#ask thomceit

[thomasxsides]

For Thomas and Janus: What are your favorite relaxing activities to do together? And how do y'all feel about PDA?

Bonus question for Thomas. What's the easiest way to fluster the snek boy?

"We enjoy wine and movie nights at least once a week. That's definitely a favorite." "Sometimes Thomas will convince me that we should dance together. I suppose I don't mind that. ♥ As for PDA, I find it completely abysmal. Disgusting. Atrocious. Wouldn't dream of it."

"I like PDA. A little. Some hand-holding and little kisses. But nothing too gross. I don't want to make the people around us uncomfortable. And the easiest way to fluster Janus is telling him how pretty his scales look in the sunlight or fresh after a shed."

*embarrassed grumbles and hisses*

[sometimes-love-is-enough]

Syzygy: Some Closing Thoughts

I'm writing this at 8pm on my backyard porch, under the wavering light of a distant full moon.  Hello, moon! Please don't kidnap me. I just wanted to hang out with you for a while as I collect my final thoughts. It's a pretty cloudy night tonight, so it's not properly visible, which I suppose is the cloud cover shielding me from a terrible lunar fate. It gives a deliciously hazy atmosphere for the absolute essay I'm about to write.

Apparently, the Farmer's Almanac says that tonight's full moon is a 'Pink Moon', which sounds like it'd be a very pleasant viewing experience. I imagine pastel frangipanis spontaneously sprouting all over the moon's surface, covering every inch of its rocks and crags until the soft pink glow is visible from all the way down here on Earth. Unfortunately it's not named 'Pink Moon' because of that; there's some American environmental factors, etc.

I think it's kind of charming that there's a list of names for every possible full moon, as if the moon's putting on different masks or incarnations every time it tilts just enough that we can see its full face. I'm looking at a list of them now instead of writing these final notes like I probably should. The names are so delightful. Strawberry Moon. Sturgeon Moon. Apparently last month's full moon was Worm Moon. WORM MOON. I could go on. I won't. Let's talk about Syzygy instead.

Syzygy is... Man, where do I even start with this? Let's try the beginning. I started writing Syzygy in February of 2021, after ruminating on it for probably a few months before that, as I often do. That's three years ago, so my memories of the reasons why are a bit fuzzy, but I think I did it for two reasons: one, a desire to have a long-form meaty slowburn fic for a beloved rarepair in the tag so other people could enjoy it, and two, a fascination with the idea of fractured identity, what it means to be a Side without a Centre. The whole thing with the alternate-history steampunk swapped-around Earth came about naturally from that.

Except that's actually kind of a lie, because that's not the beginning, this began in 2020, when I wrote a pitch for a local station that was accepting radio play submissions (rejected, of course) featuring a hardboiled noir detective in a starlit city whose latest client was a tiny shiny girl asking him to solve her father's murder. And that's also a lie, because I think it really began when I tried to write an original novel in high school where the protagonist's name was Avery Allen, because I liked the way the name tripped off my lips.

My stories are always built on each other, especially stories I never get to write. They all recycle into each other in a weird blend of concepts and characters. 2021 was when I sat down and told myself I was going to write the Thomceit time loop fic, and I dove into it with aplomb. I can't recall the exact timeline of events, but at some point I underwent some truly gnarly health problems that left me unable to use my hands for extended periods of time, and so the fic that was meant to be for a Big Bang ended up... Just sitting in a folder for a while. But me and my beta managed to pull it the fuck together, and after adding some extra bits and pieces (the cutaways were a LAST MINUTE ADDITION even though I think they're some of my favorite bits in the whole thing) I started putting it all up.

Okay, there we go, that's enough of an abridged history of this thing. Let's just say: I never expected as many people to like it as it turned out, I thought that it would be a niche little fic for a rarepair, and I was honestly pretty content with that. So it was delightful to see so many people getting so into it, I have enjoyed the FUCK out of all of your comments and theories and predictions. It's been delightful when people predicted a plot point correctly, and honestly even more delightful when they predicted incorrectly. I've had such a blast.

As for the writing... Suffice to say I have many notebooks full of notes and thoughts, more than one spreadsheet to keep track of time loops and lore, and a semi-complete list of all of Virgil's tarot cards, which one day I'll probably polish and share properly, because I think the concept is neat. But that's kind of how it always goes with my writing.

Naming every inspiration for this would take forever and I'd still miss a few, but I'll just throw out a key few ones, because I gotta:

17776: What Will Football Look Like In The Future, because when I first read it I got the wrong idea and thought that Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) was short for Betelgeuse (the star), and that sparked a whole thing about living stars in my brain. Also, just the general way that the worldbuilding and absurdity is handled in that world, it scratches my brain just right.

Welcome To Night Vale. I don't think I need to explain this one.

Madeleine L'Engle's writing, particularly A Wind In The Door, particularly-particularly the bit of it where Proginoskes explains why, precisely, he has to remember and Name every star in the universe. Fucking beautiful book.

