#and. now its remus --> logan --> janus --> virgil --> roman --> patton

[lucentel]

rewatching sanders sides in 2025 is crazy because what do you mean 12 year old me was obsessed with virgil and disliked remus when he was revealed and now six years later remus SHOT up the list at alarming speeds and i am mildly indifferent about virgil

[maddragonfruit]

Help I remember reading this fic where Roman, Patton and Logan switched bodies with Remus, Janus and the Orange side and they all tried to play it natural to not make Virgil anxious. But of course he notices something is up with who he thinks is Roman, Patton and Logan, and thinks he's in some sort of body snatchers situation.

It was really good and I really want to re-read it, but I can't find it! I've scoured AO3 and I've scrolled down a bunch on a blog I'm pretty sure reblogged it but I can't find it anywhere!

[batwingedcherub]

i watched companion today. cried twice.... anyways sanders sides companion au

it could be either:

A: The sides r all "companions" (since they all look the same it'd probably be easy to say they're all the same model I guess) and they all become aware that they aren't actually humans and it spirals from there (this could be a real good side X oc thing if ppl still do that)

or

B: half of the sides r companions and the other half are humans and it's all just a bunch of FUCKING SHIP ANGST

[canonically47]

THOMAS POSTED A REMUS SELFIE (FROM HIS NEW SPOT) ON HIS INSTAGRAM STORY AND I AM NOT FREAKING OUT I PROMISE I AM NOT

IT’S HIM... HOLY SHIT IT’S HIM.........

here’s the cropped pic if anyone wants it

[orbch]

another stupid sasi mv but its short and. and… well not sweet.

anyways im gonna talk about it more so pop this bad boy open ⬇️⬇️⬇️

okay yeah this is creativitwins and patton centric. NO SHOCKER. i kinda wanted to show how i think that roman and remus were split purely on the basis that there needed to be a “good” creativity, meant to be put on a pedestal, and a “bad” creativity, meant to be hidden and locked away forever. like thats the entire reason they exist.

and i do also believe patton was responsible for the split, but absolutely NOT out of malicious intent. not even close. listen, when outside influences are telling you that “bad thoughts” are going to land you into eternal damnation, and ALSO you’re like 7 years old, it’s completely understandable to react such a way. not excused, but understandable. i think patton, in a state of complete emotional and mental distress, TRULY believed that splitting creativity would keep c!thomas safe.

and naturally everyone came out of it a littleeee fucked up. i hc that logan and king creativity had been very close before the split, and as you might expect, seeing someone you are the closest with split in half and permanently altered would make you kinda apathetic (especially on the topic of others emotions and your own bonds). and janus, having just watched someone die because of just being themself and living their truth unabashedly, kicked his ass into full “self defense via deceit” mode. and virgil (who at this point represents every kind of fear, rational and irrational) just watched someone get split into subjective “good” and “bad” halves and thought, in no better words, “holy shit I’m next”

shoutout to @heartwitchhouse for inspiring a part of this pmv!!! it was the cross blade thing btw LOLLOL

okay now for the stills because capcut turned my art into mashed potatoes (that was pissing me off btw. sigh. sorry about the sandpaper quality) (its also only letting me add 8. so im doing my faves 030)

[chenleismworld]

hobbies the sanders sides would have imo

patton - golfing or croquet, just the most dad hobbies possible. and he would 100% have a trophy room, not exactly for showing off, but because he is insanely good at the games?? he tried to teach some of the others but they got annoyed at how good he was and stopped trying.

roman - cosplay, i mean he is LITERALLY creativity, of COURSE he would do cosplay. he has a separate closet for his cosplays, and every single wig has a head that it sits on. he says goodnight to each wig before sleeping too. and EVERYTHING is diy, not a single peace is made by somebody else.

logan - building lego sets, and i mean ANY lego set, the easy ones, the hard ones, honestly he would start creating his own builds and make instructions for them. they would be insanely difficult but he would be proud of them.

virgil - scrapbooking, he would keep everything, every card from patton, every list from logan, all the song lyrics and poems from roman and just sit at his desk when he cant sleep and scrapbook while listening to his playlist.

janus - writing, and he is so good at it too?? like thrillers and detective stories, and he would definitely do it on a typewriter. i just imagine him sitting in his office, a glass of wine in hand, the only light coming from a candle, and he's just looking at the final page of his novel and smirking slightly

"yup, this one goes to the safe"

remus - origami, dude is absolutely cracked at it. he doesnt even need tutorials, he just figures it all out. it started with simple, not even weird ones but as he got better he started making up his own origamis and now janus doesnt have paper to write anymore and logan doesnt have a way to print his lego instructions. remus' origami are gigantic, human sized and really professional looking, but its only monsters at this point.

[deepred00]

NAME IMPORTANCE IN SANDERS SIDES

Guysssss, I just realised something and it might have already been talked about but I couldn't find anything so I'm writing it now. So, we all know about the name reveals in Sanders Sides, their meanings and their importance, but I was casually watching through the series again when in Selfishness VS Selflessness I realised something that I have been noticing before but not knowing why. The moment Deceit, Janus, talks to Anxiety, Virgil, and brings up Virgil's reluctance to share his name. And that scene has always stood out to me in someway but now I finally realised why. Because Janus lied. It's not something new, he's literally Deceit, BUT it's what he's lying about that is important.

Janus: "Oh, so you've never been reluctant to share anything with the group then?"

Virgil: "Don't"

Janus: "What? I just meant your name"

Virgil: "DON'T!"

JANUS IS LYING YET BEING TRUTHFUL ABOUT HIS RESPONSE!!! THAT'S THE BEST WAY TO LIE, TO ALSO BE TRUTHFUL!

We may think, even assume, that Janus is talking about Virgil not telling his name to Thomas for a long time before finally revealing his name to be Virgil. BUT Virgil's reaction is too emotional, too strong, too desperate to be only about that. It's more like he's pleading Janus not to reveal something. And it would be ignorant not to include the fact that there's A LOT of theories about when Virgil was a "dark side" he was not Anxiety but Paranoia.

And now to the point I wanted to talk about. Names, their meanings and their importance. So let me list their names in chronological order they were revealed so you can see them clearly.

Logan

Roman

Patton

Virgil

Remus

Janus

And of course the orange side we do not know of yet. But look closely at the list of names. And do you remember what Patton said when Virgil revealed his name? "Huh, but that doesn't end with a -N"

And now look at the "dark sides" and their names. They end with -US. Do you see the the name that doesn't really fit in?

VIRGIL

AND I BELIEVE THAT IS BECAUSE IT'S NOT HIS "REAL" OR "TRUE" NAME BUT CHOSEN NAME!! Virgil means protector, that is what Virgil want to be for Thomas! Virgil doesn't want to be Paranoia, he doesn't want to be the bad guy. HE WANTS TO BE A PROTECTOR! And that is why he chose that name!

AND THAT'S NOT ALL!

Let's look at the name etymology here too!!

For the "Good sides" their names correspond with Aristotle's ingredients for persuasion, albeit Roman's name is not visibly linked to its correspondence like the others.

Logan - Logos

Roman - Ethos (Roman being the side with charm and scene presence)

Patton - Pathos

And now for the "Dark sides" we know of. Their names are derived from roman mythology.

Remus - Twin brother of Romulus, the founder of Rome which corresponds Remus being Roman's twin, since Roman's name is basically taken from the ROMAN EMPIRE as well as Romance and all. Plus it also places great significance that Remus is only an offshot of Roman, without Roman, Remus would not exist and therefore his name corresponds to "the twin brother of the great mythological founder of ROME"

Janus - God of doorways, duality, gates, passages, beginnings and endings, always depicted as two-faced. Two-faced=Deceitful

AND WHAT ABOUT VIRGIL'S NAME? DOES HIS NAME FIT INTO THESE CATEGORIES? NO! VIRGIL IS NOT FROM ROMAN MYTHOLOGY NOR ARISTOTLE'S PERSUASION! IT'S A SIMPLE ROMAN NAME, THE MOST WE CAN FIND IS THAT AN ANCIENT ROMAN POET HAD THE NAME VIRGIL. WHICH IN ALL HONESTY FITS ROMAN SANDERS MORE THAN VIRGIL. AND I BELIEVE IT'S BECAUSE DESPITE EVERYTHING VIRGIL WANTS TO KINDA BE LIKE ROMAN TO THOMAS, HIS HERO. ROMAN IS THOMAS' HERO AND VIRGIL WANTS TO BE THOMAS' PROTECTOR, HIS HERO!

SO IN CONCLUSION... I think Virgil's name is not the name he had before or his "true" name. It is his chosen name and that is what he wants to be. That's why it's different from the other sides' names. That's why Virgil has been so sensitive when Janus brought up his name and why Virgil has been sensitive about being called paranoid. Because that's basically someone he has been and not someone he wants to be. It's almost like being called by his dead-name. And this just makes me want to hug Virgil even more, feed him spider-shaped cookies, give him some calming tea and just.. be there

[lefaystrent]

"I want to tell you something."

