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bananaconda33-blog · 5 months

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Sanders Sides Preferences

Summary:

Short stories with each side (minus Remus) in a given scenario with (y/n)

(Ex: first meet, first kiss, confessions)

This is only going to be "First Meet" so I can see how well this does.

First Meet

Thomas Sanders - Old Vine Friends

“Storytime! They didn’t know that, after this moment, their lives would change-” Thomas begins, but is quickly interrupted by a loud squeal of excitement.

“Thomas!”

Thomas furrows his eyebrows but continues to smile, “Thomas? Never heard of him,” he jokes.

You tilt your head, your excitement fading as your smile turns into a frown.

“You don’t remember me, do you?”

Thomas pauses. He’s not very good with names, he can admit that, but he never forgets a face. He raises a hand to block the sun as he squints at you, and then his eyes widen with realization.

“(Y/N)!”

Your frown turns back into a grin. “The one and only”

“Oh my god, I missed you!” Thomas laughs as he pulls you into a hug

“Me too. It's been years!”

Thomas releases you from his death grip of a hug, fixing his hair.

“Yeah, sorry about that”

“It’s fine. It gave me time to start my own YouTube channel!”

“Really?” Thomas asks, his excitement renewed before quickly being crushed.

“Nah. Well, I tried, but it didn’t work out so well”

Virgil Sanders - At an MCR concert

You loved MCR; their music was great and yet…

This concert wasn’t as fun as you thought it would be.

Your friends were supposed to be hanging out with you, laughing, singing, dancing… Drinking. But they ended up drinking too much and went off to flirt with guys, leaving you alone with your anxious fidgeting in the back.

In a last desperate attempt to find your friends, you look around, but instead, you see a man staring at you.

“Staring is rude you know,” you grumble in defeat.

The man, seemingly realizing his mistake when you point it out, shakes his head frantically.

“Sorry, I just... You’ve been sitting here by yourself for 46 minutes and I was wondering if you wanted… company” He sputters.

You glance in the direction your friends were, accepting the fact that they won’t be returning anytime soon. You offer the stranger their now empty seats and he accepts, sitting beside you.

“I’m (y/n),” you murmur.

“Virgil,” he responds.

Patton Sanders - At a volunteer park clean-up

“Come on, everyone! Where’s the pep in your step? The beautiful smiles?” the community service conductor yells.

Everyone cheers. Even you manage to give a tired yell before returning to your task at hand. Every Sunday, you come out and pick up as much trash as you can before 6 o’clock. You’ve been doing it since you were little because when you got to look at the beautiful, clean field, it made you so happy. As you walk along the sidewalk, looking down at the floor for more trash, you run headfirst into someone.

“Sorry!” You blurt out before you even hit the ground.

“Oh no! No, I’m sorry! Don’t apologize!”

You look up to see a man with a blue polo shirt, and a cardigan wrapped around his shoulders, extending his hand. You take it hesitantly, and he lifts you to your feet with ease.

“I should’ve been watching where I was going… Honestly, it's my fault. I’m sorry,” you repeat, brushing the dirt off your shirt.

The guy purses his lips when you apologize again before a smile creeps onto his face.

“What’s brown and sticky?” he asks.

Caught off guard by this question, you look up and tilt your head, taking a moment to realize it’s the beginning of a joke.

“What?” you ask.

The man reaches out and picks a stick out of your hair, showing it to you. “A stick!”

Your eyes widen before you stifle your laughter with your hand.

“I’m (y/n),” you giggle.

The man raises his eyebrows and grins.

“Patton”

Logan Sanders - In a bookstore, munching on a Crofter-covered slice of toast

You slide your fingers along the spines of the science fiction books, most of them either too expensive or you’ve already read them. You take another bite of your toast despite just wanting to lick the jelly off the top, but then you would just be left with a piece of bread… Soggy bread at that. No one likes soggy bread.

Being in a bookstore heightens your senses. You have to be vigilant to make sure you don’t run over kids, or walk into people reading, so that’s how you were able to tell someone was looking over your shoulder.

“May I help you?” you ask, not looking up from the books.

“I was just wondering if that is… Um… Crofters Organic Concord Grape you are consuming alongside your piece of bread?” the person behind you says.

You finally look at the person, and nearly drop your toast that started this conversation. The stranger gazes intensely at you through the frames of his glasses.

It was honestly kind of hot if you ignore the fact he just asked what kind of jam you were eating.

“I- uh-... um… Yes,” you sputter out.

The man’s eyes widened for a split second, “Interesting. Do you come here often?” he asks.

“Every Sunday. Why?”

“Curiosity”

“Huh…” You take another bite of your toast. “...How did you know it was Crofters?”

“The smell”

“You do know that’s a little weird, right?”

The man looks genuinely sad, but surprisingly, not because you just called him weird. “My… brothers. They hid my Crofters for a month now…”

You look at your extra piece of toast and back at the man, then back at the toast.

“Do you want it?” you ask.

The man narrows his eyes, his nose scrunching in displeasure.

“Are you aware of how many germs could spread that way?”

“Less than if we shook hands,” you shoot back.

“That’s…” He seems to have to think about that for a second “Correct”

You hold out the bread, and the man snatches it away from you, smiling for the first time since starting this conversation. He licks the Crofters off the top as you had debated doing earlier. Then he eats the bread, closing his eyes and humming softly in satisfaction.

“Wow uh…” You aren’t sure how to respond.

“Thank you,” the man opens his eyes, the smile remaining on his lips even after the jam is gone “My name is Logan. It is a pleasure to meet you”

He offers you a handshake, but then remembers what you had said about the germs and changes his mind.

“I uh… I’m (y/n).”

“I would like to spend more time in your presence if that’s alright”

“O-okay?”

Roman Sanders - On the sidewalk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrZsP1oSSvs

Roman is Thomas(Duh) but depending on your gender, or which one you want to be, you’d sing either Dodie or Ben J. Pierce. When you sing solo, you can be whoever is singing the melody. This is just for when Roman joins.

Singing by the side of the road for money was not how you had expected to spend your Friday. However, getting fired from your job was not how you wanted to spend your Thursday, and you had bills to pay. As you looked at your hat, you could see at least 100 bucks, but that wasn’t nearly enough, at least not in this day and age.

Entranced by a beautiful voice, a man turned the corner, walked in your direction, and suddenly joined in on your song. His voice blended with the harmonies flawlessly.

All you could do was watch in awe as you continued singing, despite wanting to be furious. People started to gather around, throwing more and more money into your hat.

“Is anybody waving back at me?” you both sang.

“Waving,” you sang.

“Waving,” the man echoed back.

“Waving! Woah,” you both sang once more.

“Ohh,” the man finished.

With the adrenaline from the roaring applause, you threw your arms around the strange man.

“Oh my gosh! That was amazing! Thank you!”

“Oh uh- You're welcome,” he stutters.

Realizing that you were hugging a complete stranger, you quickly let go.

You cleared your throat, now looking at the ground in embarrassment. “You sounded really good,” you finally say.

“You too”

There was a pause.

“I’m (y/n) but everyone just calls me (n/n),” you extended your hand.

“Roman Sanders, but everyone just calls me Mister Sing-a-lot, Princey, or handsome,” he winked at you, grabbing your hand to kiss your knuckles.

A bright red blush crept its way to your ears, causing Roman to hum in amusement. Then, you and Roman knelt to collect the money from the overflowing hat.

“What’s this money for anyway?” Roman asked.

“Oh, nothing,” you lied.

“I don’t like liars,” Roman grumbled.

“It’s just a sob story. I don’t want you to pity me”

Roman stood up with you, handing you the money he had picked up as he tilted his head in curiosity.

You sighed. “I got fired a week ago and I need money to pay my rent or else I’ll get evicted”

Roman’s eyes widened, and you knew that look from the other people you had told that to.

“Don’t!” you snapped.

“Fine! But in return for not feeling bad for you, you have to go out to dinner with me”

“Nice try. How ‘bout we go get some coffee as friends”

Roman grumbled something but nodded in agreement.

“Cool”

Janus Sanders - In a cafe

“Hello. Welcome to Café aléatoire. What can I get you?” you ask the man in front of you, still writing down the previous order.

“This is my first time here. What tea would you suggest?” the man responds.

“Would you like me to surprise you?” you smile to yourself, finishing the order and finally looking up.

As you make eye contact with this customer, he returns a smile.

“Okay then. Surprise me”

You rack your brain, thinking of all 120 flavors of tea from memory. While doing this, you were staring at the man, maybe a little too intensely. He narrows his eyes and cocks his head in confusion at why you were staring at him.

Still racking your brain, you purse your lips before mumbling, “Chenin Blanc…” and rushing to the back kitchen. You grab the ingredients you need and make the tea in a matter of seconds. When you walk into the dining area, you see the customer has found a table beside the window.

