#zexion isn't here yet :) but he will be

[firestorm09890]

After being brought back to serve in the “real” Organization against his will, Zexion is forced to reckon not only with people he never thought he would see again, but also feelings Ienzo hoped he would never have to acknowledge.

my fucked up and evil kh3 au fic is a go

[queen-ofsunflowers]

Still thinking about this, so I'm gonna ramble here.

Lore/AU-specific spoilers under the cut

In the AU, Ansem is still king of Radiant Garden. What's the AU-specific part is th rest of the royal family. Of course, Ienzo is included as the adopted prince but both Kairi and Lea

They are all siblings, I will touch upon that more when I finish Lea's AU post.

It is because of a majority of Ansem's own actions that his family falls apart. Of course, Lea and Ienzo had their own roles to play, but their father didn't help.

Ansem doesn't listen to his son when Lea is found changing his mind about nearly committing a treasonous act. He doesn't go through with it but is caught just as he changes his mind and is in a very VERY incriminating position. The punishment for this should be death, but Ansem choses to have another prisoner executed in Lea's place, strip him of his title and banish him.

Lea is a stupid sixteen-year-old at this point. Yet, he has an explanation for why he was about to do what he couldn't bring himself to. He is aware that Radiant Garden is in danger from the darkness beneath it, knows about the pure light his sister's heart had and thought that it was the only way to stop it. He couldn't bring himself to do it, changing his mind at the last minute. That is when he was caught.

But does Ansem listen to him when he tries to explain? No. Anger clouds the mind, disappointment and pain makes the heart break. Lea is trying to explain the danger and that he can find another way (even if it means risking his life). But still, he's ignored and cast out.

This is why by the time Ventus meets him and Isa, both are trying to break into the castle. To find someone, warn them, and maybe even stop the destruction of Radiant Garden.

Ienzo's downfall is the same as it is canonically. Ansem didn't stop the boy from participating in the experiments he set in motion, and though he did try to stop them, it was too late. It leads to the mass production of Heartless and himself being banished. Not long after is when Ienzo loses his heart with the others and becomes Zexion.

What about Kairi though?

All of those actions left her alone without her family. She had her grandmother for a few years, but the old woman passed on shortly before Ienzo disappeared. Her mother had passed shortly after giving birth to her, leading to her being neglected by her own father. She had Lea, she had Ienzo. But they too were eventually taken away because of the domino chain Ansem sent off. It isn't until decades later after the Curse breaks that all three properly reunite and make amends.

Ansem begs for forgiveness before passing on himself in the KH2 events of the AU for all three of them, unaware that two of them are already gone (though he might be aware that Zexion is gone by then, I don't think he knew about Axel).

It's a tragically fucked up situation.

Playing KHII and only now am I realizing how much of a horrible person that Ansem the Wise is in the Once Upon a Kingdom's Heart AU.

Like... he's already done some pretty shitty things in canon, but the AU adds on more.

[fr33sh00tr]

Hockey au hockey au hockey au-

HOCKEY AU!! I hope anon wanted me to go into great detail on this because that's what I'm going to use this opportunity for X] here's some of my favorite parts of the au:

- the reason xigbar is the captain, not xemnas, is bc xem also kiiind of acts like a manager for the team even while being a goalie (I know that's not irl teams work but who cares)

- I don't have too many lines figured out in my head BUT xigbar/xion/saïx is a KILLER line that can get the puck down the ice super fast– they're usually called in for power plays along with roxas and axel. the main defensive pairing is, as you probably guessed, lexaeus and xaldin. they're part of the main penalty kill team, with demyx and luxord.

- larxene is usually the backup goalie to be used whenever xemnas isn't available (due to injury or otherwise). she has an awesome save percentage, but she will attack players indiscriminately, regardless of their team affiliation. she is known to send people to the hospital.

- saïx's shots on goal can get up to 160 mph because he goes a little berserk when shooting. nobody but axel, xemnas, and xigbar know that saïx was one of the best players in radiant garden's hockey team. he loves hockey so much. every time he gets in a fight xemnas usually has to intervene because he is NOT losing and neither zexion nor vexen can pull him off of whoever he is fighting.

- Did I mention they fight amongst themselves all the time because it is a literal miracle they haven't killed each other yet. demyx accidentally high sticked larxene once and she broke his nose. xigbar is known to use his gravity powers to root people to the ice (especially saïx bc despite being captain and alternate they butt heads all the time) so he can beat them up easier. axel will melt the ice under an opponents feet so they trip and fall. this is the tip of the iceberg

- all the other teams in the league hate them SOOO MUCH. the organization seekers have been kicked out of many major cities but they haven't been removed from the league because they're just that! good! at selling tickets. and playing hockey but also selling out arenas.

