something i'm realizing writing a precanon mdp fic is that siffrin was Really Good at Ignoring their Problems before the loops happened. like all the stuff the loops brought out was there already, it's just that a lot of the ways siffrin ends up thinking about it is also directly related to the loops. if that makes sense.
the foundations of these issues also typically seem to be based on casual assumptions. assumptions that siffrin seems to actively avoid thinking about but still heavily influence how he thinks and acts. sometimes it will seem like he's holding two separate and conflicting outlooks on something and believe them equally—and only acknowledges one, and only acts on the other.
this denial of the more deeply held belief means . well it means siffrin is contradictory as hell and emotionally fucking Stupid. but it also means (in this fic) that every interaction with mdp that happens in front of the party is an even bigger red flag than it would be otherwise because siffrin seems to genuinely think this isnt reason for concern in the slightest. because to him, most everything mdp says is simultaneously a casual Fact Of Life, and completely nonsensical. they also totally avoid thinking about how they feel about these interactions beyond vague bafflement at the party's concern. there is NOT a lot of introspection happening here for such an introspective concept. lmao