“Here you go,” you set the tea kettle and cups down.

“May I ask what you decided on?” the man asks.

“No, you may not. Not until you try it at least”

The man pours the tea with his gloved hands and sips it.

“Is this… hot wine?” he asks, confused.

“No. Chenin Blanc. It’s supposed to taste like wine, and you look like a wine guy”

“Hm,” he takes another sip.

“Do you… like it?”

The man looks up, his eyes showing his content.

“Yess”

Proud of yourself, you smile.

For the next month, every Saturday, the man would come back, asking you to surprise him, and you never failed to satisfy him with the best tea you could think of. You felt honored that he trusted you to choose what he was drinking without question.

Today it took you longer to prepare the tea, but the man was still waiting at his window seat like every other Saturday.

“Finally, I was getting impatient,” the man joked.

“Well, this one was a little harder to make,” you retort.

The man watches you set it down and looks at it in confusion.

“It smells like regular tea,” he says.

“When have I ever given you regular tea?”

“Never”

He takes a sip and licks his lips thoughtfully.

“Strawberry? A little bit of citrus? And cinnamon”

“Yup! Do you like it?”

“Of course I like it”

“Good. That one isn’t very popular… I’ve never tried it before,” you say.

“Would you like to?”

“Try it?”

“Yess”

You look around at the empty cafe before grabbing a chair from another table and sitting down.

“Sure”

He pours you a cup.

“You know, I’ve been making you tea for the last month, and yet I still don’t know your name… Is it weird to ask for your name now?” you ask.

“Janus”

“Janus?”

“Please don’t laugh”

“Why would I laugh? That’s a super cool name. Like the god?”

Janus smiles, nodding as he takes another sip of his tea.

“Thank you (y/n)”

Remy Sanders - In the middle of nowhere(This one was for funsies)

“I have, like, no idea,” the man says, looking around in confusion.

He takes another sip of his coffee before abruptly hanging up on whoever was talking on the other end. Just as you are about to walk past him, he taps you on the shoulder.

“Excuse me,” he says.

You stop, taking your earbuds out in confusion.

“Hm?”

“Do you know where we are right now?”

“Uh… Near Starbucks?” you respond.

“In another case, that would be, like, super helpful, but I need to get home ASAP”

You nod and look around.

“Honestly, I don’t really know… The only reason I'm even here is to get the new drink,” you nod towards Starbucks.

“Wait, they have a new one! I asked and they said no!” the man cried.

“When has Starbucks ever not had a new drink?” you retort, narrowing your eyes.

The man pauses. “True true”

“Do you wanna go with me to get it?”

“OMG! Yes”

You smile and start walking with him.

“What's your name girl-pop?” the man asks.

“(y/n)”

“I’m Remy but my bitches just call me Rem,” Remy says.

“Do you actually have any bitches?”

“No, but if I did, that's what they would call me”

“Ah…”

Both of you reach Starbucks and order the drink. When he is finished, you order him an Uber so he can get home, but before he leaves, he snatches your phone out of your hand and gives you his number.

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rushingexpress · 4 months

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so I'm casually on Spotify trying to get some music to fall asleep too – and I came across this..

..and it looks... unsettling?? I don't know - it just looks really weird, because most of the Thomas Spotify album covers are like colourful with the characters on - but this one doesn't have it.

I listened to it, two minutes in, and.. 😭 are we dealing with an actual creepypasta?? this feels like one of those stories abt something randomly popping up and then OP gets cursed idk,,

#ttte #thomas the tank engine #I DONT LIKE ITTT #its so weird.#ayo thomas creepypsta writers cmere pspsps #aka virgil speaks wow!

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phantomhunting · 28 days

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We're Here and We're Queer // Sanders sides modern teen AU

CHAPTER 1 - queer teens have immense crushes on each other and wont fucking CONFESS ALREADY.

CW: implied abuse, and intrulogical being intrulogical (mostly Remus)

Ships: Logan x Remus, Roman x Virgil, Remy x Janus, Emile x Patton

Patton was sitting in his room in front of the mirror, trying to make his light cyan hair look good, but it was too messy. He sighed, the reflection of his soft blue eyes staring at him from the mirror. "I hate this" he whispered. He sighed again and got up, going to his closet and taking out his favorite top, a baby blue vest with a white button-up. He put it on and grabbed his school bag and walked downstairs to get some breakfast.

There wasn't much to eat at home, even though the Mor family (which Patton was part of) had a lot of money. He decided to eat some overly-sugary cereal with lactose free milk (because he's lactose intolerant). When Patton finished eating, he could hear his father walk up the stairs. He quickly washed the dishes he used and placed them neatly on the dish rack. He checked the time, '8:10' was what the clock read. "You're late to school again." his father exclaimed as he entered the room. Patton started breathing heavily, scared of what his father might do. "I-i was just leaving!" He grabbed his bag and ran out the house before his father could do anything. He ran all the way to school, not wanting to be even more late.

- - -

Virgil was sitting in the back of the class with his small dagger shaped fidget, barely listening to the teacher. He was waiting for the break so he could hang out with his friends. He and his older brother, Logan, have recently moved into this city, and a group of students have accepted them in as one of their own. Virgil always doubted if they actually liked them or if it was just because they're new, but at least he'll make the most of it. After two long and boring math classes, it was finally break time. Virgil put all his stuff in his locker and grabbed his food from his bag. He ran to the back of the school, which was where the group always stayed while in there. Roman, Patton, and Remus were already sitting and chatting there. Virgil was hesitant to approach, not wanting to intrude. Then, he suddenly felt a hand touch his shoulder. He jumped and let out a squeak, turning around to see... His older brother, Logan!

"Lo.. don't ever do that again" he tried to sound intimidating but he was so much smaller than him. "What did you get?" Logan asked, pointing at Virgil's lunchbox. "Oh- umm, it's just some bread with a piece of cheese on it" Virgil answered. "You know, you need to eat more than that, Virg" Logan's tone seemed harsh, but Virgil knew Logan cared a lot about him. They both walked over to the group, and sat down next to them.

"Virgil! Logan!" Patton called, happy to see his friends. "Hello!" Remus called as well, only happy to see Logan. "Hi..!" Roman whispered quietly to Virgil, blushing slightly. "Hey, Roman.." Virgil responded, hoping his makeup hides his red face. "Ree, is that new?" Virgil asked, pointing at the collar on Remus' neck. "Why won't you ask your brother~?" Remus responded, making a flirty face to Logan. "Ew- you could've just said yes" Virgil wanted to throw up thinking about his brother and Roman's brother having... Adult times. Remus scoffed. "Has anyone seen Barry? We were supposed to study now but he's not responding to my texts." Logan quickly changed the topic. "Probably still asleep, he oversleeps constantly" Remus responded, taking out his bottle (that's full of some blue liquid that seems full of sugar) and taking a sip. Logan is disgusted by the drink, but moves on, "he's usually here by now..." he checks his phone's notifications again. "Ugh, why does it matter? We're having a conversation here now" Remus rolled his eyes.

There was silence for a few seconds, only the sounds of Patton's chocolate chip cookies in his mouth were heard. "Wassup nerds" Janus sat next to his younger brother, Patton, and placed his bag of oatmeal cookies besides him. "Good morning, Jan" Remus smiled. Virgil and Roman rolled their eyes, they both disliked Janus a bit too much. Janus flashed a sarcastic smile back at them both, raising the tension.

"hey, Remus, may i speak to you in private?" Logan asked, cutting the tension. "Ooo~" Remus smirked. "About a serious topic. Now." Logan hurried. "Alright alright" Remus got up, and Logan followed. They both walked inside the building, they were out of sight in a moment. "Well.... Uh, Roman, did you see the vid i sent you?" Virgil asked, attempting to start a conversation without Patton or Janus. "I did! Wait- we're talking about the dnd one, right?" Roman hurried to clarify, and Virgil nodded, "yeah so i did watch it, it seemed really interesting! I'd love to do a game with you some day" Roman blushed. Virgil smiled awkwardly, wanting to show Roman his years of campaign planning just for him, but he knew it'd seem weird. "Hey, lovebirds, there are more people sitting with you" Janus exclaimed, signaling at himself and his brother. Roman and Virgil both burst into denying chatter, while Patton giggled to himself. They all spent the rest of the break talking about some math teacher that got pregnant from a different teacher. Remus and Logan didn't come back.