- the uniforms (and the team) are based off of the new york rangers (they ARE my favorite team, after all...)! specifically, I used mika zibanejad and chris kreider as models for both saïx and xigbar, and igor shesterkin for xemnas. the other members are either not based on anyone or modeled after multiple players (I think luxord might be based off a couple of Carolina Hurricane players, and axel off of the colorado avalanche right wings..?)

- I'm very inconsistent about drawing the logo but it's a purple heart outlined in white with a crack running from the left side, with a white bandage over the end. larxene's goalie stick says "killer" and xemnas' says "superior".

- they all go out to dinner after they win a game :) it is like one of the only times they are cordial with each other

- typical penalties: xemnas is prone to holding; xigbar gets slashing; lexaeus and xaldin usually get crosschecking calls; saïx racks up all minor penalties but mostly hooking and roughing; axel, demyx, AND luxord all get high sticking calls constantly; marluxia gets charging and boarding penalties all the time; larxene gets fighting, spearing, hooking, holding, etc, etc. xion and roxas barely get any penalties except slew footing and tripping. all of them garner unsportsmanlike conduct penalties to varying degrees.

this is so long SORRY LMAO also here's some bonus hockey doodles i never posted here. the berserker goalie was my sister's idea i think it would be funny if the org used lesser nobodies when they practiced

[sekhmet-rye]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28971531/chapters/71095965

Secrets Best Left Buried

How to Fall

There was a part of Ienzo which didn't want to be here. Not in front of this computer, not helping these people. This was the part of him which yearned to stand by Xemnas, learn from Xemnas, as he used to, for nine whole years of his life. Ten if he counted the years learning from the white haired apprentice Xehanort as well. Ansem the Wise may have taught him first, but it was his fellow apprentice and then his Superior who had taught him the most.

But Ienzo couldn't have that anymore. Now he was working to defeat Xemnas.

But why? The voice of Zexion cried from deep within his heart. Why do we need to defeat him? It was a question that Ienzo always pushed aside. Never acknowledged.

Because what Xemnas is doing is wrong. That was his head's response. Logical, cold, fact. His heart still questioned it. Why was it wrong? He had asked Dilan once and had received a look which had said "you already know why." It had been a wry smile, as if Dilan though Ienzo had been asking in sarcasm. The man had given Ienzo some of Even's old notes and told him to think less and just do what his heart was guiding him to do.

Somehow Ienzo didn't think that Dilan meant "listen to the voice of your Nobody." Ienzo wasn't even sure if Dilan or Aeleaus knew that Zexion's voice was a longing in Ienzo's heart. So Ienzo never raised the question again. He knew what he was supposed to say, and so he said that. His perfect script, hiding the questions and words he wanted to release.

All the while, Ienzo worked and worked, trying to remake Vexen's work from Even's old notes while the man himself was missing. Was he with the Organisation? Why can't I be back with the Organisation? The Organisation needs replicas... I could help... help Lord Xemnas, like I used to.

Swallowing that thought, Ienzo looked at the data yet again. In it's current state he could do nothing. Without a replica, even the data from Ansem the Wise couldn't be used and Ienzo had no way of creating replicas.

"Just summon a dark corridor," Zexion whispered. "Find the replicas you need, go to Castle Oblivion, go to The World That Never Was, get what you need."

Yes... Ienzo wanted to do that. But... He hadn't been able to since becoming a Somebody again. Not for lack of trying either, everyday he tried when he woke up, and when he went to sleep. And once the drowning disappointment came, he continued with his day. In a way, Ienzo was jealous of Lea. He could still open the corridors. The blue-silver haired teen's hand went to grip the binding of the Book of Retribution... but all that his fingers closed around was thin air. Shaking his head, Ienzo brought his hand to his chin.

"We've come a long way to reconstructing Roxas' heart," he murmured to himself, using his voice to centre his thoughts and focus on his task at hand. Helping Roxas. "But a vessel... without that... Yeah, right. Bodies don't grow on trees, Ienzo."

"But they can be created," Zexion's voice whispered again. "Vexen had almost perfected his replicas!"

"It's the back-up plan or nothing now," the teen continued, ignoring the voice of his heart. "But the back-up plan isn't a true solution."

