#second logicality post in a row woohoo

[rambling-prince-thoughts]

i got to thinking after yesterday’s post (linked here if you haven’t read it) about svs and decided to talk a little more about patton and logan’s relationship in specific contexts throughout the series.

as thomas explained to us in a behind-the-scenes video, logan and patton’s names were derived from logos and pathos, both of which are a form of appeal in persuasion. logos pertains to logical fact and reasoning and pathos pertains to emotion. very in-line which logic and morality, aka logan and patton.

so in essence, they’re opposites. we see this in one of the earliest sanders sides videos— THE MIND vs THE HEART— where logan and patton have differing opinions on the same matter, and they tend to cause thomas a great deal of confusion and anxiety when he tries to make a decision regarding those matters.

it’s the question that everyone often gets asked: do you listen to your mind more, or your heart?

however, one thing that stays consistent throughout the series is that patton, as the moral compass, is the most often listened to. thomas relies heavily on his emotions to get things done, specifically as seen in svs and svs redux. but patton also seems to know when something is missing, and encourages thomas to listen to the other sides.

an example of this would be “Accepting Anxiety” where patton calls out roman and logan for not realising that virgil’s absence is the cause of thomas’ current state of mind.

like i mentioned in my previous post, patton is usually the one to ask for logan’s input, and often needs logan to explain the things that he can’t put into words. there are lots of examples of this in LNTAO, where patton and logan are able to understand each other’s points of view and put them into easier terms.

i also have to mention this little moment of patton waving excitedly when logan pops up— it’s clear that patton does value logan both as a person and as one of thomas’ sides, and that he’s also important.

first is the part where thomas figures out that he’s stuck in a loop, but he can’t quite understand why. the rest of the sides are unable to provide an answer, until patton chimes in with his own explanation, which despite being confusing, is the only explanation that anyone had been able to think of. patton is unable to elaborate because as he says, “words can be tough”.

but logan is able to pick up on what patton meant and provide a more clear understanding. he also finds that patton is correct, and it was an ingenious solution.

he holds back his admiration, possibly because of his reputation as “unfeeling” and also not wanting to admit that someone else made a valid point. even less so that the person who made that valid point was patton, who usually was silly and lighthearted but who thomas listened to most, too.

in fact, he disregards patton’s comment of “puppets!” simply because he finds it ridiculous and unlike roman who immediately backtracks on his skepticism (which is a whole other post), he stays unwavering on his opinion of patton’s suggestion.

when logan doesn’t agree with everyone else turning into puppets, patton is the first to try and convince him by telling him that they need him there.

as logic, it’s logan who prioritises learning, and patton knows this. he also knows how much logan likes to teach others about things, so he appeals to that emotion to persuade logan to stay. he doesn’t even insist on logan changing into a puppet, he just asks that logan stays for the entire conversation.

he even backs logan up when logan and roman are fighting about the usage of “figuratively”, by telling roman not to assume which logan thanks him for.

when logan finally snaps and throw the paper ball at roman, it labels him as the problem, as he instigated physical violence against roman (even though roman was egging him on). so logan decides that he needs to leave, similar to how he did in “Moving On”. at this, patton finally raises his voice too, telling logan that he needs to stay and they can’t have the conversation without him, he’s part of the sides too.

when thomas agrees to hear logan out, patton agrees too, once again asking logan for his thoughts on the matter. he seems to be diffusing the situation as best as he can, and that means allowing everyone to speak once and be listened to.

logan refers back to the point that patton made, and acknowledges it as something that patton came up with instead of simply saying that there was a point made and listing it out. he could have easily said that it goes back to a point they’d established earlier, but even though he hid his admiration, he’s still giving patton credit where credit’s due.

another interesting thing: when logan insists that he’s not a joke, that he can’t be seen as such, the camera pans to patton and you can see his reaction through the puppet face. you can imagine what patton must be thinking right now as he puts the pieces together.

finally, during the puzzle song, logan is first to object and wants to get back to discussing things seriously without grasping that that’s what they’re doing, just not in the way he’s used to. once again, patton calls out to him, pleading with him to understand. he’s the only one making such a genuine effort to have logan be part of what they’re doing since he thinks that it might really benefit thomas.

so at the end, when everything is sorted out, patton is relieved that everyone has gotten along and that logan seems to be on par with the situation.

it’s clear that patton listens to logan the most out of all the other sides, and that logan expects patton to listen to him and heed his words. that’s why he was so shocked during the events of svs when he thought that patton had betrayed him by intentionally keeping him out of the courtroom scenario. patton’s comments are usually also understood best by logan, who clarifies them into more logical points for the others.

they’re meant to work together as a team. one cannot function without the other, otherwise thomas will be at risk to making entirely rational choices and forget to have empathy, or at risk to making choices on emotion alone and burning himself out.

that’s it for this post! join me again next time where i discuss patton’s character and how he’s trying really hard, but also failing intensely.

#sanders sides #rambling prince thoughts #logicality #second logicality post in a row woohoo #the glasses gays are on my mind #you can read this as platonic or romantic logicality #either way they’re definitely meant to work in tandem #slight logan angst #i hope things get sorted out in the season finale bc i cannot deal with any more of this #logan sanders #patton sanders