- - -

At the end of the school day, as Patton walked out, he saw two cute boys talking right outside the school's gate. He took a deep breath and approached them. "H-hey! My name is Patton, and I think you look really cool, wanna be friends?" He asked, seeming as innocent as a baby. The taller one chuckled, "sure. Im Remy, this is my twin brother, Emile" he smiled, and took a sip out of his coffee. Emile smiled a bit, already knowing he's got feelings for Patton, he always saw him around, hanging with hus classmate, Virgil, and he always seemed so sweet and caring. It was obvious he liked puns, just perfect for him. "He's awkward" Remy whispered to Patton, and preceded to be slapped by Emile. Patt giggled, but in a friendly way rather than a bullying way. Thats when Janus whispered into Patton's ear, "we need to get home, bitch" and laughed.

"LANGUAGE!!" Patton shouted. Janus just kept laughing. "Sorry, uh, this is my brother, Janus" he explained to his new friends. "Is Janus your actual name?" Emile asked, his sweet honey colored eyes glowing with curiosity. "Nope, its Julia. But i really hate that name, so i changed it. Too feminine" Janus explained, grabbing Patton's hand, "now, me and my beloved brother need to head home. See ya!" he dragged him off to the bus stop.

- - -

"he was amazing!!" Emile called, flapping his hands. "His brother was hotter." Remy replied, sipping his coffee like the bad bitch that he is. "Sometimes i really dont get how you're my twin brother and not some distant uncle of an uncle" Em joked. "What can i say, I'm the Picani with the most personality" Remy flipped imaginary hair (his hair is too short). "Pfft, yeah, right. You dont even know what you're gonna do next week, i already know what im learning in college." Emile joked as they both started walking home.

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southern--downpour · 1 year

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having upsetting thoughts about the “live” ending

#what would he think? would he think the audience just wants to see him suffer for as long as he's entertaining?#how do you feel being dragged away knowing you're going to loose every memory you've ever had after just getting them all back?#how do you come to terms with the fact that you *begged* to die and they refused you?#do you think h'ed fight back? or just accept his fate silently and let himself be dragged away by showfall's drones?#sorry genloss is giving me such severe brainrot #it hurts me so good #honest to god want to write stuff for this and i am not a writer #shut up virgil #genloss #like you know if chat picked live it'd be because we couldnt stand to kill him/had *some* kind of hope he could escape eventually #but he wouldnt know that #he'd just think that however many people (hundreds? thousands? he doesnt know) wanted him to suffer #i so fucking wish gl!ranboo could know just how badly chat wanted to find a way to save him #GENUINELY almost tied the poll 50/50 to find any other option than kill him or have him suffer #uwahhhhhhhh

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splattered-ink · 2 months

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The stars must be so proud of themselves,

to create such a perfect being as you.

It's clear that you belong with the stars, yet here you are.

When you speak, magic falls from your lips,

as though you are speaking the language of the universe.

From my poem, "starchild"

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where-are-the-spooky-gays-2 · 1 month

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I COULD KISS THIS BLOG OH MY GOD IM OUT OF MY WRITER'S BLOCK AND I'M WORKING ON THE SERAPHIM/INCUBUS THING AND IM SO HAPPY OMG I FORGOT HOW WONDERFUL CREATIVITY FELT

also have to take a few minor creative liberties on this fic pls forgive me I'm so excited

It's just gonna be their first meeting, I think, but just ‼️‼️ vee thank you for throwing this idea out there

And also the person who said florist rem you are SO correct I see your vision and I adore it and I think Virgil would keep whatever bouquets he's given and make sure they don't die immediately:D

— 👑 (have a good day guys I'm literally so in a good mood)

DUDE HELL YEAH THAT'S S O FUCKING AWESOME TO HEAR!!! Writer's block is a bitch and I'm really glad you were able to get the Creative juices flowing again and I'm super excited to see how it turns out <3

#let's give a round of applause for 👑 anon for kicking writer's blocks' ass dukexiety nation #dukexiety #remus sanders #virgil sanders #ts remus #ts virgil #sanders sides #thomas sanders #asks #answers #👑 anon #not a countdown

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ipomhw · 9 days

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Starting this blog just as a hub outside of Ao3. I used to write fanfic a long time ago, finally getting back into it though! My current fandoms are:

- Sherlock

- Doctor Who

- Broadchurch

- Good Omens

- Anything Marvel

- Invincible

- And Sanders Sides

If you have any requests please send me a message! Just looking for prompts to jump back into things!!

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bl00dst41ned · 9 months

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'*•.¸♡ love songs (virgil edition) ♡¸.•*'

pairing: virgil van dijk x reader

summary: in which I describe a relationship with your favs using songs

author's note: new football crush cause why did i just realise how good he looks

ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ : ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮

how you guys meet

No Woman No Cry - Bob Marley & The Wailers

You had just spent a bad day and felt a bit down so you got out of your home, getting some fresh air. Virgil spotted you and decided to talk to you. This small talk soon turned into the two of you ranting for hours about your respective lives. For the time being, he tried to comfort you and support you to uplift your mood. You somehow felt special to have been listened to by him, making you excited to see him again.

how the relationship grew to become official

If You Ever - Nao

Each time you two met again, you were particularly joyful. Anybody who knew you personally could tell you developed romantic feelings for Virgil really fast. One day, you gathered enough courage to let him know how you felt about him, the man in front of you not knowing how to hide his happiness. This moment marked a turn in the way you behave around one another. Both of you knew where you wanted this relationship to go.

how to describe the relationship

A Upendi - Marcel Boungou

You and Virgil were love lovers. All the romantic stuff some might find soppy was your favourite thing to do. It went so smoothly, it felt like a movie where no bad could happen. Each week you tried to do something, trying not to let the old habits you enjoyed so much disappear once you and Virgil got together. In a nutshell, your relationship was a bubble of love and passion, which provided happiness to you two.

how is Virgil in the relationship

True Colors - Phil Collins

Virgil was the best at making you feel comfortable and made sure to keep doing it within the relationship. He saw you in your most real state but knew there was still so much of you to discover. He made sure to show love and affection to every aspect of you. He encouraged you to free yourself, at least around him and every day, you tried for him but also for yourself.

how are you in the relationship

If I Ain’t Got You - Alicia Keys

With time, everything you did felt better if you did it with Virgil. He was always fun, joking around all day. He will do everything to put a smile on your face. Virgil was a major part of the joy you felt in your life and you knew this feeling was reciprocated. He made you feel safe and loved, all you really need in life.

like, repost and suggest other celebs (hope you enjoyed it besties)

and please recommmend vvd fics because i'm itching for some

masterlist for more

#written by bl00dst41ned #black writer #virgil van dijk #virgil van dijk fic #virgil van dijk headcanon #virgil van dijk x reader

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rataticaisdreaming · 10 months

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thanks to @rambling-prince-thoughts i'm now willing to share a full analysis on remus (the whole gang is here!). i wish my own personal headcanons and things i've found in canon can help people understand how complex remus actually is.

cw for religious commentary, bible quotes and remus being remus.

disclaimer: i'm catholic. this is not, in any way, meant to impose my religion. remus holds way too many references to the bible for me to not mention it. if this isn't for you, it's 100% okay to turn away from this post. don't leave hate when you can just ignore it. the reason behind saying i'm catholic is to show famders they can have faith and still kin remus the way i do! there's nothing to feel guilty about, intrusive thoughts just make you human 💚

so to quote our favorite trash rat: "let's start from the beginning!"

this will follow the story of cain and abel from genesis 4, which remus mentions in dwit. i'll color code who represents who according to both canon (the twins) and personal headcanon (c! thomas):

cain - remus / abel - roman / god - c! thomas

in 4 genesis 4:4-5 we see that one day, after working hard on their respective jobs, cain and abel present their creations to god. he looks proud at abel's work, but he doesn't with cain's. this makes cain angry. let me remind you green is the color of envy. we know thomas favored roman over remus' creativity during dwit, we see remus get upset over everyone constantly thinking of his work as useless or unwanted.

later, in 4 genesis 4:6-7, god questions cain's anger and tells him that only if he does the right thing, he will be accepted. if he doesn't, sin will try to consume him and cain needs to rule over it. i love the choice of words here: right thing, accepted and rule. everyone was shutting remus up, telling him how awful he was and how bad the things he said were. if only remus could be more like his brother, then maybe he could be accepted.

i have a whole headcanon on the "rule over it" part. i think remus just went insane. you see, during the split, remus got all the "bad" parts of creativity. not only that, but just like roman got thomas' ego, remus got the intrusive thoughts. the way virgil has his own anxiety. i'm convinced remus has his own intrusive thoughts.

at one point, the intrusive thoughts became so loud, he had no other option but to embrace them. in the genesis, god wants cain to resist against sin. remus in this case didn't resist, he took control over his thoughts instead of letting them consume him. he clearly knows what having intrusive thoughts feels like and that hurt him and scarred him real bad. he is okay now with being called demented, he ruled over the intrusive thoughts.

