Been far too long since I last drew my initial magireco fave

If everything Sanji loves is taken away from him, is that why he lusts after women that would not love him back? Does he know that his heart wouldn't take a real full-blown romance if it'd eventually lead to the person he loves being taken away from him because of him? Is he so afraid of someone staying in that specific way and is he unable to stop himself from reaching for it anyway? Wishing for it? Screaming and throwing himself and letting people walk over him for it?

Does he find consolation in the process? In the act never ending? A routine turned into a shield turned into something solid to support him into something he can always rely on? What is that he craves so desperately and replaces with cigarettes and women? Is it a kiss?

Does he dream of someone that is his forever? Or does he know that what you love you can't own? He must know. He must know and that's why he keeps trying. If they make a choice once, can they make it twice? Can they stick to it? Would they give up on him? Would it be easy? Would they be back? Would they miss him enough to look for him? Or would they stay away? Would they give him space so he can figure it out by himself? So he can stop relying on others for self-love and realize he must learn to love himself?

Can he ask for the love he truly seeks and not the one he pretends to be into?

And who could give it to him?

Roberto is criminally under-appreciated.

I'm in a big TLOU mood, so I drew Abby next to my 2 Sephiroth sketches to fill out my page.

Do you know what time it is?

That’s right, folks! It’s time for…

Another! Random! Theory!

(Featuring our favorite sassy Dark Sides: Virgil and Janus!)

So, the story of Sanders Sides. We love it, right? The slowly escalating drama, the growing tension between all of the Sides, the breaking point looming on the horizon like the consequences of every bad decision we’ve ever made…

The story also has the added complexity of doubling as a metaphor for our own personal inner turmoils. That’s what the show is about, after all, right? That courtroom battle between Patton and Janus wasn’t just two characters fighting for the moral high ground; it represented a very relatable dilemma, where someone was placed in a difficult situation where they would have to choose between opportunity and the supposed “right thing to do”. Logan and Virgil’s debate wasn’t just two characters arguing; it represented how anxiety can impact our ability to reach logical conclusions.

And while not all of the analogies are perfect (and we can’t expect them to be), the way the Sides interact with each other has always had that fascinating double meaning that has provoked interesting reflections and discussions.

However, one point that I’ve seen being made by some people, and one that I happen to agree with, is that one dynamic doesn’t quite fit with the others. While it is certainly interesting from a story and character perspective, it doesn’t make much sense given the context of the Sanders Sides universe. These two characters, due to their aspects, don’t seem to have much of a reason to harbor bad blood. And yet, these two loathe each other, arguably more than any other pairing in the entire series.

Of course, I am talking about Virgil and Janus.

Now, this hatred between the characters is interesting and, well, confusing, for two main reasons. First, this hatred seems to stem from something we, as the viewers, don’t know about yet. From their very first interaction on-screen, they are immediately trading insults.

“And Virgil, I adore the more intense eyeshadow, it totally doesn’t make you look like a raccoon.”

“Nice gloves. Did you just finish washing some dishes?”

(Janus and Virgil, “Can Lying Be Good”)

Not only are these insults the first things they say to each other, but there is also a familiarity to this back-and-forth. Virgil was ready with a retort, like he expected Janus’ insult and was prepared to fight back. This animosity between them isn’t anything new.

However, it is never explained. And given how this is the first time c!Thomas has seen the two interact (as well as, obviously, the first time he’s seen Deceit period), their distain for each other stems from something Thomas isn’t aware of.

And this leads us to our second reason why this dynamic doesn’t quite fit in the context of the show: it doesn’t appear to stem from an internal conflict from Thomas. At least, not one we are aware of. Otherwise, it would have been a video, or at least mentioned in passing.

The show has set a precedent towards explaining why certain characters don’t get along. Roman and Virgil were notoriously antagonistic toward each other in season 1, to the point where Roman basically declared Virgil his enemy. And they very clearly explained this: Roman puts Thomas in danger by ignoring Virgil’s warnings, and Virgil prevents Thomas from achieving Roman’s dreams by weighing him down with fear. Their dislike for one another made sense.

Currently, Logan and Remus don’t get along. Remus is, by his very definition, illogical. His demands make absolutely no sense. Why would Thomas kill his brother? What purpose would he have to jump out of a moving car? Of course Logan would be frustrated with him! And Logan has also proven to be a source of frustration for Remus, as he repeatedly hindered Remus’ schemes in WTIT. Their aspects directly contradict each other, and even hinder each other. Logan’s logic is the greatest weapon against intrusive thoughts, and Remus’ distressing brand of “creativity” is strong enough to pull Thomas away from Logan’s logical reassurances and routine.

Hell, even Roman and Janus’ hatred for each other makes sense. While their goals aligned at first with the callback, Roman ultimately decided that, as Thomas’ drive and desire, he wanted Thomas to be a good person more than he wanted that callback. And even now, after SvSR, he still wants Thomas to be a good person! That’s why he had such a prominent role in SvSR, even though it was primarily a debate between Patton (morality) and Janus (selfishness). Roman wanted that callback desperately. So why was he still engaging in this discussion? Why wasn’t he just siding with Janus? Because he wanted Patton to prove that he made the right choice. He wanted his desires to be justified. Even after all this time, he wanted Thomas to be a good person more than he wanted that callback. And in that moment, Janus was fighting against that desire. Janus was his enemy.