Thomas speaks the words into the quiet of the kitchen. He stares down at the pot of water sitting on the stove. The burner has been lit, and the heat rises. Soon, the water will boil.

"And it's- it's something that I've thought for a long time now. Years. But I've never said anything."

The smallest of bubbles rise to the surface. Over his shoulder, Thomas can see Patton sitting at the bar.

"It's okay. Take your time," he says. His nose scrunches up as he smiles. His glasses reflect a scattering of kitchen light.

Thomas snorts. "I think years is enough time." He breaks a bundle of pasta in half, letting them fall gently into the steaming water. He adjusts the temperature, then shifts on his feet. "I've just...never said anything," he repeats.

"You don't have to say anything at all." Janus sits at the bar instead. He wears a frown, and he's leaned over the surface with his chin in a propped palm, but the patience in his gaze belays his bored demeanor. "If you don't want to, you don't have to. I certainly won't force you."

Want to? No.

Thomas shakes his head and stirs the pot. "I think I need to."

"Do you?" Logan sits at the bar. His arms are folded over his tie, but it's not an intimidating pose. It's careful. Considerate. "I'd like you to take a moment to 'check yourself before you wreck yourself', as they say. Is that how you use that phrase?"

Thomas rolls his eyes, and yet he's smiling. This is a heavy topic, but it's not constricting. He stirs the noodles easily and they begin to fold together like they were made to. "I'm okay. I don't need to think about it more. I'm not anxious, not really."

"Yeah?" And now it's Virgil sitting at the bar. He stops as if he had been caught in the middle of playing with the string of his hoodie. Then he smooths down the front of his clothes. No ruffles here. He nods. "Good. That's good. That's good, right?"

Thomas still smiles. "Yes, that's good." The pasta softens as it swirls around the water. Round and round it goes. When will it stop? Nobody knows.

"Well don't just keep me in suspense!" Remus slams his hand down on the bar. And then he does it again and again, maybe just to hear the smack, smack, smack. He's not grinning maniacally or anything. Just a quirk of his mustache. A glint in his eyes. A cocked brow. "You know I love a good tease... but this is playing too coy!"

Thomas heaves a huge sigh. "I guess I just..." He trails off. He knocks the spoon against the pot's rim to shake off the water. He sets it aside. "I just don't want this to change anything."

The warmth of the burner blankets his face. The stove vent thrums above his head, and distantly Thomas hears the air conditioner click on. A light sheen of perspiration beads across his face, but its not wholly unpleasant.

Would it be bad? If this did change anything?

Roman sits at the bar. His shoulders are low, like all the breath has left him. He watches Thomas calmly with sad eyes. "What have you got to lose?"

In the pot, the pasta swirls and swirls until it's ready.

"I love you," Thomas finally says, and he turns to look over his shoulder to find that it's himself who sits there.

The other him beams proudly. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

Satisfied, Thomas flicks off the stove burner and drains the water in the sink. He stirs together noodles, hamburger meat, and red sauce, until its in perfect measures, just the way he likes it.

After making himself a plate, Thomas sits at the dining table. He is alone with himself, and he's alright with that.

[dead-inside-demiboy]

I still enjoy Sander sides a fuck ton, but I've been out of the fandom for years now. That being said, I've been rewatching it recently and here's a really cool thing I've noticed!

So while they are characters and all of the sides feel fully fleshed out and realistic, they are also aspects personified and it was done SO WELL

Like of course Logan would get very stuck up and controlling with certain stuff, that's how logic operates. Especially with adhd, logic is usually the voice of guilt in the back of your head when you do things wrong. On the other end, logic is also silly, you sometimes remember something random for no reason. And of course Logan gets ignored a lot! How often do you listen to your logic 100%?

Of course Roman is grand and has large ambitions too big for his boots, that's what creativity feels like. Yes, Roman will be self centered, because if you're an artist (like Thomas) creativity is a big source of pride for you, especially if you post online. Roman being insecure makes sense when you think of imposter syndrome and how popular Thomas is. Obviously Roman loves Disney and cartoons, they actively spur on creative juices.

Of course Patton is pushy and controlling with his beliefs, that's what morality does! Growing up religious would only make that more extreme. Of course he's commonly listened to and taken at face value, your ethics/morals are some of the heaviest driving forces when they kick in, and it takes a lot to shift them. Obviously he's the least mature, your morals are instilled when you're young and you never really grow out of them. But he's also a dad because older male figures are stereotypically the ones that teach you morals in the first place!

Of course Virgil is so rude in the beginning but gets an acceptance arc, anxiety is a bitch to live with that fucks with everything else, but you need to learn to work with it, not against it, similar to any other emotion. He used to be part of the dark sides cause when you don't know what to do with feelings like that, you end up pushing them down or hurting yourself. He hates not being taken seriously because when you completely ignore and blow off your alarm bells it puts you in active danger!

Speaking of, Dark sides tangent! First of all, they aren't really the "bad" parts, they're just the parts of Thomas that he bottled up or tried to hide from himself. And the name "dark sides" is so good, cause it's like the dark side of the moon! Just as important as the light side, just different, harder to see if you aren't actively looking, and often ignored or viewed as "worse"

Tangent over. So!

Of course Janus's main role is to hide the other dark sides! He's representation of what happens when somebody hides parts of themselves. He has a villian and snake persona cause of religious reasons and because deceit is viewed as one of those bad things that need to be bottled up! He is at the core of a lot of self preservation and caring of others because for Thomas, that is the only time he's used Deceit so it's all that he can do.

Of course Remus is equally as prideful as Roman, he has the same issues with imposter syndrome! Of course he has a bunch of gore and sex jokes/ideas, he's the creative parts that morals state are "bad". Unlike Roman who's usually on topic, Remus goes constantly off tangent because that is what your wilder/more experimental side of creativity does! It just spits shit out and you figure out what sticks!

Its very similar to Greek mythology and idk! I just love when personification is done super well while making the characters still feel human!

[skeletinmoss]

The Curce Of The Dark Phoenix

Chapter 27: The ruins of Noctura

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“So, I always kinda knew that we lived far from the capitol. But… If you think about it, we had to ride all night to get from the nearest inn to home. And the only other thing between home and the border is a set of ruins at the very edge,” Patton listed.

“Your parents took you as far from the council as they physically could without abandoning the country entirely,” Virgil told Roman.

“I’m trying to remember if I’d ever seen these ruins in use… But I realize that might be futile,” Janus said a bit miffed.

“Can’t we try to fix his memory now?” Patton wondered.

“There is a myriad of memory spells that could have been at the base of the missing memories,” Logan explained. “And since Janus’ was applied so sloppily we’d have to take extra care in restoring his mind or risk causing irreparable damage. If it was the… If it was Gustav Noctura who applied the memory spell, then we’ll be most likely to find out the finer details in his home. If we don’t find anything in the ruins we could return to the tower. We might find something new on a second search. Originally I had fully expected to spend a few weeks identifying and organizing the tower before deciding on our next move. When we found the box, I thought we might have stumbled into a break trough. Sometimes the right answer is the most obvious one.

And I suppose we did…” Logan said. A bit saddened.

“I still kind of hope that it turns out to be all a big misunderstanding,” Roman admitted empathetically.

"Me too," Virgil sighed. Roman silently protested his guilt. From what he saw, Virgil likely had the least to do with the path Gustav Novtura chose if it was as dark as they feared.

"As for the ruins. I'd need to see them to be sure, but they are likely the remains of a mage outpost. This close to the border, it could be from us or from the neighbors. The boiling river is not that far from our destination. It was not always there, though. So its creation might have made claiming land past it strategically unwise and defending here a waste of revourses, leaving the fort without purpose until Gustav deemed it a good place to live," Virgil explained

"That makes sense," Logan mused.

They rode on with idle chatter amongst themselves for a while, all nervous at what they might learn.

Ocasionally laughing at recollections of past antics and gasping at old scandals.

"I have been thinking... about Mister Remy and Mister Emile. You said they had died a few times before becoming high mages?" Patton mused as they stopped to eat.

"Yes," Janus said, curious what would come next. "Well. That means that they didn't come back because of being high mages, right?" The farmer's son stated.

"Astute conclusion," Logan agreed.

"And you figured we've heard that brought up in a zillion conversations already and have come to every possible conclusion?" Remus guessed, proud it seemed. Patton nodded, smiling appreciative.

"Well, what is yours, let's get that one out of the way," Virgil suggested.

"Well. I think it means that, after we have paid penance for our wrongs, the ocean sends us on to be reborn again. I think that remembering, and being recognizable to those who knew them in a previous life, is unique to the eternal lovers. Caused by their magical bond to one another. But I think that souls can return in a new body," Patton explained.