you can see there are moments where remus seems uncomfortable when they talk about intrusive thoughts. his role is creativity, but he is cursed with intrusive thoughts. talking from personal experience, i can see his distress. the screams, loud laughs and stimming. all in an attempt to shut up those thoughts, but sometimes they become too much and they have to get out. the worst part is that you blurt out horrible things like cannibalism and murder. people around you don't understand and they think you mean it. virgil was very right and very wrong when he asked: "but are they opinions that matter?"

yes, the intrusive thought itself doesn't matter. but it's not okay to imply remus' words and opinions don't matter just because he blurts out these things. he matters as much as roman, his brother deals with being the ego and pride. remus has his own issues too that should not be ignored or ruled out as "not important".

immediately after that, in 4 genesis 4:8-12, cain kills abel. god condemns cain to a life where his work will never bear fruit and he will be a restless wanderer. in the "5 years later" video, remus says: "did you know how bored i was before you decided to confront me? all i did was walk around and look for stuff in your head to fuck with!". which implies remus was free to wander around the mindscape, but couldn't be listened to by thomas until he wanted to. which happens in dwit since the thoughts became too much to ignore.

here's something really cool. in 4 genesis 4:14-15. cain says to god: "from your face i shall be hidden. i shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." god replies: “not so! if anyone kills cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” which in the context of what we saw in dwit, means that remus was okay to stay in the dark, but anyone who dares to go against the duke's work will suffer the consequences. we know this because the more the others tried to force him out, the more powerful he became.

(there seems to be an islamic interpretation which says that the devil whispered to cain: "hit abel's head with a stone and kill him", which i found very interesting considering roman took a morning star to the head and the whisper in thomas' head. but i know nothing about it, so i can't confirm it's true.)

i don't believe in patton or janus keeping him locked away, because c! thomas has more power than people give him credit for. remus explicitly says thomas made him the way he is, logan points out it was him who decided to split creativity: "at a young age, you filed away products of your imagination as either welcome or forbidden." it is during clbg that roman says to thomas: "you have to give us permission first..." and virgil says "you are the boss, thomas. any information you want to know, you can know. you just have to be open to hearing it."

imo, thomas doesn't know anything about himself and the things he can do. the sides are there to guide him, but i don't think any side has the power to keep something hidden from thomas if thomas himself wants to learn. the reason the sides were able to out janus was because thomas gave his permission, but in dwit the sides didn't want remus to show himself. it was thomas who allowed him in.

let's go re-watch dwit for the fifth time this week:

when he sings: “and since you haven’t puked yet, we'll know they're wrong when they call you sick.” i think it's a nice metaphor to say from the very start that “since you haven’t acted on these thoughts, they'll see there's nothing wrong with you”. he also sings about people not liking him, which makes me wonder about past experiences he had with the sides. he can also be talking about how a lot of people dislike intrusive thoughts and dark creativity.

“good and bad is all made-up nonsense!” makes sense even for me! i don't believe in heaven or hell as physical places, but rather states of self when we are alive. when you're a good person to yourself and others, you can be at peace, but you'll have a harder time if you're bad. good and bad are not extremes, they are a gray mix. just because something is seen as good or bad doesn't mean it is in some cases. intrusive thoughts are seen as bad, but they can be fun! maybe you got a meme pop into your head and started laughing? or how about being in a conversation and an intrusive thought finishes the other person's sentence and you can't keep a straight face because of how stupid it sounds?

the tree of good and evil from the genesis (also known as the tree of knowledge/tree of life) is known for the belief that indulging in pleasure is immoral, but that belief often comes from people who are not religious. good and evil actually represent “the everything”, adam and eve gained knowledge instead of just pleasure. the knowledge to see what's right and wrong, a moral compass and tons of wisdom. for example, without the fruit they would never be able to punish criminals. this tree also represents the mixture of good and evil that creates mortality. janus offering a morsel (fruit) from the tree to thomas or any side means: do not put good and evil into separate boxes, embrace your humanity, what makes you human and your life will be easier.

janus representing the snake is actually genius because he is deceit and no one will trust deceit, but janus represents someone who wants to show the truth. so to make him the lord of the lies is truly evil, mr. sanders. remus represents the truth, but he is also given an evil role. they both are there to give thomas the fruit that will allow him to be more honest and direct dealing with his issues, so that he no longer deceives himself about the ugliness within him. in that scene, while janus seems to be talking to remus, remus sings janus' part. to me that can be interpreted as: janus and i had a talk and here's how we help thomas.

remus talks about how every mortal sins and dies at some point, but they try to deny it and ignore it. remus saying he will still be there even if thomas is alone can represent how no matter how much we isolate ourselves from sin, it will always be there as part of the human psyche. might as well accept that fact now.

remus asks him: "why do you want to stifle your own creativity?" which can perfectly mean: "why are you denying and ignoring a part of yourself that can be good?" dark creativity can be amazing! take a look at your favorite horror films and games, tragic novels and dramas. they all use a perfect combination of remus and roman's creativity. without one of them, we would never have these things.

laughing at your own intrusive thoughts can be a sign of you hating those thoughts, but being so used to them you don't care anymore. remus obviously knows what it's like to hate them and try and force them out, lot of good that did him! he realized repression is horrible. you don't need to act on these thoughts, you can get them out by writing them down in a journal or saying them out loud in private. trust me, it feels way better than keeping them inside.

i really like remus recognizing he is not scary, but instead, people are scared of him. if anyone needs to hear this: you're not a freak or a monster for having intrusive thoughts or any dark interest, or both! remus is just trying to be himself and deal with a very human thing a lot of us can relate to. thats why he makes me feel like i'm not alone in this <3

i think remus threatening logan to shut up is because he thought logan would attempt to convince thomas to repress his thoughts the same way patton did. i really like that logan continues to teach amazing lessons on intrusive thoughts, why the duke is important and we can see remus listening to him without interrupting. until the last part where he is just a brat.

just remus saying there is no rhyme or reason to what he does is enough for people to remember intrusive thoughts are mostly meaningless, like virgil said. they just happen. don't take them too seriously or think too deeply about them.

i want to point out that remus becomes distressed when logan says his contributions are intrusive thoughts instead of a different creativity. like… remus just couldn’t convince anyone, not even logan, of his job. no wonder he acts like a brat in wtit. the one side who was closest to understanding him, ended up being just like the rest of them. stubborn and repressing his own feelings, that seems to be a recurring theme with our boys.

remus is able to be gentle, we can see that when he listens to virgil at the end of dwit. that genuine smile and eye contact (which he avoids for most of the episode), the calm chuckles compared to the loud laughter from before and sweet tone of his voice… it's clear that whatever happened between virgil and the dark sides, remus doesn't think ill of him. i could almost believe he misses him. i think that whatever happened, it was between virgil and janus. remus had nothing to do with it and virgil knows that. in the "happy fifth anniversary" celebration, virgil looks amused at remus. i think he misses him too.

in wtit, i absolutely adore how remus uses real traps for thomas to represent how intrusive thoughts can trap you in an endless loop of hurting. i love that he can just give thomas the thoughts without any effort, but he uses his creativity to have fun with his other job and be extra dramatic. the fact he can attack other sides, summon beings like real people or monsters AND control them, that makes me wonder how powerful he truly is. it can be a unique aspect of the twins and i would love to see more of that in future videos.

remus is not scary. i've seen scary people and remus is not it (it's what he represents that scares others). he is silly and playful, extra and dare i say, more dramatic than roman. there's a lot of curiosity from him that i believe comes from his constant intrusive thoughts, he also seems to be knowledgeable in specific topics. he is very genuine in the way he expresses himself, not really hiding anything. he is so unique and eager to spend time with the sides.

he also acts in a way that reminds me of how loneliness can affect someone when they finally interact with others. his poor ability to read the room and how others feel, the little control he has over how loud his voice can get, the constant need for attention. all signs of being neurodivergent spending a long time by himself.

remus tries to teach a lesson to logan about how he can't do everything by himself. sadly, remus is the only side around for some reason (i guess the others had a ddr tournament) and logan refuses to acknowledge remus as a potential helper. instead, he keeps seeing him as an antagonist in thomas’ day, which he is. i think remus could potentially be against thomas after being denied acceptance by the others. that's why i would love to see remus become orange’s ally in his way to create chaos. in dwit he does say he wants to wreak havoc. the dance scene can be seen as another battle between sides, logan winning because logic can be a powerful tool against the irrationality of intrusive thoughts. but since it's logan who is being affected by orange’s influence, i wonder what that will do to logan’s power over remus.

