The Different Parts of Me (A prequel to Common Sense)

Anxiety

Last chapter! Here we go~! (Again on my own~)

I'm so sorry for the large wait times in between these things. I was just so busy... hopefully with my next SS fic I'll be able to update quicker. :P

Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through all of Common Sense! Hope you enjoy this last installment!

Disclaimer: Nope.

He couldn't believe it.

Thomas stared, open-mouthed, at his computer screen as the comments began pouring in. He'd only uploaded his most recent YouTube video an hour ago and people... loved it. Loved them! They were already asking for more Sanders Sides! Thomas felt like his heart might explode out of his chest.

Truth be told, he'd been very nervous while he was filming and editing. Script writing had been an odd hurdle to leap, since Thomas had to first video-tape the four of them ab-libbing the basic idea of the video, then he had to adjust the script to better match his Dad, Teacher, and Prince characters before re-filming himself to create the final product. He'd had a very busy past week.

It meant a lot to him that his viewers enjoyed the video. Joan thought the idea was intriguing as well, and from the sound of it they wanted in on the producing portion next time which was definitely going to be a very interesting discussion.

Putting it out of his mind at the moment, Thomas scrolled back up to the video. He'd yet to watch it again after posting it. Because it still felt... wrong.

Thomas didn't know what to do about it. No matter how many times he did a take or rearranged the lines to better fit his vine characters, he was never fully satisfied. But neither could he come up with the reason for his dissatisfaction either. Nothing was technically wrong with it... maybe he was just being his own critic? He'd uploaded the video still not satisfied, and even with all the reassurances...

Refreshing the page, Thomas scrolled back down to the comments. Already a whole slew of new ones! All positive... some simply quoting their favorite moments... oh.

'Is it just me, or is "Logic" acting kinda silly?'

Oh... that's it.

Leaning back in his chair, Thomas thought it over.

It made sense now. He was acting as Logic, Morality, and Creativity through his vine characters like he meant to, but it didn't feel right because they weren't those characters. They weren't Thomas' "Teacher", "Dad", or "Prince". They were their own, separate entities. Completely original ideas.

And now, in order for them to actually fit their characters and make sense, Thomas was going to either have to film them all in one go and hope that everything said or done would be perfect for a YouTube video. Or he'd try to do what he did for this video and adjust his own acting and hope he'd be able to fit their styles with his own acting. Either way, he'd end up changing their characterizations after he already started the series.

A thumbnail migrated in between his teeth, where Thomas gently nibbled at it. What was he supposed to do now? Continuing the series as it was... no. Not a possibility. Or, well, it was, but he didn't want it to be. But what about his viewers? Was he going to lose some if he changed the characters? Would they call him out on it? Would they not like them as much? Would they figure out that Thomas' "characters" actually did appear in the real world?

And then came the idea of filming them as they were. Today's first take had been almost twenty minutes long! They just bickered the whole time and went off on tangents and it had been a disaster! Sure, it had been fun at the time, if not a little nerve-wracking and occasionally confusing, but Thomas ended up scrapping 75% of it all! And now Joan wanted in? What would they say about his characters? Wait... were they even characters at this point any more? They were basically their own people, it wasn't like Thomas had any control over them. Or did he? How much did he have? What if he hurt them or insulted them or-