That sounded interesting. The elder mages nodded.

"That's the accepted consensus among high mages. Some think that the more lives you've lived, the greater your natural talent in magic. If that were true, you three must've lived quite a few," Virgil mused.

"And you too," Roman teased fondly.

"Oh good, he's on our side," Janus quipped.

"Maybe it also depends on the quality of life," Roman added.

"If you lived one life as a very good and kind person, you'll have more aptitude than someone who's spent 10 being cruel and selfish," he reasoned.

"I like that. Sounds like an arrangement the gods might come to," Patton said.

"There are some who thought that Love simply liked them so much as a pair that when they died the first time, she begged the ocean to give them another chance. And apparently, he has a hard time saying no. And after they became high mages their souls left their bodies out of habit rather than necessity. I agree with the last part. I am fond off them both, but it is very in character for them," Janus pointed out.

"And some think they were so disgustingly cutesy they got kicked out of the afterlife to give the other souls a break!" Remus snickered. Though there was fondness in his remark.

"That's just you Remus," Virgil laughed.

"I am good leaving it a mystery. Personally speaking. The one mystery we shall never solve," he mused.

"I think it would be nice, if the first one is true. It could mean we have known each other and loved each other before," Roman pointed out.

Virgil smiled. "That is a nice thought," he agreed.

"Oh! What of you were the captain? And now you are back and rescued him, and you can get married this time," Patton gushed, swept up by the romance.

Virgil smiled and kissed Roman sweetly. "Whatever the case may be. I know that I love you in this lifetime," he whispered. Roman turned red and felt light with giddiness at the same time.

"It is a comforting thought, I suppose. That our loved ones might meet us once more in the future," Logan mused as he got up, helped Janus up, who was endeared by the gesture.

Remus got up and scooped a giggling Patton into his arms to carry him to his horse.

"They definitely shared a dream," Roman said as he righted himself and offered Virgil a hand, which was gracefully accepted.

"Definitely. And they have communicated quite clearly their wants and needs, it seems," Virgil agreed. Roman pulled him up and stepped in a touch closer for a long kiss.

"Yes, you are in love, we know! But we are losing daylight!" Remus complained.

They chuckled and let go.

"Are we?" he asked, the answer clear in his heart.

"Terrifyingly so," Virgil assured them. And he meant every word. Roman gave him a quick kiss in comfort before heading for their horses.

The rest of the ride they distracted themselves with wild plans for the future. Far of journeys, great feats of magic, creating a brand new flower...

But as the sun lowered Roman and Logan, who'd gotten to talking about how different they felt now at the front, halted their horses abruptly.

"You feel that too, don't you?" Logan asked tensely.

"You mean like my blood is colder, the air thinner and there is an unnatural pressure against my skin?" Roman asked.

"Yes," Logan confirmed.

"Glad it's not just me. I worried for a second I was about to die from something mysterious and take out our horses with me," Roman said in an attempt to make light of this awfull feeling.

"Everything alright?" Patton asked as he joined them where they'd stopped.

"You don't feel that?" Roman asked, baffled at how it could be missed.

"It seems we guessed right. What you two feel is the edge of a high mage's territory. Of one who didn't want uninvited guests. Patton will likely feel it a bit further in," Janus offered. That made sense.

"Are we going to feel like this the whole time?" Roman asked, not looking forward to trying to work like this.

"Will they, Virgil?" Remus asked.

"What are you asking me for?" Virgil huffed.

"Quickest way to deal with the ick is to be invited in by someone who's welcome," Remus pointed out.

"And you were very favored by him," Janus agreed.

Virgil sighed, got of his horse and moved to the front, passing the invisible line without flinching.

He raised his hand and seemed to grab hold of something.

"Virgilious gantes invive di cique gestan!" He called out. Something in the air shifted. For a moment, something moved layers of shimmering fractals dazed Roman's senses. And then the air felt... not welcoming, not normal... but not hostile, either. Reluctant acceptance, maybe.

"This man has issues," Roman decided.

"Agreed," Janus huffed.

"Let's go. The ruins can't be that far. We should leave the horses behind though, the magic here will only distress them more," Virgil said, a little tense.

They secured their horses a little off the path and put a protection on them to keep them save from predators.

Roman joined Virgil at the front, worried. “Remember when Thomas warned you that trying to get into my home could be dangerous?” Virgil asked.

Roman nodded. Virgil looked on ahead. “Gustav… Was more familiar and comfortable with offense as a defense… We better be ready for anything coming up. And remember that he might have set his home up to defend against high mages specifically. He can’t kill us, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t go ‘missing’ on this mission. So to speak,” he explained.

“Missing how?” Roman asked.

Then a growl echoed through the woods, making Stardust whimper. “Puppy scared,” Buddy told them worriedly.

“It’s going to be alright Bud,” Roman promised.

“Everyone in a circle around Buddy and Star, don’t leave your backs open. Seems Gustav had some guard dogs that are still roaming his territory,” Remus said, retrieving his Scissor blades from his satchel. Janus pulled out a whip, Virgil retrieved his daggers, Roman brandished sky cleaver, Logan aimed his crossbow at the darkness and Patton readied his staff.

Roman flinched back as he caught glowing eyes in the darkness and then saw the darkness move.

“Shadow wolves,” he stated.

“Yeah, that’ll do it,” Virgil agreed.

“Aren’t those, extinct?” Logan wondered as the pact circled their group, looking for the weak link.

“Apparently not. Gustav must have preserved a pack somehow,” Janus stated, reluctantly impressed.

“Bad doggies?” Buddy asked.

Roman almost gave him a full chested yes, but he paused. “Don’t know bud. But they might want to hurt us,” he explained. Teaching Buddy a black and white vision of the world was not how he wanted him to go through the world.

“No hurt,” Buddy concluded.

“We’ll try our best,” Roman chuckled.

“Eh, just in case,” Patton said, followed by the sound of a bottle uncorking. Before they’d left Patton had made a few second breath potions. They all hoped he wouldn’t have to truly test if they worked as intended today. And Roman still hoped they wouldn’t see the potion in action.

But he was glad that there was some kind of protection over Patton should things get out of hand.

“I wish it wasn’t night,” Virgil mused.

Of course. The darkness probably made the shadow wolves stronger. Roman looked up, the canopy above them was unusually thick, even in broad daylight, it would be fairly dark here.

“Buddy, give us some light,” he ordered.

“Light!” Buddy agreed, and the next moment the pack whined unhappily. At the very least they lost their cover now.

“Maybe they’ll leave?” Patton wondered.

The pack got closer. “Worth a try,” Roman sighed. “Keep it up for a bit longer buddy. This shouldn’t take long,” he promised.

There were roughly ten wolves for five high mages, one great mage, one cosmic wolf and one homonculus.

Buddy was at the center, ready to interfere wherever things looked dire. That also meant that none of the wolves would be able to attack him directly even if they wanted to.

So that meant that three of them would have to deal with an extra wolf.

Roman was ready to defend his friends and his creations with all that he had.

The issue with a fight like this, you can't see how the rest of your group is doing as easily, and there is not much room to aid them. In front of him, a wolf got entangled in vines, a spell cast by someone he heard whining from a few wolves. He wasn't sure how many. He didn't have the time to wonder. One was attacking him. He swiped his spear at him, making the wolf jump back. He smirked and swiped again, this time triggering the distant attack effect he'd discovered in the temple. The wolf flinched away to avoid him and then whined as he got struck by seemingly nothing.

Buddy's light was putting them at a disadvantage and clearly they knew that too.

Behind him, he heard Remus speak in a tongue he didn't understand. It wasn't old Axillan. It sounded too different.

"I don't think they are in the mood to talk it out!" Patton concluded. Had Remus tried to convince them to leave?

"Fuck it then," Remus huffed. Roman heard a roar, a bleat, and a hiss. Remus had taken his guide form.

"Not an option for us," Virgil grunted as he warded off his wolf.

Roman felt his reluctance and made a decision. His wolf was still limping and reassessing the threat he posed after the last attempted attack. So Roman took a calculated risk, and on his next jump, he stabbed the wolf in his upper front leg. Not a deadly wound. But it would probably make it think twice about attacking again.

"Aaaaah!" he screamed. The entrapped wolf had gotten loose and dug his teeth into his shoulder. The cold was setting in. Roman heard his name called. He rushed forwards to the first wolf wo attacked him

He felt Virgil's wolf jump on his back. He heard Buddy call out for him. He got to his destination and embraced the cold. "Chase off the evolves save my friends," he prayed. And his magic consumed him. He was magic he had no definitive shape. He was a living fire and wolves, magic or not hated fire.

And so the wolves left as fast as they could, their mission abandoned.

Roman landed on Buddy's shoulder, humming comforting.

