#remus is not thomas he is so clearly remus that it feels weird when he suddenly breaks character in the bloopers

[anachronistic-falsehood]

THE FUCKING WHITEBOARD WITH STUPID LITTLE SCRIBBLES ABOUT PART 2 ON IT THIS IS SO DUMB. NO ONE WOULD SERIOUSLY MAKE THAT WHEN PLANNING OUT AN EVIL PLAN

[beauty-and-passion]

sooooo, latest video

Well... it seems like there is a video XD

Jokes aside, thanks anon for letting me know Mr. Sanders posted a video that was Sanders Sides related. Kudos for that <3

Then... I have some thoughts about this video. Thoughts I will divide into pros and cons, to make everything easier to explain.

If you don’t like long posts or reading criticism of any kind, please save yourself (and myself) some time and ignore this post. I won’t get offended, I promise.

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PROS

A real Aside

It looks like Thomas finally learned the difference between Asides and main episodes. It took him three years, but he finally realized that the Asides should be simple, no plot-related stuff. Good to see he finally got it.

(Still don’t understand why ATHD is a main episode, tho. It’s not plot-related and it’s very clearly more low-effort than FWSA and DWIT. Maybe Thomas didn’t want to leave it all by itself?)

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Some hopes for the characters

I was very relieved to see that the characters’ personalities are not completely butchered. There are a few things I will talk about in the cons section, but the overall vibe has stayed more or less the same. I’m especially relieved Virgil isn’t the fratboy he was in Thomas’ latest Instagram post, in which he talked all fratboy-esque and I almost expected him to bully me and steal my lunch.

The most in characters are Janus and Remus, which is nice to see too. Remus in particular, is still a chaotic rat man and I love him so much.

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Remus is my chaotic child

I personally think the best part of the whole video is Remus saying the others told him he could kill Bing Bong. I laughed so hard, I had to stop the video. That wonderful, chaotic rat man deserves to kill everything, as a treat <3

But actually, everything Remus says is great and that proves he’s the best, in this essay I will-

__________________________________

CONS

A weird start

Let me recap my experience while watching the video for the first time.

So, the video starts and I’m welcomed by this guy with an orange shirt and blue hat, all happy and excited. For a split second, I think he’s Patton… but then, a Patton-esque guy with a sweater appears.

Okay, now I’m confused because I have no idea what’s happening here and don’t know who these guys are - I mean, if sweater guy is Patton, who is the orange guy? The orange side was introduced and I missed it? What’s happening here? Who are they? Are those the Inside Out characters as seen by Thomas? Will these guys meet their Sanders Sides “counterparts”?

But then another guy appears and he looks like Janus, so now I’m really lost because, seriously, who are these people? They call each other by name so they should be the Sides, but they also call the orange guy “Joy”, so who is this guy? Who are they? Are they the Inside Out characters cosplaying the Sides? Or vice-versa? What’s happening here?

I got my answer, only when Virgil appeared and clarified this was all a weird roleplay.

I have several questions:

Was it really necessary?

Why?

No, seriously, why? The Sides are the first to admit they aren’t an exact match to the Inside Out characters, so why doing this? Why flatten their multifaceted roles and personalities to do this? Because Mr. Sanders isn’t able to handle them?

Okay, fine, I know why Mr. Sanders wanted to do this weird roleplay and it could’ve been fun to see the Sides acting as the Inside Out characters… if only the Sides’ personalities stayed the same. But since their personalities are not the same anymore, all the viewers feel are confusion and a weird sense of “something’s wrong here”, which they can’t exactly pinpoint.

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Wrong aesthetics and confused personalities

In order to explain this point, I will bring two examples: Janus and Roman.

First of all, Janus. I know, he’s our beloved sassy queen and we all love him… but his aesthetic in this episode was completely wrong.

Janus is a character who wears layers upon layers of clothing. That’s the first thing you get, the first thing that characterizes him. But in this episode, he wears nothing but a gilet and a scarf. He shows with bare arms, bare shoulders, a deep V-neck and doesn't wear his gloves: for his standard, he’s basically naked.

You can tell me: “It was to match Disgust’s dress”. But since Remus put his own color on the costume, why couldn’t Janus put his own twist too? He’s not doing a perfect cosplay after all. So why not wear a sheer shirt underneath the gilet, to mimic the “nakedness” without showing his skin? Or a greenish/yellow shirt to match both his and Disgust’s aesthetic? I know Mr. Sanders loves to show his skin, but since he created a character whose aesthetic is to not show skin, why “strip” him just to show some more skin? Did Mr. Sanders forgot this aspect of Janus’ character?

But if Janus had at least his face and personality to remind us who he is, Roman had nothing. Seriously, look me in the eye and tell me that, when you saw that guy in orange, you immediately thought: “Ah yes, here is Roman”. There was no way to recognize him, because he had nothing of Roman.

First of all, not a single drop of red anywhere. And I know, roleplay and whatever… but Mr. Sanders is a theater man. He knows the importance of colors. He created seven characters by associating a color to each of them. And yet, Roman appeared without a drop of red, while Remus had no problem turning Fear’s sweater into green.

That doesn't mean Roman had to turn full red, but he could wear a red accessory at least: a bracelet, a necklace, a pin on his hat, whatever. Logan’s tie was blue after all. Or wasn’t Roman allowed to put a twist on his cosplay? This weird roleplay session gives me more questions than answers :/

Second (and most important), Roman’s personality was nowhere to be found. This guy is a more obnoxious, forced version of Roman. When he talked, I didn’t see a person talking: I saw Mr. Sanders reading a script. Or better, screaming a script. Seriously, why was he so loud? Why was he screaming this much, during the roleplay session? I almost got a headache and I don’t get headaches so easily. Seriously, if I needed to hear him louder, I could’ve turned up the volume of my computer, no need to scream this much.

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The makeup and the importance of details

The dark sides’ makeup has been butchered.

Remus’ eyeshadow used to be of a deep dark black/blue/purple. So why is it so light? Because of the roleplay? But it’s still light after the roleplay. What happened, did Thomas finish the eyeshadow? It’s not too expensive, can’t he buy some more?

Same goes for Virgil: his eyeshadow is basically non-existent. And that’s even weirder, considering that in the Christmas episode, he said he wanted darker makeup to match the darkness of his soul. Does that mean his soul isn’t dark anymore?

And then, Janus. My poor, beloved Janus. His makeup used to be impressive, with scales of a deep green/yellow/brown hue: now they look more like a weird, yellow-y rash, with a thin black line crossing them (probably made with an eye pencil?).

I know Thomas doesn’t have the same makeup artist, but experts exist. And if the one he has isn’t doing their job well, then I’m sorry, but he should hire another one. That’s not being mean, that’s being real.

And before any of you says: “That’s just a detail, you’re being nitpicky”... sure, you can see it like that. But let’s say someone gives you a cake and when you see it, there are missing decorations, the fondant doesn’t fully cover the cake and the phrase “Happy birthday” is wonky. And when you eat it, it has a weird aftertaste too. Sure, it was a gift, but would you think “That was the best ever!” or would you think “Thanks, but you could’ve spent a little more time making it better”?

Heck, you can apply the same concept with this post too! If I posted something with incorrect grammar and misspelled words, would you be happy? Or would you think “man, you could’ve spent a couple more minutes to correct it”?

Skipping details doesn’t make me think you care about your work: it makes me think that either you’re lazy or don’t really care. And if you’re okay with something with missing details, good for you. But from someone with a certain degree of expertise/professionalism like Mr. Sanders, I expect something professional too.

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Subtle vs thrown in your face

I enjoy the “Janus being a wine mom” thing: it’s funny, it makes me smile, poor boy dealing with the little shits he has around, please give him wine.

But you know what’s really funny about this? That it’s subtle. It happens once in a while. It’s not thrown in the face. And it’s not thrown in the face like that, with Sides luring Janus with wine, almost as if he’s an alcoholic and you can use wine to make him do anything.

Also because the whole “Janus loves wine” thing doesn’t work too well with the functions he embodies. I mean, this guy is responsible for lies. Do you really think lies and alcohol work well together? You need to be extremely lucid and focused to be a good liar. And I don’t think I have to explain to you why alcohol and self-preservation don’t work well together either.

So seeing him with a glass once in a while is funny, but seeing him being all like “you promised me wine” as if wine is his drug… that’s not funny.

Speaking of things that are funny when not thrown in the face, let’s talk about “falsehood” too.

Just like the wine, falsehood was funny when it came once in a while. It wasn’t a switch you could press and bam, Logan says “Falsehood!”. It was a momentarily outburst because Logan’s main reaction isn’t to yell: Logan’s main reaction is to explain things by using cold logic. Because that’s who he is: logic.

So, when I see him dropping a “falsehood” like this, I don’t enjoy it. I feel it old and stale. And it saddens me too, because it looks like Thomas is using the easiest bait to get his fans’ attention. A bit like a bunch of dangling keys: see? Your favorite character says his catchphrase! Now laugh!

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Apollo gave me the gift of prophecy (or maybe it was just too obvious this would happen)

Right after Roman stops screaming, Virgil starts screaming. And he does it in the most out-of-character way, for the most out-of-character reason.

Since the Q&A episode from season one, Virgil was the first one to tell Thomas that Anxiety looks different for anyone and that he specifically chose the dark persona to keep “everyone’s guard up”.

So why is he complaining so much about a movie representation of Anxiety now? And why should everyone remind him that hey, Anxiety looks different for everyone? He should already know that. He was the first to tell that.

Do you know what this is? No, not a pathetic excuse to talk about a trending topic (i.e. Inside Out). It’s proof I was fucking right and of course I was, because I experienced it too.

What did I say in my old post about the problem with this series? That SaSi doesn’t have an outline. And what happens when you don’t have an outline and, instead of focusing on that project/writing an outline, you do 20 other different things instead? That more time will pass. And the more time will pass, the more you will forget things you already talked about.

Like, you know, a topic from season 1 that was clarified, over and done by the same character who now forgot it.

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The golden goose will never die

Call me a conspiracy theorist or just an old hag with a heart of stone. But I really would like to know the real reason why, deep down, Thomas made this video.

I doubt it was because he missed the Sides and wanted to do something with them. He doesn’t miss them the slightest, it’s quite clear. He doesn’t even care enough to remember what their personalities are supposed to be, how can he "miss" them?

But oh look, there was new merch to advertise. And Inside Out is a trending topic and the fandom knows about the association between SaSi and the movie. So if Mr. Sanders makes the right video at the right time, he can get a lot of views with minimal effort.

But he should advertise a shirt with all Sides in, so he can’t just make a video about Virgil reacting to a trailer: he needs all of the Sides to be there. So, let’s rush a video with the first idea that popped into his mind: that Virgil doesn’t like the Inside Out take on Anxiety.

Maybe that’s not what truly happened in his mind and behind the scenes. Maybe Mr. Sanders really just wanted to make a video with the Sides and I’m a cynical, heartless person. Personally, I would be way happier to know I was wrong and there weren’t ulterior motives behind this video.

But without any actual proof, I won’t believe this video was made just for passion. Passion doesn’t make you skip details. Passion doesn’t make you put on a sloppy video, without taking two more minutes to check if your characters are IC or the topic you want to talk about makes sense.

Believe me, I’m very sad to say this. I don’t want to think all of this. I always try to be optimistic and think good of people. But if this is what I get, how can I believe this video was made with good intentions and no ulterior motives? Especially since it’s coming from a guy who can be accurate, detail-oriented, and very subtle while acting? He did all of this in the past: now it looks like he forgot everything.

If you want to still watch this Aside, do it. If you enjoy it, even better. For me, that was just a tiny waste of time and it left me nothing except a momentary smile. At the end of the day, I don’t even care enough to watch it twice. And for me, that's a failure, coming from a series I used to watch on repeat.

[naminethewriter]

What Dreams Are For

Chapter Two: Rumors

Masterpost | Previous | Next | Ao3

Story Summary: Dreams are weird. Especially when you’re metaphysical. There is a distinction between your own dreams and that of your whole. Even though Roman doesn’t know at first that he’s trapped in a dream, he does know that something is wrong upon waking in an unfamiliar room. He thinks he’s in the Imagination but can’t say for sure. Just what has he gotten caught up in?

Cast as the evil Prince and forced to act out the twisted storyline of Thomas’ dream, Roman, with help from Patton and Virgil, needs to figure out what is happening while constricted by what his hateful character would do and say which is not at all pleasant.

We dream for a reason. And as much as Roman likes to be the center of attention, this dream isn’t about him. Someone else is crying out for help.

Content Warnings: Teasing, Partial Mind Control

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The doors are pulled open once again, revealing two servants – Roman feels his posture straighten as the NPCs come into view – as well as a taller figure, his raven-black hair tied back into a ponytail and clad in armor that he does not look comfortable in. He lacks his usual dark make-up under his eyes, but it is undeniably Virgil who enters the room and bows deeply to both Roman and Patton.

“Your Royal Highness. Royal Advisor. Good morning.” His voice is deep and gravelly. “I have the report on the performance of the new trainees of the Royal Guard if you are able to spare me some time.” While he seems composed at first, Roman quickly notes that Virgil’s eyes are darting around the room, especially towards the windows and the second door on the opposite side of the room, close to where Roman and Patton are still standing. Their compulsion has made them step apart somewhat as the doors opened.

“I am amenable to hearing you out now,” Roman answers as soon as his brain has processed Virgil’s unusual appearance. “If you are as well, Royal Advisor?”

Next to him, Patton nods. “Yes, of course. You are welcome to join us for breakfast as well, Sir Virgil.”

“No, that’s alright. I’ve already eaten,” Virgil says, waving off the servants that had moved to clear him a place at the table. “I won’t be long either, I’m leading a trainings exercise soon.”

“Admirable as always, Captain,” Roman praises and takes his seat again. Huh, so Virgil’s the captain of the royal guard then? Honestly a good fit in his opinion, even if the man himself would probably disagree.

“I am honored to receive your praise, Your Royal Highness.” Virgil once again bows. As he straightens up again, he clasps his hands tightly behind his back, his posture very clearly indicates that he is on high alert. He is anxiety after all, Roman muses as he waves his hand in the direction of the servants still at the door to dismiss them. They leave without a word and again Roman feels the control of his body return to him. Before he can say anything to Virgil however, Patton barrels into him, hugging him tightly.

“Oh, Virge, I am so glad to see you, kiddo!” Patton exclaims, his eyes looking misty again. Virgil, who had stiffened up at the sudden physical contact, relaxes a bit, his shoulders dropping. He doesn’t return Patton’s hug, but he does bring up a hand to the other’s shoulder and squeezes.

“Yeah, me too Pat. I wasn’t expecting you.”

Roman raises a brow. “Who were you expecting then?”

“Well, Remus I guess.” Virgil’s answer is hardly more than a mumble but Roman just manages to hear him. Patton finally lets go of Virgil and takes a step back, watching his face.

“Why were you expecting Remus?”

Virgil scratches the back of his neck nervously. “’Cause he’s done stuff like this before? Like, he would kidnap me in the middle of the night and I’d wake up in the Imagination. Though normally he either leaves me a note if he just wants to prank me – which more often lead to him forcing me to do a scavenger hunt to get back to the Mindscape, or he’d be close by with some stupid plan he wanted my help with. I thought since he recently showed himself to Thomas, he might have thought I’d go along with his annoying shit again.”

“Language!” Patton chides and Virgil rolls his eyes. His words had been calm but Roman can see his hand tighten on the handle of the sword strapped to his belt.

“So, when you woke up in an unfamiliar place, you just thought it was Remus’ doing,” Roman summarizes and Virgil nods.

“Yeah. Like I had a feeling things were off, like I said, usually Remus would show up not long after I woke up, and the whole ‘being restricted in front of others’ isn’t usually part of this, but I was hoping Remus just learned some new – very annoying – tricks since I left. But if you’re here…” He trails off, biting at his lip.

“If we’re here this is something bigger, you think,” Roman finishes his thought and again Virgil nods.

“Something like that. If he’s behind this in the first place.”

“You think he’s not?” Patton asks, fiddling with his fingers nervously.

“I’m not sure. This doesn’t seem like his usual pranks. And I haven’t been to his side of the Imagination in years, but… It feels different than that.”

“I agree,” Roman hums. “It’s not his side or mine but it’s still… connected somehow.”

“So, you have no idea what’s going on either?”

“Not really, no. I can’t get creative control at all, something’s blocking me.”

“That’s… not at all comforting.” Virgil stands rigid, staring at the ground, still biting at his lip. Roman wishes he had answers for him, but he is just as lost as the other two.

“I know. We need to find Remus. With his help I might be able to do something.”

“We can’t be sure he’s even here though, can we?” Patton sighs, sitting down on the chair next to Roman’s. Roman pats his shoulder in an effort to comfort him as Virgil speaks up.