A particular Untamed/Mo Dao Zu Shi fic I read years ago and haven't been able to track down again, which also features two people stuck in a time loop who are initially unaware that they're in it together AND dying at the same time. I believe they also meet on a bus? The details are fuzzy. The worldbuilding and descriptions of that fic were so stunning to me, it had me unable to read anything for a solid few weeks, it is definitely a superior work to mine in every respect. If anyone finds it, let me know, I don't think I finished reading it and want to know how it ends.

An unpublished fic that I had the privilege to read while it was being written, that changed my brain chemistry re: the Sides unknowingly existing without Thomas. The Flowerwall Cafe originally hails from this one, too, graciously borrowed and greatly beloved.

Both Ghibli films in general AND Dianna Wynne Jones books in general, and obviously the intersection between the two, Howl's Moving Castle, which is fascinating in how both mediums handle the setting.

The Doctor Who audio drama Scherzo, which is a wild ride, and there's a major plot point revolving around the two main characters holding hands and fusing gruesomely into each other - and another involving an in-story fairy tale.

There was no huge inspiration for the clockwork city and weird steampunk carriages, apart from (perhaps) Fallen London. Certainly, the idea of a background organization that wants to kill the sun, who also happens to be a sentient being, is cribbed from the Liberation of Night.

Syzygy also happens to be packed full of many obscure references to... like... personal projects of mine, some published and some unpublished, as well as a lot of my friends and co-writers, and some really REALLY niche stuff that only I will ever properly understand. I buried a lot of myself into this story, is what I'm saying. Juice hails from a completely different project (a TTRPG with my friends, of which she is a beloved and cherished NPC), the in-universe author for Avery Allen (and Mallory Wynn too) are named for a fictional TV author I created when the writing discord was making a nonexistent fandom, Logan's dumpling recipe is my favorite recipe of all time.

I have an apartment ghost, too. I talk to it regularly.

Final thank-yous, because I want to post this very very soon, I've been typing for too long and the mosquitoes are starting to get to me. Thank you to:

Everyone on the TSS writing server who listened to me complain while I was writing it the first time round, and has subsequently listened to me complain while editing it these past two years. So many people in there are responsible for little bits and pieces - phrasings, words, nicknames, jokes - and I couldn't begin to name everyone who helped.

Saphira and the rest of the people who are currently working on making a full-cast audio drama out of this fic (???) (???!!!!??) (!!!!). It is SO baffling to me that it's happening, I'm in complete disbelief whenever we talk about it or I see the script or I get asked logistics questions, I'm terrified and thrilled to see how it turns out, what the fuck! The very existence of that project has ended up influencing a few things about this fic's endgame, too.

Everyone who's commented extensively, commented entire academic analyses, commented numbered lists, commented laconically, left a single emoji in the comments, left kudos, bookmarked it, sent me asks on Tumblr, given me thumbs-ups on Discord, or even just silently read the fic without interacting at all. Your witness brings my words to existence. Love you love you love you.

And Len, who lives in my brain and my body and my heart and my throat, and who is honestly singlehandedly responsible for dragging this fic out of the depths of Google Docs and into the arms of AO3. They've already said I don't need to thank them, but come on, I totally do. Len is the best beta, and puts up with all sorts of deranged nonsense from me, because I have an unhinged writing process where I don't think about anything before I put it down on the page, and I use way too many connecting-dashes and not enough semicolons. Kisses kisses kisses. Thanks for doing this with me, and I can't wait to do it again.

Myself. I managed to write this and I managed to finish it. That makes me a pretty cool person, all things considered. I'm glad I did this.

What next? I've got to rest. Well, I need to get some things done... and then rest. I've been juggling a hellish amount of projects for a while now, and now Syzygy's finally cleared from my plate, I'm going to try to let the others get cleared too so I can take some time and be less stressed. The Locked Tomb AU will be ongoing, as I get through final edits of chapters, so keep an eye out for that - if you're interested in a fic that's rather less starry and shiny, but very much Thomceit and death themes, check it out  - and then....... Well, whatever comes next, whenever I have the energy to do it. I adore writing in this fandom. I'll be back with something weird soon enough.

Ad astra, baby! It's been a blast.

- Min (2024)

[thegoldenduckie]

I dare you to rank all sanders sides ships on a scale of 1-10. At least, as many as you can think up of.

OOO SOUNDS FUN ANON! Ill try to get as many ships as i can (but not that one, you know which one)

Rankings under cut

btw i used fanlore.org to look for all the ships, so idk if each of the ship names are right

AND THIS IS JUST MY SILLY OPINION! IF YOU DISAGREE THATS ALRIGHT THIS IS JUST WHAT I THINK!

