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Wow, two in one day? Blame @mla0 for this one

Michael and Patrick, as a system

Keep in mind: all of this is headcanon, and my own personal thoughts about them- my own takes AS a system who projects just a teensie bit on these two.

Patrick is with Michael through every iteration. Maybe he formed in the very first- a protector to Michael, someone to carry the burden of the memories Michael couldn't handle- but he's stuck with him ever since. Patrick knows what what they are, that he's not some entity possessing Michael, but they've never had the words to describe it. DID is such an undiscussed disorder, one with a TON of stigma and misinformation surrounding it. Not to mention, you're very likely to just... not be believed that you have it at all. A diagnosis is difficult to recieve, and more likely to get you judged and ridiculed for it.

...Which is a running theme throughout the series, isn't it?

Every new iteration, Michael rediscovers that he's a system, because between the two of them only Patrick remembers the past iterations. Michael would c r u m b l e if he remembered all of the pain and heartache they've been through over these past few lifetimes- he can barely handle the CURRENT iteration- so Patrick does as he was meant to do from the beginning: he caries the burden, so Michael doesn't break.

Patrick may have been kinder in earlier iterations. This goes into a whole separate conversation about how the iteration cycle and failing to save your loved ones- and yourself- over and over again takes a toll on your mental state and how you view the world, but to summarize that: I don't think Patrick is as evil as we think he is, and ESPECIALLY not as evil as Habit made him out to be to Shaun. His actions aren't good, and I think he knows this, but he does them with the intention to give them all just a little more time. "The ends justify the means". If everyones going to accuse him of being some sociopathic killer for it, then why fight it? He needs to put all his effort into keeping them safe, not defending his image.

"But Patrick has powers that Michael doesn't have!!!" Easy: because Patrick remembers the iterations, and Michael doesn't. Michael may ALSO have them, he just doesn't KNOW he does, or how to use them.

And with all that out of the way! Some less heavy/more silly headcanons:

-While Michael experiences some blackout/full amnesia, both Michael and Patrick experience some degree of corrosive amnesia. (I forgot? The actual term for it? But basically memories fade over time after a switch, rather than just. All at once. For example Michael may come out after Patrick was in the middle of something, know what they were doing IN THAT MOMENT, but an hour later he's already forgotten they'd ever done it). Patrick is not immune, even if he pretends he is.

-In the event of a "good ending", or even just. Surviving slightly longer than usual. I like to think communication would get better between them. Some of those previous barriers would break down a little, more instances of co-fronting rather than just ONLY Patrick or ONLY Michael, more communication internally. Generally more awareness of each other and how they are.

-Patrick tells Shaun early on that he exists, because some part of him deep down wants to be acknowledged. He exists, just like Michael does- Shaun is his sibling too. It's the one thing he's never given up on, pushing to be acknowledged.

I deeply hope any of this makes sense/is coherent I just went on a tangent LMAO

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sci-fi/alien obsessed shaun is so real and true in my heart. even though all the classic alien movies probably scared the absolute shit out of her

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ahhhhhhh alex being controlled by the speaker ahhhhhhhhhh

I'm fucking sad now, but also...

Alex in purgatory, like the place Sean went.

and Sean having to confront a guy that's basically a mirror.. either this is Alex who's very much controlled and now Sean looks st someone who's deeply devoted in the way he was, clearly young and brainwashed but also I don't think he'd be as.. happy to hurt people? idk how to word it. I think Sean would be jealous as hell about the new kid that's so much weaker and less experienced and still favored while he is treated as a traitor

or it's just- slightly influenced Alex who's really scared and still has some connection to reality. I have no idea how Sean would react to that but... considering the fact that Sean was probably as scared as Alex is right now before he got brainwashed.. it's once again like looking in a mirror but it's not a mirror any of them would like.

Alex would not want to turn out like that and they're both scared

I love shoving two of my favorite characters into a room and observing like a chemical reaction.

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what if

not sure i understand the question but....

MILO MY GIRL SHE LOOKS SO COOOLLL

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patrick andersen autism moments

Yep! I've been obsessed with that smug bastard since before i even watched MLAndersen0 and now that I have I am an even bigger fan of him, like... majorly.

