Today I was thinking about how the dark sides are represented as ‘villains’ because c!Thomas thinks that that side of himself is reprehensible. Like he sees completely in black and white. And because of this, any thought or action that comes from that side is immediately villainized, to the point where they act and even look like cartoon villains.
His point of reference for ‘bad guys’ has always been from his experience with the media he consumes, like cartoons or video games. It’s actually an immature way of looking at himself.
I get the wanting to separate good from bad, and this works for the big moral yes or no questions. But there gets to be a point where we grow up and realize that most instances in our lives have shades of grey answers, which is actually why Janus and Remus are there. We eventually just accept those sides of ourselves as part of us.
And eventually, they become more mellow and we realize they’re just there for self preservation. It’s not selfish to look after yourself if you have to lie about something. We’re not bad because we have intrusive thoughts. Being bothered by them literally shows us what NOT to do. In their way, they are a form of moral compass.
Neither sides are there to make him comfortable, but being comfortable leaves you vulnerable when you need protection. So Janus and Remus aren’t great sides but they aren’t ‘villains’ either, as Thomas sees them. They deserve acceptance just as much as Virgil does, because, like Virgil, they’re working to protect Thomas just as much.
Just some food for thought today! 😁 Also check out the colours in Thomas’ tie whoa 👀🤍🖤
just rewatched the first episode janus appears in and uh. holy shit
his identity as c!thomas' self-preservation was recognized by patton in the very first episode he appeared in. idk why or how i forgot that it was made so clear from the start.
and it's so important that it's morality of all sides acknowledging his true goal from the start. in a lot of ways, the two of them are opposites, but patton cares about c!thomas and he can't ignore the fact that janus does too.
Can we take a minute to talk about how the dark sides appear?
Like, we've seen Virgil rise up onto the screen many times with ease, however we've also seen him be summoned in a flash by outside influences.
We've only ever seen Remus flash onto the screen (unless you count his first appearance in DWIT but I don't because he was behind the TV) He clearly has no interest in rising up like the light sides do. He's there to spook you and catch you off guard.
However we've seen Janus ATTEMPT to actually rise up multiple times. Once when he was pretending to be Logan in SvS, and another in the latest Asides. We can tell he isn't very good yet, as he keeps stumbling and has yet to go up smoothly, but he's TRYING. He's trying to fit in and be like the light sides. He's trying to prove to Thomas that he's on his side. HE'S TRYING TO SHOW THOMAS THAT HE ISN'T A THREAT.
Anyway this has been your sporadic "Remy Wont Shut Up About Janus Sanders" post, come again.
I finished rewatching all of Sandersides with my partner on Tuesday and I neeeded to draw the worlds most specialist snake. he's like a silly creature to me
After Roman says ‘I thought I was your hero’ and Thomas says, ‘you are’, Roman looks over to Janus and Janus nods.
Janus just told everyone his real name moments ago in order to prove that he is both capable of sincerity and willing to be honest with the other Sides so they can start seeing eye to eye. His glove is still off and he is currently in an uncharacteristically vulnerable position that he willingly put himself in. He nods to Roman as if to say "Yes, as the person intrinsically in tune with Thomas’s lying, I can confirm he is telling the truth."
But Roman is looking at Janus as the embodiment of Thomas’s deceit. He’s so used to being played and manipulated by Janus’s lies and faux camaraderie and has now become so on edge that he can’t understand how anyone else could possibly trust anything Janus is saying. He sees the nod as a confirmation that c!Thomas was lying about Roman being his hero and scoffs in shock and betrayal.
c!Thomas looks utterly bewildered at this reaction,
and Janus's smile fades as he realizes how Roman interpreted the nod.
And when Patton says 'we love you', Roman assumes that's a lie too. In the Puzzle Song Roman needs to be reassured that no one hates him, heavily implying this is an underlying insecurity of his. Assuming this is the case, it wouldn't take much for him to believe Patton's 'we love you' meant just the opposite.
Roman's self esteem is so fragile that he takes the others listening to Janus personally. Because if Janus was right, that means Roman made the wrong call in sentencing Thomas to the wedding and doomed them all. If Janus was right, that means he let Thomas down- and it was revealed in Am I Original that Roman is terrified of letting Thomas down.
So now he's convinced (and let's be real, Janus's dig at him for making mistakes didn't help) that he isn't Thomas's hero anymore. Devastating stuff :)