Loceit: 8/10 Really good, love it, love the content of it

Moceit: 50/10 MOCEIT IS MY OTP! MY EVERYTHING, MY ABSLOUTE FAVOURITE SHIP

Dukeceit/Demus: 7/10 Its really good! Lovee their dynamic, its a shame we dont see these guys interact in the show much :(

Roceit: 7/10 Love roceit, so many angst and fluffy opportunities, honestly love the angst

Thomceit: 5/10 Honestly im not enthusiastic about sides x Thomas ships, but they can be pretty sweet! This ones really good, i see the appeal

Anxceit: 9/10 AHGG THEM! Sooo good! As platonic, romantic, familiar, and bitter exes! Love it! So many fun amd angsty posibilites!

Logicality: 7.5/10 Its so adorable!! I loveee logicality fanart and fics! I really loved logicality when i first joined watched the show, so it gets an extra .5 for nostagic sake

Intrulogical: 10/10 like DUDE INTRULOGICAL MAKES ME FERAL! Its so silly and adorable and freaky ahsxhjlsxkjkjhsx

Logince: 9/10 aaa its sooo fun! Their chemistry is SO INCREDIBLE

Lomas: 5/10 Again, not big on thomas and side ships, but this ones pretty cute

Analogical: 10/10 YESSS! YES YES YES! I COULD TALK ABOUT THEM FOREVER! THEY MAKE ME SOO HAPPPPYYY!! ESPECIALLY AS QPPS!! AAAA I LOOOVVEEEE THEMMM SO MUCH!

Intruality: 6/10 I like it! Its growing on me! Has a lot of adorableness

Royality: 6/10 Love it platonic, indifferent to it as romantic, and its just very sweet and seeing content of it makes me smile

Momas: 5/10

Moxiety: 6/10 again, love it familar and platonic, with a father son relationship! Honestly dont like it romantic

Platonic Creativitwins: 9/10 Yes! The twins! I love them just being chaotic siblings, or even on good terms and having being good brothers to eachother

Intrumas: 4/10

Dukexiety: 7/10 I like it a lot!!

Prinxiety: 8/10 its reeaally adorble, honestly love it lots

Analogince (Lo/Ro/Virge): 7/10 cute!

Romas: 5/10

Thomxiety: 5.5/10 this ones pretty cute

Logicalceit (Jan/Lo/Pat): 8/10 Its content is soo sweet

Intruloceit (Jan/Lo/Rem): 9/10 YEAHH I LOVE IT!! MAKES ME FROTH AT THE MOUTH

Roloceit (Jan/Lo/Ro): 7/10 Seems loevly

Analoceit (Jan/Lo/Virge): 9/10 At first i was indifferent to it, but a certain mutual made me see how amazing this ship is

Intrualceit? (Jan/Pat/Rem): 5/10 i think thats the name

Royalceit (Jan/Pat/Ro): 5.5/10 havent seen much of it, but points for that sick name

Moxiceit? (Jan/Pat/Virge): 7/10 ive seen some cute suff with this, i think thats the name

Anxceitmus (Jan/Rem/Virge): 9/10 YESS! AAAAA THESE THREEE MAKE ME SOOOO INSANE!

Anaroceit/Prinxieceit (Jan/Ro/Virge): 8/10 so much potential for a toxic yoai polycule

Intrugicality (Lo/Pat/Rem): 5/10

Morolo/Moralogince (Lo/Pat/Ro): 8/10 SO ADORABLE

Analogicality? (Lo/Pat/Virge): 6/10 i think thats the name

Anaintrulogical? (Lo/Rem/Virge): 6/10 i can see the appeal, i think thats the name

Anaintruality? (Pat/Virge/Rem): 5/10 i think thats the name

Anaroyality? (Virge/Ro/Pat): 5/10 i think thats the name

LAMP/CALM: 9/10 LOOOVEE IT! I DO NOT MAKE ENOUGH CONTENT OF THEM! ITS SO ADORBLE

DLAMP: 7/10

DLAMPR: 8/10 YES! ONE BIG HAPPY POLYCULE! THE BEST KIND OF SHIP

Thanks for the ask anon! Again, all these rankings are just my opinion, please dont fight me

[princeanxious]

💕Them 💕💛💖💛💖💛💖💛💖💛💖

Theyre so somft and deserve to be happy ;;

[izzyfandoms]

Everyone/deceit where the others are trying to get Janus to blush by flirting As a challenge? Ficlet?

(This ended up a full oneshot length lol, so this is no longer a ficlet, hope you enjoy!)

Flustered Snake

SHIPS: Dukeceit, Loceit, Moceit, Roceit, Anxceit, Thomceit (Everyone x Janus)

WARNINGS: Remus makes some sexual comments/implications

GENERAL TAGLIST: @quillfics42 @aj-draws @phantomofthesanderssides @phlying-squirrel @sly-is-my-name-loving-is-my-game @because-were-fam-ily @imtryingthisout @a-creepycookie @emo-disaster @littlestr @spooky-scary-virgil @fuyel @mimsidoodles @soupgremlin @aroaceagenderfluid @birdsbookshiddeninrealbirdsskin @quirkalurk @gingers-trashy-stuff @iinyxtello @justaqueercactus @melodiread @mrbubbajones @glassferns @pun-master-logan @gayturtlez

Masterpost

The moment that Janus stepped into the living area of the mindscape, a pair of hands behind him landed on his hips. He froze in place, immediately feeling the heat of a blush crawl up his neck, across his face and to the tips of his ears. He was sure that his skin was now an obvious, bright red.

