WARNING: In this post I will talk about Remus, so there will be swear words, mention of sex, blood and all sort of things. I don’t think humans should run away from those arguments because they’re all part of our nature, but if you don’t want to read about them, I respect your opinion and I’m warning you here.
Oh, Remus. Such wonderful chaos, such amazing character. There’s a lot to unpack from a single video, so let’s start. I will try to follow some order, but if I fail, I blame the trash boy.
PS. I won’t take his playlist into consideration, because it will have its own post. This is just what I found out from his first appearance.
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Why “the spectrum A to Z” is absolutely necessary for Thomas (and for every artist in general)
When I listened to The Forbidden Fruit for the first time and Remus explained who he was and what his role was, I remember I grinned like an idiot.
Oh, I thought, so that’s where we’re going.
If you want the spectrum A to Z, then you’ll need a little help from me~!
The full spectrum means full creativity. It means do not restrict yourself with “what the censorship allows” or “what is acceptable for the general public” or “what religion/society/whatever may think about it”.
In my opinion, every good artist, no matter what artistic field they are pursuing, should have the freedom to choose from the full spectrum of creative possibilities. And yes, that means having also the freedom to choose (if necessary) the three “forbidden” aspects of human nature: sex, blood and death.
Usually, we banish those things because they remind us of our mortality. Humans are strong: we’re the strongest species of this planet and the more we evolve, the more we prefer to forget that our bodies are made of flesh and blood and that we have sexual urges like any other creature.
But that’s still part of what we are. And having the freedom to choose among these things means expanding your creative horizons.
It’s like living on an island. You have a lot of stuff to use and it’s all cool and fun, until you reach the beach. Then you realize your stuff is limited. You can reach a certain point with what you have/know.
But then, you find a small path that leads to another place: an entire continent of dangerous, forbidden stuff. Would you want to go and explore the continent or get stuck inside your island, by doing the same things over and over again?
Every artist should explore. You cannot be a good artist, if you never try other things, other styles, other ideas. That doesn’t mean you have to write/draw about sex and death all the time, because you have to expand your horizons: but you can try doing it, learn from this experience and then decide what to do. If you’re good, you enjoyed it and you want to try again, you can do it. Otherwise, you can come back into something you prefer - but you will do it with a new approach. You have learned something. You’re not stuck with letters from A to L anymore: you have the whole alphabet available, now.
A personal example to make everything easier: I’ve always written a lot since I was a child, from short stories to wannabe-novels. And by doing it, I always tried more genres: I tried noir (and failed), I tried romance (and failed), I tried a sprinkle of psychology in and it came out acceptable.
Then, three years ago, I had to write a sex scene. I’ve read some sex scenes here and there in a couple novels and I’ve also read a lot of nsfw fictions in almost 15 years into different fandoms. So at very least I had a lot of information about all kinds of sexual intercourses, from vanilla to bdsm: but I’ve never tried to write something similar myself.
I wanted to challenge myself, so I tried. It took me weeks to build a good scene, to show and not tell, to not fall into stereotypes and clichés, but I did it. Maybe it’s not perfect, but I still think it’s acceptable (and that’s a lot, considering I’m never 100% satisfied with what I write).
What have I learned from that? That it takes a lot of time, but I can write about sex, without falling into stereotypes. That writing sex is extremely complicated, because some positions/actions are always the same (I mean, the penis has to go somewhere and the places are more or less the same). On the other hand, writing about kisses and foreplay gives me more “creative freedom”: so if I will have to write about sex again, I’ll definitely be more at ease with a description of foreplay/fluff/pre-nsfw, rather than describing a full sex scene.
This experience taught me something new about my style and my potential. Now I have more experience, more knowledge and a bigger understanding of my linguistic abilities, compared to before.
Back to Thomas: he’s an artist. And as every good artist, he cannot force himself into the same cycle of playing safe. He has to try something new, in order to become better.
Remus is the new, Remus is the unexplored. Remus is everything Thomas never tried: he’s the full spectrum, waiting for him.
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Stop limiting your creativity and why Remus is right
“If you really want to challenge your viewership, then you need to stop limiting me!”
When I listened to this line, my first, natural reaction was: “Well… he’s right”. Because he is.