"Papa bird. Papa ok?" Buddy wondered. Roman let put a confirming caw. "Papa. Friend hurt," Buddy said, gesturing to where the group was now gathering around... Patton?

Roman flew over to join them, caring in concern.

He looked bad. Blood was staining his tunic fast. A claw mark in his side the cause.

"He was fine a second ago! I don't get it!" Remus insisted panicked.

"One of the wolves you knocked out of the way circled back around and managed to injure him before he or I could react. Roman's aid came but a blink of a moment later," Logan said.

"I have dome herbs that could help," Virgil mumbled, looking in his satchel.

"His potion thingy will save him, right?" Remus asked.

"It's a dice roll I'm not willing to make," Virgil insisted.

Roman, meanwhile, found himself entranced by the wound. He lowered his head to patton's side and sang.

The sound out of his beak was nothing like the usual squad. It was a sound clear like bells and harmonious and soothing. And as he sang, the wound closed and Patton's hazy gaze cleared up and a small smile graced his lips.

"H-Hey there," he said weakly.

"Phoenix song," Virgil gasped in relief. "How come I didn't think of that?" he muttered, frustrated with himself.

Roman shook out his feathers and found himself kneeling at Patton's side in human form.

He reached across to Virgil and held his face, recalling the worry and the guilt Virgil felt. He looked at the place where they'd both stood equally hindered in doing something to protect Patton. He looked back at Virgil with a quirked brow. Wondering if Virgil thought he should be blamed as well.

Virgil sighed and shook his head, relaxing into his hold.

"Aw, so sweet," Patton sighed.

"I don't think they will come back," Janus stated.

"Between Buddy's sunlight and Roman's reincarnation, they should need a long time in total darkness to recover," Logan agreed.

"Speaking of... I say we make a protective circle, rest, and then move on," he declared as he rose.

No one objected to that.

When they settled down, Roman and Virgil sat back to back, fingers intertwined. Stardust curling up next to them, needing rest as much as the rest of them.

"I will dream of sailing off to faraway lands to bring you the most peculiar, things I can find. Just to see your eyes light up when I present you with a new curiosity," Roman offered teasingly.

Virgil chuckled. "Then I shall dream of showing you the most delightful places in our kingdom and kissing in the rain," Virgil promises in return.

Roman quite liked that. A little reprieve before they got to the ruins.

He did dream of the ocean. He was sitting on a beach looking at the sun set. He considered the fact that he'd never seen the ocean in person. Would he like the scent? The feeling of the wind sweeping his hair? The sand under his feet? Would it make him mis a life he might have never lived.

"Where fo you bring them after they leave us?" he wondered out loud.

In his heart, he knew the answer. Home.

He awoke to Stardust nudging his face. He chuckled and rubbed his neck. "Good boy. The adventuring is almost over," he promised. He got up and found everyone was dusting themselves off and eying the road ahead nervously.

This area did not welcome their presence. That much had been made clear. Roman was just glad they'd left the horses somewhere protected. The stress alone might've killed the poor creatures.

"Let's go," Virgil breathed as he took Roman's hand and led the group forward.

It was not five steps later before Roman realized that Virgil was feeling apologetic. Roman squeezed his hand. Virgil m leaned over. "I have been. Relying on you to get my act together all day. I'm not usually so... dependent," he admitted softly.

"Emotions have been running high. And what lies ahead likely won’t be pleasant. I am more than happy to support you," Roman promised.

"I forgot you'd be fine. And I forgot the Phoenix song. What if I am more liability than asset today?" Virgil argued.

"We managed. You are not the only one who can fix everything. You might not be dependent, but depend on us anyway," he pleaded.

Virgil smiled at him and squeezed his hand appreciatively.

As they walked on, they passed a few inactive golems. Buddy clearly didn’t feel very comfortable walking past them.

“You’ll be okay bud,” Roman promised.

“I’d feel better about that if we could get somewhere with natural light,” Janus admitted, receiving a glare from Roman, Patton, Virgil and even Remus.

“Better be nice to my cousin there pall,” Remus warned. “I did not mean any offence. Apologies, seems the tension of the situation has me a bit tactless,” Janus promised.

It wasn't that much longer before they arrived at the ruins. It was warmer here, thanks to the boiling river. Excellent climate for the colorful and fragrant plants that grew around the outpost before them. It appeared in disrepair. There was a plaque Roman would assume commemorates a battle or some other great historical event. But it was in a script he couldn't even read let alone decipher.

"A puzzle," Janus noted.

"Oh, that would be Lo's thing," Patton said.

Logan came forward to study the plaque.

"Perhaps if I could read it and understand it with the nuances of its original..."

Janus kissed his temple, making Logan look up flustered and shocked.

“What, may I ask, was the purpose of that?” he wondered.

“Look again,” Janus urged.

Logan turned back to the plaque and gasped. “It’s the same, but I understand it… Hmmm… I see… too bad for you I am familiar with three of your cyphers and I think I know how you think… Yes… hm, wordplay… Okay that is a clever prosaic misdirect… I see…”

“It is quite fun to watch isn’t it?” Roman chuckled.

“I’ll say. This is like watching Virgil mess around with potions,” Remus snickered.

“Shhh, he almost has it,” Janus chided.

“I do!” Logan stated triumphantly.

“The key is his mother’s name,” he announced.

“Fuck!” Remus cursed.

“Oh that’s just great,” Janus huffed, rubbing his temples. “Maybe it’s somewhere in an archive? We can contact the king and ask him to have someone look,” he mused.

“It’s Delia,” Virgil stated, a bit disapproving of his friends.

Something in the air shimmered and suddenly the fort didn’t look like it had been abandoned for centuries, not even a few decades. The exotic flowers were still plentiful but planted with more purpose. The garden was a bit overgrown but not as much as one would expect.

“Well. Welcome to Noctura manor, I guess,” Virgil announced.

[halloween4life]

The Orange Side is going to represent Impulsiveness and the rest of y'all are wrong: a thread

For obvious reasons the title of this post is a joke. But anyway, hi hello. I wanted to talk about my theory of what I think the Orange Side is gonna be! Now this post is going to be looong so for the sake of everyone it's going to be put under the cut.

Disclaimers that I want to get out of the way now: I have just recently re-entered the fandom and I haven't been into Sanders Sides in years. I'm not a Patreon supporter nor do I have Twitter so I lack any information that may have been revealed there. Also I am still in the process of rewatching the series. So as of now, I don't really have a complete understanding of the series. I apologize if I get anything wrong, and if any of this puts you off, totally valid.

Oh also, general spoilers for like, anything Sanders Sides related but specifically Working Through Intrusive Thoughts (if you still somehow have not watched it). Honestly I recommend watching it before reading this as a refresher, because most of this theory is based around/supported by that video. It's like, really the only foundation for this theory as I don't really delve much into the other episodes.

First things first, I am going to lay down some rules on what the Orange Side could represent:

1) The concept needs to in some way be the "opposite" of logic. Realistically this doesn't have to be the case in the series, but based on how the other Dark Sides function, it makes the most sense for now.

2) The concept needs to be generally considered negative for them to be considered a Dark Side.

3) Whatever they represent needs to REALISTICALLY make sense as an aspect of C! Thomas' identity. I think a lot of people forget that the Sides are that, Sides of a whole person. So I tried my best to make that work.

Now, with that out of the way,,,I'm going to "debunk" some theories first. Yes sorry there is a lot of set up to this theory, but I feel like it's important. Also, reminder, if you believe in either of the theories I am going to debunk, that is TOTALLY 100% VALID! I'm just going to discuss why I don't think they work, so this is all just my opinion!

Theory 1: The Orange Side represents Rage

I'm pretty sure this is the most popular theory right now, and I know a lot of people also disagree with it. I think this one mostly came about because our only real evidence of the Orange Side is through Logan's anger fueled outbursts in WTIT and Learning New Things About Ourselves. While I definitely understand this line of thinking, I don't think it's right.

First and foremost, it breaks the third rule set up earlier. Again, all these characters are facets of Thomas' personality. And from what we've seen of him, it just doesn't make sense with his personality. Now, again, this could obviously be different in the series, we could learn that this is actually his rage and he's just been repressing it, but I doubt that'll be the case. (Also I feel like this could break the first rule but I don't know how to explain why).

Secondly, and I just think that rage in and of itself is just, way too specific of a concept to be represented by a side. This kinda works in tandem with the first point, since again, it just doesn't seem that large of an aspect of Thomas that it would be represented by its own side. As well, all the other sides represent either much larger concepts or multiple at a time. For instance, Logan, Patton, and Roman represent logic, morality, and (good) creativity respectively. While Virgil and Janus do represent anxiety and deceit, those titles are rather reductive, as they also represent vigilance and self-preservation respectively. (Really I think we need to talk more about the fact that Janus is canonically Thomas' self-preservation but is really only viewed as "deceit"). Remus is a fun case as although he is viewed as "intrusive thoughts", he as a whole represents the bad side of creativity. TLDR: Rage is too specific a concept to be its own side.

