#shapeshifter virgil

[where-are-the-spooky-gays-2]

Having transmasc Virgil thoughts (aka projecting so hard it may be unhealthy). Remus would end the world for him if asked, I think

Transmasc!Vee is so R E A L also Ree absolutely would commit several crimes for his Emo beloved even if he doesn't ask <3

[ax3-e0ns]

Took an old concept from a past illustration and reworked it into this one.

Here takes you to the original for context.

[jungle321jungle]

False Dawn: One

For his entire life, Janus Ekans had done whatever he could to prove himself and rise in the ranks of his father’s court, but it was all worthless in the end. Now, the only path to survival is to rely on his father’s killer, Duke Logan Ackroyd, even if it means discarding his pride and blood ties. It might not be freedom, but at least it won't be his head rolling on the floor next.

~~~~

False Dawn:

Idiom: A situation that looks like it is beginning to improve when, in reality, it is not.

Read on Ao3 - All Chapters - Masterlists

One

Janus had learned at an early age how to keep his face even despite what was happening around him. It didn’t matter whether he was excited, upset, or scared. An Ekans faced those emotions every day, and if he ever wanted even the slimmest of chances of being accepted as a legitimate child- controlling his facial expressions was a requirement. So his mother had drilled poise and etiquette into him the hard way, yet here and now, every word she had ever spoken seemed meaningless. Here and now, it didn’t matter that he had learned to dance; it didn’t matter that he could hold his own when talking to the nobility; his swordsmanship and equestrian lessons were also null and void. Because here and now, it didn’t matter that his face didn't change as he watched what was going on around him because everything he had done was to impress his father- to impress the king—the king, who was currently shy of a head. 

The screams that echoed throughout the ballroom were on deaf ears as Janus’ eyes were trained on his father’s killer. The man was calm as he wiped the blood from his blade as if he was doing its daily maintenance as opposed to just having beheaded a monarch. And silently- wrongly - Janus couldn’t help but wonder why he bothered to do so when it was clear the rest of the royal family was next to die. Or was this man too important to dirty his blade with Janus’ impure blood? The knight stopped his actions and dropped to a knee as the Head of the Empire stepped towards him. Janus had thought so when he had seen the Emperor before at the start of the ball- but here and now, the ruler seemed even more like a child. He was likely just barely sixteen, his brown eyes slightly sunken in and partially hidden behind his hair, which was just long enough to fall into his eyes. He was shorter in stature, and truthfully, it looked like a strong breeze would be enough to knock him over. Even so, no one could be The Emperor of Angoro without having a nearly impossible amount of mana. 

“Do as you see fit with the rest,” The Emperor told the knight. 

The knight hadn’t dared to raise his head, “Yes, Your Maj-”

“Why!?” Janus heard one of his older sisters- the Second Princess- shout. “What did we do to you?”

The Emperor blinked at her once as if he couldn’t tell if she was stupid or not, and quite frankly, Janus wished she wasn’t as stupid as well… she usually was. The Emperor’s eyes shined with a slight tint of purple before he appeared to decide she wasn’t worth a drop of his mana. “I need to get back,” he told his knight instead. As he began to walk away, some of his troops fell in step behind him. 

“Why? Why? Why!?” his sister shouted again and again. No one stopped her, not even the enemy knight who stood before her. No one did a thing until the Emperor had left the room. Then, the knight in charge stood, fixated his eyes on her, and moved closer, causing her to falter before the Queen put a hand over her mouth. 

The knight adjusted his glasses as his eyes looked over them all, and then he spoke, “None of you want to answer her question?”

Janus wasn’t aware the tension could get any higher, but then the man brandished his sword. 

“I see no point in answering. If she weren’t such a narcissist, she would have paid attention to the world around her,�� Janus said with his mask of calm as he tried not to focus on the thought of that sword running him through. But he needed to try because something in him- perhaps all his experience in reading people- screamed that in this situation, silence was the wrong answer. 

The knight’s attention and sword went to Janus, a shadow of amusement on his face as his right eyebrow twitched. “Oh? But it would be quite cruel for her to die without knowing what her crime is, wouldn’t it?”

“Ignorance is a crime of its own.”

The knight paused before he looked Janus up and down, “A prince with no crown? …A Child of the Harem then?”

“Correct.”

“Interesting,” he concluded, sheathing the weapon, and Janus forced himself not to give a large breath of relief like he wanted. The knight then focused on the Second Princess- or rather, her crown. “Your King was the one who cursed the Empire and caused the deaths of thousands. I think the amount of blood that shall be shed is inconsequential in comparison.”

The Second Princess pushed away the Queen’s hand, “Father would never! You-” she was stopped again by her mother, but this time their eyes locked, and an understanding moved between them. 

The knight looked as if he was trying to hide his disgust, “Lock them up and prepare them for transport. Executions will occur back in the capital before all the people they’ve hurt. As for the nobility, I've already given your orders for them.”

The knights around them resoundingly said, “Yes, Your Grace!” And just like that, Janus found himself being shuffled along with the rest of the royal family, and he could only hope that the lingering inquisitive gaze he felt boded well for his future. 

Upon having his wrists bound, he and the rest of his family were shoved into a relatively small cell for the number of them in the castle’s dungeon. It was certainly strange being on this side of the bars down here, but he supposed anything was better than the alternative. If they were to be transported back to the Empire’s capital, he had time to try and negotiate something for himself. It may all be for naught, but at least- unlike his father- he wouldn’t go down without a fight. 

“You're insane.” 

The sound of his mother’s voice drew his attention back to his family amongst him. She was across the cell from him, with a few family members between them. She didn't speak again, just watching him with eyes full of fear, worry, tears, and surprise. He waited a moment and then another, but when no words left her lips, he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes so he wouldn’t need to see her face as he responded. “The silence was heavy enough to kill on its own accord… so I broke it.”

He heard his family quietly chitter amongst themselves as they commented on his behavior. It was probably the most attention they had ever spent on him, and it didn’t feel nearly as good as he had imagined. 

It was early morning when they were pulled from their cell and outside to greet the rising sun and the three prison wagons waiting underneath it. Janus had anticipated that they all would've been split into each by numbers, but he was surprised to find that they were being sorted. Into one wagon went The Queen and her children, in another, the Queens of the Harem, and in the last, Janus and the other illegitimate children. He couldn’t help the spike of hope that struck his chest at the chance that they might be punished based on their status. But any hope quickly fizzled out as he realized the range in his siblings amongst him. More were guilty of horrible things than those who were innocent. So, if the wagon were indeed to divide who lived and died, currently, it seemed the harem would be the only cart to survive. And yet, some in there deserved death just the same. 

The convoy traveled through the morning and only stopped once at midday, during which each prisoner was led one by one to relieve themselves under supervision. They were each given a small slice of stale bread, and the trip continued. So Janus would be lying if he said he wasn’t ecstatic to leave the wagon when they stopped for the night. His bottom and back ached from sitting on the hardwood all day, so even if it were just a short walk to use the bathroom, he’d take it. On the way back to the wagon, another knight jogged up, “The Duke requested this one,” she told one holding Janus’ rope. And to Janus’ surprise, he didn’t hesitate to hand it over. 

Janus’ heart was thundering in his chest. But the knight said nothing to him as he pulled him along after her towards where the main army had made camp some hundred or so feet away. Eyes wandered to them as they made their way through the camp, but none said anything as they made way for them to pass. That was until they reached the Duke in question. 

His father’s killer was sitting amongst his men, seemingly having a casual conversation with them as he sipped stew from a bowl. It was a bit of a strange sight, truthfully. Usually, those of higher status had tents to themselves full of all their luxuries of home, and yet this man was indistinguishable from the rest. Upon their approach, he stood and outstretched a hand, and the rope attached to Janus was set in it. The Duke said nothing as he led Janus away from the rest, simply sipping his dinner as he went, but ultimately, he came to a stop and leaned back against a tree facing Janus. 

“You didn’t flinch as your father’s body was liberated from its head, and you also spoke out against your own blood without hesitation,” he started. “And from what I recall, this is often your behavior. You clean up the messes of others, be it with words or with blood… Tell me, what do you gain from that?”

“Rapport,” Janus answered easily. “Rapport with a man who refused to acknowledge me. And as you can see, it was all for naught.”

The Duke hummed another sip from his bowl, “You're quite good with your words. Truly a silver tongue.”

“Am I to take that as a compliment?”

“That is up to your discretion.”

“Then I thank you for the compliment.”

“I hadn’t expected you to beg for your life, but I didn’t expect you’d be this bold either.”

“Why beg? It’s clear whatever I have done so far is enough. And if I am truly to die regardless, then I will say what I please beforehand.”

“Your magic,” the Duke said, changing the subject. “Demonstrate for me.”

Janus couldn’t help but be taken aback by the statement, and it was the first thing that pierced his unaffected mask. But he was quick to repair it. “My deepest apologies; these ropes drain my measly mana.”

The Duke nodded as he stood off the tree and led Janus back through the camp to the prison wagons, where the guarding knights stiffened as they approached. “Remove his bonds,” the Duke ordered. The knights were confused, but they were quick to free Janus’ wrists anyway. 

“Recover your measly mana ,” The Duke mocked. “I’ll ask for another demonstration tomorrow.”