“I’m pretty sure he is. On my way here I heard something about a Second Prince who apparently is not very well liked by the other knights.”

“That does sound like it could be him,” Roman muses. “If we assume this isn’t his doing and he was cast as a character in this story just like we were, then being the less liked prince would be fitting.”

“Hold up, what do you mean ‘character’ and ‘story’?” Virgil interjects, brows furrowed. “I thought you didn’t know what’s going on either.”

“I don’t. It’s just speculation on my part. Since we“—He points at Patton and himself—“have to act a very specific way around the servants, I figured that we might have been assigned to fulfill certain roles in a kind of story, at least while others are around. I set up something similar in the Imagination once. I was working on a play but was stuck on how to proceed, so I recreated the story there and made some guidelines on how the characters acted before taking the lead role for myself and just… let it play out. The guidelines ensured I wouldn’t break character, but they couldn’t restrict me as harshly as this place does.”

“That’s… kinda creepy, dude.”

“Oh, shut it, Gerard Gay! How I deal with my writer’s block is none of your business!”

“Kiddos, please don’t fight.” Patton’s voice sounds so drained that Roman instantly feels bad. He apologizes quietly, as does Virgil, before standing up to give Patton a small neck massage. The father figment sighs in relief as he lets some of the tension in his shoulders drop.

“So, what do we do now?” Virgil asks.

Roman shrugs. “We need more information first, I think. Try and find out more about that second prince you mentioned. Maybe some leads about the others.”

“Well, about that. When I heard about that prince, they also mentioned one other. A ‘stuck-up brat that finally learned his place.’”

“That… doesn’t sound good,” Patton mumbles.

“If he’s connected with Remus, maybe it’s Janus?” Roman guesses.

“Could be. I’ll try and get some more info out of the other knights, I guess.”

“I think the servants avoid talking about certain things with me,” Patton sighs, “so I don’t know how useful I will be. A few times they got really quiet as soon as I got close.”

“Well, you might be able to find some hints in the paperwork they make you do. Since you’re kind of the administrator of the kingdom at the moment.”

“But I don’t understand those papers! It’s so many words and there’s so much of it!”

“Look, padre.” Roman moves around the chair and kneels down, looking up at Patton while holding his hands reassuringly. “Since we’re supposed to play along with whatever setting we’re in, there is some information that will be provided for you. I, for example, was able to tell where each door I passed on my way here leads, despite not ever being here before. If you concentrate on your work, that should also work for you. I’m guessing it just comes to me more naturally since I’m connected to Thomas’ creative core.”

“Alright, I’ll try it. Thanks, kiddo.” Patton smiles up at him and Roman pats his shoulders one more time before stepping back.

“Then let’s try meeting again around dinner time,” Roman decides, clapping his hands once. Patton cheers though it’s still a bit lackluster.

Virgil starts moving towards the door. “I’ll get going then. If anything happens, call me, understood?”

“Promise, Stormy Knight.” Virgil huffs at the nickname, glaring at Roman halfheartedly before he slips out of the door. Roman sighs, getting back to his seat.

“Let’s finish breakfast, padre. We got a long day ahead of us.”

~~~

Virgil wipes away the sweat from his forehead. Training was tough but he found he enjoys it quite a bit actually. A set routine of movements that aim to protect himself and others, a reassuring thing for his usually worried mind. He is in need of a break however, so he steps away from the open courtyard where they had lined up training dummies, and into the shade of the palace walls. He leans against a pillar and takes a drink from his waterskin.

Not far from him, two other knights are talking and while Virgil isn’t usually one for eavesdropping, he is supposed to gather information, so he discreetly inches a little closer to them and listens.

“Don’t you think we should increase the number of guards around His Royal Highness?” one of the two says. “It’s pretty obvious that the Second Prince is dangerous.”

“Keep your voice down,” the other hisses, looking around nervously, but thankfully not spotting Virgil. “He’s still part of the Royal Family, you know. You can’t just badmouth him.”

“I’m not badmouthing him! On the contrary, I think he’s an excellent fighter. He kicked our asses every time he came by. Which is exactly why I think we need more security around the place.”

“You’re implying that the Second Prince could attack the Crown Prince, what do you call that if not badmouthing!”

“Everyone knows he went insane, it’s not like I’m saying something scandalous.”

“Would you shut up already!” Having had enough of his friend’s loud mouth, the second knight pulls the first further away, urging him to drop the topic. Virgil doesn’t follow them, he’s heard enough.

~~~

Patton’s back is starting to ache as he sits behind ‘his’ desk and goes over paper after paper. Roman had been right, if he concentrates enough, he can tell what they are for and how he should deal with them but it’s still a bit much which is why he left his body on autopilot for a little while. He hadn’t been able to find any useful information in any of the papers anyway.

“Would you like some tea, my Lord?” Patton startles, looking over to the servant that had appeared at his desk while he had been lost in thought.

“Yes. That would be delightful,” he says after a moment. His mouth doesn’t let him say thank you, but he hopes his appreciation still comes across. From her smile, he guesses she understood his intentions well enough.

“Shall I fetch some pastries as well?”

“I need to keep my hands clean, I’m afraid.”

“Oh my, of course. My apologies.” She bows, her face red.

“It’s quite alright. I simply have more work to go through in the King’s absence and cannot take the time for an extended snack break.”

“I understand. It’s truly a shame.” Her utterance makes Patton pause.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, my apologies. Again. I simply meant that if the Prince’s former advisor hadn’t turned out like that, he might have been able to take some work off you. But considering what became of him, it’s probably for the best that he didn’t get access to the important paperwork my Lord is dealing with.”

“…Right.” Patton has no idea what – or who for that matter – she is talking about, but he doesn’t seem to be allowed to ask her more because he dismisses her a short moment after. He ponders her words as his body goes back to grinding through the paperwork.

~~~

Roman doesn’t like the noble he’s currently having tea with. A marquess had asked him for an audience regarding a business venture he wanted to start that needs royal approval. The man had talked his ear off for the better part of an hour now and done his best to suck up to Roman in any way he could. The prince had endured him with a smile but is quickly reaching the end of his patience.

“Marquess,” he cuts in as the noble takes a moment to breathe. “I’m afraid I do not have more time to spend with you but if you leave your proposal with my butler, I will be sure to look your venture over again at the earliest convenience.”

“Of course, of course. I am incredibly grateful that Your Royal Highness took time out of your busy schedule to meet with me.” He passes the stack of papers he brought to the butler Roman had indicated and watches him leave before leaning a bit closer. “I hope I am not overstepping, my Prince, but I noticed you still haven’t replaced your former advisor.”

Roman stiffens. He’s not sure why but the mention of said former advisor invokes a deep anger in him and he stands sharply.

“You best be on your way now, Marquess.”

“My apologies, Your Royal Highness.” The man quickly stands and bows deeply but opens his mouth again a moment later. “I was just thinking about my nephew, he is about to graduate the Royal Institute, at the top of his class no less. He’s a bright and loyal man, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed if you were to give him a chance. He certainly would not dare betray you like your last one did.”

Roman grits his teeth as he stares at the nobleman who smiles innocently at him. “Until next time, Marquess.” Thankfully, the other’s smile drops as he seems to realize that he might have said too much, and he hurries away after one last bow. Despite being left alone in the room, Roman can’t help but bring down his fist on the table, making the now empty teacups rattle.

~~~

“That’s… not much,” Patton sighs after all three of them finished sharing what they had learned over the day. Roman huffs, sinking down into the red and golden couch he had inspected for the first time that morning. Eating dinner together hadn’t worked out, so instead, Roman had ordered Patton and Virgil to his private quarters afterwards. Now they are gathered around his fireplace, still lost on how to proceed.

“It’s something,” Virgil mutters, sitting on the backrest of one of the armchairs. “We know that the Second Prince stands in opposition to Roman and has only recently fallen out of favor with the knights at least. And then there’s that former advisor that was kicked to the curb or something, which also seems to have happened recently. Could be that the two incidents are related.”

Roman stares at him. “When did you become Sherlock?”

“Shut up, princey. I was just summarizing what we already said.”

“Don’t talk bad about yourself!”

“Sorry, Pat.”

“Anyway!” Roman says, loudly, to get the attention back on him. “We still don’t know enough to really tell what’s going on.”

“No shit.”

“So,” he continues, ignoring Virgil’s comment, “I think we have no choice but to continue playing along until one of us figures out more.”

“I wish Logan were here, he’d know what to do,” Patton mumbles. Roman grabs his hand and pulls him in the seat next to him, offering a hug that the other gladly accepts.

“We’ll find him, I’m sure. For now, we’ll do what we can on our own.”

“Yeah…”

Neither of them sound quite convinced themselves and Virgil watches them worriedly. Being stuck not knowing anything is going to get to them sooner or later.

“I’m on patrol tomorrow. Maybe I’ll come across something then.” Roman nods in acknowledgement of his words but doesn’t respond and they all fall into silence for a bit.

“We should probably go to bed,” Patton eventually speaks up, separating himself from Roman. “You know how important a proper sleep schedule is! Well, at least according to Logan.”

“You’re right! Worrying won’t get us anywhere and if we’re well rested, I’m sure we can figure out more tomorrow then if we remain tired.” Roman stands, trying to force more confidence into his words than he’s feeling, and it manages to get a quick smile on Virgil’s lips.

“You’re gonna need your beauty sleep, that’s for sure. Otherwise the people might just decide they want another prince after all.”

“How dare you tease me in my own home! Out with you, this instant!”

Their bickering gets Patton to laugh and soon all three of them are giggling.

“I’m really glad you’re here with me,” Patton smiles once he’s calmed down a bit. “I don’t know what I would have done all on my own.”

“Yes, I’m glad you’re here, too,” Roman agrees. “I’m sure together we’ll figure out what to do.”

“I guess it’s better than being alone,” Virgil shrugs and Roman lightly hits him in the shoulder.

“Just say you love us, you dork.”

“As if.”

[sidespart]

this was meant to be a question and turned into a theory..

genuine question does Logan actually get ignored more than the other sides or is that just his perception??

Like obviously there are points where they talk over him/Roman calls him a nerd but I don't think it's anymore than Logan talks over them /calls Roman/Patton stupid or what have you?? Especially in season 1

And then in season 2....

like i remember the whole 'ducking out' in moving on but that's resolved by the end of the episode (and tbf, he himself admits that his methods were not helping with that particular emotional problem) and he gives Patton the cat hoody, they apologise and explain that intense emotional situations makes it hard to hear him, he gets it, it all ends v maturely.

and then he has like a WHOLE SEASON of wins. He's stage manager in CLBG, he lectures on the different aspects of lying and everyone listens and engages. he's the one who identifies deceit by name AND he's the one who clams Thomas down and helps explain how having deceit as part of his personality doesn't make him a bad person. Thomas explicitly thanks him

then you have WWGOOBITM - him and roman both spend the episode ignoring each other, shouting over each other, explaining their side and eventually praising each other and being referred to as a team. they're both explicitly praised.

CTM - the man gets his jam

Learning new things about ourselves - so in this one he gets angry that the others arnt listening to him, but again he's equally not listening to them and refusing entertain the idea of using puppets to help Thomas learn. Vigil has some line that explicitly points out that Logan gets angry and lashes out when he feels frustrated, Roman admits that Logan is so critical of his ideas it makes it hard to be creative, Logan acknowledges that and explains his own frustrations, they all listen to each other, it ends positively

embarrassing phases - even tho its a Virgil driven episode he's the narrator, he delivers a load of mini lectures about phases, again everyone engages with it. They all remember the Yerks dodson stuff from season 1

SVS: OKAY so now he IS being ignored- but its very deliberately done, by Deceit, who benches the logical reasoning, and further tries to drive a wedge by saying its roman/pattons idea. Its very clearly not done by Thomas or the others.

DWIT - absolute king shit. runs the whole episode. 'You're so COOl' etc

SVS2 - gets yoinked away by deceit and comes back PISSED 'Not that any of you care, but I am unharmed, and I don't want to talk about it. I'm just here to deliver one last fact, then I will do you all a favor and spare you my company.' which seems like such a weird stance after DWIT???? And the rest of them were so worried when he got yoinked. Now you do have the 'skipping' thing but tbh. This didnt feel too different from moving on - the logical reasoning is not helping (when youre stressed enough that the embodiment of your feelings is about to turn into a giant frog, lectures dont help) but logan isn't able to see that. He's just mad.

WTIT - okay so THIS feels more like a Logan whose developed since moving on. He sets up a strict schedule but when Thomas can't stick to it, Loagn's able to acknowledge that his emotional state isnt conductive and offer alternative activities. Remus has to deliberately needle him, for a LONG time, to get him to snap and then Remus is the one feeding him the 'but its not really me you want to scream at' line

AND THEN you get the organe glow and Deceit talking to the camera at the end. and we KNOW he's the one responsible for keeping other sides hidden/revealing them...

like part of me thinks between SVs1/2 and the latest ep, Janus and Remus are deliberately fucking with Logan in order to unleash Orange....

even tho Jan has been accepted and is on Thomas's side, he's demonstrated several times that he's very much an 'ends justifies the means' kind of guy. So if he thought for whatever reason Thomas needed to meet Orange, and that the way to do that was through Logan?? I think he'd do whatever he thought was necessary

[remuscore]

I always loved the thought of the Core sides and the Others having different family lives and if you have ever been included in a family other than your own, you’d have difficulty getting used to it.

So pretty much here is what I think the sides would have to get used to when they were all accepted.

Actual meals. I made the dark mind palace the basement of Thomas’ mind, so they don’t have very good stoves or other cooking shit. Virgil had gotten used to it much earlier because he would sneak up to eat with them, but Janus and Remus were pleasantly surprised by it. Janus didn’t like it much at first because being the one taking care of everyone so that being taken away made him feel small. Remus loved it, but did miss having shitty microwaved frozen food because it reminded him of good times.

Activity nights. The Others have pretty different tastes and are prone to lots of violent arguments, so they don’t all get along enough to actually have nights together. After Virgil left, Janus and Remus did end up getting particularly needy and close, so they did end up having something close to activity nights, but not in the same way. Remus was always completely in charge and Janus just sat back to let him do whatever he wants. Virgil was similar when he started getting included, he just let them do whatever they wanted until they gave him a choice.

Lack of communication. While the Others definitely have there problems with communication, Remus was always so honest about his feelings that it was weird for them when they didn’t know how to respond to Remus being open about feeling upset. It was easy enough for Janus as well to openly talk about not feeling good because him being selfishness, basically caring about his emotions more than pride. Virgil having anxiety doesn’t have that same trait, but he did find it weird that the others just buried shit down like he did despite having a good family life otherwise.

“Me Days.” The Core sides that it was strange that Janus had “Me Days” while Remus and Virgil didn’t think twice about it. Privacy and days off were very normalized to the Others because of being raised by Janus. When Janus had his first “Me Day,” they didn’t quite understand it. Roman teased him that he was such an introvert that he had to have a week off after having a conversation. Remus too has has “Me Days” but they are a lot like wash days where Janus has to make an entire day free to detangle all his knots and probably deworm him.

Taking turns in almost anything. Things like movie or activity choices, chores, even taking turns with who spends time with who. It’s very common for the Core sides to have a system so that things stay fair (whether Roman obeys that rule is up to the Gods). With the Others, Janus made sure to do chores so Remus couldn’t take advantage of any mess, Remus was mostly in charge of any activities they did have and Virgil fought him on it. Remus did have a hard time adjusting to having to actually do work around the house and not getting dibs on which movie they were watching.

Loud affections. Very spoken love, very physical. Patton and Roman especially give out so much hugs and say they love each other so often. There was always some unspoken fear with the Others to never speak about their affections. Maybe it was fear of abandonment or fear of looking weak, but they never said “I love you” or even a “love ya” casually even though they clearly do. It was always unspoken and at first it made them all uncomfortable with the blatant love. Remus and Janus in particular had a lot of trouble.

Subtle affections. Along with the last point, the Core sides had to get use to how the Others said they loved them. Giving them space, doing something considerate, offering distractions or someone to talk to. They all had to figure out and understand that just because they didn’t out right say it, didn’t mean they didn’t love them.

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Invisible Assistance

Prompts: If ur taking requests do you think maybe you could write about the sanders sides as kids where Virgil subtly looks out for the others when they’re afraid of things (cuz he can tell as anxiety)? Like for example he plugs in nightlights in the hallway bc Logan is afraid of the dark. He leaves sticky notes with compliments out for Roman bc Roman’s afraid of rejection/falling short. He stitched together little stuffies for patton bc he’s hates being lonely. Those kinda things. Virgil would have to do it discreetly bc the other sides wouldn’t accept the help if it was from anxiety (even if they really really wanted the things that would help). And maybe the other sides find out after they accept Virgil bc he says something offhandedly about it? However you wanna write it tho!!! <3 - renjunstolemykidneys

Can I request a Sanders sides fic where one of the sides is touch averse? - anon

Oh is it kid fic time? it's kid fic time!

