Web Video / MLAnderson0

aka: ML Andersen

A YouTube series based upon The Slender Man Mythos. It is considered one of the five "main" series of the Mythos (alongside Marble Hornets, Everyman HYBRID, Tribe Twelve, and Dark Harvest), but like DarkHarvest, is not largely responsible for shaping the mythos

MLAndersen0 (also known as The Andersen Journals) is the story of Michael Lukas Andersen, a young man plagued by some... rather nasty problems. His relationship with his brother certainly isn't the best. And Michael's life has been a series of stints in mental institutions, due to some psychological issues and supposed frequent delusions. On the advice of his psychiatrist, he makes a vlog to document his life, and uploads the videos to a YouTube account. A short while after starting the vlogs, however, Michael develops a new problem: namely, the constant, unwanted presence of a tall man in a business suit with no face. Cue what Slendy does best.

The YouTube channel can be found here. After an eleven-month hiatus in 2013, the series resumed on February 5, 2014. As of Late 2014, the series has all but ended (save for a short update on Halloween 2016 that was later privatized), due to the actors relocating and having full-time jobs that interfere with production. In December 2023, the series was revived, with the 2016 "finale" deleted.

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MLAndersen0 provides examples of:

• Ambiguous Ending: As of the final episode, it's isn't clear whether Michael/Patrick is still alive, or what's become of him if he is. The character's cameos in other vlogs don't do much to clear this up.
  • In late October 2023 — nearly ten years after the series came to a close — Dylan Sindelar^note one of the two creators of the series and Michael/Patrick Andersen's actor confirmed that the character is indeed alive, and that he has a written ending in mind for the series (as he felt that too much time has passed to create an ending in a video format). Beginning in December 2023, the vlog has been updating (somewhat) in the form of comments on the Community tab, and links to thematically appropriate music videos.
• Axe-Crazy: Patrick, as shown in Going Away Present.
  • Also, HABIT in the three-part episode "BROTHERLY LOVE"/"HELLO"/"GOODBYE".
• Break the Cutie: Poor Stormy...
• Cosmic Horror: Another Web Original example.
• Crossover: The series joins the Slenderverse continuity puzzle in the three-part episode "BROTHERLY LOVE"/"HELLO"/"GOODBYE": Shaun receives an offer of help from Vincent, who directs him to the building that serves as HABIT's base. After meeting up with Vincent, Shaun is drugged — and wakes up in HABIT's killing room. HABIT claims that Michael/Patrick isn't human, hinting that he might be a being similar to himself. Oh, and he intends to use Shaun's body as bait to lure in Michael/Patrick.
  • Michael (and Patrick) calls up Stan Frederick in Unsatisfied Customers to discuss a previously arranged appointment (suggesting that Michael and Shaun had gone to Stan to help), and reveals Shaun's fate following "GOODBYE".
  • Patrick appears again in Tape 3, calling a previous iteration of Vincent — several decades earlier, in The '90s). It's confirmed that he's trapped in a reiteration cycle similar to what the EMH boys are experiencing. Unlike them, however, he remembers every death he's caused, from every iteration (and tells Vinny that he needs to get used to screwing up and killing the people he loves). However, he also holds out hope that Vinny — or, more likely, Dr. Corenthal — will one day break the cycle.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Shaun, who, according to Patrick, was cut into pieces with a chainsaw by HABIT.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop: In "So It Goes (1/2)", Patrick tells Shaun that Slender Man is punishing him by sticking him a reiteration cycle, similar to what the Everyman HYBRID crew is apparently living through — and that he has been forced to experience their deaths over and over. He also says that Shaun and Stormy getting together is a sign that they're on the final loop, and that anyone who dies this time around will likely stay dead — including himself. (Unfortunately, he appears to have been wrong about that last part.)
• Humanoid Abomination: Aside from Slendy himself, HABIT hints that Michael/Patrick is one in disguise.
• Human Shield: According to HABIT, this is the real reason why Michael/Patrick surrounds himself with friends and family: he's using them as a "wall of meat" to protect himself from the Slender Man.
  • The final audio log from Everyman HYBRID confirms that Patrick does so out of fear and desperation — and that he isn't very happy it.
• Hypocritical Humor: HABIT describes Micheal/Patrick as a sociopath — something that describes HABIT perfectly.
• I Cannot Self-Terminate: Michael attempts to commit Heroic Suicide because he believes this will appease Slendy and that the monster will then leave his brother alone, but Patrick won't let him.