~~~~

It was a test. Janus knew that well. Evidently, the Duke knew exactly what Janus’ skillset was- and yet he had more or less left Janus to his own devices. Sure, he was still behind the wagon’s bars and surrounded by knights, but that meant nothing. The mana he had regained by the time they were moving in the morning was more than enough for him to transform and escape. He could simply morph into a bird and take flight to a place where he’d never be seen again. That is, if he could avoid the archers. He could become a fly. He couldn’t get far or fly long, but he could lose them- but for how long? He could wait until they took him out of the wagon again, and become a horse and start sprinting- but the knights had their own horses. He could wait and then become a bear and maul them all on his way out, but there were too many to take them down. And even if he did get away, then what? The Empire had already taken over the Kingdom. And all nobility was being watched. It wouldn't take long for the commoners to realize that a person amongst them had a different level and different kind of education than they did. He would need to be constantly moving, constantly changing faces to survive- and he wasn't sure how long that would last. This was a test. 

A test to see if Janus would take the bait off of its silver spoon, or if he would place his life in the hands of another. Especially when there was no proof that the Duke would allow him to live. Maybe he had sparked enough interest to save his life, but if he had, he’d still have to deal with a target on his back for the rest of his life. To keep himself breathing, he would need to let go of all ego and pride and do whatever he was asked forever- he’d have to go back to the way he was before his father spared him that first glance. Back to craving- needing that attention so badly that it hurt without it. This form of survival was one he had already led, and perhaps he could do it again now that he had learned from his mistakes... Or maybe it would end just the same. But, of course, this was all dependent on what the Duke intended to do with him. Because, quite frankly, it was far more likely that the man was the type to play with his prey before slitting its throat. 

Removing his bonds was a test—a test for the Duke to see Janus’s character. And yet, even though he knew himself best, Janus wasn’t sure what the correct answer was. 

His mind had been racing, running through possibilities to the point it exhausted him, yet Janus stayed put. He ignored his siblings' questioning as they also begged him to remove their bonds. While Janus still wasn't sure about running, he knew that freeing others—even the small children—would only end badly for everyone involved. 

After dinner of the same stale bread, Janus found himself being marched through the knight’s camp once more. The Duke was once again eating with his men, but upon noticing Janus, he rose and led Janus away from the rest. 

“Show me,” he said simply once they were alone. 

Janus’ eyes skimmed the area behind him as the knights, who were at a slight distance, faced the other direction. It seemed they had been ordered to leave them be. 

“Well?”

Janus took a deep breath as he felt the mana pulse within his veins as he focused on his transformation. He focused on his appearance. He needed to be an inch taller, his eyes a hair smaller, and their color to match that piercing blue. He focused on each of his features as he felt his body grow and shift until he looked the Duke in the eye. The Duke didn’t appear surprised as he looked at his own face; instead, he gave a pleased hum as he scanned Janus up and down before he made a small circle around Janus. “It's quite good,” he concluded, standing before Janus once again as he touched his finger to his lips in thought.

Janus mirrored the action as he focused his mana on his vocal cords. “I’m good at what I do.”

There was a glimmer of amusement in that eye, “You can mimic my voice as well?”

“What do you think, Your Grace? Do my parlor tricks, please?”

“They do. But I wouldn’t call them parlor tricks. You can turn into beasts as well, can't you? Show me.”

Janus couldn't hide his slight frown, and glancing behind him again, he unbuttoned his shirt.

“What are you doing?”

Janus removed his shirt as he answered, “Beasts are far larger than we are. I would prefer not to rip my only clothes.”

“Fine, something smaller then.”

Janus was more than thankful for that. He dropped his shirt to the ground anyway, though, and began to morph his limbs and digits to fit what was needed. He forced himself not to make any sounds of pain as his face rearranged itself; he needed to impress. When he had finished, he took a step out of his now discarded pants and gave a stretch. 

“A cat,” The Duke nodded as he examined Janus. “Do you intend to maul me with your puny claws?”

“I considered it,” Janus replied.

“You can still speak?”

“In certain conditions.” 

The man paused as he circled Janus once more before reaching out a hand that was now as large as Janus’ face to ruffle the fur on Janus’ head, much to his dismay. Janus pulled back against the contact and gave a cat hiss, but the Duke didn’t seem to mind. “How long does it last?”

“Depends. The further away from my initial form, the harder it is to maintain and the more mana it takes. I also need to maintain a certain level of focus. That’s why I stick to parlor tricks.”

“It's impressive nonetheless. Such magic is nearly unheard of.”

“My mother was of Osteria’s House Altier before she was sent to be my Father’s.”

“Osteria’s lineage magic was indeed top class... Can your mother do the same?”

Janus couldn't help but think that an average person in this situation would feel fear at the thought of potentially putting their mother in harm’s way. Still, rather than that, Janus wondered if he was rendering himself obsolete. “She can, but her mana levels are lower than average,” he lied. Thankfully, the Duke seemed to believe him. 

“You’ll be enough. When we reach the capital, I will need to speak with His Majesty to confirm some things, but I’ll make you a deal once we arrive—one that keeps you alive—and maybe someone else if you behave.”