Theory 2: The Orange Side Represents Emotion

Okay I'm going to be honest, I've only seen one person on here with this theory (and for the life of me I can't remember their name). But I just want to say that if you are reading this, this isn't me calling you out or anything (honestly I really agreed with your theory until I came up with this one). If I remember correctly, this theory is more built on the Orange Side being an opposite to logic, and how emotions tend to cloud logic, similar to the reasoning for rage.

I think this theory most obviously breaks rule 2. Now emotions as a whole do have the capacity to be bad, I think the concept of just emotion is not generally considered bad. Definitely not enough for it to be considered along with the Dark Sides. It's simply too big of a concept to be either "good" or "bad".

On that subject, I think this theory has a similar issue to the rage theory, but in the opposite direction. While rage was too specific, emotions are waaay too broad to just be one singular side. Especially given that all of the current sides have some sway over Thomas' emotions. And it's also possible that this side would be considered too close to Patton. While yes, it is not explicitly stated that he is in charge of Thomas' emotions, he definitely has the most sway over them. Ultimately, I think this theory is just too vague to work.

Okay, now with that all out of the way, let's get into my actual theory. So,

Why do I think the Orange Side will represent Impulsiveness?

I'm going to start this off by comparing my claims to the rules I made up. Because tbh, that's how I came to the conclusion in the first place before I started finding evidence to support it (but isn't that how all good hypotheses work?)

1) Does impulsiveness act as a counter to logic?

According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, Impulsive is defined as "prone to sudden illogical changes of mind, ideas, or actions". Now I was gonna go on a big explanation of how they are opposites but it literally says illogical in the definition. So uh, yayy 🎉🎉🎉

2) Is impulsiveness seen as a negative thing?

Now, truthfully there is no way for me to prove that impulsiveness is either "good" or "bad". That being said, I feel like a lot of people generally view impulsiveness as a bad thing. While in small amounts it can be seen as good and fun, the more frequently you engage in impulsive behaviors, the more destructive it can become. Often leading to bad decision making, i.e. avoiding work, making big financial decisions without much thought, and generally just doing what you want over what may be important.

3) Does this fit within Thomas' personality?

Yes. It has been shown time and time again that Thomas has an issue with his impulsive behaviors. Oftentimes manifesting in him avoiding chores and general self-care in favor of doing something easy or entertaining. The most clear example of this being the video "Growing Up." While yes, most of these decisions are made due to Patton, it's not entirely uncommon for the sides to be affected or swayed by the others. (Also if I'm being honest, I don't think it entirely fair to analyze the earlier episodes with the same critical lens as the later ones, it's definitely not fair to Thomas (the real Thomas) to criticize the early episodes for not perfectly aligning with later lore).

Now, finally, we can get into some evidence to support all these claims I'm making. First things first, as of right now Logan and the Orange Side are one in the same. We haven't been given any proof that they are at least physically different beings (unless you want to count the orange eyes in the Sanders Sides anime intro parody). So all of our evidence is just Logan acting really out of character. So, where does Logan act impulsively?

Our first major incident of this (I'm pretty sure) is in the episode "Learning New Things About Ourselves", specifically the scene where Roman essentially pisses him off so much that he throw's a crumpled up note card at him. Most important is his reaction afterwards, being shocked at himself.

He was basically pushed so far that he reacted without thinking (impulsively some may say? ok I'll stop, I'm sorry). Which, obviously, is EXTREMELY out of character for him. He is logic, he is supposed to think first before he acts, go through possible scenarios and decide the most favorable outcome. Yet, here he loses all control.

Our next example is less of Logan acting impulsive and more so how I believe his actions are affecting Thomas. In the episode "Working Through Intrusive Thoughts", Thomas basically spends the whole time being tormented by Remus because he can't keep his mind off of the risky text he sent Nico (I'm aroace but I'm gonna assume valid? So real?). While Logan is simultaneously trying to keep Thomas on schedule, accommodate his struggles, and accommodate Remus' actions as part of Thomas' identity. Basically, it's a lot, and when he's finally at his limit, well

Yeahhhh, a certain something makes itself known. And while Logan doesn't act particularly irrationally or impulsively in this moment (literally all he does is yell at Remus), it is what Thomas does after this outbreak that I find interesting. As immediately afterward he gets a call from Nico, inviting him out. And given the choice between what he has planned to do and needs to get done for the day, vs spending the day with Nico?

He decides suddenly to just drop everything he is doing for Nico. A rather impulsive decision if you ask me. And while yes, technically none of what Thomas was doing needed to get done that day (it was mostly chores), it was part of a plan and he promised himself to stick to it. Logan doesn't react well to any of this, both his own outburst and Thomas deciding to just leave him behind like it's nothing. And I don't think it's gonna spell anything good in the future for Logan and the rest of the gang.

So, where does that leave us now?

Well, moving a bit on to what I think is going to happen next. Obviously things are going to get worse before they get better. Logan will fall more and more into impulsive behaviors, which will only become more destructive for Thomas. As well, I think (hope, pray) that there will be some sort of team up between Logan and Remus. They're the only sides who I think could "properly" get along (I know that Janus and Remus have some sort of friendship, but it can only work so well as Janus being self-preservation can only really run counter to Remus' intrusive thoughts). Most likely they will feed into each other in a horrible cycle of "I can make him worse." I don't think that would be either of their genuine intentions, as I don't like labeling the Dark Sides and "bad", but I definitely don't think they would be good for each other. I do also think this will come about because Remus either knows or understands something about Logan that the others don't, not even Janus. As well I do hope that Logan and the Orange Side are one in the same somehow, and not just Logan being influenced.

Anyway, sorry for the insanely long post and sorry if it started to devolve towards the end. I am quite literally writing this on no hours of sleep, so give me a bit of grace. Also, another sorry if I have gotten anything wrong or if I have missed something. It has been very long since I've engaged with Sanders Sides, but I'm trying my best. Anyway, thank you for coming to my ted-talk, I hope Logan gets to commit murder in the next episode.

[dukeyeatsdeodorant]

The sides being kidnapped :)

Remus, in a flirty tone: Oh no~ Please don't hurt me mister~

Kidnapper: Don't worry. I'm not going to touch you.

Remus, pouting:...Why not?

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

Roman: You know, some people can pull off wearing all black, you are not one of those people.

Kidnapper: Shut your mouth, you know I could kill you right?

Roman: Right, you're already burning my eyes with your terrible fashion sense. How much is my ransom by the way?

Kidnapper: One thousand dollars.

Roman: Seriously? ONE thousand? I am worth WAY MORE than that! Make it a billion!!

Kidnapper:

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

Logan: This is an extremely stupid decision.

Kidnapper: What?

Logan: Kidnapping me. Why even bother?

Kidnapper: I need the money. Now Quiet.

Logan: Surely there's other ways of income that you know, doesn't involve illegal activity? Like, I don't know. Gaining employment?

Kidnapper: Its not that easy.

Logan: It is. You could take up freelancing, start a youtube channel, sell items you no longer need- *continues to list off ways to earn money*

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

Patton: So, do you have any family?

Kidnapper: Yeah. My mom.

Patton: Ooh! How is she?

Kidnapper: I..I don't know..I haven't called her in months..

Patton: Oh no!

Kidnapper, starting to cry: Y-Yeah..I never noticed how much I missed her..

Patton, had untied himself earlier, walks over to comfort him: Awe, yeah I bet you do!

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

Virgil, panicked silence, staring at him:

Kidnapper:..What?

Virgil, still staring, intensely:

Kidnapper, feeling intimidated: Why are you looking me like that?

Virgil:

Kidnapper:

Virgil:

Kidnapper, untying Virgil:..I'll let you go, you're too creepy man.

Virgil, slowly getting up, he walks up to the Kidnapper and pats him on the shoulder: You're a baby.

Kidnapper:....Yeah.

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

Janus, leaning back, he's untied already: Do you have daddy issues?

Kidnapper: What-

Janus: I can tell you have daddy issues.

Kidnapper: I don't have daddy issues!

Janus, looking him up and down: Right.

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

[sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes]

snakes and octopi give the best snuggles

Word count: 2,727 (wow, satisfying!)

Warnings: nightmares, brief descriptions of violence and gore, brief descriptions of kidnapping, spoilers for the movie Martyrs (2008), cursing, could be interpreted as u!Patton but he's more just young and foolish

Relationships: dark side family, focus on platonic anxceit and platonic dukexiety, no romantic ships

Characters: Virgil, Janus, Remus, Orange Side, Roman (mentioned), Patton (mentioned), c!Thomas (mentioned), Logan (mentioned)

The first Sanders Sides fanfiction I've finished writing in nearly 4 years!!! Woohoo!

