journalanxiety:

hey so virgil totally wears nail polish right? it’s just part of his dark stormy aesthetic. Anyway, the other sides assume that the messy state of his nails is done on purpose to improve his chaotic vibe and appearance, so they never question why his nails, even when freshly painted, are messy and often spill over onto the skin of his fingers.

What virgil never tells them, though, is that he doesn’t do it on purpose. Prior to episode AA, virgil didnt trust them enough to mention that, as much as he wishes to have clean and well-painted nails, he can’t because his hands shake too much. All the stress and anxiety that virgil has to deal with causes his hands to shake, making it basically impossible to paint his nails and have them look professional. And as time goes by and virgil remains isolated from the others, the tremors just get worse. 

But then episode AA happens, and suddenly the others are trying to make sure that virgil feels like he’s part of the family. The shaking doesn’t entirely go away, but it isn’t as bad as it had been in the days leading up to his “ducking out”. As time passes, the others are slightly confused that, while virgil has taken on a softer appearance that, while still angsty and emo, also displays a softer and more gentle side of him with its purples and less ragged appearance- but the nails remain as chaotic and messy as ever. They decide not to question it though, as patton reasons that they don’t want to pressure virgil and make him feel nervous.

virgil, on the other hand, can’t help but feel envious of roman’s nails, which are constantly painted with a new pattern in glittering golds and silvers and reds. So, after a couple weeks of trying to bolster his confidence just enough so that he can approach roman, virgil finally finds himself knocking on the door to roman’s room one late evening. Roman is surprised, to say the least, when virgil manages to mumble out his request, but ultimately the creative side is thrilled and practically drags virgil into his room. They sit on the floor as roman paints virgil’s nails, disney music playing softly in the background while roman coaxes virgil into conversation. this is the beginning of their friendship (or more, whatever floats your boat [haha get it?? boat like ship??? haha ignore my stupid sense of humor]) and it quickly becomes a ritual to do their nails together and whatever other beauty ritual that roman can convince virgil to participate in (which is actually easier than roman had expected, and he is just ecstatic). Roman eventually manages to convince virgil to try out some purple and silver polish, and the two have fun experimenting with the colors and patterns together.