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Incoherent Patrick Andersen Angst (my interpretations and headcanons, not canon)

So Imagine you have people you care about, people that make you feel valued and loved and like a person. People you'd do anything to protect. and then the horrors happen and you all die horribly.

Suddenly you're back at square zero, the time period is different, some minor details have changed as well but you're right back at the start. you remember everything and they don't. so you try to remind them, you try to tell them, you try to do things differently this time.

and then the horrors happen and you all die horribly.

And again, back st square one, and again and again and again time after time you are back at square one. each time you try something different, you try to figure out different ways to break the cycle, to stop your family from being hurt so much, you try telling them from the start, you try proving it, you try keeping them far away from anything remotely dangerous.. you try finding answers, you try finding help, you try and try and try but each and every time they find a way to make the same mistakes, the universe finds a way to put you in a situation where you put eachother in harm's way- you try and you try and you try

and then the horrors happen and you all die horribly.

you'd think that at some point you'd give up, stop caring when they die, stop trying to achieve the impossible. you never do but the understanding of the futility of your actions does seep in and each time you get a little more used to blood, used to screams, the ends start justifying more and more means. you still deeply love your family but you become much more comfortable manipulating them and hurting them, keeping them at an arm's length.. all to save them of course. you know things they don't, you're the one burdened with knowledge. you can't just tell them that never works, you can't listen to them because you know more, you need to use whatever means possible to make sure they do what you need so maybe just maybe they don't die this time.

across your lives you learn some tricks that help you hold on just a little longer, tricks you're not exactly fond of but you're already very used to death and by this point very few things matter to you. no trick can save you though. not forever.

you'll keep trying though, you'll always keep trying, and you'll never succeed.

but.. even if you will. what happens then? when you get you and your family that one, long, torment free life? you don't know how to talk to them anymore, you don't know how to exist free of fate. you don't know safety and you don't know uncertainty, what will you do when there is no greater purpose forcing you to distance yourself and pretend to be someone else? who is the real you now? when there's no excuse for keeping them in the dark? and... when there is finally an end.. if there ever is one.. what will you do?

okay now that im seeing this on paper i dont think i got my thoughts right but whatever, might clarify later when i can think coherently

also yes @mla0 this was specifically made as revenge for that michael post

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hear all truth and tell only lies ; Sean Whisperedfaith as an avatar of The Spiral and The Eye

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I cannot imagine being Michael Andersen dude like imagine having something so genuinely serious and traumatic that happened to your little sibling be pinned on you. Not only do your doctors believe it, and your parents believe it, but even your sibling seems to believe it too, despite you knowing they can see it too, knowing you were both there for the event... you'd start to feel like you're losing your fucking mind, everyone around you telling you the same thing that you don't remember doing- no, you WOULDN'T do that to someone you've only ever wanted to protect and be close to. It's not just your sibling, it's your LITTLE sibling, who probably trusted you and looked up to you. You WOULDN'T do that. But even they seem to think you would, and did. You spend sixteen years agonizing over this. You spend sixteen years knowing your little sibling is lying. You spend sixteen years- no, even longer than that, because it's not like it changes once you're finally free- knowing that it won't save them. That they're running on borrowed time. That they're no different from you even if they're terrified of that reality.

I don't think Michael ever truly (or, at least fully) blamed Shaun for what happened. They were children, and Shaun was terrified because she knows what will happen if she's honest. Michael knows that, regardless of whatever Shaun says about it, she was not safe alone in that house with their parents. She had to walk on eggshells just like he always did. But imagine the amount of hurt Michael felt. The frustration, knowing that denial won't save Shaun no matter how much she digs her head in the sand and sends her videos telling her to "forget about it," as if that's ever worked for either of them. And this entire time he watches Shaun suffer the consequences of her getting severely hurt as a kid right in front of you. You watch her spiral down a path of denial and repression and there's nothing you can DO. Her leg gets weaker, her arm gets shakier, and she only seems to get more insistent that she's fine the entire time. She listens to him less and less and less and she never fucking trusts him, she never just LISTENS TO HIM when it would solve so much- but he's not listening either. They're both trapped in this horrible hell caused by mutual trauma. And Michael just wished from the bottom of his heart that Shaun had been right, even though he knows she isn't, that it's just a terrible way for her to cope. Because the reality is so much worse. The reality is so much more bleak for her, and god that's his little sister and all he ever wanted was to protect her. But he can't. He can't, not until she learns to save herself, and she just won't. God. God. I'm screaming into my own skull. Fuck. Michael and Shaun.

