okay whatever i have to type this essay out before i chicken out or completely forget to do so. so sorry for the informality, but i HAVE to talk about logan's role as thomas' emotional regulation.
the thing is the reason why logan can effectively debate any of the sides because it's LITERALLY his role to do so. he's not just thomas' logic— he's someone who's meant to temper, especially considering that thomas is very emotions-oriented.
3 of the core sides— roman, patton, virgil— are oriented by their emotion-focused thinking. they see feeling as an indicator of truth. this is something that makes sense considering their roles as sides, but it makes even More sense when you consider that patton, as thomas' morality AND emotions, literally set this system up. it is not normal for one's morals to be the same as one's emotions. not everyone who Feels something believes it to be an indication of one's ethics.
but then look at patton and virgil throughout dwit. because thomas had intrusive thoughts, they feared it implied he Believed in those thoughts. look at the wedding arc. in svsr, patton keeps emphasizing that we need to do what Feels good. this sort of system where any kind of emotion presupposes one's identity has made the light sides the way that they are (roman and his heroic impulsivity, virgil and his fight-or-flight), which makes thomas the way that he is (impulsive, does whatever makes him Feel good).
SO, it is very important that logan acts as emotional regulation to combat this. his role is to Oppose, to restrict. that's why he's the way that he is in lntao. AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, this is also why he's such a threat to the dark sides. as emotional regulation, he can diffuse any of thomas' inclinations to be sympathetic towards them. this is most evident not only with how he shuts janus and remus down, but specifically why orange, as a side related to anger, gets the Most tampered down. orange cannot reveal himself as an emotions-centric side if logan, as logic, does not deem it necessary. this is why when he gets angry in wtit, remus gets JOYOUS. the dark sides seem to have a deliberate plan breaking logan down BECAUSE he is one of their roadblocks for thomas to accept all parts of himself.
emotional regulation is a key component in having a healthy dosage of anger and malevolent or dark creativity, because its role is to TAMPER. to filter. this is also why logan is very emotions-averse, because his literal role is to Oppose said emotions!
but we need to talk about another key thing here, which is LOGAN IS DOING POORLY AT HIS JOB.
lntao has made him internalize the idea that the other sides' emotions-centered solutions benefit thomas more than he gives credit for. but the problem here is that he has Stopped challenging them whatsoever, especially when thomas is discerning something he is feeling. look at svs, or dwit, or svsr. yes he is there. but when thomas is at the height of his conflicts, does he ever butt in as much as he did, like in lntao or moving on? NO. he stays quiet! he stays in the sidelines! he is effectively shutting himself up.
and this is not just his fault but the other sides' faults for not recognizing the merit of logan's roles. like i'd argue only the dark sides truly see what logan's meant to do, and yet since they do not benefit from logan's bad emotional regulation, they have to nudge him towards, you know. making him realize he is neglected. making him realize he is being suppressed.
i always say logan and thomas also parallel each other a lot, esp for logan's arc, and it's especially important when we get to the arcs about processing anger. because logan is doing bad at his job, thomas Will crack just like logan did, and it will be their jobs to figure out what to do. and it boils down to them realizing that logan's roles as logic and emotional regulation is Important, not only for thomas to process his emotions more deliberately but for logan also to process his own.