remus tried to be accepted before and he was refused the opportunity, he tried a last time in dwit and failed once again. i think he is fed up at this point, that's why he feels like such a threat in wtit. he doesn't seem to care that he is creativity anymore, instead leaning more into his role as intrusive thoughts and using his creative power to make those stronger. he looks PISSED when logan tries to talk to him at the end of wtit. he clearly doesn't trust him nor believes logan is being honest.

remus says “you're going to pretend that i don't exist, so i'll pretend you don't exist.” and logan goes about how everyone has their own role, but still cannot see remus as creativity and remus is just so mad at him and the others for that. the sides think they're acknowledging remus by accepting him as intrusive thoughts, when in reality, they're denying his main role. it's the same thing that happened with virgil, in denying virgil as helpful and thinking he was only anxiety (which is perceived as a bad thing), they saw the effects of no anxiety at all and how much virgil protected thomas.

i really like remus getting interested in logan when orange shows himself. i see it as remus finally seeing a flawed logan, which can allow sympathy since remus is extremely flawed. logan showed him he is repressing something and who is remus but an advocate against repression?

roman and remus’ relationship is extremely interesting, putting all the cain and abel parallels aside, i think they love each other the way siblings do. they banter and annoy each other to no end. roman says he doesn't like him at the end of dwit, but it's so obvious he is in denial. he doesn't want to admit someone like remus is his twin and that he is fond of him despite his weirdness. i want remus to close roman’s arc, i want remus to help roman understand that it's okay to not be perfect and still be a good creativity. if anyone can help roman feel less insecure about himself, it's his twin.

roman says remus shows him everything he doesn't want to be. remus is flawed and happy to be seen as such. roman struggles so much to keep up the mask of perfection and when he sees how happy his brother is being flawed, he hates it. the little things that make roman insecure, remus embraces them and roman can learn so much from him. they likely share a room, they spend time together or at least, remus whispers into his ear waaay too much. if you go back to episodes before dwit, you'll see how defensive roman gets over things he said that others disapproved off, clearly being influenced by his twin. i think the realization roman talks about it's not only remus being the one to influence him, but also that remus represents more than he thought he did.

i think we can all agree with roman that sometimes we see ourselves in the mirror and we see the parts that makes us flawed, we hate them and want to turn away from them instead of accepting them. remus makes people uncomfortable because the truth is, most of us see something in him that we try to deny. be it the intrusive thoughts, the dark creativity… or something as simple as having an annoying laugh. we will always be able to love ourselves and quicky find something that we hate. not because it hurts us, but sometimes… because others have hurt us for being this way. i'm autistic and i know how harsh the world can be to people who are different, but remus made me feel seen. he made me feel valid for being me! he always makes me laugh and most importantly, he makes me feel safe <3

the most beautiful thing about remus is how freely he is himself. people will try to stop you from being who you are at heart, they will call you a freak and try to shut you down. if you take one thing from remus (even if you don't like him or sympathize with him) is that true happiness can be found in allowing yourself to be who you are. without a care in the world, because the only person who can judge you is yourself. no one else. you know yourself better than anyone else, so be happy and go feral if you want. as long as you're living true to yourself and staying safe 💛

go ahead and eat that second cookie, you earned it 🍪✨ if you don't like cookies, go grab something you enjoy. reward yourself for staying strong against this mess we call world. thank you for reading! i hope you have a wonderful day/night ⛅

#rataticaisdreaming #i think about him a lot okay?#we are trash rats wanting to be understood #shout out to all the fanfic writers who write remus as a complex character #you're my heroes!#sanders sides #remus sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders #thomas sanders #religious commentary #religion

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darkestwolfx · 2 months

Text

It's a Long Story about the Topiary

I have nothing to say about this that hasn't already been said. @tsarinatorment as I promised you this series was always going to have more written, and as you requested it, I got straight on with it!

I'll add fanfiction.net link once it generates! Notes: I don’t know how long awaited this may be for everyone who reads it, but I know for some it will be very important to them! So I hope you enjoy whether you are new or old to this little universe (that will not be staying little at all)!

This was something I fully intended to write before going away, so I’m pleased to have the chance to finish it and bring it to you all now. It seemed like the appropriate next add-on, but there are a few others also that I want to add also.

Might be best read after ‘A Seed Once Sown’ and ‘Afternoon Tea’ but it’s not a necessity as this fic will contain everything you’d need to make this a stand-alone read also.

And if anyone had noticed, yes, the title is a play on the song “long way to Tipperary”.

Also ages don’t particularly matter, but I’ve worked out based on what rough idea TAG did give us that when the boys rescued Jeff they were around the following give or take: Scott - 28, John - 25, Virgil – 23, Gordon – 20, Alan – 17 In case this is something people like to have in mind when reading.

Words: 6226

Summary: After Jeff returned home, there were a few things that needed explaining. Like the intriguing garden furniture…Chronologically, this is looking to be part 6 of International Gardening Services, but for now it's only the 3rd part written.

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There were many things to get used to again by being back on Earth.

Gravity was a noticeable first and combined with sunlight – a noticeable second – they had quickly become his bane for several days. Jeff had never had the same struggle with returning to gravity that John did as a young man, but now he felt a little of his second son’s difficulty. No– a lot, he understood it a lot.

He knew the boys had worried, but after a week or so, he’d managed to prove to them that he was right as rain (if not a little unsteady if he rose too fast, but that resolved itself again in another week).

The third – almost sadly – was his mother’s cooking. After surviving on rations, the thought of a meal was heavenly, until it was “meatloaf surprise” served up before him. This was a new take on the dish, something his mother had obviously developed in his absence, but it was no improvement to her known poor cooking - nor the standard “meatloaf” which had come before it - and Jeff had to admit he (momentarily) wondered if he would be better off on rations again.

The fourth, was the realisation that his boys… weren’t really boys anymore, not even the youngest. In his absence, they’d grown up by themselves, taught each other what they needed to, and – whilst he could look upon them now with as much love and pride as he ever had – the realisation that they didn’t need him anymore was (more than) a little soul-breaking. He couldn’t say that to them either, not after everything those developments had allowed them to achieve, which included rescuing me.

No, it would be an insult to say he wished for the sons he left behind, but… he did miss– no, regret what he’d lost. He supposed the boys likely felt the same way, to have lost him for eight years, only to gain him back now when… well, when they didn’t really need him anymore.

Logically, he knew that wasn’t really true. Although he may have missed the formative years to still play the role of father, he would always be their father, and they would desire he be around as much as he wanted them to outlast him. That was the truth, but emotionally, it hit hard still.

That’s why he’d tried so hard, desperately fought to think of anyway to get home, and yet, no matter how much he tried, he still wondered whether it would be too late – for him or the boys, or the years they’d have lost.

It could’ve been worse: it could’ve been better, of course, also.

You could’ve never gone…

No, Jeff knew – as much as he knew his family did – that he could never have not taken that mission to stop The Hood, no matter what it cost. But if things could be different, just one time…

That was no longer worth torturing themselves with.

The fifth – and well, everything else that came after – was a mix of the more little things. Letting former friends know that he was alive and a bit less of the “former” could come back into play.

Making time to see all such people was a head-rush and not something he’d yet got round to even thinking about arranging. Except for Lee was going to return to the island. Jeff had been intrigued to hear the tales of the adventures his sons had with his old friend in his absence and Alan had eagerly agreed that he could make the trip to pick the Captain up as soon as the weather conditions on Mars cleared up again.

There was redoing his wardrobe, because for all he’d tried to keep his physique, it hadn’t been an easy mission and some of his shape had dwindled away, if not his strength.

There was learning all about the “new” things that had come into play over the last eight years, like home-made AI’s and Hypercars, and gecko gloves and deadly space lasers. Not to mention weather drones and giant allegators!

The drama wasn’t just limited to the field either, as apparently there was quite the stack of films he’d missed the release of that the family had watched on their movie nights (sometimes afternoons – “depending on the type of week we were having”, he’d been informed by Gordon) that they now needed to rewatch with him. The first of such had been two weeks into his return when the holo-screen just about looked straight, and it had been enjoyable to spend such effortless time with his family again, even if he didn’t understand why Virgil and Scott no longer shared the popcorn, each having to have a bowl of their own instead, nor why John had to sit tediously (it seemed) in the middle of them both whilst Gordon seemed to snigger even when the movie didn’t prompt it.

No, he didn’t understand that, but then, it was another thing he knew he must’ve missed.

------

It was in his third week of being back – balance and vision somewhat back in coordination – that he ventured outside. The poolside smelt of chlorine and chemicals, and yet it was welcoming in its own odd way. The deck chairs were still covered the same and clearly hadn’t taken anymore burning’s from Scott’s launches of Thunderbird One. Jeff supposed he was thinking quite some way back to when the eldest was first learning to pilot the craft: and of course there would no longer be such issues. There barely had been when he left!

