#sasi crossover

[radar-chaos]

Working on a couple of big surprises for all of y'all.

[https-b0nb0n]

Just a very bored artwork from last night-

Reference:

(Original art by tohyuki/Sasi sage)

[transfemlogan]

idk if you can see asks again yet BUT

i kinda wanna talk abt what that anon was saying with people adding non-side characters into fanworks and how that could be connected to other analyses of the fanbase (i haven’t been here as long as u have though so mb there’s some stuff idk abt)

for me it’s symptomatic of the way this fanbase treats the characters in general- they like. boil them down to one simple trait, one little personality thing that becomes how they’re viewed in fanon. so like patton is just sweet/innocent/stupid, but all other aspects of who he is, what he does, etc are kinda they out the window.

people add characters like picani and sleep even though they’ve had no canon overlap with the sides because their fanon personalities are simple enough to imagine with the sides. this fanbase ignores canon events so often that they can just like. add characters in and it feels the same to them

by making them into these one-note characters, it’s easy to imagine them interacting with one another as if they are from the same series because they’re so one dimensional and shallow in fanon. they can basically be made into whatever you want them to

i just think it kinda says something abt the way this fanbase warps it’s characters beyond recognition tht you can straight up just add these guys in and it doesn’t change the dynamic much, it doesn’t seem super out of place, and they’re just kinda. there

idk if that made any sense, im really tired, but my thoughts on this change all the time so i might look at this later and decide it’s bullshit lol who knows

I do agree that people boil down the sides into one specific trait & dont have any nuance to their character, however every fandom has crossover AUs. Every fandom boils characters down to their characters into one specific trait. I don't feel like there's anything to discuss there, because if I wanted to talk about how fandoms function as a whole, I'd just talk about that. But I don't want to. I want to talk specifically about the SaSi fandom and how it correlates to the series.

There's a difference between

"the series is about morally greyness and how there is no 'good' or 'bad' in the world, but the fanbase completely ignores that to treat the sides one-dimensionally" (and because of the lack of content and large stretches of time)

&

"the fanbase creates crossover AUs, like every other fanbase, and tends to make the characters one dimensional to fit them into the AU"

Every fandom has the same issues, but it's very interesting when it comes to SaSi specifically, because they are actively ignoring the lesson in Sanders Sides. It's the same with the Undertale fandom. People were actively ignoring the point of the story to make a child out to be the villain, because they couldn't comprehend, or want, the idea that it was them/the player who was fault

(also, it's less the one dimensional thing, & more that they are all creations of Thomas. People are adding in shorts characters and cartoon therapy characters because it's all by the same creator. I'm sure it's also because their fanon identities are so shallow it's easy to imagine them interacting, but that's not the main reason why it's done. It's done out of love for the other creations Thomas has.)

[virgeandhis-pocket-protector]

🤡🍄🖍 for the fic ask game?

🤡 || How many Wips are you actively working on?

Uh. 8. :) which are Brothers By Blood, Kingdoms for a Mind (parts 1 and 2), Patton & Pâton, The Misfortunate Son, I Hate Clichés, Episode 2242017: Light, Takeover, and We Have No Family (Nor Have We the Sunlight)

🍄 || Decriscribe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “___ + ___ =___”

nearly every YouTube character Thomas Sanders has ever played + ZOMBIES!!! GUNS!!! ZOMBIE GUNS!!! = 'Takeover', which has too many characters, too few combat scenes, and plenty of 6 ft Patton/5'4" Logan logicality to balance out the aro/ace roman and very very much not asexual whatsoever ever at all Remus & Remy

🖍 || Post Any sentence from your wip

Remus said he was, in fact, always looking for “bigger guns,” although Roman wasn’t certain if he meant that about his weapons or his hook ups. (from Patton & Pâton)

[sasiaucompetition]

Round 2 Side B Poll 4

7. Eucatastrophe - @/arealsword (ao3) vs. 10. You Can't Go Back - @/delimeful (ao3)

Propaganda:

Eucatastrophe:

Image ID: A screenshot that reads: Amazing Fae AU, crossover with Tam Lin myth, bizarre in all the best ways

End Image ID

You Can't Go Back:

Image ID: A screenshot that reads: My favorite sasi “humans are space orcs” au yet!!! Virgil gets to walk around with four menacingly long spider limbs and a bunch of venom at his disposal, Janus gets to defy the space government in the best way possible, Remus gets to be responsible for all of humanity’s credibility, Roman gets turned conspiracist and is proven right, Logan gets to draft the first research papers on alien life to his hearts content, Patton gets himself an alien bodyguard, and they all get to be dumb as shit the whole time!!!! very fun read

End Image ID

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

The Worst Part | The Best Thing

Hihi!!!! I just started watching Merlin and was reminded of your merlin/SaSi crossover fic with Virgil and Janus? (which I do not remember the name of but enjoyed a lot even without context haha) I was wondering if you'd ever consider writing more of/a sequel to that fic? If you want to of course. - Ro

Read on Ao3 Part 1

Warnings: panic attack

Pairings: anxceit

Word Count: 2508

Janus knows Virgil has magic. He just needs to figure out what to do now.

Janus sighs, glancing up over the edge of the sheaf of paper propped in front of him to see Virgil puttering around with the last of his armor, ostensibly making sure his servant is putting things back where they're supposed to go. Really, if he stares at this speech one more time, he might go insane, and then Virgil would be the one to deal with whatever consequences that action would incur so really, he's just saving him more work in the long run. How generous of him.

Virgil. Virgil, Virgil, Virgil.

When his father forced him to pick a manservant and he avoided it for as long as he could, he had a fleeting thought that perhaps he'd be allowed to just skate by without picking one. But no, instead he'd had a truly entertaining—in hindsight, and he would only admit so in his head—fight with a peasant boy in the middle of the market one morning and then the absolute fool had managed to save his life the very next day and the King decided that, well, the universe must have spoken. Neither of them had been content at the arrangement at first, but now, well…

They've gotten used to it, let's say.

Virgil is not a typical servant. He shows almost no regard for any sort of formality or propriety—unless he's doing it on purpose to make a point, in which case he's pointing out how much disdain he really has for it—he knows almost nothing about Camelot's traditions or anything to do with how the manservant to a royal should be behaving, and he acts as though everything he's doing is only because he wants to be doing it, not because he has to do it.

Virgil is also, without a doubt, the most loyal and stupidly self-sacrificing person Janus has ever met. He throws himself in front of swords like he's wearing the most indestructible armor. He shoves himself between anyone he perceives as helpless—or in need of help—and danger at the slightest notice. He talks back to everyone, even the King when he thinks it's warranted, standing up for everyone from the lowest servants to Janus himself. For all his bluster about being upset about being stuck with Janus for the rest of this life and possibly the next, he never truly complains about what he does to actually care for him.

Janus…doesn't know what to do with that.

Had this been before the days of waking up to things thrown at him and snarky remarks tossed back and forth, he might have laughed and said that was a servant's duty. But he's known Virgil now, for years, and it's more than that. Fine, perhaps some of his points—or lectures, as they inevitably turn out to be—about servants being people to have eventually rubbed off on him, but even so, Virgil goes so far beyond what could possibly be conceived of as regular duty that it's nearly astonishing. He's never had someone care about him like this before. Not his father, who only sees him as the heir to the throne, not the other knights, who saw him as a friend—maybe, however fleeting that might have been—and then as their commander, not even the other nobles, who hold him at arm's length. No, Virgil had decided somehow that he was going to be Janus's friend, and he hasn't wavered on that decision. Not in all the time Janus has known him.

Not even with the fact that he's a sorcerer.

Yes, Janus knows. He's not blind nor stupid. He knows that branches don't just decide to swing for no reason, he knows swords don't pick themselves up and impale the nearest bandit when his back is turned, he knows dust storms don't whip up out of nowhere to distract a crowd of people just because the wind has decided to be convenient. And he's not deaf either—he can hear those mumbled things Virgil says right before his eyes flash gold—if it wasn't far more dangerous for Janus to admit he knows, he would be scolding him left and right for being so stupidly obvious about it.

But he knows why Virgil hasn't told him.

He's not that cruel or unaware to realize the difference between them is far more than just class and station. He's protected in so many ways that Virgil could never hope to be—at least not right now. Poor Virgil is terribly alone here, not just because his family is a kingdom away, but because there…isn't really anyone who can help him. Not the physician, not any of his friends, not even Janus, as much as he pains to admit it. Magic is illegal in Camelot. The punishment for sorcery is death. Janus could no sooner sentence Virgil to death than throw himself on the pyre.

Virgil might be careless with his own life, but Janus absolutely will not be.

Which is why he's watching him right now, just to make sure the fool doesn't try to do something like use magic to cheat at his chores right in front of Janus while he thinks he isn't paying attention. He's gotten a little bit smarter about it—just a little, this is still Virgil he's talking about—but still, he doesn't put it past his idiot to do something stupid the minute he lets his guard down.

That's another interesting development that he hasn't thought too much about. Since when has he started thinking of Virgil as his idiot?

