You guys don't understand how much them playing Go Fish in the headspace means to me.

Like...

They play games together in the headspace.

CANONICALLY.

And if these 3 are playing Go Fish while Manitoba fronts...

Who's to say they don't all play games while Mike fronts?

And when someone else fronts, maybe Mike joins the game.

Just them all playing games together when they're not fronting.

Just them all hanging out in the headspace.

Just them all being friends.

Just...them.

(i mean that. if i wrote something wrong or offensive by accident correct me. please.)

(TW for mentions abuse/trauma)

Mike (he/him) — 18 (same age as the body) — Host/Gatekeeper. From what I’ve read, gatekeeper alters can (or at least tend to) control when alters do and don’t front/certain parts of the subconscious. And I mean…he kind of does do that. The entirety of ROTI is just him doing exactly that. Trying to, at least. The whole argument between him and his alters in All Stars/the end of ROTI is because they feel like they have no control because he takes the lead on everything. (which tbh that would’ve made a much more interesting plot line/conflict for Mike than anything Mal served, especially if Manitoba were the main antagonist considering he seemed the most upset about never fronting “unless Mike wanted him to” but whatever…I’m not freshtv). I don’t think he has anything that specifically causes him to front when he’s not? Nothing I can think of anyway. I’m not sure how it works and if alters can just willingly front but from I’ve read they sometimes can? I don’t know though. If anyone wants to weigh in please do! I do think he was the core though.

Chester (he/none) — mid 70s/early 80s — Protector(?). I think Chester was one of, if not the last alter to split. This isn’t very original, but I do think part of him is a reflection off of the system’s “Nonno” (who was maybe the only safe adult in their childhood, even if he was prickly, unfriendly and unpleasant to be around sometimes—he adored Mike. He loved him to death). He split after their grandfather died and used to play more of a caretaker role, but his role shifted a bit as time moved on. He still fronts when one of the other alters grows frustrated and/or angry/gets injured. He holds a lot of the system’s pain, both physical and mental. He’s prickly partially because he reflects their grandpa, like I said, but also to drive people way, in a sense. He’s not very trusting of many people. It’s difficult to get his guard down but when you do, I like to think he’s sweeter.

Svetlana (she/her) — early 20s (around 23-25) — (Mental) Caretaker. I have a headcanon that Mike is the oldest of four and had only sisters. He was severely neglected as a child, both because he wasn’t a girl like his mom wanted, and he was the oldest and she considered him “an adult” at the ripe age of seven. He really wasn’t seen his own individual person as much as he was lumped in with his sisters. Because of this, he was thrust into whatever activities his sisters wanted to do (or whatever his mom wanted his sisters to do). Gymnastics and ballet were the biggest ones. So Svetlana split off to help with his dysphoria and the emotional neglect. She usually fronted during these lessons both because of Mike’s dysphoria and because he considered it a “fight or flight” situation. He knew if he didn’t do well, the abuse and neglect would only get worse. She still fronts a lot during these fight or flight situations, but she uses her gymnastics to both fight back and fly. She carries a lot of dysphoria too. She’s not exactly “motherly”, but she does protect the system from potential threats and is probably the best about things like emotional regulation and forming somewhat healthy coping mechanisms. You see in All Stars that she’s the one who tries to hype the group up/keep them going. Her caretaking is mostly mental/emotional. Manitoba takes better care of the physical body.

(speaking of)

Manitoba (he/they) — late 20s/early 30s — Introject/Caretaker. He was probably the first to split— he did so both as a distraction from his parents abuse/getting divorced and as a survival tool. Some of the system’s only good memories as children are from watching things like Indiana Jones and The Crocodile Hunter. So Manitoba’s an introject of people Mike idolized as a kid. He usually fronts in “survivalist scenarios”, or times where the body thinks it’s in danger/survival mode. Such as if the system desperately needs food, water or shelter. He will eat anything too—bugs, dirt, leaves. He knows which ones are safe and which ones aren’t. I saw a headcanon that Manitoba has Pica/Pica tendencies which I thought was genius so I’m taking that (if OP sees this pls lmk so i can properly credit you—edit: it was @ask-the-mikeys headcanon! thanks for letting me know! <3). So I think he started out as a distraction and quickly evolved into a physical caretaker. He’s the best at maintaining physical wellness, out of any of them. The others usually either forget or they overwork/overwhelm themselves.

Vito (he/him) — between 19-22 — (Sexual) Trauma Holder. I’m pretty sure most of the fandom agrees on this one. He was the very last alter to split and did so due to some sort of sexual trauma. I heard that somewhere, his first job was working at his Uncle Vinnie’s car company, fixing cars and stuff. I like to think they had a good relationship with their uncle—it was their cousin who was the problem, and he closely resembles him in both personality and attitude. His cousin was a complete loud mouthed frat boy, similar to how Vito acts. He fronts when someone in the system feels exposed or vulnerable in some way. I’ve seen people make headcanons that he did what he did with Anne Maria specifically to drive Zoey away, inevitably protecting the system from the potential danger that comes with an intimate/close relationship and I honestly really like that. He’s the least trusting of the alters—maybe second to Mal. Nobody else in the system remembers any of the things Vito does, and they only know through journaling (which I headcanon the system starts doing post canon).