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none! fluff land down below bois

Pairings: it is found family to the MAX

Word Count: 3836

When one of the others is afraid, a patch on the back of Virgil’s neck tingles.

It doesn’t hurt, which is good, because that would be really annoying, but it tingles.

Or, five times Virgil helps one of the other Sides when they're afraid, and one time they show him how much they appreciate it.

When one of the others is afraid, a patch on the back of Virgil’s neck tingles.

It doesn’t hurt, which is good, because that would be really annoying, but it tingles. He used to be scared of it. He ran to Janus the first time it happened because he didn’t know what he did wrong, he didn’t know why this thing was happening to him. Janus had calmed him down, walked him through his breathing exercises, and said that it was one of his powers.

“Powers? What powers?”

“I can grow extra arms and I can tell when people are lying,” Janus had said, “those are my powers. You can tell when people are afraid.”

And Virgil could. There was a small patch on the back of his neck that acted like a fear detector, where he could tell what was wrong. Over time, he had figured out how to tell who it was that was afraid.

Logan’s fear felt really fuzzy.

Not like the soft blankets that Patton likes from the hall closet, but the kinda weird static that the TV has sometimes when the video games won’t load properly. It’s fuzzy. It’s kind of hard to think. Sometimes, if it’s really bad, it gets kind of hard to see.

Logan doesn’t like being afraid and Virgil doesn’t blame him. Being afraid isn’t fun, that’s why he doesn’t like it.

Logan’s fear is fuzzy because Logan is Logic. Logan makes things clearer, easier to understand, because that’s his power. He’s really good at it. When Virgil gets afraid for himself, Logan is really good at explaining why it’s not so scary after all. Sometimes it doesn’t always work, but it works most of the time. But Virgil can’t do what Logan does for him because that’s not his power. He just knows when Logan is scared and fuzzy.

At first, Virgil thought it was something wrong with his glasses. After all, Logan needs them to see, doesn’t he? So if his glasses are fuzzy, he’ll be fuzzy. But Logan uses the glasses to see outside, not inside. So it isn’t the glasses. So he starts trying to figure out what Logan is scared of.

Then he notices that Logan’s light stays on all night while everybody else turns their light off.

He mumbles something about it to Logan the next day and Logan tells him that’s because he likes to read at night and so he needs the light. But Janus said his mouth felt weird after Logan said that so Logan’s lying.

Oh. Maybe Logan’s scared of the dark.

Virgil goes back to his room and opens his closet. He scrambles up on the step stool—putting his arms out for balance like Patton and Janus said—and reaches for the box of night lights. He pulls the cardboard down and rifles through it, looking for ones that Logan would like. He comes across a collection of night lights that Thomas saw at the space museum—what was it called? He pulls one closer and reads off the label.

“Planetarium,” he mumbles, “got it.”

It’s a set of nine night lights, one for each planet, and a big one to be the Sun. He scurries out into the hall and checks to make sure no one is around. There’s no one there. He tucks the box under his bed and scampers off. He needs to count how many outlets there are to see how many lights he’ll need.

There is one by the bathroom, two in the middle of the hall, one by Patton’s door, one by Roman’s door, one by Remus’s door, one by Janus’s room, one by Logan’s room, one by his room, and one at the top of the stairs.

One…two…three…four…five…six…seven…eight…nine…ten.

Perfect.

Virgil hurries back to the cardboard box and makes sure there are ten night lights. There are. Now all he needs to do is figure out where each one has to go.

The Sun is Logan’s room. Obviously. Mercury can go with Roman because those two love to play together. That would make Venus Remus because the twins are very close too.

Patton is the Earth because he takes care of all of them. Janus can be Jupiter because he likes being the tallest.

The bathroom can be Uranus.

The stairs can be Neptune because Logan likes that Neptune spins on its side, which is really cool. And the stairs are kind of sideways so it matched.

Virgil holds the last night light in his hands. Pluto. It’s small, a kind of purple-gray. It matches the sleeves of his pajamas. As he walks back to his room, he plugs the Pluto into the outlet next to his door.

Perfect.

He doesn’t feel Logan getting scared by the dark anymore and the Sun nightlight is really bright.

2.

Roman’s fear makes his neck feel hot. Almost like he’s embarrassed by something or he’s ashamed of something. He doesn’t like it, and he can imagine that Roman doesn’t like it very much either.

Roman is really loud. He really likes singing at the top of his lungs, even when there are like four other people in the room that are trying to do something. He really likes talking loudly too, even when they’re trying to do something. Sometimes Virgil thinks that Roman is too loud, but he’d never say that to him. That would be mean.

Roman gets hurt a lot. He says it’s because of his quests in the Imagination but Janus doesn’t believe him. Not about all of them. And that would be a weird place to get bruises. Virgil goes in there too sometimes, to play with Remus and Roman or to train with Roman. One of his other powers is fighting the things that come to hurt Thomas so he has to be ready. And he only gets bruises on his arms and legs from that.

Roman gets them everywhere. And Roman’s a good fighter! So it doesn’t make sense that he’s really hurt all the time.

Virgil does figure out that Roman gets hurt when Thomas feels bad about something. When Roman and Thomas have been working really hard on something and it doesn’t go well, Roman goes off into the Imagination and he looks hurt when he comes back. That’s when Virgil feels that he’s scared.

When they get a bit older and Virgil can start confidently naming it ‘rejection,’ he starts to notice that Roman slumps more when he’s hurt. Like it physically hurts to stand up straight. Which is really bad, because Roman loves to sing but you can’t sing properly if you don’t stand up straight. And if Roman can’t sing, he can’t make himself feel better.

Virgil also notices that Roman really doesn’t like it when he’s not sure what to do.

Virgil isn’t the best person to go to for this, because he’s always upset that things are going to happen and they’re going to happen and they don’t know how. But he notices that Logan, who always knows what’s good to pay attention to, doesn’t help either. Patton is the only one who seems to be able to help. And he helps by telling Roman that he’s doing a good job, that they will help, that it’s okay. Roman likes being told that it’s okay.

Virgil can get behind that.

But Roman isn’t always around when Virgil remembers to tell him that, so he decides to write it down.

On his desk, there is a pack of red post-it notes. Virgil stashes one in his pocket all the time with a pen. When he thinks of something that Roman should hear, he writes it down and sticks it on Roman’s door. He doesn’t go into Roman’s room, that’s mean. And rude. He knows better.

Things like ‘I like your singing.’ Or ‘The pancakes you made were really good.’ Or ‘You did a good job today.’ That kind of thing. Sometimes it’s just ‘I like you.’ Because Roman is good and Virgil likes him. A lot.

When he feels Roman start to get afraid, he goes and writes it down and sticks it on the door. Then he retreats to his room and waits, holding his breath, until he hears the creak of a door down the hall and the fear goes away. If he waits a few more minutes, normally he’ll hear Roman start to sing.

Then he lets himself smile.

3.

Patton’s fear feels really heavy. Like…really heavy. It kind of hurts to breathe sometimes if it catches Virgil off-guard. So he really doesn’t like Patton’s fear.

What makes it harder is that Patton is really good at hiding when he’s actually afraid. He screams really loudly when there’s a spider or when something surprises him—thank you, Remus—but when he’s afraid, it’s harder to tell.

But Virgil sometimes catches him sitting in the living room by himself, watching TV, and he’ll be afraid. Not of what’s on the TV, but of something else. So he’ll come downstairs and ask if Patton’s okay and Patton will say he’s fine, but then Virgil will curl up in a chair and that won’t be true. The fear will still be there. It’s only when someone else comes down that it goes away.

Virgil remembers very clearly the day that he spent an hour sitting downstairs with Patton and left to go to the bathroom. He had come back downstairs to see Janus next to Patton and Patton wasn’t afraid anymore. He’d gone back to his room and thought about it.

Virgil couldn’t help with this as he was, but the others could. Patton was afraid of…of being left alone?

Okay. Okay, Virgil could make things that would make Patton feel less alone.

He was never really good at making things, not like the twins were, but he was good at fixing things when they got ripped. When he wakes up in the middle of the night from nightmares he knows how to fix his blankets and pillows and pajamas. So he takes the scraps of fabric he has from all the ones he still had to fix and frowns.

Patton likes frogs. So he draws a frog on the blue sheet and cuts it out carefully. He folds the fabric over and cuts out another one. He stitches them wrong sides together, leaving a little bit at the bottom. He turns it inside out and fills it with stuffing from the pillow. Then he sews the bottom back up. It’s a little frog plushie, and it’s for Patton.

He leaves it outside Patton’s door to a squeal of delight.

When he feels Patton get lonely again, he makes another one. This time it’s from the galaxy pillow and he makes a cat. The cat’s eyes don’t come out right when he draws them but they kind of look like glasses. Logan’s glasses.

The next time, he makes a lion. The lion is fuzzy because the slipper that was falling apart worked really well for a mane. He gives it Roman’s favorite red sash because he accidentally cut the fabric in the wrong place and needed to keep the stuffing inside.

After the lion, he makes a snake. He gives it a little paper hat like the one Janus wears. He giggles when he sees the final thing, it kind of looks like it belongs in Phineas and Ferb. Agent J.

When Patton gets really afraid, he looks at the last bit of the green fabric he has and chews his lip. Can he…maybe he can make an octopus. Like Remus. It takes a long time and he accidentally pricks his fingers a couple of times, but he gets a sloppy-looking octopus. After a moment, he grabs the pen and draws a smile with lots of sharp teeth. Like Remus.

Patton doesn’t feel so lonely after that.

4.

Remus’s fear feels muffled. Not like it’s there but it’s not really, but it gets hard for Virgil to hear things. Not like Logan’s fear where everything is fuzzy, but like someone has their hands over his ears. He doesn’t like it. It makes his own head louder.

He notices that Roman is loud but Remus is louder. Remus is constantly making noise, not like Roman’s outbursts, but always. He’s tapping a table or stomping his foot or humming to himself. He’s never quiet and when he’s quiet it’s bad.

He remembers watching Roman and Remus come out of the Imagination once and Remus hadn’t made a noise. The twins had scurried off to Remus’s room and they hadn’t come out until breakfast the next morning. Virgil’s head had been really loud all night because everything else had been muffled.

Remus isn’t quiet. Remus doesn’t like the quiet. Remus hates the quiet. Remus is scared of the quiet.

Virgil doesn’t like the quiet either, but he can’t exactly make noise without worrying that he’s disturbing everyone else. But Remus doesn’t have that problem. Remus is loud and he likes that he’s disturbing everyone else.

But maybe Virgil can help.

There is another box on his desk full of fidget toys. Virgil doesn’t use them most of the time because they’re stuck in the back of the desk but he does like the fidget cube. Maybe Remus would like it too?

He figures out how to get another one and makes it green and black. He puts it outside Remus’s door.

Well, it’s not quiet anymore.

But Remus isn’t afraid, so that’s fine.

It’s all fine.

Virgil remembers too late that the reason he doesn’t use the fidget cube that often is because he can’t stand the sound of the clicking and the squeaking of the cube. But Remus isn’t afraid anymore and he has his headphones.

So it’s fine.

5.

Janus’s fear is cold.

It’s probably why Virgil took so long to work out that Janus was scared of anything. Janus didn’t like to admit that he was scared of things. Janus didn’t like to admit much of anything if he’s being real, but he really doesn’t like admitting when he’s scared. And Virgil is used to being cold so he probably didn’t notice it for a long time.

But Janus does get scared and when he does, the back of Virgil’s neck feels cold.

Janus is like a snake the same way Remus is like an octopus and Patton is like a frog. If Logan is right and he normally is, it’s like how Virgil is like a spider and Roman is like a lion and Logan is like a cat. Which means that there are certain things that Janus does that are like a snake.

Even if he has too many arms to be a snake. Like…way too many.

Janus has a forked tongue. Remus is jealous and Patton thinks it’s kind of weird. Janus has scales. Roman thinks they’re strange and Logan thinks they’re interesting. Janus hisses sometimes when he’s tired or upset. They all think it’s cute. Janus doesn’t like that either.

They’re watching a documentary for a science class and snakes come up. Logan leans forward with his notebook, Patton grabs his juice box, and Remus starts thinking of ideas to do with Roman later. Janus watches the documentary. Virgil watches Janus.

“Snakes, unlike humans and most other mammals, are cold-blooded. This means they have an inability to regulate their own body temperature. They must bathe in the sun to stay warm.”

What?

“But basking out here in the open is risky. Predators, like this hawk, can see snakes in the grass, thanks to their incredible eyesight. The snake has to choose. Being safe and cold, or risk getting warm and being lunch.”

What?

The others are focused on the footage on screen or by their own conversations, so Virgil can stare at Janus. Is that…is that why Janus doesn’t like coming to spend time with them? Is that why he doesn’t like coming out of his room? They’re not going to eat him, he’s part of Thomas! They need him like they need each other.

But if Janus is part snake…then it would make sense why he’s nervous about being in the open.

Only later, when Virgil is startled awake by how cold he feels, does he realize that he might’ve been wrong.

Janus isn’t afraid of being around the others, he is afraid of what happens when he isn’t around the others. Because Virgil never feels Janus afraid when he’s with them. He only ever feels it when Janus is alone.

When Janus isn’t in the warmth with them. When he’s safer, maybe, but when he’s cold.

Janus is afraid of the cold.

Well. That’s the easiest one to fix.

Virgil gathers up all the blankets he has and goes to Janus’s door. He dumps the pile on the floor and scampers back to his room, knowing that Janus would’ve heard something hit the ground. He waits, waits, waits, and then—

It’s gone.

The cold on the back of his neck is gone.

Virgil smiles and burrows down under the one sheet on his bed. He pulls his arms tight around his pillow and buries himself under the thin sheet. He curls up as tight as he can and feels that the back of his neck is no longer cold from Janus’s fear.

Janus is warm. That’s all that matters.

Janus doesn’t feel cold again. Janus feels warm. Janus feels warm. Janus feels warm.

Logan has light.

Roman has love.

Patton has friends.

Remus has noise.

Janus has warmth.

They’re okay.

They’re okay.

They’re…okay.

Virgil falls asleep in the cold room.

+1

Virgil doesn’t like touch.

It…it’s not that he’s afraid of it, but it…

Okay. Here’s the thing. Virgil doesn’t like that the others can touch him.

Thomas can’t touch him. Thomas is safe, Virgil keeps him safe, but he doesn’t touch him. Thomas is safe and that is Virgil’s job because he is afraid and Thomas isn’t and it’s fine. There’s a line there. Thomas and Virgil hold the line between each other and it works.

Patton tries to pull him in for hugs and Patton doesn’t like being alone but his hugs make Virgil feel like he’s trapped.

Logan tries to touch him on the shoulder to get his attention and Logan likes being listened to but that hand feels like a live wire.

Roman tries to pull him close when they fight and Roman doesn’t like being rejected but sometimes Virgil doesn’t know whether he wants to fight the monster or Roman’s grip on him.

Remus tries to scare him by grabbing him and Remus likes noise but Virgil can’t stand being grabbed.

Janus tries to poke him because getting people out of their comfort zones is part of his job but Virgil worked hard for his comfort zone and he doesn’t want to get out of it.

Virgil doesn’t like being touched.

But that’s okay. He can…it’s not like the others normally want to touch him.

Virgil likes to sit by himself. There’s less to worry about when he sits by himself. He can sit and he can make his own noise and do his own thing and he can be fine. He can hold a pillow if he needs to and he won’t get overwhelmed. He can just…be.

He likes the idea of just being.

He doesn’t get to do it often.

So he’s surprised when he opens his door one morning and there’s a box sitting in front of his door.

He takes it back inside and opens it up. His mouth falls open.

There, on top, is the last post-it he stuck on Roman’s door. The one that just said ‘you’re important.’ He picks it up with shaky fingers and turns it over.

Virgil, these are for you. We know what you’ve been doing to help and we want to help you too. We know that you do not like being touched so we got you something that can help. You are important too.

Under the message that makes Virgil blink back tears for a second, he sees the names of the others scrawled in their colors. He puts the post-it note in the most important part of his desk and peers back into the box.

He lifts out a spaceship nightlight. It’s the one from the movie he and Logan had spotted on the way back from school. It’s very shiny and smooth to the touch.

There’s a notebook in the box that has the quote from Winnie the Pooh: ‘Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.’ A purple pen is tucked into the binding.

A spider plushie! It’s soft, it’s fuzzy, it fits right into the palm of his hand. It looks like it’s been made out of the Halloween sweater they got given for Christmas. It was a weird year.

There’s a small tin of putty. It’s purple and black, sparkly, and it makes really cool sounds as Virgil stretches and squeezes it. If he traps an air bubble in it, it makes a satisfying pop sound.