Sure, technically the whole manservant thing makes Virgil his in all but blood, but that's not the same thing. Virgil has this very annoying independent streak, almost like a cat, and if he didn't want to be tamed at all, well, he wouldn't let himself be. But in the same way that Janus has found himself growing softer, more forgiving, more human since Virgil, Virgil's been letting Janus actually see him more. Sure, the idiot's still an idiot who sometimes spouts the most unique pearl of wisdom he's ever heard, but he's growing more and more into his idiot and the slope is getting more and more slippery by the day.

"You've been quiet for too long, what's wrong?"

Janus gives himself a shake. Virgil's staring at him from the other side of the bed now. "What?"

"You've been staring at me without saying anything."

"I'm not staring at you, I'm staring into space."

"Oh, well, then why are you staring into space?"

"I'm thinking."

"You know how bad that is for you."

Janus balls up a sheet of paper and throws it at him. Virgil dodges it effortlessly and looks down with disdain.

"Now you're giving me more work!"

"It's a single piece of paper, are you truly so lazy that picking up a singular piece of paper is an insurmountable workload?"

"I'll show you insurmountable workload," Virgil mutters under his breath as he stoops to pick up the paper. Conveniently, he moves out of the way of the mirror, which enables Janus to see the stupid, fond smile on his face and he quickly schools his expression into one of annoyance. "How's the speech coming?"

"Why, eager to read it for me?"

"Eager to see if the steward's been having any luck getting you to actually make a point instead of blustering on for two rolls of parchment."

"I'll have you know I've been a bench marker for eloquence for years."

"Yeah, I forgot that they need to make measurements for the low end too."

"Oh, like you'd be able to do better? You roll your eyes at every bard that comes into the great hall to perform."

"Yeah, 'cause they're all suck-ups who glorify things that don't need to be glorified or money-grubbers that try to turn a profit off of the human art of storytelling. I don't scoff at real bards who actually know what they're doing."

Janus blinks. "We've had every single famous bard this side of—"

"You know they're the ones who decide who's famous enough to be a royal bard, don't you? You and all the other royals, who end up picking the bards that are the nicest to them and not the ones that actually have any sort of reliable talent."

Silently, Janus might concede that point. Half of the bards they've had recently are shoddy musicians at best. Out loud, however, he says, "you can just admit you've never had a penchant for music."

"I like music!"

"You like bawdy tavern songs that you can sing while drunk, that's not the same as liking music."

Virgil's ears turn red and he disappears into a flood of furious muttering as he busies himself with another chore. Ah, yes, the tavern. The greatest lie the two of them tell regularly and the one that Janus is going to poke at until Virgil admits he doesn't so much as know where the tavern is. He's not sure why the physician is truly so abysmal at lying—well, yes, he does—but he does know that Virgil is a lot of things, but a drunkard isn't one of them.

Still, perhaps it affords Virgil some cover. If the rest of court believes his manservant to be a drunken fool, then Virgil can get away with mouthing off and talking back the amount he does for it'll be dismissed as the ramblings of a sloshed idiot. And for that, well, Janus is happy to play along.

"Seriously, is everything alright?" He blinks to see Virgil's staring at him again, concern naked on his face. "You've not been—you're—what's wrong?"

"How eloquent of you."

"Janus."

What he should say is something like I'm allowed to think in the privacy of my own chambers. Or it's adorable that you care so much about me. Or don't you have chores to do?

What he absolutely, positively should not say is: "I know you have magic."

But that's what comes out of his mouth, and he watches Virgil turn white so quickly it's like he's turning into a ghost right in front of him. He stands quickly, worried Virgil's about to faint, only to cry out when Virgil drops the basket and bolts.

"Virgil!"

He manages to catch him just before he makes it to the door, arms wrapped around his torso, but Virgil flails and thrashes like a gasping fish and Janus grunts when fists manage to hit his ribs. Virgil not trying to hurt him, he realizes with no small amount of relief, he's just trying to get away, but Janus can't let him. Not until he fixes this. He ends up wrestling him down—which is much harder than he'd anticipated—and all but pinning him to the floor.

"Virgil! Virgil," he calls, trying frantically to get Virgil to just look at him, "Virgil, calm down, it's okay, it's alright, I'm not angry."

Virgil's eyes are so wide he's worried they'll fall right out of his head. His breath is coming in short, sharp pants. He's nearly frothing at the mouth.

"Sweetie," Janus murmurs, "sweetie, it's okay. It's okay, I promise. Shh, shh, you need to breathe, sweetie, shh…"

"J—Janus—Janus—I—I—"

"Hush, sweetie, shh, it's okay—I'm sorry, I shouldn't have sprung it on you like that, shh, don't fight me, don't fight me, you're going to hurt yourself." He squeezes Virgil's wrists, leans down to press their foreheads together. "I'm sorry, don't be so afraid, please, just—just calm down."

Virgil is not calming down. He's crying now, which is worse, so much worse, and Janus can't help but wrap him up in his arms and pull him close, head sobbing into the crook of his neck and his whole body shaking. Gods, Virgil's shaking, he must be so afraid…

No wonder. He's just had a secret that could get him killed revealed by one of the people responsible for upholding the laws that say so. He closes his eyes and tucks Virgil into the lea of him.

"Don't fret," he whispers, "don't fret, I'm not going to turn you in, I'm not going to arrest you, I'm not going to execute you. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, sweetie, I didn't mean to frighten you. You're right, you're always right when it comes to be not thinking before I do things. I'm sorry."

"No fire," Virgil pleads, "no fire, you can—you can do it any other way, just please—"

"I'm not going to have you killed, you fool," he says in a rush, his own chest twisting at the mere thought of it, "you're not going anywhere. I forbid it."

That, more than anything, seems to cut through the worst of Virgil's panic. He pulls back just enough to let Virgil look at him, see that he's telling the truth, before his eyes well up with a different sort of tears and he's letting out a comforting noise before he realizes it.

"Oh, you poor thing," he whispers, pulling him back in for a proper cuddle, "don't worry, I'm not about to let you get hurt. It's alright."

"It's—it's for you," comes the hoarse response, "my magic, it's only—it's only for you."

"You fool," he murmurs, affection lacing every word, "what about you?"

"You—you're always saying I should trust—should trust you to take care of me—"

Janus squeezes him tighter. "Of course I'll take care of you, you stupid idiot. That's my job. Oh, Virgil, I'm so sorry…we'll repeal the ban on magic, I swear it."

Now Virgil well and truly sobs, this time out of relief, and Janus can't help the smile spreading across his face as Virgil goes limp in his arms. He closes his eyes and soaks in the relief of it himself, of having Virgil heavy and secure in his arms, of having him trust him enough to hold him like this, his idiot sorcerer of a manservant who somehow tricked his way into becoming the most important person in Janus's life.

At some point, they'll get up off the floor, Virgil will go to bring them dinner—because he's going to make Virgil eat, that fool doesn't eat nearly enough as he should if Janus can feel his ribs right now—and Janus is going to start drafting repeals on magic bans. They're going to tease each other, make fun of each other, and piss off his father so much he might rise from the dead about it. And then, when Virgil is safe, they're going to have a long conversation about other things too.

For now, Janus is going to sit here and hold his idiot while he cries and make sure that he never doubts how much Janus will do to take care of him. Can't have himself one-upped by an idiot, can he?

General Taglist: @frxgprince@potereregina@gattonero17@iamhereforthegayshit@thefingergunsgirl@awkwardandanxiousfander@creative-lampd-liberties@djpurple3@winterswrandomness@sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes@iminyourfandom@bullet-tothefeels@full-of-roman-angst-trash  @ask-elsalvador @ramdomthingsfrommymind@demoniccheese83@pattonsandershugs@el-does-photography@princeanxious@firefinch-ember@fandomssaremysoul@im-an-anxious-wreck@crazy-multifandomfangirl @punk-academian-witch@enby-ralsei@unicornssunflowersandstuff@wildhorsewolf @thetruthaboutthesun @stubbornness-and-spite @princedarkandstormv  @your-local-fookin-deadmeme @angels-and-dreams@averykedavra @a-ghostlight-for-roman @treasurechestininterweb @cricketanne @queerly-fluid-fan @compactdiscdraws@cecil-but-gayer@i-am-overly-complicated@annytheseal@alias290@tranquil-space-ninja @arxticandy @mychemically-imbalanced-romance@whyiask@crows-ace @emilythezeldafan@frida0043 @ieatspinalcords @snowyfires@cyanide-violence@oonagh2@xxpanic-at-the-everywherexx@rabbitsartcorner @percy-07734@triflingassailantofmyemotions @virgil-sanders-the-gay-emo@cerulean-watermelon@puffed-up-bees@meltheromanstan@joyrose-fandomer@insanitori@mavenmush@justablah65@10paradox10@uhhh-hi-there-i-am-nervous@cutebisexualmess@bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti@ultrageekygirl@raven1508

[crescentrivers]

Remembered I still like Sanders Sides (seriously though it’s a great webseries) but the Hatchetfeild brainworms are consuming anything else (downside of a special interest) so here’s which lord in black each side would be associated with/which lord in black would mess with them/maybe even which lord in black they’d follow in a crossover au + overly detailed explanations

Under the cut cause this got long

Roman- funny how both my previous and my current special interest have a Roman in them. Roman Sanders is a much better person though fuck you Roman Murray /hj. Anyway I think this Roman would be associated with Pokotho. More in a “Roman would get tricked into following him way” than in a “Pokey would want to mess with him” way. In terms of punching bags Pokers seems to go for the people who hate his deal the most and Roman is a theatre kid so. Already not one of the people who hate his deal the most. Okay but actual reason Pokotho has a big thing with conformity, mind control, giving up your real indentity to one singular voice and Roman is known to conform. Trying to be the perfect “good” creativity and turning against Janus mostly because his friends didn’t trust him. Also again, theater kid. So yeah in this hypothetical crossover au there’s probably a timeline where Roman becomes a Pokotho prophet. I can also see him swinging Wiggly though, wanting to be adored kinda like Linda in Black Friday. But I think he’s closer to Pokey in most ways.