Janus returned to his clothes and began morphing into his human form. When he had, he pulled himself to his feet and put his shirt back on, asking, “What do you want me to do?”

“For now, all you need to do is keep this conversation and your abilities between us. You’ll need all your mana conserved for when we arrive.”

With that, the Duke made it clear that there was nothing more to be said as he began to lead the way back they had come because he knew Janus would follow. They walked in silence for a while, but just before they came into earshot of the knights watching the prisoners, Janus spoke, “I know nothing of the curse’s workings. Only that the war with Osteria served to-”

“I believe you,” The Duke interrupted. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not useful to me. I’ll see you soon enough, Prince Ekans.”

~~~~

All Chapters

[femslashspuffy]

*Quietly writes this down for OC ideas*

This was actually a question posed to me by my friend who is obsessed with bunnies (and raises them) and it's actually really funny because the old vampire who could all shapeshift could textually shapeshift into any animal. So the original dracula can in fact turn into a bat, a wolf, AND a rabbit if he desires

[thunderforsty]

Another shapeshifter commission for the dearest @the-original-sineater , this time of Virgil Tracy! Thank you ❤️

[sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes]

AU where the dark sides all have super scary grotesque forms and the dark mindpalace is like this super physically dark place almost backrooms-esque space with creatures hiding behind every corner

The dark sides are all able to shapeshift to have normal human forms which allow them to behave and think less animalistically but it's painful and takes alot of energy so most only do it when it's absolutely necessary

Virgil's the only one that does it consistently because he really wants to be friends with the light sides and Thomas, who he first meets when they get trapped down in the dark mind palace during a lucid nightmare

The vibe I'm going for for this is like Trevor Henderson, Mandela Catalogue sorta stuff

I'll make a Pinterest board to show what I'm thinking

[feralwetcat]

(was gonna rb the other post but go off i guess)

boundsmp RRverse au

[RRverse: rick riordans universe of mythologies]

DISCLAIMER!: This is mainly based in CHB because to me it fits, the chaos of it all yk, though there will be mentions of Norse (Valhalla) and Roman (Camp Jupiter) mythology stuff

Im gomna avoid making characters kids of the big three unless it really makes sense so

(this is a long post, so info under the cut!)

Startinh with camps -

I think the Avicane would probably translate into Camp Jupiter somehow, so i definitely think Vast wnd Armor would be Roman demigods

Vast probably has friends in Valhalla, which is the magpies, maybe they're kids of a lesser known god, farther down the line of gods?

I can't exactly explain it but i wanna make Sylph norse? Maybe something like they're at CHB but are actually norse because she just doesnt like being norse and wants to be closer to xers friends? Possibly maybe

Rune is mortal, though that doesn't mean he won't be important:]

I think most everyone else is greek, though that may change

Now! Godly parents:] -

The one i mainly thought about was Sylph, who i think is Lokis kid, especially since its often known that they're genderfluid shapeshifters, which just fits them extremely well

Technically this isn't a godly *parent* but! I think Runes an oracle of delphi, maybe even vibing with the Hephaestus kids, but being fully mortal, it feels fitting to me, it gives him a good plot reason to be around everyone but also still being fully mortal and mostly unrelated to the gods. Probably goes and gets tea with Hestia every week though, yk

Nemo and Gavrin are probably both kids of Iris, i feel as if it fits well! The goddess of rainbows often being associated with creativity, which to me just kinda fits, though Nemo could be a kid of Apollo as well

I refuse to be basic and make every nerd a child of Athena BUT... Im sorry Elwood is an Athena kid, listen- you- yeah.

Mojave is an Apollo kid, send tweet

For Taliesin im tempted to say Hecate but i feel like with all the fraud stuff it doesn't fit well? But for now we'll sit with Hecate

Erin gives off either Athena or Demeter kid vibes, mostly leaning Demeter though, especially with the plant stuff, feels right

Marcel is an Apollo kid, send tweet

Avas probably a Ares kid who found some scruffy oracle on the side of fhe street, picked him up by the scruff of his neck and said "brother" and beat the shit out of everyone about it<3

I know making Virgil a kid of Athena is the best option, but im cool so *no* that bitch is just insanely smart, they're a kid of Mania the god of insanity because HEAR ME OUT. His powers come out through explinations, driving people to insanity by dumping mass amounts of information on them, probably hangs out at the Athena cabin a lot thoigh

Pietro (pieman) i honestly don't know, i was considering Athena (especially because owl), but i actually don't know? So Athena for now especially with the owl stuff, probably has a few owl friends

ASH IS A HERMES KID, SEND FUCKIN TWEET.

Vast *sighs* Mars, hear me out, he was forced to fight, become as strong as he could to please his father, at the same time competing herself to fight away any emotion thay would defy Mars. Hear me out. Though if you wanna bring in the big three i think Jupiter could work as well

Armor is a tough one for me personally, i was tempted to go with Apollo but that didn't sit with me right i guess? So Mercury for now i guess? Feels like the best option to me, plus god of trickery makes sense with an eventual betrayal of camp jupiter:]

PLEASE ADD ONTO THIS !!!!! IF YOU HAVE IDEAS THROW THEM AT ME !!!!!!!!

BONUS BECAUSE YEAH

Viviana as a kid of Hades, or Mania (making her and virgil technically siblings????) I'm thinking Mania because madness is just tasty, but Hades could work if you're dramatic, but Mania also because that girl is fuckin insane- (say hi to ur sister Virgil:>/j/j/j/j)

IM WORKING IN THE PLOTS RN !!!!!!!

[analoceits]

I have a feeling Logan isn't good at shapeshifting because he overcomplicates it. Like the atoms and organs and he hates having his body be fantastical

EXACTLYY YOU GET ME. also here is MORE tss body horror hc's that werent in the og post:

logan: if hes in an "unrealistic" body [think: puppet logan] for any long amount of time, he will break down, as he starts asking questions. how is he sentient and aware? how is he breathing? after a while, he'll end up as a gory puddle of pure panicked breakdown and one of the twins will have to fix him. he'll usually end up Checking his own organs after this. just to make sure.

patton: though the inside is.. uh. Pretty Simple. he has one organ: the heart! it is exactly what a 5 year old would think a heart is. it Beats Too :D. also, any "sharp" parts of him (aka teeth and nails) are.. Soft, like Plastic. sometimes they will come loose. their will be No Blood. it makes logan Viscerally Uncomfortable.

roman: though his body is Perfect, as previously mentioned, when hes alone.. hes willing to play with it. make it art. hes cried tears of blood before. sometimes, whenever he feels too fake, he'll take himself apart. just to make sure. just to make sure. (him and logan are alike in too many ways)

virgil: he is a glass canon. his body is fragile, any stray thought he has is susceptible to hurting him (what if im having a heart attack? what if this cut hit a vein?) but. whenever he feels the other sides are in danger? he is horrifically strong. like a parent with a child in danger, he will punch hard enough to break someone but shatter his arm in the process.

janus: though he tries his best to hide it, remus and virgil Know intimately how sick he is. sometimes, he gets poisoned with his own venom and seizes up for hours. in the winter, hes in and out of consciousness, with no rhyme or reason. he gets wild mood swings too, occasionally loosing the ability to feel affection for hours or days, as snakes cant feel that. it terrifies him.