The voice that belonged to the pair of hands cackled at that, and a chin came to rest on Janus's head, revealing it to be Remus behind him.

(Unfortunately, the twins were much taller than Janus, and they both loved to take advantage of it: especially when it flustered the deceitful side, as it often did. He both despised and adored that fact, not that he'd ever admit to the latter out loud.)

That made Janus relax slightly - he recognised the voice, so it wasn't somehow a stranger with their hands on his hips - though his creeping blush only worsened.

"You seem flustered, snake," he said, and Janus could practically hear the grin in his voice. "What's up?"

"Shut up," Janus hissed, crossing his arms.

He didn't move out of Remus's grip, though, and instead leant back against the other side's chest. Remus then gently squeezed his hips, and Janus almost regretted staying in place.

"Comfy?"

"We are standing in the living room."

Remus chuckled - the sound low and just beside Janus's ear, rumbling through his whole body.

"We could always move to somewhere comfier," Remus grinned. "Like my bed."

Janus huffed and rolled his eyes. "In your dreams."

"All my dreams. Day and night. Wanna recreate them?"

"Never."

"You know, I'm talking 'bout fu-"

"I know what you're talking about," Janus hissed, feeling his face somehow redden even further. "And no."

Janus could practically hear Remus's pout.

"Aw, but-"

"No! Shut up!"

"Make me?" Remus offered.

Janus groaned, and buried his face in his hands.

***

It had taken quite a few minutes, but Janus had finally managed to distract Remus with food - disgusting and rotten, inedible food - and gotten away.

(If he'd really wanted Remus to stop flirting with him, and had just made the simple request, Remus would have done so with little hesitation. But Janus's obvious blush and moments of almost returned flirtations had only spurred the other side on.)

(Janus could flirt. In the past he had smoothly and calmly flirted with the other sides on numerous occasions, but the moment they flirted back, he was done for. They had only now begun to take advantage of this, and Janus couldn't for the life of him figure out why.)

He was halfway across the mindscape's long hallway - halfway to his bedroom, where he could wallow in his flustered state in peace - when he was stopped in his tracks by Logan's voice behind him.

"Janus, are you busy?"

Janus suppressed a sigh.

"Obviously," he clearly lied, starting to turn around. "What do you nee-"

The last word was cut off by a strangled noise (accompanied with widening eyes and a sharp intake of breath) as his eyes landed on the very shirtless Logan standing in front of him. He was... more in shape that Janus had expected, but perhaps that shouldn't have been a surprise given his obsession with being as healthy as possible.

Janus tried very hard not to check him out, but was unable to keep his eyes from drifting down, and then back up, and then back down again. He sucked in a breath as he felt his ears warm.

Logan straightened up, his expression turning quite pleased. Before Janus could question him further, he pulled a notebook and pen out of thin air - summoning them effortlessly - and began to scribble on one of the pages, about halfway through.

Janus watched him, thoroughly confused and still - somewhat reluctantly - checking Logan out. Then, when Logan closed the notebook and it disappeared again, the logical side smiled at him: genuine and warm, such an uncommon sight.

It made Janus's face warm and his heart tremble, which was far more telling than the reaction to shirtless Logan.

"Thank you, Janus," Logan said. "That was all I needed."

Then, he sank out, and Janus was left alone, confused, and still - unfortunately - quite flustered.

***

After that, he spent a significant amount of time in his room, wallowing in his hopeless, hopeless pining.

(Remus was only joking. The interaction with Logan was only part of some experiment. Surely those were the real explanations for the two frankly baffling experiences from today, right?)

When he finally decided to leave the room, it was only because he was hungry. Remus's onslaught of sexual flirting had distracted him from breakfast, so he was rather eager to get something to eat.

Luckily, when he arrived in the kitchen, Remus wasn't there.

But Patton was, and the delighted smile on his face when Janus entered the room was just as disastrous to his heartrate as Remus had been.

"Jan!" He beamed, dropping the spoon and bowl he'd been washing up and walking over, taking both of Janus's hands in his own. "I'm so glad you're here!"

It was then that Janus realised he'd forgotten his gloves.

The warmth of Patton's hands against his skin and scales was enough to make him feel equally warm and fuzzy inside. He was suddenly hit with the desire to make that warmth spread to every part of his body, and in that moment, he really, really wanted to kiss Patton.

"What- what do you need, Patton?" He asked slowly.