Logan- Bliklotep or Pokotho. Okay so most obvious thing for Blinky is eyes, Blinky has a lot of them and Logan either is the orange side or is dealing with the orange side, the mysterious unrevealed character that made his eyes go orange that one time. But on a deeper level in Watcher World Blinky uses Alice and Bills’ conflict against them, trying to make them angrier so he can watch them fight. I can see a similar situation with Logan playing out in this au where the gang goes to Watcher World and Logan’s anger over being ignored is used against him. And if Orange and Logan end up not being the same person (which I stand by that theory) Orange using Logan’s anger against him to cause conflict within the light sides is actually just something I can see happening in the show.

For Pokotho it’s well, if you asked me to make a TGWDLM SaSi crossover Logan would be Paul. He’s the side with the least interest in theatre (I’m not sure if it’s really a dislike though) and while he lacks the panic Paul has for most of TGWDLM and isn’t as much of a normal guy tm I think he fits very well. Let It Out is SUCH a Logan song you don’t even get it like imagine that song but with him and Orange hshshgshshshshshsh I NEED TO MAKE AN ANIMATIC OF IT. Also like back to the ignoring thing can you imagine like “Aren’t you tired of being ignored Logan? Don’t you want to be the star of the show?” I’m going insane. If we’re just putting Logan in the Hatchetfeild universe I think he’s still more Blinky leaning but a SaSi x TGWDLM au with him as Paul would go very hard.

Patton- probably the one in the least sure on so luckily he doesn’t need as long of a paragraph. He’s just so nice I can’t really see him being singled out by any of them but he also isn’t nice in a way where he has Webby vibes so I’m just lost with him. I think either Blinky cause I can see him in a similar situation to Bill in Watcher World or Tinky cause I feel like out of all the sides Patton is the most likely to try to time travel to change or revisit the past and than get boxed because of it.

Virgil- none of them!!! Well at least none of them in particular. Why you ask? Well I think he’d be associated with Webby. Okay listen, if I had a nickel for every time my special interest involved a character associated with spiders that either left or was abandoned by the main antagonist group depending on your theories and became a good guy, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice. Do I need to explain further than that? Obviously Virgil’s situation isn’t nearly as severe as Webby’s and the dark sides are much more redeemable sympathetic villains compared to the lords in bright ass neons black, but my point still stands. Virgil works with Webby which means various horrors have it out for him instead of any specific one!!! Yayyyyyy

Janus- another hard one to place. I’d say he’d work with Wiggly most likely. Basically capitalism/greed (though the greed thing could also have him going more on the Nibbly route with like selfishness desire stuff or even like unrelated he could work for Pokey cause like mind control/manipulation isn’t that much of a stretch from his character, it is a stretch I’m lying to myself) and idk he has the vibes where I feel like he’d work with the lord in black himself and not just one of his brothers. Idk he has Wilbur Cross vibes kind of not really? (it’s the green apples) The thing is Janus still doesn’t hit quite the same level of evil as most antagonistic Hatchetfeild characters do but there’s no way this guy wouldn’t be caught up in something in a crossover au, so maybe he made a deal with them but doesn’t fully worship them. Idek what this post is anymore.

Remus- Hard to place because he’s just such a freak (derogatory) that he kind of just has general cultist vibes (I know there are plenty of freaks in Hatchetfeild completely unconnected to the lords but Remus would be the kind of freak that is connected imo) but if I had to pick I’d say either Wiggly or Nibbly. Wiggly doesn’t have much reason, they just both insane people associated with the color green, royalty, and tentacles. Nibbly does have an explanation kind of. He’s like the god of desire kind of and I think in analysis of how he’s connected to stuff (think Grace in NPMD) that kind of leads to lust associations? Which yeah fits Remus. I can see him working for Nibbly or going insane cause of him (does Nibbly even do that? Does he do things that don’t involve eating people? What even is this post) honestly I don’t really know for him I’m just saying words, would really depend on his role in this hypothetical au

Bonus: c!Thomas- honestly I don’t know for him but dare I say Pokotho. Cause A. Him and Paul don’t really act alike but they both have that panicking normal guy tm energy as protagonists. B. He’s a theatre kid. C. Idk I think it would be screwed up if the guy who the entire show centers around the mind of lost control of his mind and had his entire being warped (infection) 👍

[sagesparrow394]

Dunno how much crossover there is between people who followed me for Sanders Sides back when that was my main fandom and the people who follow me now for QSMP

But I’ve been getting a lot of SaSi stuff on my tiktok fyp and it’s got me thinking about it again

And now I’m tempted to draw QSMP characters as the sides at some point

My current thoughts are Cellbit as Logan, either Roier or Foolish as Roman, Jaiden as Virgil, and Charlie as Remus. I have no idea who to make Janus, and I have a few possibilities in mind for Patton but I can’t decide

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

To Make a Heaven of Hell (1/?)

----

Virgil knew he was dead, somehow.

And somehow death was loud and bright and overwhelming, the people within it were beautiful and diverse and strange and the places big and magical and wonderous.

But it was hard to accept that you are good, after a short life of being told that you are bad.

Sometimes, all it takes is a little help, some hot demons and a whole universe full of new friends and family to get you to accept your paradise.

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| Ao3 | Next Chapter -> |

Fic Warnings: Implied/referenced character death, trauma, homophobia/transphobia mentions, abuse mentions, other canon-typical (to Hell's Belles) heavy topics, canon-typical (to Hell's Belles) violence.

Pairings: Prinxiety, Intrulogical, all canon Hell's Belles relationships.

Notes: Why hello there, I see you've clicked on my silly little crossover hm? I do hope you enjoy!

To any SaSI readers who have no clue what Hell's Belles is, you're welcome to read, I've tried to provide enough exposition that this can be read without prior knowledge but also not too much that the people who DO know the series get frustrated, haha.

Also yeah I know this wasn't what won the polls, but it's my poll I can do whatever I want shush.

This fic may go into heavy topics typical to Hell's Belles, which is the main reason for all the tags, but it shouldn't go too dark for the vast majority of the fic!

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Chapter 1 : What Comes After

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Everything was black, for a long while. Too long, in his opinion. And… empty.

They remembered everything, the pain, the hurt, the struggling and the heartache that had come with their… too-short, lifetime. He remembered the yelling - they had been arguing about something that felt meaningless now - he remembered the screeching of brakes, the smell of burning rubber on the tarmac, the crunching of metal as their car had crashed into another. Oh, he hoped whoever had been in the other car was okay.

And he was… dead. Somehow, in Virgil’s mind, he knew that he was dead,. Even as he hung in this dark void of nothingness, everything and nothing at once, where his feelings felt like they were locked behind a wall of glass, he knew. Eventually - after floating for a time that felt far too long and far too short at the same time - he noticed a door in the dark void. After a moment’s hesitation, they opened it and stepped through.

The sudden presence of bright lights and loud sounds and a massive open space filled with people and… different people was immediately overwhelming. Virgil whirled around and there was no door behind him, nothing showing that he’d come from… somewhere else… at all. The cathedral-like space - though nothing like any cathedral he had ever seen - was amazingly huge, bigger than any building he’d ever been in by far. There were people everywhere, appearing out of nowhere just like they did, sitting, standing, talking with other people and walking around. 

“Hey, sweetie, you new?” Someone asked, Virgil turned to see a taller woman whose features they definitely weren’t going to remember, he gestured to himself and she nodded, confirming that she was talking to him.

“Oh, um, yeah? I… think so?” Virgil said after too long of trying to force the words up through his throat, luckily she seemed to be patient enough.

“I can tell, the first time can be really overwhelming,” She said, nodding along, “Whenever you’re ready you can head to that desk over there - they’ll tell you where you need to go.”

“Right,” Virgil nodded, “Um, thank you.”

“You’re welcome, kid,” She smiled, waving as she walked off in the opposite direction, towards a strange-looking hallway. 

Looking back around, Virgil faced the desk she had pointed to and found he could see a whole range of people sitting behind it - age, ethnicity, time period, even people who he wasn’t sure were even human. Most of the desks had lines of people waiting and others seemed quieter. He began to walk over before pausing and looking back. They’d just… died. Because their boyfriend had crashed his car. Virgil wondered if he would be following.

When no one they recognised appeared out of thin air after what felt like a few minutes, Virgil let himself breathe a sigh of… what might be relief. He wasn’t here, and that quick realisation… really took a weight off of Virgil’s shoulders. 

Taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders, Virgil walked over to the desk, trying to seem as confident as he possibly could as he approached one of the desks without a line. Granted, he was still completely terrified, but maybe if he pretended to be confident, he would feel it eventually.

