Why are you so difficult?” you question, laughing softly.

He smiles, opening up the curtain slightly so that you can see his smirk. “You wouldn’t want me any other way, sweetheart, and you know it.”

You merely roll your eyes, tugging the curtain closed.

He gets in bed, waiting for you before he falls asleep. You walk out when you’re done and dressed, and he watches as you go about turning off lights and blowing out candles. The softness and tranquility that you exude challenges his sadness and desperation that he is sure is rolling about the room in waves, consuming everything. The two of you are opposites when you need to be, the same when it is beneficial, the perfect complement to the other.

Once you’re settled in, he rolls towards you, resting his head on your shoulder. Your fingers calmingly comb through his hair as he breaths softly, savoring the feeling of your warm skin against his.

He is falling prey to sleep quicker and quicker as the seconds pass. When he hears you speak, your voice is barely a whisper. “Good night, love.”

He’s been with you for years. Loved you for years. He’d met you at nineteen. Spent some time together. Then you’d separated to lead different lives. Him to the New Republic, you following your own path.

A reunion had occurred years down the line, leading to the moment right now, where he lies in bed, fingers twisting in the sheets. The future has been in consideration with the two of you. A plan to tie the knot once the war was over, get a place in the city, adopt a few dogs perhaps.

The idea, once bright, currently seems so far out of reach to him. Like a light in the distance that he is so desperately grasping for, his attempts only pushing it further and further away.

He thinks of all his proclamations of love to you, all of his hopeful thoughts he’d infused in you. All of the promises he’d made to you…

It is well past midnight. The two of you lie on his X-Wing, near the back on the thrust engines. It is as far off the ground as the both of you can get for now. You head is on his chest, his jacket around your shoulders as you look up at the stars. Although you don’t notice, he is looking at you, a fondness spreading a warm feeling throughout his body.

Your eyes seem to reflect the light of the stars as you stare off into the abyss of space. A ship streaks by, and a small chuckle escapes your lips.

He raises an eyebrow in confusion. “What?”

“Nothing,” you tell him, drawing your hands into the sleeves of his jacket to keep warm. “Just a memory.”

He pushes a strand of hair from your face, the corners of his lips twitching. “Wanna tell me?”

You pause a moment, tilting your head thoughtfully as if unsure. “Back home,” you begin, “I’d always find buildings with fire escapes so that I could sit on the roof and watch ships.”

He threads his fingers with yours as your attention shifts to another ship.

“I had one of those compasses you could get from the store—maybe a credit or two—and, based on the direction, I’d just imagine where the ships were going….”

You laugh softly, a small smile on your lips. “There was really no logic to it…it was just fun.

“Sometimes I’d bring a holopad and take virtual ‘walks’ down the streets of some old Naboolian city, or some foreign Deep Core metropolis, or some bustling Corellian bazaar.

“And all of that would just turn into long nights of dreaming about leaving home and traveling the galaxy. I could spend hours doing that, just seeing endless visions of fantasies and my wildest dreams, thoughts of wanderlust and yearning to see and feel…to experience…the entire galaxy.”

He finds himself enamored by the way you speak, the way your eyes seem to cloud over as you relive the past.

“Well you get to travel in this job now, right?” he asks.

You hum in agreement, the smallest frown appearing. “Yes, but not everywhere I’d want to go.”

“Where do you want to go?”

You rattle off city and planet names, sometimes entire systems. He smiles at your childlike excitement as mentions of certain places make your entire face light up. The way you jolt slightly as you enthusiastically remember a crucial place you’d forgotten. The way your hands move as you speak.

The list is long, but Maker knows that the both of you have your entire life ahead.

“We’ll go some day,” he tells you as you finish. “Once the war is over. Once we’ve won.”

You smile. “Yeah?”

He nods. “One day, sweetheart. I promise,” he murmurs. “One day.”

Poe is now not so sure that that one day will ever come.

..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::..

He wakes hours later to a frantic banging on his door. He resists the urge to ignore it. He’d miraculously fallen asleep fairly quickly, and getting out of bed would spoil that.

A warbling sounds at the door, followed by a series of beeps. His droid.

He groans, rubbing his eyes and stumbling out of bed before flinging open the entrance to his quarters.

BB-8 is there, already speaking at a million miles per hour. Poe pleads with the droid to slow down as the pilot’s brain slowly comprehends and translates the binary in his sleepy state.