remus: besides logan and janus, his body is painfully realistic. he takes it farther though. his shapeshifting is never.. clean. its all disgusting and gross and like shoving all his organs and bones into a new bag and all the terrible consequences that come with that. as well, he doesnt heal instantly like the other sides. no. he lets it stay as long as it takes.

[lucky-stick]

a fact sheet for werewolves?

werewolf facts 🌕

- their weakness is silver

- they live 1700 - 2100 years

- the first werewolf was called ovid lycaon

- they are a type of shapeshifter

- they date back to ancient Greece and medieval Europe

- the word werewolf comes from the old english word werwulf meaning man-wolf

- some story's say you can become a werewolf by being bitten others say its hereditary

- they cant transform at will

- when they become a werewolf they have physical changes as well as personality changes

- they can be killed with garlic and decapitation

- its a curse not a disease

- Norse legends spoke of Fenrir, the son of Loki and a wolf-like being. Fenrir was father of both the wolves and werewolves.

- The poet Virgil discussed a man named Moeris, who could transform from human to wolf form through the use of herbs

- some are telepathic with their pack

(ill make part 2 ^^)

[emetophobic1]

And I have reasons for them all!

Pretty much everyone headcanons our baby Logan as trans, that’s just projection.. HOWEVER, the Demi-Sexual and Demi-Romantic? He clearly struggles with emotions and hardly understands romantics, perhaps because he rarely even feels such emotions because he isn’t close enough with anyone TO understand.

Patton is Asexual because… cmon? Look at him, you really think this man is the type to get FREAKY?! And he uses He / Him exclusively but out of the kindness of his heart, would let people call him whatever they want.

Roman is transgender because of how often he tends to talk about his masculinity, during the first episode that showed their shapeshifting, Virgil called him “Her” because he was shifted into Valerie — “Excuse me! I am still a man! A manly man! A man who is manly!” And time after time still comments on his masculinity!

Virgil being trans is just projection I fear….. 😞

Janus being Non-Binary is to fit into the “Different is beautiful” standard that they push so frequently as a character, as well as because I swear Thomas once said in some tweet “I was feeling myself as her” unless it was edited in which case I start crying! — they’re also Demi-Romantic because snakes don’t feel love :3

Remus is Gender-Fluid, again to fit into the “Different is beautiful” thing, using all types of pronouns probably just to spite everyone else but he also really likes them, it makes him feel different from everyone else, hence making him feel better. Him being polyamorous as well is mostly just to fit his character! I also make him Auto-Sexual from time to time (Where he is more attracted to himself sexually compared to other people) since part of me loves Asexual Remus and I need to put that in somehow…

[miguel-manbemel]

There's one thought that came to me today about Sanders Sides, and specifically the nature of the Sides. So many people have missed one important, crucial point about the Sides. They're not human, and I don't mean that they can shapeshift, appear and disappear and all that stuff. I mean that each of the Sides represents just one limited zone of c!Thomas' psyche, and therefore they're only confined to that zone of Thomas.

What does it mean to judge them as humans? It means many people demand of them the complexity of action humans have, the same capacity to grow and evolve as if they were a fully fledged human, and that, my friends, just cannot happen, because it's not in their nature. I'll try to explain my point. We've seen the Sides learn and grow from different situations they went through in the past, and I say "have we?"

Don't mean they didn't go through the situations, I mean, did they really get a long term growth? In some cases they did, in others, the growth was incomplete or null, because the Sides are only able to grow in their own area of action in Thomas' psyche, and will remain, not oblivious, but, like that student that simply doesn't get how to solve a problem at school, and tries and tries to solve it right, but it just doesn't stick in their head. They will only learn the part of the solution in their area of expertise, and the rest will simply not stick at all.

For instance, Virgil knows if he causes a panic attack, Thomas will suffer and that will help no one, but he just can't help it, it's in his nature to cause panic attacks if the conditions are met. Other example, Roman knows that too much fantasy can be harmful, it can disconnect you from reality and that can break Thomas' heart. He knows, he's been told, but he can't help it. He's literally Thomas' dreams. Same way, Patton cannot escape the morality he was created with during Thomas' growth, Janus can't help making Thomas deceitful, Remus will show his creative thoughts at all cost no matter how it makes Thomas suffer, and Logan will always have problems to put feelings in the equation when trying to find solutions to an issue.

Does that mean that the whole show is a lie and the Sides are hopeless beings that can't learn from their mistakes? Not entirely, because when they face issues, they all face them together as a team, they go through them together and find a global solution that can help Thomas grow.

Then why do they revert back after learning so much about Thomas in the past? As I said, any item the Sides are not capable to learn according to their nature will not fully stick and they'll be prone to repeat problematic attitudes, even if they try not to.

What can be done then? The solution comes from Thomas. The Sides are Thomas and Thomas is all of them, and most important, he knows, or is learning, how to combine the different aspects of himself. In another analogy, the Sides and Thomas are like an orchestra and the orchestra conductor. Each instrument has only access to their partiture and can only play their own sound, even if they know how they're all supposed to sound together, only Thomas has the full information of the song, and only he can tell any of the Sides when to play and when to stand back.

To be fair, Thomas still doesn't have the full partiture ready, he's still writing on the fly, that's why the song is incomplete and both the Sides and Thomas are still struggling, but as the series goes on, the song keeps writing itself, slowly but surely and when it's complete, Thomas will have the full song and will learn how to make their Sides sound perfect in harmony...

Well, most probably, the song will never be fully complete or perfect, but eventually it will reach a grade of completion enough to make Thomas and his Side harmonious enough to make good, melodious songs. That is, eventually, Thomas will know how to be the best of a person he can be, because no one is perfect, but he will learn how to feel good enough, and how to be happy with himself and get as best as he can be.

That means the Sides will learn how each can help the other Sides in the areas they lack expertise so they don't repeat the same mistakes from the past. But they must learn to work together to reach that goal, they can't do it each on their own. When they learn this ultimate lesson, everything will get better for Thomas and the Sides.

[where-are-the-spooky-gays-2]

headcanon:

virgil is a SUPER light sleeper. remus is a SUPER heavy sleeper, but he can’t sleep without cuddling something.

they sleep in separate rooms. remus usually has a pillow or something huddled close. virgil suffers really bad insomnia and night terrors so sometimes he’ll sneak into remus’s room, remove the pillow and replace it with himself instead in order to feel safe enough to fall asleep again.

and because remus has two brain cells he genuinely thinks that the tooth fairy or some shit is transforming the pillow into his boyfriend and he’s absolutely dumbfounded ever time he wakes up 😭

