it's my turn to ask about your headcanons. revenge >:]
I saw your post in legomovieheadcanons-daily! very interesting... now let's get to details! I wonder how they discovered that they have DID. how old were they at the time and what was their first reaction? how exactly Good helped them process their trauma? and did they get along well? it's a curious question, because you mentioned something about Bad appreciating Good /again/ in the end.
by the way, just like Bad Cop has anger issues, does Good have his own defence mechanisms? and how did Ma and Pa react to their son being a system? did they know about their trauma and how did they try to help them?
back to the movie: do you think they saw evil in Lord Business' plans before he revealed the Kragle? what did they think about everything he'd been doing to masterbuilders? his betrayal was the last straw, but how exactly did it shake BC, was it just the fact that he sacrificed everything for nothing?
that's it for now. BUT don't limit yourself, I want to know all of your headcanons! >:D I'll look into them and pester you with new questions later!
(Psychology is one of my special interests and DID is one of the disorders that intrigued me, so prepare for technical terms!) Well, that’s a bit complicated. So in order to understand my reasoning for this we have to understand how I envision them becoming this way and it happened because of a house fire. It was late at night, and Alex(bad) was asleep in his room, when the electricity shorted, and it caused an appliance to catch fire. Alex was woken up by the smoke, and could hear the fire. No matter how loud he screamed for his parents, they wouldn’t come. He was alone. Being a terrified 5-year old this was a reasonable assumption to make! The fire didn’t last long; and didn’t make it very close to his room. But by the time Ma and Pa had put the fire out and gotten to baby Bad’s room, the damage was done.
After the fire, he began to lash out a lot, and have frequent tantrums, especially anytime his parents left. He became very clingy! Ma and Pa saw this, and recognized that their son was having a hard time. So began to take off work in increments so one was always home with Alex. His emotions were big and scary, and he began to struggle to keep them in check. This is around where he started to develop latent DID (more info in this article: https://care-clinics.com/the-lesser-known-forms-of-dissociative-identity-disorder/?noamp=mobile) Ma and Pa noticed him zoning out a lot more, especially after tantrums or stressful situations. They really started getting concerned when the depersonalization started happening. Alex began to forget his name and became unable to recognize or recall details about himself. He would forget large swaths of time and his personality was in flux. He said it felt like he was “Dream walking” and that there was “a confused fairy in my head”. Bad thought good was a fairy when he first showed up lol! (Which makes sense when you consider he’s Irish and also 5)His parents thought he had an imaginary friend until an incident he had with Pa (that I might write a fic about later). TL;DR: Pa nearly jumped out of his skin when his son’s head flipped around, revealing he now had two faces. Ma was working when this happened, so Pa grabbed a very confused bad and dashed to the nearest hospital. The doctor confirmed that bad was a completely healthy, albeit difficult patient (we both know he was not gonna tolerate getting prodded by a doctor). And bad seemed to have calmed down! That was, until a very disoriented and confused Alexander (good) switched in. Let’s just say the doctor was thankful he wore his brown pants to work that day. Ma finally arrived not long after, to the elation of an exhausted Pa. A psychologist came to see the boys, and that’s how they got diagnosed with DID.
Their parents were a bit shaken at first, but once they got their bearings they learned everything available to them to help their sons! It was an adjustment, but they love their sons with all their hearts! Not much was available in the way of treatment or resources, so they kinda had to wing it! They got the boys a journal so they could communicate (an idea which I totally didn’t steal from @differentsublimephantom ! I would never! 😇), enrolled them in a private school for children with neurological disorders (it was close to home, in Lego world DID is a more common disorder. It’s still incredibly rare, but not to the extent it is in the real world), and began going to therapy with them twice a month to get their trauma in check. They had to grow into it, but overall their parents were incredibly supportive!
As for the boys? Well, they were very little at the time, so when their parents said they were brothers Alex didn’t question it! He had to get used to sharing his body, but he became very attached to Alexander! He became incredibly protective of his new brother, and stood up for Alexander when he couldn’t find the right words. Alex loved to play with his brother, and wrote to him in their journal often. When they were more practiced in communicating with each other, Alex would talk aloud to his brother, narrating almost everything he did. Alexander helped him keep a level head, and made the emotions and memories bearable. Though Alexander’s trickster tendencies did get on his nerves from time to time, he knows he’s not the easiest to deal with either. He can’t remember the trauma exactly, and though he may not admit it out loud, he really does love his little brother. He wouldn’t know what to do without him. Because without him, he’d be all alone.