But when Poe is through with his understanding, his eyes widen at the single sentence.

“They’ve found her.”

..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::.. ..::::..

Taglist: @paper-in-ashes-fanfiction @imaginecrushes @no-shit-sherl0ck @castiel-barnes @starryeyedstories

“City Midnights” Chapter 2 originally posted on AO3 on 12/11/20.

#poe dameron #poe dameron x reader #star wars #poe dameron fanfiction #sw writing #Star Wars fanfiction #tfa #tlj #tros

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silver-wield · 4 years

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Final Fantasy 7R review

I finished the game this morning and I already have regrets that there’s nothing left for me to do besides replay and anxiously wait for news of the next installment. I want more. I want to not have finished it yet. I need to know what happens next, not just in the updated story, but with the game mechanics, too. I’m happy the team is taking their time to make the game as good as it deserves to be, but on the other hand I wanna throw a toddler tantrum demanding the rest of my game!

Beware, spoilers.

The bad stuff

To be fair, not a lot from where I’m sitting. I’ve seen people bitch about textures and how the scrap yards don’t look dynamic enough and some stuff is flat, but seriously, why are yall looking at the walls? They’re the least interesting thing about the game and you’re just nitpicking. The graphics overall were amazing and I stopped multiple times just to rotate the camera and take in this massive city we actually get to really explore for the first time ever!

I have to admit a slight disappointment in the amount of space, verbally, that was happening. There were times where I expected characters to make comments and they said nothing. Things were overlooked or just not addressed and it wasn’t even anything plot related, just a point where there could have been dialogue and it didn’t happen. It wasn’t often, but those few times the air was left dead I noticed it. The most notable time was in chapter 17, right after Sephiroth appeared on the gangway. Now, I get them being too shocked to say anything when he’s right in front of them, but after, when they separate and fall into two groups? Nothing? No comment? Tifa, I definitely expected to say something in a shocked tone, but even after they found Cloud again, she didn’t mention it. It was like the moment didn’t happen. I know the other times nobody else but Cloud saw him, but this time they saw him, and he’s linked to Tifa’s past too, so she definitely should’ve had some kind of comment in that empty space.

That was the only major point, but other small ones were when people were talking and one character remains silent. The only one I expect to never speak if he doesn’t have to is Cloud. Because it’s Cloud. Everyone else should have something to say. Like when they climbed the stairs. If you took the stairs - I was all done in from so many fights and just wanted a break - then you got hilarious commentary from Barret, Cloud and Tifa. It showed how close they’ve become. Cloud made a joke! His second one of the game! If you missed the first, it’s likely because you obsessed over him going on about money all the time and saying that’s all he cares about when he’s with Tifa. So, yeah, after being shown how the group can talk to each other and banter I’m hoping Square adds more chatter to the next game. I know some people prefer less chatter, but this is a group of people who are supposed to be shown as friends, so conversation is important.

The other thing that got on my nerves was the mechanics of the weapons upgrade. Unless I missed a shortcut, having to go out of each one and then into the next one instead of just switching over to the next weapon’s skill tree. It took a long time to level things up and I wish there was an option in the auto to just unlock every skill one at a time, so they’d do it on auto without me having to go in there. And the ATB. That got on my nerves. I’m lazy af, so I’d like for action to just pause whenever someone’s atb fills so I can give them a command and then go back to the battle instead of having one eye on all the atbs. It’s probably more classic than Square wants to go with it, but having that as a battle option would be nice and a further throwback to the old style of gameplay.

The good

Everything from chapter 3 onwards. The intro chapters were good, too, but I really just wanted to dig into the game and that didn’t happen until chapter 3. The VAs killed it! Graphics were amazing! The weapon abilities were fun and added something different to the regular gameplay style of just grabbing the next strongest weapon. Side quests were enjoyable and I wish there was more of them, especially a save the citizens for after the plate fell. That really would've hammered home the tragedy.

The story

I’ve seen people - mostly OG fans - bashing the new elements. Sure, the whispers are a weird angle to come at it from, but the explanation for them, that they’re trying to maintain the OG storyline, made for an interesting twist on a 25 year old story. Sephiroth’s early appearance was just something that had to happen, along with a Jenova fight, because, come on, this section of the OG was like 3hrs worth of content and this is 40hrs, so ofc they had to include new things and it matches with the new storyline and I think people need to release their death grip on the OG storyline and enjoy this game for what it is.