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influenced au talk:

vinny does everything and thats what screws him over. he tries to be everything, help everyone. he meddles and meddles until everything explodes. binging purging is a good metaphor for this.

jeff does nothing and thats what screws him over. he ignores all his problems until he wastes away. he's aware of all the problems but doesn't care.

evan tries to force himself to care when he doesn't and that's what screws him over. he wants to be a good go so badly it nearly kills him. he always ends up involved in things he shouldn't be

steph forces herself not to care and that's what screws her over. she wants to be apathetic but just can't. she always ends up blowing up over things. she can't handle being as numb as she wants to be

YOOOO

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steph believes her baby is some kind of monster (maybe the antichrist, i like to think steph is/was religious) and she tries to get rid of it. evan and her get into a massive fight and both lose custody of the baby.

Another bad habit to the list!

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au where nick wins as habits vessel and evan freaking dies

.

also au where HABIT dies, like- very suddenly, spontanous combustion. mid series. /hj

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also steph dying in childbirth is a little lame. i could imagine her having a bigger role in this. maybe she's the one who tries to kill her baby and is stopped by evan violently. show how far they've fallen.

heck yeah, steph needs more agency in stories.. idk if this counts as agency but it's not like the boys get much better treatment in this angst-fest of an au, she deserves to go apeshit

ALSO SORRY FOR TAKING 10 WHOLE DAYS TO SEE THIS

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this goes well with the headcanon that Shaun is a goddess at platformers and both Michael and Stormy spent many hours playing mario kart in the hospital and can now kick your ass with their hands tied behind their back.

truly the only member of the Andersen family (im counting stormy, sister in law type shit) that isn't good at video games is Patrick "I remember when nintendo made playing cards" Andersen but... do you really want to challenge him?

https://youtu.be/LRsKRShkC_Q?si=nPNKJWStwhzv4bb_ eric mla0

I CHOKED LAUGHING. ERIC MLA0.

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in this influenced au vinny should be part of bingeing purging exercise culture and jeff just straight up doesn't eat. so basically they're regular exercise bros.

sooo...

influenced has a double meaning?

thats clever!

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EMH AU where HABIT is less of a single coherent being and more of a network/web. That little voice in the back of your mind whispering, "Do it, just this once. Indulge a little," that's HABIT. And it encourages all bad habits, from simply eating too much sugar to much more graphic things. EMH is still an homemade exercise show, but they slowly start advertising more and more fucked up ways to "be healthy." Evan's the first to notice how far they've fallen, he's an artist in this AU because I say so and he started noticing how bad his art has gotten since he came under HABIT's influence, and then he fruitlessly tries to convince the others that something is wrong, but they don't listen. They think they're completely in control of themselves. But they're not, and Evan's desperate attempts to help them only makes them more stubborn until they inevitably die in various ways. Evan's kid is the only one who manages to live, and that's because Evan takes full custody of her after Stephanie unfortunately died in childbirth and he's somewhat of a helicopter parent but he truly means well. Evan is fucking traumatized by all of this, almost everyone he cares about is dead, and slowly starts falling back under HABIT's influence, but he fights it as hard as he can for the sake of his daughter. The series ends with Evan uploading a video apologizing for everything that happened and saying he's moving with his daughter to find somewhere they can both be happy. I call this the INFLUENCED AU.

[Fun Fact: I have barely watched any of EMH, but the idea of HABIT as more of a voice in people's brain wouldn't leave me.]

WRITE A FUCKING BOOK YOU GENIUS

(starting a tag for this because yes and because fun)

the idea of habit being something subtle and collective is cool as hell, and i love aus where the baby survives

poor steph though, she deserves better, i miss herrrrrr