Virgil’s eyes widen as he pulls out a weighted blanket. Oh, it’s warm. It’s so warm. It feels perfect. He can understand why Janus hisses when he’s tired now, he wants to do it himself and he’s not even a snake.

There’s one more thing in the box. It’s dark, soft, and for a moment he thinks it could be another blanket. But as he pulls it out, his mouth drops open.

It’s a hoodie. A simple, plain, black hoodie, that’s soft and looks warm and looks big enough to cover all of his upper body.

They…they know he doesn’t like being touched so��so they gave him a shield.

Oh.

Oh.

Virgil doesn’t take the hoodie off until he switches it for a purple one many years later.

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[nonbinaryroyalty43]

Lociet, Au where virgil was created as ignorance instead of anxiety

I’m back everyone! Here we go with another prompt.

Characters: Logan Sanders, Janus Sanders, Roman Sanders, Patton Sanders, Remus Sanders, Ignorance!Virgil

Pairing: Loceit

Warnings: Remus, but Remus is less weird than usual, threats of murder

Summary: Logan was curious and when he’s curious he performs experiments. Who better to be his partner in fake dating than his crush, Janus?

It was common knowledge that Virgil didn’t understand many things until they were explained to him. It wasn’t that he was dumb, it was just his part in Thomas’ mind.

However, this fact was very interesting to Logan. Logan hadn’t interacted with Virgil much, despite the fact that the two were almost polar opposites. That was how the bet was created.

Logan presented his idea to Janus. The two of them would pretend to fake date and see how long it would take the other Sides to notice. Logan was particularly interested in when Virgil would notice. 

Janus listened quietly throughout Logan’ explanation. He paused a moment when Logan was done and then asked, “Why me? Why did you not do this with Roman or one of the others?”

Logan hesitated. “You are the Side that is most comfortable with lying. Patton wouldn’t want to do it and Roman and Remus would go over the top. I want this to be somewhat quiet while also appearing to be normal.” Janus nodded along and Logan kept the relief off his face. That wasn’t the real reason Logan wanted Janus as his partner, but he couldn’t exactly say that. Feelings weren’t something Logan was fond of.

Test 1

Janus and Logan started off small. Their hands would linger together a bit too long and they tended to stay in each other’s personal space. Janus was incredibly flirty (more than he normally is). Logan did his best to reciprocate, but he wasn’t very good at it. Roman was the only one to figure it out at this stage. He confronted Logan as Logan was heading to his room.

“What is going on with you and Janus?” Roman stood in front of Logan’s door, his arms crossed.

Logan didn’t see any point in beating around the bush. “Janus and I have been pretending that we are dating. I wanted to have an opportunity to see how long it would take each of you to notice, particularly Virgil. Now that you have figured it out, would you mind keeping this quiet? We have more tests to do.”

Roman agreed so Logan and Janus started their second test.

Test 2

The escalated their relationship just a little. They held hands while around the others and every once in a while Janus kissed Logan’s cheek. Logan spent the entire second test flustered, his face turning red every time Janus kissed him. This time, Remus and Patton both noticed. The conversations with the two went very similar to Roman’s, with the exception of Remus threatening to disembowel Logan if he hurt Janus. They both agreed to keep it a secret.

Before they could start the third test to see if Virgil would notice, Roman wanted to talk to Logan.

“Are you sure this is really just pretend?” Roman leaned against one of the walls in Logan’s room.

“Of course.” Logan, who was sitting at his desk, pretended to be busy with notes about the tests. He didn’t want Roman to see his face and the lie that was clearly written there. 

Roman sighed. “Okay. Just be careful, will you? I don’t think Janus will care if he breaks your heart.”

Logan didn’t answer so Roman left.

Test 3

If there was a scale of how obvious relationships were, Janus and Logan turned it up to the max. Logan sat in Janus’ lap and let himself be spoon fed. They often both left group activities at the same time and were seen coming in and out of the other’s room. Multiple times, Logan wore Janus’ hat and Janus took his tie and glasses. They did everything other than outright kissing.

Still, Virgil didn’t notice. When Patton asked Virgil if he’d noticed anything going on with Janus and Logan, Virgil responded that he hadn’t. Even after Patton’s question, Virgil didn’t figure it out.

“I have an idea,” Janus told Logan. He refused to elaborate, instead going off to find Roman and set this idea up.

When Logan came downstairs for dinner, he was immediately pulled into a tight embrace. His eyes met Janus’ and there was a question in them. Janus leaned forward, giving Logan plenty of time to back out. Logan didn’t.

Their lips met and it was everything Logan thought it would be. He had to repeat it’s fake, it’s fake, it’s fake over and over in his head. When Janus pulled away, there was silence.

Then Virgil shouted, “What just happened?”

While Remus, Roman, and Patton tried to explain everything to Virgil, Janus pulled Logan away, leading the Logical Side back upstairs.

“What was that?” Logan and Janus hadn’t agreed to go that far when they had first been planning the tests. Neither one of them had brought it up, probably thinking it was too personal.

“Well, you were performing your tests and I was performing mine.” Janus smirked. “I didn’t quite buy the explanation you gave as to why you chose me so I kept a careful eye on you. Imagine my surprise when you became more and more flustered as the tests got more....personal. A talk with Roman confirmed my suspicion that you were acting out of character and so I tested my own hypothesis.” Janus stepped forward until the two were nose to nose.

“And was your hypothesis correct?” Logan didn’t dare to breathe, not wanting to do anything to break the moment.

“I don’t know. Perhaps I should test it again.” And then they were kissing, for the second time that night. This time, Logan let himself relax into it, letting his heart soar and his stomach flutter.

This time Logan pulled away. “What was your hypothesis?”

“That you liked me. There’s no need to form your own. I like you too.” They came together again, lost to the world.

End Experiment.

[sidespromptblog]

Locked

Warnings: Hurt/Comfort, Logan is insecure, Crying (Almost), and Angst. 

Summary: After Patton skips him, Logan locks himself away in his room as the doubts about their friendship start to overwhelm him. Why had Patton done that? Had he wanted to do it all along? Was it just better this way? Should he just stop talked? Should he just...

AO3 LINK

Word Count: 3305

The door slammed shut much harder than he had meant for it to, but be that as it may… Logan couldn’t bring himself to care about that as he sank heavily into the chair next to his desk. Tossing his glasses onto his desk, he held his face in his hands trying desperately to calm the shaking that started in his shoulders and traveled all the way through his entire body. He wasn’t crying, but right now he honestly wished that he could at least get that kind of relief right now. Instead, there was only a deep well of sadness that only seemed to get bigger and bigger with each passing moment, he didn’t like it. At least with tears, it was only temporary, but this feeling… it felt like it could go on forever. 

“It’s not fair…” Logan couldn’t help but to whisper in a way that almost sounded like a whimper, his bottom lip trembled uncontrollably, and yet no tears. “Why.. he…” He honestly could not believe what Patton had done this time, he’d already expected it from Roman when he had chosen ignorance over Logan informing him. But for Patton to… to just let Janus come in and pull him out and replace him, just because he didn’t want to listen to him. Patton… who had seemed so worried when Janus had first taken his place before. “It’s not fair…” He repeated with a mumble, as he dragged his fingers through his hair messing up his usually neat and presentable hair. 

He didn’t care right now, now was not the time to be neat and presentable. 

He could allow himself this at least, to dwell in this.. this...

Betrayal.

Yes, that was an apt term for what had happened between him and Patton. Whether the other side chose to acknowledge it or not, Patton had… betrayed his trust as well as his feelings by choosing to silence him. Ordinarily, he could understand that due to heightened emotions Patton could do weird things, but it was the fact that when he had chosen to confront him about it in front of Thomas he had… tried to do damage control. Which as responsible as that sounded, only made him feel as if he were like a child being placated, and like he didn’t deserve an apology for what had been done. 

Did he though? 

Doubt curled its ugly unease around Logan, making him slump even more in the chair as he ran his hands back over his face before eventually just covering up his eyes. He knew that he could be a lot to handle sometimes, and that his many many facts could sometimes be annoying to handle well all of the time if their reactions were anything to go by. Oftentimes his input wasn’t exactly wanted, especially when it came to things with emotion. Even things involving stuff like philosophy or psychology seemed boring for the others, more so when it seemed to come from him of all sides. Even his history facts… 

But Patton had always assured him that he wanted to hear him. 

The doubt in his mind grew stronger, “Was he…” The word lying stuck on his tongue like a barb, as his heart clenched painfully in his chest. For the first time since he’d come back to his room, tears welled up in his eyes misting over everything in sight. 

It didn’t make him feel any better. 

He probably was. 

After all, if Patton had lied about his own emotions multiple times then there was no reason to assume that he hadn’t lied about things like this to all of them. It wasn’t wrong to assume that… he perhaps didn’t even like him, or maybe even that.. that he had just been humoring Logan until he grew too annoyed to bother putting up with him anymore. That he had finally reached his breaking point, and Logan just so happened to be the kind and cheerful side’s breaking point. It wasn’t an impossible thing to assume, but after Patton had dealt with both Remus and Janus… for Logan to be his breaking point kind of hurt more than a little. 

Was he really so unlikable? 

Probably…

God, why hadn’t he listened before when the others had told him to shut up? Probably his pride, he was too arrogant and far too self-absorbed. 

And he had called Roman conceited…

Logan raked his fingers through his hair again, tangling his messy hair even further. “Maybe I should just start being quiet…” He muttered dourly, even though deep down… he knew that it wouldn’t be enough. Just being quiet wouldn’t work considering the damage he’d already done to everyone around him. “Maybe I sh-”

A quick series of knocks pattered on Logan’s door, and just as quickly as it had started the words quickly died in the logical side’s throat. 

“Logan.” Janus’ cool and calm voice called from the other side of the door, he couldn’t have been standing more than a few inches away from the wood that separated them. It was just one word and his name at that, it shouldn’t have been so startling. And yet, despite that calmness that always seemed to accompany Janus’ tone, Logan couldn’t help but to detect… something else. “Logan, may I come in?”

It was... worry?

Even so, Logan fought the urge to sigh heavily at the request. Here, was the one person who had not only taken his place at Patton’s unspoken and unsaid request… but the person who seemed to delight in calling him out on all of the lies that he constantly told himself. He wasn’t exactly the kind of person that Logan really wanted to have over for tea, much less invite him into his room when he was already feeling vulnerable and on the verge of tears. But… it wasn’t like he could deny the request, should someone need him he was always to be there for them. Whether it be someone like Janus, or one of the other sides he had grown up around. He was to be there for them, and to offer them logical assistance. And maybe Janus needed that.

Or to just rub it in his face about how Patton had chosen to have lies rather than the truth. 

“What you don’t know can’t hurt you.” Deceit smirked at Logan in that knowing way of his, as if he knew that further down the line of what was to come. Or maybe because he just knew of the lies that constantly rattled off of Logan’s tongue, or the lies that just stayed inside his head constantly tormenting him. 

“Logan?” 

Another sigh rattled out of the side in question, before he painstakingly combed his tangled hair back with his fingers in an effort to get some kind of neatness back before Janus could see. 

“Do what you want Janus,” Logan called out from his desk, turning back to it to give the semblance that he had been doing some kind of work. His desk was a mess though, there would be no getting that past Janus. He attempted to neaten up a little, his shaking fingers plucking up different papers as he organized them into little stacks that hardly felt as organized as he wanted it to be. Although the light trembling of his entire body certainly didn’t help manners any, his inner turmoil certainly hadn’t gone away just because Janus had shown up. “Come in.” He muttered, half expecting the other side to just have left at the sound of the attitude clearly ringing in Logan’s voice. 

But hearing the sound of the knob of his door turning before it creaked open made the logical side turn his head a little, the streak of light from the hallway made his eyes burn a little. Although that could have just been from the fact that he had forgotten to put his glasses back on in his haste, as well as the fact that his eyes had been completely adjusted to the darkness of his own bedroom. 

But even so, there Janus stood. With his caplet draped casually over his arm and his head held in his hands, letting Logan see his smooth wavy hair that stuck up from the friction of his hat. His gloves had even been tucked away into the back pocket of his pants, letting Logan get the tiniest glimpse of the scales that gleamed like glass on his wrists. He looked…

Casual. 

Suspiciously so. 

If he hadn’t been before then the smile that came from the other most certainly sealed it. “Thank you for seeing me,” Janus carefully said as he walked from the door to Logan’s bed. Tossing his caplet onto the blankets Janus took a seat without even bothering to ask, instead just crossing his legs as he stared back at the logical side for a good long moment. “I was worried that you wouldn’t for a moment, or that you’d just turn me away… I wouldn’t blame you.” 

“Why?” 

Janus blinked at the question, “Because I took your place to-” 

“I mean why are you here right now?” Logan didn’t feel that bad about interrupting him, if anything he almost deserved it after how he had been interrupted today. “There’s no logical reason for you to be. You got what you wanted, didn’t you?” He’d hurt him, or in the very least he’d assisted Patton in hurting him. That skip button hadn’t come out of nowhere, and neither had that cane that had hooked him. 

But then again… maybe Janus had sensed what Patton secretly wanted but couldn’t say to Logan. Janus had always known the secrets that they’d all kept hidden, and… Patton not liking him and wanting him to just shut up was something that Janus could most certainly help with now as well as in the future. Janus even made logical arguments, so it wasn’t a stretch to say that he could even deliver some arguments in a way that wouldn’t bore the others too. Patton… 

Patton even seemed to like him. 

Janus cleared his throat, and just like that Logan’s mind had been dragged back to the present. 

“I just wanted to let you know,” Janus slowly began, as he fidgeted with the hat in his hands. “That I’m not good at this whole… being a vulnerable and truthful person kind of thing, but you deserve... to know the truth.” Janus lamely finished, looking like he was going to say something else before finally ending his words. “It’s not easy, especially since I’m so used to lying all of the time. But…” 

Logan just stared back tiredly, wondering when it would all be over so that he could just bury himself in work and sleep, so that he could forget this whole day ever happened to begin with. 

“Your doubts and your fears about Patton are unfounded.” Janus finally snapped, the words coming out in one massive rush as if in fear of waiting any longer would stop them from coming at all. But even so, it didn’t stop the emotions that were clearly shining in the dishonest side’s face. As he gripped his hat tighter and tighter, until his knuckles had turned white.  “He does not find you annoying, because you are not annoying. He does not want your silence.” 

I don’t want your silence. 

The words were unspoken, and yet Logan heard them all the same. 

But it still did little to alleviate the pain that had already sunk deep in his chest, while it was nice that Patton apparently felt this way… actions had more a louder call than words did. And Patton’s actions… they stung like a slap to the fact that would bruise for months to come, and even so.. even then he wasn’t sure he could trust that Patton wouldn’t do it again. 

It had hurt. 

A tired sigh fell from his lips, “Is it you or Patton that’s saying that?” He finally asked, as he finally allowed his shoulders to droop from the exhaustion he had felt from the day. There was no hiding his emotions from Janus, the side could see through whatever front he put up effortlessly, so there was no point in hiding anymore…

There never really was. 

A mixture of emotions darted over Janus’ face, “Both… both of us Logan.” He softly whispered, the look of regret and sorrow unfolding as his gaze took in all of the emotions that were freely being shown on the logical side’s face. “I’m sorry…” He honestly said, agony curling into him like a white-hot fire as Logan closed his eyes at the simple two-letter words that had left the dishonest side’s mouth. 

“Clearly,” Logan began, not callously but logically. “Otherwise I doubt you would have made the effort to come here. But…” He took in a deep breath, steadying himself for what he was about to say. “It changes nothing.” He had to put his foot down, at least this one time… he was tired of this, so very tired. “I am tired Janus, I am tired of what keeps happening to me. I had learned to accept it from some of the others at this point, as just ‘teasing’. But this… this is the last straw for me.” It hurt to say, but.. but he had to take care of himself first before he could even think about what Patton’s actions might’ve meant if it didn’t mean he was annoyed with him. “I am taking this for myself.” 

There was a moment of silence between them, and when Logan finally opened his eyes he didn’t really see what he had expected to see from Janus. Maybe some anger, some more worry, or even some annoyance at the way that Logan had chosen to go. He wasn’t really sure how he was supposed to react to the calm understanding that was reflected back in Janus’ eyes, as if… it had been something that the serpentine side was acutely familiar with. 

But even so, Janus slowly nodded. “Are you going to duck out?”  He carefully asked.

Logan couldn’t fault him for the question, it was a very valid one especially considering that Virgil had done the same exact thing months prior. But that wouldn’t solve anything, it would just be running away and waiting for the others to chase after him and show him that they care after so long of… everything. And while it was tempting and so very.. very nice sounding… he wouldn’t do that to them. Seeing how Thomas had been affected by Virgil’s absence had been enough to assure himself that even if he had the opportunity to, he wouldn’t. It wouldn’t solve the baseline problem anyways.

It would just make the others feel guilty about boundaries that they didn’t know existed for Logan. 