Alexander was pretty anomic at first, especially on the memory side. But even from the start his personality was distinct! His parents helped him develop when he switched out, teaching him the same they taught his brother. Alexander also grew incredibly attached to his parents, and admired them greatly. It was like Alexander was an adopted son, and he loved his new family. And he loves his big brother. In his eyes, they’re two halves of the same whole. And he’s got so much to be happy about! Croissants, his parents, coconut donuts, puppy breath…this new world is awesome. Earlier on, he would switch in every time Alex was distressed, especially scared. He acted as an emotional shield for Alex. When the world became too much for his brother, Alexander was always there for him, taking his place and allowing him refuge and comfort. This often meant he was thrust into all sorts of uncomfortable situations. And what happens when you get thrown into scary situations and don’t know how to react? Contrary to popular belief, there is actually four different reactions: Fight, flight, freeze, or appease. And Alexander learned to do the latter. If Bad couldn’t handle a situation, Good was much better off mitigating the situation and cleaning up Bad’s mess than fueling the flames. His brother’s been through a lot, and Alexander knows he can’t stand being alone. Nowadays they have better control of their switching, but Alexander maintained the stronger switch control of the two, enabling him to come out as he pleases. Though if a situation does get too rough, Alexander switching in is involuntary. He enjoys his conversations with Alex, and loves to play tricks every once in awhile! Alex may not be the easiest to get along with, with his grouchy moods and propensity for bossiness, but Alex is his grump. And he knows his brother loves him, even if he doesn’t show it. They would come up with all kinds of games together, though their favorite was Good cop, Bad cop. They would come up with crimes, and would play cops finding the answers. Just like Ma and Pa.
Now I’m gonna take less of a in character writing approach for this, because we know what happens next. We have a rough idea of the atrocities GCBC goes onto commit. But originally? They didn’t see much evil in business’s plans. He was eccentric, sure, but he wasn’t wrong originally. At least in the eyes of the cops. This plays into my Emmet hcs (get this post to at least 15 notes no spam and I’ll post my Em hcs + a deep dive into the cop’s cruiser’s’ general air worthiness as a treat if it gets over 15 notes) but the masterbuilders kinda sucked for the general population in the times before the Octan regime. They had no respect for public property or the lives they could be affecting with their building. All they cared about was themselves. (Once again I’ll get into detail on the philosophy I have on this in the Em hcs) And the non-builders were powerless against them. It was utter lawless chaos, and it upset the cops to no end. So when an influential businessman with political aspirations approached the men the precinct assigned to escort him in public with the seemingly altruistic motive to restore order and justice for those they swore to protect and the resources to finally get the builder problem in check? They couldn’t resist! Business was always motivated by world domination, but the cops? They originally just wanted to do their civil duty and service the people struggling with the builder crisis. But business was a cunning man, and through a cocktail of manipulation, workplace abuse, gaslighting, and enabling he slowly radicalized the cops to his cause. It started small, but business slowly pushed them further towards the edge, reaching deep into their psyche and implementing his wicked agenda on them. All with the hope of bringing out the worst in them, and amplifying the negative traits they had that were useful to him. No, they didn’t see evil, they thought they were working for the betterment of Bricksburg. It wasn’t until the Kragle that they both were truly questioning business and his intentions.
He was the one who insisted that they go by Good and Bad, because they were perfect nicknames! Yea totally not a way to psychologically detach your consciousness from your crimes so you don’t question it while also acting as a dehumanizing tactic to reinforce the narrative and negative mindset he wants you to have! He would never! It’s totally your fault Bad cop that the masterbuilders caused a house to collapse! If you had just done your job correctly and kept your brother in check you could’ve brought these evil people in and he wouldn’t have to threaten you like this! The pressure got to the cops, and as businesses slowly molded them into the character we see in the movie, a rift develops between them. This is exacerbated by when LB pushed them beyond the point of no return. He demanded they torture a masterbuilder to get intel on the location of…some no good dangerous artifact the builders are gonna use to end the world. Good had his doubts about business, and though he’s still loyal to him this was objectively wrong. Even if they possessed a world ending weapon, this wasn’t the way to get that information. Their mission is good, but this isn’t. Maybe there’s another way? Bad never questioned it. Why couldn’t his dumb brother get with the program?! They had a job to do and people to protect, and this is the way to do it! Why won’t he just get out of the way?! Good eventually conceded to Bad and went along with the torture, but for Bad all this incident did was affirm everything business had told him. Alexander was holding them back. A useless waste of brain space! He doesn’t need him! In frustration he kicked the chair they were sitting on. It became habit.
