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perlelune · 5 months

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no body, no crime | Coriolanus Snow | iii.

Your childhood friend returns from his exile in district 12, but he's not the sweet, quiet boy you once knew anymore.

Warnings: NON-CON, Plinth!Reader, Gaslighting, Drugging, Murder, Forced Marriage, Forced Pregnancy, Loss of Virginity, Somnophilia

This is a dark story. Heed warnings before reading under the cut.

𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙

After a few weeks, you’re forced to acknowledge you were wrong about Coriolanus.

His mere presence assuages your hurt, and none of his actions bear a hint of impropriety.

He’s simply being a friend, comforting you and supporting you in a time of need.

His visits grow more frequent.

You’re amazed he even finds time between the University and his apprenticeship with Dr. Gaul. Still, Coryo never misses tea time with you, sometimes even bringing books and sweets. You’re thankful for the time he spends doting on you, even if you hate keeping him from his studies. You know how eager to succeed he’s always been.

But you can’t deny you missed the feeling of having a brother, of having this person who cares for you, looks out for you and protects you unconditionally.

And while you’re aware Coriolanus isn’t your actual brother, having him besides you helps alleviate the weight of grief and loneliness. Being with him makes you feel closer to Janus. You’re also solaced by the knowledge it’s what your departed brother would have wanted.

There is one person however who isn’t too keen on the rekindled bond between you and Coriolanus Snow.

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with him,” William notes, tracing the lines in your palm.

You’re both lying on the couch in the sunroom, your back against William’s chest, fingers interlaced with his. Sunlight spills from the stained glass in the ceiling, painting your fiancé’s brown curls in bronze hues.

This is a moment of tranquility you’ve longed for, a sliver of calm amidst the storm and chaos wedding planning has turned out to be. You reckoned it’d be easier than it has been. Instead, it seems nothing ever goes right. Between incidents with the cake, your wedding dress somehow being lost by the store, and the venue perpetually being booked…you’ve grown disheartened and exhausted by the entire process.

It’s almost like some higher force is trying to prevent you marrying William. It’s ludicrous, of course. But the ceaseless string of bad luck is beginning to drain your hope that your wedding will happen before the year ends.

You and William even had to push back the date. There was no choice as hurdles kept emerging.

So you bask in your fiancé’s presence, soaking his warmth and familiar smell, reminding yourself why you’re going through so much trouble. Marrying William is worth it.

“Yeah. He’s my friend,” you state casually.

“Your friend. Baby…” There’s a brief pause during which William appears deep in thought. When he speaks again, it’s with a softer tone. “At the risk of sounding jealous, the way he’s looking at you…are you sure that he knows that?”

His words make you sit up straight.

“William,” you admonish, taken aback by his preposterous insinuation.

Coriolanus’ a gentleman. He hasn’t made any moves towards you and he wouldn’t. Sejanus trusted him and you trust him too.

Scratching the back of his neck, he sighs.

“I’m just saying. We’re getting married soon, and everything’s been so…tumultuous. I just want to make sure that you won’t…”

You search his forest gaze. Shock fills you at the doubts you find lurking there.

“That I won’t what?” You give a light punch to his chest. “Get cold feet? William, are you mad?”

His shoulders slump. “I know your parents wish I was from a great house like him.”

William looks away and you put your hands on his face, drawing his focus back to you.

“It doesn’t matter what my parents think. I love you.”

He smiles, that beautiful sunny smile that blows a warm breeze through your chest every time.

He grabs your hands and kisses them.

“I love you too, sweet girl.”

“William, you’re good and kind and caring. You’re all I’ve ever wanted.” You hold his eyes. “He’s just a friend, I promise you. You…You’re my future.”

William studies you, love and devotion illuminating his features. His lips then collide with yours. He nudges you down on the plush beige upholstery, humming low in his throat.

When his hands find their way below your skirt, you push against his chest.

He immediately stops.

Your hot, rapid exhales mingle as you steady your breath.

“You know I’d rather we wait for our wedding night,” you mutter apologetically. It’s not the first time things got hot and heavy between you and William and you slowed them down. You know how frustrating it has to be for him and you commend his patience. “ I know it’s old-fashioned but I…”

He quiets you with a tender kiss on the forehead.

“No, it’s okay,” he says, holding hands with you. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I got carried away.” Pink dusts his cheeks as he adds, “You just smell so good and you’re so beautiful.”

A smile breaks across your face. “You’re not too bad yourself, pretty boy.”

He tilts his head and laughs.

“How am I supposed to keep my hands to myself when you talk to me like that?” He bites his lip, his lids dipping to half-mast. “Can I at least get another kiss?” he whispers suavely.

“Hm, we’ll see about that…” you mumble, closing your own eyes.

“Apologies, hope I’m not interrupting anything?”

Coriolanus’ sharp inflection shatters the spell, making you leap away from William.

Heat nestles in your cheeks as you rise to your feet, hastily smoothing the wrinkles in your dress. Your fiancé clears his throat and runs a hand through his tousled locks.

“No, we’re…William was leaving,” you stammer, struggling to meet Coriolanus’ stark blue gaze.

William’s brows squeeze together at that. But you shoot him a glare that pulls a deep sigh from him. He nods and pulls you to him one more time.

He kisses you but you note it lasts much longer than usual, his fingers curling around your waist possessively.

Embarrassment flares inside you that this is happening right in front of your friend.

When he releases you, you’re breathless.

“Coriolanus,” William greets stiffly as he brushes past the blond.

“William,”Coriolanus replies, his tone somehow icier.

Once your fiancé has left, a weary exhale floats from your mouth.

“I don’t understand why you two can’t just get along. You both matter to me.”

Coriolanus smirks. “Oh, princess. You wouldn’t understand.”

“What wouldn’t I understand?” you inquire, blinking up at him curiously.

His tight-lipped smile expands as he gauges you.

“Nothing.”

You scrunch your nose, displeased by his answer. He’s always so cryptic. A chuckle peels from his lips at your sour expression. His knuckles sweep over your cheek.

“There should never be a frown on such a pretty face.” He digs inside his satchel before retrieving a slim, leather-bound book. He places it in your hands as you gape at him, puzzled.

“Here, I brought you this. This will cheer you up.”

You examine the book. Surprise mingles with elation when you notice the words on the cover. The engraved letters spell out a familiar title. It’s one of your favorite books from when you were younger. It bewilders you that he even remembers. As if no time has passed.

“Oh my god! How did you…” An excited squeal leaves you. Then your voice lulls to a whisper. “It’s a first edition, Coryo.”

“It was printed and bound before the war,” he explains. “It wasn’t easy to dig up.”

Your brows rise. “An antique. You shouldn’t have.” You cradle the book against your chest. “You’re too good to me.”

His mouth quirks lopsidedly.

“Anything for you, princess.”

You both sit down for tea, cakes and macaroons. Time flies as you chat about everything and nothing with your friend. As always, you do most of the talking as he dutifully listens, only interjecting to ask you to elaborate on a particular point.

No matter what you jabber on about, his interest never appears to wane.

You eventually land on the matter of your wedding planning. You share all the troubles you and William have had and Coriolanus hums in response.

“I’m very sorry to hear that.” He sips from his cup of Earl Grey. “How…unfortunate.”

He then pauses, seeming to ponder something. “I have a proposition.”

Your brow arches in question.

“Clemmie is throwing a party tonight. Let me take you, get your mind off of all this.”

Your lips part. Clemensia? A party? None of it sounds enticing to you.

“I’m not sure…” you trail off, your eyes finding the floor.

“What better way to cheer you up than a party, princess?” Coriolanus’ voice mellows as he adds, “You can’t stay cooped up here forever.”

Words falter on your tongue as your eyes swell with unshed tears.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, concern oozing from his gentle tone.

You shake your head.

“You’re crying,” he insists, reaching over the table to lift your chin.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” he says sternly. “Talk to me.”

His unwavering inflection nudges you to admit, “I’m just scared.”

“What are you scared of, princess?”

You suck in a shaky breath.

“Every part of this house, every nook and cranny carries a memory I have with Janus.” You glance about the sunroom. Here alone you can count so many hiding spots from games you and your brother played when you were kids. “It’s easy, keeping him close here. It’s just that…”

“You’re scared to move on,” Coriolanus finishes for you. His thumb glides over your cheek, collecting a tear you didn’t realize had spilled over. “But you have to.”

“Sejanus wouldn’t want you to wilt away in this house like one of your roses.”

You mull over his words. You suppose he’s right but you’re still not convinced. Parties like the kind Clemensia is fond of hosting aren’t exactly your scene.

A lame excuse flows from your lips.

“I don’t even know what to wear.”

“Then I’ll choose for you,” he replies without hesitation.

“What?”

“Let’s go to your room.”

Before you can protest, he seizes your hand and drags you upstairs.

“Wait, Coryo…”

He ignores you, making his way to your room with brisk strides you can barely maintain pace with. Once he’s there, he rummages through your closet. You let him do it, half-skeptical, half-jaded. Most of these garments weren’t picked by you anyway, but by your mother based on whatever fashion trend raged in the Capitol at the time. And those trends change every other season. You since long gave up on trying to keep abreast of them.

“Hm, this one is perfect,” he announces, drawing a red number from the closet.

You gape at the dress he chose. It’s a slip satin dress the color of blood. The waist is cinched with a thin belt and the lace sleeves, adorned with embroidered flowers, flow elegantly.

It’s beautiful, radiating a timeless elegance…but the neckline is low, displaying more cleavage than you’re used to.

Your cheeks warm. “Are you sure?”

“Just trust me. Try it.”

Your eyes bulge but you relent, something about his tone curbing your impulse to argue. “Okay,” you quaver.

Trying not to squirm beneath his intense stare, you grab the dress from him and slip behind the wooden divider screen.

Chewing on your lip, you peek above the folding screen.

“Maybe you could…get out while I change?” you suggest while fumbling with the lace strings of your day dress.

Coriolanus casually sits on your bed, his crimson coat pooling around him. He leans back and spreads his large hands over your bed sheets. A small smile dances along his pink lips.

“I won’t look, I promise. Don’t you trust me, princess?”

“I do but…”

“But what?” he challenges, cocking his head in question.

Stumped, you come up short of a decent answer. “Nothing,” you mumble.

You shed your clothes quickly to try on the red dress. The whole time, you can feel the weight of Coriolanus’ unnerving scrutiny on the other side of the wooden screen.

He gives you a sluggish onceover when you step out from behind the screen. Your skin prickles as you shake.

“Hm nice, twirl for me.”

His blue eyes sparkle when you do as he says. He gets to his feet. He slowly strolls towards you.

Once he’s in front of you, he also arranges a few wisps of your hair in a way that he likes.

“Gorgeous,” he lauds when he’s done.

He tilts your chin up, his gaze corralling yours.

“See? All you have to do is to trust me, princess.” His deep voice dips to dulcet tones. “Just trust me and, I promise you, everything will work out exactly the way it’s supposed to.”

“You came,” Coriolanus points out, that signature smirk of his adorning his lips.

“I promised I would,” you defend.

He snorts. “I’m glad. Saves me the trouble of having to drag you here myself, princess.”

Nervous laughter peals from your lips at his strange joke and the intent way his eyes rest on you. For a while, he doesn’t say anything, drinking in the sight of you in the crimson dress. The very same one he picked himself.

He then loops your arm around his, bending near your ear to whisper,

“Let's re-introduce you to everyone.”

You look around yourself, curious as you’ve never been to Clemensia’s house. The atmosphere is more intimate than you expected. The only source of dim light in the Dovecote’s sumptuous living room emanates from candelabras scattered all about, the wobbly candlelight casting twisting shadows over the damask walls. The crackle of the logs burning in the gigantic fireplace mingles with the soft piano tune filling the living room.