"You know what the solution is," Zexion's voice hissed in frustration. Ienzo pushed his heart aside again. We don't do that anymore, Ienzo. ... but why? Alas his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a dark corridor opening behind him, a sound so normal to him that he didn't react. It was to the voice that spoke that he spun around.

"Finally. 'Bout time."

Demyx. Ienzo stared in shock as the blonde haired Nobody stepped out of the dark portal, a bundle of cloth over his shoulder, looking around with fascination, humming with curiosity and appreciation. Ienzo took a moment to let his mind catch up with his heart which was leaping desperately to beg Demyx to step aside and let him through the corridor. Let me get away from this world.

"Demyx? Is that you?!" He asked instead. That was a safer question. He wasn't a Nobody anymore. He was helping the Guardians of Light. That didn't mean that Zexion didn't cry out to demand answers from a former comrade.

"Hey, Zexion!" Demyx greeted cheerfully, and it was almost refreshing to hear himself being called by his old name. "Long time! How's humanity treatin' ya? I rejoined the Nobodies, but like... I just can't shake the feeling I've been sweet-talked, y'know? We have sooo got to have a chat."

Even that was too much for Zexion to process. Heart and mind trying to catch up with each other, Ienzo pulled away from Demyx with shock.

"Woah, back up. What?"

Why was Demyx even here? Was he here to bring Zexion back to the Organisation? No, they wouldn't get Demyx to do that.

And he wasn't. Demyx was here to bring Master Ansem back. A small part of Ienzo's heart repaired itself as he shook, standing in front of his former Master. With the replica that Demyx had also delivered from Vexen, Ienzo suddenly had work to occupy him mind again, and once again bury his Zexion's heart's voice.

It didn't escape his notice when Dilan pulled Ansem aside an hour later while Ienzo was working on transferring the digital Roxas's heart into the replica. Nor did he miss the appraising look which Ansem gave him when he returned before smiling and moving to help.

Just a few days after that, Even was back, they were recreating Naminé's body so that her heart could go from Kairi to the replica. It was easy to keep Zexion buried. Isa returned, Xion as well, even Lauriam and Elrena, Somebodies of Marluxia and Larxene, had dropped into Radiant Garden.

But Xehanort, the apprentice, never returned. Braig was still missing too. Xehanort's failure to return hurt more though, because Terra visited Radiant Garden often enough with Ventus and Aqua... But Terra always avoided Ansem and the Apprentices, a fear flashing into his blue eyes.

"Xemnas... why are you ignoring me? Did I do something wrong?"

It was clear that the Keyblade wielder remembered fragments of time as Xemnas and the apprentice Xehanort. That knowledge hurt Ienzo the most. In his mind, he knew that it wasn't fair to Terra. Xemnas was his Nobody from the time he was possessed after all, however, in his heart, Ienzo still felt betrayed. Slowly over the next months, the young scientist started to retreat further and further into himself, silently listening to instructions, not understanding why things weren't done as they used to be done.

No one ever explained. And he never raised the question again.

In his mind, Zexion cried out. Suddenly everything was different. Nothing was the way it used to be. When he became Zexion, it was almost a natural progression in their studies. Yes, the change itself was a shock, but it was a result of their research. Now that he was a Somebody again though all he ever heard anymore was "we don't do that anymore, Ienzo, you know this."

Why?

But he knew not that he had to keep that question buried deep. He must never ask that question. The others never understood. And so the question stayed with the part of him that was Zexion.... ten years, that was the majority of his life.

It was difficult to suppress that much of his life. He was eighteen, not eight... and his memories from Radiant Garden before becoming a Nobody were starting to fade. It was only a matter of time before he snapped.

If only he had snapped when he was alone and not in front of Even. They were just reading through Xion's files, checking data to make sure the girl was fine, that her replica body was still holding up. Ienzo hadn't even meant to ask the question out loud, it just slipped out as Even was musing to himself about wishing he knew how the extraction of Xehanort's heart was affecting Xion.

"Well why don't we extract her heart and examine it, instead of poking her body?"

It was under his breath, and somewhat sarcastic, tone reflecting that of his time as a Nobody. It was not the time for such sarcasm however, Even was already stressed over maintaining the replica bodies of Roxas, Xion and Naminé as well as monitoring the sleeping Kairi. The blonde man's temper fueled by stress flared.

"Grow up Ienzo," Even snapped in irritation, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he tried to dismiss his headache. "We aren't in the Organization anymore. Don't ask foolish questions, you know why we do it this way."