Thomas has always played safe in his videos (“For someone who prefers salty flavors, your videos are rather saccharine.”). But he can’t always be like that. He’s growing up, as a person and as an artist. So he has to try something new. And trying something new, also means challenging your public.
I’ve been in this fandom since “Can Lying Be Good”, but I became active just now. Why now? Because now Thomas is raising the stakes. Because now Thomas is giving us more mature ideas. Because he's challenging his viewership.
And that’s also why other this part is EXTREMELY important:
[Thomas]: But I don’t wanna add to life’s unpleasantness.
[Duke]: Oh, so you’re going to baby them? Do you wanna rock the cradle, Daddy? (…) OR, do you want to be the wind that causes the cradle to fall?
What Remus is saying is absolutely right. Metaphors aside, what he’s saying is basically this: do you want to challenge your public with more mature ideas and bigger themes, or do you want to lull them into the same, safer themes? Do you want to “rock the cradle” and keep treating them like infants, or do you want to “be the wind” and bring change, a different vision of things, treat them like adults, challenge them with bigger, more complicated questions?
Again, Thomas is evolving, he’s growing up. He already made some episodes about this (Way Too Adult, Growing Up, Leaning New Things About Ourselves). It’s understandable that part of him wants to challenge himself and his public with something new and different.
But this isn’t just a challenge from character!Thomas: this is also a declaration of intent from the real Thomas, the one behind the camera. Until now, he proposed “safer” kind of lessons: it’s not necessary to be an adult at all costs, pursuing your dreams is good too, mind and heart can cooperate, anxiety can be accepted, you can move on after a break up even if it’ll be hard.
Now it will be different. Now he will propose bigger problems to us. Now he will hit harder.
It’s not a case that Thomas said he was kinda afraid while doing this video and Joan made a lot of research about intrusive thoughts. They both knew this isn’t a simple topic. But they did it anyway. They challenged us.
And if we think that the topics in the following episode were, among others, martyrdom, dying for your friends and the trolley problem… They’re really raising the stakes a lot.
And I love it.
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“That’s life.”
[Thomas]: I wouldn’t WANT my legacy to be subjecting people to something they didn’t wanna see!
[Duke]: Why not? That’s life! People seeing, hearing, and experiencing things they’d raaather not see, hear, or experience.
Thomas’ view of creativity as “not subjecting people to something they don’t wanna see” is… kinda adorable, yes, but completely wrong for an artist.
Again, I will use writing as example because it’s part of my experience, but this applies to all other art forms.
If you’re writing about a boy who lives in a shitty house, you can’t write: “His house was old and dirty”, because you don’t want to upset your public. Or you can do it, but it’s not good writing. You want a dirty house? Well, you will have to show how dirty this place is: rats running in the living room, a sink full of dishes, tored wallpaper and broken windows.
A good writer cannot be afraid of talking about something. If their story is about war, the writer will get their hands dirty and show this war: hungry soldiers, trembling fingers, holes full of piss, smell of gun powder, tears. If there is a wound, a good writer will show you blood and pain. If there is something filthy, a good writer will show you how filthy the thing is.
As I said, this doesn’t apply to writers only. Being closer, being specific, showing and not telling, sometimes means bringing up things people don’t wanna see, hear or experience.
But those are the same things that make your creativity run wilder and your works to be remembered. No one will remember “The house was dirty”. But I’m pretty sure you will remember rats running on the couch. The sentence is safer, sure, but the image is real. It’s not pleasant, it’s stinky and you won’t like it. But you will remember it.
That’s why Remus has a point. Because that’s what art does: making people feel something. Sometimes it’s pleasant, sometimes it’s unpleasant. But it’s stil part of the creative process and no good artist can avoid this.
Art isn’t good or bad. Art is feeling something.
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Side note: the cathartic effect of seeing awful things
Do you have any familiarity with the concept of catharsis? I will try to explain it in the easiest way possible.
Imagine you’re an ancient Greek and you’re going to the theatre to see a tragedy. Let’s pick “Oedipus Rex” for our funny evening.
The plot is very simple: the guy has been abandoned by his parents, because his father heard a prophecy about how his son would have killed him. So Oedipus grows up, then he leaves his adopted parents, kills a vagabond and marries a queen, who recently became widow. Stuff happens and, big surprise! The vagabond he killed years ago was his father and the widow he married was his mother. So his mother kills herself, while Oedipus blinds himself and goes away, because their union made a lot of bad stuff happen in their reign. You see, not tragic at all.