“Coriolanus, did you bring a ghost to my party?” Clemensia jests when she sees you. Her expression then turns serious as she studies you. To your utter surprise, she wraps her arms around you and hugs you. You freeze, too stunned to return the gesture. The two of you were never close, the opposite in fact. It all stemmed from the way she and her friends ostracized you and your brother in school. Maybe it’s all water under the bridge now that you’re older. “Oh, you poor thing,” she laments. “I’m here for whatever you need, okay?”

You nod stiffly. “O-Okay.”

Coriolanus hardly conceals his amusement at the interaction, mirth swaying in his cobalt orbs.

He and Clemensia keep introducing you to people. Some you recognize; some you don’t.

It makes you realize how much you missed.

After a while, faces blend into each other. You end up nodding and smiling to most of the small talk, your attention span dwindling by the minute.

Eventually, you decide to retreat to the bar to take a break. The barkeep nudges a drink your way and you thank him quietly. You swirl it in your hand, your thoughts drifting. Maybe this is what a return to normalcy must feel like. Slightly strange and overwhelming.

You gasp as Coriolanus appears at your side. “Are you alright, princess? Too much?”

Your startled reaction draws a chuckle from him.

A slow exhale drops from your chest.

“A little,” you confess. “But…I’m glad you took me. A change of scenery is nice.”

It occurs to you that you haven’t had time to wallow in your sadness, too caught in conversation with other people. However frivolous the topics, it did keep your mind off of things. No thoughts of dead brothers have crossed your mind tonight.

It might not be much but it’s a start, you suppose.

Coriolanus’ brow curves teasingly. “See? This is why you should trust me.”

“Don’t push it, Snow. You’re on thin ice.”

A laugh bursts from his chest but, as he peers down at your drink, all humor vanishes from his face. He swipes it from you and sniffs it.

“Hm, what’s wrong?”

A frown puckers his forehead.

“Who served you this drink?” he rumbles.

You shrug. “I don’t know. It was just…brought to me.”

“There’s something in it.”

“What?” Ice spills in your veins. “Oh my god.”

Your mind whirls as you peek at your surroundings, paranoia creeping in. You wonder who could have done this and why. Just to mess with you? Or maybe even worse…

Your gut sinks. Thank god Coryo put a stop to whatever awful thing could have happened to you.

He puts his hand on your arm reassuringly. “I’ll bring you a clean one.”

“T-Thanks,” you stutter. “Just nothing with alcohol in it, please.”

“Of course.”

He returns with a brand new drink in a jiffy.

“Thanks for looking out for me,” you beam before taking a sip. You were starting to get a little parched.

“Always, princess.” He grins at you while you take another sip.

A wave of queasiness suddenly hits you.

The room starts to spin around you, blurring into crooked shapes and colors. You try to stand but your knees buckle instantly.

If it weren’t for Coriolanus swiftly catching you you’d be a heap on the floor.

“Coryo…I’m not feeling so good,” you slur, struggling to speak. Cotton seems to fill your mouth, the mere act of forming words demanding great effort.

“It’s okay, lean on me,” he says, slipping his arm around your waist.

“Head…heavy.”

“You’re alright. Just hold on to me, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good girl.”

In a daze, you stagger along as he escorts you through a series of hallways and up a flight of stairs. You grow so weak that you slump against him. With ease, Coriolanus hoists you in his arms, carrying you bridal style the rest of the way.

You fall onto something heavenly soft that sinks under your weight. Like fluffy clouds.

Your thoughts collapse, muddy and haphazard as you blink up at the ceiling. An antique chandelier hangs from it.

“You just need a little bit of rest.”

Coriolanus’s voice is warped, disembodied almost.

“Rest…” you echo.

But as soon as your eyes begin to close, the feeling of your dress hiking upwards tugs you back to consciousness.

Befuddled, you look down. You’re welcomed by the sight of Coriolanus wedged between your parted legs, hands clasped around your thighs. His waistcoat and white blouse are gone, exposing his pale, broad chest.

“Coryo, what is happening-”

His soft lips cover yours, stifling your protests. His tall frame pins yours to the bed. He purrs against your lips, framing your jaw when you feebly pivot your head to the side.

When his lips free yours, your mouth still tingles with the forcefulness of his bruising kiss.

He returns to the space between your thighs.

You lie back, your bones like jelly, as you feel the delicate material of your panties sliding down your legs.

Your brows twitch. “Coryo…”

His blue eyes glow strangely in the darkness. A chill slithers through your core.

“Shh, don’t worry about it, princess, just sleep.”

You want to move. You feel you have to. But you can’t.

“I…”

The syllable dies in a sharp gasp as Coriolanus’ cool tongue drags down your slit. Long fingers spreading you open, he traces wet circles around your bundle of nerves. He rasps against your center and the vibrations rock through your core. Your breath hitches. Your chest tightens. Heat builds in your stomach as he makes you dangle off the cliff of pleasure. He soon adds a finger and you cry out.

Coriolanus pumps in and out of you, gauging your expression as he grazes a particular spot that has your toes flexing. You writhe over the sheets, eyes blindly rising to the ceiling.

You clench around his finger, your cunt clinging to him reflexively.

He sinks a second digit inside you and you whine, back arching at the abrupt stretch.

Short, chaotic breaths rush through your lungs as he works you open. His slow, meticulous drags have your chest rising and falling rapidly.

Your legs quake as the coils in your belly grow unbearably tight and hot.

He stops as you’re on the cusp of your undoing. Your boneless frame sags onto the sheets.

He leans back and you hear the rustle of his pants coming undone. You get a faint sense of wrong trying to pierce through the haziness, but you can’t grasp at it.

Still, your fingers stretch towards the edge of the bed, your body rolling to the side. The meek attempt is interrupted as Coriolanus yanks you back onto the sheets, snatching your wrists and pinning them above your head. His frame drapes over yours. The scent of roses coats your senses.

“We’re not done, princess,” he murmurs, his warm breath caressing your face.

A painful pressure starts prodding your entrance. He grunts, hovering above you as he pushes past your tight ring of muscles.

You feel as if you’ll tear as more of him buries inside you. Every second is agony, your core burning at the blunt intrusion.

A sigh of pleasure floats from his mouth when he reaches the hilt of you. He stays there a while, seeming to bask in the feeling of you around him.

When he starts to move, your eyes flutter open. He sets a steady pace right away, thrusting inside you as if his life depended on it. Wordless screams rip from your throat. He releases your wrists, his long fingers latching onto your waist instead.

Each of his slow, deep thrusts sparks warm tingles through your body.

Sweat collects between his brows as he grunts in pleasure.

“I knew you’d feel just perfect around me,” he rasps, delighted.

His cadence quickens, his hand digging bruising grooves over your hip. Choked moans spill from your throat. His other hand crawls beneath the thin satin of your dress, fondling your breast and flicking your pebbled nipple. His hands feel everywhere at once and that sense of wrong rolls over you again.

“Ever since I saw you in this dress, I’ve been dying to fuck you in it,” he confesses, lust bleeding in his fevered tone.

The mattress squeaks as he relentlessly rams into you.

A uniquely sharp thrust has your slick walls tighten around him. His cock stirs, a throaty moan pouring from his chest.

The repeated friction against your soft spots has you seeing stars.

A feral glint bounces in his blue eyes as he admires your panting form, lost in the throes of pleasure. Strangled shouts escape you as another wave of pleasure crashes over your frame.

His pace slows, sloppier than before as his cock twitches between your walls. His eyes roll back as he sighs, tension draining from his muscular frame. Hot ropes spill inside you, overflowing until you feel the warmth dripping along your thighs.

Your mouth wobbles, silent tears streaming down your face.

Coriolanus cradles your face, kissing away each of your tears with tender brushes of his lips.

“Shh, don’t cry,’ he mumbles. “It’s okay, princess. I’ve got you.” His cock stiffens inside you once more. He lifts you and snaps his hips viciously into yours, drawing a broken whimper as he bottoms out. A lopsided smile blooms on his lips when he begins to move inside you. Helplessly, you lie back as he takes you again.

“I’ve got you, and I’m not letting you go.”

#dark!coriolanus snow #coriolanus snow #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #coriolanus snow x reader #hunger games #tbosas #tbosas fanfiction #dark!coriolanus snow x reader

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nerdpoe · 1 year

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DC x DP au

Ra’s successfully clones Tim, ages the clone up to Tim’s current age, but the clone won’t fucking wake up. There’s brain activity, but the Lazarus solution he’d been shoving into the body seemed to prevent it from having a soul, so to speak.

He makes a deal with a demon, and manages to piss the demon off.

The demon, feeling offended, decides to play By The Letter of the Law.

Okay, sure. He’ll shove a soul in the body. A strong soul, per the deal. But Ra’s, you never specified if the soul had to be strictly human, which the Ghost King very much was not anymore. Annnnnd maybe the demon kinda also felt like the High King of Ghosts could use a break after three hundred years of non-stop bureaucracy.

So a very surprised Danny, who had followed his good buddy Beelzebub and that asshole had fucking promised him an adventure, wakes up in a human body. Again. And he isn’t a halfa, he’s just human with ghost powers, and he feels a pull to obey this obviously evil guy in green? Also there’s like ecto-contaminated water everywhere and that’s weird.

The dude just ordered him to Gotham so like, sure. Danny’d take the fuckin get out of jail free card, cities were easy to vanish in.

Danny escapes, Tim finds out he exists, and they hatch a plan.

A trail is laid out, spanning decades, and the pieces are put in place.

Danny moves into Wayne Manor, Tim stays in his penthouse, and they randomly trade places.

The plan?

According to every single legal paper in existence, Daniel Janus Drake and Timothy Jackson Drake have always been identical twins. All online info has been doctored, including photos. Bruce’s adoption papers have been copied and altered, making it so that he adopted Daniel as well as Timothy.

Both Danny and Tim have the same training (thank you CADMUS tech for the brain download tech) and the same memories (at least concerning Tim’s life). They both know how to fight, and the only difference is that one of them is a meta, which was included on the documents they made.

They divide up the time with the Batfam from Tim’s memories, deciding which event they’d say was Danny and which was Tim that had attended.

All they have to do is switch when convenient and cover for each other, and see how long it takes for the Batfam to realize that there’s fucking two of them, and watch the Batfam tear themselves apart arguing over whether or not they’d always known who was Danny and who was Tim.

Cass figures it out first, of course.

#dcxdp #dpxdc #story prompt

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specialagentartemis · 1 year

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Something always fascinating to me is the "character who thinks they're in a different genre" phenomenon. The theme of the story you are telling determines what the right and wrong actions to take are; but the characters, reacting in-universe to the situation, don't know what story they're in, and the exact same responses can be what saves you or damns you depending on what kind of story the author is telling and what the story's message is about what life is like.

In Wolf 359, Warren Kepler approaches the mysterious and powerful aliens with threats; he kills their liaison and tries to position himself as a powerful opponent. However, he's shown to be wrong and making things worse: his preemptive aggression is unwarranted and unhelpful and bites him in the ass. The aliens want to communicate and understand humanity and share our music. It's Doug Eiffel, the pacifistic (and kind of scaredy-cat) communications officer who loves to talk and share pop culture, who talks to them and understands that the aliens are scary not because they want to kill us but because they don't understand the concepts of individuals and death. Talking to them, communicating with them, understanding where they're coming from and and bringing them to understand a human point of view, is what succeeds. Openness rather than suspicion, trust rather than aggression. Kepler thinks he's a dramatic space marine protecting the Earth from the alien threat by showing them humans are tough and can take them, but that's not the kind of story this is.

