So, here are my thoughts on the wholeĀ āHigh Fiveā thing.Ā
The first time it happens, after Patton and Virgil have shown of their teamwork, Virgil raises his hand for a high five, and Patton, ecstatic, reaches his hand over towards Virgil to complete the high five.
Now, this video is full of beautiful moxiety moments, but thereās one that stood out to me thatās a little less than lovely. (I donāt have screenshots since itās during the puppet scene, and the expressions are hard to read in a still. If you watch the moment, you can tell through Virgilās sock puppet movement what heās thinking, but itās impossible to capture that in one frame)
When Virgil tells Thomas not to start thinking that Loganās suggestion is a good one because he hasĀ āplenty of hate to go around,ā Patton immediately goesĀ āAw, very funny Virgil, you cute little muffin! Thomas, you know he doesnāt mean it,ā before launching into his next idea. And you can SEEĀ Virgilās puppet real back a little bit, hunch in on himself ever so slightly. That comment bothered him.Ā
So later when Patton says āThis just goes to show you that itās better to talk about your feelings than keep them inside!ā you can see himĀ thinking, runningĀ through his options, weighing the pros and cons of saying something.Ā
But Pattonās his best friend, and he doesnāt want to feel bad when he thinks about his best friend, so he does the hard thing, the right thing, and says something.Ā
And it is hard, you see him struggle through it, you see him trip over his words as he tries to find a way to say it that wonāt hurt Pattonās feelings, because the last thing he wants is to make Patton feel bad.Ā
And Patton, he gets it! He doesā¦but that doesnāt mean it doesnāt sting a little, cuz thatās kinda how he shows his love, by laying on the affection thick.Ā
But he doesnāt want to hurt his best friend, so okay, if this is what Virgil needs, he can do it. Itāll beā¦different, but thatās okay, right?
What really gets me is when Roman saysĀ āLooks like Thomas wasnāt the only one who needed to learn something new about himself!ā Look at their faces.Ā
To me, I think theyāre both thinking the same thing. Theyāre both worried that this relationship thatās meant so much to them might be ruined because of what they did, Patton for treating Virgil in a way that sometimes makes him uncomfortable, and Virgil for bringing it up in the first place. Virgil knows that Patton would feel bad if he knew that Virgil felt bad, especiallyĀ if Patton was that reason, so heās wondering if he made the right call. Patton is wondering how long this has been going on, if it has alwaysĀ made him upset and he never said, and heās been making Virgil feel bad this whole time!Ā
But hereās the thing, I donāt think Virgil has always minded. Iām going to steal from @randomslasherās comments on the matter because they said it perfectly:
Virgil doesnāt need Patton to do all the work anymore. Once upon a time, Pattonās outreach was the only thing that Virgil had, in terms of positive interactions with the others, but thatās not the case anymore.Ā
I think that back in the old days, Virgil maybe even liked it when Patton would treat him as though he was soft, because Patton wasnāt scared of him, but he still listened. And thatās really what Virgil wanted, to be able to be himself, to not have to terrify the others just for them to hear him out. But things arenāt like that anymore, the others love him, and they know heās not the bad guy.Ā
But Patton is still kinda in that mode ofĀ āDonāt be mean to my son, donāt take the dark things he says and think heās the villain, donāt treat him like heās less than,ā which really comes across when he calls Virgil aĀ ācute little muffin.ā Usually when Patton calls Virgil cute, itās because he did something cute. Even before the redemption arc, he didnāt call Virgil cute if he made a threat, he called Virgil cute when he looked like Talyn, etc. And he says it so quickly here too, and jumps immediately intoĀ āThomas, you know he doesnāt mean it,ā as if to sayĀ ādonāt cast him out again, donāt take his threats seriously, heās not the bad guy here.āĀ
Except, Virgilās words do need to be taken seriously. And now that heās accepted, itās actually even more important for him to be listened to if he gets darker, because he saves that now for the things that reallyĀ scare him. Logan and Virgil are really close friends, but Virgil straight up says (in the light sort of tone friends use with each other when their literal words are hyperbole, but still with very real meaning behind them) that he kinda hates Logan a little and that he needs to shut his mouth. This is a BIG deal to him, so when Patton saysĀ āyou know he doesnāt mean itā¦āĀ
No. Virgil does mean it, not that heāll actually hate Thomas, but that he hates this idea, a lot,Ā and that heāll hate it if thatās the path they decide to take.Ā Virgil has agency as a side now that he didnāt have before, and if he wants to keep that agency, he needs to be able to say things his way without being sugar coated.Ā
But then later, after Patton has agreed to stop babying Virgil so much, Thomas mentions that he owes both Virgil and Patton for helping him push to work through the issue. And Virgil smiles, looks over at Patton (a little hesitantly) and saysĀ āLike we said, a dynamic duo.ā
Then he raises a hand, and this time he asks,Ā āhigh five?āĀ
You can see the unspoken question lingering in his eyes,Ā āare we still okay?ā
And Patton responds with an enthusiasticĀ āSock it to me!āĀ
And now, the part thatās messy. The part that could imply angst. The part where Patton reaches outā¦
But so does Virgil, and now theyāre missing each other as they go by.
And yeah, itās messy, itās weird, itās awkward, itās not as smooth as it was the first time, most of all itās unfamiliarĀ (like their relationship after this change)
Until finally (hello again Thomas)
But what I really love about this part is the dialogue between them.Ā
P:Ā Oh!Ā
V: Ohā¦.
P:Ā Okā¦hold upā¦
V: Uhā¦
P: I didnāt know you were gonna do it tooā¦Ā
V: Yeah, no, I thought Iād go in this timeā¦
P: Ok, hold upā¦I got itĀ
V:Ā Waitā¦
P: Okā¦
V: *whispers* owĀ
P: Oh! Iām sorryā
V:Ā *gently* No, itās okay, Iā owĀ
P:Ā Alright, we can fix this (I think thatās what he said? This is the only one Iām not sure about, Thomas was talking over him)Ā
V:Ā Annnndā¦.
P:Ā Got it!Ā
V:Ā Ok. Yeah!Ā
P:Ā *laughs*Ā
V: Figured it out.Ā
P: Just took a second.Ā
Theyāre not just an uncoordinated mess, theyāre a mess whoās figuring it out together, and whoās willing to put in the work it takes to make it right. Sometimes it hurts, but the pain is worth it for the end goal. When theyāre fumbling, Virgil still smiles at Patton, and tells him itās okay, as Patton does his best to fix whatās wrong.
And when itās over, they smile, but they look contemplative too.Ā
They know now that things will be a little different, their dynamic wonāt be quite what it used to be anymore, but once they figure it out, it will actually be better.Ā Theyāll be on equal footing, each moving across towards each other to complete their high five, making each other and Thomas stronger.Ā
So yes, the high five is messy because their relationship is messy. But itās not messy because itās bad, itās messy because itās new, itās growing and changing and when theyāre done, our dynamic duo will be stronger than ever before!
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