Patton squeezed his hands. "I just made cookies! And I need someone to test them for me. Would you mind?"

"Oh, uh... alright."

Patton beamed.

Then, he dropped Janus's hands, and the deceitful side would never admit to the disappointment that rose in his chest at the loss of warmth. He watched as Patton plucked a cookie from the plate - carefully selecting what he deemed the best one, before turning back around and bringing it back to Janus.

Janus reached out, ready to take the cookie from his hand, but Patton shook his head, holding up the cookie to Janus's lips.

Janus blinked, dropping his hand and then slowly opening his mouth obediently, taking a small bite of the cookie. It was good, as always - warm and chewy and his absolute favourite flavour.

Patton giggled. "You like them?" At Janus's silent nod, he continued. "Oh, wonderful! I'm so glad!"

Janus swallowed, and opened his mouth to respond, but the words died in his throat when Patton leant forward and brushed his thumb over Janus's lip. His brain short-circuited for a few seconds as his face went hot, but then he realised that Patton had probably just been brushing a crumb from his mouth, and that it wasn't something he should've been worried about.

Patton's smile turned slightly mischievous, and he giggled again.

"Everything alright, Janus?"

***

Janus had returned to his room shortly after that little encounter. He'd mumbled excuses that Patton had seemed to believe - though the disappointment on his face when Janus left had been unmistakable.

He fell back onto his bed, dropping his head onto his pillow and burying his face into his hands.

What was going on today? Remus and Logan and Patton were all acting strange, and Janus couldn't get them out of his head.

Or maybe Janus was the strange one.

He was the one with the huge, perception-altering crushes on all of his friends - Thomas included.

Janus huffed, dropping his arms to his sides and staring up at the ceiling. There were little plastic stars - made by Roman many years ago - stuck all over it, that glowed in the dark when it was night.

Janus hadn't been afraid of the dark since they were all small, but he still kept the stars there out of habit.

(And out of love for Roman, though that part he would never admit aloud.)

There was a loud knock on the door, and Janus jumped, sitting up suddenly and staring at it, wide-eyed. He froze for a moment, before he grabbed his gloves off his bedside table and quickly pulled them back on. He put his hat on, too.

He got up, and walked over to the door.

When he opened it, he immediately came face-to-face with Roman, whose whole face lit up when his eyes landed on Janus.

(And, oh, that really did something to Janus, didn't it? He felt all warm and fuzzy inside - the way Roman was looking at him making him feel like he was floating.)

He felt his face warm, and the greeting he'd meant to say died in his throat as the blush formed.

Roman laughed suddenly: loud and cheerful and delighted, and it made Janus jump. His heart skipped a beat in his chest and he felt simultaneously confused and happy, as Roman's laugh was contageous.

"Well, that was easy!" Roman beamed.

"I- uh- what?"

But before Janus could question Roman properly, Roman reached forward and grabbed Janus's face in both hands. He then pressed a kiss to the centre of Janus's forward.

Janus let out a strangled noise as Roman let go of him and took a step back.

"Thank you, Jan," he said earnestly.

Then, he sunk out, leaving Janus incredibly confused, and even more flustered, ready to melt into a puddle on the floor.

***

It took a few hours for Janus to gain the courage to leave his room again after that.

But, when he did, he found the living room of the mindscape suddenly quite cold. He stood in the centre of the room, rubbing his arms and shivering, as the yellow button-up shirt he had on was far too thin, and he regretted choosing that over his usual outfit that morning.

"Okay," he huffed. "Whose idea was this?"

"I know, right?" Suddenly came a voice from behind him. "It's freezing."

Janus glanced back over his shoulder, his eyes landing on Virgil, who was stood a few feet behind him.

"You cold?" Virgil continued.

"No," Janus lied flatly.

Virgil snorted. "Right."

Then, he did something that Janus couldn't have predicted. He took off his hoodie.

This was peculiar for two reasons - one, that the mindscape was cold, and two, that Virgil almost never took off his hoodie, and never without a good reason.

Janus blinked at him, so surprised that he stopped rubbing his goosebump-covered arms. Then, his eyes widened further as Virgil held the hoodie out to him.

"What are you doing?"

Virgil rolled his eyes, though fondly and with a half-smirk.

"Giving you my jacket," he answered.

"But- what? Why?"

"I heard snakes are cold-blooded."

Janus huffed, attempting to glare at Virgil but failing miserably. Virgil seemed amused at his attempts, which made it even harder to glare at him, because Janus wanted to kiss that smirk right off his face.

"I don't need your jacket," Janus lied.

(He would very much appreciate Virgil's jacket, for many reasons, but he obviously could never admit that aloud.)

Virgil snorted. But, instead of responding to that, he walked up to Janus and draped his hoodie over the other sides' shoulders. Janus froze, especially as Virgil's touch lingered longer than it could have, and Janus could suddenly feel himself warm.

His cheeks went hot, likely turning red.