I found the ripple effect(?) interesting too. From what we learned, the OG happened in the future. If things hadn’t changed that’s the future everyone was heading towards. Ok, cool, pretty simple.

This timeline had small changes. Biggs, Wedge and Jessie survived!? Or did Wedge finally get shoved off a building at the end, I really couldn’t tell if he bought it that time, but if he did I’m mad cause he was adorable. The plate falling didn’t have as big a casualty number as originally, either. And Hojo almost spilled the beans to Cloud early, but was cut off, and that’s the other thing Cloud ignored in dialogue afterwards, but it’s Cloud, so we’ll give him a security pass for that. The others ignoring his Ptsd induced freak outs isn't cool though and I expect Square to fix that level of callousness towards him from the others.

Those are the only two changes from the OG. Sephiroth showing up early instead of in Nibelheim doesn’t really matter. He’s his usual cryptic asshole self and his goal is unchanged. The team just knows he’s the big bad earlier now and have a solid goal instead of just randomly wandering after they leave Midgar. So, yeah, does Biggs, Wedge and Jessie living make a big difference overall? Will that ripple from them being alive make further changes?

We also saw that Zack survived because of our team, but the Zack in their timeline is still dead. I think we saw it this way because the planet is trying to find a way to prevent being hit with Meteor and ending up with geostigma, so the OG timeline, everything was still bad. Our timeline gives possibilities for a slightly better future and then the timeline behind it - the one with Zack - offers even better odds, not that we’ll see that. That’s the timeline I think Aerith will live through, so that way Square can say Aerith lives, just not in the game we play now.

Shipping

I’m not into wars, so if you love Aerith, cool good for you, I was focused on building affinity with Tifa and Square didn’t disappoint! There were so many romantic moments between them! And damn do they have chemistry! I squeed at such a high pitch the dog next door started howling! All the small touches, longing looks, affection, support, trust and OMGOSH IT WAS JUST THE BEST!!! They were so damn cute!!

I have no idea how the game changes if you focus on Aerith and to be honest I don’t want to. I think that’s what I love about the options for that. You can choose and no one can say your choice isn’t valid.

One thing though, I would like an end to it because it’s 25 years of people arguing and it’s made the entire fandom toxic af and it’s actually the reason I avoid most of the final fantasy discourse because people can’t be civil to each other. Square should finally say once and for all that Cloud/ is canon and the other isn’t, instead of throwing a bone to them and being all “maybe if things were like this”, like no, pull on your big boy pants, Square, man tf up like Barret on a mission, and tell people who is the canon pairing in this damn game so people can just stfu and enjoy playing it without getting flamed.

This is why I want a FF8R because at least there’s no doubt who the couple is in that one.

Smol stuff

I’ve seen complaints about new characters being 1 dimensional, but they’re new characters in a game series that’s a trilogy, so they’re likely gonna appear again. Roche seemed added not just to give Cloud a boss to fight in the bike event, but also to show there’s other SOLDIERs beyond Cloud and Zack and the ones from Crisis Core, which not everyone has played.

Same goes for Leslie. I liked that dude and I’m interested to see him pop up again. His design wasn’t the typical bad guy henchman, easily disposed, thank you very much for playing. He has a story and I’m betting that’s not the last we see of him.

Again, same goes for Cloud’s infantry buddies. I’ve not played CC, but I get they’re from that, so will we see them again at some point? What about other CC characters?

Best Bits

Cloud in a dress. “Nailed it, thank you, moving on.”

Cloud dancing. Boy got moves and I wanna see him dance again!

Cloud/Tifa. Complimenting her like a smooth mutherfucker.

Cloud/Tifa Battle couple. They were my absolute favourite fighting combo and definitely kicked all the ass!

Cloud/Tifa. All the shipping bits, but especially jumping off the train and then trusting her to go kick Corneo’s ass. That’s how you show you know your girl

Wedge. Kitty momma

Biggs death. Damn you, Square, you got me all choked up.

Red. Specifically the bit where he highfived Barret with his tail lool

Barret. “Damn it, Red.”

Reno. Just Reno in general killed me. Love his conscience though and that he’s not a 1 trick pony.

Tifa/Aerith. Had more chemistry than Aerith/Cloud. Yeah, I said it.

Barret and Marlene. Such a good daddy! His expression with her was like a whole different person!

Aerith bitchslapping a would-be rapist with a chair.