Note: part of this is inspired by the beginning of Alice In Wonderland (2010)

“I really don't see why that's such a big deal.”

A snake crossed his arms from where he leaned against the counter. A hot-blooded short fuse paced across the living room carpet.

“You should be able to! He thinks he's so high and mighty, trying to take as much creative control as he can for himself! It's absurd!”

“On the other hand, giving too much control to You-Know-Who could be disastrous.”

“Good! Maybe those three need a wake up call, Janus! They get to sit on their fucking diamond-encrusted thrones all day while we rot in this putrid basement!”

Janus stood up straight, letting his muscles tighten slightly, “my job is Self Preservation, and the best way to keep our Centre’s mental health at its prime right now is to let them walk all over us.”

The other side narrowed his eyes, “and what's that going to do in the long run, huh? Make their high horses’ legs even longer?” he stomped over to the deceitful side, poking his chest, ”shove their heads even higher up their own asses?!”

“What it'll do in the long run,” Janus clenched his fist, “is for us to begin influencing Thomas when he's at a less busy stage in his life. Intrusive thoughts and dark creativity aren't good for adulting, Wrath. Be reasonable.”

“I'll show you how to be reasonable-”

“Guys?”

Orange and Yellow both shrieked at the small voice, whipping around to see Gray looking at them through the bannister, blanket pulled around his shoulders and his hair a mess.

“God, we need some sort of alarm for when you pop up…”

Janus glared at Wrath and turned to look at the youngest side, his expression softening.

“Another nightmare?”

Anxiety nodded.

“Come on then,” Janus took the boy's hand and led him back up the stairs, but only after calling a quick “you're burning up!” over his shoulder, and Wrath immediately ran to get himself some ice water.

Janus sat at the boy’s bedside, silently watching as he pulled the covers up to just under his eyes and laid back to rest his head on the pillow.

“Come on then,” he reached onto the floor and grabbed Anxiety’s favourite bat plushie, passing it to him, “tell me what happened.”

The small side hugged the toy as tight as his little arms would let him as he began to recall the events of his night terror.

“I-I was on a stage, in front of millions of people… we were performing some sort of comedy.”

“We?” Janus chimed in, “who else was there?”

Anxiety paused for a second and grimaced as he focussed on the memory, “well there's Thomas, a-and… the light sides.”

Deceit made a rumbling sound of acknowledgement in the back of his throat, hand gripping the bed sheets.

“And… they hate me,” he pressed the bat plushie to his face, “s-so much. They say I'm bad, a pest mist.”

“Pessimist,” Janus gently corrected, though his thoughts were somewhere else entirely.

“Yeah, that… and…” Anxiety’s trembles grew, “and…”

Janus shushed him softly, “hey, hey,” he opened up his arms, an invitation, “it's alright, spiderling. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.”

The child shook his head and crawled into the hug, breathing out as strong yet gentle arms enveloped him.

“No, no, I-... I wanna.”

The elder side nodded.

“I, um, so I tried to fix the problem by quitting the show, throwing in the towel, all of that…”

“Yeah?”

“But t-that made them even more mad. They chased after me, broke into my room,” Anxiety tightened his grip on Janus’ shirt as more tears welled up in his eyes, “they took me away from you, and w-wouldn’t let me see you ever again!”

Janus swallowed.

“Impossible,” he whispered, “they would never be able to keep us away from you, my dear. We'd tear down every wall in the Mind Palace to get you back.”

The child went still, his breath catching in his throat.

“Virgil?”

Silence.

“I know you’re awake, sootywing.”

“You’re gonna be mad…”

“You don't have to hide anything from me, honey. It's just a dream.”

“W-well…” he swallowed, “in the dream y-you did try to get me back at first. But then…” fresh tears messed up his eyeshadow even more, “then you said that things were better here without me, that- that-”

Janus stopped resisting his urges, allowing his other 2 pairs of arms to wrap around the small side.

“Never,” he hissed fiercely, rubbing Virgil's back and holding his face in his hand, “you could never make things worse, my little raccoon.”

“They said the opposite,” the other whispered, voice still shaking but less so now that he was in one of Janus’ super-special-super-rare hugs, “that I just make Thomas's days worse, that I'm a burden on him that needs to be controlled, that-”

“-is absolutely not true,” Janus finished for him.

“Is it though?”

Janus frowned.

“I-in the dream,” Virgil continued, “after you guys left me with them for a while, I s-started to get used to being with them a-and eventually,” he hiccuped, voice thick with guilt, “I was happy with them.”

“Sweetheart…”

“I'm sorry!” Anxiety sobbed into his chest, “I don't know why it happened, I-”

Janus laid Virgil back into his bed, tucking him in with his bat plushie and gently wiping away his tears.

“That was just Stockholm Syndrome, honey.”

Virgil tilted his head to the side in confusion, and Janus melted a little at the pure objective cuteness of the small action. This kid wasn't just his spiderling, his black kitten, his baby bat, his raven, the Dark Mindscape’s little hidden butterfly, their raccoon… he was now his little black lab puppy too.

“It's when a hostage sympathises with their captor,” Janus explained, “It happens often. And remember, this was all a dream, it doesn't mean you would actually feel that way if it happened.”

The kid nodded and took a few deep breaths, blinking slowly before looking back up at the older side.

“D-do you think I'm bad?”

“Oh, darling,” Janus leaned down to press a kiss to his kid’s forehead, “we're all bad here.”

Virgil leaned up to trace his little fingers along Janus’ scales, and Janus gently took his hand in his own and kissed it too. Virgil smiled a little at that, and the sight was enough to fill Janus’ heart with joy for weeks.

“Well,” he mumbled under his breath as he pulled away, “that's what Morality thinks.”

“What was he like? Before the split?” Virgil heard him anyway. Janus forgot the kid had near-superhuman hearing.

Janus leaned back and thought for a moment, “at one point, we were very close. Back before he decided that lying is never good,” he frowned slightly, “we used to… bake cookies together, things like that.”

“Could we do that?” Virgil piped up, “bake cookies? It sounds fun.”

The yellow one smiled, “of course, hun. Just make sure Duke doesn't try to put glass shards in the batter.”

“Or Wrath with the hottest hot sauce?”

“Yes, that too.”

Janus looked around the room absentmindedly, eyes eventually locking onto the terrarium containing his baby’s baby tarantula.

“You know, if those light sides are ever mean to you, you could start feeding Charlotte fatter worms.”

“Why?”

“Because. She'll get bigger, and bigger, until one day she looks like Shelob…”

The snake side leaned down so that his face was inches from Virgil's, and smirked.

“...and you can set her after them to gobble them up!” Janus scuttled the fingers of all six of his hands along the boy’s sides, mimicking the movement of a spider’s legs, making the child shriek with laughter.

“Hahahahaha! Stop! S-stop! Janus!” He gasped out between giggles.

Janus eventually let him go (though only after having thoroughly enjoyed the angelic sound of his kid’s unbridled laughter) and sat back up, looking down at the little jumping spider with a smile he would never let anyone else see.

“Do you feel better now?”

“Mhm,” he nodded, “thanks, J.”

“It's my pleasure,” he murmured, reaching out to cup Virgil's face for a moment, green and purple eyes meeting yellow and brown ones, before standing up and walking towards the door.

Right as he opened it, Virgil called out to him again.

“Janus?”

“Hm?”

“I love you.”

He melted even further at that.

“And I you,” Janus breathed out, voice and face full of fondness, “more than you'll ever know.”

Virgil's eyes shone along with his smile, and Janus took in the sight for a moment before switching off the light.

“Try and get some more sleep, hopefully with dreams full of fluffy spiders.”

“Night, Jan.”

He shut the door gently.

As his door shut, Virgil's room was cut off from the light in the hallway and plunged into pitch darkness. While he didn't mind this at all, he wasn't the slightest bit tired anymore, and it was hard to read books in the dark.

He reached behind his pillow and grabbed his trusty flashlight, fiddling around in the darkness until he found the ‘on’ button.

When he finally turned it on, the first thing he saw was a mad face inches from his own.

“Hey Virgie.”

Said side immediately screeched and whacked the intruder on the head with the torch, already hyperventilating.

“Remus, oh my God!” he shrieked, “I thought you left here when I fell asleep last night!”

Having already recovered from the blow, the Duke sat up and shook his head, specks of blood splattering on the bed sheets and walls.

“Nope! I've been here all night pretty much!”

“What? Where?!”

“Well,” he suddenly turned shy, ”you know how you've been having problems with that monster under your bed?”

“Of course,” Virgil groaned.

“I know, I know, but listen to this! There's a portal under your bed that leads to my room!”

“You can come in here when my door is locked?! When I don't want you to?!”