“No,” He easily answered, and he watched as Janus relaxed clearly sensing the lack of a lie in Logan’s statement. “I will continue to do my work as Thomas’ logic, and be good at it. But.. I am tired, and…” He looked over to the messy stacks of papers on his desk that he had tried to organize before Janus had come in, there was so much he needed to clean and work on. “I think that I need some time away from the others, and… some time to think about myself and how I stand with them.” Logically he knew.. he knew that they had never done anything out of any pure malice or hateful intent. Logan was just… well he was weird and he was odd at times, so there was no reason for them not to comment on it. Especially since he’d never told them not to, he should have put up clear boundaries of what he was okay with and what he wasn’t. But even so…

It didn’t stop the hurt. 

A chilly hand squeezed his own, and looking down to his lap Logan saw that Janus had reached across the distance to bridge the gap between them. “Take however long that you need to,” Janus murmured, although knowing entirely that he had no say in the matter. “I am glad that you are taking this, and doing this.” Logan would never see him making a fuss about taking some self-preservation for himself, more of the sides needed to do what Logan was doing. Better late than never, anyways. “I wish you the best of luck, and…” As Janus stood from his spot at Logan’s bed, making his way towards the door. He stopped as soon as he laid his hair on the brass doorknob. “I hope that when you come back, I can make a better opportunity at being your friend.”  

With that being said, Janus opened the door and walked out leaving Logan to his rest. The hammering of his heart had quieted almost as soon as the lies that had been surrounding Logan’s mind had faded into nothingness. He had been scared for a moment, that Logan would duck out just as Virgil did, but this time they’d have a much harder time of getting Logan back. 

He hadn’t been the only one that was worried. 

“Is he okay?” Patton softly asked from the couch, the stuffed animal that was being squeezed to death in his arms told Janus just how worried the moral side really was even if he was trying to remain calm. “Should I go up there and talk to him?” Patton fidgeted with the strings of sleeves of his cat hoodie, his leg bouncing up and down as he glanced towards the stairs that Janus had just walked down. 

He stilled as soon as Janus raised his hand to stop him. “He is fine right now,” The dishonest side said, as he sat beside Patton comfortably. “But I wouldn’t suggest going to see him, he’s…” Janus struggled to find a way to word it delicately enough to get the feelings across, but without hurting Patton too much in the process. “He was very hurt by your actions, and it’s not a feeling that I think is going to go away anytime soon. You showing up and trying to apologize when he’s not ready… it’s just going to make him feel that hurt so much worse.” Putting his hand on Patton’s shoulder, Janus looked back at the other side’s guilty look. “ I understand your guilt, but showing up before he’s ready will just make him draw away from you even more. Trust me I know this much about forgiveness…” Images of Virgil’s distrustful sneers flashed in his mind, and Janus couldn’t help but to wince at the pain that crackled over his heart. It was always better to wait than to say something you couldn’t take back, because you didn’t wait. “I don’t think he’ll be ready for a while, and I think yo-... We all need to be prepared to wait until he’s ready to come out, not us going to him. ”

As depressed as Patton looked at the prospect of leaving one of the others to stew in their own mental torment, he nodded. 

“Okay,” Patton sadly said as he hugged the stuffed animal in his arms tighter, “You’re right… I can’t make him forgive me, and I don’t want him to feel put on the spot. I just.. I just hope that he’ll be okay, I’ll miss him.” 

Janus knew, he knew so much about that feeling so much that it physically made him ache on the inside. 

He still missed Virgil to this day, even though he saw him almost every day now. 

But he’d lost his chance, so the very least he could do was ensure that Virgil and the others didn’t lose theirs with Logan. 

He wouldn’t put them through that pain.

Never. 

[aimasup]

Maybe i'm late but, did anyone, like actually have left remus in a small place (for his claustrophobia) for like 4 hours or something just because he did something bad? If yes did anyone just stayed here and heard him suffer? Or actually tried to help him out in secret? Sorry if it is long ^^'

Deceit’s smarmy snake grin never left his confident face. Oh god, Remus was giving him the look. No one ever liked being given the look, something that no Side should ever be subject to, carrying the promise of your emotional vulnerability, a sackful of seeing through your bullshit and a dash of demented purity rivaled only by Patton. And Vir

Deceit cleared his throat, loudly and with purpose. “Well? Go on, Remus.”

Remus rolled his eyes, a childish staple of his that always looked comical. “Oh come on, Nope Rope, you and I both know you spout more shit than a bull with diarrhea after one of your nightmares. So you might as well follow it up with some tea.”

So much wrong had just come out of Remus’ mouth. The man smelled like tonsil stones on a good day yet he still managed to surprise the Sides with horrifying bouts of intellect every now and then. The slimy little bugger.

"Clearly you've remembered what I told you about calling me names."

Remus leaned happily. "Nakey Snakey."

"Remus..."

"Boop Noodle!"

"Remus."

"Dangle Fangle!"

"Remus! Shut up!"

Remus feigned offense. "I'm trying out ones that start with a D!"

"That's not my point! Now distract me with musical ditties as you were instructed, you foul wretch!"

"Slithervester Stallone-!" Remus had time to squeal before Deceit squashed his face with a pillow and snatched the remote. The game was on as if by instinct and Remus tackled him from under the pillow, shrieking muffled. Deceit whacked him on the head, hard, with the remote. Remus was distracted momentarily, so Deceit took the chance and shoved him off of him with more force than necessary, insulting him all the while.

"-you nitwit, you just can't listen, can you, you moron, you bitch, you're so thick-headed, do that again and I swear-"

"You'll what, you'll lock me in the closet?"

All of a sudden, it was like an invisible giant had drowned the room in heavy syrup. The tightness from before returned and Deceit, still breathing hard, glared at Remus with gritted teeth and panicked eyes. The Side was below him, pillow on his chest, grin gone and singlet askew.

That one sentence, although it needed no context to tell who had been on the receiving end of it, brought more distress to the deceitful side than it did to the other, strangely enough. They kept their eyes trained on each other. Neither would admit that they felt like they were breathing molasses and it wasn't sweet. The television had long ago blacked out, a deafening silence following its rather meek departure.

Remus' eyes didn't stop glowing. Deceit's didn't either. None were good signs, but Remus still said, in the rare soft tone his voice could manage at times, "That's the problem, isn't it?"

Deceit swallowed. He turned away and stared at the floor, eyes narrowed to slits. He had put down the remote with controlled harshness on the sofa. He exhaled through his nose and never made eye contact with Remus.

Everyone had their little tics. Remus hated being called scary. Roman was a compulsive perfectionist. Patton had a repression habit. And Thomas didn't want to be a bad person.

Neither did Deceit.

"You know I'm over that, right?"

"... obviously."

That could mean anything, and that wasn't even getting to which part of the question he was answering. Remus bit his tongue. His canines dug into the muscle, and he pulled them out again, breathing in the scent of his own blood. Feeling a bit better, he turned away from Deceit and stared at the black screen of the TV.

"No, really you don't have to worry about it. You worrying about it pisses me off."

Still no response.

"Deceit?" Remus couldn't help but feel a bit concerned at this exchange.

------------------

"Who--who are you?" Fun blurbled at the figure on all fours before him. Fresh tear stains still stained his cheeks, an ear-to-ear smile etched below his eyes.

Something was off. Heart had run away with someone who looked like him, and had left him alone. He'd never do that. He'd always stuck with him through anything, no matter what he said or did. But the look Heart had given him... it was as if he didn't know what to make of him all of a sudden. Less than that, even.

The figure, still cautious and poised to pounce, didn't answer. Its impossibly wide reptilian eyes glowed bright in the dark, illuminating nothing on its entirely pitch black body, and Fun could make out nothing but a few familiar features.

"Are you a--a Side too?"It flinched and hissed at him. Fun found that he didn't duck away from the grotesque mouth that opened too wide. Or more like, there wasn't anything in his head that told him it was gross. He found it cute because it was gross, in fact.

When the brown-rimmed mouth closed, it was as if it was never there. It glared at him through narrowed eyes and spat at his feet.

"Oh."

With all the pure spite radiating off of the thing, it still approached, walking perfectly on its hands and legs. It didn't look clumsy moving like that, and Fun suspected it had always been that way.

"Wh--what are you doing?"Fun tried not to find this tiny demonic thing adorable. Didn't help matters when it planted its face on his sticky, black knee (... huh.) and walked off.

Before Fun could process what just happened, it turned around with the calmest expression and stared. And waited. It wanted him to follow.

As adorable as the thing was, Fun still had his doubts. He didn't want to leave. This was where his friends were. Curious little Learning, sweet as sugar Heart, cowardly yet caring Careful. But he had a feeling they didn't want to see him again.

It broke his heart.

So with a greasy squelch, Fun struggled to his feet and went with the creature.

------------------

"Deceit, you need to stop holding yourself over that. We can't be like the Others."

The further lack of response frustrated Remus. He probably should be trying to comfort Deceit, but that wasn't his type. Tough lo--learning would have to do, it was how it always went. They couldn't afford to be wishy-washy with stuff like feelings.

"Deceit, if you don't stop feeling bad about it I'm gonna smack the shit out of you. With my bare hands. And this morning star."

"Aren't you trying too hard not to be Roman?"

Remus slammed his weapon into the pillow. "Well I think you're trying too hard to be Patton!"

"Wouldn't you think Virgil would have wanted that?" Deceit was weary. Remus breathed in sharply through his teeth and stuttered.

"What?"

"It's clear we weren't the best to him. It's not his fault he left. It was for the best. He needs better than us. He deserves better than us."

"What the fuck!" Remus threw up his hands. "What the fuck, Deceit! What happened to being your own person? What happened to not giving a shit about living up to anyone's standards?! You don't know what you're talking about, because you're tired, and you're just a hypocrite who was never able to see past your own horseshit!"

"I know."

Remus wanted to rip his hair out. Deceit's or his own, he didn't really care. "Jesus Christ! Ugh!"

He flumped into a pillow and screamed into it.

Deceit watched him.

------------------

"You know, it's kinda weird how you don't wanna be called a Side, you know? Like, you look like Heart, and we all know that Heart looks the most like Thomas. So you gotta be pretty important. If you look the most like Thomas. Next to Heart. You know what I'm saying?"

It was still silent. The quiet walk down the tattered corridor had been awkward, and now that they were up the stairs and in some padded room that was probably the creature's, Fun tried to fill the silence as the creature studied him. It prowled around Fun as he sat cross legged on the floor, leaking tar all over the place.

"And, well, Learning is super important too. And Careful. We're all super important." It brushed by his shoulder and stared at his back with interest for a good two seconds before sitting back on its haunches.

"But Learning only looks the second most like Thomas. Careful just likes his hair to be all dangly. Though he clips it back sometimes to fit in? I think? I dunno."

"Anyways, I just thought that maybe once we're done here, with." Fun looked at the creature. "Whatever this is. I could bring you back with me to the others! I just got rid of the bad stuff in me, and once I get all cleaned up, and you too, we'll be all okay again!"

The creature stopped prodding at his back and he could feel it staring into nothing. Fun couldn't help but note the lack of breath on his neck. Either it gave up trying to appear human a long time ago or it was just that short. He giggled at the thought.

But that faded away when he started feeling slight concern. It was too silent. He hated silence. Fun turned to look over his shoulder, then shuffled his body around to peer at the creature, who was now deep in thought.

"Hey bud? What's wrong with ya? Cat got your tongue?" He chuckled. "I've heard that from Learning and Heart a lot. You're gonna love em. They'll help you lighten up! Trust me, we've been through lots together, they'll like you too!"

It lifted its head up and fixated him with the saddest stare anyone could give a Side. Fun felt his excitement at meeting a new friend weather away when he felt that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

A thin line of brown appeared, and widened. It's eyes darted here and there with consideration. It was choosing its words. Fun titled his head as it strained to force out words.

"Not."

"Uh. Huh? You can talk!"

"Fun."

"Wait, what are you saying?"

It bounced in place with clear frustration. After clutching its head and shaking it, it tried again.

"You. Not." It tried once more. "You. Not! You! Not! Fun!"

Fun withered under its glare, a little hurt. "I'm not fun to be with? I'm sorry, uh-"

"No!"

Fun's heart ached for the thing, confused and intrigued. All of them learned how to speak along with Thomas. How was it that this Side didn't?

"Gone."

"..."

"Fun. Gone."

"I really don't understand."

"Fun." It drew a capital F in the air. He nodded, a little less lost. It nodded too.

"Fun. Split. Gone. You. Green. Half. Heart. You. Red. Half. You." It was closer now. It stuck a finger onto Fun's chest, sorrowful expression looking like it was supposed to be welling up with tears. Its jaw trembled. "Half. Bad. Half."

"Not. Their. Fun."

Fun wasn't so sure about anything anymore. He understood it perfectly, he just really didn't want to. "You can't be serious."

It was. It looked as if it has never been more certain of anything in its life. It lowered its head.

Panic gripped him like no other and his mind began racing. He gestured wildly.

"Then--then who's that other half?! They can't go on without Fun! Thomas can't go on without Fun!" The partial emptiness that he'd been trying to ignore a long time ago had grown more apparent as he ranted. "I can't let that happen! What will they do?"

Half. Bad. Half.

It struck. 'Fun' felt his chest drop to his stomach. "They. I'm the bad half."

The creature was still as a statue."They--they think--they think the red me is--is Fun, they, Learning, Careful, H-Heart--they don't know me."

The black and green outfitted grease blob blubbered on. "It's--it's not fair! I know them! I drew pictures with Thomas, I came up with our names, I--I'm--I know what Fun knows!"

He desperately turned to the creature in front of him. "They can't do this! I-if the other me is Fun, then I'm Fun too! I'm still Fun! I still know them! I still love them! At the very least, I'm still one of Thomas' Sides!" The creature silently stared as he kept talking, as his words blurred together with cries of anguish, as he put his forehead to the floor, bunching his sash in his hands. All tears had run out earlier, and there were only bawls of despair that dissolved into whimpers.

The humanoid grease blob didn't know what to call himself anymore. But it still wasn't fair at all. The truth was that. They thought that their Fun had returned from the battle, sword held high and rid of the beast. To them, Fun was better than ever.

But what was he?

------------------

"When you explained in your dumb loophole way that my stupid ass brother wasn't me, it was the first time you had advice you didn't follow, did you?"

"Remus, you can't pretend you don't feel the same."

"Fuck off!" Remus groaned. "I'm not pretending for anything, Dee, I've said it multiple times, I have nothing I want to hide! But you can't be serious about wanting to be like Patton!"

Deceit pondered his answer. "I may or may not have considered it."

Remus let go of Deceit's shirt slowly. He still fixated him with fierce angry eyes as his fingers loosened, setting the smaller Side down a little. So he didn't actually think it. Just a passing thought. Okay then.

Deceit straightened his collar and smoothed out the wrinkles in his outfit. And he was back to looking sullenly at the a spot on the carpet.

Remus swallowed. God, this was harder than it needed to be. He wondered if this was how Deceit felt when he was younger, rawer in his state, unable to speak in anything but opposites. He didn't have to teach Deceit how to not speak in opposites, because the more they raised each other, the more Deceit's black scales had resided and his speech freedom loosened up.

They always talked it out, they always had to stick close. So why was it so hard now?

------------------

The squeal of unbridled joy when it was introduced to noir films, the long bath chases, the practice with his creations and tentacles, the nights spent splayed out messily on the same bed after a nightmare. It was simple. So simple.

------------------

Deceit could feel the stare from Remus leaving him. God, if that moron tried to comfort him now he was going to explode. His eye would leak tears like a broken faucet and he would be a pathetic blubbering mess, and Remus would have blackmail until the day Thomas finally died.

He swore he could feel the long exhale and mutterings as Remus thought on what to say. He really didn't care, in the end. Deceit wanted nothing more than to do his job and think nothing of anything ever again. He didnt--

"Virgil's gone, and there's nothing we can or could do about it. Because of how we are. It's jackshit to say we can change our nature. Nothing. Nada. Zero." Firm hands with black acrylics gripped his shoulder and turned his tired eyes onto Remus' own.

"Feeling sorry for yourself won't change anything. Things happen, jackoff."

Deceit's breath hitched, but he didn't quite feel like crying, oddly enough. Strange that through gritted teeth and eyes that could gleam death to anyone who doesn't know Remus well, he felt more clarification than all his thoughts combined. His mind had chanted a mantra of things his whole life, and what Remus said was only one of them. Deceit had been hoping to finally hear them from an outside source. But somehow, someway, Remus had found a way to make this line of reasoning sound less harsh.

Unpredictable as always.

"Remus. I.."

He placed his hands gently on Remus' wrists, patted twice. Remus let go and studied him, an air of sternness and also nervousness apparent in his face. They simmered in the unsaid apology, sitting on the couch in their lonely, mangy living room, like it was a vague yet satisfactory ending to a movie. That was how all their arguments would usually end, but it was rarely in any way fulfilling.