Cloud/Tifa/Aerith teamup to threaten Don Corneo’s balls - though I only include Aerith since she was there and she was about as threatening as a cupcake.

Conclusion

I want moar! I really hope the next one comes out soon! It’s not the same as OG, but has the best bits of OG along with something new to bring in a new generation of fans. The alt timeline angle feels fresh and open to possibilities and I’m excited to play this game for what it is, instead of comparing it and demanding for the OG like a crusty whisper lool

#final fantasy 7 remake #ffviir #FF7R review spoilers #FF7R spoilers #FFVIIR game review #I fucking loved this #I'm just sad it's over for now

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elmidol · 4 years

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A Sentence Served

Three Blind Tooke Part Three Death is an Art

Read on AO3

Warnings: injuries, death

Three Blind Tooke

Part Three: Death is an Art

Chapter Forty-Nine: A Sentence Served

It was a different side that I saw,

And it left me in a great state of awe.

Blaster bolts streaked past you and Kylo, slamming into the trees and ground. You winced as you listened to the destruction, felt a certain amount of guilt as you always did whenever a planet became a casualty in the war. Birds and animals were screeching in protest and terror; their homes were being destroyed. Some battles were more well contained. Others, like this one, had a wider range of damage. Rationalizing these losses was something you were incapable of. Thus you did not let yourself dwell on them for very long. Dismissed them to instead focus on surviving, and looked for new openings to shoot down more of the TIEs that sought to kill you and the man you were with. Kylo Ren was no less graceful in his movements as a swordsman than he had been when in possession of his sense of sight. You marveled over these skills for a breath in unison with readjusting your grip on your weapon.

Kylo extended his left arm, his fingers bent as he fought to focus on the Force to slow one of the bolts that would have killed you had you not been given a fraction of a second longer to move. If the ysalamir hadn’t been present, he possibly could have frozen that blast. You glanced at the scorched ground where you had been moments before. The hole. Kylo had thrust himself in the opposite direction. The increased distance helped the two of you right then. The TIEs moved in an arc, two of them splitting apart, another two hitting into one another. Once more you were forced to change your location; this time, however, it was in order to avoid getting caught up in the wreckage of enemy ships.

You were running on adrenaline. This was one way that you were able to fall into sync with Kylo as much as you had. A battle was a battle, and it taking out targets and large threats was what you had trained for. When you looked through your scope at Phasma, you found that her shield remained active. One of the troopers that aided in strengthening that barrier fell dead. You gave a nod to yourself prior to turning, aiming at another. You fired off the shot then rose to your feet. Above you, the TIEs continued to roar. They fixated on Kylo Ren; only firing on you when you were on their way. That worked to your advantage. You targeted one of those TIEs. Kylo hardly reacted as your blast tore through the ship, which erupted in flames.

Again did you kneel to focus your attention on those guarding Phasma. The Knight hadn’t yet fired, which you took to mean he was biding his time. A wise move, you noted. You managed three shots this time before you were forced to take cover as more TIEs descended. Rolling your eyes, you tallied how many resources the First Order had been allowed to pull together to create their fleet. Planets stripped, people enslaved. It sickened and angered you. Those strong sentiments fueled your actions on the battlefield. Kept you going though your muscles protested the constant motion.

Supreme Leader Kylo Ren closed the distance that had been allowed to form between you and him. He had deactivated his lightsaber, which proved to make it more difficult for the TIEs to follow his movements. The man touched the small of your back just as you were taking in a deep breath. You tensed at the contact, your lungs feeling like they were on fire. The physical contact had jerked you back to the present, which served to highlight every sensation in your body. You wiped your brow with the back of your arm.

“Are the ysalamir more effective because of your blindness?” you asked, not cruelly. Kylo Ren had not removed his hand from your person. When you had tensed, he had instead shifted the limb to an area that allowed you to relax. He grunted in response, not an affirmation, but nothing to express disagreement either. In retrospect, it had been a foolish question. That kind of information would give you, and the Resistance, leverage in the future. “Well… You don’t need the Force or your vision to know that I’m tiring.” The way you were breathing heavily was a dead giveaway. You spared the man a quick look to discover amusement had crept into his expression.

Without saying anything further, the pair of you sought shelter from the TIEs. They did not have a lock on either of you. Remaining where you had been would offer them the high ground, so to speak.