Virgil caught Janus's eye, and the slight smirk returned for just a moment.

"Hope you warm up," he said, before turning and walking out of the room, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, leaving Janus warm, alone and very confused.

***

Janus's confusion had only grown when Thomas suddenly summoned him for no good reason.

Usually, he summoned his sides for videos, and the rest of the time they showed up on their own. He liked to spend time with them, sure, but usually either with all of them, or when the sides showed up first.

Janus appeared in the sitting room.

"Thomas," he said. "What do you need?"

Thomas was sat on the couch, leaning back against the cushions, and his face lit up when he saw Janus, which made Janus feel all kinds of things, and made him almost wish he was the side in charge of Thomas's feelings, so he could know exactly what he was feeling.

(The sides may have all been able to see through Thomas's eyes and hear through ears, but none of them had access to everything that went on inside his head. They each had their own different parts. Virgil knew his anxieties, Patton knew his feelings, Janus knew his lies and the secrets and desires he hid from even himself. None knew everything, even when they might want to.)

"Oh, Janus!" Thomas smiled. "You're here!" He patted the couch beside him, indicating that Janus should sit. "Come on, hang out with me."

Janus blinked, sitting down immediately but with a confused expression.

"Do you... need something?"

"Do I need to? Can't I just summon you to hang out?"

"I mean, no, but-" Janus cut himself off with a strangled noise when Thomas reached forward and plucked his hat right off his head.

Then, Thomas placed the hat on his own head with a grin.

"How do I look?"

Janus opened and closed his mouth a few times, stumbling over his words. It took him a moment to pull together a coherent thought that wasn't just the word 'cute' repeated twelve times.

"Uh, um... you look... good?"

Thomas laughed. "Oh, Jan, you flatter me," he joked. Then, he looked Janus over slowly - making him feel all kinds of things - before his gaze settled on Janus's hair. He reached across, running his fingers through it and sticking his tongue out in concentration. "Your hat must mess your hair up a lot, you wear it so much."

"It's- uh, it's messy, usually," Janus choked out. "That's why I wear the hat."

Thomas pulled his hand back, placing it in his lap, and Janus only just managed to keep himself from making a disappointed noise.

"Aww, I don't know, I like it," Thomas said, seemingly oblivious to Janus's plight. "It's a lot curlier than mine, kinda like Patton's but much darker: almost black." Thomas smiled. "I think it's cute."

Janus blinked at him, feeling his face turn hot and red for what felt like the millionth time that day. He buried his face in his hands and groaned.

“Why are you guys like this?” He mumbled into his palms.

“Huh?” Thomas half-laughed, sounding partly amused and partly confused.

“You’re just- aah!” Janus almost screamed with frustration. “Making me feel... so much!”

“So much what?”

Janus paused at that. He... recognised that tone. It was a tone of faux-innocence, one he’d heard - and, in the past, actively prompted - from Thomas multiple times.

He knew something.

Janus pulled his hands away from his face, shooting Thomas an accusatory look that made him hold up his hands in defence.

“You know something,” Janus accused, with a still-red face, but significantly more confidence than before. “What is it?”

“Uh...” Thomas trailed off, hesitating, but at Janus’s expression, he finally gave in and smiled sheepishly at him. “I may know of a... competition, of sorts.”

“Competition?”

“Between the other sides. And, uh... me, too, I guess. We wanted to see who could make you blush the most.” For a moment, Thomas paused. “‘Cos you’re cute.”

Janus’s brain broke.

He stared blankly at Thomas for a few seconds, before understanding finally hit him like a train, and the blush that had just faded returned again, full-force. He felt hot and flustered and still a little confused, but mostly just startled.

“Oh,” he squeaked.

Thomas let out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his head with his hand and glancing away.

“Sorry, if that’s kinda weird,” he apologised quickly. “We didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, we just really li- you know what, it doesn’t matter. I’m sorry.”

Janus buried his face in his hands with another loud groan. He mumbled something that Thomas couldn’t quite make out. Thomas leant forward, trying to listen better.

“Sorry, what was that?” Thomas asked.

Janus repeated himself, slightly louder.

“It worked,” he grumbled.

Thomas laughed, short and slightly startled. “Yeah, we, uh... we figured. You’re kinda obvious when you’re flustered. And cute.”

Janus groaned into his palms again, even louder this time.

“I mean,” Thomas continued. “You know they can all see you right now, too, right?”

There was a beat.

“Oh, god.”

[aidensm8]

Can we have some good hurt/comfort with Thomas comforting Janus? There is not enough platonic Thomceit content on this site lol.

Litol platonic thomceit, here you go. Let the snek vent 2020

[perfectly-princely-emo-nightmare]

I’m not sure if you like Thomas/side ships, but Thomceit? If not feel free to just ignore this and I’m sorry for bothering you

Don’t worry about it, I don’t mind!