Okay, so you’re going to see this tragedy. You will see murders, blood, incest, a lot of bad stuff, a suicide, a man who blinds himself. That’s not nice stuff at all. That’s not “butterflies and magic”, nor “Netflix kids and family”.
But when you’ll see this, you will experience a purification of your soul. You will see those terrible things happen in front of you, you will see their consequences and looking at them will “pacify” your spirit. When you will go out of the theater, you won’t repeat those terrible actions in your life.
That’s what catharsis is. A purification of your soul, a purging from all the emotions that may fill your mind and lead you to terrible actions. Catharsis is incredibly important, because we all need an outlet, a safer way to dispel those heavy emotions. Sometimes it’s metal music, sometimes violent videogames, sometimes tragedies… and sometimes videos in which those thoughts can be expressed just by letting them talk for a while, instead of repressing them.
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A Side that cares (in his own way)
[Duke]: For someone who prefers salty flavors, your videos are rather saccharine. What will your legacy be? Will you even have one? How ‘bout this: you get butt-naked on camera and self-immolate to Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off”? Now, that’ll leave an impression.
It’s… kinda cute, in its own way, how Remus cares about Thomas. He’s one of Thomas’ sides, after all, and since they all care about Thomas and want the best for him, of course he should want the same.
And what does he wants for Thomas? To leave an impression. To be remembered. To have a legacy. It’s basically the same thing Roman wants, but way more incisively. Remus doesn’t want Thomas videos to be just good: they have to capture his public’s attention - even by being terrible and unpleasant, why not? That’s part of life, after all. And Thomas shouldn’t care about other people’s judgment: he should be free to do whatever he wants.
Again, it’s kinda cute to have such a wild Creativity, that all that wants for you is to be completely free of prejudices, judgements and rules, so you will be able to pursue whatever idea you want, no matter how stinky and awful it may be.
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Remus does whatever the fuck Remus wants
You know, I would love to have this kind of Creativity: he doesn’t give a fuck about anything. You hate me? Fine, who cares. It kinda connects with what I said before, about how a good writer shouldn’t be scared to upset his public.
Remus is terrible, stinky and wild. And he doesn’t care if people around him are upset, because being free and unleashed is his nature. Even when the other Sides insult him, he just shrugs their words off and uses them as fuel to create more terrible ideas:
[Logan]: I’d say you just reek. FIGURATIVELY.
[Virgil]: Also, literally, though.
[Patton]: Ohhh, what do you have to say to that, Duke?
[Duke]: E-Thank you? Reek is what I was going for.
[Patton]: Well-
[Duke]: I mean, my deodorant’s flavor is Pickled Poo Logs.
And also:
[Logan]: The real problem here isn’t the disgusting drivel coming from the Duke.
[Duke]: Ooh~! Thank you for the alliterative regards, Logan! I LOVE being given two D’s at once!
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Brutal honesty all the way
If Deceit was sharp and Virgil quite blunt in his critiques, Remus is honesty to the extreme. He tells whatever the fuck he wants, without a single care in the world. And his critiques are not dulled at all.
He starts during Forbidden Fruit:
[Duke]: ♪ It’s unicorn horns and dragon tails, Roman’s dull creativity~
And keeps going all the way throughout the video:
Not only insulting Thomas, but also Roman’s work, all in one sentence: that’s some mastery level we got here.
But, you know… I appreciate this part of him. As someone who constantly critiques my own writing style and ideas, having a part of your creativity that is ready to find all the wrong things in your works is very good. If you’re the first one who notices your own errors, you will be able to solve them, improve your work and show something better to your public.
Speaking of critiques… do you remember 12 Days of Christmas?
[Patton]: Guys, we’re being a little mean here, okay? Let’s not stifle Roman’s creative whimsy.
[Thomas]: Oh… uh… true. How about we go for more positive constructive criticism?
[Virgil]: Okay… it wasn’t…. good?
[Roman]: I don’t like you.
[Thomas]: That’s not positive… or constructive.
[Logan]: Fine. Uh… Roman… I’m sure that you could think… of an even more… appropriate line, for Virgil.