A file appeared on the person’s desk as he gestured for Virgil to take a seat in the comfortable chair that stood before the desk. They did so as the other silently flicked through the file with a blank expression on his face, dark green eyes behind thick glasses barely telling a single emotion. His hair was pulled back into a neat bun - though the textured hair seemed to be trying quite hard to escape its confinement. Virgil started to feel a little awkward as he hummed, placing down the file again and looking back up at him. He could see his name glittering on the front page. 

“Hello,” He said, “I’m Logan, you’re Virgil Byrne, correct?”

“I- yeah- wait-” Virgil said, raising a hand, out of everything that was happening, there was one thing that really stuck out to him, “That - That file is about me, right?”

“Indeed,” Logan nodded.

“It… it shows my chosen name?”

“The files show the name connected to your soul,” Logan explained, “For most people, that is the name they are given at birth - and usually this remains consistent through lifetimes - however, sometimes souls are placed in the wrong bodies, and therefore end up with the wrong names - along with other things. Virgil is the name your soul identifies with, therefore, that is the name on your file. You should also - as a soul - have a body that more accurately aligns with your gender identity.”

“That’s - wow,” Virgil mumbled, looking down at his hands, he immediately filed that information away to have a crisis about later, “That’s-”

“Overwhelming? It can be,” Logan nodded, “You will have time to process everything later. Are you aware of how you died?”

“I- yeah, yes,” Virgil nodded, “Is this… the afterlife?”

“Part of it, yes, this is the Front Death-k,” Logan grimaced as he spoke the pun and Virgil couldn’t help but smile, “Where new souls come to find out where they are supposed to go next, now, did you follow a religion in life that you were prefer to be judged by?”

“Can’t you see that in the file?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I can, but I prefer to hear the answers from the soul directly,” Logan explained, “Sometimes the religion a person followed in life isn’t the one they want to be judged by.”

“Right, I uh- my family were catholic,” Virgil started, taking a deep breath, “But um, I never really… clicked with it, and I never got the chance to learn enough about other religions to… know.”

“That’s alright,” Logan nodded, “With that, your options would either be to be judged by the Christian belief system, since it’s the one you’re most familiar with, or you can go through universal judgement, or I suppose you could also take a lottery-style pick of any belief system, but the vast majority would rather not.”

“What’s uh- what was the second one?” Virgil tilted their head.

“Universal Judgement: the process most people not connected to a religion go with,” Logan said, “By which you will be judged by the universe itself, hence the name, after which you will either be allocated a paradise or you will have to choose a punishment realm, depending on the outcome.”

“Well that’s not terrifying at all,” Virgil said, trying to offer a joke to hide the fact that the ideas of such a harsh judgement set his hands shaking and his teeth on edge. Well, at least he knew he hadn’t lost his terrible anxiety, even in death. 

“No, it’s not,” Logan said, seemingly taking his sarcasm entirely seriously, “The universe is very fair in its judgement and takes many things into account, you do not need to worry, if you choose to take that option, that is.”

“...Okay,” Virgil nodded, “I um- I think I’d rather do that than the Christian judgement system…”

“Wonderful,” Logan nodded, “I’ll walk you to the universal judgement gate when you’re ready, meanwhile, do you have any more questions you’d like to ask?”

“You mentioned… punishment realms?” Virgil said tentatively, “If I end up there…?”

“If you were to come out of the bad side of Universal Judgement, you will be offered a choice of punishment realm for you to spend your sentence. Some people stay forever, others are able to reincarnate after a time. But remember that the punishment realms are more a system of justice, but unlike the mortal justice system you’re used to, it's not obscenely biased and cannot be incorrect.”

“...right,” Virgil nodded slowly, “And the paradise?”

“If you achieve it, your own space that fits your soul’s true desires, usually a house or community that represents your perfect ‘heaven’ of a sort. Of course, different belief systems will have different versions of this - for example, the Norse may have paradises in Valhalla, while Christians may have theirs in Heaven, though people not attached to religion will still get a paradise in a more general ‘paradise’ realm.”

“Right, that’s…” Virgil took another deep breath. The idea of paradise sounded… nice, but… well he didn’t know if he’d even get there, of course, a large part of him doubted it - after all, no one in his life had had faith in him, his parents so convinced he’d go to hell that they kicked him out of their house, but… if he did achieve it… how would that feel?

“I’ll give you a moment to think,” Logan told him, “Let me know when you’re ready to go.”

“Won’t I hold up the line?” Virgil asked.

“No,” Logan shook his head, “Most people gravitate to some of the other workers here.”

“...Okay.”

—-

Virgil wasn’t sure how much time passed - their concept of time had been screwed over when they were alive, and there didn’t seem to be any kind of clock or other time-telling devices around this space, but he thought maybe it had been about five minutes before he finally told Logan that he was ready and let him lead them off to that same hallway the woman had gone down before. 

Eventually - after some time Virgil spent trying to block all of the confusing sensory input from all around him, trying not to spiral into a panic as they approached what could only be the universal judgement gateway, a stone archway that seemed to glitter with a strange rainbow iridescence. 

“You step in there,” Logan informed, “And the universe will take you where you need to go, good luck, I’m sure you’ll end up exactly where you need to be.”

“Thank you, um, for your help,” Virgil said, trying to offer Logan a smile through his bubbling panic. 

“I’m simply doing my job,” Logan nodded, “But you are welcome.”

Virgil nodded, before turning to look into the grey mist that formed the inside of the archway, taking a deep breath, and with a final glance back at Logan who offered an encouraging nod, he stepped through the archway.

----

General tags: @full-of-roman-angst-trash @reptilianrapscallion420 @your-local-random-dino @cutebisexualmess @glacierruler @roseianxiety @bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti (if anyone wants to be added, let me know!)

Hell's Belles AU tags: @awitchbravestheverge @twoalpacas @goldnskyart @anxious-mess19 @doteddestroyer

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| Next Chapter -> |

[imnotgrimimjustagrumpyreaper]

Is one of thomas' Sanders sizes literally just the Sanders from vine that wore the su shirt and Jung out with the vas 😭?

I'm gonna use this ask as an excuse to introduce you to all the sides LOL

I’m gonna preface this by saying that this will be LONG and also it has been a while since I rewatched the series or refreshed myself on some of the older stuff

I’m also gonna go ahead and give a quick rundown of my history with the fandom. I was like 12 or 13 when it first started? I didn’t have vine at the time so I just watched vine comps on youtube LOL but I was already like a causal a fan of Thomas Sanders. It wasn’t until the third episode which was a crossover with Lily Singh (I was a Lily Singh and Liza Koshy fan back in the day) that I started watching the series though. I got really into it after that and it was one of the first fandoms where I was like actually a super active member (You can look at  the comments on some old prinxiety fanfics for proof of that LOL) I don’t remember exactly when I fell off but I fell off from the fandom for a good while around the Christmas episode where they all sing together through no fault of the series itself. I still watched the series but I didn’t like actively get into it or anything like I used to. Then the asides episode “Flirting with social anxiety” like REALLY dragged me back in hard and suddenly its like 13 year old me woke up as a 18 year old with the freedom to peruse tumblr as much as I wanted and I was back into it HARD. I try not to be ashamed of it but I know its one of those fandoms that gets a lot of shit for both valid and super not valid reasons. Long story short i’ve been a fan for years and unless things catch on fire worse than they already are I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to jump ship. 

Not a side but a character: C!Thomas (which I think is who you're specifically referencing?) (and yes there was a vine where he met the VAS LOL, “Who ate my fries?” ) 

So like I said I’m pretty sure Thomas was big on way Vine before he was really big on Youtube. He did other stuff on Youtube before SASI but SASI has sorta become his flagship. A lot of his characters that he uses for instagram and yes indeed the sides originated on vine. The one I think you’re specifically referencing is a weird one because its not one of the sides. Thomas wore his Steven Universe shirt A LOT way back when so its how a lot of early fans took to drawing him and to some extent still do. This is a weird one like I said hafljad. So Character Thomas or C!Thomas is what fans call the version of himself Thomas portrays in SASI. This sort of relatable everyman online persona he puts on. I’m glad we do this is a good and healthy way to separate the show from the the man and it makes it a lot less weird to see like an in-depth post speculating about Thomas’s mental health when there’s a little C! In front of it to let you know its the Thomas as portrayed in SASI. Like I said the reason you still see the SU shirt even though I can’t remember the last time Thomas wore it and honestly I don’t even really think fans draw him in it anymore is that a lot of the art and fan content that like has the most notes and stuff is from the heyday way back when when he WAS still wearing the SU shirt. So yeah SU shirt guy isn’t one of the sides that is C!Thomas. 

The basic plot of Sanders Sides is that its a guy standing in his living room with various aspects of himself talking about life. It did the very modern western cartoon thing of starting out a lot more episodic with some smaller long running plot threads being slowly introduced and then spinning wildly off the rails with a higher budget and musical numbers and intricate grand storytelling as the show went on but the basics are still the same hflajf. 

Logan

Logan is another character that made the jump from vine and our first actual side on the list! He started as “The Teacher” character. Now it gets confusing down the line as we talk about the old Vine characters and their side counterparts but with Logan I’m pretty sure “The Teacher” is dead and gone so we don’t have to worry about that. 