Honestly, Thomas X any of the other sides is a really fun concept. I like the idea of someone asking about his love life and Thomas is just like “Sorry I’m in love with a facet of my personality.” It’s very comedic. As for Thomceit, I think that could work somehow, as good friends at the very least. Janus definitely cares for Thomas a lot. Can’t have a rainbow without the yellow after all!

[blossom-arts]

I can't think of a specific question but would you please ramble about your AU? I would love to hear :D

:O!!! Absolutely!! I’ve just made a post on Thomas’ powers, but I could talk for ages about this!!

Hmmmmm.... I guess I can make this post the background info of the AU! It needs a background post anywho’s!

Okay so- let’s set the scene! 

Thomas:

This AU is a Highschool AU as well as a superhero one- Thomas (as our main character) is in his senior year. He’s 17 turning 18 at the beginning of the school year, and he actually lives in France- namely Paris- with his aunt, the Dragon Witch, or as I call them- Morgan! (I headcanon Morgan to be a they/them ace lesbian, just for context).

The reason he lives with his aunt is that his parents are too busy with work and making an income and couldn’t look after him properly, so Morgan offered to help when Thomas was little, but as a result, he had to move from Gainesville to Paris as their whole livelihood was there. So coming back to the present of the AU- Thomas and his aunt live in a flat above Morgan’s flower shop which he helps out at sometimes. 

It’s like in Miraculous, where Marinette and her family run a bakery and live in a flat above it- and her room is at the top of the house, with a hatch that leads to a rooftop balcony. Thomas has that, but instead, he lives above a flower shop with his aunt.

(Also, because his aunt raised him, he’s been going to school in Paris for his whole life, and they have an awesome relationship!)

Janus:

Now here is the time to note that this is a Thomceit AU, so if you are uncomfortable with that ship or TS x Sides I wouldn’t recommend this AU (or most of my AUs, for that matter-)

Okay- let’s move on to our deuteragonist (the second protagonist), Janus! Janus has a very different life to Thomas- he’s lived in France his whole life and has an incredibly rich family, especially compared to Thomas’, and he despises that.

Mostly because ‘Eat the rich!’ but also because he knows everyone thinks he’s snobby and bratty, but he’s actually just this isolated kid with a father who rarely lets him out of the house (especially after losing his mother- she isn’t dead though) despite him being a world-famous musician who goes on tours constantly.

Janus has the musical talents of his parents, and he often has to go do Important Business Stuff™, but he’d really just rather be a normal kid who wasn’t trapped and homeschooled- especially since it’s senior year!

Though being a superhero does help- he’s been one for a while and it’s one of the only ways he can escape the house, until the beginnings of this AU, that is!

(As for Janus’ relationship with his father..... yeah, no- not good.)

[ambersky0319]

I have come with more Thomceit! -Thomas is the only one Deceit will openly lay against in order to get warm. Thomas learns this and is soft because Dee trusts him a lot. -When sunbathing, Deceit will remove his hat and occasionally his shirt in order to free his scales. Thomas is the only one allowed to touch his scales when he's like this. -Thomas steals this chance to kiss all of Deceit's scales, giving him praise for being vunerable -You bet they husbands. Definitely

Soft thomceit soft thomceit soft thomceit soft thomceit soft thomceit soft thomceit soft thomceit soft thomceit soft thomceit soft thomceit soft thomce-

I totally didn't forget to post this

But seriously, so soft!!! I absolutely love these!!! 💛💗💛💗💛💗💛💗💛💗💛💗💛💗💛

[impatentpending]

How do you pronounce ThVi? Why is that the ship name? Who let us do that?

Pretty sure it’s pronounced like “Tee-Vee”, and I have no hecking clue

[tsxsides-hotel]

Are there any TSxSides ships you want more of? I wanna give all the ships their time to shine so I would be more than happy to write a prompt or story about them.

[thomasxsides]

As Sovereign of Thomceit, I've come to ask a very important question......... Janus why on earth aren't you looking after your son he has two dads right there???? Sir???? /hj

No but really, would y'all like to raise Jake?? How would you feel about having a kiddo??

~🌺

"Who's Jake?"

"Well, I'm not sure we're looking to have kids yet and as much as I love kids, I haven't decided if I want any of my own someday or not. I really like being a godfather and uncle. I still think I want to start out with a dog first, but gosh, even that's a commitment I'm not sure on at the moment. I do think Janus would make a great dad. To a puppy or a human."

[sometimes-love-is-enough]

mIN- MIN I HAVE THE MOST URGENT OF DILEMMAS /hj

Okay so I have this AU that I've FINALLY gotten the motivation to work on- at least at a planning stage- and in the two and a half years I've had this AU, I have literally never been able to give it a name and so I ask, dear co-captain of the Thomceit ship, for your assistance on this as I have nary a soul to turn to-

For reference: It's a Thomceit superhero AU that I want to draw/animate where the whole shtick is that the show is just the adventures of C!Thomas dealing with school whilst adjusting to becoming a superhero, whilst Janus is dealing with being a superhero and adjusting to school because this is his first year not being homeschooled and also there's kissy kissy mwah mwah shenanigans with some good old fashioned secret identity nonsense, and like an overarching villain plot ig- but the Thomceit is obvi way more important!!!