As mentioned in the hc post, Bad nosedived after the Q-tip. I wanted to clarify what I meant by that here so my answer to your final question makes sense. Bad also began to doubt business in the Kragle scene, but was acting out of a combination of self preservation and loyalty towards business. When Alexander’s face was erased, it didn’t get rid of him. Instead it caused him to regress into an anomic state and go dormant like he did when their DID was still in its latent phase. Bad felt horrible about this, but he also couldn’t help but feel relieved. Finally, free to act as he pleases! So he performs a massive sting in the old west. And proceeds to have one of the worst capture days since his first attempt at capturing Benny and the other space people. As he’s falling into the ravine in his car turned baby carriage his rage swings in at full force. And he has to face the brunt of it all alone. In that moment he remembers how deafening silence could be. But no matter, he’s got a tracker on the special! And if he’s correct it’ll lead him directly to the remaining masterbuilder’s hideout! Business would be so pleased if he came back with a boat load of masterbuilders and the special! That would surely make up for his earlier failure to apprehend and maintain containment of the special and his cohorts! But…that’s not why he started doing this. He did this to protect and serve…and he is, isn’t he? A civil servant wouldn’t Kragle his own parents. I-It’s the darn masterbuilder’s fault! If they hadn’t caused this trouble to begin with he wouldn’t have to do any of this! It’s their fault he’s the bad guy. It’s their fault Alexander’s gone, and those darn turkeys are gonna pay.
So Bad is in the middle of an “Am I actually the bad guy?” crisis from Cloud Cookoo Land till the think tank scene when he has the epiphany. Yea sure he was doing some undeniably horrible things but it was all for the greater good of Oct-no Bricksburg! Who is he protecting?!The people, or Business? So the jokes he made while invading CCL was rationalizing and that’s why he seemed so off kilter.
And that leads into your final question. When business betrayed him he didn’t snap just because of everything he sacrificed. His entire worldview came crumbling down. All these years, all the obvious signs he ignored, all these memories and actions recontextualized under the lenses of his new perspective. Business never wanted to help the people; he used them to seize control! They really were the Bad guy! Alexander was right, and he’s gone because Alex couldn’t protect him! And now on top of that he’s going to die, and he’s going to die alone!? If I was in his shoes I’d go into psychosis just thinking about it. And that’s how Alexander came back. Alex was so overwhelmed by the swell of emotions that it triggered Alexander, just like when they were kids. But without a face, he couldn’t front. It’s not like Alexander had the strength to anyway. In his…abstracted state he couldn’t put much together thought wise. But he was there for Alex all the same. When Alex felt that weak presence in his mind, it was the greatest moment of his adult life. It gave him the boost his needed to fight off the skeletrons, and I think you know how it goes from there!
After freedom Friday, it was made clear Alexander had regressed significantly due to the trauma. With the support of his parents, and the fellowship of strangers, the cops returned to therapy to help fix up Alexander and work through the years of abuse inflicted on them by business. Alexander, though still clearly himself, was never quite the same afterwards. But Alex didn’t care. His brother was back, and he finally remembered why he appreciated his brother, and doesn’t plan on loosing him ever again. By now the two have gone through extensive therapy, and though they’ll never be the same as they were before Business, they’re both functional and together. And that’s all they’ll ever need.
Darny darn darnit, this post was so looooooooooooooooong. If yall made it this far I thank you for putting up with my ramblings, and I really enjoyed making this post! I have more GCBC hcs, but my brain will turn to mush if I think about this for much longer. So until another day! Please send me asks if you want to know about my headcanons or my interests, I’m more than happy to answer! Just a reminder, if this post receives 15 notes I’ll do an Emmet hc post, and if it gets above 15 I’ll do an analysis on GCBC’s cruiser! @anonymous-force just know the next brainrot I send you will be so diabolical you’ll explode. Until then, thank you for joining me at this terminal, Avi ✈️