Sanders Sides characters all belong in name HELL. Its not really a problem with Logan or the other sides like it is for one of the them specifically (cough cough looking at you JANUS) but we’ll get there. 

*The place it causes issues and possible confusion is in shipping. When you see the ship names pop up like “Logicality” “Intrulogical” “Prinxiety” etc the early ones were established popular pairings way before the sides had names so Morality + Logic = Logicality and later ships like “Intrulogical” kept up the name scheme. Where it gets weird is the later ships though where some characters did have names and some didn’t or people just wanted to abandon the naming scheme altogether and just use their names. The WORST culprit of this that I’ve seen happens to be my own dearly beloved “Dukeceit” or “Demus” or “Receit” or “Trashnoodle” Both of the characters were introduced late in the game so naming conventions were DEAD and Janus didn’t get a name for A LONG ASS TIME so its just like I said NAME HELL (it suits them though). I can’t even imagine what poor Orange’s ship names are going to look like.* 

Back to teacher man who I’m afraid I’m treating just as badly as the series whoops…Long story short when the series first started the characters didn’t have names they had roles. So Logan made the jump from Vine as “The Teacher” character and became “Logic.” That is still his role but not what he gets called as a thing that got introduced later was that the sides had names and them telling their name to Thomas was like a very big series deal with a lot of meaning. Logan was the first to get a name.

So Logan is logic, his color is dark blue. One of the OG three (later four). He’s like the part of Thomas’s brain that wants to focus on work and being productive. He struggles with understanding his much more “Feeling based” companions. A lot of his angst is derived from Thomas’s career being so creativity focused a place where he feels he doesn’t really have much to contribute and Thomas’s continued struggles with (mental health) being productive and having a good work flow. A lot MORE of his angst is how often he is talked over, belittled and outright ignored by everyone. Logan deserves a lot better and with where we are in the series right now he’s gonna snap soon so hopefully he’ll get it. Logan is a bit of a funny case in the fandom. In the early days when it was just the four sides (aka when I was in the fandom the first time) he was the least popular side by a long shot. However, this did a full 180 and I would now argue he is the MOST popular side, which caused some cognitive dissonance because by the time the team made a meta-joke about him being the least popular, that shift was already well under way. 

Patton 

Is the “Dad’ character from Vine. The “Dad” character is our first instance where we see a split between SASI and Thomas’s other stuff. I’m pretty sure “Dad” still pops up in some of his skits but like infrequently, but when you see “Dad” in a skit it's not Patton unless stated otherwise. So there’s that weird split I was talking about LOL. Patton made the jump from Vine as the “Dad” character and then became “Morality.” 

So Patton is Morality. His color is light blue and he’s the second side to get his name. One of the OG three (eventually four). Patton is a really interesting character, it's all too easy to label him Thomas’s “Heart” but I feel like that’s an oversimplification. He is Thomas’s judgment, he is Thomas’s sense of right and wrong and yes he is most of his mushy gushy feely stuff. Patton is the “Dad” but in a very real sense he’s also pretty childish and I don’t say that to demean him. He struggles with being blinded by nostalgia and black and white thinking. His main source of angst is that he feels unprepared to be Thomas’s morality now that Thomas is grown up and it's not so easy to tell what’s right and wrong anymore. However, a good source of angst for him is ALSO his deteriorating relationship with his once very good friend and son figure Virgil. 

Patton is a complicated one to talk about because of how much perception of him in the fandom has shifted over the years. There’s always a tendency for the super cheerful friendly one of the bunch to get “Bullied” by the fandom (I’m guilty of it too) and in the early days there was a small pocket that didn’t like him or found him annoying or whatever. However, he was always, I would say, one of the more popular sides, I think he may have even been the most popular behind Virgil at that point.

This has definitely changed in recent years largely due to the introduction of the “Dark Sides,” especially Janus. There was always this tendency for the fandom to infantilize Patton and smush him down to his base components and it was easier to do so early on before Janus. His main role in the story besides being the sort of lovable goofy “White dad guy” who would scold the other sides for cursing (but might accidentally do so himself) was bringing Virgil into their little found family. However, he’s had a bit of a negative character arc lately that I believe we’re on the tail end of now. 

The fandom generally skews young so we’re just as bad about black and white thinking as Patton is. Janus was introduced as the liar to Patton’s honesty and the selfishness to Patton’s selflessness and Patton made a bit of an ass of himself through the rocky introduction process. This is true but it's also true that Janus was directly goading him a lot of the time to try to make him seem bad. So yes Patton has the capability to be a jerk but he was also a jerk under duress. This is also what led to his relationship with Virgil now being so rocky (mostly). We haven’t gotten a conclusion to that yet. I can’t really look at Patton centric posts without them being super divided between the Patton defenders who still love him and the “Patton is the real villain” crowd. Nuance is dead, Patton villain AUs are at an all time high and Patton defenders tend to turn it around and shit on Janus (I may not like Moceit like at all but god bless the enemies to lovers crowd working their asses off here). While he isn’t my FAVORITE I don’t think he deserves this at all and I hope things look up in the future.

Roman 

Roman is an interesting one on the name front. On vine he was “The prince” character and he jumped to sasi as “Creativity.” But he was still actively called the prince  a lot of the time and dressed like a prince, I think it was a little while before we actually got confirmation of what exactly his official title was? This discrepancy comes into play with his ships (which I PROMISE I will stop bringing up eventually LOL). I’m not sure if its just because “Creativity” is a bitch to work into a ship name or because of the thing I mentioned earlier but Roman’s early ships like the juggernaut “Prinxiety” (Prince or “Princey” x Anxiety) and Logince (Logic x Prince). His later ships however like the ever popular sister ship to my beloved dukeceit, Roceit (Roman x Deceit) do not share this descrepency as they simply chose to use the names. 

So Roman is creativity. His color is red and he was the third side to get his name. One of the og three (eventually four). Roman is not just creativity, he is as his name and color suggest Thomas’s capability for romance and romantic love. Now, I don’t remember the last time I saw “The Prince” character pop up in an instagram short or anything but where the same characters different but also characters drama rears its head for Roman is a little series called “Role Slaying with Roman.” The best way I can put it is the whole C.A Cupid MH EAH thing except not really because there it was canon she was the same person who had crossed over into the other world??...Role Slaying with Roman is basically just Thomas’s take on a DND podcast in which he (this is speculation) used Roman as a way to draw in his pre-existing fans by making him his player character. The universes are completely separate, the Romans are completely separate but they are both Roman. The fandoms have gotten pretty good at tagging for this but still I know it is confusing and it is a lot. As far as popularity in the fandom goes he has always been pretty middling and I think it suits him! He deserves to be higher but I think its pretty fitting that he has never ever dipped below the half way point of adoration. Roman is a theater kid extraordinaire, a sweet, slightly selfish, goofy himbo with big big dreams. He is a lover-boy and a bleeding heart. I HAVE to mention his early on rivalry with Virgil and subsequent friendship arc because its one of my favorite parts of the series but I think that about sums it up. Virgil is like the cause of all of Thomas’s stage fright and self doubt so of course the two are going to be at odds. Roman is very antagonist to Virgil because he can be scary so Virgil was antagonistic back but they slowly come to understand each other in a really believable and sweet way culminating in this absolute GUT PUNCH of a speech from Roman in the season finale and UGHH. Ever since they are besties who are constantly friendly bickering; they have a surprisingly healthy and supportive relationship and I love them dearly. Roman continues his trend of being deeply antagonistic to the dark sides by absolutely simultaneously adoring Janus because of his (sarcastic) flattery towards him and hating him after he figures out he’s lying. Janus made his debut in the series by impersonating Patton for a whole episode and it sort of made a fool of Roman and ever since it has been a very one sided rivalry with Roman absolutely HATING Janus. There is also this thing with a callback that he is very conflicted on and it made the whole thing so much worse. He has a hero complex and to him Janus is the villain and that is all he’ll ever be. I feel like it may also have something to do with…Who Janus brings with him but we’ll get there :))))). I feel like I’m talking about other people a lot in Roman’s section but that is where he shines, his relationships to ALL of the other characters are so nuanced and liable to change, especially now with everything that is currently happening in the series. Roman’s main sources of angst have been Thomas sacrificing opportunities for creative success for various reasons, not feeling like he can be Thomas’s “Hero” anymore (similar vibes to Patton) and Nico. Thomas in canon has recently started dating a man named Nico and…Wellll…Let’s just say things seem sweet now in a understandably bumpy but still favorable road…But the whole fandom can smell a break up coming that would push everyone including and especially our favorite prince over the edge. Hopefully he and Virgil don’t get back on the rocks! 