It seemed easier to remember the past, because he’d not made many memories over the last 8 years, only the previous twenty lived on repeat for him: from the day Scott was born to the moment he left them to go on the Zero X mission.

Only those years had existed for him.

Sitting beneath the sun, feeling the warmth on his face was glorious and something else he soon realised he’d missed. Moving their lives to the island had been necessary for so many reasons – for International Rescue to be possible, for the secrecy, and for them to start again. And the sun and the sea had seemed a good thing to encourage some of that healing.

He felt it now keenly.

It was only after a while sunbathing that he opened his eyes, blinked twice and finally took in the growth of trees opposite the pool. The island was full of trees, yes, an entire jungle worth of assorted sprouts to be more specific, so these shouldn’t be anything worth noting, but there was something… they hadn’t been there when he… left.

They seemed now to border and block in the little garden area he’d cut aside for his mother when she’d insisted if they were moving to a tropical island that she still wanted a normal garden. So he and Kyrano had put some paving stones down from the stairway he’d made around the back of the buildings, and maintained a lawn amongst all the fast growing greenery. Kyrano had planted a couple shrubs in the centre and some plants around the edges, but that was the best Jeff knew he could manage to maintain. It wasn’t really a garden as such, but it had worked to keep his mum happy.

He’d wondered, maybe once or twice, how the boys would maintain it, considering they seemed to inherit his skill in gardening from what he’d remembered and so the last thing he’d expected to see were trees.

Curiosity piqued, he rose and strode around the pool’s edge to take a closer look.

The stone pathway still seemed to run towards the stairs and through to a gap in the trees near the pool, but once you stepped through, the enclosed space originally set aside seemed to double in size. The middle of the path was now replaced with a pond, but the slabs of stone curved around the circular feature and broke off to each side, making four straight paths away from the pond. There were a series of chairs on one part of the lawn and a rockery to the far side that seemed to be full of an army of– were those geraniums?

He hadn’t been aware when he left of any of his family having strong feelings about the pink flower, but hey, he’d missed eight years’ worth of development and choices.

It was better maintained than he’d expected from the boys and some of the plant varieties Jeff couldn’t even name! It was fascinating, and intriguing. From everything he knew and all that he’d recently seen, he didn’t doubt the boys had the artistry and heavy lifting to make such a thing, he was just… bemused, he supposed. Last he remembered, Scott couldn’t even keep a cactus alive, so this much had to be a challenge.

Maybe he was giving the credit to the boys when it had all been his mother’s or Brains’ work. Although, saying that, neither of them would have been able to do something like this alone he didn’t think.

It was all a mystery, but it had a nice view!

He’d made a note to ask the boys, but that evening also brought in the revelation of Kip Harris when he rang on the holo-channel to confirm when he was next coming for dinner, and that was the start of a whole new conversation – led mostly by Gordon (for Virgil was a little starstruck and Jeff didn’t think his mother was faring better) with Alan and Scott chipping in obligatory sound effects and John rolling his eyes from where he didn’t think he could be seen, tuning in up on Five as he ran a check of all the monitoring systems and caught up with EOS.

Apparently, the red head had only come away for a few days at a time in recent years, but from the day Jeff returned with the boys until early this morning, his second child had remained firmly on the ground with them all and he’d promised to be back on the morrow.

Jeff knew John loved Thunderbird Five from the moment it successfully found orbit in space, but he hadn’t ever thought the boy would take to spending so much time up there in recent years.

But then, once again, you haven’t been here for eight years.

------

It wasn’t until the week almost turned into the fourth one since his “return to earth” – as Alan and Gordon had begun to tell time on the calendar, using “before leaving earth” and “since returning to earth” to reference pieces of conversations (and it was helpful for him, not that Jeff would admit that to his trickster pair of children) – that he remembered he’d never asked about the garden.

They’d been swept up in Alan’s graduation and a proper catch up with Lady Penelope and Parker. The old chap never changed and told him all about how he’d taught “Mr Gordon and Mr h’Alan Sir, to drive”, both of which were interesting tales.

Then, Colonel Casey had finally dropped by to visit – after Scott bashfully explained how the island’s location got revealed to her, but Jeff assured him he didn’t care about all that. In all honesty, the woman was a family friend, and he should’ve told her long ago, and most importantly, he was just glad to hear his family came off safe from their encounter with The Hood finding the island.

He and Casey had spoken for a while up in the roundhouse and by the time he headed back in, he was surprised to still hear the chatter of the boys coming from the lounge. Not surprised because that was unusual at all – the five of them had always known how to make noise when together and that didn’t seem to have stopped. It was joyful, a cacophony that he missed in his solitary grey cavern. No, what was surprising about it was that the boys were being so loud so near to dinner time! If there was one thing he’d learnt since being home, it was that the boys were hard to find (unless there was a rescue call) in that dangerous hour their Grandma occupied the kitchen before serving.

So, curious, he carried on up past the kitchen and into the lounge, trying to see if he could earwig what was captivating the boys so, and that was when he heard it.

The sixth voice.

It wasn’t his mother, or Kayo or Brains. They were all voices he was familiar with. Even The Mechanic, who had remained with them for a short stay, had gruff tones that would sound less surprising to hear than the odd, chirp reaching his ears.

As he walked in, it was easy to see his sons gathered round; Alan lounging across the leather chairs with John sat on the sofa beside him whilst Virgil and Gordon sat across from him. Scott was perched on the table and, stood between the eldest and John, taking up the centre of the room, was a complete stranger.

‘Oh, hey dad!’ Gordon called, spotting him first with the vantage of being directly opposite him. Alan promptly dropped his head back as though to confirm that his brother was right, looking at him upside down before blinking in recognition and slinging himself back up with enough speed to give him head rush, Jeff was sure.

‘Hey.’ Alan waved, almost as a way of recovering his near plummet to the floor as he barely managed to catch his grip on the side of the chair.

Gordon and Virgil were sniggering, Scott and John smiling, and the stranger… well, he seemed to fit in amongst his sons… seemed amused at the scene before them also.

For all he seemed an odd fellow, there didn’t see to be anything immediately harmful about the man and from the conversation he’d heard on the way in, it seemed like the boys had met him before. But how did he get here?

‘Uh, dad?’ Virgil’s question floated over to him, and Jeff jolted himself back into the present in time to see his middle child levering himself from the sofa, ‘You ok?’

‘I’m fine, Virgil,’ He held up a hand to halt his boy from approaching. He knew they all worried about him since his return, but he genuinely couldn’t be better. But if Virgil got started now on vitals and temperature there’d be no stopping him. No, he was fine. He was just trying to understand the conundrum of– ‘There’s a man holding a pot plant in my lounge.’

‘Ha, yeah,’ Scott started, filling him with confidence (not), ‘That’s Gladys.’

‘Him?’ He knew it was 2063, and their world had come on leaps and bounds, but–but by the laughter of his sons he’d very much misjudged this one.

‘No, the plant.’ Virgil corrected, motioning to the pot which the man extended further from his chest in response.

‘The– Boys...’ Jeff drawled, lost beyond belief, and wondering a little if he could be dreaming. None of this was making sense.

‘Dad, this is Ned Tedford.’ Finally, he supposed his second son had seen his confusion and John made the formal introduction, rising to stand beside the darker skinned man. ‘He’s our gardener.’

‘Gardener?’

Maybe that made a little bit more sense of the design that seemed to have gone into the outgrow.

‘Yep! That’s me!’ The man – Ned – cheered again, voice loud and bright, before he seemed to stumble, eyes almost visually backtracking over his words. ‘Sir.’

‘You don’t have to call him Sir!’ Gordon chastised, but the gardener was already passing off the pot plant to Scott who fumbled a moment over gripping the ceramic and all the boys seemed to start at the possibility of him dropping it (and it didn’t seem to be over concern for the soil going on the carpet, for goodness sake) whilst Ned – completely unaware of the chaos behind him – held out a hand.

‘Ned Tedford, Sir, at your gardening service.’

‘Right…’

It would be rude not to shake the man’s hand, but he was still trying to process all of this information. Of all the things he’d expected his sons to do in the time he was gone, finding a gardener, hadn’t struck him as one of them.

‘Ned,’ John continued, pulling him back into the room once more, ‘This is our dad, Jeff Tracy.’

Quickly he reached out and shook the man’s hand. He could feel Virgil’s eyes hovering heavily on him with clear question.

‘Jeff Tracy.’ He affirmed, surprised to find that the man had a stronger grip than he’d expected.

‘Mr Tracy. Ned Tedford.’

‘Yes, you said.’

‘Oh, yes, I did, didn’t I.’

But maybe the man wasn’t as confident as he tried to be, given the current bashful display, his eyes suddenly searching round until they landed on his pot plant again, which Scott seemed hasty to return to him and the rest of the boys breathed a sigh of relief at it being returned to the gardener’s hands.

