First Published: October 8th 2017

Pairing: none

Genre: angst, analysis

Word Count: 814

Warnings: none?

Summary: An analysis of the sides from Moving On.

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1 – Denial.

"Denial and shock help us to cope and make survival possible. Denial helps us to pace our feelings of grief. It is nature's way of letting in only as much as we can handle."

Roman is denial. In his mind, the relationship isn't over. There's still hope. He can fix this, he just has to try hard enough. The guy still loves Thomas. He'll still take him back if they show him how amazing Thomas is now. Roman refuses to believe that it truly is over and it shows.

He is willing to hold onto the memories because for him, they're a sign of hope; that it's not over just yet. In his eyes, the person isn't gone. They're just around the corner, waiting for Thomas to call. Waiting for Roman to rekindle the flame. They're not gone. They can't be.

2 – Anger.

"Anger is the emotion we are most used to managing. Anger is strength and it can be an anchor, giving temporary structure to the nothingness of loss."

Logan is anger. He's bitter that they're gone and shows it with the most familiar and comforting emotion to him. He knows anger, and he knows how to feel it and how to use it. He despises the sides and Thomas for how they try to hold onto Thomas's ex because in his mind, it's their fault. Or the ex's. They were the ones who drove them away and the ex was the one who severed the relationship ties once and for all.

Logan doesn't deserve the treatment he's getting when he's simply trying to show them that it wasn't all good times. And so he lashes out, like they lashed out at him. Logan lets rage control him and makes rash decisions, because why not?

3 – Bargaining.

"After a loss, bargaining may take the form of a temporary truce. We want life returned to what it was; we want our loved one restored. We want to go back in time. We may even bargain with pain. We remain in the past, trying to negotiate our way out of the hurt."

Patton is bargaining. He holds onto the memories more tightly than Roman because if he lets go, then the person will fade from their minds entirely, along with all the good memories. He would rather suffer and remember the bad times than give up on them like this.

He finds comfort in the memories and nostalgia. He doesn't mind the way it pains him to remember how good the person was, because if he holds on, then maybe... maybe... maybe. And besides, he controls how much it hurts him. He can control that and perhaps, if he's hurting emotionally like this, it'll make up for what they've done.

4 – Depression.

"Empty feelings present themselves, and grief enters our lives on a deeper level, deeper than we ever imagined. This depressive stage feels as if though it will last forever. We withdraw from life, left in a fog of intense sadness."

Thomas is depression. He has, for the most part, accepted that the person he held so dear is gone, but still. Whenever he hears their name, or is somehow reminded of them, he feels like a bottomless pit has opened up in his chest. He doesn't- doesn't know why he feels so... empty. That person was such a large part of his life, occupying his heart, but now that they're gone, they've left a void.

He doesn't think things through when he orders them to Patton's room. Logic and Anxiety is not something he needs now. He doesn't want to understand why he feels like this, he doesn't want to analyse the relationship for where he went wrong. He just wants to hold on while he can. He wants to live in the good memories because maybe, maybe they'll help fill that void.

5 – Acceptance.

"This stage is about accepting the reality that our loved one is gone and recognizing that this new reality is the permanent reality. We learn to live it. Instead of denying our feelings, we listen to our needs; we move, we change, we grow, we evolve."

Virgil is acceptance. Out of everyone, he isn't the one you'd suspect of accepting, but that's what he is. He invested so much time into the relationship but, now that that person is gone, he's learned to accept it. Don't get him wrong, it hurts. It hurts a lot. But they're gone, they won't re-enter their lives and Virgil knows that.

He does his best to help the others through it and he allows them their own grieving time, but sometimes he wishes they'd just move on. It does not do to dwell on the past – Anxiety knows that all too well. He understands that they need to move forward, no matter how tempting living in nostalgia forever may be.