I don't get the Master Eight part. =/ Unless it's supposed to sound like something lewd? Idk. Could someone explain it to me?

Let me preface this review by saying: I am a fangirl. I tend to read a lot of less than satisfactorily written stories for the sake of, well, gay. And I pretty much subscibe to the school of thought that is AU, because then the Nobodies can have hearts and 'get it on' as the kids are calling it these days. At the same time, I see the obviously inherent flaws in the fanfiction I read. I get that, really, the Nobodies don't quite have the capibility to love, and you'll never hear me saying 'AkuRoku is canon because it's so kawaii!' But I still tend to stay away from canon stories. And stories without, you know, uh, what do they call it...'yaoi.' That. What I'm saying is: it's quite surprising that I went ahead and read this. It's actually downright /weird/. But I read it anyway and, oh good lord, am I glad that you did.

Now, okay, I am a fangirl. So, I like Riku and Axel and Roxas and Marluxia and Zexion, but my real love lies with Luxord and Xigbar. So, I'm not totally lost to the 'must look like a young girl' side of things. But Vexen? I tend to forget about him. It's not because I find him ugly or not...gay enough, or something. It's because I never really played CoM through and through, the card system killed the game for me and I abandoned it and filled in the gaps by reading up on it online. Meaning all I really heard about Vexen was that he made a fake Riku and then, um, died sometime after. I never really felt one way or another about him as a result, since he didn't seem to do much of anything. Lexaeus also falls into this category. Zexion peaked my interest more, as he's painted as the main antagonist for Riku's side of the story. Plus, okay, he's pretty. But those two aside, Vexen - well, it's weird to say this about a fanfiction, but this story really made me like him. Not so much like him, actually, as appreciate him as a character. The more of this I read and the more I thought about it, the more interesting he became to me. Hell, he's downright fascinating. And his relationship with Xemnas! Augh, perfect love/hate. Well. More obsession/hate, really. But, just...amazing dynamics between those two.

As said, my favorite Organization members are Xigbar and Luxord. And they were great here as well. Xigbar's personality was perfect: laid-back, and yet involved, perceptive in his own way. I only missed his 'surfer dude' linguistics. It might have felt out of place here, but I did miss that distinction in his personality. And Luxord. There's not much to say about the well-groomed gambler besides: well played. He's not much of a prescence in the story, but I did love the parts he played, especially his explanation of the numbers that leads one to, of course, realize the significance of the story's title.

All the other characters were wonderful as well, I just noticed those two in particular, as I lean towards them by bias anyway.

Axel was portrayed as so annoying, which was perfect, because he is, especially if you're Vexen. Marluxia just screamed 'I am planning something, ha, ha, ha' to me, which is, of course, what he was doing. Zexion, oh, true to form, he was mysterious as ever, but I could really see that, he, out of all of them, seemed to care the least about things. He threw out his opinions here and there, but he was terribly detached, and by terribly, I mean wonderfully. Lexaeus was a bit talky for my tastes, but just as smart and willing to act as I would imagine. Xaldin's sideburns, oh wait, I mean, Xaldin was so tactful and to the point. I really enjoyed him far more than I did in the game - probably because, here, he wasn't beating me-as-Sora into pixelated dust. Demyx was Demyx was Demyx. He was just Demyx, to the last bit, naive, cowardly and inquisitive. Saix was creepily obsessive and all-seeing, and I very much liked the take on how he became Xemnas' second-hand-man, so to speak. The man himself, Xemnas, was fascinating in that you only made me dislike him more. In the end, it's his goal, and not anyone else's, that matters. He lies, he manipulates, and he's a magnetic, enigmatic force. Perfect.

Now, I must talk Aerlen. I adore Larxene, femme fatale that she is. She's the one female Kingdom Hearts character who has a place in my heart. She's strong, or at least she seems to be, and from what I've seen, she kicks some ass. Aerlen, though? Oh, lord, she broke my heart. The fact that she was there from near the beginning - I mean, it just made her all the more interesting. You never really know what's going through her mind, but you don't have to, because she's the only one who shows true emotion, so it's obvious how she's feeling. Exaggerated, even, in comparison to the others. And the epilogue - I just...wow. Amazing...is...I think comes close to how it was. But not really. It was almost painful to read. Her 'death' was inevitable, but part of me was wildly hoping she and Vexen would teleport to, oh, I don't know, the 100 Acre Woods and frolic in a meadow. Disturbing imagery, sure enough, but I was simply distraught. I love Larxene - but I didn't want Aerlen to 'die,' and I didn't want her to leave the rest of them behind. Vexen least of all.

You may have noticed this review is very character-based. I'm sorry for that. I'm a character driven person. I value characters so much more than plot that it's almost tragic. So, I'm sorry if I'm giving the impression that I only enjoyed the characters - it's simply my nature to enjoy characters more, is all. That being said, the plot was amazing. From the very beginning, how the story began, how the castle built itself to suit their needs, how they changed over the years, the Darkness and the Dusks, the dark city itself. This story could have been overwhelmingly boring, but it was the complete opposite because of how everything was presented. I mean, there were even funny parts here and there as well. I particularly enjoyed the names the Dusks called them at first. Xaldin, the Whirlywind Dancer, yes. And Xigbar's butterfly coat, so wrong, yet so perfect.

So in case you couldn't tell: I loved this story. And I'm rather sure it's one of only two stories on my favorites list, now, that doesn't involve some sort of slash/gay/yaoi pairing. And now that I'm thinking on it, that's completely sad and typical of me as a sixteen year old girl. Ah, well, I suppose I'll just have to broaden my horizons from now on.