Virgil 

OH VIRGIL. Virgil Virgil Virgil… Originally the “Anxiety” character on Vine Virgil made the jump to SASI and became “Anxiety.” His is the character where you will see the most confusion with or at least it was before Roman. The confusion comes not only from “Anxiety” still being a pretty frequently used character in Thomas’s other content but also from the hoodie and his first arc. When Virgil first appeared in the series (although I don’t know if the episode technically counts?) was episode three in the crossover with Lily Singh I mentioned before. Both Thomas and Lily often spoke about dealing with mental health so Thomas’s anxiety character made an appearance in the episode as a (seemingly) one off antagonist for them to defeat (of course with the mentioned caveat that anxiety was not something you CAN defeat but still the point was he was an obstacle to face). Virgil in that appearance and every subsequent appearance throughout season one appeared in a grey plaid hoodie. However, after being “Redeemed” later on he swapped out the grey hoodie for a more patchwork custom purple hoodie. The Anxiety that appears in Thomas’s relatable instagram content still wears the grey hoodie and (I think) has a sign taped to his chest that simply says “Anxiety.” But the distinction can be hard to make so the confusion was always there and he was definitely the character where it was the most confusing until RSWR.

I think I have a lot to say about Virgil unfortunately. He is undoubtedly a fandom tour de force. In the early days finding a fander who’s favorite side wasn’t Virgil was a chore. He isn’t my favorite anymore but he still means a lot to me. I was a scared and dumb little kid with a family that mocked you for using words like “Mental health” and Virgil was the first time I ever saw a nuanced take on anxiety. He helped me come to terms with my own anxiety and not hate that part of myself. Despite the series later failures with handling nuance and mental health I stand by Virgil being a fantastic character. Besides all that he was just an angsty emo teen Zuko figure who loved MCR and Nightmare Before Christmas of COURSE he was popular.  He is the only one I think could give Logan a run for his money (I would say maybe Janus but Janus also has a fair number of passionate haters). 

Virgil is anxiety. His color is purple and he was the fourth side to get his name. When I say “original three eventually four” he is that fourth I am referring to, he has been around much longer than the two newer sides but also wasn’t in the first two episodes. Our first “Dark Side” on the list but also not really! That gets a little complicated lol. Virgil used to be a dark side, a concept introduced with the introduction of Janus. The dark sides are like the less desirable parts of Thomas, aka his anxiety and others we’ll get to later. Virgil, however, has been confirmed to be a “Neutral” side which will factor in later. Virgil is not just Thomas’s anxiety he is Thomas’s fear in general. We have seen that without him Thomas cannot function, he keeps him safe, he is fight or flight, he seemingly has control over more basic reflexes too or at least keeps them sharp and without him Thomas quote “Doesn’t fear death.” Which isn’t really a bad thing #deathpositive but in this case that refers to him not valuing his life and taking dumb risks like not locking his door or looking both ways to cross the street which is not good. Virgil’s whole arc first season was finding this nuance and coming to be accepted and it is still some of the series best. However, as time went on Virgil stagnated just a hair there wasn’t really anywhere else obvious for him to grow, he was on decent terms with the other three sides. I think this was about the time his popularity dipped slightly but I wasn’t around to see it. ALL of that changed however when Janus popped up and dragged all of Virgil’s history with him. Virgil wants so badly to forget that he was ever “Like them” he worked so hard to get away from being a dark side, from being seen as a threat to Thomas and now Janus waltzes in and just reminds everyone, literally. No literally those two have personal beef and Janus loves taunting Virgil over how he’ll always be a dark side. This is also where what had previously been Virgil’s strongest relationship crumbled, partially? I don’t know if its quite clear what exactly is the root cause but its definitely got something to do with these two factors. One, Patton simultaneously implying that all dark sides were unforgivable by the way he treated Janus but also two, treating Virgil as if he’d never been an antagonist in the first place, just generally not handling a (albeit very difficult situation with much grace). But also Virgil is definitely coded the youngest of the sides I think, he’s the most teenager and as such he acts like a teenager. Virgil (speculation) doesn’t like that Patton would imply he’s just a sweet helpless innocent baby, as much as he would love to distance himself from the dark sides I think someone else erasing that history for him invalidates him. On a less deep level it is a very typical teenager snapping at their parent and giving them the cold shoulder sort of deal LOL. They will work it out. Him and Janus though? His other parent figure? That seems like it may be another story. 

Remus 

OGH REMUS. I have two favorites and he is one of them. That being said there is some…Stuff to say about Remus. Remus was the second out of the two sides made specifically for the series and not being pre-existing characters to be introduced. However, he was the first of the two to get his name so that’s why he comes first on the list. He is the only side to date that has (and likely ever will) given their name the very first time they appear/meet Thomas and I love him for it. As much as I love Remus as a character, him as a concept is…Flawed… 

See, the dark sides seem to be doing the Virgil thing but ramping up in intensity. The series' whole thing seems to be that every part of you can be good and is necessary; you just have to work with yourself not against yourself. Janus is a good example of this. He isn’t a mental health thing like Virgil, but he is something that is often demonized: he is Thomas’s selfishness and the series had a wonderful and deep and complicated conversation about that and what the balance is of prioritizing yourself but still being a kind and giving person who does right by others. His whole arc (which isn’t even quite over yet, hopefully) is probably the best thing the series has ever done and I LOVE it. 

Remus on the other hand…Woof…So. Here’s the thing. Remus represents intrusive thoughts. The way they’ve spun this is that he’s also Thomas’s capability for more adult oriented creativity, darker stories and sex scenes and stuff. He’s all the stuff that Thomas has locked away as a creator who has made his whole brand kid friendly. AND THAT is a deeply deeply interesting conversation to have! However, he’s still intrusive thoughts. Now I can tell you as someone with severe anxiety that anxiety is no damn joke, chest pain, nausea, weak immune system, panic attacks, insomnia NO FUN. However, a big factor here is that anxiety isn’t demonized like intrusive thoughts. 

 I’m going to speak out of my ass here for a bit based on discourse I’ve seen but….There is a lot of nuance here and I deleted a whole paragraph because I feel like I can’t speak with experience on the matter. I haven’t really dealt with intrusive thoughts since I was a pre-teen and my memory there is practically blacked out. A lot of the issues come with just being slightly tone deaf I think and a lot of the other issues come from the person they consulted to write Remus who as I understand it isn’t a great person. Then there was the issue with fanders tagging Remus related posts with “Intrusive thoughts” and clogging up a tag that should have been dedicated to a serious mental health thing with their blorbo. All in all it was just a mess. 

Overall I don’t feel like this is a topic Thomas was fully prepared to handle. As such Remus has sort of been reduced to a joke character which is fine? I guess? I don’t know in his debut episode that was sort of the conclusion: that you shouldn’t take him seriously. BUT, the thing is he has so much damn potential as a character.  Remus. I love Remus and I think there’s a lot there, like I said the conversation about feeling limited as a creative is one I think would be very interesting but I don’t think its ever going to happen. It feels like Remus was meant for more but due to the (rightful) backlash he received he’ll never get it. Its like the series has backed themselves into a corner in my eyes. If they want to make interesting Remus content with the aspect of him that they can talk about in an interesting and nuanced manner they have to reckon with the fact that they tried to tackle a demonized mental health issue and people weren’t happy with the way they did so. MAYBE I’m just a jaded fan who’s sad my blorbo isn’t gonna get the spotlight but I don’t know. In all the supplemental material we’ve gotten since he cropped up he’s been sort of like the lovable outcast buffoon side character that’s just sort of tolerated by everyone and OCCASIONALLY we’ll see a moment where he makes Thomas feel like shit. And I’m like?? Where did THIS come from? It feels like Remus is a song where the last note never played. I LOVE to see him pop up and eat spaghetti with a straw but I’d also love to see him get treated like a character which they really can’t do because they decided to make him intrusive thoughts. MAYBE this legendary alleged four part season finale that’s SUPPOSEDLY on the horizon will give me what I want. But I don’t think so, it feels like the series has already moved on. And honestly? I wouldn’t blame them if they did.

The problem is is that the way the series is set up where “Every part of you has a role” is that at this point Remus doesn’t. It feels counter intuitive to what I think the series is trying to say to have ALL THESE OTHER CHARACTERS with so much nuance and good and bad qualities and then have that one guy over there who’s flat as a piece of cardboard by design. If they want to go the Virgil route with Remus and stick true to their (presumed) message and have that interesting conversation I want they have to deal with the fact that they made him intrusive thoughts. They’re going to have to have a very uncomfortable conversation about just how seriously and with how much value they should treat Remus considering what they’ve made him represent and face more backlash. And I don’t think they’re ever going to and honestly I don’t know if I want them to….UGH sorry its just MNNGHHHH. 