If you can help me dear friend I would be very very grateful, but if not- that's okay too, I haven't managed in two and a half years so I have no idea how well you'll fare- /lh

hi! yes. HI. oh fuck I'm so bad at naming things - I only just settled on a title for the TLT fic and it's been a full eight months on that bitch.

my advice for you is to either: pick a single pretty but obscure word that vaguely relates to the themes and use that (i usually end up combing the Phrontistery), name it after one or both of their Superhero Names, pick a lyric/line from the song/poem you inexplicably associate with the AU, or just call it something like the Masks AU.

[softlysugar]

In response to the ship thingy. Thomceit 💟: who spends time reading their zodiac compatibilities?

I feel like that's something they'd both do together, just for the fun of it, and then Janus would probably tease Thomas about it lol

[raidahblossom]

For the art thing. A3 for Janus and/or C2 for Thomas.

Here ya go anon!

I decided to draw my Farm AU after ages and uh ye-

Janus told a really bad joke and Thomas is trying his hardest not to laugh whilst thinking ‘bout how cute Janus is-

[izzyfandoms]

Hi Izzy! I love your writing! Can we get another Janus x everyone ficlet? Ya gotta love everyone pining for a danger noodle! ❤💖💙💚💛💜

Deceit x Everyone - Obvious

GENERAL TAGLIST: @quillfics42 @aj-draws @phantomofthesanderssides @phlying-squirrel @sly-is-my-name-loving-is-my-game @because-were-fam-ily @imtryingthisout @a-creepycookie @emo-disaster @littlestr @spooky-scary-virgil @fuyel @mimsidoodles @soupgremlin @aroaceagenderfluid @birdsbookshiddeninrealbirdsskin @quirkalurk @gingers-trashy-stuff @iinyxtello @justaqueercactus @melodiread @mrbubbajones @glassferns @pun-master-logan @gayturtlez @k1ngtok1

Masterpost

It took a lot for Janus to finally realise what had been going on, but when he finally did, everything suddenly became obvious in hindsight.

They had all been flirting with him for a long, long time, and his denial about his own feelings, coupled with his inability to understand why any of them would like him romantically, had made him wholly and utterly oblivious to it. But now that he knew... oh, boy, the signs were everywhere.

Remus touched him more than he touched everyone else: slinging his arms around Janus's shoulders, hugging him, picking him up and occasionally pressing messy kisses to his cheeks and forehead. The comments he made towards Janus may have seemed like his usually disgusting statements - the sorts of things that often came out of Remus's mouth - but, in hindsight, Janus finally realised that they had just been him trying to flirt.

Patton asked Janus to try the food he baked more than he asked any other side - except perhaps Virgil, who Patton has started cooking with often as some kind of bonding activity - and seemed to take any opportunity he could to hold the lying side's hand.

Roman invited Janus to rehearse scenes with him practically every day. Almost all of them were romantic - though he had yet to ask him to partake in a kissing to scene, to Janus's simultaneous relief and disappointment.

Logan went out of his way to talk to Janus regularly, and he seemed to smile with him more than he smiled when around the other sides, too. The two of them had begun to watch documentaries together, too, though Janus often found himself staring at Logan's face just as much as he looked at the screen.

Virgil had started being more affectionate with Janus than he had been ever before their previous separation. It was little things, mostly, like touching Janus's arm when he didn't have to, or lending him his precious hoodie when Janus was cold and had forgotten his cape.

And Thomas... he summoned Janus to spend time with him even when he didn't need any advice from him. They watched movies together and even just sat and talked.

Thomas was the one who had finally made Janus understand, everything finally clicked in his head and he could hardly even believe it

But, there was one way for Janus to know for sure if he was right about at least Thomas's feelings.

The sides all had access to every little part of Thomas's head - it made sense, as they were all parts of him, after all - though they only naturally knew the parts that were relevent to what they each represented. Usually, that was enough, and they left the other sides' parts alone.

But not today.

Janus settled on his bed, closing his eyes and letting his mind almost fully meld with Thomas's. He searched through it, sifting through every thought and feeling before he found exactly what he was looking for.

There, tucked away in a corner of Thomas's head - though certainly not in the denial portion, as Janus would have known about it without searching if that was the case - was a little ball of romantic feelings. After a moment of hesitation, Janus reached for and finally connected with it.

Immediately, images of his own face flashed across his vision - his smile, his hair, his voice, every little detail of him that was different from Thomas himself, each filling Thomas with a fondness and a love that was unmistakable.

Janus pulled back immediately, his eyes flying open as he returned to his room.

Oh.

Oh.