Mal (he/they/it) — 16-17 — Persecutor. He was the host for a lot of the system’s preteens/early teens. He holds a lot of the darker internal thoughts/feelings (like self loathing, fear, shame, deep anger…) and his lashing out/self sabotaging comes from him thinking he’s “protecting” himself, even though he’s incredibly misguided. I don’t think he’s some bloodthirsty psychopath, but he’s also not an “UwU emo boi!” either. He’s a misguided, mentally ill teenager who has severe trauma. I honestly would have loved to know more about why he was in juvie with Duncan and what he was like there that made him so terrifying to everyone else. But alas. I do headcanon a lot of it was for assault/battery and that a lot of why he was so “feared” was because he spent a lot of time either disassociated for hours at a time (and nobody understood what he was doing) or lashing out at anyone who came near him. He probably knows a lot more about the system’s trauma than they think he does. But a lot of what he does comes from both some sick idea that he’s actually protecting himself/the system and not hurting them, and from the idea that part of him—them—deserves to feel that way.

And no, the “reset button” doesn’t exist. The idea that simply pushing a button will cure your disability is absolutely deranged and I hate it so yeah ! idk these are just some thoughts—I’ll probably revise this when I’m more informed/give done more research. But I do have some miscellaneous headcanons I’ll add under the cut

im gonna marry you for asking this /silly (no but seriously this is my favourite thing ever)

Mike and Mal were the first two to form, Mal being first. Mal was a persecutor, protector and a trauma holder (all three are very important to their dynamic trust). In the beginning, he faced the brunt of the abuse, but that didn’t mean that Mike didn’t face any abuse too. He did, but mainly verbally, so he never fully knew what Mal went through. Despite that, Mike and Mal quickly bonded, as they had something in common.

Mal very quickly latched onto mike. Hear me out here; Mal needed something constant in his life. Mike was that constant. I believe a key ingredient of most cases of dissociative disorders is the element of betrayal and uncertainty from the people around them, meaning that neither alters fully knew what they were going to be subjected to at home. The behaviour of their father changed from cruel and awful to charming and kind when around others, which made predictions of what was to happen at home when either was fronting often innacurate, especially for Mal. So when Mike came around, it was like something in his life was finally fixed in it’s behaviour and personality. He didn’t have to guess anymore. Quickly, Mal became incredibly protective over Mike, steering relationships with others away.

Mike trusted Mal because Mal was always there beside him. Neither of them acknowledged the codependency at that time, and only relished in the feeling of comfort from always having someone. When the other alters formed, Mal was deemed as ‘cold’ due to the walls he eventually built which stemmed from his distrust in others. It made him feared in the headspace, and Mal loved it. He loved finally being in control, as (like I said in a different post) he never got that control. To keep that reputation, Mal never spoke to Mike in front of the others. He pretended to resent Mike just as much as he did the others. His desire for control got in the way of his friendship with Mike, pretty much.

Despite that, their codependency just became worse. They genuinely couldn’t cope without each other. Their friendship wasn’t entirely awful though. They loved each other and would do anything for each other. I don’t think they had a horrible relationship, it just wasn’t very healthy for either of them. Mal was not evil either. Every time he’d pretend to hate Mike, he’d apologise profusely. Every time he did it, he felt like he was being just like their abuser, and henceforth took it very seriously. Their situation was very demanding. They could talk to each other at all times, and could always vent to each other, but it was too much at times, and it was hard to juggle without lovebombing considering the situation they were both in. But even besides that, I realise that it sounds like I’m villainising Mal, which I’m not! I love Mal. He was so caring and empathetic and he really loved Mike, it was just difficult for both of them and I think that going on about all the pros in their relationship would be a) too long and b) irrelevant.

Mike wasn’t all pure and innocent in their relationship either. He acted almost as though he was higher than all of them. Mike considered his DID as a disease and a pest. He thought that he was the “original” and “the real one” because he was the host. He had a superiority complex, and would make it pretty clear that he wanted control as well.

When they were fourteen, the abuse worsened by a large margin, and it made Mal break, in a way? I mean that he just went numb. This was yet another strain in his and Mike’s relationship; Mal would go from giving short, one word answers to breaking down in Mike’s arms. Mike would go from anger at what Mal would do to the body or just anger at the world that he’d take out on Mal to manners and kindness and apologies to sobbing. In a fit of rage, Mal killed their abuser. This led to Mike confronting him, saying it was ‘too far’, and other unreasonable and demeaning things like that (which I don’t agree with but every character needs their flaws). Mal said something awful, something that broke their entire friendship (can’t decide on it yet), and it destroyed both of them. Then, Mal went to juvie. He took out all his anger - at himself and Mike - on people around him. He had so much pent of rage to get rid of, which made all the others “worship” him like Duncan mentioned.

They got released after their trial where Mal showed plain evidence of both DID and the abuse they face which made the court rule it self defence. He internally thought that that would make Mike start apologising or something, but nothing happened, so his resentment grew. In all stars, he took all of his anger out on people getting too close to Mike. He justified it as just another evil act, but really it was an unhealthy jealousy. He hated them all for “taking his best friend”, which just ended up digging a deeper hole for himself.

I think of the reset button as a stupid stupid idea. In my brain, what happened was that Mike and Mal met each other in the headspace. They didn’t know what to say to each other at first. I mean, who would? They hadn’t been on speaking terms for like, two years. After some prodding from Mike at Mal’s motives and what the hell he’d been doing in all stars, Mal dropped all the pretend hatred he held for Mike and folded immediately. He apologised as well as someone like Mal could, and Mike reciprocated the apology. They communicated their feelings the best they could in such a short timeframe, before Mike was pulled to the front and won.

After the challenge was done and all the festivities had come to an end, Mike and Mal fleshed out some boundaries, feelings, and actually worked out a way to communicate better. Their friendship became like 100% healthier. They found ways to appreciate each other without being demanding or over the top. Mal was no longer a persecutor. He still stayed reserved around the others, but he wasn’t as cold, and showed up a lot more. Mike dropped his superiority complex and actually listened to the others and worked on himself.

And then yayyyyy happy ending. Mal and mike friends again. Yay.