Anyways. Remus. Remus is…Lets call him “Dark creativity.” Which I believe is his official title. His color is green. He is the second out of the three new sides to be introduced and the first to get his name. He is canonically twin brothers with Roman and they are the only sides to canonically have a familial relationship with another side (although this is debatable). Remus is insane, clown car horn honking outside your window at three am insane. He is random and silly and gross and I love him. He cusses, makes sex jokes and has constant props and gags galore. He is also prone to anger and has a temper. He hates being ignored which unfortunately…Remus’s most interesting relationship is probably with his brother Roman although its never really been explored. Its the classic golden child vs fuck up dynamic with Thomas being the parent. Its unclear how Remus actually feels about his brother so far although he did bash him over the head in his debut episode, classic sibling behavior. Roman hates Remus. He hates that Thomas has (sort of because like I said, WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN) accepted Remus and he fears that people may see him and Remus as being alike in any way. Remus hasn’t had much to say on this matter so…A final note on them is that there is a very popular fan theory regarding their history. There is a line in the show about them having “Split like an amoeba” I believe it was which led a lot of people to think they were one person. That. And the fact that their titles are the prince and the duke…Both implying a higher power… 

Logan is the character with which Remus has had the most interesting interactions (hello intrulogical shippers I see you). The dark sides all have light side counterparts, the most direct example is Patton and Janus but Remus is an interesting case. While Remus’s light side counterpart is Roman the side that actually balances him out is Logan. Logan like I said is logic. How do you defeat unreasonable nonsense violence that your brain is spitting at you because its bored? With logic. So the two have a love hate dynamic, they’re very frosty but I think Remus is regretfully fascinated with Logan and fixated on messing with him specifically and I hate to admit it as someone who has a DIFFERENT otp but yeah there is a LOT of tension there (I am so sorry Remuskinn, if you’re reading this). My favorite dynamic with him is one we technically haven’t even seen play out yet in canon but MNNGHHHH. I love them. I have to get into shipping for a minute. So my otp is seen as basic for a very funny reason. The most popular ship in the fandom is an oldie but a goodie “Prinxiety” which is Roman x Virgil. I am sorry to logicality shippers but Logicality Logan x Patton was basically seen as a default if you already shipped Prinxiety. So when Remus and Janus were introduced the people who already shipped Prinxiety and Logicality picked them up as the third duo to complete the default set fhadlfjl. So they are seen as basic despite not really being all that popular? I love them. I’ll give you a bit more on the name because I think its funny. So, the two most popular options are “Demus” and “Dukeceit.” SO. The options for the Remus half of the ship name are as follows: “Remus,” “Duke,” and “Intrusive Thoughts.” He gave away all three in his debut episode which set ship namers into a frenzy because oh god there’s so much to work with what do we pick. For some reason “Intrusive thoughts” + “Deceit” never really caught on although I think “Intruceit” is fine if an ungraceful mouthful. So we get ‘The Duke” + “Deceit” = “Dukeceit” and “Deceit” + “Remus” = “Demus.” Other options are “Receit” “Intruceit” “Janmus” “Trashnoodle” and more. Remus was the main one complicating things here but I also feel like the conflict between the old and new shipping conventions in the fandom was just at an all time high title vs name war. This was only made worse by the fact that Janus didn’t even HAVE a name yet and wouldn’t until well over a year after being introduced. In short: they don’t really have a set name and tagging for them is hell. But in all honesty the chaos suits them. 

Now like I said, we haven’t seen them interact in canon: technically. We’ve seen them interact once or twice on screen in questionably canon content but as of yet they haven’t spoken a word to each other in a main series episode. We are working with scraps here but OH BOY are they filet mignon trimmings JUICY JUICY JUICY. There was a tiktok that Thomas reacted to a while back before even the semi-canon stuff had come out that was to the “Let’s not be to hasty, still I think he’s rather tasty” audio that he said was pretty much a perfect fit if that gives you any idea of them LOL. They have a Jessy and James ISH dynamic in that they’re a dynamic villain duo. They simultaneously have so much in common but also are opposites attract. Remus is all about loud bleating honesty and Janus is the secretive one who keeps his cards close to his chest. Remus fucks around and finds out and Janus is sick of his shit and cleans up his messes. BUT the beauty is he sticks around anyway. There’s a scene in the “incorrect quotes” video where Janus is keeping Remus company during a hospital stay and I think that’s very telling. I identify a lot of with Remus as someone who’s prone to saying shit that makes people look at me funny. Overly honest and kind of a jerk. As someone who is “Unlovable” and gross. So the fact that there is someone who sticks around on purpose and seemingly enjoys his company makes me feel all mushy gushy inside. It's that “There’s someone for everyone” thing. Even beyond shipping their mostly unexplored but semi-canon friendship means literally EVERYTHING to me and the second their dynamic is fucked up is the second I probably can’t stomach to watch the series anymore. Dukeceit fans work with what we got which is NOT A LOT but hey! All I can say is “There’s a snake in my ass” LOL. 

Back on topic: Remus fans work with what we have too which is also not a lot and though I’d like to have hope that that will change in the future I don’t think there is any ground for that hope to stand on…At least there’s always fanfiction. 

Janus 

Janus is arguably my actual favorite character. I just love him SO goddamn much. First of all he has the COOLEST design because his face is literally half snake half human so freakin COOL. I love him. There is so much room for headcanon with that. Like? Does he wear so many layers because he’s all full of secrets or is he just cold because snake? Love love love it. 

I will say that Janus is also not free of controversy largely due to some unfortunate ties to anti-semetic stereotypes that I am definitely not qualified to speak on. Janus. Janus is Deceit and his color is yellow. He was the first of the new three sides to be introduced and the second to get his name. He is the side with the current record for longest time between introduction and name reveal which like I said I think sits at over a year. This suits him perfectly and also his name reveal is one of my favorite moments in the series. His name also not only suits him perfectly but fits very nicely into the current trend of dark side names just being a smorgasbord for Remus to make filthy jokes out of (I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Uranus to be next LOL).  Janus is Thomas’s capability for deceit, to tell lies to not only others but also to lie to himself. He is also his capability to be selfish. Janus is a character where its unclear exactly where his morals lay. He seems like a wrong things for the right reasons kind of guy but the beauty is we don’t really know. He desperately wants to take care of Thomas and to be recognized as a valuable and good part of Thomas. He wants him to blow off work and take a nap once and a while but also maybe to commit some arson. He is all secrets and shadows. He has so many fun motifs: Jeckle and Hyde, shadows, snakes and snake eyes. GOD I LOVE HIM. He’s also super well written too. There’s this fun thing where he seems incredibly intelligent and don’t get me wrong he probably is smart but he’s also bullshitting 90% of the time about as hard as your average uni student writing a 10 page paper. Every single one of his sources he cites is usually deeply flawed, he’s scrabbling for anything he can use to make himself seem smart and capable and all knowing. He also has this super fucking sick thing where he has six arm, six shadow arms Dr. Facilier style that he can use to make the sides “Silence” themselves ala Pearl from Steven Universe and slap a hand over their mouth and it is DOPE. He seems like a bit of a marxist so respect there, he’s been seen reading marxist lit lol. He is sarcastic as hell and you have to watch his tone to see how serious he’s being at any given moment LOL. OH! Also it's generally accepted that he has the power to suppress the other dark sides, letting Thomas lie to himself about them not being there which is why they didn’t start popping up until after he showed himself. So oh my god there is a LOT there too.  All in all everything about him is just SO COOL. 

A lot of his angst seems to come from (since he’s my favorite you have to take everything I say with a grain of salt) the fact that he is in fact deceit and as such no one really ever trusts him. Everyone distrusts him and calls him a monster and all that shit. 

People are really indecisive on Janus. He is super popular but he’s one of the sides where the love and the hate are about split equal. Since he is deceit a lot of people think he’s bullshitting at all times and is secretly just a villain. Not only do I think this goes against what the series seems to be about but everything we’ve gotten of him in the supplemental material thus far (keenly his character playlist) seems to suggest the opposite. He is GENUINELY trying to be accepted. Don’t get me wrong the way he went about this was a mess. Like I said way back in Patton’s section he goaded and manipulated both him and Roman into being their worst selves and making them question their own morality, which in a way is a good thing but come on man. He’s not so blameless but everyone who thinks he’s JUST a one note villain is as blind as poor Roman. Janus is grey not black or white. He’s a flawed and complex character. He’s funny and charming and there is SO much potential for angst. I could write a whole other 10k words just on his playlist alone and also before I forget to mention it he has  THE COOLEST theme music but GOD all this to say Janus is the best. I love him. I hope his arc isn’t quite over there’s so much more I want to see from him before he steps out of the spotlight. 

???🍊???

Speaking of characters stepping in and out of the spotlight. 

So. When Janus was introduced he brought a whole lot of new lore with him. We got this new idea called “Dark sides” the fact that our beloved guys weren’t just sides they were the “Light sides.” Patton and Janus have pretty direct parallels and Roman and Remus and twins. So the dark sides are all connected to and the counter parts of the light sides. This lead to a whole thing with the fandom trying to figure out Virgil. Was he technically a light side or a dark side? How many other sides were there? Was Virgil the dark side that was opposite to Logan? No. No he wasn’t. Thomas confirmed that Virgil was a “Neutral” side and is the only neutral side. Which left one more spot to be filled…

For a while there was debate on what color he was. We knew he was going to be a color of the rainbow based on the pre-existing color scheme. Most people immediately went to orange although there was a small pocket of the fandom that thought it may have been pink. This is because the color pink often appears as an entity on merch. But, pink is C!Thomas, that is the color that represents him (there is another character in the Thomas canon who’s color is pink but he’s not a side). 

We don’t know a lot about Orange. People debated his existence for a while until he was all but confirmed by the confirmation that Virgil technically wasn’t a dark side. He has now in fact been directly confirmed by the series via a series of teasers. Most exciting of which is Logan’s eyes glowing a bright orange. 

Orange. Purpose unknown and color orange. Name has not yet been revealed and neither has the character himself. We can speculate and it seems to be the case the orange represents anger. This ties into Logan as Logan has been shown to repress a lot of anger in the past. He is ignored and belittled a lot by characters that he can’t help but think of as less intelligent than him. So orange is anger or rage. 