Deceit thought on it. Swallowing the hard lump in his throat, he choked out a laugh. "God, we're such a mess."

Glad the tension was broken, Remus smiled, ugly shark teeth in full view. "Yeah we are. We're the Mindscape's dumpster fires."

They were delirious with more emotion than they experienced on a daily basis, and they both chortle along to Remus' weak joke. Jesus, if you could lose fat due to mental work as well as physical, Thomas would be underweight by now.

Remus shook his head. "Honestly, you can't think too much about it. Just think of all the times we battered each other in this place, and you'll feel better about the closet thing."

Deceit snorted. "How is it that I'm more affected by it than you? Like all the times you ripped out my hair."

"Or all the times you silenced us whenever you felt like it."

"Or all those times you slammed me in to a hard surface."

"Remember that one time you left me in the closet for a week?"

"I still remember how I silenced Virgil for a month."

Remus snapped his fingers. "Yeah, Virgil, I remember how many times he gave us hallucinations. Sometimes he'd give us panic attacks for the hell of it!" He laughed.

"He was always quite the hothead."

"That's not even counting his stabs. Not just with a knife."

"Knowing you, that could mean anything."

Remus swooshed his hands in a rainbow-shaped gesture gleefully."Oooooh, whatever you want it to mean!" The joke was lacking and childish, but Remus' delivery was so goofy.

Deceit chuckled, back of his hand pressed daintily to his mouth as always. Remus giggled in short bursts of high-pitched derangement along with him.

Then it dissolved into awkward silence as they pondered their situation, up at ass o' clock in the morning, sprawled over the couch in undignified manners, dim light flickering because they were too depressed to fix it, talking about unreasonable hostile behavior so casually like they were fond memories of family vacations.

"... let's go make breakfast."

"Okay, Caution Ramen."

"I'm sorry?"

"Hazard Spaghetti. Murder Spagurder."

"...what."

"Judgemental Shoelace."

"Oh, shut the fuck up."

------------------

"No! Get away!" The sobbing figure cowered away from the green and yellow-tinted Sides, if you could call them that.

Bad Thoughts put his hands out. "Woah, woah, hey, we won't hurt you! Much."

Deceit slapped Bad Thoughts as the Side, who was slowly fading into a full black and purple from the legs up, put his hands in his hair and screamed louder. "Shut up! Go away! I'm sorry! Please! I hate you! Go away!"

"Well that's a lot of mixed signals." Bad Thoughts muttered. Careful looked a lot different from what he had remembered. He was seeming more tired and grievous. A faint spark of recognition flashed across Careful's eyes when he peeked up at him, but ducked away when Bad Thoughts stretched the arm with his morning star.

Without a word, Deceit knelt down and wrapped his arms around Careful. He flinched, but he stopped sobbing at least. He was still breathing hard when BT decided to join in, planting himself as softly as he knew how to on Caution.

"You're okay," Deceit murmured. "You're alright. You won't hurt anyone. You won't do that."

Caution hiccupped, staring at the ceiling, eyes brimming with angry tears. He hissed though gritted teeth."How--how do you know? You don't understand, I cause so many problems--"

"Yeah, we do. We know that. But that's you." Remus said. "Who cares if you do? Causing problems is what we do around here. You can't blame yourself for doing what you do best."

Caution was still dubious. He was sniffling. Slowly, he put his arms on Deceit's back. "I don't want to make more trouble."

Deceit lowered his head onto his shoulder. "Just come with us. We cause trouble, but whether you want to do that is up to you."

The black was receding, but the purple still lingered a little. All four of Caution's eyes blinked.

Remus pulled away, leaving only his hand on Careful's shoulder. His old friend, who didn't know who he was, who was meeting him for the first time. "Besides, I don't think you meant to cause that breakdown."

Caution finally turned and looked, actually looked at him for the first time since they were children. "You don't?"

"Nope!"

The purple color was down to his knees again. The black was gone.

"But," Caution started, both Sides pulling back to give him space. "But, it was so unnecessary, and--and the whole damn class was watching, and the other sides were freaked out-"

"Yeah, so? It was cool! Don't you think it's some way of letting everyone know that Thomas was upset? Things were getting hairy and you pulled it off perfectly." Remus gave an exaggerated chef's kiss in the air.

"That power is something only you hold, storm cloud." Deceit said. "Like Remus said, it's who you are. It was quite the display."

Caution eyed them suspiciously. "Yeah, well, you guys would think so."

"Don't you see? If you come with us, you can learn to control that! You can choose your own rules, you can choose when you want to have influence over Thomas!" Deceit lowered his voice. "You can protect Thomas by forcing the others to hear how much you try."

Caution didn't make eye contact, finding it difficult when two people stared at once. But he was thinking about it, clearly. The others had been trying to ignore him lately, and no one had to be a genius to figure that out. The rise and fall of his chest grew a little quicker as he realized how unfair it was that he was just trying to be a Side, and Thomas didn't care. The spite and betrayal was evident in his eyes, the same that had plagued Bad Thoughts and Deceit so many times in their childhood.

It was decided.

He looked up with grim determination. "C-call me Fear."

Previous parts here and here

Claustrophobic Remus post here

[asters-galaxy]

Memories

(Hi! It’s me again! I’m trying to get on a schedule, so here’s a fic! After writing and posting Sunny Smiles, I felt a bit more confident to continue my Sanders Sides fics. I feel decently good about this one!)

Warning: This is a tickle fic, and I run a SFW tickle-themed blog. NSFW are more than welcome to read, but please do not reblog if you are primarily kink themed blog. Thank you for respecting my boundaries.

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Ship: Platonic Duxiety

Characters: Lee!Virgil x Ler!Remus

Words: 1979 (oof--)

Potential Warnings: Remus, light angst in the beginning

It was weird having Remus around more often. After revealing himself to Thomas, he began to pop up regularly -- while he’d always been present, in a way, he’d never been physically there. Janus’ hiding him was to blame for that. Beforehand, it would be the occasional bad dream, or a subtle nudge to do something atrocious. Now, he’d appear in the peripheral vision of others, and his voice would ring out in the Mind Palace.

Naturally, it drove Virgil crazy.

He had thought that Remus was far behind him, but instead, he’d caught up. It sent him reeling, just hearing all of the awful things the creative side had to say and having to banish him from Thomas’ thoughts every now and then. He was on edge once more, constantly anticipating Remus popping up out of nowhere, and it was getting to be too much.

One day, it broke him.

Thomas had been enjoying himself until Logan and Roman had started another argument. They were working on it rather well, and both were starting to calm down and see the other’s point of view, when Remus suddenly announced his presence by rising up and yelling at the top of his lungs. It startled everyone in the vicinity.

“Good afternoon!~” he cheered loudly with a laugh; there was a collective groan from most of the others. “I heard you two dorks fighting, and I thought, ‘Hey! Here’s an opportunity for me to add some insight!’”

“What insight could you possibly add?” Roman sneered, clearly miffed by his brother’s random entrance. Patton nodded along with him, and Logan just sighed irritably.

“Why, a conversation about creating content! How could I not show up?!~ You all clearly don’t understand what I...I can bring to the...table...Are you okay, Virgil?”

The uncharacteristically gentle tone snapped the others out of their annoyed state, and they all turned to the stairwell, including Thomas. There was Virgil, who hadn’t spat out a single insult upon Remus’ arrival, with tears dripping down his terrified face.

Instantly, the three Light Sides went into a panic; Patton frantically asking what was wrong, Logan trying to get him to calm down while calming down himself, and with Roman threatening Remus for hurting their beloved Stormcloud. However, Remus paid no attention to his aggressive brother, and instead focused on Virgil, who shrank from all of the noise. Then, without a warning at all, he sank down and fled.

The sides panicked even more, saying quick farewells to Thomas and going to find Virgil if they could. Remus, feeling guilty for the whole thing, followed. Needless to say, Roman threatened him some more and practically ordered him to stay away from the anxious side at all costs. He claimed that it was all his fault.

Remus simply agreed and went looking in a different direction.

Patton searched all over Virgil’s room and the different corners of the Mind Palace he liked to mope in. There was no sign of him. Logan turned the living room upside down, searching every small spot he could think of. Still nothing. Roman even checked the random little places, like the inner shelves of closets, in the pantry, and underneath the stairs. He was nowhere to be found. And at this point, neither was Remus.

Remus was trudging through the darker corners of the Mind, past Virgil’s room and into Dark Side territory. He didn’t bother to check anything along the way, and he didn’t need to go far. Turning a corner, there was a tiny closet, and upon opening the door, his eyes met Virgil’s.

The place was an old hideout the two of them used to share -- they had a very confusing relationship when they both were younger, which resulted in them switching between best friends and worst enemies. And yet, for as many times as Remus picked on the smaller side, he never attacked or destroyed this place. They would both hide from the others in that place, and spend hours talking and playing games together. It was adorned with fairy lights, small little curtains, and plenty of pillows and blankets. Childhood toys and notebook diaries were all over the floor, and in the innermost part of the hideout, Virgil was curled up and crying.

The anxious side’s eyes bulged upon seeing Remus, and he made a strangled gasp as he tried to scoot backwards. Unfortunately for him, he was already so far back that he couldn’t move any farther, making him stuck between Remus and the wall.

Remus instantly went onto his knees, trying to keep what he hoped was a gentle expression. “Woah, woah, chill. I’m not here to hurt you...jeez, how did you even get in here?” The creative side began to crawl into the little closet, which was cramped, but still left enough room for both of them to move. The ceiling of the closet was much higher than the little entry point gave away, which is why Janus had never thought to check it in the first place while looking for them.

“W-wha-what do you want?!” Virgil attempted to snap, though it came out as more of a whimper. Remus only sighed and managed to wriggle his way into the closet...somehow.

“Relax, Virge... I can tell you’re upset...what’s wrong?”

Virgil shuffled and shook his head, refusing to admit that anything was wrong in the first place, but his teary eyes gave him away. He pulled his knees up to his chest and curled up, burying his face and hiding as best he could.

Remus sighed and scooted closer to Virgil, trying to avoid being invasive while also feeling an aching need to comfort the other. “Look...I...never meant to make you upset… I just wanted to be a part of the discussion, ya know? Be included for once. Though with how the others treat me, I guess that’s too much to ask for.”

Virgil remained silent, but he glanced up at Remus for a moment. His fearful expression shifted to one of slight concern and...almost pity. The Duke sighed quietly.

“A-and...maybe I wanted to see you again. It’s been such a long time…”

The anxious side was beginning to unfurl, looking at Remus with much more warmth than before. The sharp, frightening aura in the air began to dissipate, and Virgil slowly began to relax.

“D-do…” He swallowed, almost afraid to speak to Remus. “Do you re-remember all the time we spent in this place? How m-many times Janus would go looking for us, and never be able to find us?”

Remus chuckled fondly at the memories. “Yeahhh...He’d always hiss when he got frustrated, it was amazing…Oh, and the games we used to play…!”

“You’d always win,” Virgil added softly, unable to stop the smile that came with it.

“Well, yeah! I always got you to cheer up!” Remus smiled for a moment, then paused as he had an idea. “Speaking of…” A playful grin spread across his face, and he turned to Virgil with a devilish expression. “I just remembered one we could play~”

It took Virgil a moment to register what the Duke was saying, but once he did, his face flushed. He instinctively tried to move farther backwards, but as before, he was already pressed up against the wall, and therefore, trapped.

“W-wait, R-R-Remus, no--”

“Aw, c’mon! You used to love it as a kid!~ A little bit won’t hurt…~” Remus leaned in to the anxious aspect, wiggling his fingers menacingly for a moment before pouncing. The startled yelp that resulted was followed immediately by muffled snickering, as the creative side wasted no time fluttering his fingers against Virgil’s stomach.

“R-Rehehemus!” he squeaked, trying to bury his soft laughter in his hands. He looked taken aback, but not uncomfortable in the slightest, so Remus saw it as a sign to continue.

“Whaaaat?~ You love this game, don’t you?~” Deciding to up the ante a bit, the light fluttering on Virgil’s stomach quickly turned to clawing and squeezing. This produced an adorable squeal, which Remus couldn’t help but smile at.

“W-wahahahaiiiit!” Virgil giggled, kicking a little as his face went cherry red. “T-thahahat’s nohohot fahahahir!” He squirmed to get out of the reach of Remus’ fingers, but it seemed that no matter where he went, his belly was going to be tickled. He started trying to push Remus’ hands away, but the creative aspect took advantage of it and grabbed Virgil’s wrists instead.

“Well, looky here, Virgie~” he chuckled, holding Virgil’s arms above his head. As the anxious side watched, he summoned four oily, greenish-black tentacles that immediately dove for the unprotected stomach. Virgil absolutely erupted with laughter.

“REHEHEMIEEE!”

“Aww, you haven’t called me that in years!~” Remus purred. With an adoring look in his eyes, he swapped one of the tentacles with his hands. Now unable to bring his arms down at all, the anxious side squirmed and tried to hide his face. This didn’t really do anything -- his laughter was still adorable and still perfectly clear to hear.

Remus decided to be a little devious at that moment and lifted up Virgil’s shirt, scribbling his fingers into the emo’s stomach and poking at his ribs with the tentacles. The squealing and giggling that followed was music to his ears.

One of the tentacles swirled into Virgil’s belly button, causing the anxious aspect to literally scream with laughter. He bucked and arched his back, his face somehow going redder than before. “NAHAHAHA! NAHAHAT THEHEHEHERE!”

“Oh, awwwww!~ You’re so cute, Tickle-Me-Emo!~” The Duke was grinning smugly at the scene before him, and he was very clearly enjoying himself. Virgil was in a similar situation -- while he certainly wasn’t smug, he was leaning in to Remus’ tickles.

It was time to deliver the final blow, something that had always broken Virgil in the past. Remus slowed his tentacles to give him some time to breathe, inhaled deeply, and then leaned in to blow a deep raspberry into Virgil’s exposed belly.

The anxious side shrieked and cackled loudly, flailing side to side. Remus came up to Virgil’s face, then blew a similar raspberry into his neck. Normally, Virgil wouldn’t be that sensitive there, but the Duke’s bristly mustache was leaving him in stitches.

“OHOHOKAY, OHOKAHAHAY! EHENOHOHOUGH! P-PLEHEHEAHAHA--!”

Grinning, Remus ceased his attack, and his tentacles retracted. Satisfied with his work, he sat upright and waited for the anxious aspect to recover.

Virgil was taking a few minutes to catch his breath, still giggling ever so slightly and tearing up a bit. He sat up after a moment, then leaned into Remus’ arms. He was shivering from ghost tickles, but he was calmer than he had been earlier.

Remus gently rubbed his head, his triumphant grin slowly morphing into more of an adoring smile. “I win~” he murmured, pulling Virgil a bit closer and cuddling him. The latter gave a breathy chuckle and looked up.

“T-thank you, Remus…”

“Aw, it’s no trouble at all…” the creative side responded, a softer tone in his voice. “Whaddya say we get back to the others? They’re all probably worried sick about you.”

Virgil nodded, taking one more deep breath and heading towards the exit. Remus followed, happy with the outcome of his decision and glad that he had found Virgil in the first place. The whole thing was very nostalgic -- he had missed hearing Virgil’s laugh.

“H-hey, um, Remus?”

The Duke looked up in surprise to see that Virgil had paused right before leaving. He gave him a quizzical expression.

“C-could we...do this again...sometime soon…?” The anxious side’s voice was trembling, full of embarrassment and apprehension. He didn’t meet eye contact with Remus for a bit, but his fears were eased as the creative side ruffled his hair playfully. His body untensed, and he let out a small sigh.

“Of course, Virgil.”

[creativia10]

Others in "Working Through Intrusive Thoughts

The following contains SPOILERS for "Working Through Intrusive Thoughts"

Summary: Janus once again finds himself popping in to just watch the drama unfold. However, things take an interesting turn. He may find he has more to think about than he would have expected for that day.

Notes: Let me know if there is another way to Spoiler tag this that I missed. (Title may change). I felt the urge to write something like this pretty quickly after watching the new episode. Spoilers ahead, so please be aware. I am not sure how I feel about this. This feels different from the other one. Let me know if I've missed any warnings.

Pairing: Janus and Remus, hints of Intruloceit

Word count: 945

Warnings: Sexual innuendos, references to the content warnings from WTIT,

Janus sighed as he popped into Thomas’ living room, not announcing his presence, as he was just here for the drama again. He glanced around the room for Remus, but didn’t actively look for him, as giving him away would be ‘participating’. He would shuffle around though, not necessarily ‘hiding’ but not in their view of attention either. He snorted at Remus’ attempts at getting Logan when Logan finally saw Remus. He also took the wine bottle from Logan, pouring some for himself, then sat himself down at the table.

Logan sighed.

“Do you have to encourage him?” Janus smirked and shrugged.