S O B B I N G that's too fucking cute!!! Vee has become one with Ree's cuddle pillow and from the amount of teeth on the chaotic Duke's outfit I'm sure the Tooth Fairy paid him many visits to make that happen XD /light hearted

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Gross

Fic Idea (no pressure obviously) Thomas struggling with his self image and ego, and in response Roman ends shapeshifting all the time, fluctuating between the masculine beauty standard (lean, muscular, hairless) and what society considers “ugly” (pudgy, hairy). And based on how he looks, Roman will interact with the others or hide away – anon

hihi!! had this random idea for a sanders sides fic- something along the lines of- a while after Remus and Roman split, Remus comes back (when the dark sides start to get more involved) and confesses that he hoped Roman was doing better after he joined the light sides? that all he wanted was for his brother to be happy, away from the darkness for once? angst sadness ykyk :)) – can-you-hear-me-axhilles

hi, so I just read your wings series and I was wondering if we could have something with Remus and his tentacles? Like maybe him thinking they are ugly or something, I’m not really sure. Maybe Roman has animal characteristics too and they’re “prettier” or “better” so he gets insecure? Mainly focused on these two but I don’t mind if it’s all of them together. No pressure to write this tho! – anon

I’ve been reading your Sanders Sides stuff for the longest time and I was wondering if I could get some Roman angst with a side of creativitwins? – meandmacats

Read on Ao3

Warnings: non-consensual body modification, self-esteem issues, self-hatred

Pairings: gen

Word Count: 5481

Or, five times Remus helped Roman out when Thomas's self-esteem issues change his nature, and one time Roman helps Remus.

 

”Remus?”

Remus looks up from his knitting to see Patton standing over him. “What’s good, Pat-Pat?”

“I’m, what’re you doing?”

“Oh, I’m knitting this patchwork sweater out of hair.”

“Oh��how cool.” Patton gives himself a shake. “Anyway, I was wondering if you’ve seen Roman? He was supposed to come down for lunch but he never showed.”

“Like, at all, at all?”

“Yeah. Neither hair nor hide! Or—well, I guess he did do the hide since he’s hiding from us, and you’re the hair!”

“Ah, Pat-Pat, never stop with the dad jokes. You’ll make all of us go into pun-withdrawal.” Remus carefully sets aside the needles and bounces to his feet. “I’ll go look for him, see if he needs to be pried out of the dragon’s gullet again.”

“Oh, thanks so much, Remus, I really—wait, ‘again?’”

“Gotta blast!”

Honestly, it’s not like Roro is known for missing deadlines, that’s Remus’s thing. Especially when it comes to things like meals and remembering to eat—well, Ro’s not exactly the pinnacle of healthy practices when he get absorbed in his work, but he’s better at it than some people give him credit for. Which means he’s either deep in the middle of something he’s keeping to himself, he’s asleep because the time zones in the Imagination are all kinds of wackadoo, or he really does need to be rescued.

Which isn’t Remus’s thing, come on, Ro, you’re ruining his reputation.

By the time he gets to the Imagination, he’s already pulling out his acid-proof gloves and sharpening his Morningstar. He stops dead, however, when he sees the doors are still locked from last night. That’s weird. Maybe Ro just used his personal gate instead of the main one? But that just takes him right to his little workshop area, that’s not anywhere near where the dragons are…

He’s about to go for his gateway when he hears a quiet noise coming from Roman’s door. Frowning, he turns. Roman’s door is only a few feet away. He glances up and down the hall to make sure none of the resident sneaks are nearby—Janus and Virgil—and knocks on the door.

“Uh, busy!”

“Ro, it’s me.”

“Oh. Did you, um, did you need something?”

“You weren’t at lunch. Pat-Pat’s getting worried.”

He hears a muffled curse and the door glimmers slightly. That’s Roman’s cue that he can sink in. He stows the acid gloves and the Morningstar and sinks in, expecting Roman at his desk or on the floor puzzling over some bit of a story he can’t quite get right, but instead he sees an empty room.

“Where are you?”

“Bathroom.”

Remus pops his head through the door and blinks. “Whoa.”

”Yeah, yeah,” Roman mumbles, already reaching for the bandages curled up on the counter, “you don’t have to say it.”

”That looks—“

“I said you don’t have to say it.”

Remus slams his mouth shut, but he can’t stop staring at the acne. Throbbing red pimples that look like they’re causing Roman pain every time he so much as breathes, bigger whiteheads that have already started to ooze, blackheads that litter every inch of skin that isn’t already covered, some of which look like they’re almost on top of each other…

Roman turns his back on him and hunches his shoulders. “What do you want, Re?”

“I, uh…well, now I want to help.”

Roman laughs. It’s not funny. “There isn’t any helping this. Not until Thomas feels better.”

“Whoa. Back up. What?”

“This.” He waves a hand at his face. “This is a thing, remember?”

“Oh. Oh, right, fuck.”

“Yeah.”

Remus scrubs a hand over his face. “Can I help make it less painful while it’s going on?”

There’s a pause. Then Roman’s head turns slightly. “Would you?”

“Shit, yeah,. Roro. You’ve helped me with stuff more times than I can count on my fingers and toes, let me help you.” He gets a small huff that might be an actual that-was-kind-of-funny-I’m-feeling-better laugh. “Yeah?”

“…yeah, okay.”

“Wonder-bats! Okay, I think I still have that stuff from when we had those sores from the poison experiments…where did I put that?”

“Did you leave it in your room or my room?”

”We cleaned up here, so it should be…aha!” He takes a big plastic case from under the sink. “Go sit your perky butt on the edge of the tub, I’ll be right there.”

“…thanks, Remus.”

“What’re brothers for?”

2.

The very first time it had happened, it had been well before Thomas had learned what it was to be attractive.

Remus had found Roman crying in his room, curled up under all the blankets he could find with tissues covering the floor.

“Ro-bro? What happened? Do I need to fight someone for you?”

“It won’t come off!”

“What won’t come off?”

Roman had peered out from under the blanket cocoon and Remus’s mouth had dropped open when he saw the words FREAK and LOSER written all across Roman’s face in permanent marker.

“Who did that? Was it Virgil? I’ll fight him!”

“No,” Roman had sniffled, “it wasn’t—wasn’t Virgil. It wasn’t any of them.”

“Did you do it? That’s more my kinda thing, isn’t it?”

“No!” Roman had wailed. “I didn’t do it! Someone—someone hurt Thomas!”

“Someone hurt Thomas? But nothing happened! We didn’t get into any fights!”

“Not like that! They were just mean. They were really mean and they said he looked ugly and they called him a f-freak and a loser and—and—“

Remus had scurried forward and wrapped his brother in a hug as he broke down in tears. “You’re not a freak or a loser, Roro. Neither is Thomas. They were wrong, you know that, right?”

”Then why won’t it come off?”

Sure enough, up close, Remus had seen the red and raw skin where Roman had scrubbed it with whatever he could find to make the words go away. Bits were even coming off on the blanket as Roman rubbed his cheek against it.

”Hey, hey, stop that. You’re hurting yourself.”

“I don’t care.”

“I care! I don’t like seeing my brother hurt!” Remus had given him a shake. “You don’t have to hurt yourself more on top of this, okay? Come on, come into the bathroom, I’ll help you.”

“Y-you will?”

“Yeah, Roro, come on.”

The twins had gone to the bathroom where towels and washcloths were still strewn around from Roman’s previous attempts. Remus had made Roman sit on the stool and reached for the soap, getting one of the washcloth more suds than cloth and trying to wipe off the words.

“That tastes so bad.”

“So keep your mouth shut.”

“But you keep wiping it over my mouth!”

