Light Sides - Blog Posts

Yk what

*makes all the light sides and redesigns my virgil & Roman*

Nice

I have an angsty sanders sides hc

Hear me out

Virgil is Thomas' fear/anxiety so he reacts to when Thomas or any of the sides are upset about something. I came up with the when I was watching the intrusive thoughts episode and they point out that virgil and Patton where the ones freaking out. What if it was Patton freaking out and virgil was just reacting to how anxious that made Thomas?

So the hc is that Virgil doesn't actually dislike Janus or Remus. It's just his job to make sure that Thomas something is wrong or upsetting. Like he knows that those parts of him upset him or parts of him, so he naturally rejects them. He's like an unwilling Warden. In charge of making sure the parts of Thomas that could cause hum distress don't.

Janus knows this and knows it actually hurts Virgil a lot to go against sides that he used to (and still kind of is) be friends with. Janus and Remus are constantly referencing this secret Virgil has. Even after Thomas knows about the other dark sides. My hc is that they know the truth and what Janus, especially, is pushing for is Virgil explaining the impossible task he has.

Janus knows that part of Thomas taking care of his mental health is Virgil not constantly working over time reacting to Patton and Roman's negative reaction to them.

Virgil doesn't want to bring it up because he knows how guilty Patton and Thomas would feel. He also thinks being honest would make them and Roman feel like they have to change instead of letting them do it naturally.

Idk I just like the idea that Virgil is torn between the two sides not only because he wants the light sides and Thomas to like him but also because it's literally in his nature to react negatively to them regardless of his personal feelings.

I really like leaning into the nature of them being representations of emotions and the limitations and complexity that would bring.

I like to imagine that he just collapses at some point and asks for Janus to take care of him becuase that what he always does. Janus takes him back to where the dark sides are and finally explains the situation. It's a moment of really healing and comfort for Virgil and we get to see peak mom friend Janus. Also the light sides and Thomas trying to figure out how to navigate this.

My Sander Sides Enlightment

You know what’s always kinda bothered me? Those mean takes on the other sides. Like ‘Janus is manipulating Patton and isn’t actually trying to be friends with him,’ ‘Patton has too much moral superiority,’ ‘Roman never learns,’ So on and so forth. There is something bad to say about all the sides. No hate to anyone who's made one, you are valid and probably right in your own way. I think the only reason they bother me so much is because you can easily say the opposite. The most common phrase being ‘Nobody listens to ____’

“Nobody listens to Patton! He was trying to show the others that Virgil was good all along and only when Virgil was gone did they listen.”

“Nobody listens to Logan! He gets ignored constantly and he’s getting mad because of it.”

“Nobody listens to Roman! Every time he comes up with a solution, he gets shut down only to get blamed for not coming up with a solution.”

“Nobody listens to Virgil! He only gets listened to when he forces Thomas to hear him, and he doesn’t like doing that.”

“Nobody listens to Janus! Even when he has good ideas and arguments, they get pushed to the side because he is a dark side.”

“Nobody listens to Remus! That was the entire point of an episode. And all he wants is to be listened to, it doesn’t matter who.”

And all of these are valid points. But at some point, you have to wonder who’s not listening the most. Which is how I think the criticism posts of the characters came to be in the first place. But I don’t think any of them are to blame. Even when this new side gets revealed, it won’t be his fault either. The fault isn’t on Roman, or Logan, or Janus, or any of them.

It's on Thomas.

And of course I don’t mean ‘Writer Thomas,’ I mean ‘Character Thomas.’ Throughout the series, Thomas has always held himself high. You can’t be perfect, but you can try to be. And every time a situation comes up, he doubts himself, wondering if he’s even any good at all.

And in comes the sides, telling him that he can’t be bad and here's why. In fact, Thomas won’t let himself be bad at anything. Can’t be a bad worker, can’t be a bad actor or singer, and certainly can’t be a bad friend. Even in situations where he wouldn’t even be those things, he can’t even let himself risk it.

And so, the sides follow suit.

Logan becomes the perfect person for knowledge and learning, never letting himself be anything less than right all the time.

Roman strives to be perfect physically and materialistically, coming up with creative ideas that help Thomas move up in the world or, at the very least, make himself feel better.

Patton is the perfectly moral person. Make sure everyone is alright, help whenever and wherever you can, and always keep a smile on. Wouldn’t want anyone worrying for you, right? That wouldn’t be good.

Virgil is the perfect alarm system. Even false alarms are taken with the utmost seriousness. Just as long as no one else knows your anxious.

Janus is a deceiver. And Thomas lies often. So he needs to be the best at putting on a face and making sure nothing goes off without a hitch. Wouldn’t want people catching him in a lie. He needs to be the perfect liar.

And then there's Remus. The only one who tries not to be perfect. But that idea terrifies the others so much, Remus is left to pick up all of the imperfection slack. Maybe that's why Remus was offended when he was called ‘Scary.’

Trying to be so many perfect things all at once, you’re going to but heads with all of the different aspects of yourself. You're going to not listen. You're going to ignore. And in some cases, your perfectionism is going to make you look like the bad guy. And as someone with perfectionism, I relate a little too hard.

Thank you for reading.