The next thing he knew though, “Gladys” was before his nose.

‘This is Gladys.’

Scott had said… but when the man seemed to feel a little awkward, that seemed a little rude to say. Besides, he couldn’t deny that he still felt a little baffled himself.

‘A geranium?’

‘Yep! The world’s best travelled geranium, Sir!’

Gordon’s palm hit his face, with the mutter of, “you don’t have to call him Sir” again, just about audible.

‘Travelled?’

‘Gladys goes everywhere.’ Alan explained. ‘Like everywhere.’

‘Like, boys?’

‘You know,’ Alan continued, ‘Space.’

‘Underwater.’ Gordon added.

Virgil nodded. ‘The military.’

‘Back to space.’ Scott’s eyes were almost rolling.

‘The North Pole.’ John contributed.

‘And back to space!’ Alan finished.

‘It’s a long story.’ Ned added for himself.

Jeff was just trying to keep up with the brief explanations bouncing between his sons, aware there were many stories he was missing concerning this Ned Tedford.

‘And now earth?’ He assumed given the man’s presence before them.

‘Firmly planted, Sir.’ Ned reassured. Gordon sputtered into laughter that needed Virgil to whack him on the back to steady. ‘It’s all gardening now for us, isn’t that right, Gladys?’

Jeff felt himself blanch. Scott had risen from the table and now passed beside him, close enough for him to mutter, ‘He talks to the plant?’

‘Ah, you get used to it.’ The eldest dismissed, like it was an everyday occurrence.

Scott’s exit didn’t go unnoticed by the youngest who was craning his neck to follow the elder’s steps, his eyes narrowing as the brunette turned towards the stairs before widening as he suddenly vaulted over the back of the chair and zoomed past him.

‘Scott, keep your hands off!’

‘I’m getting the plates, Alan. Just the plates.’

‘If I catch you with a fork in your hand…’

Jeff blinked again.

He knew his boys liked food – in all honesty, they’d probably inherited that from him – but this was his mother’s cooking they were talking about. And he’d been back for a good few weeks: if she’d learnt to cook, he thought he would’ve tasted the difference by now. Which begged the question why an argument seemed to be brewing over what, no doubt, was more “meatloaf surprise”.

‘Alright, have I missed something?’ He asked finally, knowing he had no chance of working this out alone.

‘Uh, yeah!’ Gordon cheered. ‘Ned, can cook.’

Well, that was another revelation he hadn’t been expecting, but it seemed to be something else his boys were accustomed to with the same ease as they were Ned being their gardener.

The man nodded, the pot plant swaying with the motion, still held tightly in his grasp. ‘I brought lasagna. It’s in the oven at the moment.’

‘Lasagna…’ Jeff muttered, feeling more like gravity had done a number on him in these last five minutes than in the five hours immediately after his first foot was back on solid earth.

‘Family favourite.’ Ned pointed out. ‘So I’m told.’

‘Right!’ Gordon cheered, ‘You can’t go wrong with lasagna.’

‘Unless it’s Grandma’s.’ Virgil added and Gordon’s nose scrunched up as the pair of them rose and followed Ned – and Gladys - towards the kitchen.

‘Should be ready about now.’ The gardener agreed as they headed for the stairs. ‘Oh, how’s Gloria and the family doing? Gladys has been wondering.’

‘Oh, they’re doing great!’ Gordon replied immediately, seeming to be well aware who this apparent “Gloria and family” were meant to be, ‘I’ve been following what you said about watering in tropical climates…’

Because that didn’t leave him with more questions than answers at all…

‘Come on dad,’ John encouraged, setting a hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to the world of the lounge. ‘Scott and Alan shouldn’t be left in the kitchen alone.’

No, that much he did remember.

------

It was, several hours later, when Jeff was laying in bed that he remembered the pink geraniums in the garden.

But no, surely… maybe he had to consider that the boys had named them.

Yes, Gloria and family indeed.

Although, it was also as he lay there, contemplating sleep, that he had to agree with the boys. Ned could cook.

And it seemed his mother – “do call me Sally, Ned” – didn’t seem to mind being outdone for once.

------

Ned, and Gladys, were still on the island the following morning and serving breakfast he discovered!

And breakfast seemed to be a civilised affair for once with china teacups, and plates of assorted cakes. Well – civilised besides from Scott swatting at the hands of the youngest two every time they tried to reach for a cake, insisting they needed to finish their breakfast first.

Ned seemed to be most in synch with John, but he had his own way of interacting with each of the boys and Jeff was surprised to see someone from outside the family fitting in so well. The air of secrecy to their lives and of living so far out from civilisation were both his doing, and though his sons had never seemed to mind, he’d still had reservations over their schooling and whether they’d have the chance to make any solid friends in life like he had found in Lee and Casey. But it seemed after all this, those reservations had been needlessly placed, for every son was a graduate and seemed to have found their own friends.

(Even if that was a grown man and a pot plant).

Each son was also highly skilled at what they did in the rescue business, yet that one went without saying or concern after all they did for him, to bring him back.

They’d never given up.

And he couldn’t be prouder of them for that.

Now, it felt foreign to eat food without worry or horror for the second time in a row, and to wonder instead at the taste of it.

He learnt that Colonel Casey had brought Ned to the island with her, the boys quoting that it was best for keeping the island secret. He could agree there, but he wasn’t born yesterday and sensed there was something unsaid. It was – when they were finally on the cakes (to Alan and Gordon’s delight) that he got the rest of that story.

Ned was something of a “magnet for trouble”, Gordon had explained, to which Alan had merrily chipped in, “more so than me”!

After initially being hired by John it seemed and working on the garden for a while to turn it from a “jungle-lawn” into what it was today, Ned had made fortnightly, then monthly trips to the island to manage the upkeep of the garden. Scott had explained that if Colonel Casey wasn’t stopping by, he tended to pick Ned up.

‘Can’t the man get a plane?’ He’d asked, and that seemed to be his foolish mistake, but even Ned was laughing.

Scott was outraged, ‘Dad, you’ve got to be joking! International rescue would only be called out to it.’

‘Ned here has a loyalty badge.’ Gordon quipped, and it was then Jeff realised there was clearly a lot more to his son’s acquaintance with this man than he knew, what with so many stories on hold to be told in full.

‘We are sorry about that, aren’t we Gladys?’

Jeff wondered if the man was actually thinking the plant would reply when he left these pauses.

‘We know, Ned.’ John reassured.

‘Besides, it is our job.’ Virgil added.

‘And we haven’t rescued you since you went back to gardening!’

‘Don’t jinx it, Alan!’

‘I’m just saying Gordon–’

‘Well don’t!’ The four elders chorused and even Ned seemed to blanch at the thought.

‘Okay, okay!’ Alan insisted, ‘I’m just saying–’

‘More cake?’ Ned offered quickly, holding a plate of Battenburg round to Alan who took one immediately, previous thought track forgotten.

‘It’s nice of you to bring all this every time you visit, Ned.’ Virgil praised. Jeff wondered just how many visits there had been for this to seem as easy as daily routine to the boys.

‘Yeah,’ Scott agreed quickly. ‘It’s gets us away from the mercy of Grandma’s cooking.’

‘I heard that young man.’ It was Scott’s poor luck it seemed that the very woman was on her way past as he spoke. Jeff saw the way the eldest’s eyes rolled as the youngest pair sniggered.

‘Why is it always me!’

‘Why do you put yourself in that position, Scott?’ John questioned instead, and he wasn’t wrong. For though the eldest could keep himself out of trouble, Jeff remembered Scott had always had a tendency to accidentally fall into the mix. Just like now.

Ned chuckled. ‘Well, after all you’ve done for us, it’s the least we can do for you. Isn’t that right, Gladys?’

The plant didn’t answer. The plant wouldn’t answer! It was infuriating and Jeff was trying to mind his manners not to roll his eyes every time. It was true testament that his boys were used to this as not one of them seemed to blink at the plant being drawn into the folds of conversation. Maybe more concerning should have been that his son’s didn’t tend to speak in these immediate pauses either…

‘I’m just glad you’re not hiding it all away on Thunderbird Five.’ Gordon stated, taking two slices of cake from the proffered plate.

‘That was one time.’ John answered firmly as Ned set the plate down and rose with the kettle to refill their cups. Jeff noted that the man seemed to know exactly how his sons liked their relevant teas and coffees, moving round them and serving faultlessly.

‘Um, I count Two.’

‘They’re never letting you live it down, bro.’ Scott murmured.

‘Its’s a good thing Thunderbird Three was refuelled!’

‘It was a good thing you didn’t crash it in your rush, Alan.’ Virgil stated, bringing the volume of the younger right down as Scott’s eyes flicked over also.