“No, I’m wiping it over your cheek, which is next to your mouth. And you talking isn’t making it any better, so shush.”

Roman had grumbled silently until Remus accidentally went too roughly over one of the sore spots and Roman yelped.

“Ow!”

“Sorry, I’m sorry,. I didn’t mean to.”

“Wash it off! Wash it off!”

“Okay, okay! Come here!”

They had stumbled over to the sink and Remus practically shoved Roman’s head under the tap. He had spluttered and flailed out, splashing Remus.

”Hey! Don’t splash me!”

“I’ll splash you all I want!”

“No, you won’t!”

“Yeah, I will!”

It had…devolved from there.

The bathroom had been sopping wet by the end of it, not a towel nor tile had been spared from the twin’s water war. Their clothes were just as soaked, their hair dripping like they’d just walked through a hurricane. The sink and the bathtub still ran as if nothing were wrong and the detachable shower head in Remus’s hand sprayed as merrily as ever.

”Whoa, hey!”

“What?”

“It’s gone!”

Roman had run to the mirror, touching his face. Sure enough, the words had vanished.

”It is gone!”

”You’re welcome,” and he had taken a big bow with the shower head still spraying everywhere, “I think that means I win.”

“Whoa, wait, no, it doesn’t.”

“Yes, it does.”

”No!”

“Yes!”

It took a while longer for the war to end and even longer for the bathroom to dry.

3.

Someone says Thomas eats too much junk food and Roman can’t stop dripping oil.

Remus finds him sitting on his bathroom floor, the drain in the shower covered with a towel. He’s sitting on towels too, towels soaked and heavy with oil as Roman’s tears fight to get out from his eyes and through the slick covering his skin.

“The others are worried,” he says quietly, lingering in the doorway, “they want to know what’s wrong.”

Roman doesn’t say anything. Remus peers a little closer and sees the telltale sheen over his mouth too. Even just thinking about how it must feel to have that much oil on his lips makes Remus shudder. He summons a washcloth from his own stash and a bottle of soap.

“Just like old times,” he says as he crouches down in front of him, “I’m gonna wash off the oil on your face, okay?”

Roman manages a small nod and Remus gets to work. Normally when he’s washing oil off stuff, he scrubs at it like he’s trying to grind it with sandpaper and the soap foams up around his wrist. But this is Roman, not some metal piece of equipment, so he goes as gently as he can without suffocating him with soap or making no progress at all. He has to stop a few times when Roman lets out a pained noise or winces at the rasp of the cloth, just holding a blotting sheet there to soak up the oil as best he can while he waits for him to settle. He makes a note to work on the heavy duty blotters in case something like this ever happens again.

At last, when Roman looks like he’s about to cry for a very different reason, the space around his lips and nose is clear enough for him to gasp out a few words.

“Sorry, thank you, sorry—“

”Shh-shh, Roro, you don’t need to apologize. Just tell me what you need.”

”’S so gross.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. I’m right here.”

Roman lets out a frustrated whine and Remus quickly pulls out his phone.

“If you tell me what Thomas needs to stop thinking about I can get Lolo on it.”

“No, then he’ll—“

“I’m not gonna tell him what’s wrong with you, okay? I’m just gonna prod them into getting Thomathy’s brain on the right track away from whatever-the-fuck-this-is-station.”

More oil starts to build up and he shoves his phone in his pocket, working on washing it away again. His presence seems to have calmed Roman down a bit; the oil comes in smaller waves this time, concentrated more around the naturally oily parts of his face rather than every inch of his skin. When he’s cleaned off the areas around his nose and mouth, he goes and starts moving to the rest of his head.

“Junk food,” Roman mumbles, as if saying it too loud would make the oil return with a vengeance, “saying bad stuff ‘bout Thomas…unhealthy…gross…”

Remus whips out his phone and sends a text to Logan about food not having a moral weight and how eating something was always better than eating nothing. He gets a text back a few seconds later that just says on it.

“Lolo cavalry is assembled, he’s going.” He tucks the phone away and keeps washing Roman off. “And I’m gonna stay right here until we get all this oil off you, okay? We can even do your thirteen-step skin care routine once it’s gone.”

“It’s not thirteen steps.”

“Whatever you wanna tell me, Roro, at least you’re not as bad as Snakey.”

It’s the first time Roman manages to laugh that day, and Remus makes sure it isn’t the last.

4.

When Patton and Logan have near simultaneous nervous breakdowns after someone calls Thomas lazy, Remus makes sure Virgil’s wrapped around the Mindscape’s padre and Janus has Logan in his little snake den before he goes off in search of Roman.

The Imagination door is covered in cobwebs that retreat as he approaches, a few spiders waving hello as they disappear. He runs his hand over the keyhole, checking to see if it’s just an affectation, or if Roman really hasn’t been using it. He knows he has, is the thing; Roman’s had more projects on the go this month than he’s ever had before and if it weren’t for Janus and Logan dragging him out of it to make sure he didn’t completely lose touch with the Mindscape, he bets his left barnacle that Roman would’ve been living there too just so he wouldn’t miss an opportunity to keep working. And sure enough, the keyhole glows red as soon as his fingers brush it and he carefully pushes the door open.

He walks into the most statistically average middle class sitcom home he’s ever seen. Needless to say, he hates it.

”Ro? Are you here?”

There’s a faint noise coming from what he guesses is the direction of the living room and listen, as little time as he has to spend in this painfully mediocre place, the better. Seriously, he can feel the whispers of white picket fences and PTA meetings lingering ominously over his shoulder with every second he walks through these beige walls. Snatches of TV dialogue becomes audible as he makes his way through the house.

He comes to a stop.

He tilts his head.

There’s certainly a person in the living room, but it doesn’t really look like Roman. They look like every Sunday cartoon about a husband and wife where it’s terribly misogynistic and heteronormative, recliner out, bag of chips in lap, staring vacantly at the TV. It’s only the fact that they’re crying at the paid advertising programs and that Remus would recognize his brother anywhere that he knows it’s Roman.

He sits down on the plastic covered couch and tries not to look at the soulless photos of smiling families perched on the dusty mantle. Roman doesn’t look away from the screen but the hand nearest Remus twitches slightly.

“Hey,” he calls, and Roman’s head turns a little, “hey, Roro. I’m here. It’s gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay.”

The TV blares something about a crockpot that cooks fancier meals than a normal crock pot.

“I know how shitty it is when people accuse you of being lazy. Especially when they’re just complaining that they haven’t seen anything from you.” He shuffles and the couch squeaks. “And we all know how hard you’re working. How hard Thomas is working.”

Roman’s eyes flick to his. Remus smiles and takes his hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze.

“Giving yourself a break isn’t being lazy. Having a hard time doing things isn’t lazy. Not being able to work on something because it’s just covered in the fucking ooze isn’t being lazy. You aren’t being lazy, okay? You wouldn’t even be lazy if you decided you didn’t want to work on any projects for the next year.”

The TV glitches out. Static fills the room and it actually feels like Remus can breathe. He squeezes Roman’s hand again and shifts closer. Roman stares at him with wide eyes.

”I mean it, Roro. You’re not—I know we’ve gone over this and I’ll keep giving you crowbars for as long as you need them—“