Conversely, in Janus Descending, Chel is in awe of the strange and beautiful alien world around her. She wants to touch it, understand it, get up close to it. When she sees a crystal alien dog, she wants to befriend it, despite Peter's warning. But when she gets close to it, extending her arm in greeting, it attacks her and drags her down into the cave to try to eat her. This sets the inevitable tragedy in motion. Suspicion is warranted; trust will get you killed. Because this is a sci-fi horror, with a major running thematic reading about how racism and sexism will destroy your brain and your society, and how the people who think they're too smart to be prejudiced don't see their own prejudice and will end up ruining the lives of the people they still don't fully see as equals, this kind of trust that Chel shows this strange alien is tragic. However it is also a horror story where there are very real hibernating space snakes ready to wake up and eat the fresh meat that has landed on their planet, and by being too trusting Chel has accidentally introduced herself to one.

Kepler, suspicious and ready to shoot any alien he doesn't understand, would likely have survived Janus Descending; Chel, with her enthusiasm for learning about and meeting aliens, would have been a wonderful and helpful member of the Wolf 359 crew.

In a similar manner, in Alien, Ellen Ripley yells to the rest of her crew not to bring the attacked crewmember with the alien on his face back on the ship and into the medical bay, you don't know what contamination that thing might have; she's ignored. She tells them not to let the crewmember out of quarantine even though he seems fine; she's ignored again. Ripley is the one person protesting this isn't safe, we don't know what's going on, and she is consistently ignored, until an alien bursts out of her crewmate's chest and then eats everyone and Ripley is proven to be right and also the only survivor. (And it turns out that the science officer consistently overriding her protests was an android sent by the company that contracted them, and said android was given orders to bring the alien back so the company could study it and do weapons development with it, try not to let the crew find out about it, and kill them if he had to in order to do so!)

Ripley's paranoia and mistrust of the situation was correct, because Alien is a space horror and the theme is in space no one can hear you scream (also corporations consider you expendable).

Conversely, in All Systems Red, we have a damaged and almost-combat-overridden Murderbot being brought back into the PreservationAux hab medical bay after being attacked by other SecUnits. Gurathin becomes the one person protesting this isn't safe, we don't know what's going on, he doesn't want to let Murderbot out because it's hacked and probably sabotaging them for the company contracted their security and sent it with them. Gurathin thinks he is the Ellen Ripley here! He is trying to warn his teammates not to make a dangerous mistake that will get everyone killed!

However, All Systems Red is a very different story than Alien, and Murderbot is neither a traitor on behalf of the company to sabotage them and steal alien remnants for weapons development, nor a threat to the humans - it's a friend, it's a good person, and it wants to help them against both companies willing to screw them over. Trusting it and helping it is the right thing to do and is what saves their lives. Gurathin is proven to be wrong.

If everyone on the Nostromo crew had listened to Ellen Ripley, they would still be alive (except Kane. RIP Kane), because this is a horror story about being isolated and hunted and going up against this horrifying thing that wants to kill and eat you and just keeps getting stronger. If everyone on the PreservationAux team listened to Gurathin, they would all be dead, because this is a story about friendship and teamwork and trust and overcoming trauma and accepting the personhood of someone very different from you.

Same responses. Different context. And so very different moral conclusions.

Warren Kepler was about how the brash violent over-confident approach to things you don't understand is wrong, and that openness and developing that understanding between people is what's important; Chel was about the tragedy of trust destroying a Black woman who wanted so much to believe in a world that could be kind and beautiful. Ripley was about a woman whose expertise and safety warnings were ignored and brushed aside and everyone who did so died because of it; Gurathin was about how even justified fear shouldn't mean you make someone else a scapegoat and mistrust them because they seem scary.

Sometimes you're in the wrong genre because you need to be, because the author is trying to show how not to react to the situation they set up in order to build the mood and the theme they're trying to convey.

#Wolf 359 #Janus Descending #Alien #The Murderbot Diaries #Murderbot #meta #my meta #it's about what the author is saying about the nature of the world and how to respond to it

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let-roman-bite-someone · 3 months

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i know i've said this before but i'm so tired of people acting like Patton is the general embodiment of morality. as if he is the personification of the legal justice system and everything he does must be good and fair™.

folks, Patton is Thomas's morality. remember what Virgil said in the Q&A episode?

this applies to all of the sides. every single one of them.

Remus wouldn't be the same for everyone, different people have different types of intrusive thoughts. Logan wouldn't be the same for everyone, different people have had different levels of education, different forms of intelligence and different applications of logic.

but the funny thing is, i never see people criticize the other sides for being too representative of their title. they don't reprimand Virgil for making Thomas anxious because that's his job. they don't bash Roman for being a perfectionist. but for some reason, people expect Patton to be a saint who does no wrong.

it's emphasized so clearly in multiple episodes that the sides are the result of Thomas's upbringing specifically. Patton is simply the moral code that Thomas's parents and on a larger scale, society, had taught him.

“Patton was so accepting of Virgil but he couldn't accept Remus or Janus!”

yeah. because it's easier to deal with anxiety than it is to deal with intrusive thoughts. don't get me wrong, anxiety is definitely a serious issue. but Thomas's anxiety never went directly against his morals, if anything, Virgil's perspective aligned very much with Patton's. being anxious about say embarrassing yourself in public or not getting your work done in time is not as morally concerning as having thoughts about murdering your brother.

but Thomas, like many of us, grew up with no one to tell him what intrusive thoughts are or how to deal with them. when Patton was chastising Thomas for having these thoughts, that's just Thomas beating himself up over something he can't control.

the same goes for Janus. Patton had a hard time accepting Janus because Thomas had learned to always be selfless since when he was younger, and Janus was challenging that point of view. when Patton was pushing Thomas to be selfless, that's just Thomas pushing himself and feeling guilty at the thought of focusing on his own needs.

i feel like people think that Patton is actually Thomas's father figure or something. i understand if he reminds you of someone toxic in your life and it can be uncomfortable to watch. but while it's good to relate to the media you are consuming, it's also important to view things in context.

Patton is not a person, he's not an individual who has the freewill to do what he wants. he is only Thomas's morality and what his morals are heavily depends on what Thomas was taught and how he was raised.

Patton cannot control the morals that Thomas had learned. he can only try to implement them in Thomas's life and unless Thomas himself decides to unlearn some of the unhealthy ideals that he has internalized, Patton cannot go against his nature. he can only do what he has been programmed to do, with the knowledge that he has.

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analoceits · 4 months

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im bored. who wants my ideas for sanders sides fusions?

logan and virgil: forethought. probably fuses whenever thomas needs a plan ASAP. hes the one who plans ahead, thinks up every possible scenario and then what to do. owns a terrifying amount of red string. i think he would also control toms reflexes. ranty and intense.

virgil and roman: hope/spite. they have two fused forms for different situations. hope is for when thomas is at his lowest and needs to get back up. very soothing, gruff but warm. spite is for when thomas has been knocked down and needs to get back up. full of fucking rage.

patton and janus: repression. fused when he was younger and not out yet, only fuses when its an emergency nowadays. he is a major part of keeping thomas safe. if there is something he cant safely express, its his job to hide it a way. hes cold but just warm enough to not be offputting. very mature and calm.

logan and remus: morbidity. strangely, only fuses in calm scenarios; when thomas is willing to explore his darker throughts. oddly cool in his fascination towards dark things, would probably disect himself if he could.

patton and virgil: guilt. fuses mostly late at night. cries a lot. can never do something even close to wrong without immediately trying to make up for it. cares deeply abt others, a mix of virgils fierce protectiveness and pattons lovey dovey nature.

virgil and janus: desperation. fuses in the worst case. utterly terrifying. can and will do anything to protect thomas from threats. has 0 sense of morals and will do things that arent forgiveable. feral and deeply aggressive at all times. his gloves are always bloodstained. janus and virgil cant look at themselves or each other after being him for a long time.

#analogical #prinxiety #moceit #intrulogical #moxiety #anxceit #sanders sides #tss #sasi #ts #virgil sanders #logan sanders #janus sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders

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rambling-prince-thoughts · 10 months

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rewatching selfishness vs selflessness for the 100th time in a row and there’s this one detail that i always notice. it hurts like a bitch every time i see it too.

in the scene where janus is questioning logan, he obviously takes advantage of the fact that logan had been forgotten by thomas and the rest of the sides when they all entered the courtroom scenario in the first place. logan was (rightfully and obviously) shocked to notice that they were enacting the scenario without him, logic, the person who would undoubtedly be the most excited to do so and would have the most knowledge about courtroom procedures.

but there is the moment where he says that there’s “always room for him” and janus responds with, “i know, that’s what i said! but patton insisted we leave you alone” and that moment sticks with me whenever i watch this episode.

logan immediately turns to look at patton with a surprised, hurt look on his face because he can’t believe that patton would say something like that about him. it’s true that him and patton don’t usually see eye to eye on things, but patton does value his input and they resolved most of their issues during the earlier stages of the sanders sides videos (although not completely).

i find that interesting because whenever janus targets logan, he always makes it a point to draw attention to the fact that logan isn’t very well liked, mostly because he embodies logic and claims not to feel anything, unlike the rest of the sides (who as thomas once put it, are too zany or relatable). he even calls out logan for this during the events of svs.

his “oh, of course you don’t” is dripping with sarcasm and janus is the lord of the lies, he would know when someone is lying. keeping that aside, it was obvious that a few minutes ago, janus’ lie about patton disregarding logan’s usefulness during the courtroom scenario hurt logan, so much so that it was visible on his face. roman’s comment of “did you see the look on his face?” was a nod to that.

so logan, in saying that he doesn’t feel anything, is lying about his own feelings.

additionally, it’s not the first time janus has used patton specifically to counteract logan and lie to him. the whole episode of “can LYING be good?” featured janus, disguised as patton, playing to logan’s likings via patton’s charm. it was evident from the first minute that logan appeared onscreen.

after that, he simply had patton reference famous philosophers, and logan clearly admired that because he seemed to be quite happy about it, even though virgil immediately became suspicious.

janus picked up on the fact that logan didn’t believe that patton would ever try to hurt him on purpose, and at least patton wouldn’t exclude him from things. that patton would listen to him. which makes it all the more sad that in svs redux, when logan said that philosophers would not agree with patton (after patton asked for his input), patton took the easy way out and pulled logan out of the situation.

it’s also why logan ignored patton when he tried to offer comfort after logan reappeared and said “i’m just here to deliver one last fact, then i will do you all a favour and spare you my company.” in fact, he ended up yelling over patton so he could get his point across and actually be heard.

i love logan and patton’s duo, and i really hope they resolve this during logan’s arc. in the meantime, sending love to our logical boy because he needs it.

(an unofficial part two to this post is now up, delving a little more into logan and patton’s relationship. i’ve hyperfixated on the glasses gays at this point /hj)

#sanders sides #rambling prince thoughts #logicality #logan angst #logan sanders #patton sanders #janus sanders #selfishness vs selflessness #logan really needs a break #someone please give him a hug too while you’re at it #the nerd is trying his best and we love him for it

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apostates-postings · 5 months

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No for me it's the fact that Dark Sides are so fucking drawn to Logan in various ways.

Obviously, Logan and Virgil have many moments together: fleeting little glances, communicating through silent expressions, constant jokes, and nicknames, and picking up on each other's cues, talking about interests and comforting each other and uplifting each other and - Well, you get it. Logan and Virgil have just so much chemistry whether interpreted as romantic or platonic, they just get one another so well as similar sides of the brain.

And then Janus and Remus came into the picture and for a moment I wondered how they'd fit in. Obviously pitched to be the antagonists, ones that had their eyes on Virgil who he was trying to part ways with and keep with the other light sides. But Logan had already known them well enough to distinguish them under guises, he picked up cues and little ticks and tricks just as he would Virgil. He speaks to them as people - albeit somewhat annoying people at times as seen by him bickering with Remus - but overall he speaks to them so much more plainly than the others, more candor.