“You’re doing well,” Kylo said after you had urged him behind a large boulder. It would serve as a temporary shield while you fired off—or so you hoped—three shots. You did not reply to his words verbally, however mentally you cursed him. “Sometimes I thought you felt too damaged to love, to be loved.” You had to correct your grip on your blaster. It had slipped. Inhaling through your nose, you positioned your finger at the trigger without pulling it. Sure enough, Kylo Ren had not finished what he wanted to say. “With Rey as well, you worried that you were too toxic for her. Does the poison ever fade?” He was either playing another mind game with you, or he was expressing approval of your transformation away from him. Perhaps it was a mixture of the two. “I wondered that too. Do you end up alone? Dead in all ways aside from true mortality.”

Both of you had come back from death, and it had changed you. That change was not the same as erasing the past, something that could never happen, not really. His words explained how he justified his actions to himself. To become cold and calculating—Captain Phasma was much the same. On the battlefield, cold, a survivalist. Allowing her troops to be mowed down so that she could live. Cannon fodder, every last one of them.

You hated killing, you hated how easy it had become for you. This was not, if you sat down and thought about it, who you wanted to be. Which was why you couldn’t sit down to think about it. Why you shoved it away that line of thinking to focus instead on the TIE, the one that would spin into a second, which would hopefully rain down in pieces on the stormtroopers below.

A single shot killed a minimum of eight including the two pilots of the TIEs. You took a second. A third. The second killed only one individual. The third damaged the shield that was protecting Phasma. If the Knight was able to get a good enough angle, he would injure her. Not kill, no. An injury could make all the difference.

Both you and Kylo Ren were on your feet, and running for a new position before one of the TIEs screamed your way. You glanced skyward then smirked. The Order of Ren was arriving. As for how many ships would come, that you couldn’t say. The Supreme Leader had spoken vaguely, presumably in a code.

This advantage could be shortlived if Captain Phasma had ally ships lying in wait close to the system. All she would have to do was call for them. You felt sick to your stomach at the thought of losing this battle. Not because you would die either. It was the knowledge that the children would die. Those younglings would have become bait for the First Order to take out their rivals, the Order of Ren. For the Resistance, if the First Order and Order of Ren managed to eliminate one another in a battle, that would not be all too bad. Not like this though. It would strengthen the First Order. They would once more be the top dogs in this war. The children would die for nothing; not that you wished for them to die at all.

Still winded, it took you longer to find proper cover. The TIEs were engaging with the Order of Ren’s fleet as they arrived, but that did not mean all of them had yet left. One shot at you; though its blast missed, the rocks it sent flying dug into your flesh and drew blood. You grunted and lost your footing. The blaster you had been using was wrenched out of your hands. Looking up, your eyes widened in surprise as Kylo blindly took aim. He fired four times. Of those times, only one hit its mark. That was all it took. The TIE that had been circling back to finish you off exploded. The wreckage rained upon the ground, shrapnel flying in the direction of Phasma’s troops.

You tracked the subsequent damage as much as you could, pleased to see that the shield protecting Phasma from the Knight of Ren waiting to take her life visibly weakened. It was difficult to tell if it was enough to where the Knight could take that shot. His angle would be different than yours, which was also a key factor.

Kylo Ren seized your upper arm and tugged you onto your feet. You swayed in place. Exhaustion was setting in, and it was perhaps a far more deadly enemy than Phasma on this battlefield. That you were reliant upon Kylo in any capacity should have unnerved you. But it did not. It merely echoed your history with him as an unwilling guest then as his wife when you had gone on missions with Rey. The man’s grip was not harsh though in some ways you believed it should have been. There was an urgency to keep on the move now that he had taken those shots. Kylo took care to not injure you, though, at the risk of his life.

“You should practice with a blaster more often,” you commented. He grunted, murmuring a response that the ysalamir made simple things more difficult. You replayed the moment in your mind. It wasn’t the ysalamir, you realized; he had angled his body to where, while he was firing, he would still be able to shove you out of the way if the TIE came too close, if its blasts would kill you. The ship was too loud for him to have not heard its screams coming nearer. He would have been able to better aim had you not been there. “Thank you.” He said nothing, but his thumb shifted on your arm in a quick caress. “In answer to your earlier question: I think it depends… We have to learn to forgive ourselves so that we won’t be trapped in that state of limbo or in a personal hell. If we don’t then the toxicity never ends.”