The smallest smile appears on Roman’s face.

“—but you’re not—your worth isn’t in what products or content you can make. You know i love you because you’re my brother, because you’re funny and clever and ridiculous and there’s no one I’d rather make stuff with. You could decide that you don’t want anything to do with Thomas’s career anymore—“

Roman makes a devastated noise.

“Calm down, calm down, I know that’s not true, I’m just spouting a wild hypothetical, okay? If you decided to do that and I made sure it was really you and you hadn’t lost some sort of bet, then yeah, I’d still want you to be my brother. We’d still do stuff. I don’t give a shit what everyone else thinks.”

”…promise?”

Remus could sob with relief at actually hearing Roman’s voice come out, and he grins so wide his cheeks start to hurt. “I promise, Roro, I promise. You’re not lazy, you’re resting, and even if you were, I wouldn’t care.”

‘���M not trying to be lazy. It’s—I’m just—“

“Shh, shh, Roro, it’s okay,” The bag of chips falls to the ground and catches fire as Remus tugs his brother into his arms. “I’m right here. You’re doing so good, okay? Thomas is too.”

Remus doesn’t burn the house down because he’s had too many lectures from Janus about that, but he does get a big cartoon wrecking ball to smash the whole thing into smithereens.

He does burn the recliner though. And the plastic-covered couch. They deserved it.

5.

The latex gloves snap on as Roman sits on the edge of the tub with a grunt. He picks up the rest of the kit and sets it on the stool.

”Do you know what it’s about this time?”

“Someone said something about how immature Thomas is being about criticism and how he can’t take care of things, something like that.”

“Why did it manifest as acne, then?”

”I don’t know, maybe something about how teenagers who are hormonal and don’t really know how to take care of their skin get acne?”

Remus snorts. “Do people still not understand that acne happens and can happen to anyone regardless of age?”

‘Apparently not.”

“Well, they can go lick the Kraken’s crack.”

“Ew, Remus.”

“Just trying to keep the mood light.” He picks up one of the cotton swabs and a paper towel and leans down. “I’m gonna try and clean up some of the wet stuff first, okay? Then we can actually get onto some relief.”

“You’re not gonna pop any of them, are you?”

“I don’t think so. At least not right now.”

”Because I really don’t want this to scar.”

Remus hums, carefully running the swab over a particularly inflamed part of his cheek. “Can you give me a pain rating?”

”Like a 6? It’s not that bad but it’s not a pain I’m used to it’s…freaking me out.”

“Understandable, have a nice day. If it ever gets too much, let me know and we’ll switch to a cool pack, okay?”

Roman hums as Remus goes to work. A pile of discarded swabs and other trash accumulates at Remus’s elbow as he works patiently around the various, uh, ‘zones.’ They have to stop a few times when it gets to a point where Roman’s whole face just aches, waiting for it to subside enough that Remus can keep going.

“There are a couple down here that look like they’re ready to go, do you want me to just get ‘em out?”

”Be careful.”

“Sure, yeah. If it starts to hurt lemme know and I’ll back off right away.”

He gets a few of them, a few more putting up too much of a fight so he leaves them be. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Roman heroically stop two or three whimpers before he lightly jabs him in the stomach and tells him to knock that posturing shit off, he doesn’t need it here.

“…thanks, Re.”

“I told you, it hurts too much, I stop.”

“I know.” He shifts on the tub. “I think it’s just…hard to remember.”

Remus frowns, glancing up at him. Roman fiddles with the hem of his prince costume.

“You know…with the others?”

”No. I don’t know, Ro.”

“They don’t—they’re—they want Princey, Prince Roman. Not…the rest of this.” He waves his hand to indicate the cotton carnage. “So it’s hard to…”

He trails off when he sees the expression on Remus’s face.

“What?”

”You mean they don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“That this—“ he waves at Roman— “happens to you. Any of it.”

“I mean, they know I’m the Ego and it makes sense that I get hurt when Thomas feels bad, but—“

”But not how much.” Roman won’t meet his gaze. “Fuck, Ro.”

“…it’s complicated.”

“Shit, no, I’m not—look at me, Ro. I’m not mad at you. I’m just—this wasn’t what I’d hoped.”

Roman frowns. “What do you mean, what you hoped?”

Remus sighs. This is turning into way more of a conversation than he’d ever anticipated. Glancing around, he picks up the cold pack and hands to to Roman before taking a seat on the counter. His legs swing and kick at the cabinets with a quiet thunk-thunk, thunk-thunk.

“When the Split happened, and we went to the Dark Sides, I…dunno, I guess I thought it would be…better.”

“Because we were separated?”

“What? No, no, because I had the stuff like Deceit and Anxiety with me, so they couldn’t make any of this stuff worse—not that they would,” he says when Roman opens his mouth to protest, and wow, have they come a long way, “but just ‘cause…well, yeah. You had Logic and Morality, who were—doesn’t that make sense? That they would be able to help?”

Roman sighs. He picks at the edge of the ice pack. “It’s not that simple.”

“Then explain it to me.”

“Logan’s thing is object impermanence, you know that.” Remus winces in sympathy. “But having someone tell you something isn’t real when you can feel it and it is real, to you, that’s not…that’s not helpful. It’s better if he just goes right to Thomas than coming to me.”

“And Patton?”

Roman lets out a humorless huff. “Thomas is feeling bad and Patton is Thomas’s feelings. How do you think that normally goes?”

…yeah, probably not great.

“It’s not all bad,” he continues, softer now, “they’re at least good when I tell them I don’t want to be disturbed. They don’t ask questions if I tell them I don’t want to talk about it.”

“That feels suspiciously like the bare minimum.” Roman shrugs. “I know I literally just said the opposite, but do Janus and Virgil…?”

“They’re both better at comforting the others. It’s okay, Re, I have you. I really only want you when it’s…bad like this.”

“Me? Why?”

“You get it.”

Remus chuckles, getting back up and picking up the next tool. “That simple, huh?”

“Sometimes it’s just that simple.”

”Aw, I love you too, Roro. You’re the specialist baby brother any Side could ever ask for.”

“You—what the hell do you mean, ‘baby brother?’”

“You’re the baby brother.”

“I am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are too. Now hush so I don’t accidentally poke your eye out.”

“I’m gonna get you back for this.”

“Oh, I’m so scared about that. Now hold still, Roro, let’s get this out of the way so you can feel better.”

“…love you.”

“I love you too.”

+1.

The Imagination is upset. Roman feels it the second he steps foot through the door and forgoes his normal prince costume for a rougher tunic and boots, strapping his sword to his hip and an emergency pack to his back. The wind blows frigid and punishing over the grass as he starts down the trail, squinting through the dust clouds whipping up around him. The clouds frown around the edges of the tree line, darkening to a stormy black near the edge of the coast. As he nears the black cliffs, rocks crumble beneath him and tumble into a churning sea.

He edges carefully around the craggy rock face, keeping his movements light and careful. Spray whips him in the face as thunder rolls in the distance. The chill near rips his fingers from their precarious handholds. He grits his teeth and keeps going, even as the wind howl so loudly his ears near split from the pain.

There, a little ways down the cliff, is a small cove. He inches his way around the edge of the bluff and drops onto a larger path leading him along the coast. There isn’t any sand here, only rough and unyielding stone. Froth and foam given them gleaming white teeth as the waves churn furiously around the mouth of the sea. He follows the path down, down towards he massive cracks in the sheer rock face, one eye on the black water below him. Despite being so close to the shore, there’s no sign of a bottom and he doesn’t want to risk how deep it is. There’s no telling what current might rip him into the open ocean if he falls in.