And now in the Christmas episode he invites them to presumably their very first Christmas with the other sides and interestingly enough, he is hosting it. Which makes sooo much sense for a few reasons. 1. He tolerates them the most, of course he would be the most unflappable when it comes to handling the chaos that would be everyone in one space. Christmas is notoriously chaotic, and he handled it with percusion as always. But 2. Logan knows what it's like to be excluded and left out. The moment in which Remus looked at Logan with that particular look - you know the one, the one he gave Logan so long ago before Logan had a quick little snap. He knows Logan, as does Janus, and Logan knows them. As Logan knows Virgil.

He's the neutral zone, the safe space, the arbiter. He tends to them in such a specific and kind way despite the hissing and biting and false faces. In a place where there's only a few of you and who treat you with scorn, would you not feel at least somewhat drawn to someone who sees all your insecurities, all your flaws, everything people tell you is wrong about you; yet tells you you are worth something to him. Even if he doesn't say it, it is through action. And wouldn't you also hate seeing the way he notices those traits in himself and expects people to not treat him kindly in turn.

#analogical #analoceit #loceit #sanders sides #sanders asides #logan sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders #remus sanders #priv post #🖋#sry this is so rambly we are very scrambled #its the “im not a violent dog idk why i bite” for me

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space-dreams-world · 11 months

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Two Graysons for one:

So we all know that Dick Grayson is supposed to become the greatest Talon of the Court of Owls: The Gray Son, Dick wasn't Mary and John's first child.

Enter Daphne Mary Grayson (Danny Fenton) the firstborn Grayson who dissapeared during Haley's tour in Europe.

The European Court of owls (Ecoo) were impatient for their Gray son and couldn't wait until Haley's arrived in Gotham. So they end up kidnapping Daphne, taken to become the possible Gray son, unaware Mary Grayson was pregnant with Dick at the time. Daphne does get small doses of electrum, but the Ecoo are waiting until she is older to fully convert her in a Talon for the court. During one of the plots to assainate an wealthy business person, an earthquake occurs and Daphne, injured ends up falling through a crevasse that connect to a cave system that directly leads to an ectoplasm pool that she accidently falls in.

Now this where things get tricky. Dick life still plays out the same way (Bruce bait, Robin, Nightwing,etc...) As Nightwing, Dick gets into contact with a magical-infused virus that could very well kill him unless he gets the blood of biological family member (John and Mary are dead, William Cobb has more electrum than blood in him and they cannot synthetisize the virus out of his blood to try put his blood back in him) this looks like it could be the very end of Dick Grayson. Everyone in the Family decides to air out their grievances to their big brother, the bird who brought all of them together. It's also worth mentioning that someone has been murdering influential people that are part of the Court around the world but has started to make their way towards Gotham warning them that their time is up.

Now, last time with Daphne, she fallen in an ectoplasm pool. What we find out is that after that fall, she appears in the states (Meddling Clockwork) unaware how they got there. Daphne gets spotted by Jazz Fenton and decides to be her big sister unaware that Daphne is somewhat disoriented from the ectoplasm and electrum sort of melding together giving Daphne some enhanced abilities like, slight healing, speed and able to go longer without proper sustenance. Daphne's electrum is barely visible around her heart and her eyes are blue with a ring of amber or gold with flecks of green ectoplasm.

The Drs. Fenton decide to "adopt" Daphne to please their daughter, and Daphne becomes Danny Janus Fenton. Canon episodes happen, except I want to say that Phantom Planet may have caused the Metahuman appearance. Danny's parents, while not to hate him anymore , can not get over their guilt that their passion killed their child. Danny is still close to Jazz, Tucker, Dani (Ellie and the clones), Valerie and Wes, surprisingly. Danny and Sam sort of split because Sam could understand that Danny was a murderer and Danny thought that Sam reminded them too much of their court days.

Danny would be genderfluid ( somedays it's Danny, others it's Daphne) since Danny always felt she lacked some control over her life.

Now, how do the Graysons meet? Two days before Dick possibly dies, someone is at the door. Alfred or possibly Tim opens it to inform them that they werent taking visitors before being shocked as the person at the door looks almost exactly like Dick (Tim would know as he has seen John and Mary Grayson before their demise) Danny goes to say that they are here to help their Baby brother as it was announced publicly that Dick Grayson has caught something terrible and was possibly on their last legs. Tim and the rest of the family want to get the validity that this is an actual relative of Dick and not some fake. Danny's D.N.A is uncorrupted enough that they can 100% tell that Danny is actually related to Dick on a much closer scale than they realize like an uncle or second-cousin, and they don't want to risk it. And if it didn't work, Danny wanted to see her baby brother alive before he died.

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fangirltothefullest · 12 days

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just curious: have you ever made a tutorial on how you draw hair? it always looks so flowy and delicate and I'm immensely jealous

I just kind of go for it and if it doesn't look right it usually needs more volume lol. XD It would take too long to like... go step by step but here's the general shapes of each side. The secret: There's a lot of S shapes going on to give volume.

We'll start with the shortest to the longest:

Short and pushed up in the front because he's trying to keep it neat. Spikier looking strands. Less flowey and with less S shapes means less volume. Many much triangle for maximum pointy.

Shorter but his bangs are down like Virgil. Covers human side of his face more because that's fun. He and Virgil have the same hair but Virgil tends to have more volume covering his face and sometimes I shorten Janus's bangs even more than what I actually did here to make him look more put together. It's either that or make the top part flatter like Logan's to be more clipped.

Completely covering the side of his face of course- I usually hide his eye a lot. Much spook, very emo. As you can tell, volume usually goes off to one side as opposed to both for the way I do hair. Something something balance in the unbalanced or whatever.

Fluffier! Lots of S shapes this time! But it doesn't carry around the whole face like Roman's does. It's a higher kind of floof making him look more bouncy and approachable.

THERE HE IS THE FLOOF PRINCE HIMSELF! So many swoopy S shapes everywhere and they carry down past his chin giving him so many curls to work with. Still the floof is catered to one side over the other (I default to the side with the bangs), but Roman's is as swopy as I can make it. Usually I have to go back and adjust the volume because it goes out to the side AND up higher because it's meant to make him look flouncy and flamboyant. A kind of "I woke up looking this good" vibe.

Aaand Remus! Opposite bangs of all the sides, I did this on purpose because the consistency in his being off-kilter compared to the others shows up immediately with the visual switch. But it means the opposite side gets the heavier floof so his ponytail (when I draw it, I don't always) gets to show up on the opposite side to balance him out. He has such long bangs in my style that it feels necessary lol.

I don't know if this helps but maybe it does? XD

Here's some like.... general bangs variations??

If I'm doing long hair I just lengthen the S shapes and usually I curl them at the bottom because I hair does that.

#tashiarts #not really a tutorial but... i guess kind of???#sanders sides hair #i also betray my own methods all the time lol

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touyubesposts · 1 year

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My Sander Sides Enlightment

You know what’s always kinda bothered me? Those mean takes on the other sides. Like ‘Janus is manipulating Patton and isn’t actually trying to be friends with him,’ ‘Patton has too much moral superiority,’ ‘Roman never learns,’ So on and so forth. There is something bad to say about all the sides. No hate to anyone who's made one, you are valid and probably right in your own way. I think the only reason they bother me so much is because you can easily say the opposite. The most common phrase being ‘Nobody listens to ____’

“Nobody listens to Patton! He was trying to show the others that Virgil was good all along and only when Virgil was gone did they listen.”

“Nobody listens to Logan! He gets ignored constantly and he’s getting mad because of it.”

“Nobody listens to Roman! Every time he comes up with a solution, he gets shut down only to get blamed for not coming up with a solution.”

“Nobody listens to Virgil! He only gets listened to when he forces Thomas to hear him, and he doesn’t like doing that.”

“Nobody listens to Janus! Even when he has good ideas and arguments, they get pushed to the side because he is a dark side.”

“Nobody listens to Remus! That was the entire point of an episode. And all he wants is to be listened to, it doesn’t matter who.”

And all of these are valid points. But at some point, you have to wonder who’s not listening the most. Which is how I think the criticism posts of the characters came to be in the first place. But I don’t think any of them are to blame. Even when this new side gets revealed, it won’t be his fault either. The fault isn’t on Roman, or Logan, or Janus, or any of them.

It's on Thomas.

And of course I don’t mean ‘Writer Thomas,’ I mean ‘Character Thomas.’ Throughout the series, Thomas has always held himself high. You can’t be perfect, but you can try to be. And every time a situation comes up, he doubts himself, wondering if he’s even any good at all.

And in comes the sides, telling him that he can’t be bad and here's why. In fact, Thomas won’t let himself be bad at anything. Can’t be a bad worker, can’t be a bad actor or singer, and certainly can’t be a bad friend. Even in situations where he wouldn’t even be those things, he can’t even let himself risk it.

And so, the sides follow suit.

Logan becomes the perfect person for knowledge and learning, never letting himself be anything less than right all the time.

Roman strives to be perfect physically and materialistically, coming up with creative ideas that help Thomas move up in the world or, at the very least, make himself feel better.

Patton is the perfectly moral person. Make sure everyone is alright, help whenever and wherever you can, and always keep a smile on. Wouldn’t want anyone worrying for you, right? That wouldn’t be good.

Virgil is the perfect alarm system. Even false alarms are taken with the utmost seriousness. Just as long as no one else knows your anxious.

Janus is a deceiver. And Thomas lies often. So he needs to be the best at putting on a face and making sure nothing goes off without a hitch. Wouldn’t want people catching him in a lie. He needs to be the perfect liar.

And then there's Remus. The only one who tries not to be perfect. But that idea terrifies the others so much, Remus is left to pick up all of the imperfection slack. Maybe that's why Remus was offended when he was called ‘Scary.’

Trying to be so many perfect things all at once, you’re going to but heads with all of the different aspects of yourself. You're going to not listen. You're going to ignore. And in some cases, your perfectionism is going to make you look like the bad guy. And as someone with perfectionism, I relate a little too hard.

Thank you for reading.

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mykinkyyandere · 1 year

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Idea / Request for Edmund Pevise where he sided with Janus (who is like actually working WITH him and won’t betray him) being in love with a darling who is on the side of his siblings

The White Hope

AO3

Pairings: Yandere/Dark! King Edmund Pevensie! X f!Reader

Summary: Fifteen years had passed since the siblings found Narnia, but Jadis's reign continues. No, it is not Jadis's anymore. The reign of Edmund, The White King. And he takes a special, twisted interest in you.

Warnings: Yandere, dark, kidnapping, manipulation, obsession, possession, depression, trauma, past abuse, minor deaths, dub-con touches, implied future non-con, implied emotional abuse, implied future violence, enjoying/taking pleasure from emotional suffer/crying/power, grown-up characters, sorry if i missed anything

The White Witch's reign was not over. It had been fifteen years since the siblings came to Narnia. Everyone believed that the prophecy would come true, but one of the brothers had a coldness in his heart. Edmund became more angry, more distant and more withdrawn towards his siblings over time. It was not known who was to blame for this, but he thought that everyone had a share, including himself. There was also a share of his parents, whom he could no longer remember. He saw everyone as guilty, himself too.

The prophecy necessitated that all the siblings had to be together. But Edmund had chosen his own path once. At first he regretted it and wanted to return to them, but the White Witch had prevented him from leaving with her manipulations. He used Edmund and treated him like a slave. He was not a king, but a poor prisoner. But little did she know Edmund would one day rule her.

A king was always a king.

There was always a flame in Edmund's heart. It had grown over the years just to spite the freezing cold which became stronger every passing day. This flame wanted power, wanted revenge, and justice. Of course, his concept of justice was quite dubious. But he felt that he had the power to get what he wanted. As he got older, he became a strong man. Whatever the White Witch did to keep him naive and defenseless, it didn't work. The prophecy may not have come true, but it certainly gave birth to a darker prophecy.