“I’m just here. I’m not doing anything to egg him on.”

Logan sighed again and brought his attention back to Thomas. Virgil, despite them not talking directly, was panicking through Thomas multiple times which made Janus sigh. He almost felt bad for him.

So Janus basically just watched where he could. Logan was impressive as always. Remus’ extra-ness was entertaining as usual, although he wouldn’t have been surprised if he was going overboard to impress Janus. This didn’t always work though.

Then he did that weird little roleplay scene for Logan, which confused the man as much as everything else did. Probably didn’t even pick up that Remus was flirting. Which was fine, that was just how Remus was. There wasn’t really a reason for Janus to be jealous. He understood anyways, the nerd was desirable. He was distracted from his not-jealousy with the next thing that Remus set up.

As impressed as Janus was by all that Remus could do, the situation with Nico was clearly a sore spot. Janus wasn’t going to chastise Remus or anything of course. Besides, Logan had it covered. Oh, to wish good things for either side of this rivalry today. Another reason he was just watching, it didn’t really involve him anyways. He might even be able to calm Remus down afterwards.

Strangely enough, at one point the other two were in a different room from Thomas. The more exciting area seemed to be with Remus and Logan, although Janus was still somewhat aware of Thomas.

So he continued lurking as Logan, surprisingly tried to negotiate with Remus. If Remus didn’t have that sensitive pride that creativities seemed to have, he might have even been believed. Turned out today would be more exciting that Janus originally thought though.

Remus was pushing Logan’s buttons, of course, because that was one of Remus’ stronger qualities. Logan was starting to actually show his building frustration, which was surprising. Might even be good for Logan in the end, although Janus didn’t exactly revel in the logical side’s upset.

“Stop IGNORING ME!”

and whoa. Logan’s eyes glowed fire orange. That was not typical of him at all.

Remus went all for it. Janus was thinking more about it though. Then Thomas left to meet up with Nico, of course. Although Janus saw Logan’s face after Thomas already left.

He couldn’t help but sigh, understanding what that felt like. Sometimes he didn’t always like the ways he would do what was best for Thomas. It wasn’t like he would have been good at comfort anyways though.

Janus lounged in the tree looking over all of them as Thomas talked with Nico. Janus picked up on the tensions just bubbling under the surface, and how unstable their ‘fine-ness’ was, perpetuating the thought that it was okay, because that was what Thomas wanted. He knew though. This wouldn’t last. The theatre in him couldn’t resist the dramatics, and bit into the apple almost as a reminder to himself of what would come next.

“Well hey there Double Dee”

Janus oofed as Remus practically appeared over him and fell onto him. He grabbed hold of the tree, probably forgetting he was imaginary again.

“Hello Remus,” Janus was still looking down at the others, still thinking. He paid particular attention to Logan.

“So what’d ya think of today, huh? Teach is hot, but man can he be annoying.”

“Mhm.”

Remus leaned into him more and did his typical shimmy.

“I’m riled up again,” He breathed into Janus’ ear.

“Wanna get out of here so I can let it out?”

“I’m, not really in the mood right now, Remus.”

Remus blinked and leaned back. He seemed to take in Janus’ body language for the first time.

“Hey, er, are you ok?”

“…I’m not sure. I’m, thinking about what happened with him today.”

“Oh, Logan? Yeah, the fire eyes thing was kinda hot not gonna lie. I wonder what else I can pull at to see that again, because woo man would I want to.”

Janus pursed his lips as that ugly green feeling came back.

“Surely you realize what this could mean though.” Janus said.

Remus shrugged. “I mean, we have you. “ Remus nudged into Janus’ shoulder. “We’ll be alright.”

Janus rolled his eyes with a small smile and leaned back into the shoulder.

“Flatterer.”

“So, you really don’t want to-“

“No, Remus. Unfortunately I find my priority lies in Thomas’ mind sphere.”

Remus pouted a little.

“I’ll still see you later tonight,” Janus said softly.

Remus nodded. “You gonna try and talk to the nerd or something?”

Janus shrugged. “I am not sure what good that will do in the long run. It is certainly interesting though to be the only knowing something is coming. That is inevitable.”

Janus turned over surprised at Remus’ quiet, when Remus leaned over to kiss him. Janus returned the kiss of course, but then pulled back to give him a questioning look. Remus simply smiled and then sunk out. Janus rolled his eyes, and went back to watching them.

[whenisitenoughtrees]

47. “That tickles!” And either moceit or royality please?

i will take literally any opportunity to write soft mociet so

Title: sugar, butter, flour

Word Count: 2,769

Content Warnings: none, I think

(fic masterpost)

Baking with Janus is interesting.

It’s become somewhat of a ritual, over the past few years, to bake with his family. He’s dragged Logan out of his room on more than one occasion to help with more technical recipes, the ones that depend entirely on precise measurements and proper stirring methods and timings. Roman, on the other hand, prefers the more decorative aspects, likes to bomb cookies and cakes with sprinkles and smother them in icing, or to craft sculptures out of fondant or chocolate. He wonders if Remus is the same; he intends to find out, sometime, as soon as he works up the courage to invite him.

And Patton remembers very well the first time he asked Virgil to come help him. He started with a simple recipe, chocolate cupcakes, but from the way Virgil’s face slid into shock, from the warbling, shaky tone of his voice as he asked Patton if he really meant it, really wanted him there, he would have thought that he was offering Virgil the world. And he’d felt awful, then, for rejecting Virgil for so long, and vowed that he would never have to feel so alone again, never have to question the motives behind something so simple as baking.

He’s not sure what to expect from Janus, the first time he broaches the topic.

It seems like the right thing to do. Thomas has accepted him now, or at least, is on the way there, and Patton is working on that too, is working to blur the lines of his black-and-white thinking into something greyer. And being accepted means being part of the family, and being part of the family means being included in activities, and that means baking, and if anyone had asked Patton a few months ago if he would be excited to ask Janus to bake with him, he wouldn’t have believed them at all.

But he is excited. And nervous, because he’s not sure that he’ll even be interested. Somehow, he has a hard time picturing Janus in a kitchen, because Janus is always so immaculately groomed and kitchens get so messy. He tries to imagine Janus with egg on his gloves or flour on his shirt, and he can’t quite manage it.

He asks, though. Because he wants to bake with Janus. Wants Janus to bake with him.

And Janus says yes.

He does it with a curiously blank face, the only visible emotion a slight flicker in his eyes, and Patton has no idea what he is thinking at all, but he accepts, and allows Patton to lead him to the kitchen, and then, they make cookies. Simple, chocolate chip cookies.

It’s weird, at first. Awkward, and strained, and it becomes very clear very quickly that Janus has never baked anything in his life, and that only adds to the weirdness, because Patton has to tell him what to do most of the time. But he catches on quickly, and by the time they’re making the third batch, he seems to have the motions down, and they settle into a more comfortable companionship. Their conversation, too, changes, moving from the short and stilted talk of before to something that flows more naturally, and Patton finds himself relaxing. He hopes Janus is, too. He really can’t tell.

They make the cookies, and they all turn out well, but not too long after they come out of the oven, Janus excuses himself. His face is still unreadable, and Patton has no idea whether he actually had fun or not, and he’s not sure that he’s ready yet to ask him to stay longer, not sure he could stand receiving rejection. There is something forming between them, some new relationship, but it is so fragile and new that he doesn’t want to risk breaking it.

But as Janus leaves the kitchen, he calls after him.

“Would you want to do this again, sometime?” he asks, and Janus looks at him for a long moment before replying.

“I suppose I wouldn’t be opposed,” he says, and by now, Patton is better at sifting out his truths from his lies, and he can recognize which this is.

And then, Janus is gone, capelet flapping out behind him. Patton watches him go, and feels as if he’s won a victory.

A few weeks later, they do it again.

They follow the same pattern: Patton asks Janus to bake, Janus agrees without displaying any indication as to whether he actually wants to or not, and they slowly warm up to each other as the cookies turn a soft golden brown. And this time, because he is better prepared, Patton notices a few things.

The first is that Janus keeps looking at him, keeps stealing quick, subtle glances whenever he thinks he isn’t looking. And at first, Patton doesn’t think very much of it, except that those glances start to remind him a little bit of Virgil. Because he remembers the first few times he baked with Virgil, remembers how cautious he was, how quiet, how he seemed to be trying to make himself smaller, as if he thought that Patton would kick him out if he so much as put a foot wrong, or that he would shout if Virgil messed up a measurement or made too much of a mess. And the way Janus is acting isn’t precisely like that, but the similarities are too striking to ignore. There is a hesitance in his movements, and in the way he watches Patton out of the corner of his eye, as if he’s trying to ensure that he’s not doing anything wrong.

The fact that he feels like he needs to do that makes Patton’s heart ache, but he’s sure that if he tries to approach the topic at all, Janus will staunchly deny it. So he leaves it be for now, and hopes that he can demonstrate through his actions that the caution isn’t necessary.

The second thing he notices is far more fun, and it’s this: Janus bakes like he does.

One of the worst kept secrets in the mindscape is that Patton is not very good in the kitchen, much to his chagrin. He knows it, everyone knows it, Thomas probably knows it. He tends to take recipes as guidelines rather than as set instructions, and he gets distracted easily, leaving one thing to burn or boil over while he focuses on another. He does his best work while there is someone else with him to keep him on track.

He’s cooked or baked with everyone else enough to know their strong suits. Logan is all about precision and numbers, while Roman focuses on style and flair, and Virgil just tries to make sure that everything is sanitary and no one burns themselves or cuts a finger.

Janus, though, is remarkably like him.

He eyeballs measurements like Patton does, disregarding the recipe entirely when he thinks something else might work better, and he, too, is prone to distraction, perfectly willing to let Patton tug him in a new direction while the previous work sits forgotten, only to curse up a storm when something starts spilling or smoking.

Really, he’s no better at this than Patton is.

That becomes extremely clear by the third time they bake together. They are still doing cookies, though Patton thinks it might be time to try something else soon. Cupcakes, maybe, or a whole cake. But for now, they stand there, staring at the first batch, straight out of the oven.

“Well, those look… good,” Janus says, not even trying to hide his doubt.

Patton frowns at the cookies. Something about them is off, something about their color and size just slightly different from the usual. He shrugs, picking one up and breaking it in half, handing part of it to Janus, who regards it suspiciously.

“Won’t know what’s wrong until we try it,” he says, and Janus lifts an eyebrow.

“Won’t do much good to know what’s wrong if we poison ourselves,” he says, but lifts the cookie to his lips anyway.

They take a bite at the same time. Patton feels his face twist, and Janus stops chewing as quickly as he started, his eyes blowing wide. They stare at each other for a moment, and Patton shudders, forcing himself to swallow. Janus, on the other hand, elects to grab a paper towel and delicately spit out the bite he took, tossing it and the rest of the cookie in the garbage can.

“That,” Janus proclaims, “was the most delightful thing I have ever eaten. And I have had Remus attempt to cook for me.”

Patton winces, turning to inspect the ingredients, still laid out on the counter. They have another three batches’ worth of dough, but they won’t be able to use it, not if his hunch is correct and they’ve used—

“Salt instead of sugar,” he says dolefully. “How did we both miss that?”

Janus makes a strangled sound. And then, he laughs, short and surprised, and by the time Patton turns to look, he is already composing himself.

“Clearly, our ingenuity in the kitchen knows no bounds,” he says, a slight smile still playing about his lips. “I can take these to Remus. I’m sure he’d love them.”

Patton agrees, mind not lingering too long on the Remus thing, because the word our rings in his head over and over again. Our ingenuity. Proof that Janus does want to be here, that he considers this to be an activity that they do together, rather than something that Patton drags him into. And his chest fills with warmth, warmth and something that feels like sparkles and rainbows, and he can’t help but beam.

Janus looks a bit taken aback, but he returns the smile, if shakily.

And, well. After that, there is no way that Patton is going to let Janus go. They graduate from cookies to cupcakes to cakes, and then to more complicated things, different types of pastries and creams and things that would probably work better if they had Logan there to help them, because only about one in three products actually tastes anything like it’s supposed to, or is edible at all. But it’s not the end product that’s the point, it’s the time they spend together, muddling their way through a complicated set of instructions, or giving up on that and winging it, turning the kitchen into something more approaching a disaster zone, a mess covering every surface.

And gradually, Janus seems to grow more comfortable. Allows himself to smile, and even to laugh, and every time Patton teases such a reaction out of him, he feels warm and bubbly all over. Slowly, somewhere between the meringues and the ganaches, they fall into a friendship, and Patton is elated.

And that friendship gives him courage to do things he never would have dared to do before, even if he wanted to.

“Here, you’ve got a little something,” he says, and before Janus can react, he wipes a bit of flour onto his nose.

He doesn’t know what’s gotten into him, isn’t sure why he’s doing this. But the flour was there, and so was Janus’ face, and the desire to see what Janus would do was too strong to resist.

Janus freezes, his tongue flicking out. It tastes the air a few times, and then curls up to brush the tip of his nose, and immediately, his expression crashes into one of utter betrayal. His face scrunches up, and Patton can’t hold back his giggles.

“Really?” Janus says. “Well, as it turns out, you also have a little something—”

And he flicks flour at Patton in return.

From there, it is war, of course, and the baking itself is all but forgotten, the ingredients for their cake batter sitting out on the counter, gradually being coated with a fine layer of flour as it gets tossed back and forth between them. Patton has never seen Janus look so undignified, with white powder dusting his hair and all over his clothes, a delighted grin on his face as he pelts Patton with all the flour he can get his hands on, as well as the occasional glob of batter.

“Stop it, stop,” Patton manages, between breaths and fits of laughter. “That tickles!”

“Does it?” Janus says, and backs Patton up against the counter. With one delicate swipe of his hand, he brushes a thumb down Patton’s nose, covering it in flour. He resists the urge to sneeze. “Too bad. Vengeance is sweet.”

“You’re sweeter,” Patton says, the words spilling out of his mouth without permission, and oh.

Janus’ eyes go wide. Patton is suddenly very aware of the position they’re in, of how close Janus is to him, of how his hand is still hovering next to his face. And Janus must realize it, too, because there is a blush rising on the right side of his face, pink blooming on his skin.

But he doesn’t step back. And that’s good, because Patton finds that he doesn’t want him to.

“I—” Janus says, for once at a loss for words. “What?”

“I mean that,” Patton says. “I mean, it just kind of slipped out, but I meant it. You’re really sweet, and nice, and I really like to spend time with you.”

Janus’ hand shakes where it hangs in the air. Patton wishes he would close the gap that lies between them, bring it just a few inches closer and touch his face again.

“I,” he says, “I suppose I—”

“Oh my god,” someone says, and Janus springs away from Patton as though he’s been burned, and Patton does his level best not to feel disappointed. Virgil is standing in the entryway to the kitchen, eyes flickering back and forth between the two of them. The expression on his face is something approaching horror, though Patton doesn’t know what they’ve done to deserve that reaction. “What are you doing?”

Inexplicably, Patton feels himself blush. “Baking,” he says, and his voice comes out high and squeaky.

“Building a shelf,” Janus offers, completely deadpan. Patton can’t help but laugh a bit at that, still riding the adrenaline of moments before, and somehow, that doesn’t seem to settle Virgil down at all. He rocks back and forth on his heels, still looking between the two of them. His mouth works for a moment, but he says nothing, and Patton is just a bit concerned.

“Um,” he says, and steps forward so he’s not leaning against the counter. “Can I get you something, kiddo?”

Virgil shakes his head, and begins to backpedal out of the kitchen. “Uh, no, no, I’ll, um, I’ll grab something later, and um. Go. I’m gonna go. You guys um. Carry on, or whatever.”

“So glad to have your permission,” Janus drawls, but Virgil is already gone, all but dashing away, and Patton thinks he hears him muttering under his breath, thinks he catches the phrase “like walking in on my parents,” which just makes him blush harder as he risks a glance over at Janus.

Who is looking back at him, his lips lifted in a way that can only be called fond.

They stare at each other for a moment, and then, once again, Patton finds himself laughing, because he loves this. Flour and batter all over them, all over the kitchen, and there is something buzzing in the air, something that smells like possibility, and Patton feels warm all over just looking at him, looking at Janus, messy and ruffled and more human and beautiful than he has ever seen him, with flour streaked across his face and batter on his gloves. He is so glad that Janus is willing to do this, is willing to open up, to suffer a bit of indignity, to trust him just a little bit more.

“Shall we finish this cake?” Janus asks, and it sort of feels like he’s asking something else.

Patton glances around the kitchen, at the mess they’ve made, and grins. “Yeah, I think we should,” he says, and they do.

And when the cake is finished, it’s overdone, and it hasn’t risen as much as it’s supposed to. But they take it out of the oven together, and their hands brush against each other and linger at the contact. Its scent fills the air, a strong vanilla, and it’s lopsided and imperfect but still good, and Patton thinks, yes. Vanilla and possibility, and Janus’ smile, and he’s certain they’ll be baking together for a long time to come.