• Jekyll & Hyde: Michael as the Jekyll, Patrick as the Hyde. (At least, that's how it seems initially; the reality, as it turns out, is a bit more complicated.)
• Killed Off for Real: Stormy, thanks to Michael/Patrick using her as a Human Shield against Slendy). Her lifeless body turns up in the trunk of the brothers' car, courtesy of HABIT.
  • In "GOODBYE", Shaun is seemingly murdered by HABIT in an effort to lure Michael/Patrick to his home base.
    • Shaun's death is all but confirmed by Patrick in Unsatisfied Customers. HABIT cut him up with a chainsaw.
• Last Note Nightmare: "The Hand" is six minutes of Michael and Shaun jokingly examining their crappy hotel room and traipsing about the woods through the snow. Then the brothers return to their vehicle, and Shaun opens the trunk to put away the camera...revealing the arm of a human corpse.
• Mind Rape: Michael is mind raped by HABIT when HABIT sends him a message that wakes up the memories of where one of the Clock Hands is.
• Mind Screw: A requirement, given the mythos, but "Video Journal #?? - Retrogression" stands out, especially since it's the only episode of the "crossover web" of Slender Man series to be released after four months. As to be expected, it only adds more questions than it answers.
• Permadeath: In Part 1 of "So It Goes", Patrick informs Shaun that they're stuck in a time loop, and that when it reaches its final iteration, anyone who dies will remain dead.
• Prequel: A short, written prequel (authored by Dylan Sindelar shortly after the series began) reveals the incident that sent Michael to the mental hospital.
• Psychic Nosebleed: Michael/Patrick has one in "Clearing My Head." Whether this is caused by the Michael persona fighting to regain control of his body or Slendersickness is unknown.
• Self-Harm: Patrick reveals that Michael has secretly been cutting himself and overdosing on medication since he returned home from the hospital. It's another reason why he takes decides to take control of their body.
• Shout-Out: Patrick frequently dresses in a vintage-inspired outfit (1940's-style trousers, bowtie, red suspenders) that just screams the 11th Doctor. That Patrick himself is a timeless, time traveling being with Ripple-Proof Memory only adds to the comparison.
  • In "So It Goes (1/2)", Shaun finds a brown and white plastic dog statue amidst the junk in his basement and wears the head like a mask, exclaiming, "It's Sparky!" (with Stormy apparently getting the reference). Then "HELLO" hits, and it becomes clear that this was more than just a shout out...
  • In "So it Goes (2)" (the episode that kicks off the final act of the series), Michael and Shaun sing "Show Me the Way To Go Home", the song that the three protagonists in Jaws sing in the final act of the movie. Interestingly, while the Andersen brothers never set foot in the water, both MLAndersen and Jaws also have their protagonists attempting to stop an abnormal, predatory threat. (Though an oversized killer shark is probably a preferable nemesis to Mr. Tall, Pale, and Faceless.)
  • In the same episode, the brothers watch Birdemic and laugh over the film's myriad absurdities.
• Significant Anagram: MLAndersen0... Slender Man0.
• Significant Background Event: Given that this is a Slenderverse series, expect this to happen a few times.
• Sleepwalking: "This is what happens when I sleep. I can't stop it. Shaun needs to lock the door."
• The Sociopath: Invoked by HABIT when describing Michael/Patrick's modus operandi: "I'd say he's a sociopath, but only humans can really be those..."
• Split Personality: Patrick is seemingly one for Michael. Subverted later, when it's revealed that Patrick was the real personality all along.
  • Split-Personality Takeover: Patrick claims his intentions aren't malevolent; he's simply trying to put a stop to Michael's self-destructive behavior and keep "their" body alive.
• Troubled Child: Michael and Shaun both qualify. They had numerous run-ins with the Slender Man as children, which left Shaun injured and traumatized; when Michael tried to tell their parents, Shaun denied it, causing Michael to be subjected to numerous rounds of psychotherapy — and, eventually, a lengthy stay in a psychiatric hospital.
• Unreliable Narrator: Michael has numerous psychological issues, and generally seems willing to hide the truth and manipulate others as long as it's in his best interests.
• Wham Episode: "Going Away Present".
  • "GOODBYE".
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: In "Tape 3", Patrick compares the cycle he is living in to what the EMH boys are going through. Unlike them, however, he remembers every single iteration he has lived through — and from his tone of voice, he's exhausted. He does hold out hope, however, that there's "someone" — probably Dr. Corenthal — who might one day "break the machine".
• Your Mind Makes It Real: Quite possibly what Michael is doing with the Slender Man.

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