Thank you a thousandfold for writing this story, really. It was beautifully written, I believe I saw only one small mistake in the entire story. And really, if you haven't considered it or gone ahead with it already, you need to write something professionally. You're far too good for fanfiction.

-tweek
p.s.: I'm sorry if there are any horrible typos in this review. I have dyslexia, and I don't have time to spell check this, so there's a rather good chance I misspelled something and didn't realize it!

It took me a long time to bring myself to read the last two chapters. Partly was because I didn't want it to end. The other part was that the opening line of the second to last chapter goes against canon (Xigbar and Zexion's conversation in the Final Mix of KHII) and from the beginning I basically considered this to be canon. I know, it is a stupid reason for taking so long...

Anyway, this whole story was brilliant. The fact that you picked Vexen as the main character, that the whole story was told through his eyes, was an incredible stylistic choice. The characterization was amazing throughout.

My only wish is, if you ever have the time and inspiration, to tell some stories from other points of view in the organization. Zexion is such a mysterious character, in canon and in your story. I would love to see you write from his point of view.

Well, you are on author alert and I recently got an email that you have a new KH story. I'll read it soon. Until then, Thank you for the story and I hope to read many more.

This story has singlehandedly restored my faith not only in Organization XI, but also in Kingdom Hearts as a whole. Damn. That was really, REALLY good. There were so many things I adored about this story, first being the love/hate relationship between Vexen and Aerlen. Never thought I'd want those two to get together, but I did...*sobs* The end was absolutely perfect, nasty decision and all.



"The hems of their jackets fluttered together like two birds struck down while mating."


What a masterful line. Seriously. Whoa.



Not to mention the character dynamics as a whole. THANK YOU for keeping it platonic, getting their personalities right, and keeping legitimate plot points throughout the entire thing. The desire to maintain a nobody identity while surviving (with a new heart), was brilliant. Xemnas was a legitimate leader figure, and you know? I didn't like Axel when he came. I used to fangirl that guy once upon a time. Long ago, galaxy far away, all that jazz. You made the original members compelling enough that I sort of wanted it to remain just them. It couldn't, but I sympathized with Vexen's dislike. He was a great protagonist, and it was a great decision on your part to use him.

Plus your humor rocked. Commenting on the androgyny of certain members, “Alex”/“Lexa” conversation, and Xigbar’s manly raincoat made me grin in particular.

Did I mention how much I loved the backgrounds? Because it would be a crime not to mention them. Lessons with Ansem the Wise, details like Xaldin’s previous efforts to remain clean-shaven, Aerlen’s dislike of storms, Saïx prisoner past-life…

Hell, this was just win. Pure win. You get snaps, brownie points, and the Internet from me. Thanks for taking the time to finish it, and congratulations on a job well done!

Brilliant story. Quite deep, a lovely look into Nobodies. It really does make the most of the idea I feel.

I really do like Vexen, and this story goes on with why I do perfectly. He isn't perfect, of course. But he does have those aspects...

And for people without emotion, it certainly does stir emotion for the reader.

Perhaps the most interesting take was on Xemnas... The one perhaps closest to emotion. Seems interesting how he seemed almost, as said, childish. Yet also level-headed. An odd combination. Then the line that showed what he as to become, the line where he began to think he didn't need a heart.

Couple of references to the future, I noticed

“Do you want to be really good at throwing pens?” for who will probably be Larxene.

So yeah, awesome.

I'm sure you've heard this hundreds of times, but you truly are the most amazing Kingdom Hearts writer ever!

This story is wonderful and the characterization is spot on!

Keep up the good work, sir!

You have a well-written fanfic... about the origins of the Organization... with awesome voice and details...

... I think I love you. (Well, you know what I mean)

Keep up the good work, dude! :D

This is brilliant! the characterisation is spot-on too! Simply wonderful!

I finally read it all, and I loved it! It was written very well (way better than a lot of KH fanfiction on this site...or anywhere period), and I loved how you characterized your characters (especially Axel. He's my favorite character, so I was waiting for him to show up, and when he did, you didn't dissapoint ^-^) The only thing that saddens me is that I wish I knew how they found Larxene's nobody at the end, you know, after what just happened at the end ^-^' But, I guess that's just another story for another time ^-^ Great story, and I hope you keep on writing! God bless =)

This story is so well written and really interesting ^-^ I'm not usually into stories about the Org's origins (there seems to be so much of them) but this one really draws you in! Can't wait to find time to finish the rest :D God bless you :)

I'm not far in on reading, but this already *looks* like a good read.

Wow...that is one great story. Sequel?

Wow, talk about a dramatic (and angsty!) end to such a epic piece. The brief rise and the slow fall of the Organization (or rather, the beginning of the fall) as they start to lose all the traces of humanity they had and into a shell. You've made a rich ride, with enough touch of darkness and length to keep one reading.
It's so great, it should be canon.

Write some more soon! I'll be looking forward to your next piece. ;D

Wow. You really painted how the Organization went from holding a faint echo of feelings to having none at all, and I love the way you set up Aerlen's last moments -- it makes so much about Larxene make so much sense. And Vexen's final cold, almost-rational thoughts -- this was such a good reminder that Nobodies are not, really, that nice, and even though the story wrapped up nicely, I'm still a little sad to see it's over. I enjoyed it immensely.

Interesting. Keep up the good work

-Hermitgenius