I first started watching Sanders Sides when I was 16 and going through a really rough time. It was the ultimate comfort show for me, and I loved the humor and advice baked into every episode. I got involved in the fandom when I wrote my first sickfic on a day when I was literally sick. I poured a lot of my feelings into more hurt/comfort than should maybe be legal. I loved making others happy with my work. My proudest moment was waking up to find that someone had made an animatic using a poem I had written and recorded based on Patton and Virgil. Being brave and posting the audio here for the sake of nostalgia and because I think it's interesting to hear my younger voice and demeanor.
Aside from getting me into creative writing again, the fandom prompted me to try cosplay for the first time. During a season where I felt really unsure of myself, getting to be a character was really healing. Especially when you feel so out of control of your own body and how it's perceived, cosplay can be really great for making decisions about your expression. I really resonated with Virgil, so I chose to cosplay him first (though I later did Patton and Roman too). Below are the very blurry photos I took as a kid, just trying to get through by doing something creative and showing appreciation for the content that helped.
Anyway, I don't write in the fandom anymore. But lately I've been cosplaying again (for fun and to feel like myself even when dressing up like others). As a tribute to the show and the fandom that started it all, I did a new take on Virgil. Did some cleaned-up curtain bangs, so not quite the classic emo fringe. While I did some of the classic anxious eyeshadow, I also did Virgil's excited look for some more hopeful vibes now that I've grown up a bit. Plus, I can do black lipstick now and kind of some winged eyeliner! I hope that Virge would approve. As for the outfit, my black flannel is no longer with me, so I went for a slumber party with the light sides look.
I also did a long-haired version of Virgil when I was a teenager, and my hair is about that length again, so I did some of those as a bonus shoot. Another opportunity for some then vs now.
Thank you for reading if you have read this far. I really appreciate every note I've gotten in my time writing and now cosplaying. I just love sharing things with others. To end this, I wanna give a short message to the kid who started cosplaying pretty much 8 years ago.
Hey! It's been a minute since we cosplayed Virgil. In doing some digging, you posted yours the day after "Can Lying Be Good?" came out, so you must've been excited about the dark sides. A lot has happened since then. We not only survived high school but got two more degrees and have a final one on the way! We finally came out to our parents, and it went better than you thought it would. We get to meet some really cool people and get some amazing opportunities to learn new things. Not everything is perfect, but we are making it through. We finally learned how to do makeup. We are revisiting some of our favorite things. That grey hair is even starting to come in! All to say, I'm proud of you for sticking it out, and we are just getting started!
It's been a minute! I redid my old Virgil cosplay on my new blog and just kind of yapped about how I got into the fandom. Check it out to observe the passage of time!