“Well, not anymore. Now that you know it's there you can lock it whenever.”

“Oh,” Anxiety breathed out and nodded, “that's okay I guess.”

“So!” Remus started, “while you were asleep I portaled to my room to get some stuff and…”

The Duke reached behind his back and pulled out a DVD case, shoving it right in Virgil's face.

Virgil read the title on the front of the case and gasped, “Martyrs? Remus-”

“I know! I was able to get a copy dubbed in English too! The movie just came out so I think it's a great find!”

“But-”

“And, like, Virgie, I know you can speak French for some reason and all but frankly the language sucks and I want to focus on the gore instead of the subtitles.”

“Remus, it's an 18+ movie!”

“Yeah!” He grinned manically, “you're 8, I'm a teen, and there's a plus because it's premium, just for us! Come on, let's watch it! I know you're wide awake after that nightmare.”

“Oh!” Virgil bellowed, “so you were here when that happened and you did nothing! Great! Thanks! You're such a good big brother!”

“I didn't wanna make it worse!”

“And why would that happen?”

“You were sleep-talking.”

“...Oh.”

“Mhm.”

There was a moment of tense silence.

“Any-fuckin’-way,” Remus hopped up from the bed and turned on the TV on Virgil's dresser, “Martyrs time!”

They were both sitting on the floor, Remus hugging Virgil from behind with his chin resting on his head.

“Jan and Wrath were talking about you when I went down.”

*Really?” Remus mumbled as he continued to stare at the screen, watching in awe and admiration as Lucie shot each member of the family who tortured her.

“Mhm,” Virgil nodded, “something about creative control.”

Remus froze as he processed the words, scrambling to pause the movie before staring down at his friend, “what did they say?”

“Uhh,” Virgil’s mind blanked for a second as he continued to look at the screen, which had been paused on a frame of the dead daughter, “someone trying to take it away from you?”

Remus stayed silent.

“And then they called you Dark Creativity?”

“I-” he stuttered.

“And then they said there were 3 light sides instead of 2-”

Remus pushed the words out as quickly as possible before Virgil could interrupt him again, “I’monlyhalfofCreativityandtheotherhalfismybrother.”

Virgil stared at him blankly as his brain slowly dissected the jumble of words just thrown at him.

“You're… not all of Creativity?”

Remus shook his head, not wanting to speak for one of the only times in his life.

“...How?”

“Well… the reason we're all split into light and dark is because the original Creativity split first. When Thomas was around your age he got too Christian and decided all the fun stuff was bad so it was forced out and voila! It made yours truly. And then Morality decided to split all of us off.”

“Why?!”

“I dunno, for funsies I guess.”

“Huh… So is your brother the one trying to take more creative control?”

“Eugh, probably.”

“Don't like him then, I'm guessing?”

“He's the worst!��� Remus hollered, “all glitter and ponies and magic godmothers! The only ones who die on his side of the Imagination are villains!”

Virgil gasped, “is that why I'm not allowed in the Imagination alone?!”

“Yeah, but don't go snooping around now that you know that! And don't let Wrath or Janus know that you know about my twin!”

“Why?”

“They wanted to wait til you were older so you would understand. The split is behind us, Virgie. It's the past. And you came after it. You being a dark side from the moment you formed was the start of our perfect family. You don't need to dwell on something you didn't exist to see.”

“Okay,” Virgil nodded and then giggled, “way to bash the entire subject of History there.”

“If you learn from it you can't repeat the best bits!”

Virgil laughed and relaxed into his friend's hold as he unpaused the film.

Both of them stared at the screen as the credits rolled.

“Keep doubting…” Remus echoed.

Virgil hummed in thought, “what afterlife would make someone want to go to it, but for others to not know what it is?”

“Maybe if there's none at all?”

“But then why would she want to stop living?”

“Because she knows all the work she's done torturing people til their last breath was for nothing, and that life really has no meaning at all?”

“No afterlife is boring though, Remus. Surely you agree?” Virgil turned to look back up at him, “wouldn't you want it to be some sort of Lovecraftian hell?”

“Oh, I would love that, you know I would. But, y'know,” the Duke sighed, “Occam's razor gotta cut us out of our skin and bleed us out until we're dried skin suits and a pile of bones.”

“Eugh.”

“Yum.”

“Ew!”

They both giggled. Virgil shifted until his back was pressing into Remus’ chest and he closed his eyes with a content sigh. Watching the goriest movie ever made with his insane best friend really tired him out.

Remus crossed his legs to wrap them around Virgil and tightened his hold. A surge of violent protectiveness coursed through his veins as he thought back to the conversation between him and Janus he had eavesdropped on.

“Hey, salticidae?”

“Hm?”

“If those light sides ever do try to Beauty And The Beast ya or some shit, you can call me to come and help you through the portal!”

“...Oh!” Virgil’s eyes lit up, “that's a great idea! As long as you bring some weapons with you.”

“For you,” Remus grinned, “I’d bring only my best.”

When Janus and Wrath recovered from their screaming match and went to check on the youngest, they were met with a sight that was immediately placed into the family photobook.

Virgil was curled up into a ball while hugging his bat plushie close to his chest, letting out tiny high pitched snores. Remus was wrapped around him with all 4 limbs plus his tentacles, letting out much bigger, grosser snores.

Ironically, being cuddled by the embodiment of intrusive thoughts was a great way to get rid of nightmares.

And, for nearly a decade, everything was perfect for the little dark family.

Until, like the twisted shadow of a Disney Princess, Virgil's dream came true.

[sanderssidesplaylist]

[Verse 1] Tell me again about how it hurts Being awfully loud for an introvert Get out of my room, smile wiped clean Isn't it weird to be so mean?

[Pre-Chorus] I'm guessing that I've grown horns I guess I'm human no more I can tell I've rotted in your brain Oh, how easily passion twists You think I'm a crazy bitch I craft my words to fit your head 'Cause no one listens to the dead

[Chorus] So maybe I will talk to you The only way I know how to Mhm, I've said my speech Mhm, through sharpened teeth You break the rules and spikes grow from your skin Please let the devil in

[Verse 2] A meter apart, we blankly stare We shout in our heads, "Are you still in there?" Well, this ends bad then, we knew it would So we won't eat our words, 'cause they don't taste good

[Pre-Chorus] I'm guessing that I've grown horns I guess I'm human no more I can tell I've rotted in your brain Oh, how easily passion twists You think I'm a crazy bitch A thousand words are left unsaid 'Cause no one listens to the dead

[Chorus] So maybe I will talk to you The only way I know how to Mhm, I've said my speech Mhm, through sharpened teeth You break the rules and spikes grow from your skin Oh, I think it might be worth a try Oh, am I ready to let this die? Mhm, a monster's here Mhm, you plug your ears But hey, you might just listen to it sing Please let the devil in

[Refrain] You've said your speech We won't eat our words Through sharpened teeth You've said your speech They don't taste so good Through sharpened teeth You've said your speech We won't eat our words Through sharpened teeth You've said your speech They don't taste so good Through sharpened teeth

[Bridge] Look, we know that I've seen this before High and mighty, at the top of your list Adoring every move, now my rank is sinking But we're both guilty of black or white thinking And through my red eyes, you look pale All of your scars are looking more like scales Two ugly creatures, two sinister preachers Blind to the past, like a couple of monsters Just a couple of monsters

[Chorus] So maybe I will talk to you The only way I know how to Mhm, you've said your speech Mhm, through sharpened teeth You break the rules and spikes grow from your skin Oh, I think it might be worth a try Oh, am I ready to let this die? Mhm, a monster's here Mhm, you plug your ears But hey, you might just listen to it soon Please let the devil in

[Refrain] We won't eat our words They don't taste so good We won't eat our words They don't taste so good

[nb-octopus-writes]

once you’re in the hive, the other bees assume you’re supposed to be there

[Masterpost]