‘You guys wanted cake too.’ Alan mumbled in a moan, arms folding over his chest in a – compared to what Jeff remembered of him – contained strop.

‘How is Gladys’ good friend?’ Ned asked finally and Jeff blinked, frowning. What friend could a pot plant possibly have?

‘EOS is good, thank you.’

John’s AI. Of course. That only made sense, the father supposed.

‘Gladys can’t wait to come back up. Try out our space legs again!’

Jeff wondered if he should be worried about the man going up to Thunderbird Five – given all the stories he’d half-heard about the boys rescuing him, but John didn’t seem bothered by the man inviting himself back (which wasn’t like the red head not to bat an eye at) – because without needing to be told, he could hear it wouldn’t be the first time.

‘EOS will be glad to have you. She’s got a timer set to remind me about the plants.’

‘I still can’t believe you’re managing to grow space flora.’ Scott muttered, his tone saying everything he thought about it.

‘You’re just annoyed they’ve proved you wrong.’

‘Of course I am, Virge! It’s space and flowers. When have those two ever gone together?’

‘Well–’

‘I don’t need the science again, John.’ Scott ceased the younger promptly. ‘It gave me a bad enough headache last time.’

Jeff saw the way John smirked and sneakily accepted the homemade ginger biscuits from Ned as the gardener set the kettle back and snuck behind the second child on the way to his own seat at the table where Gladys still rested on her pedestal. Hmm, yes, whether it was because John was responsible for getting Ned the job (as he’d learnt) or whatever connection the plant and the AI shared, it seemed certain that of all his sons, Ned and John had the strongest of friendship. Jeff was honestly just pleased to see John have a friend outside of the family.

‘It will be one of my great achievements.’ Ned cheered. ‘Me – first gardener in space!’

‘Don’t forget first gardener for International Rescue!’ Gordon chirped in, sounding equally as excited about it, and Alan was nodding around his mouthfuls of cake.

‘International Gardening Services!’

Jeff blinked, confused, but relieved that Ned didn’t seem to be trading under that name. His confusion was clearly noticed as the youngest pair chuckled, and Scott waved it off as another “tell you later”, along with the myriad of rescues they’d clearly undertaken for the man in the years he’d been gone. Gordon – of all the boys! – was adamant it was rude to retell the rescues whilst Ned was with them. Virgil had later suggested to him that what Gordon actually meant was that it would be rude to retell them as they’d come to remember them. Jeff could only imagine what chaos they meant had been ensuing whilst he lived in another galaxy.

‘I am most thankful to you boys for the job.’

‘We’re thankful you took it.’ Virgil replied, and Gordon was all sniggers again.

‘Yeah, before any more plant murders happened.’

‘There could still be one Gordon.’ Scott seethed, but Ned carried on like the argument wasn’t occurring – as was most uncivilised – across the table between his two boys.

‘Oh, it’s been an absolute honour–’

If he spoke to the plant–

‘– Isn’t that right, Gladys?’

–that was it!

------

Jeff was surprised – though relieved - they’d managed to go without receiving a rescue call for the duration of Ned’s stay so far. It wasn’t so much the man knowing their secrets that concerned him at this stage. It was rather the fact that it was nice to see his boys being boys. Well – men for the elder half, but still. These were sights he’d missed for too long, and he’d happily be greedy for once in his life and soak them in as easily as Gordon did the sun when sat by the poolside.

After Scott and Gordon’s argument had been peace kept by John, the eldest had snuck off, insisting he needed to check all the maintenance was done on Thunderbird One, just in case of a call and Gordon had insisted it was time he went for a swim anyway.

“With the amount of cake you’ve eaten, yeah,” Alan had cajoled and Gordon had thrown a tea towel at the younger as he went by, causing the blonde to race after him. John and Ned had headed up to the lounge. John was itching to check in with EOS and make sure everything was okay, and Ned had decided to tag along because “Gladys would love a chance to say hello, wouldn’t you, Gladys?”. And just like that, he and Virgil were left in the quiet of the kitchen, and “with all the dishes too!” as Virgil had pointed out, his very tone sounding wronged.

A few hours passed before they were all back together. Ned had been waylaid a little while by his mother insisting upon catching up with him also. Jeff soon realised their heading was the kitchen and that gave him some hope that dinner tonight could be edible also, especially when Ned came back with the idea that they would be eating fish pie – which his sons reassured him Grandma didn’t tend to cook.

By then tensions between Scott and Gordon seemed to have defused somewhat and Jeff was ready to be able to tour the gardens with them in peace.

The boys were pleased to show it off to him now, pointing out the places that had been remodelled and anything they’d done to assist. Virgil had drawn up a lot of the plans it seemed with John in charge of the calculations. Scott, Gordon and Alan had ended up on the supply runs, and Ned had done all the real work in telling them what to buy and what would or wouldn’t be plausible.

‘There were many options once I cleared away the jungle, Mr Tracy.’ Ned finally finished the explanation.

‘Was it that bad?’ He asked.

John shrugged. ‘We never took a photo.’

‘I knew we should have!’ Alan moaned.

‘There was nothing photo-worthy.’ Was Virgil’s returning argument.

‘It would have been interesting to look back on.’ Scott mused.

‘What? The results of your murder scene?’

‘Gordon I am serious about the Geraniums!’

‘You leave Gloria, Gillian, Giles, Gerry and Ted alone!’

Yes, Gordon was indeed pointing to the rockery family of pink geraniums, where the potted Gladys was also currently residing. Somehow, it didn’t surprise Jeff that Gordon was the one with the attachment.

‘Scott.’ John cautioned.

‘What? I didn’t start it!’

‘But you don’t have to antagonise him.’

‘Dad, you have to see what we did with the stairway!’ Virgil interrupted, latching onto him and dragging him forward.

‘Mine is the best!’

‘Shh Alan! Don’t ruin the surprise for him.’

‘It is very good, Mr Tracy.’ Ned insisted. The man had finally stopped trying to call him sir, but the formality of the address still hadn’t changed.

‘Oh boy, here we go.’ He heard Scott mutter from behind them as John and Gordon followed along. He noticed that unlike talking about the pond and the geraniums (as the youngest pair had happily done), that this interest seemed to be primarily Virgil’s and it made him wonder what they could be going to look at besides a set of stone stairs. Not that he wanted to say that when the excitement was so palpably felt by his sons and the gardener.

The boys led him to the end of the stone pathway within the garden lawn and towards the stairs on the far side and through the trees that obscured the staircase. And ready as he had been to see this “grand feature”, he’d truly not expected it to be… well, topiary.

And not the topiary you would expect to find in the average garden, he was sure.

It left him more than a little speechless.

Following the stairs up, rows of trees has been planted on each side and, in matching sets, topiaries of the Thunderbirds cut: Thunderbird One all the way up to Thunderbird Five up towards the top of the stairs.

Jeff blinked again but the sight didn’t change.

No, he was actually looking at what he thought he was.

Goodness help him.

‘What do you think, father?’ Virgil asked, face full of glee. ‘I made the Thunderbird Two’s.’

‘They’re very good son.’

‘We each made our own Thunderbirds!’

‘They’re all good, Gordon.’

‘But what if you had to pick a favourite, dad?’

‘Oh, I couldn’t possibly, Alan.’

‘Ned helped. He taught us how to make the shapes.’

‘Virge, you had a head start.’ Gordon grumbled.

‘I learnt nothing from that gardener like I learnt from Ned!’

‘Doesn’t change the fact you made a Thunderbird Two topiary before.’

‘It was smaller than this!’

‘It was still topiary.’

‘Yeah, and I still haven’t forgiven you for–’

‘Is this another long story?’ Jeff muttered to John beside him, for he was the only one (besides Ned) still close enough and of who would avoid the non-sensical answer: for Ned seemed to be torn between laughing and shaking his head, his arms folded as he looked on; Alan was lost to fits of giggles; and Scott had tried to intervene before it became a “scrap” only for Virgil to accuse “you’re just as much to blame!”. To which Scott had retorted, “What did I do? Gordon was driving”. Which had been promptly and unhelpfully followed with “you two always were Parker’s worst students”. And Jeff didn’t think much of anything had been avoided.

‘Yeah dad, it’s a long story about the topiary.’ John answered, ‘Although, the way this is looking, I may have time to tell you.’

‘I’ll save your brothers then shall I, and you can tell me later over cocoa?’

‘I’ll hold you to that, dad.’

Jeff nodded, looking forward to another late evening with the second child. It would remind him of when they used to stargaze together. But first, he was going to be reminded of the days his son’s squabbles were still for dad to resolve.

‘Alright boys, settle down. I don’t need any more “long stories” to add to the list.’

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