There was no time for him to give a proper response if that had been something he desired. The dog fighting had started in full; the Order of Ren and First Order TIEs ignoring you to engage with one another. That meant that you had to take care to not get caught in the crossfire from blasts that were dodged by either side. Kylo tugged you along. He did not seem tired in the least, and you were grateful for this fact. You did not want to die. More specifically, you did not want to die by a blast that was meant for another.

More wreckage spilled upon Phasma and her troops. You felt a savage grin spreading across your face as a familiar blaster bolt cut through a portion of her shield. This was followed in rapid succession by two more, the last of which pierced her shoulder. Had it hit a second sooner, it would have gone through her back and chest. The woman stumbled forward, dropping into a defensive crouch. Those around her adjusted themselves as well. Not out of any sense of self-preservation. They were willing to die for her. You could have rolled your eyes with the knowledge that those sentiments would never be reciprocated even if banthas learned to fly.

“Hand me…. Oof.” You placed a hand on your chest, feeling rather winded. As you were opening your mouth to retry the request, Kylo handed you the weapon. You grunted words of gratitude in unison with taking position. You would focus on once more damaging the shield that kept Phasma safe. The Knight could take her out if you played your cards correctly. You stared through your scope. There were a handful of weak points, but you needed to end this as quickly as possible. Nothing could be left to chance.

I slay monsters, you thought. Shadows played on one of the stormtroopers in particular. It was easy to see the fake creature of darkness in those designs. Set aside humanity. Become something more ugly to eliminate the feral monsters that would destroy everything that you loved. That would drag the galaxy into a bloodbath that would last until the end of time. Would enslave everyone. You took the shot, which ricocheted due to the shields, creating more holes. The Knight of Ren followed your lead. Another two shots that were in rapid succession. Both hit only shield. But it was Phasma’s personal shield, which flickered then faded.

As more wreckage fell upon the troops on the ground, the likelihood that Phasma would be injured or killed increased. One of the TIEs from the First Order screamed away from the dogfighting to pursue the hidden Knight that had fired upon the woman. Another resumed seeking Kylo Ren. You stumbled forward, and nearly fell. Kylo’s hand on your arm prevented this, although not without a sense of whiplash that gave you a shot of pain. You tensed up as you felt the muscle in your shoulder pull. There was no time to focus on that, just as there was no time to observe the fate of the blonde woman. You hoped that she was already dead. Even though, yes, a sick part of you wanted to witness that death. For all that she had done. Not only to Kylo Ren and you. The things she had done for the First Order. For herself. The countless people she had killed. For the monster that she had willingly become.

It was not a blaster bolt that hit you. Whatever TIE had been aiming for you, or Kylo, it had missed. Whether it was a First Order or an Order of Ren TIE that fell to the ground only second later, that you did not know. Pieces broke off, one of which bounced hard enough on the ground that it came at you. You and Kylo pushed away from one another to avoid it. Unfortunately, you were not quite fast enough. Durasteel bit into your leg. Your vision swam. Blinking repeatedly as you tried to refocus, you found that you were looking up at the sky. Kylo was with you. His voice was calm as he questioned you. Words that your mind was not processing, the same as it was failing to process the pain. Not that you were complaining about that.

In your peripheral, the first thing you noticed was that his hands were moving. Those black-garbed limbs working along something that seemed to glow as he...was he pouring his power into it? Or was it something that was controlling him? Some sort of artifact, perhaps?

“If that’s dark magic, I don’t want it,” you managed, although your words were mangled with the hisses of pain that did not fail to leave you. The man offered no response. You shouldn’t have expected one, but for some reason you had. You had thought he would give at least some sarcastic comeback. Chastise you. His silence bespoke of his concentration, which reinforced the knowledge that this was some kind of magic at least.

You could feel a warmth spreading in your leg that was different than the searing heat of pain that had lanced through it along with the durasteel. Kylo dropped one hand away from the object he was using to work the durasteel out of you. Blood bubbled forth, albeit not as much as you believed should given the circumstances. You lifted your torso as best you could; adrenaline was making you tremble, making you shaky. Your teeth chattered even as you watched the wound begin to close. This was not dark magic, you thought while furrowing your brow. Your eyes darted to the object in Kylo’s hand. Now that you had a better look at it, it appeared to be some sort of crystal. Was he studying the Light side of the Force as well as the Dark side?

Your mind began to race with words he had spoken to you; the statement of this war having so many more layers. That he wanted to connect with Rey again on some level—in this case, it would be through you—had you curious now as to whether it was to achieve some strange balance. A balance wherein Dark was no longer viewed as a perversion in the Force. From what little you did understand based on conversations with Luke Skywalker and Leia, Rey and Finn, as well as what you had been taught as a child, the Dark side of the Force had always been something that prevented balance.