Chapter 8: One Could Get Used to This

Wordcount: 1.5K

~~~~

No-one comes to drag Virgil out of bed. He wakes on his own the next morning and for a few moments contemplates getting out of bed, but then he rolls over and goes back to sleep. It’s his day off, he doesn’t have any plans, and he is cozy.

He wakes again around noon, and wanders downstairs. There’s no-one in the sitting room, but he finds Patton in the dining room, curled up in the armchair with a book.

“Good morning!” Patton greets cheerfully. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah,” Virgil says. “You?”

Patton’s eyes crinkle up in a pleased smile. “I did, yes, thank you,” he says. 

Virgil fidgets, just a little, and he glances back toward the door. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Hm,” Patton says thoughtfully, tapping the book against his chin. “Logan’s in his office, and last I saw him, Roman was still asleep, poor dear.” He chuckles. “You two sure were up real late last night. And Remus and Janus aren’t here right now, but they were going to come to dinner, so they should be arriving in a few hours.” He pauses, thinking. “I don’t think anyone else was planning to be here today, but I might have forgotten something, or they might’ve forgotten to mention it. That happens sometimes.”

“Must make meal planning difficult,” Virgil says.

“It can,” Patton agrees. “But I like to make sure we have plenty of leftovers anyway, so a surprise guest or two isn’t very hard to accommodate.” He smiles gently at Virgil. “Are you hungry? Would you like some breakfast?”

“If you’re offering,” Virgil says, because they have been incredibly hospitable to him so far, but he doesn’t want to presume anything.

“Oh of course,” Patton says, setting his book down. “I hate to leave anyone hungry when there’s food in the house. What would you like? Are you in the mood for a breakfast breakfast, or something more lunchy?”

Virgil hesitates. “I don’t want to make you cook something just for me,” he says.

“Oh, it’s no trouble!” Patton reassures him. “I like cooking. But we do have leftovers in the fridge if you would like something quicker.”

Virgil nods a little. “What are my options?”

“Well, we’ve still got plenty of what we had last night, of course,” Patton says consideringly, getting up and heading towards the kitchen. Virgil follows. “And I made a fresh batch of boiled eggs this morning.” He opens the fridge and peers inside, then waves Virgil over. “Take a look, anything look appetizing?”

Virgil joins Patton in front of the fridge and looks inside. ‘Plenty of leftovers’ may have been an understatement. The fridge is quite full, mostly of containers. There’s no way Virgil can possibly see all the options without taking most of the contents out to see what’s behind them, and he is not about to do that.

Trying to be quick, Virgil scans the food visible through the sides of the containers. He sees white rice, mixed vegetables, something brown that’s probably gravy, mashed potatoes, a couple drumsticks… 

He knows, reasonably, that everything in this fridge is probably very good. He is also sure that if he was sat down and served any of these choices, he would eat it without complaint and be pleased with it. But just now, looking at the leftover containers, his stomach and taste buds rebel, and nothing looks appealing. 

“I don’t know,” Virgil says. It’s not that he isn’t hungry. His stomach is very helpfully informing him that it is currently empty. It is just also telling him, simultaneously, that there isn’t a single food in the entire world that will satisfy, and unfortunately it has annexed his tongue to its side. His brain, meanwhile, is yelling that he’s taking too long to decide, and he needs to hurry up and pick something before Patton gets upset at him for letting all the cold out of the fridge.

Patton makes a sympathetic sound. “Too many options to choose between?” he says softly. “Would you like me to prepare you a plate?”

Virgil’s very bones go limp. “Yes please,” he says weakly, glad to have the decision taken out of his hands.

Patton rests his hand gently on Virgil’s arm. “Why don’t you go wait in the comfy chair, and I’ll bring you some food in a minute,” he suggests gently.

“Okay,” Virgil says, and goes. Just as he settles, Patton appears in the doorway again with an empty plate in his hands.

“You don’t have any dietary restrictions, do you?” he asks. “I know it’s a bit late to be asking, but…”

“No, I’ll eat anything,” Virgil says, fondness rising in his chest. “Thanks for checking.”

“You’re welcome,” Patton says, and goes back into the kitchen. He returns a few minutes later, the plate now laden with a large slice of lasagna. “Do you want to come eat at the table, or over there?” he asks.

“Table, definitely,” Virgil says, moving. Much less risk of spilling red tomato sauce on their furniture that way, plus he’d rather not try to balance a hot plate on his lap right now. He sits, and Patton places the plate in front of him. Virgil’s eyes go wide. In addition to the lasagna, there’s a slice of home-baked bread with butter and jam, and a small heap of peas and corn. “Just how big do you think my appetite is?”

Patton chuckles. “Sorry,” he says. “Force of habit. Roman would clean that plate and then ask for seconds, especially after sleeping through breakfast.”

“I can believe it,” Virgil says with a laugh.

Patton pats his shoulder, then moves away. “If it’s too much, we can put some of it back,” he says as he reclaims the armchair. “You don’t have to eat all of it.”

He’s certainly going to give it his best go, Virgil’s stomach informs him seriously. His tongue agrees.

Virgil starts with a large bite of bread. It’s no longer fresh-baked, but Patton had re-warmed it. Toasted, maybe? There’s a bit of crunch to it, though it’s still pleasantly soft, not hard as a rock like most toast.

Roman makes an appearance when Virgil’s about halfway through his meal, wearing only a white tank top and a pair of red shorts. Virgil isn’t sure if they’re loose boxer shorts or thin actual shorts, but he’s not about to stare at Roman’s crotch and/or ass long enough to figure it out, and he’s certainly not about to ask.

Probably they’re actual shorts. Roman has so far struck him as having somewhat more decorum than Remus, and probably wouldn’t walk around in just his underwear with a random person in his house.

Probably.

“Ooh, that looks delicious, I want some of that, is there more?” Roman says in greeting, completely oblivious to Virgil’s inner musings.

“There’s one piece of lasagna left, and plenty of the rest,” Patton tells him, and Roman strides into the kitchen.

He returns after a few minutes with a lunch identical to Virgil’s, except that the heap of vegetables is taller, and he has a second, already half-eaten slice of bread in his hand. Also his jam is a different color. Roman plonks himself down in the chair diagonally adjacent to Virgil and grins at him. “Good morning,” he says cheerfully. “I see you did not flee into the night like Cinderella.”

“If I was going to turn into a pumpkin at midnight, it would have happened well before Patton came to tell us to go to bed,” Virgil points out.

“True,” Roman agrees. He turns and points his fork at Patton. “Patty Cake, if he ever turns into a pumpkin, don’t bake him into a pie,” he says.

Patton laughs. “How many times must I promise not to eat him?” he asks.

“Once more, it seems,” Virgil says. “For what it’s worth, I believed you the first time.”

Patton’s eyes twinkle. “I appreciate that.”

“Did you sleep well?” Roman asks Virgil. Virgil nods. As if he could have slept poorly, in that bed. And it was certainly nice to get to sleep in late. “Good, good. After breakfast, do you wanna watch more tv?”

Virgil laughs. “You’re insatiable,” he says.

“We left off on a cliffhanger!” Roman defends. “And I, for one, was thoroughly enjoying myself up until the point at which we were reminded of the cruel passage of time and the physical needs of our frail human bodies.”

“I was having fun too,” Virgil agrees. And, well, he doesn’t have any better plans for his afternoon off. It’ll be fun. He’ll just have to remember to actually bike home before it gets dark again.

“Excellent!” Roman says, clearly taking that as a yes, and tucks into his meal with gusto.

~~~~

Chapter 9: Come for the Bike, Stay for the Game Night

may have a brief break in my regularly scheduled chapter posting, as I've caught up to myself and am still writing chapter 9. So, we'll see if it's ready next week, but likely not.

[softbeanofexistentialcrisis]

things from the new asides ep that i dont see more of us talking about and im Insane over:

- Logan being the one to initiate this year's secret santa. why. /pos

- the implication that Remus and Janus have never been invited to one of these before

- "he's just chilling" "im chilling" "should we turn the heat up?!"

- "OH 𝓭𝓪𝓭𝓭𝔂" *chorus of acute disgust*

- Janus being brutally honest about the airfryer

- okay but mr fuzzy is incredibly cute. tell me im wrong.

- Logan: "is that all i am to you? the reading guy?" oh boy surely this isn't a statement for how he views himself now is it

- okay i know people DO talk about this but Remus's "does it make you want to scream" lives rent free in my head

- "this whole activity is to serve a higher purpose anyway" chat what does he mean i actually cannot tell what does this mean

- logan giving roman 20 dollars is so painfully logan i fully had to pause the video to stare at the wall for a minute over it. literally everyone behind tss are so fucking smart.

- LMAO VIRGIL GETTING ANGRY AT JANUS PISSING AT ROMAN prinxiety nation i know you're here in this room today

- also unrelated but all of patton's tiny gift wrappings are so pretty. where do you shop thomas

- he really replaced his entire gift. to give janus what he deserved. fucking hell roman stop being so valiant for one fucking minute /pos

- YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO ADD THE BEGRUDGINGLY BOY DAMN

- this is probably just me but come on can we stop giving patton just simple cards. like ik he likes them and he probably doesn't mind but come on its too easy.

- LOGAN MY BABY BOY. MY BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL CHILD MY ABSOLUTE FIRST BORN he's so happy im honna gry

- "good luck detective, you're gonna need it 😈" "oh virgil 😦" they're so dramatic why are they like this

- Janus being responsible for Thomas' poker face and he's not doing a great job at it

- LOGAN BEING THE ONE TO SAY "dont overthink it" LIKE THE. LIKE THE IMPLICATIONS. IM SO NORMALM

- NICO TIME god everyone's so pretty

- hmm i. i wonder what the message is. i wonder what the message is that we're supposed to getting from here. hnm.