#iDare to take of take care and listen to myself

Two other sides have been introduced later on and are considered dark sides since not much are known about them. Janus is Thomas’ deceptive and sarcastic side and Remus is the dark side of creativity and imagination, the twin of Roman. There is also currently one unknown side that's not been revealed yet.

The series tackles a range of issues including moving on from a breakup, the moral dilemma of self-care versus selfless, embarrassing phases and mental illness. The first major issue that was tackled was two of the sides pitted against each other in a debate where they showed the complications of what the heart (Patton) wants and what the mind (Logan) wants.

Virgil’s Anxiety

The first instance of talking about a mental illness is where Thomas and the Sides were discussing if anxiety is good. The episode starts with Thomas acting strangely he had no anxiety. Virgil has not turned up to join the conversation and this is where Thomas learns that each side has a room, but technically it is the corner of the mind. So, when they go to Virgil’s room, Thomas and the other three sides try to convince Virgil to return. A common theme throughout the series is that Logan references famous philosophers and studies to try and get his point across. The longer the sides stay in Virgil’s room, they gradually get more anxious, so Virgil gives them all a breathing technique to do that helps them leave the room. Once the episode ends, Thomas explains that there are possible upsides to anxiety and even shows important support phone numbers on screen if anyone is struggling.

Intrusive Thoughts

Another topic is intrusive thoughts where Roman’s twin, Remus, is first introduced. In some episodes, a song is created to further talk about the topic in a uniquely fun and catchy way. Throughout the episode, Thomas struggles to get over his intrusive thoughts because of the disturbing things Remus says and does. Including making a sandcastle out of his friend’s ashes, jumping out of a moving car and eating a stick of deodorant. Thomas learns to just slow down and take a breather since it was Virgil and Patton’s reaction Remus that caused Thomas to have disturbing thoughts. Virgil compares intrusive thoughts to a common cold not a terrible illness.

Selfishness vs. Selflessness

There was a plotline which caused Janus, the deceptive side, to be an important part of the story. Thomas had just received a casting call from a movie director which happened to be on the same date as a friend’s wedding. The two episodes centred on the dilemma whether Thomas should go to his friend’s wedding to support them or go to the movie call. Thomas and Patton wanted to go to the wedding while Roman and Janus wanted to go to the movie call. Thomas and the Sides spoke about this in an interesting way by having a debate in a court room. Thomas and Patton were defending, Janus was the accusing, Roman was the Judge and Virgil was the Jury. Logan was there as the first witness but was forced to stay in the audience. They all took turns to the be the witness and give their thoughts and it was decided that Thomas should go to the wedding. That decision was later talked about in the second part and discussed in greater detail.

Fandom’s Reception

Sanders Sides was originally going to be a one-episode project for Thomas, but the fans loved the characters so much, that he is still making episodes today and the series is what Thomas is known for on YouTube. For most fans, the series have really helped them by relating issues to different sides of a personality while it can be good to just binge all thirty episodes for a distraction, especially during the current time, since the rest of the series is light-hearted and fun.

My Opinions

I started watching after twenty-four episodes had been made in mid 2018 after being recommended the 'Accepting Anxiety' two parter on YouTube which is also a good place to start if anyone is new to the series. I was instantly hooked on the idea of the series and the characters. Virgil was the character I was immediately drawn too since I relate to him more and my personal favourite. The series has really helped since I started watching it, mainly the episodes talking about anxiety after struggling with it myself. The characters interacting with each other can just be entertaining enough because of their different personalities even though they are not real, and are part of a single personality.

If interested, the series is currently available on Thomas Sanders’ YouTube channel.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYA7DZ_sbUzvB1l6KsO5LZV2rrk2u1xl4