But what about Janus and Virgil? Where does their relationship fit into all of this? How are their aspects in conflict?

Because looking at it at face value, it doesn’t make any sense.

Why do we lie? Well, in most cases, it’s because we fear consequences for something we did and are trying to escape them. We lie because we are scared. We lie to protect ourselves.

Well, that’s odd. It seems like, not only do Virgil and Janus seem to be working towards the same thing, but that they often work together hand in hand. Think about “Can Lying Be Good”. In every scenario acted out, Thomas lied because he was afraid of the consequences of telling the truth. He will get fired from his job, he will hurt a friend in mourning, he will traumatize a young child. Yes, there were definitely other factors contributing to his choice to lie in each scenario, but I think we can probably all agree that there was strong, underlying fear motivating these lies. Virgil (and, of course, Janus) was trying to protect Thomas through these lies.

So if there doesn’t seem to be any conflict of interest, then why the hell do Virgil and Janus hate each other so much?

Well, one possible reason (and one of the most commonly accepted headcanons I’ve seen) is that they had a falling out in their past, possibly driven by Virgil leaving the other Dark Sides. And yeah, this is very juicy drama that adds some interesting character depth to both of these Sides, but in terms of how the show has dealt with all of the characters and how they interact with each other as aspects of a personality, it’s a bit… disappointing, for a lack of a better word. What are we supposed to learn from this conflict? How can we, as viewers, compare this bitterness between Virgil and Janus to strife between our own anxiety and our tendency to lie?

So I’m going to propose another possibility for this conflict, one that may be slightly less interesting than the mostly-accepted headcanon, but is much more satisfying in my opinion.

So, Anxiety and Deceit… how can these two contradict each other? Well, to narrow things a bit, I will declare right out of the gate that Janus’ role as self-preservation doesn’t fight against Virgil’s role at all. While anxiety can lead someone to make decisions that can harm more than help (such as freezing rather than acting or running away in a dangerous situation), anxiety’s ultimate purpose is to protect. Fear is self-preservation at its core.

So instead, let’s focus on the facet of deceit. As we’ve previously established, most lies are told out of fear. So this would suggest that these two can’t contradict each other, right? Well, no. While we lie mostly out of fear, the act of lying can be very anxiety-inducing. In fact, I’d say that’s a pretty common fear a lot of people have.

Especially, say, if someone was terrified of being a bad person, and was convinced that the act of lying contributed to a lack of morality.

This is HUGE in the context of season 2! The pivotal conflict of this season is Thomas trying to figure out what makes someone a good person. He wants to be a good person so badly that he is terrified of the idea that he may not be one. Patton’s entire driving force behind fighting so hard to prove that he’s right, that Thomas is good in both SvS and SvSR, is because he wants to reassure Thomas. Because he loves Thomas so much that he can’t stand to see him look so scared.

“I don’t want to be a bad person…”

“…Ok. Then I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you’re not.”

(Thomas and Patton, “Selfishness v. Selflessness”)

“Like I told you before, sometimes I don’t know the way. But when I told you that, you were so scared. I couldn’t bear it. So I said to myself: ‘Alright, Patton. Thomas needs you. You’re responsible for his morality. You can never not have an answer for him.’ And then I promised you that I would keep fighting.”

(Patton, “Putting Others First - Selfishness v. Selflessness Redux”)

Virgil wasn’t present at all during the redux, and he had a very minimal role in the original court trial. So one would think that anxiety plays a very minor role in this conflict. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Fear is at the very center of it all. Thomas wants to be a good person because he is terrified of the alternative. He’s so terrified of this possibility that he spirals, arguing with himself and desperately trying to justify his feelings of frustration after the wedding, grasping for an answer that would make him feel justified in his anger without jeopardizing his integrity.

But that answer doesn’t exist. And it terrifies him. It terrifies Virgil.

Janus’ proposal, that Thomas should act more selfishly and prioritize himself more, challenges everything Thomas believes in. Based on the rules previously established, rules Patton had repeatedly endorsed, doing what Janus says would make Thomas a bad person, something Thomas fears. And finally, we reach our point of conflict between the two main subjects of this discussion.

Virgil wants Thomas to be a good person because they both fear the alternative. Listening to Janus would mean allowing the terrifying possibility of becoming a bad person. And Virgil doesn’t want that.

And you know what? That also explains another strange character dynamic that emerged following SvSR! This explains why Virgil is so mad at Patton!

Because sure, the idea that Virgil is upset that Patton hurt his bff Roman is absolutely adorable, but is that really all there is to it? It’s a very drastic change in attitude, especially considering that Patton and Virgil were incredibly close before the whole wedding fiasco (and I would go so far as to say that Patton was the person Virgil trusted more than anyone. He was the first to fully accept Virgil, after all.)