No one knows how it had happened, but after ten years the White Witch had let him rule. She considered Edmund as her king and gived him all her authority. Though, she can't give him the right that he already had all along. The White Witch realized that she would never be able to rule completely, because this wasn't her destiny. She was not a daughter of Eve. But Edmund made her see the truth. The human siblings couldn't destroy her because Edmund wasn't with them. The White Witch couldn't destroy them because she wasn't the real ruler.

As Edmund sat quietly on his throne she thanked him with trembling admiration in her cruel heart. After all those years of cruelty, the King could have punished her if he wanted, but he didn't. He was also grateful to the Witch. Without her and her cruelty, he would not have become the person he was today. But he didn't share this with her.

He remembered the first time he sat on this throne as a child. The Witch had thrown him into her dungeon. And there she was now, kneeling before him, for five years.

Peter and his sisters had lost hope. They felt their chances of defeating the White Witch became impossible with Edmund's accession to the throne. He had declared himself the White King. It was wrong, it was dark. Something went wrong, but no one could figure out why. What would happen if there was no prophecy? The Great King Peter, who had no choice but to prepare for the unknown, worked nonstop. Five years. For exactly five years, he had been trying to end the cruel rule of his younger brother, whom he once believed to be grumpy but deep down inside well-intentioned. He didn't want to believe he was a bad person. He and Lucy were convinced that Edmund was a victim of a skilled manipulator. But Susan argued that he chose this path. He had had countless opportunities to return to them over the course of ten years, but he didn't take any step. Lucy was the only one who believed that Edmund was still a good person when he took the throne. But even she had started to think this was now a childish hope. Peter had finally realized his little brother had left them a long time ago.

And you, you were a dreamer trying to add ridiculous excitement to your ordinary life. You'd never been able to leave this spirit inside of you behind. They wanted to kill this side of you and cast you out for your whole life, but you never stopped dreaming. You wanted to explore a wardrobe in one of these hide-and-seek games you'd been playing with yourself. "I want to hide in this wonderful wardrobe and have the coats wrap me up!" Ha! You were a strange girl. There was probably a reason why this peculiarity of yours was accepted by Narnia. Because you found yourself in the snow.

The hospitable beavers who were talking had hurriedly invited you to their home. You were so scared when they told you that this wonderful world was not so wonderful anymore. You wanted to go back home, wished you'd give up your ridiculous games. But everything had a reason and a price. It couldn't be brought back.

They have taken you to the High King Peter. A daughter of Eve who came in Narnia fifteen years later must had had something to do with this war.

You had arrived after a trip full of delicious jams. A king and two queens who tried to defend their people and their land, but were betrayed by their brother Edmund. The dead flame of hope in their hearts began to burn again with your arrival. They were supposed to hide you from the White King. But Peter knew deep down that they were too late for that.

Edmund had heard of your arrival. He knew about a lot of things thanks to the White Witch. She protected him against all diseases and made him immortal. She gave him all the powers she could give. She turned Edmund, who was a king by birth, into an invincible king.

"Witch, give me your wand." Edmund said, without taking his eyes off the faun, who was trembling with fear. His eyes were on the ground, he did not dare to look at the White King. No one could, not even the White Witch.

Jadis bowed her head and held out both hands to present her wand. Edmund stood up, taking his time, and went down with slow steps. There was something in his eyes. Far from the old Edmund. He took the wand that Jadis held out. He spun it in his hand and hit the ground. The sound echoed powerfully on the soulless walls. The poor faun almost fainted on the spot.

He titled his head and said in a half-whisper, "Lost?"

"P-p-please h-h-"

Edmund turned the wand in a way that contrasted with his still form and pressed it against the faun's back. "Lost?"

"W-wait! Beavers! I believe t-they took her to... t-them."

If he had looked into Edmund's eyes before he turned to stone, he could have seen how "insane" he was. Out of his mind, empty, dark.

He gave the wand back to Jadis. He didn't speak. He didn't need to talk. The Witch could understand what was going through his mind. She could figure out what he wanted. There was an almost wordless but deep relationship between them. He thought the only person who understood him was the White Witch. After all, she raised him in some way.

He rested his hands behind his back and walked away in silence. Jadis knew what she had to do.

"How much time do we have?" you said when Peter gave you a dagger.

"Enough to get you out of here."

"I'm not running away."

Peter took a deep breath and looked out from the huge castle windows. Snow. There was snow everywhere. Could he end the freezing winter? It's been a month since they found you, but there hasn't been a single improvement. It was as if everything was getting worse. The winter was harsher, Narnia was more dangerous. A wild wind that signaled that the White King was looking for you and would find you eventually. But why didn't he come earlier? Why didn't he start a war to capture you earlier? It was as though the trees listened to everything and told him that the right time had come. Now that you were Peter's only hope, he couldn't lose you either. But there was more. One month was enough for him to realize that there was more. Maybe... one day, he thought.

He looked at you, holding your hands. "You're not running away. You're just hiding."

"It's the same thing!"

"You are a hope that has come to Narnia after a decade. It is my duty to protect you. And I have the final word."

There was a brief silence. "I see. Narnia needs me, so no harm should come to me."

You weren't looking at him anymore. Your eyes wandered over the ground and then over the beautiful, eerie snow. He thought how beautiful you looked. But sad. "Yes, Narnia needs you and I have to make sure that you are safe."

You turned your offended face to him. He put your one hand on his heart and the other hand on his face. You were so full of life and pure. Since the first time he saw you, his sisters have noticed that there was something changed in him. And it was their fun to make fun of it. But they were so happy for him. It was the first time they had seen their older brother so full of love in fifteen years of cruelty. He definitely became attached to you in a short time and had no intention of leaving you. He didn't know the extent of his attachment to you, all he knew was that his heart ached when he didn't see you even for a second. "But Narnia is not the only reason."

You felt your face got warm. To be honest, you've been waiting for this moment. He was a charming person. Brave, patient, caring, leader... Your mouth fell open while your eyes widened. Maybe... one day, you thought.

"He's here! We're too late!" Lucy shouted from the outside.

"You were wrong. Enough to confess." You said, smiling.

He caressed your hands and smiled. "Still enough."

Edmund; the oppressor, the ruthless, the fierce White King. Even if their High King was Peter, they were afraid of him. They couldn't ignore him or disrespect him by saying, "you're not our king." It was known that he made collections of them.

He had not seen his siblings for fifteen years. While he was a prisoner of the White Witch, he had a chance to escape and go back to them, but he didn't. He was afraid to change his mind. But on what? At that time, he didn't have the wish of becoming a king in his mind. There was a boy who just wanted to go home. A boy who missed his mother and hid from the war. But he could not ignore the growing darkness in his heart. He loved and embraced this darkness. He was afraid of losing this mysterious self he had if he returned to his siblings.

Was he nervous? Was he angry? Was he excited? He didn't know. His mind was pensive as he approached the sheltered castle. Was he happy to see them? He wasn't sure about that. He wanted to be happy, he wanted to feel something. Instead there was no life in his cruel heart.

He was sitting alone in his sleigh. He looked straight ahead. Neither to the right nor to the left. He had a white fur and cloak that could easily disappear among the snow. It did not belong to any living thing. It was a big, magical fur that his witch created especially for him. Every single garment and every single precious jewel of his was white. It was not just any ordinary white color. It was magical and ominous, cursed like snow. On his head was a crown of ice similar to that of the White Witch. But it was much larger and disproportionate. A crown that was almost as sharp as a knife and reflected his unstable inner world. The only thing that made him look distinctive in white was his natural hair and longing eyes.

Jadis was on another sleigh next to him. She was also dressed in white and had a sharp crown of ice on her head, but smaller than before. She had taken off her crown when Edmund became king, but he had let her keep it on condition that she would make it much more smaller, like a little insignificant accessory. She put the reason down to his generosity, but the main reason was that the White Witch, whom he knew and was used to, had that crown. He couldn't quite get rid of his past. His heart and mind had been damaged. It was hard to let go of the people and things he was used to. He had chosen to lose his family. At least now he could choose not to lose some things.

"The new hope of Narnia" he said, smiling vaguely.

Susan took Peter's hand. They were little, they were children. Now they had all become young adults. Young kings and queens. No one said anything, but what they were feeling and what was going through their minds was the same. After all those years... What was going to happen?

And here he was. The White King and his White Witch. Their big sleigh stopped side by side. There were only two of them. There was no army in sight. It was a frightening display of force. It meant that their younger brother had became so powerful that even the High King Peter the Magnificent could not afford to stand against him. To come without an army was to despise him. Since it was certain that he did not come there with the intention of peace, this was an insult.

Susan took her hand from Peter's and waited with one hand on her arrow. She was ready to stop Edmund, and maybe to stop him forever. As if she could. Peter couldn't foresee what he wanted to do, so he waited. His army was on standby for his order. An army against two "person". Peter knew that it would take more than a whole army for two person with these powers.

"Where is Lucy?" Edmund's voice wavered like a song in the maddening silence. The wind somehow perfectly conveyed to them his voice, which was impossible to hear at a distance. There was no need to shout, there was no need to get closer. There was no need for unnecessary family reunions. And they had no way of inviting him to their walls anyway. He was too unreliable for that.

"She preferred not to see you. Her heart is broken, you know. Because of you." he said it a little loudly, but there was no need for it. Edmund had sharp ears now, he heard Peter with ease.

"You betrayed us." Susan said. She thought her heart wouldn't soften when she saw him, but she couldn't take her eyes off his brother, who had become a young man, even for a moment. The cold air dried her tears quickly. She missed his little brother very much.

"I- I..." Edmund murmured. He frowned, looked confused but he wasn't really. He smiled slightly. "...really want to see Lucy."

"As I said earlier, she doesn't want to see you. What is the reason you come here after all those years?" Peter said, this time more quietly but confidently.

Edmund stared at the beautiful castle. His smile was more visible. "White... It's nice to see your warm home dressed in white. And do you like it, my brother? Do you like my beautiful cold gift? Does it fill my absence in your warm home?"

His calm and soft voice filled the ears of both of them. Something was wrong. There was an odd feeling inside them. They looked at each other for a moment.

"You could have filled your absence yourself." Peter said. "Why are you here?"

"To become a family again." He let out a small laugh.

"Stop it! Don't play with us!" Peter shouted.

Edmund took a deep breath and closed his eyes as the cold filled his lungs. Becoming a family again? Even his joke felt impossible. It felt like a bitter taste on his tongue. It sounded like a forbidden sentence. Becoming a family again? Even the thought of it was unbearable.

"Why these stupid questions that you already know the answers?" He let out a deep breath, making it sound like he was extremely bored.

Peter took out his sword. "Answer me!"

Edmund slowly opened his arms and showed around. His thin and long fingers were rather pale, but strong. "I came to find a new... hope."

Peter gulped. There was no trace of goodness on his brother's face. He seemed more full of evil than the White Witch. He wore a mask looking like compassionate, but he was cruel behind it. "There's no hope left for you."

Edmund raised his head and stared into the blinding whiteness. 'It's too late for me, isn't it, brother?' he thought.

"Tell Lucy that I really would like to see her. And tell her that... it wasn't her fault." He said. The smile on Edmund's face didn't go away. It wasn't an empty, numb smile, it was a smile of victory. "It was yours."

As their sleigh returned in the direction from which they had come, Peter put back his sword and looked at Susan. He didn't know what to think, he was confused about what to do. When did his little brother turn into such a dark and deceptive person?

"What did he mean?" Susan asked anxiously.

"I don't know."

Cold, icy, soulless. It's like these walls wanted to kill your soul. It's as if these chains have chained you to your terrible fate. The wait was painful, but was it sweeter than what was going to happen to you? The sculptures of poor Narnians with whom you shared the dungeon had agreed you.