Or was it simply that Kylo, who was hungry for power, was willing to learn techniques from both sides to ensure greater chances of success in ruling the galaxy?

You drew your healed leg nearer to your body, cupping your hands on its knee and resting your forehead on the backs of them. Your breathing had grown more ragged despite that you were no longer injured. Kylo, too, was winded. He had used some of his energy to tend to you. This knowledge threatened to bring tears to your eyes. As it was, you felt like there was something thick in your throat, and your chest was so heavy. The same hands that ended so many lives, those hands had saved yours multiple times. They were plenty capable of healing.

“Is she dead?” The question left from your lips, and it did not leave you feeling anything except numbness. No concern. No apprehension. You were certain that you would be able to handle either a positive or negative response.

Kylo reached forward and cupped your chin with three fingers. He turned your head so that you looked him in the face. “She was injured. The battle has not ended, not yet. It is Hux who controls the First Order. These soldiers, though they value Phasma, they are his.” They had been trained, had been conditioned, to fight until the death. The thought made your stomach roil. Finn’s face flashed in your mind’s eye; how many more were like him? “She will fall.”

You let yourself collapse towards the side against his body. The Order of Ren’s Supreme Leader touched your side. His loose grasp urged you ever closer. Because you had not been moving, the adrenaline that had previously coursed through you now left you. The exhaustion hit in full. Fingers traced along the injury that no longer existed. The Force being used to heal another, it offered a new perspective. Either Finn or Rey, or maybe both, they could excel in such abilities. It would be useful in this war as well as when the war had ended.

That was a strange thing to think: the Force in settings beyond the battlefield. Though you had witnessed it for yourself, this would be much different. And it had you again picturing scenarios of what might have been. Kylo never turning to the Dark, choosing to fight alongside his mother. The war ending as those in the line of Skywalker fought against Snoke and the First Order. Healing others.

“You walk a most dangerous path.” You wanted to comment that he knew you better than he should. It was silence that surrounded the pair of you in the end.

The sounds of the battle grew louder as they became your focus. The TIEs remained away from your location. You assumed that the Order of Ren had been able to locate its leader and now worked to keep him safe while he was on the ground. Their loyalty was commendable. Those who had left the First Order to join Kylo Ren, they were in a strange way similar to those who had ignored the New Republic’s view that Leia Organa was a warmonger in order to join the Resistance. It was the choices that were made that showed one’s true colors. It was the choices made, things that could not be undone, that made your fantasies so dangerous. Because it was the realization that a part of you, regardless of everything that had occured, wanted to choose him. That part wished to discover a means of making fantasy into reality.

The familiar sensation of leather gloves on your cheek had you turning your head to once more look at him. “Will we ever stop destroying one another?” The question could have come from your lips, but it had come from his. Your eyes dropped to his mouth. “You could join me. She will. She will learn that Skywalker is misguided.”

“Not anymore.” He shook his head. “He failed you in ways, but you failed yourself.”

“No. I became myself.”

How were you to answer that? Your mouth had opened with a readied response that disappeared. He said so little, yet there was a depth to that simple statement. He became himself. What had he been before that? An idea. Trying to live up to some idea? It was much like how you had been. The idea that your mother had for you. Well intentioned though it always was, it hadn’t been you. You had left by making the choice to become… To become yourself, you thought.

It was why, in the end, you had been fated to become enemies. You had chosen different paths. When it came to Rey, she toed the line in between. The young woman was good, her choices were aligned with the Light side of the Force in the same way that Kylo's were with the Dark. Yet it was the Light that drew her to want to help Kylo Ren. In that she was different than you. It was a spiritual bond that had been developed through the Force. Something that was quite possibly predestined. That had developed outside of their choices. It had been forced upon them. The raw and naturally developed bonds you had with each of them, that was where you felt torn.

"What are you wanting me to tell her? To tell them?" You had not forgotten that he had his eyes set on Finn as well. Two Force users, young and not fully trained, that he wished to steal out from under his uncle's wing.

You could feel his nose in your hair. Heard him inhaling your scent. Refamiliarizing himself with you.