Ienzo froze in place, realising he had accidentally let his question slip. Had Even said it differently however... the teen may have forgiven him for his stress. But his tone, and his words. Aren't in the Organization anymore? Does he think Ienzo doesn't know that?! And those words again... you know why we do it this way. It took but a moment for these thoughts to wash over Ienzo before he finally let go of the walls he put around Zexion's, around his, heart.

"... No, I don't know," Ienzo said quietly, harshly, voice dripping with the sarcasm and anger that Zexion had kept in his heart. "You've never explained this to me... stop telling me stuff and assuming I already know why!! Why don't we do it that way anymore?? Why was that way wrong?!? You tell me constantly to grow up, act my age; well guess what?!?! I GREW UP AS ZEXION, AS A NOBODY!!!"

His voice had raised to a yell, he was breathing heavily, and he had thrown his hand to the side in his anger. Ienzo glared at Even, no longer pushing Zexion down into his subconscious. He was Zexion, and he wanted to know why everything was suddenly different to how he had grown up. It took a few moments for Ienzo to calm down enough to realise that Even had gone pale and was staring at a point where his hand was gesturing. Ienzo looked to his side and saw a swirling Corridor of Darkness... clearly summoned by his own desire.

It was then that Ienzo realised what he had said and to who. He had just laid out his deepest, darkest thoughts, to a teacher who didn't even realise what had been going on in Ienzo's head. In his heart. The teenager's mouth ran dry before he backed up a few steps. He glanced between his mentor and the portal before he ran into the darkness.

"Wait! Ienzo!!"

He didn't look back as the corridor closed behind him. His heart guided him through the darkness, and he didn't care that he wasn't wearing his old coat. Now his mentors would know... Ienzo was Zexion, even if he was a Somebody.

[darkvolley]

i'm a newbie to kh but familiar with the general patterns of 2000's-era fandom, and tbh i'm kinda glad I came in at the end of kh when the canon characterizations are more complete than the scraps y'all had to live with... I definitely wouldn't have been able to handle all the "p*do vexen" and "bootlicker saïx" and "10-year-old-with-comically-exaggerated-ADHD demyx" jokes, even if things like "TWILIGHT ISN'T LITERATURE" was funny as hell to middle school me XD

I was kinda late to the KH party myself but I was on deviantArt and YouTube a lot so I still got the main brunt of it. Especially since I did read the Saix Puppy comics and watch Demyx Time. I don't even know when those happened, I just know I was super into them in 2012.

But every fandom had to deal with the flanderization the most back then. The Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom seems to still be reocovering from all that even to this day, mainly with how much Ryou's character is still corrupted, but that might just be since Ryou is hard to grasp due to his limited screen time. But, I've noticed that even in relatively new fandoms nowadays you don't see it as much anymore. Even in the Servamp fandom, which I believe the manga started in 2012, I've noticed lots of fans are young girls and yet, little to no flanderization for any Servamp characters. So I seriously do think fandom as a whole has matured. But of course now there's the modern downsides in fandom like purity culture, but... I don't wanna touch that subject. I'm too afraid.

But ya know what, "Twilight isn't literature" transcends time and all fandoms and probably has the capability to unite us all together, lol. I think I'm lucky that I somehow managed to avoid any P*do Vexen tho. I don't recall ever seeing that but I've heard about it and uuhhh... Yikes™. The worst one to me tho was Demyx. He had a major focus in both those series and like, when you're 12 it's funny cuz ya don't know any better, but like... what was done to Demyx's character was just downright terrible. Especially in the SP comics. I don't wanna get into that topic but... Demyx being characterized as an innocent/idiotic 10 year old with several adults around him being very obviously predatory is like, 100 times more Yikes™ 😬

But like, at the same time there's a level of nostalgia to it all. Like, I wanna go back and rewatch all of Demyx Time after KH3 cuz that thing is still genuienly really funny and dare I say, peak comedy. I still find it hilarious that no one could understand Luxord just cuz of the British accent. And with Served, even to this day I think Larxene revealing that it was her the whole time cuz Marluxia took her boots(I think thats what happened) is so hilarious. And I can still hear Zexion saying "I'm not five, you asshat." in my head! I'm cracking up just thinking about all this!

So like, I think we can all still enjoy it as a nostalgic thing as long as it stays in the past and we know better now. Like, acknowledge the very obvious bad things and just not repeat them in modern fandom.

Did I go off topic again? See, I just, fuckin. Go on these rants. And I don't need to be talkin about this and yet here we are! It's fine, it's fine, it's fine. We're done, no more of this topic. Discussion closed.