The unnatural cold has forced you to sleep. You didn't know how long it had been when you woke up, but it had been long enough for your body to hurt from the hard ground.

"Oh, no!" You shivered when you heard the Witch's shout. She said the king wanted to stay alone. "Get out!"

The sweet comfort of painful waiting had come to an end at last.

The White King, tall and unnaturally pale-skinned, stood in front of your cell. You wondered if there was any trace left of that old brother Lucy told you about. You wondered how much he had changed. Lucy thought that why Edmund lied to Peter about seeing Narnia when they were a child was only because he was a bully. If she had known that Narnia would become what it was today, she would never have told her siblings about her secret world.

You looked desperately into his eyes. Imploringly. You never stopped looking into those firm eyes of his for a moment.

"The new hope of Narnia." He said. "Why do you look so hopeless?"

"I- I'm not h..." The longer you looked at him, the more hypnotized you felt. You shook your head and kept your eyes on the ground. There was something about him that attracted you in a scary way. "Peter will save me."

He tapped his ring rhythmically against the bars. "Peter... Why Peter?"

You didn't answer.

"Oh, I know."

You turned your head.

"Of course I know."

Would you end up like these beavers standing next to you?

"You've had time enough to take a fancy to my charming brother."

You looked at him when he opened the dungeon. His long white cloak and fur were touching the ground. They looked so warm. You wished you had one of them.

"Are you cold?" He asked, already knowing your answer.

You nodded. He released you from the chains and helped you to stand up. You couldn't help but tremble with fear. What was he trying to do?

He wrapped you inside his cloak and made you disappear next to his body. You leaned your head against him and put one hand on his chest. It was warm. So warm, perfect.

He led you out of the dungeon. After he sat on his throne, he placed you on his lap. You were warm and sleepy. You rested your head on his chest. The cloak and fur he wrapped around you made you feel incredibly peaceful.

This, this was not normal.

"Do you know what the best part is?" he talked to himself while you were on that strange line between sleep and wakefulness. "To imagine that my brother is devastated because he failed to protect you."

He rubbed your back. "Sometimes I close my eyes, sometimes I focus on a point. But what I do is the same. To imagine." He smiled, was lost in thought again. "He is now a desperate man whose loved one has been stolen from him. 'The magnificent king of Narnia', who lost hope, found hope and could not protect it."

He pulled you a little towards himself. He held your chin and turned your face to him. You were sleeping. Peaceful, beautiful and vulnerable. You were like the other innocent beauties he destroyed. He had never wanted to see a flower or a sparkle, he had destroyed them all. It shouldn't have been hard to kill you. As Peter had said, there was no longer any hope for him. Edmund had already killed his hope, with his own hands. Why would you be any different?

But you were. He took you to his quarters and put you in his bed, which kept you warm like his cloak. He sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked your hair softly. "I am cruel." He said. "Oh, my poor little hope. I am a very, very cruel monster."

He smiled and kept caressing your hair for a while. Poor sweet girl. Why did you even come to Narnia? Did you like little games like her sister Lucy? He imagined you in the hide-and-seek game they were playing. You ran laughing and followed Lucy. She wanted to get into Edmund's hiding place, but Edmund got annoyed as usual, telling her to find another place. So you grabbed Lucy's hand and ran to the room where the wardrobe was, saying this way. Yes, it could have been a nice memory.

Whatever the innocent reason, this could not change the fact that you were trapped in the cold kingdom of The White King. You were going to spend every day, hoping, to get away from him, and he was going to enjoy every second of it.

"I'm afraid I will break your heart and lock you in here." He whispered.

He gently tucked your hair behind your ear. Looked at your beautiful skin. "I will chain you up and never let you go."

He stroked your cheek. "I will make Peter suffer only to see the despair in your eyes." He held his breath when he imagined the tears streaming from your eyes and pleading sobs escaping from your trembling lips. He had really turned into a very twisted person, and he had no complaints about it.

He leaned and rubbed his nose to your skin, inhaling your smell. "I will make him watch how I own you to see the desperation in Peter's eyes." He liked that thought. It was something that thrilled him very much to show Peter his strength and leave him helpless. The idea of seeing his own brother miserable, leaving him no choice but to beg because there is nothing he could do was perfect.

"But don't you scared, my beautiful hope. I wouldn't harm a single hair on your head."

"Lucy?!"

Peter and Susan spent hours searching for their little sister Lucy and you. Their plan was to bring you back when Edmund left. Lucy was supposed to take you to a safe place just for a while.

"I'm here!"

"Lucy!" She was tied to a tree, sitting.

"Are you okay?" Peter rescued her and helped her to stand up. Everyone who was supposed to protect the girls had been killed.

"I'm okay but..." Lucy cried, hugging Peter. "I'm so sorry."

Peter felt bad enough already. For hours, he couldn't even take a sip of water out of concern for Lucy's safety and yours. He found one of his loved ones, but what happened to the other?

He hugged her tighter. And it was all his fault.

He caressed Lucy's hair. "It wasn't your fault." He whispered.

In the weeks and months that followed, Peter didn't stop trying to find you. Narnia had lost hope once again. Peter had once again lost a person he loved. It hurt him even more that his own brother was the one who put him through this pain. But that was just the beginning. Edmund, The White King, now had a wife. The White Hope.

#dark edmund pevensie #edmund pevensie #yandere edmund pevensie #king edmund the just #just king of narnia #king edmund pevensie #the white witch #yandere edmund pevensie x reader #dark edmund pevensie x reader #dark narnia #yandere narnia #edmund pevensie x reader #narnia x reader #peter pevensie #the chronicles of narnia #x naive reader #x kidnapped reader #narnia #the white hope

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hp-hcs · 17 days

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phantasm (remember?) — mattheo riddle x gn! hella manipulative! reader

phantasm noun noun: phantasm; plural noun: phantasms

LITERARY a figment of the imagination; an illusion or apparition.

warnings: minor character death, murder, severe manipulation, gaslighting, blink-and-you-miss-it reference to self harm,❗️stand-alone/no part two❗️

is he schizophrenic, high, or haunted? you decide!

❕it’s supposed to be confusing!!! you should finish reading this and be like “what the fuck did i just read”, alr?❕

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Mattheo Riddle had always been odd. Everyone knew that.

Maybe it had something to do with his parents. One Crucio from his father too many, perhaps.

Maybe he hit his head when he was younger. That wasn’t too much of a stretch. He’d always been quite reckless.

But either way, no one could pinpoint what event caused Mattheo to see things that weren’t really there.

~~~

It first came to light when Mattheo, staying the night at his cousin’s house for a sleepover at the tender age of five, stomped over to his Aunt Narcissa to tattle.

“They pushed me down th’ stairs, Aunt Cissy!” he whined, sticking out his lower lip in a pout. “See? I even skinned my knee!”

“Who did? Draco?”

“No, Y/n!”

~~~

Mattheo couldn’t remember much about the Janus Thickey ward.

He’d spent a month there when he was six, but didn’t have a single memory of his time there. Just vague flashes that haunted his nightmares, but ones that he could never remember once he woke.

Narcissa remembered though. And so did Draco.

The Malfoys both remember visiting Mattheo in the hospital, Draco clutching Mattheo’s stuffed dragon under one arm and holding onto the string of a “Get Well Soon!” mylar balloon in his other hand, only for the pair to find Mattheo hiding under his bed and mumbling to himself, furiously scratching at his arms and crying.

The Malfoys remember.

~~~

Mattheo couldn’t remember if you had always been there, or if you just showed up one day.

There were a lot of things Mattheo couldn’t remember.

~~~

“Who can tell me what a boggart is?” Professor Moody asked, pacing the front of the room with his odd, uneven gait. An old antique armoire stood near the front of the room, a large area around it cleared of the usual clutter that filled every inch of the classroom.

Surprising absolutely nobody, Granger’s hand shot up.

Mattheo shot a look over to his cousin, rolling his eyes, while Draco smothered a laugh in response.

“A boggart is a creature that takes on the form of one’s greatest fear, sir,” Granger said in that obnoxious know-it-all tone of hers. “No one knows what their true forms are.”

“One’s greatest fear, sir,” Mattheo mocked under his breath to Draco in a purposefully bad imitation of Granger.

“Ah, Riddle. How nice of you to volunteer. Step on up, boy.” Moody’s hand came down on Mattheo’s shoulder from behind him, gripping it firmly. “Go on. Grab your wand.”

Mattheo’s face drained of color. Surely Moody wouldn’t…?

No, it’s Mad-Eye Moody. Of course he’d do something like this.

Mattheo stood on shaking legs, gulping as he approached the ominously placed armoire.

Everyone watched with rapt attention.

What was Mattheo Riddle afraid of?

The Dark Lord? Dumbledore?

Or something more benign, like spiders or small spaces?

Whatever it was, Mattheo’s fellow students were not expecting a teenager to step out of the armoire.

Maybe fourteen at the most, unassuming, wearing…Riddle’s quidditch jersey?

They weren’t a student, that was for sure. Nobody in the room recognized them.

(Except for the one poor bastard whose boggart it was.)

Professor Moody narrowed his eyes at the boggart, his gaze quickly shifting between the harmless-looking teen and the literal son of the Dark Lord, the latter of which was frozen stiff with fear, his wand threatening to slip from his quivering fingers at any moment.

The boggart tilted its head and smiled.

~~~

Is this how Potter feels, when Father’s inside his head?

Mattheo sat uncomfortably across from Professor Moody, the professor’s desk being the only thing separating them.

The professor said nothing, merely observing Mattheo. A bizarre enchanted cuckoo clock on the wall trumpeted like an elephant, signaling the hour, then returned to its steady tick tick tick.

“Mr. Riddle, do you ever hear…voices? Voices that maybe…encourage you to do bad things?”

Mattheo was sweating. How did he know about you? How?

“He’s just trying to get in your head, Mattheo,” you murmured, sitting next to him in the other armchair. “That’s all.”

Was it? Mattheo wondered.

“Y’know, I’m starting to think you’re the one that’s in my head,” he said softly. “Nobody else thinks you’re real.”

Your face soured. “You think I’m not real? That I don’t exist? Huh? He’s lying to you! He’s a liar and a manipulator!”

“Just get out of my head!” Mattheo pleaded quietly. “Please!”

You fumed, jumping up to sit on the edge of Moody’s desk. You swung your legs back and forth, an angry expression marring your features. “Matty-”

“Stop calling me that!” he snapped. “Just go away! Leave me alone!”

“But you’re my best friend, Matty,” you insisted innocently.

“We are not friends!”

You sighed dramatically as you laid down on the desk, putting the back of your hand up to your forehead—as if pretending to faint—as you did so. “Then what are we, Matty? Paramours? Estranged lovers?”

“Enemies,” he hissed, his knuckles white with how tightly he was clenching his fists.

“Well, I have always loved the enemies to lovers trope,” you said breezily, smirking at him. “Besides, you haven’t got anyone else. Admit it. I’m all you have.”

Moody watched Mattheo have his one-sided conversation with wide eyes, unsure of what was happening. “Mr. Riddle? Are you alright? Wh-who are you talking to?”

“See?” You clicked your tongue, shaking your head slowly. “He thinks you’re crazy.”

“There are many talented healers that I could contact–”

Mattheo’s gaze kept darting between you and Moody as his breathing picked up.

“Bet he wants to send you back to Janus Thickey,” you whispered, purposefully turning your voice soft and fearful, blinking back fake tears. “I don’t want to disappear again, Mattheo, please.”

“I–” Mattheo stammered, dread creeping up his spine at the thought of being alone again.

“Please?” you begged. “You know what to do. It’s not like he doesn’t deserve it.”

“He– what? No!”

“But he wronged you,” you whisper softly, your tone manipulative and gentle. “He deserves to suffer.”

“Stop it!” Mattheo pleaded again, reflexively drawing his wand and pointing it at you.

“He wronged you,” you repeated, eyes narrowing.

“Stop!”

“He deserves to suffer.”

“Shut up!”

“He wronged you.”

“Y/n!”

“He deserves–”

“Avada Kedavra!”

You both fell silent, your argument abruptly cut off with the resounding thunk of Moody’s body hitting the floor.

Dead.