The dark sides have been building in intensity. Janus is definitely the most intriguing so far and the one that had the most focus in the narrative but Remus is the scariest. Parts of his debut episode are literally like horror adjacent. Janus was a force to be reckoned with Remus is a force that you CAN’T reckon with…So the idea is that oh boy where does that leave orange? And considering that he’s waited to reveal himself until the four part season finale? OH BOY…Well…🍊

This is almost 10k. I had more to say but honestly I am out of energy even for info-dumping lol. If you are reading this why?? But also thank you ahfkjdahfkja. I’ll probably reblog this at some point with the rest. I’m sorry I used this ask to yell about my blorbos but it made me feel good to do so hfldjafhld. So to answer your question again: Yes but also no. He is C!Thomas.

[sometimes-love-is-enough]

so youve done matilda, and the locked tomb. any other books series youd be interested in doing sasi crossovers with and why? personally im a huge fan of the idea of a night circus crossover, though the characters would be hard to match directly. i just think the vibes are great

I'm not familiar with the Night Circus, although just looking at the summary I can't help but agree. And honestly I think it's more fun when you don't match characters one-to-one while doing fusions and crossovers, when you're trying hard to fit characters into certain molds you lose at lot about what makes them unique. and I say this as someone who's fallen into that trap a bit while writing the Locked Tomb AU.

ANYWAY that wasn't the question.

Right at the top of the list is Dracula, because I've always wanted to do an epistolary and I've been feeling the urge to try my hand at some vampire nonsense for a while now. This is the most likely to actually happen.

Series of Unfortunate Events and/or All The Wrong Questions (the prequel series by the same author) - Lemony Snicket has such a fun, distinctive narrative voice, and the world is surreal and weird in a way that I think I'd enjoy playing around in. Having the Baudelaires move in with long-lost uncle Thomas would be nice and fun too as a concept. ('that isn't patton! that's clearly count olaf pretending to be janus pretending to be patton!')

Not precisely a crossover, but I really want to do a fic that cribs the vibes and atmosphere of Madeleine L'engle's Kairos/O'Keefe series for a long loooong time. I actually have a typed-out typewritten first few pages of something like this, although it ended up getting massively revised into Syzygy (and I haven't touched it since because it feels like it would be a bit too similar for my liking)

also, Jantigone got me really thinking about playscripts and adapting various plays through the lens of these characters - I really, really enjoyed doing it, and if I ever get my brain hooked on another old play the way I did with Antigone, I may have to do it again.

[radar-chaos]

Gods its been so long since I've fully rendered a project, lol--

[peerlessbellbird]

20 questions writer meme.

tagged by @crimsonrainseekingflower, thank you 💖

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

25!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

109,895

3. What fandoms do you write for?

currently mdzs, tgcf, and hopefully soon svsss as well! I've also published haikyuu!! fics but I don't write for it anymore.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

E-mail My Heart - a collab with my wife tony, kogagoshi meetcute from the 1st year training camp, 4.7k words, 200 kudos

By the Horns - another collab with my wife tony lmao, ushigoshi minotaur x monter hunter, 8.6k, 95 kudos

Bad Books - the jiang cheng egg cracking fic, 6.9k, 77 kudos

[horny grip] - ushiyama dumb bitch gym meetcute. full of stupid horniness (affectionate), 3.7k, 74 kudos

Doghoused - chengqing with trans wen qing, with jc sasying the stupidest shit and still getting laid, 4.8k, 74 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes, because I like it. I want kind commenters to know comments make me happy so I tell them so!

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I haven't written many super angsty fics! Probably By the Horns or From Every Care You Could Release Me which are slightly more open ended, but not angsty by any means!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Bad Books imo! Because it's the most happy to me in terms of trans joy 😤

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven't luckily!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I don't currently, bc I've gotten more self conscious as my writing improves, but I have in the past! Mostly trans sex earlier on, and wilder stuff is some watersports, emeto, and an unpublished woundfucking fic 🥴

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I haven't in a minute, but in another life (read when I was 13) I started writing a Naruto/Devil May Cry crossover that never went anywhere.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Someone asked once, but I never saw the result so I have no idea.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah! I've written a few with my wife, and done one other collab that was never finished 😔

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Too many to choose I think?

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

The aforementioned collab, mostly because I wasn't doing the prose writing, a t4t kogagoshi angst with a happy ending.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Outlining, planning, emotional beats

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Not as good at describing as I'd like! I used to really struggle with writing less where more would be effective, but I'm working on it!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I haven't done it but I think it's neat!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Either Naruto fic about my OCs, or Final Fantasy 7 fix-it fic, I don't remember which came first.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

Bad Books, for the level of character introspection I got to do!

Tagging: uhhhh I'll just say anyone who wants to do it!

[transfemlogan]

i love seeing my friends posts on like sasi blogs. like... crossover....

[virgeandhis-pocket-protector]

Ayo @prince-rowan-of-the-forest tagged me in the "getting to know your fellow fanfic authors" writing tag game! I'm putting this in a new post cause the original one was gettin long.

Go see Rowan's answers here! (https://www.tumblr.com/prince-rowan-of-the-forest/730426008116822016/aaaaa-thanks-for-the-tag-when-did-you-post-your?)

My answers beneath the read more.

When did you post your first fanfic?

Lordy. Back in 2019, I posted an extremely rough draft of a multi-chapter Sanders Sides (or 'SaSi') fanfic called Kingdoms for a Mind (or 'KFAM') on Wattpad. Either that one or a now tossed SaSi fic called Fear No More (guess which side was the focus in that one. Guess. Hint: It's the anxious guy.)

First Character you wrote for:

Virgil from Sanders Sides, I thiiiiink? Although I wrote for most of the sides at that point, too. Virgil was my little baby boy though.

Main character(s) you're currently writing for:

Logan, Janus, Virgil, Patton, and Remus in the updated version of KFAM i'm working on, and Patton and Roman in a new SaSi/The Mechanisms crossover.

Character(s) you haven't written about before but plan on writing about soon:

Mostly non-SaSi stuff. I have some fic ideas for a Pure Vessel/Pale King angst (from the Hollow Knight video game) or Diggory and Percy from Hello from the Hallowoods (highly recommended queer drama podcast).

Fandom(s) you're currently writing for:

SANDERS SIDES and the mechansisms and star wars and someday probably hollow knight and hello from the hallowoods oh and me and my friend's D&D campaign, but that's mostly original stuff.

Platonic pairing(s) you currently write for:

Tehe. All SaSi platonic duos, pretty much, like the whole group. Platonic/familial Janus, Logan, and Virgil is a favorite though. And I love my creativitwins angst.

Romantic pairing(s) you currently write for:

Analogical, Anxceit, and Royality, among others like loceit, roceit, and logince.

Your top three tags on AO3 (if you post your works on AO3):

Character tags: 1. Original Characters 2. Morality | Patton Sanders 3. Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Relationship tags: 1. Analogical (romantic) 2. Virgil & Roman (platonic) 3. Creativitwins (platonic)

Your current platform where you post your works:

Archive of Our Own (Ao3)! Here's my acc.* (https://archiveofourown.org/users/pancakewithapen/profile) *PSA that I haven't posted anything new in a while. Feel free to read my 3-year-old stuff tho. And if you're feeling extra special, please please bully me about posting stuff I really gotta -v-

Snippet of A WIP you're currently working on:

"The fire cracks. Leaning against a fallen tree, only a few miles away from where their journey began all those weeks ago, Logan realizes he has forgotten how to lie to himself. With conscious, newfound honesty, Logan senses that he is not just uncomfortable. He is angry. Janus doesn’t need to know. Why, in a million years, would Janus even deserve to know? Logan’s feeling are private, they are his, and they do not have to be spoken to anyone. Ever. Logan looks down toward the grass. Why do you care? He almost spits out, but in his periphery, he can see Janus still looking towards the woods. The other’s hands are placed gingerly in his own lap. His mouth is turned down, but his eyes are wide and alert. Janus longs for Virgil to return, too, just as Logan is. He feels the same urges Logan feels. Janus must already know the answer to his question. He knows. He must hate that he knows. He thinks Logan will either save his feelings or put him out of his misery and either option is nicer than conscious ignorance. Perhaps Janus has come to find he can’t lie to himself either. Logan’s stomach churns. They must be talking about these feelings, once so sweet and freeing, in the bitterest configuration possible." (From "Kingdoms for a Mind 2" — a Sanders sides fic)

-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-

No-pressure tagging some of my favorite fanfic authors:

@i-will-physically-fight-you @late-to-the-fandom @anxious-mess19 @vinbee631 @groovyghostie @annaizscribbling @emo-nightmares @girlboypatton @lily-janus

This is also @pancakewithamace, btw, in case you don't recognize this blog!

[touyubesposts]

your blog would have my day back in 2017 when i was deep into the SaSi/Egos/ALTRs crossover trenches istg :') i also remember i wrote a lenghty fic about the Egos and the Sides meeting and to this day people still leave kudos on it on ao3

Very funny that you say that, actually, because my brain has been so deep fried I’ve actually been working on fics of my own about a very similar concept. It's been very fun and, one day, I may post it. Who knows 🤷