General Taglist: @just-perhaps @the-real-comically-insane @jerrysicle-tree @glitchybina @psodtqueer @mrbubbajones @snek-boii @severelylackinginquality @aceawkwardunicorn @gayerplease @elizabutgayer @dwbh888 @thatoneloudowl @sanderssides-angst @gayboopnoodle @wildfire5157 @ldavmp4 @a-ghostlight-for-roman

[selfdestructivecat]

Roman, my son. -👑👿

Hello again, Crown Devil anon! Hope you’re having a wonderful day!

Rating: 6.5/10, promoted to a 7.5/10 because of fanon depiction. He is a really interesting character, clearly insecure with a desire to please. I really love how fanfics have explored this, and I also believe the actual series has touched on this quite a bit (especially in SvS).

However, I typically am not a fan of characters who act conceited (even if it’s an act), and while Roman is a huge exception, his attitude in canon brings him down a few points. Overall though, I really do love Roman, and I’m especially a fan of his interactions with Virgil.

Sexuality HC: Gay as FUCK! (Although I have also seen him headcanoned as pansexual, and with Roman’s function encapsulating Romance, I am totally down for this!)

If Roman was a fruit, I feel like he would be a mango. It feels like such an exotic fruit, with gorgeous sunset colors and a sweet taste, which feels fitting for our prince.

Gender HC: He/him, once again going off of the series where all the Sides have the same pronouns as c!Thomas.

Favorite Moment: I love him in the 12 Days of Christmas episode. He’s honestly so hilarious as he tries to wrangle the other Sides into going along with his idea, and it’s clear that he’s trying his best, even if he is a bit of a diva. But that’s just part of his charm!

And his face when Virgil says his line!!! He looks so happy! Even if it’s a bit short lived… but honey, you kinda had that coming lol

Random HC: Roman is really good when it comes to learning new languages. It’s a mixture of being able to fully immerse himself in the language and the culture behind it via the Imagination, as well as innate skill, but give Roman a month or two and he can speak a new language on a fluent level. This is a major point of jealousy from Logan, because while the Logical Side usually has a leg-up when it comes to learning new things, Roman is a bit better when it comes to languages specifically.

Opinion: He needs a fancier outfit in canon! I mean, look at him compared to Remus! The Intrusive Thot has lace, sparkles, weird eyeball sequin things, and even makeup! He’s the definition of extra! Roman’s look needs an upgrade ASAP! Give him a crown! Bigger epaulets! How about some red lip stick? I feel like his outfit is too muted to fully encapsulate the prince’s exuberant personality, so it’s about time for a change! (Which will hopefully happen in the next season, fingers crossed!)

Thanks for the ask! I’m having a blast with these!

Send Me Character Asks!

[remuscore]

Remus for the character breakdown. I just never get tired of hearing/reading you talk about him

I love when people say that. I give Remus my all, always.

How I feel about this character: Remus makes me actually like myself lmao. Everything about him being characterized as a disgusting and vulgar character and being absolutely loved for it makes me so happy. He brings such a interesting take on "Opposite sibling" trope too. Like he isn't better than Roman. He's actually considered worse. The difference is that he LOVES that and that is so cool to me I love characters that embrace the traits they have that everyone hates.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I only ever ship two characters with Remus and one isn't romantically. Remus and Janus has to be one of my favorite ships ever just because of how they would act. Janus would treat Remus like his world and Remus would do just the same, in both their weird and abnormal ways. They're so different and similar at the same time it's so great. And Remus and Patton is usual played off in a joking light with me, but if I wanted to actually talk about how they would be as a relationship, I think it would be such an interesting take. It could very well be and enemies to lovers kind of thing and no one ever talks about it. Patton could heal and change from his stuck up and strict look of the world by talking with Remus and learn that he isn't just an evil force. Perfect couple for the classic "oh."

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I am not so mildly obsessed with Remus' and Virgil's past relationship. I want to know so badly what it was. From what we can tell by canon, Remus definitely looked up to Virgil and loved hanging out with him, and maybe Virgil did to, but Virgil clearly has felt feelings of contempt for him for awhile just based on his choice of words while speaking to and about Remus (ie calling him and his ideas worthless, telling him to shut up, stuff like that). What happened what happened God I want to know so badly if they were actually ever friends or Remus was just an annoying little kid to him.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I really... don't think he understands why everyone hates him so much. Like... it's clear to me at least that with that conversation about exposing people to things they didn't want to see... he didn't understand why Thomas thought that was such a bad thing. He couldn't seem to understand why Thomas didn't like his ideas or why they were all trying to hurt him by the end by calling him names and saying he smelled. It could be that he just as a lot of self-esteem, but I really think he just doesn't understand everyone's hatred towards him.

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: I just wanna know how Remus and Janus talk to each other. We know from little glimpses from Thomas that they spend a lot of time together and we can guess their dynamics from the incorrect quotes video (Thomas picking quotes that were the most in character for the sides). And knowing their personalities, we all know they don't hate each other and probably get along really well, but I just want to know For Sure.

[therubyjailcell]

One Step At A Time, We'll Go On - [Remus & Dee bonding fic]

A/N: This is a short thing that I wrote as a small snipet of my characters in the RP I have going on currently with my boyfriend, @clownchecked​ ! And because it wasn't really an interaction per se, seeing as I'm playing both of them, I was originally planning on writing a short thing to send him, but it ended way longer than planned, so might as well make it a short fic. Enjoy~

Summary:

Virgil and Remus have been dating for a while now. Their relationship was kind of a mess, to be honest. Except Virgil got 3 kids, only one of which is Remus's, and his teen child is not liking Virgil having a new boyfriend. And Remus would like Dee not to feel trapped in their own house again.

TW: Reference to a dead character (Logan), family conflicts

Ship: Background Dukexiety, past Analogical

WC: 1804

Listen - Remus had made up his mind a while ago. He was pretty sure he'd known since they got together, actually, but he'd come to terms with the fact that he really wanted this and that he would do it for real, a while back still. The only other step before proposing to Virgil was, in Remus's opinion, Dee.

Hear him out: Dee might be Virgil's kid (and not the one who made the decision anyway), they still were very important and had to be taken into account. Especially since they were barely allowing Remus to be in the same room - though that was getting so much better lately, and Remus definitely had noticed how, even though they still wouldn't start the conversations, they actually did exchange convos with him now. Either way, he wanted them to know beforehand what he was planning, and to, y'know. Agree to it. Remus's goal had never been to make life harder for Virgil nor Dee, and he wanted to make sure Dee was okay, because despite them doing their best to show how much they despised him, Remus actually cared for Dee. And while they still had to learn that Virgil wanted Remus to move in with the rest of them, he figured they were smart enough to know what would follow, and that this would at least feel like they were in control of things. And yes, Remus would wait if Dee refused, he did want to show them they could at least trust that he would respect their boundaries.

All in all... He was so stressed about this. He had gotten a ring custom made to be unique, and to be honest, he hoped Dee would at least hear him out.

⠀

Dee wasn't stupid, alright? They could very much see that Remus was definitely a permanent feature now, and that he was spending more and more time over. They weren't sure how to feel about it. But at least the other didn't suddenly move in without warning, they supposed. When they heard a knock at the door that afternoon, while Virgil was busy outside, and Remus was keeping an eye on the littlings and them, they had a feeling that they weren't escaping this conversation. They were doing better though, nowadays. They could tolerate Remus talking to them (with them, even). They also noticed his efforts to keep in mind their boundaries, and how attentive Remus was to them. They had asked Virgil whether he was the one who told Remus about their tastes, and likes and dislikes, only to get a confused look from their dad as he asked why he would share personal stuff about Dee to Remus without asking Dee first. That left Dee with a confused feeling, between the need to cry, and the urge to yell. Anger, sadness, worry, regret, grief - they weren't sure exactly what was causing it, it felt too complicated to entangle it, but they sure felt it.

Either way, that knock meant tough convo ahead - the littlings were napping, and Remus usually worked during nap time, so. This was a real conversation. They weren't sure what to expect, honestly. They hesitantly told Remus to come in, anxiety rising, and Remus made sure to enter slowly, and not to go too far into the room.

"Heya Dee. Think we could have a small chat? Nothing bad, I promise - just wanted to know your opinion on something."

⠀

Dee kept quiet for a bit, before they nodded and sat on their bed, discreetly holding onto their plushy, hoping it'd comfort them. Worried kid. Remus definitely noticed, but kept quiet about it, and smiled encouragingly to them. He wanted them to be okay and feel like they could express themself, it was important. He hesitated for a bit, before nodding and giggling a little.

"I'm sorry, I'll be honest, I'm a bit nervous. But I want to preface it all by saying I truly want to know how you feel about the thing I wanna talk about, and that I promise I will respect your opinion, and I won't do anything to go against it. Okay?"

Dee kept quiet, before muttering a "okay", clearly unsure how to respond. It wasn't surprising, they didn't have much to go on, to be fair. Remus took a deep breath, fidgeting with the box in his pocket, before taking it out slowly. Dee was watching him attentively and frowned a bit, confused.

⠀

"I would like to ask you if you would be okay with me proposing to Virgil."

⠀

The sentence hung there in the air for a bit, Dee staring at Remus silently, their face visibly showing the whirlwind of emotions they were currently feeling. Remus felt bad immediately for dropping this like a bomb.

⠀

"I really love your dad, and I would like to marry him at some point. However, I don't want you to be upset by the news, or uncomfortable, or to feel like I'm imposing, so I wanted to ask you first, and well. I'll only follow through if you're okay with it. But if you're not, well... I don't mind. I can wait, it's okay." He smiled at the teen. "It's okay if you're upset, or if you don't want me to propose, I won't hold it against you I promise. And Virgil will never know about any of this either, promise."

Dee kept quiet, looking down as they tried to process everything. Remus wanted to propose... and he wanted them to agree to it first? That felt weird. And very much new, considering they hadn't exactly been warned ahead of time nor asked for their opinion much when it came to Virgil and Remus's relationship. Though the talk with Virgil had helped soften the repeated blows from before, it still felt bad, and Remus asking now felt foreign.

⠀

They kept quiet, and this seemed to worry Remus, because the other spoke again. "I promise this isn't me trying to impose nor me trying to force anything on you. And I really do not mind it if you'd rather I didn't propose right now. It's okay, and you're totally valid in how you feel. And I'm not trying to replace your dad either, and I know I'll never be him. Virgil will always love Logan, and I know that, and I promise I'm just asking because I want you to feel okay in your own house."

Oh. Right. Dee looked at their lap at that. Because a marriage led to moving in together, right? Dee hesitated at that, because they really weren't sure they wanted to live with Remus. Though it had gotten better, hadn't it? It wasn't like that at first. And, though they'd never admit to it to anyone else... Remus was kinda nice. He cared for Patton very much, and he took care of both Patton and Thomas, even though he only technically had to do that with Thomas - regardless of what Remus and Virgil, and Patton even, said, Dee still couldn't face the idea of Patton considering someone else his dad too, it was too hard. And even with them, Remus was nice and caring.

And they did have to admit that they didn't mind him being there as much, and it was kinda nice to have the house be... less empty sometimes. Because Remus was loud, and kinda everywhere, and honestly super clumsy, but also super mushy, it felt... familiar, though foreign. Kinda felt like home, sort of. Just slightly to the left. Not to mention how happy Virgil looked - though it always looked kinda upset whenever Dee was around, but that was mostly because Dee had been very awful about Remus, and that probably was why Virgil looked sad or worried so much. Or angry. Either way, Dee didn't like it much, though they felt like they couldn't stop themself from being like that.

⠀

Remus had kept quiet since Dee had looked down, and Dee was grateful he hadn't pushed. They considered their next words very carefully, trying to craft an answer that wouldn't feel like a lie, one way or another. But how do you answer a yes/no question when you have so many doubts? Dee wasn't sure. They felt conflicted. They looked at the other and Remus gave them an understanding smile. "It's okay, take your time - I'm not in a rush, I promise."

Dee hesitated before mumbling "Can I see it...? The ring?" and that made Remus lit up. It wasn't quite an answer, but it was something, and he was very happy about it. Especially since that something wasn't them yelling or throwing things at him. He went to sit on the floor next to Dee's bed, and opened the box to reveal a quite frankly beautiful ring. It was black, with purple and green shards in it, that seemed to shimmer and shine, though it was discreet enough, and definitely Virgil's style. Dee teared up - it was magnificent. Their dad would love it, and it clearly showed that Remus cared and paid attention. They gulped a little.

Remus looked at them at that, probably hearing them sniffle a bit, and frowned worriedly. "I'm sorry, did I do something wrong...? I'm sorry if I upsetted you, or anything, I didn't mean to." Dee shook their head and tried to dry up their tears with their fist, but it didn't work that well. Remus closed the box and put it back in his pocket, shifting so he was facing them, and took their hand softly, leaving plenty of time for them to pull away. They didn't, and he squeezed their hand.

⠀

"Are you okay?" Dee shrugged at the question. They weren't sure. "That's fair," Remus answered, before humming, "It's okay if you'd rather not answer right away. We got all the time in the world. Would there be anything that could help you feel better? A movie, a tv show - I can even leave the living room if you want to use the TV on your own." Dee shook their head and sniffled before mumbling "Dad'll love it. The ring... He'll love it, and I hope he- I hope he'll be happy with it."

Remus squeezed their hand softly. "I picked it specifically for him, after all... I hope he likes it, like you said." He smiled at the 12 year-old and hummed softly. Dee seemed to relax a little, very much overwhelmed, though the humming did help with grounding.

⠀

It took a bit for them to calm down, and they still had a lot of feelings to sort out. But their dad was in good hands, and they should focus on themself - Remus made it clear he was able to wait as long as Dee needed before taking a step forward, and that was something to hold onto.

[thepandalion]

Been feeling that Brainrot again (ft. Sanders Sides)

Rambles with various theories, unedited, ahead. You are warned.

Yalls already know this theory  about the dark sides being the "see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil" thing, based on a picture series in the nostalgia episode that seems not to relate to anything they were talking about, while the rest of the pictures there WERE talking about what was spoken of.

basically, the theory said that janus is the speak no evil one, remus is hear no evil, and the last side, orange, is see no evil. I think, with the fact we saw logans eyes flash orange when he yelled at remus to stop ignoring him in wtit, along with the fact the only other time we saw any glimpse of the orange side was the "hello" in selfishness vs selflessness redux, it could be a side that demands attention. a sort of "notice me" kind of thing.

because while remus is being weird, its not because he wants to hurt thomas, and janus was actively working to make thomas feel better in svsr.. so a side that works on a goal of getting thomas attention would work interestingly

[going to an entirely different theory bc ahah]

other theory I have builds on how so far each "dark side" seems to be working against something built by a "light side" - patton has janus working against him several times. roman and remus are literally mirrors of one another (and, another thing - these guys all have the opposing colors of each other. red and green, blue and yellow... do you see where I'm going?)

so what if the other side is opposing logan (because dark blue and bright orange oppose each other - I have whole characters based on this color scheme)?

I think, for this theory, that orange would be some sort of.. impulse. again working FOR thomas, even if he doesn't always want that help, like other dark sides do (because, remember, they were nicknamed that by roman, who has a hard time accepting things arent black and white like they are in the fairytales he builds! none of the dark sides refer to themselves as that - even virgil, when he admits to being one, says he was "one of the others", not a dark side.)

because personality traits and parts of a person can never be truly good or bad. they can be annoying (like my tendency to rant), but you can clearly see them all trying their best. so, a side that wants thomas to be appreciated at the cost of seeming needy, annoying, and, yes, "selfish", just like the episode they introduced themself in. its not bad to want attention, but... just saying!

I should also say that both these theories take into consideration the way sides interact with each other. a “selfish” sort of need for attention would make roman feel like he’s being annoying, and probably help him sort... whatever he has going on. because you saw how he gives up things he wants in order to be “good” for thomas. he’s done it quite a bit in the last few episodes, and we see how every time he goes out of that line something bad happens. he needs to learn to be loved for who he is since there’s certainly something up.

however, on the other hand, the other theory seems just as much, if not more, likely. not only would a side that works on impulse worry virgil and annoy logan to no end, I can see them getting along with roman in a way that annoys logan because they never take things seriously (never take him seriously)... and we did kinda work through most issues the other “light sides” have with their opposites. we didn’t even address logans problems beyond “nobody takes me seriously” and we all know it goes much deeper than this.

either way Im calling orange side Lamppost until we get their name-

anyways, yeah, Ive been panda, welcome to my TEDtalk rant about this webseries. uh. Id like it if ppl reblogged this. I usually dont really care if u just like stuff, it still makes me feel fuzzy, but I do want this one to be seen, on the off chance either theory makes it to be canon.