~~~

“Oh my Merlin– y-you killed someone!” Mattheo panicked, dropping his wand and grabbing fistfuls of his hair.

“Oh, no no no, Matty. I didn’t kill anyone,” you said sweetly, examining your nails apathetically. “You did.”

“I’ll tell everyone,” Mattheo threatened through his quivering lower lip. “I will. I’ll tell them it was you.”

“Who’s going to believe you?” you cooed, your voice dripping in saccharine sweetness as you leaned forward to tousle his hair.

Mattheo flinched back.

You laughed, patting his cheek as you hopped off the desk. “Come find me when you’re ready to help me with my next…project.”

“Y-you planned this?”

“Duh.” You rolled your eyes. “Catch up, love. You’re not stupid.”

With that, you stand up on tiptoe, plant a fat kiss on his cheek, and disappear out the door without another word.

Mattheo swore he could see bloody footprints marking your trail down the hall.

#harry potter #hp #fuck jkr #x reader #hp x gn reader #hp x male reader #x male reader #mattheo riddle x reader #mattheo riddle #slytherin boys #x gn reader #gn reader #x gender neutral reader #gender neutral reader

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rats-the-bat · 5 months

Text

Virgil's Gift: An Analysis on It's Symbolism and Possible Foreshadowing

Obvious spoilers for Thomas' newest Sander Asides video: What Makes the Perfect Gift? Go watch it if you haven't.

So the yearly Sander Sides Christmas special dropped hours ago. (Yippee!) And there's a surprisingly large amount to be said for it to be a 13 minute long Christmas special. In fact, I'd say it's the most story focused episode since Can Plushies Improve Our Health?, and that was an ad for the Sander Sides plushies. There's just so much to talk about this episode. There's the implications of Janus and Remus being invited to play Secret Santa; the mystery to what Thomas' message was with his gift to Nico; the underlying tension between all the sides that reminds us of the angst we've already seen and how things still aren't completely alright and that the worst is yet to come; and, most notable of all, the question as to WHY THE HELL REMUS WOULD WANT TO F*CK ANDREW JACKSON??

But the most interesting thing to me is Virgil's gift to Logan, his reaction, and how it reflects Logan's current situation.

Virgil gives Logan a newspaper, claiming that it seems like something he would like. Logan however, does not read newspapers and is very disappointed by the gift. Remus and Janus make some comments on how unthoughtful Virgil's gift appears. But at the end of the episode, Logan finds out that the newspaper actually has a secret message and is the first puzzle of an entire scavenger hunt, which excites him a lot.

This is by far my favorite part of the episode. Not only is it heartwarming, it also symbolizes how Logan has been treated as a whole, and may even foreshadow future events in the series.

When Virgil gives Logan the newspaper, Logan is very confused, and asks him why he would give him a newspaper. Virgil replies, "Cuz' you're the Mr. Smarty Pants of the group. You like reading and all that." Logan is still confused though. Yes, he likes to read, but that doesn't mean he will read anything. Roman chimes in with Virgil, reinforcing that they think Logan will like it. Logan says, "Is that all I am to you? The reading guy?..." And Virgil replies, "I don't know man, give it a read! I'm sure it has something you like."

This entire interaction represents how Logan has been ignored and misunderstood throughout the entire series. Virgil gives Logan a newspaper, something he doesn't actually want, because he assumes he will like it since he likes to read in general. He made an assumption on Logan's personality based off things he already knew, something Thomas and all of the other sides have been doing since the beginning. Throughout the entire series, Logan is considered the smart one of the group who always provides information and exposition, and little else is expected of him. In ACCEPTING ANXIETY part one, Thomas assumes that Logan knew what his problem was because he provides, "the explanatory exposition in [the Sander Sides] videos because all the other characters are too zany or relatable." And in Selfishness v. Selflessness, Logan is benched after providing information that supports both Patton and Janus' sides because they assume he has nothing else to offer. Time and time again Logan is reduced to his function and the traits that go along with it, such as liking to read. And why these things about him are true, he is far more complex that who they see him as. But, as Virgil didn't seem to care to get him something he would actually like, they don't seem to care to learn more about Logan...

They do care though. And that's shown through the twist at the end. When Logan discovers that it's a puzzle, Virgil jokes, "And you thought I would just get you a newspaper. Tsk. What do you take me for?" Though it appeared Virgil didn't put much consideration into the gift, and though Logan believed Virgil didn't, he did, because he truly cares about Logan. And throughout the entire series, though they don't always listen to him, Thomas and the sides show that they care about Logan. Patton is always nice to him, Roman, while the most harsh to him, does secretly respect him, and Thomas, as shown in the song, "Incomplete," is not only aware that Logan has feelings and is more than just logic, he wants Logan to accept it as well. He also seems empathetic when Logan is disappointed with his gift. This represents how Logan's insecurities get in the way of him being fully accepted. Logan is convinced that Thomas and the sides will only ever see him as his function, and that they do not care about his other traits. This is one of the reasons he represses his emotions, and is shown by how quickly Logan believes Virgil got him a newspaper simply because he likes to read. Though Logan may not realize it, Thomas and the sides love and accept him fully, and Logan needs to see that.

However, it seems that someone doesn't want him to see that...

And that's where the foreshadowing comes into play.

After the conversation Virgil gives Logan his gift, Janus chimes in, saying, "Wow Logan, looks like Virgil put a lot of thought into that one!" He emphasizes how little consideration Virgil's gift seemed to have. In doing this, he reinforces the idea to Logan that Virgil didn't care enough to give him a gift he would like, even though that's not actually true. And if he his doing this intentionally, he may also be reinforcing the idea that they don't care about him.

And Remus soon after joins in, proposing, "Kinda makes you wanna scream, huh?" This is obviously a callback to Logan's outburst in Working THROUGH Intrusive Thoughts. In that episode, Remus showed great excitement towards his outburst, implying that Remus wanted him to get upset. And now again, he suggests that Logan should get angry about it. It is very clear that Remus is trying to make Logan lash out on purpose.

Based off this, I believe that in future episodes, we will see the dark sides, or Remus at least, try to manipulate Logan into believing that Thomas and the sides don't care about him. In doing this, they'll persuade him into joining their side. Perhaps they'll make him a puppet for the Orange Side, or if Logan is the Orange Side, they will make him embrace it. Of course their plan won't work out though. Because even if the do get Logan to join them for a little, the other sides will show that they care. And perhaps if they do, Logan will finally be able to see that, and he will finally be able to accept himself.

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #tss #logan sanders #ts logan #logan sanders angst #virgil sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #ts sides #tss theory

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a-small-batch-of-dragons · 22 days

Text

Language Barriers

same anon as like 5 minutes ago, I remembered the fluffy prompt! Could you write a Sanders Sides DLAMPR fic (before they get together) where all of the Sides have different love languages? And they’re all trying to flirt in their own way, but the others keep misinterpreting it? A lot of TSS fic features the Sides having different love languages (and I’d like to think they do, in canon), but I’ve yet to see a fic that specifically focuses on that fact and describes the differences between love languages. Feel free to ignore, and remember to take care of yourself! – anon

hey I love love love love LOVE your writing! If you’re open to prompts rn, I’ve just reread your story "Idiots, Idiots, Everywhere" and it’s awesome, thanks very much, BUT. Are you willing to write a Sanders Sides fic where it focuses more specifically on all the Sides having different love languages? Bonus points if it’s DLAMPR (but platonic PR, this is an incest-free household) and all the Sides are like “…but he’s like this with everyone”. No pressure at ALL, but it’d be cool to see how you approach that. – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none

Pairings: dlampr

Word Count: 3431

Or, five times the Sides misunderstood each other's love languages, and one time Thomas got fed up with it and decided to just...explain it to them with the efficiency they have when they're trying to explain something to him. Which is to say: it takes them a second to get it. The Imagination helps.

Physical Touch

If you were to ask anyone, they would tell you that Patton loves giving people hugs.

It’s the bane of some of their existences, they’d try to claim, and the others might just shrug and say that’s Patton for you. He knows his kiddos love it, at least a little bit. But he won’t lie, he does love a good hug. There’s just something so magical about how, out of all the shapes humans could have possibly been, they’re just perfectly designed to hold one another. Isn’t that just perfect?

Logan would probably say something about evolution and adaptation to the needs of their environment, or something, but he’s not gonna rain on Patton’s parade. Humans are hug-shaped, so they’re gonna hug. Besides, he’s not complaining when he’s working downstairs in the winter and he’s gotten too absorbed in his work and then a Patton-shaped heating pad just comes along and hugs him.

Patton loves hugging all of the Sides. Logan because he’s always so surprised by it, in a good way! He gets this soft little look that is almost on the edge of a smile, like he wasn’t expecting it but it’s the best possible outcome he never could have predicted. Or when he’s trying to comfort Patton and he hugs with undeniable certainty.

Virgil is also fun to hug, because he’s such a pouty-face about it. He snuggles up as much as any of them but he has to put on his mopey show first, just in case anyone’s watching. Virgil also gives the mopey hugs too, but then he makes himself just a bit bigger so he can wrap all the way around Patton. Which is the best.

Speaking of wrapping all the way around, Janus has six arms and he uses every single one of them. They get into competitions sometimes—not serious! It’s all for fun!—about who can surprise-hug each other the worst. Or best. Janus is currently winning from the time he managed to make himself look like the chair in the living room with a blanket over it; Patton sat down and boo!

Remus isn’t allowed to do surprise hugs, not after he accidentally tackled Patton into his Kraken’s pond and they had to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to get out of the pond. But Remus’s hugs are the kind that squish his soul right back into his body and ugh, there’s nothing better than that after a long day. Besides, it’s not like expecting Remus’s hugs takes anything away, he’s still going to squeeze him so hard he might not be able to breathe for a few seconds, but that’s Remus!

And then with Roman—Roman hugs the way every single knight from a fairytale should hug. He just makes you feel safe and precious and like nothing in the world could hurt you. It’s why Patton always sits next to Roman during scary movie nights, after all, even if he gets teased about it a little. Roman doesn’t mind.

So yes, Patton does love hugging all of them. But it doesn’t have to be hugging! It can be holding hands, or just leaning against each other, just as long as he can feel them and tell himself yes, they’re okay, they’re right here, I love them.

Because he does. He loves them terribly. Even if they think he’s just a big fan of hugs.

***

2. Quality Time

Virgil has the reputation of being the cat of the Mindscape for good reason. Not because he hisses at things that don’t cooperate—the other Sides are not excluded from this—and not because he spits up hairballs—it was one time, Remus, and it was entirely your fault—but because he has a habit of just appearing in the same room and hanging out for a while.

…alright, it’s not a habit, he does it on purpose.

Companionable silence really is the best way to go about things. You’re both close enough to talk if you want to, but each of them is allowed to do their own thing and hey, there’s another person doing their own thing too. Which is why it’s his favorite way of hanging out with Logan, especially when he needs to make sure that something gets done. He’s always down to affectionately bully Logan into whatever he asks him to make sure he does.

He does that with Remus too, but it’s not exactly the same: Remus needs someone to make sure he doesn’t actually destroy anything, and he’s more than happy to oblige. Especially since he likes to get a bit of a heads-up before a rampaging beast goes barreling through the kitchen at some ungodly hour of the morning.