The cove is shaped like a spear’s point, the crack in the cliff at its very point as though some massive weapon had shattered the rocks themselves. As Roman nears it, the shadow at the base of the path slowly grows more and more defined, until he realizes that it’s a path through the cliff. The cove is an inlet leading into a hidden sea cave with a vast black lake in its center. Roman peers up at the glistening wet walls, hand on the wall as the wind whistles angrily by.

The water moves. He looks down. Something massive slips just underneath the surface, sending ripples to the shore. He crouches down and sees a huge shape getting closer and closer to the surface. An eye the size of a dining table glares up at him through the water and long arms with rows and rows of hooks reach up toward him.

“Ollie, it’s me. It’s Roman.”

The Kraken pause. The hooked arms retreat and he pokes his head up, letting out a mournful burble. Roman reaches over and taps the water. One of his other arms comes up and Roman pets soothingly along the skin.

“What’s the matter, buddy? What’s going on?”

Ollie burbles again and Roman suddenly realizes why the hooked arms were the ones to reach for him. Beneath the surface, the Kraken’s arms form a cradle of sorts, holding something close to the Kraken’s massive body. As the water shifts and ripples, the thing comes closer and closer to surface, slowly moving to reveal its precious cargo.

And there, nestled in the Kraken’s grip, covered in his own writhing tentacles, is Remus.

“Oh, Re,” Roman murmurs as his brother twitches and whimpers, “what happened? Who did this?”

Ollie burbles again, holding him out, and Roman balances on the edge of the shoreline and stretches to hold on. The Kraken lifts him up and into the cradle too, letting him touch Remus’s frigid skin and shake him awake.

“Re? Re, wake up, it’s okay, I’m here to help.”

The tentacles writhe as Remus stirs, blinking through a pained haze up at Roman. “…Ro?”

“Hey, Re, it’s me. It’s okay, you’re gonna be okay. What happened?”

“Thoughts got too loud.” A tentacle leaves a thick trail of slime across his arm and he shudders. “Sorry.”

“What could you have to be sorry for?”

“‘S gross.”

“You stop that,” Roman chides gently, running his fingers through Remus’s wet hair, “I don’t care if something’s gross, I care if it’s hurting you.”

Remus whimpers, clutching at one of Ollie’s arms. The Kraken squeaks back, trying in vain to warm him up, but there’s only so much he can do in this freezing cave. Roman glances around and bites his lip.

“Does it feel better in the water? Is that why you came down here?”

“Yeah. Ollie came and f-found me.”

Roman pats the worried Kraken. “What do we need to do? Is it like caring for Ollie’s arms?”

“N-no. Like helping the jelly—jellyfish with the twisted—twisted ones.”

He’ll bet just about anything that this frigid water isn’t helping Remus do that, and it’s not like Ollie has opposable thumbs. He goes to slide into the water himself but Ollie chirps in alarm, hoisting them higher.

“What’re you doing?”

“I’m trying to help.“

Remus shakes his head, more slime trailing across his shivering body. “Too cold for you.”

“Well, then it’s definitely too cold for you. Can we get you somewhere warmer?” Remus curls up a little more. “What about that pool near the glowstone trees?”

“That’s all the way on your side.”

“Ollie can take you. I’ll meet you over there.” Remus stays quiet. Roman leans down and brushes the wet hair from his eyes. “What else is bothering you, Re?”

Two of the tentacles glob onto Roman and start leaving trails of slime across his tunic. Remus whimpers and reaches out a hand to yank them away. It’s no use; the roiling mass just keeps smearing slime onto Roman as they try to pull him closer, no matter how hard Remus shoves them away.

Oh.

Oh.

“Re, you’re not too gross. You’re not going to ruin anything. I want you to come with me so I can help you. I care about you. Let me help, please?”

It takes a painfully long moment for Remus to peek up at him and nod. Roman can’t stop the way his shoulders sag in relief and he sits up, patting Ollie’s arm as the Kraken burbles happily.

“You…you really wanna help?”

“Of course I wanna help you, Re, you’re my brother.”

“Okay.”

“Have Ollie take you over to the pool, okay? I’ll meet you there.”

“How are you gonna get there?”

“I have my ways.”

Remus grumbles and he sounds just enough like his normal self that Roman has to reach down and ruffle his hair, no matter how much Remus squawks about it. He climbs back off to the shore and watches Ollie sinks below the surface before he makes his way out to the ocean proper. Taking the charm from beneath his tunic, he closes his eyes and concentrates.

A screaming cry and the massive thudding of wings splits the wind.

Roman’s dragon lands just on the other side of the bluffs and he climbs on, taking off and soaring over the stormy sea. The dragon calls out over the waves and far beneath, he can see the shape of Ollie swimming through the depths. The clouds begin to part as they near the opposite coast, sun rays splitting the worst of the storm as the glowing trees appear on the horizon.

Roman’s dragon sets him down just on the edge of the shimmering pool. He pats its snout and it huffs, lying down on the sun-warmed grass and closing its eyes. As he walks toward the pool and begins to take off his boots, he spots Ollie’s shade moving through the inlet into the warmer water. He chuckles at the way the water vibrates with the Kraken’s pleased rumble.

Clad in just his boxers, he slips into the water and through the tangle of arms to draw Remus into the warmth. Remus immediately tuns and clings to him like a limpet, shivering from the temperature change.

“I know, I know,” Roman murmurs as he starts to work his hands patiently through the mass of tentacles, “just hold onto me. I can still kind of stand here, I’ve got you.”

”You gonna take care of me?”

“Yeah, Re, I’m gonna take care of you.”

He’s rewarded with a sleepy hum and Remus snuggles into him. “You’re the best.”

“No, you’re the best. The best baby brother anyone could ever ask for.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

Remus might mutter an am not back, but it’s muffled by his tired slump into Roman’s arms. Roman just chuckles. He’s sure it’ll come up again at some point.

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[tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors]

pslsks virgil and janus have to schedule a house meeting shortly after the lights move in just to be like "guys youve really got to stop putting things on high shelves. no stop laughing this is serious. we take you in so generously and youre being so inconsiderate right now."

alskdjakljsdlj oh nooooo and Logan's baffled like "both of you are perfectly capable of climbing or shapeshifting up high enough to get anything you need-" and Virgil and janus are so aghast they dont speak to him for an hour

[pattons-second-cookie-v2]

If Patton hitting his limit makes him shapeshift into a giant frog monster then what if Virgil hitting his limit makes him shapeshift into a giant cat monster?

AND

Because Patton is canonically allergic to cats, he ends up too sick to help the others calm Virge down?!

[sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes]

There's this multi chapter fic I've been trying to find but I can't remember the name, it's on AO3 I think

So basically in it Virgil is a human and the other sides are like different magical creatures who can shapeshift into humans and in each chapter he helps each one of them when they're in their animal forms, like helping snake!Janus to the other side of a river, and the last one is helping dragon!Roman with an injury, and after that they all reveal themselves and their animal identities and Virgil gay panics because they're all pretty as hell