Unlike Remus, Roman gets offended very easily. Even a “It wasn’t good” is enough to upset him (and Virgil was trying to be nice). And it kinda makes sense, for him: he’s not just Thomas’ Creativity, but also his Pride and Ego. Both those aspects of the self are very sensitive to compliments and critiques.
That makes me think: if Roman isn’t just Creativity, but also Thomas’ pride, passion and ego… what are Remus’ other roles?
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“MANY of the Duke’s contributions”, not all of them
[Logan]: Well, I’d imagine that you will now recognize many of the Duke’s contributions AS intrusive thoughts. Which is actually really important.
So if “MANY of the Duke’s contribution” are intrusive thoughts, that means there are OTHER contributions that aren’t intrusive thoughts, that may even be… useful, in their own way?
It would make sense. No Side has just one role, so it would be strange that there is a Side whose only role is being Thomas’ intrusive thoughts.
Let’s think about it: what other roles Remus may have? He introduced himself as Thomas’ Creativity, so his mail role is probably Thomas’ deep abyss of creative ideas. He’s a dark pit of unleashed, chaotic fantasies. And some of them emerges via intrusive thoughts.
But Remus is also linked to the most raw, visceral aspect of human nature: so he’s probably also the embodiement of Thomas’ sexual fantasies and urges.
And, considering how honest he is, maybe he can also represent Thomas’ honesty. Or at least that internal voice that makes you think: “Urgh, this present sucks!”, while on the outside you fake a smile and say: “Thank you, that’s exactly what I wanted!” (we all have done it once, don’t lie)
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“I am trying to teach you a lesson” part 2
[Duke]: Do I need to remind you of what Thomas was thinking about last night?
[Everyone screams]
[Duke]: I just did what I do as one of Thomas’s sides. If I am awful, *blows kiss* then so is Thomas.
Remus’ words relates to what Deceit was trying to explain in SvS: Thomas is not an innocent little lamb. He can have these thoughts. And they’re not wrong - just as Remus isn’t.
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Hi, this is me reading too much into three sentences
[Virgil]: Why are you defending him?
[Logan]: I’m… not. I’m just trying to be intellectually honest with Thomas.
[Duke]: Ehh, sounds like bulls**t, this dork’s Deceit in disguise!
When I watched this scene again, something clicked in my mind. Maybe it’s just because I’m crazy, but it clicked.
Bear with me: Virgil asks Logan why he’s defending Remus. Logan says he’s not… and Remus’ reaction is bringing up Deceit’s name.
He had no reason to bring up Deceit’s name. He could’ve had any other reaction - even something stupid or sexual. Instead, he brought up Deceit’s name.
Sooooo… by bringing out his name as reaction to the sentence “You’re defending him”… is he subtly telling us that this is something Deceit does? That Deceit defends him?
What was Logan saying, when Virgil asked him “Why are you defending him”?
[Logan]: Thomas, like it or not, the Duke does encompass a portion of your imagination.
Okay. So, if I’m right, we can deduce that Deceit defends Remus’ existence as part of Thomas’ imagination. I mean, the words are here, the conversation was written like this for a reason. Remus brough up Deceit’s name/presence just three times, during the whole video:
- During his song, to explain why he finally appeared,
- When Logan talked about “doing something, and hiding that they’re doing it”, that is basically Deceit’s work,
- This damn time.
I don’t think this was a coincidence. It was a hint. Not only these two know each other, but Deceit defends Remus’ existence as part of Thomas’ Creativity. And it makes sense that the self-preservation wants this abyss of sexual urges and disgusting things to exist: every human being needs this and, as we learned during intrusive thoughts, his existence is part of a normal human being.
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Remus is a cutie who just wants to have fun
[Virgil]: You know what’s funny? You used to really unsettle me. I thought that you were some… terrible illness. Now I can see that you’re just… a common cold. A mild inconvenience that’s… gone before you know it.
[Remus]: *laughs* You tickle me, Emo! Well, I enjoyed this! Good seeing you again, Virgil! Ah, it was just like old times!
First of all: let’s take a moment to appreciate Remus’ soft laugh, because it melts my heart every darn time. This hell abomination laughs like a soft chicken, when Virgil finally recognizes him as just “a mild inconvenience” and he’s not afraid of him anymore. He treats Virgil like a cute, little brother, by saying him the nicest, cutest thing he ever said during the whole video (“You tickle me, Emo!”).