But if Patton started to act in a way that went against Virgil’s aspect, like if he started making decisions (or letting someone else make decisions) that added a lot of fear and uncertainty into Thomas’ life, then suddenly Virgil’s icy demeanor towards the fatherly Side makes a lot more sense. Patton’s choice to start trusting Janus and to allow Thomas to make more selfish decisions wasn’t just a betrayal to Roman and his decision to forgo the callback, it was also a betrayal to Virgil and the security Patton had previously given him. It’s like if your parents had made the decision to suddenly move your family to a different place without your approval, completely uprooting your life and sense of security and thrusting you into a different, uncertain, and scary environment.

And it’s been repeatedly established, in both season 1 and season 2, that Virgil despises change! Routine is safe. Familiarity is safe. Change is bad. Janus is proposing, and Patton is supporting, a HUGE change in the way Thomas should approach his life and the decisions he makes from here on out! Of course Virgil would be mad!

So I have a feeling that Virgil’s role in this entire situation is far from over. And we’ve got FOUR entire parts planned for the season finale, suggesting that we have a lot of ground to cover. I would be very surprised if Virgil didn’t have a few choice words for Janus and Patton, and I for one can’t wait to see where everyone stands when the dust finally settles.

Why you turned into leaf. Were is my silly wet cat. The goober! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO THEM!!! WHERE ARE YOU HIDING THEM!!!!!!! /lh

I have turned into a leaf, leaf supremacy, you know what they say “you are what you eat”

p03 is such cool disabled representation

okay i need to ramble about evil morty some more because he’s literally suchhh a good character i love how season 5 ended and i hope we never see him again. 

in the beginning his entire plan was kind of vague, and i partly think this might be because he didnt have a plan. the writers literally hadn’t conceived of his end goal, he just ... you know.. had it out for ricks. i hope this isn’t some false memory or delusion, but i swear i’ve read something about the writers not having planned evil morty to be anything more than a one off character, and to be fair to them, that’s usually how it goes for r&m. a character or location is introduced, and it isn’t usually reoccurring. evil morty made the return because of the fandom. and even then, he isn’t exactly reoccurring. he appears in 3 episodes, and every single time he seems to leave a bigger impact. he’s just. so well made that basically any backstory/goal would have worked at the end of season 5. of course this is partly due to everything having been kept so vague up until the last episode, but still! i think the route the writers went was perfect, because not only does it finish his arc very nicely for the fans, it also gives the writers the perfect “out” from this whole accidental storyline they created, because, again, i doubt that evil morty was ever planned to be much. i think s1e10′s ending was the intended end, with him literally disappearing into a crowd of identical mortys, but i think it goes without saying that i’m glad it wasn’t. i’m also really glad that he wasn’t given a dramatic backstory, because, well. i dunno, he doesn’t really need one. the implications are pretty bold and in-your-face. he’s endured a lifetime of systematic abuse, and ... what more do you need? theres no necessity to include scenes of gory abuse and mistreatment, because in conditions where ricks can breed “the perfect sidekicks”, ones who are forgiving and patient and kind, one of them got fed up.  and my god. his characterization!!!!! ugh. om nom nom im licking my fingers clean because wow. he’s an asshole! he’s very much deserving of the “evil morty” title, because he’s a bad guy. he tortures a huge pile of mortys, keeps them prisoned, he kills an entire citadel’s worth of ricks and mortys, just so he could leave the central finite curve. and i respect that! like, yeah, it’s a super dick move, but, well. when you know everything, when the bigger picture is practically spoonfed to you, it’s hard not to sympathize. he remains so calm and so apathetic towards everything around him, and just!!! he’s a treat to watch. this cunning personality and this grand escape plan mix so well!!!!! something else that i think about constantly. the writers. people who are very infamously not into the whole dramatic overarching plot thing. and that’s understandable, because longevity and money etc etc. but even then, they managed to squeeze in this one character, this one little guy. and by the end of his story, he basically doesn’t exist anymore. his arc ends with him leaving the r&m universe. and it’s great for his character, a big success, an escape from the endless cycle of abuse. and it’s great for the writers, because they’ve ended the one longterm project they had. and what a creative way to boot a character from a show. just. gah!!! love evil morty. so much

I LOVE YOU SHANE STARDEW I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH

"That's Mister Hands, First Mate Hands or God as far as you're concerned'"

Izzy is honestly such a wonderful antagonist. I absolutely love to hate him. He's petty and ridiculous. I've seen him being referred to as the incompetent middle management of the ship, having had to deal with a few of those in my job, he fits it to a tee! 

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Everytime I re listen to Bitb I become more of a Rand appreciator.

Love they’re duo so much he help king in his identity crisis, he’s so sweet omgg 😫😭😭💕

how is there only 9 fics with this tag? half of them don't even have this as the main pairing!!!

i guess most people ship erichtonios with themis which is valid but i ship everyone with my mary sue bunny girl oc and after finishing the pandemonium raid series and erichtonios has that small speech i thought more people would ship him with their wol feels bad

heizou :((((

Saiyan prince

Holy shit I loved the ending to Moon Knight! So good!! I won’t spoil anything, but if you haven’t seen it, I’d highly recommend it!

Oscar Isaac has my heart!❤️