"My uncle feared my power. He feared what I would become...and he was jealous. Rey is the same...perhaps more in tune with the Light side of the Force, but she is not different. In terms of power and abilities, she is the other half. If you believe that I view her only as a tool, you should know that your bias blinds you to the truth. A new generation of Jedi… They are mere weapons in this war."

Your thoughts wandered to how you had always felt about the Force, about those who could wield it. Before you had had personal contact with its practitioners. Most spoke of them as fighters. They focused on the battles and wars fought by Force sensitives. Not about the healing abilities. Very little in regards to the ancient religions that respected the Force.

As much as you wanted to believe that Luke and Leia were not like that, you worried about all the others. The hatred so many possessed for Darth Vader. The myths of Luke Skywalker, some of which demonized the man. Leia being viewed differently once her true parentage had been revealed. But for Rey to turn to the Dark because of that...out of fear. Fear led to the Dark side. You better understood that now.

"She closes herself off, fights against the bond." For a moment you turned away without breaking the loose embrace in which he had you. It was easier to listen to his words while watching the Order of Ren force the First Order into submission. They were in possession of fewer ships. Underdogs could win. The Resistance was not defeated. You would carry this message to Rey and to Finn with the knowledge that hope persisted. "I know she believes that I am working to strengthen it. There is no time for me to devote my energies to such a feat. There is more. I could sense his power through her." This was not Skywalker he was referring to. It was Finn. "He means something to her. Has bonded with her as they train together. I can sense her fear as well. She fears me, that I do this to the bond...because she fears her own powers as they grow."

Power that Kylo wished to wield. It was thus strange to you that he wouldn't feed that fear so that she submitted to the Dark. Except that fear made her hate him. It would be cruel to not relay the message, and it would be risky to carry it. Either way would change how she felt on a level that would alter her bond with Kylo Ren. It would possibly pique Finn's curiosity. He was new to his powers as well.

"I wished to teach her the ways of the Dark, but I have learned better. She is strongest in the Light." He turned to face the battlefield, upon which corpses were desecrated by yet more blaster bolts. "Death feeds this war. I am willing to kill...you are as well. Don't give me that look." You wondered how he knew. "It is their fear of the Dark that will ensure the battles never end. I choose differently. I will accept her as Light while I master the Dark.

"I would offer you the children, but to give them to the Resistance is a sure death. Instead you can rest well knowing they are safe with me. They are the future—a future you will be a part of when you join me along with Rey and...Finn." It was a conscious choice to use the man's name instead of his former stormtrooper identity.

You pressed the heel of your hand to your forehead hard enough that the popping pain you had started to experience lessened. Temptation never ceased. You were more ready for the war to end than ever before, knew there rang a level of truth to his words. However you also knew that to agree would mean working to kill Luke Skywalker and possibly Leia Organa as well. The greatest fantasy you would ever be able to entertain was one in which the Resistance and Order of Ren joined forces that found a true middle ground that would end the war once the First Order was defeated.

You were like a supernova, and he was like a black hole. Which had to mean that eventually you would become just like him, didn't it?

Were you both just too damaged that your only purpose now was to consume? Did the toxicity ever truly go away?

The gloved hand that you touched stiffened as you initiated contact. This was the limb that had healed you. The hand that belonged to a man willing to accept some level of Light when for so long you thought that impossible. There remained room for more choices, those decisions ones that would change the outcome of the war and of your fates. Before the day was done, Phasma would be dead. One large threat eliminated because you, from the Resistance, had worked together with Kylo, from the Order of Ren.

The last of the First Order TIEs was defeated. Its pieces crashed down on the planet’s surface. Some of them flattened the stormtroopers that had been continuing their pursuit of Kylo Ren. The TIEs belonging to the Order of Ren fell upon the remaining troops. There was no way, you knew, that Phasma would be able to survive such an assault. The hairs on the back of your neck stood on end. The ysalamir would be killed as well. You felt your stomach lurch at this knowledge. The Supreme Leader would not risk the chance of the Resistance obtaining any of the creatures. In return for this move, it meant that he would not be able to use them against Skywalker.

He had healed you. He had killed Phasma, in part, for you.

“I’ll deliver your message.” The hand held tightly in yours did not pull away.

He worked to master the Dark yet was capable of healing. What did that mean for Rey? There was a chance, he was correct, that she could still join him. This message that you would take to her, it would potentially change the course of the war.

#kylo ren x reader #kylo x reader #kylo ren smut #kylo ren imagine #three blind tooke #elmidolfanfic #death is an art

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