Second: "I enjoyed this“. Logan spent 40 minutes to figuratively dress him down, antagonized him all the time, deprived him of his aura of big, scary guy… and Remus doesn’t have any hard feelings towards him at all. On the contrary, he actually enjoyed introducing himself to Thomas, spending time with the other Sides, being silly and throwing his chaotic suggestions. And even if Logan opposed him, he still had a fun time.
Speaking of that, actually Logan did him a favour. By showing how not-scary Remus is, he indirectly gave Remus a free pass to talk with Thomas. Now Remus can appear whenever he wants, he’s not forced in the back anymore - as we saw in the following Sanders Asides, in which he just pops up whenever he wants, tells something and goes away.
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Side note: Apollonian and Dionysian
Yep, it’s time to talk about Fancy Mario and Evil Luigi, aka the Creativitwins.
I’ve read some days ago the post of @ofselene, who mentioned apollonian and dionysian and OH MY GOSH, just by reading the two terms my mind clicked!
Again, I will try to keep it easy: those two terms comes from Nietzsche’s “The Birth of Tragedy” and are used to designated two fundamental aspects of the greek culture.
Dionysian: this term is based on Dionysus, god of wine, revelry, orgiastic power and ecstatic emotions. As the name suggests, this is a destructive impulse, mainly expressed through music, because music appeals to the human’s most instinctive, chaotic emotions rather than the logical mind.
Apollonian: this term is based on Apollo, god of light, reason, harmony and balance. Apollonian is more analytic impulse, calm and ordered, mainly expressed through figurative arts, like sculpture.
Taken by themselves, those two aspects are dangerous: too much dionysian is able to completely overcome apollonian and makes people drown into life’s chaos. On the other hand, too much apollonian leads people to isolate in an illusory world, too detached from reality.
According to Nietzsche, there was only a moment in which they reached equilibrium and it was during the greek tragedy. In fact, the incredible vitality of the ancient greek tragedy comes from the equilibrium of apollonian and dionysian. The chaotic, sensual passion managed to coexist with the harmonious, ordered impulse and their union generated the art form of the Attic tragedy, the most important kind of greek tragedy.
… I think you know where I’m going with this.
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Unleashed Creativity and Controlled Creativity
When Thomas granted Roman full creative control during “Am I Original”, Roman struggled to find an original idea and, at the end, he accomplished nothing. In a 40 minutes video during which no one wanted to listen to him, Remus came up with all sort of ideas - wrong, weird, disgusting, but original.
This is why these two need to cooperate. Remus is pure, unleashed creativity. He doesn’t have a direction, he just erupts ideas like a volcano. He has a better grasp than Roman about the general direction Thomas should go, but his unfiltered ideas are too much and not enough at the same time.
Remus is like a mine: there can be gold inside, but there can also be poop. He’s too unleashed, too wild, too impatient to dig and find the good stuff.
Someone else has to do it. Someone who knows what creativity is and what to search for. Someone with a good insight of Thomas’ desires and passions, who knows what Thomas may like and not like. Someone who does his job every day, despite being chastised all the time. A much more controlled Creativity, patient enough to dig into this mine and expert enough to recognize if there is something worthy.
Because, while digging in, he can take out another rock, another stupid idea. Or some poop.
But maybe, among the dirt and the useless stuff, there’s a rough diamond. Something that needs to be polished, cut, studied, taken into consideration. And Roman is the only Side who can do this. Roman is the only one who can recognize the good idea into his brother’s constant stream of thoughts. Not only this cooperation may unleash an incredible potential that will benefit Thomas, but it could save Roman himself.
Roman will fall, he’s already falling. He can’t bear the pressure to be the hero anymore. He will need a new role.
And being an adventurer and a digger may be the right thing for him. He will be able to mature, improve, specialize. He will be finally free from the constrictions his role gave him. There’s no need to be brave and perfect all the time, when your role is getting your hands dirty while searching for treasures. No need to divide between heroes and villains, when you’re not forced to be a hero anymore.
And… you know, maybe searching the diamond in the rough may also help him fulfill his role as passion and ego. Because what better thing for your ego, than finally finding the diamond hidden deep down into the mine of your terrible ideas?
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PS. If someone wants to be added to the taglists, just ask and I’ll add you :)
TAGLIST:
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