If he’s never beating the cat allegations, Janus sure as hell isn’t helping. There’s a big window in the Dark Sides’ half of the Mindscape that is perfect for lying in for, oh, a few hours on end. Remus has many—too many, if you ask Virgil—pictures of the two of them just basking in the sun, dozing like they haven’t got a care in the world.

Virgil’s actual favorite place to sleep is with his head in Patton’s lap. Especially after he’s just finished baking, when he’s all warm from the oven and he smells like sugar and spice…Virgil will sit on the counter or the floor and listen to Patton talk about whatever he wants and then while the oven bakes, he’ll fall asleep right in Patton’s lap. He even gets first dibs on whatever just got made.

Roman makes a game of it. He’s the Prince, every good Prince needs a rogue to work with. They trek all over the Imagination, having adventures, defeating monsters, it’s the perfect mix of Roman’s quests and Virgil’s need to be a creepy little shit in every dark corner he can find. Being with Roman even makes boring council meetings fun, because he gets to terrify the idiots that they’re just gonna fight later anyway and he gets to spend time with Roman.

He doesn’t care what he’s doing, not really, just as long as he can spend time with them. He just…wishes they would understand that sometimes.

***

3. Words of Affirmation

Logan is no stranger to impostor syndrome, but that doesn’t mean he has to allow it to plague those he cares for. Understanding something to be true on an intellectual level and feeling the validation that comes from hearing someone else voice it are two very different things. The other Sides are each remarkable in their own right. They deserve to hear it.

Patton is kind. He does not say that lightly: kind people who choose to be kind because they know how difficult it is are not individuals to be trifled with. Patton makes the conscious choice to try and be better every single day. He is earnest and sincere, sometimes painfully so, but he does not allow himself to be dissuaded by obstacles. How could Logan not want to express his admiration?

And Roman…oh, Roman is a wonder. There is so much that goes into his work that often goes unnoticed, or underappreciated, and it is a crime that Logan too often finds himself on the wrong side of that line. Roman is clever and funny and has a work ethic that, truly, rivals Logan’s own. For every slight he makes, however unintentional, he tries his best to make up for it by telling Roman in no uncertain terms how honored Logan is to be part of his creative process.

Remus is an entirely different story, no pun intended. Remus is unabashedly and unapologetically himself, and as such is a marvel to behold. He cares not for the sanitization or reduction of anything in his work, and so Logan does his best to follow suit. Remus is who he is, and it is beautiful.

He tells Janus he’s beautiful too. And not once is he lying. The first time he did it, Janus laughed in his face, at least until he realized Logan was telling the truth. He then didn’t see Janus for an entire week. It ended when a little snake plushie appeared outside of his door in the middle of the night with a tiny note that just said thank you. He tells Janus he’s beautiful every chance he gets now.

Virgil is his little alley cat. Perfectly fine to approach on his terms, but will let him know with no uncertainties when he’s getting a little too close. It doesn’t help that Virgil is quite fun to tease, even if all he’s doing is giving him compliments—true compliments, mind you—and watching in amusement as Virgil curls up into a ball with his hood pulled down over his ears as if that could hide how red they are. He’s not cruel about it, of course; he stops the moment Virgil appears genuinely uncomfortable and there are certain topics he doesn’t go near. But Virgil can’t always hide his little grin and so on it goes.

He’s quite happy to shower them with his words, he just…doesn’t know if they’d believe him if he said I love you.

***

4. Acts of Service

Words are difficult. There is so much ambiguity to be found in even the most basic of sentences, and when it comes to matters like this, Janus prefers to take as few chances as possible. Whoever coined the phrase ‘actions speak louder than words,’ Janus definitely owes a drink for how spot-on it is.

Whenever Patton needs a hand in the kitchen, he’s always the first to volunteer. He can do up to three things in the time it would take another Side to do just one, after all, and he’s had enough experience cooking for the troublemakers (Virgil and Remus) to know how to get around most of their pranks. And how to get them back.

Logan, bless him, has a tendency to overwork himself at the best of times. And in doing so, he gets these terrible knots and cramps in his neck and shoulders from hunching over his desk for hours on end. It might not be the most polite of things to practically blackmail his way into giving Logan a massage, but the poor dear always falls right to sleep so he mustn’t mind too much.

Remus and his delightful menagerie of creatures often need more than their fair share of attention. He had to pester Remus into getting him a raincoat and muck boots that could withstand the acidic slime, but weekend mornings found them strolling cheerfully through pens and cages and paddocks, tending to the bizarre flock. Anything to make the chore more of a fun activity and less of, well, a chore, when Remus really doesn’t suit stressed-out frowns as well as manic grins.

Virgil has a terrible habit of not asking for reassurance when he needs it. Janus regrets the part he played in making it that way. So, no matter how small and stupid Virgil may think it is, whenever he asks for help, Janus gives it. A tug on his cloak or a soft please will have him do anything from turn the light in the hallway on to checking the poor thing over for wounds after a brutal nightmare. It took long enough for Janus to re-earn that trust, he’s not going to lose it if he can damn well help it.

Out of everyone in the Mindscape, only Roman truly appreciates his love of theater. Sure, the others are game to help out here and there, but when it comes to the art of make-believe, Roman is the proud owner of Janus’s ‘yes-and’ partnership. The two of them make all sorts of stories together, from villains and heroes to morally grey adventurers, to simple fairytales and old plays. Roman needs someone else to help him play the roles and Janus is more than happy to play with him.

Perhaps one day, he might be able to reveal that everything he does for them, he does because it’s them, but for now, he’ll happily play the role they expect of him.

***

5. Gifts

Roman and Remus do not, in fact, fight over who gets to give the most presents to the other Sides.

Instead, they fight over whose idea they work on first.

For Logan, Remus’s self-writing pen narrowly won out over Roman’s proposal for a never-ending notebook, if only because said pen squirted ink into Roman’s mouth before he could finish his argument. They ended up giving both to Logan at the same time, but the pen was decidedly on top and did its own little celebratory wriggle when Logan used it for the first time.

Remus nearly challenged Roman to a formal duel when it came to designing a heat lamp for Janus that wouldn’t run the same risk of burning out the electricity in their section of the Mindscape. They managed to agree on everything up to the design on the lampshade. Roman said it should be a yellow snake, curled up and sleeping, and Remus wanted it to be a big leaf that Janus could lay under like he was actually outside. The compromise was eventually reached over many hours of almost bloodshed and now the sleeping snake under a leaf is a staple in the corner of Janus’s room.

Roman cleverly proposed Virgil’s weighted blanket while Remus was being crushed under said blanket, leaving not a lot of wiggle room until he had to agree. Of course, he promptly fell asleep and cuddled Roman into a pile of goo, so technically they made both the blanket and the plushie at around the same time. Virgil still brings the little skeleton to movie nights.

Patton gets their presents one after the other, because you need one to understand the other’s context. A rebreather designed to slip on over the person’s face just like any other face mask, to filter out particulates and allergens. Something that could be worn for up to two consecutive hours before it needed to be recharged.

The other present was a box full of kittens.

”Ro?”

“Yeah?”

Remus pushes his goggles to the top of his head and looks over the desk. “Do you think they’ll ever get it?”

Roman sighs, closing his notebook and leaning back to stretch. “I don’t know, Re. I love them, really, they just…”

”Don’t realize.”

“Yeah. It’s okay, though. We’ll get there eventually.”

“Of course we will. Hand me that wrench, would you?”

“The one that’s covered in guts, or the one that’s made out of foam?”

“The foam one. I need to whack this thing but I don’t wanna hit it too hard.”

“I’m not gonna ask any more questions.”

***

+1: I Love You

”Hey!” Patton rises up first, clapping his hands. “Oh. I’m the only one here.”

“Only by a moment,” Logan says as he joins him. “Is Thomas here?”

“No, I just got summoned by—well, I thought it was Thomas but he’s not here.”

“Whoa, hey!” Virgil appears on the staircase. “What’s going on? I was in the middle of watching someone.”

“Don’t you mean ‘something?’” Remus appears, covered in slime and cackling. “Ah. I see.”

“I’ve got it,” Roman says, rising up and spraying his brother with something that somehow manages to dissolve all the goo without staining or spraying anything else. “There. Now maybe you’ll think twice about surprising Uma when she’s feeding?”

“Oh, I’m gonna do this so many more times!”

”I felt the exasperation from my room,” Janus sighs, appearing, “what’s Remus done now?”

“Why did you assume it was Remus?” Janus just looks at Logan. “Fair enough.”

”Now that we’re all here, what is this about?” He looks around, frowning. “Where’s Thomas?”

“That’s weird, is he not the one who called for a meeting?”

“What’s that?” Virgil reaches out and picks up a piece of paper from the coffee table. “‘Each one of you needs a card, find the matches.’ What cards?”

“Here.” Logan picks up something that fell when Virgil picked up the paper. “There are only five of them, though, and six of us.”

“What do they say?”

“Let me see…one says ‘Physical Touch,’ one says ‘Acts of Service,’ one says…oh, I see.”

“I don’t,” Patton says, “can you share with the class?”

“Wait, wait, I think I know what this is, is one of them ‘Quality Company’ or something?”

“‘Quality Time,’ yes.”

Roman nods. “It’s the Five Love Languages.”

“Thomas doesn’t even speak Spanish!”

“No, no, Padre, not literal languages, it’s…it’s the ways you express your affection for someone. How you tell them you love them. There’s five: physical touch, acts of service, quality time…”

“‘Words of Affirmation,’” Logan continues, reading off the other cards, “and ‘Gifts.’”

Virgil hunches his shoulders. “So what, are we supposed to pick one?”

“I believe the intention of the exercise is to…select which one is our love language.”

Janus huffs. “Why? What does Thomas have to gain from doing something like this? And where is he?”

“Maybe he’s not the one who summoned us.”

“Well then who did?”

“Maybe if we do the thing we can find out.”

Janus sighs, peering over Logan’s shoulder and squinting. “I guess this one’s mine, then.”

“‘Acts of Service?’ Very well. I suppose I’ll take ‘Words of Affirmation.’”

“Can I have the touch one?”

“Certainly.”

“Twins get ‘Gifts,’ obviously,” Virgil mutters, “which means I get the…time one, or whatever.”

Logan hands out the last two cards and they stand there for a moment, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing does.

Patton looks back down at his card. “Wait, did you say these are how we tell people we love them?”

“That is a simple definition of this, why?”

“Because you guys do these with everyone!”

There’s a pause. Logan adjusts his glasses. “Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but…yes, I do indeed give you all words of affirmation, because, well…”

“Aww,” Virgil says, “do you love us, Logan?”

Logan coughs, blushes, and adjusts his tie. “I believe that is a logical conclusion, yes.”

“Aww!” Patton squeals. “I love you guys too!”

”So whoever set this up knew that we were all trying to tell each other that—“ Roman starts.

“—and needed to hammer it into our heads what was happening,” Remus finishes.

“Well,” Janus sniffs, even as a smile threatens the corners of his mouth, “how dramatic.”

Virgil tugs on the strings of his hoodie. “Yeah. How dramatic.”

There’s another pause.

Roman coughs. “Uh, this seems like a good a time as any, um…Remus and I put together a festival thing in the Imagination for everyone, if you want to…if you want to come and see it.”

“It has everyone’s favorite state fair stuff,” Remus sands, “and there’s supposed to be a northern-lights kind of thing after it gets dark.”

“Can we cuddle?”

“Of course.”

“Will there be food?”

“Your favorite, shadow-ling.”

“You two are so thoughtful,” Logan says softly, “I would love to come.”

“I can get the good blankets from the closet,” Janus offers, and everyone grins, “should we meet there in ten?”

“Oh, this is going to be so much fun!”

The Imagination is just happy they finally sorted it out. Now, to give the six of them a group date they’ll never forget…

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