#BPD Ford

[fannishstuff]

I can't believe nobody has pointed this out before? (Small clarification for Robbie: he's happy in a secure romantic relationship. Wendy made him feel insecure, and he took it out on Dipper. Tambry did not, and his whole personality became healthier as a result.)

To be clear, I'm not saying all of these characters have BPD. But I'm also not surprised that a show whose main theme is "Family is Important and Being Rejected Makes You A Little Weird" has a lot of characters that Feel Rejected, and as a result Get a Little Weird. All of these characters are given the chance to form healthy relationships and grow as a result, which is really cool.

For those who don't knows, Borderline Personality Disorder is a traumatic condition that's characterized by things like:

Extreme emotional reactivity

Extreme sensitivity to rejection

A tendency toward black and white thinking

A tendency toward intense but unstable relationships

Alexithymia, or inability to feel/understand/describe one's emotions

Severe anxiety

Self-destruction

It tends to happen when one is consistently rejected or taught to suppress one's identity as a child - usually through intense bullying, abuse, et cetera. People with BPD often struggle to form healthy support networks because the emotional disregulation can make you act inappropriately (stalking, yelling, destroying property) and because there is a lot of social stigma against strong emotions even if you have your behavior well-managed. Therapy can help with the behavioral symptoms, and a strong support network can make the emotions and anxiety much more manageable. (There is no medication for BPD. Medication for comorbid conditions like depression might help.)

Anyway, this is a kids' cartoon, so everyone's behavior is over-the-top and the story arcs are black-and-white by design. I still like them, though.

[bricky-brikson]

Thinking about the "trilion and 12 years old" joke about Bill and thinking about his psychological development after the Euclydia massacre

In the show, we see that while he can plan ahead and manipulate people, he's often foiled by his own impulsiveness/anger/emotions. His ultimate goal is to escape the Nightmare Realm/Dimension 0. And sure, he says this is because he promised the Henchmaniacs he'd help them, but ultimately as others have pointed out, Bill is terrified of death. He wants to live forever - have "a party that never ends with a host who never dies". All he cares about is himself, his own survival and hedonism

All this to say, Bill has the emotional development of a teen. He hasn't gotten past the self-centredness nor the reward/adrenaline seeking behaviour, but has emotionally evolved enough to be able to manipulate people and such (and be able to feel guilt, even if it's just a picogram). Though his immaturity shows when he doesn't get his way.

One might think that, being a trillion years old, he would've developed a bit, but here's the thing - major traumas can "freeze" people at certain developmental stages. We don't know how old Bill was when Euclydia was destroyed - though considering his behaviour I would bet he was a teen.

(Or whatever the equivalent of that stage is for his species. They have exoskeletons- do they have instars then? Whatever, that's not on the topic of this post)

Seeing his entire dimension destroyed after (what was probably) a well-intentioned attempt to show them what he saw ("They'll see. They'll all see.") permanently emotionally stunted him. However it was he got his powers, he was a teen/young adult with powerful abilities who had just erased an entire dimension from existence and was now accountable to no one but himself while also being deeply traumatized. His constant partying and implied substance use were probably the only coping mechanisms he could think of, dissociating because he has no idea how to actually confront what happened. The way he talks about the massacre - he detaches himself from it yet still admits guilt ("A monster."). Only post-divorce does he implicate himself in the event, though still obscuring its true nature ("I liberated them.").

Being surrounded by individuals who are similarly maladjusted for most of his trillion-year lifespan certainly didn't help things. The Henchmaniacs are likely somewhat stunted as well, or at the very least don't offer much in the way of mature/emotionally adult conversation, especially since Bill reacts so poorly (read: homocidally) to any sense of malcontent.

Which is to say, I think part of why Ford was important to Bill was because, compared to him, Ford was more emotionally developed (Ford is emotionally stunted in his own ways, but not as severely as Bill IMO). Subconsciously, their relationship was reaching a hand out to the scared teenager in the centre of Bill's psyche and offering him someone to lean on- someone who had their shit a little bit more figured out. A kind of figure Bill hadn't had since he killed his parents.

Of course, such vulnerability probably felt so alien that Bill tried to distance himself. I always wondered - why didn't Bill just lie to Ford about his plan to take over Dimension 49'\ ? Ford would've believed him, finished the portal, and Bill's plan would've been fulfilled. Well, I think it was Bill trying to burn the emotional bridge. In his own impulsivity, his own desire to dissociate instead of confront, he would rather make sure that he would never be able to be vulnerable to Ford than fulfill his grand plan.

...

I don't remember where I was going with this. There's no conclusion. I'm spinning this triangular multidimensional tyrant at physically impossible speeds in my mind and if I didn't write something about him my skull was going to turn into a fine powder. It's almost 2 AM, so it's entirely possible this post makes 0 sense, in which case feel free to inform me of that in the notes.

[k9ninedecay]

the pines family are all autistic but stan and ford have something else special called "cluster b personality disorders"

[stupidlittlespirit]

very possibly the funniest beta comment i have ever received from my (autistic) partner

[thenormalenjoyerr]

fiddlestan is only fun when stan also sucks really bad. fiddleford cant win

[ty-bayonet-betteridge]

this is literally the plot of the musical 36 questions

(Original tweet from @/ghoulhag)

[billfordsuggestion]

Any romance advice for ambivert with anxiety crippling autism and overbearing BPD? I need a Ford in my life.

[osamucide]

DAZAI HCS! ⊹

LAST UPDATE: DEC 19

cw: talk of mental illness and substance use/abuse, speculation about Dazai’s f’ed up past+trauma, Dazai-typical references to suicide, references to self harm, probably a lot of projection on the author’s part

reid: i feel like yapping about Dazai tonight so here’s a non-exhaustive list of general headcanons i have about him. no word count because i’ll probably update this periodically lol

he does not listen to music from this century. he just doesn’t. not that he goes out of his way not to, he’s just drawn to a certain sound that only older music seems to have—I think The Smiths, Blondie, Tears For Fears, The Smashing Pumpkins, King Crimson, and Led Zeppelin are among his favorite artists

I think he also really enjoys classic jazz/blues/bebop music—Charles Mingus, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, etc.

he’s anemic. I’m of the firm belief that Kunikida buys him a 100 ct bottle of iron tablets every 100 days which Dazai always graciously accepts. however, he only actually takes them when he gives enough of a shit to (which is not often) so the bottles are just accumulating on his bathroom sink/in the cupboard beneath

nail biter, cuticle picker, hair twirler, thigh bouncer, etc. I don’t think he really sits still unless it’s absolutely necessary

children love him, much to his dismay. they think he’s entertaining. he thinks they’re like puppies (and he canonically hates dogs). he won’t treat them badly, but he’s just not super interested in interacting with them. unwilling older brother vibe when faced with them. shithead kids can stoke his rage much faster than Chuuya ever could

he cannot take care of a fucking plant. has one succulent in his apartment. it’s surviving out of pure unadulterated spite. he hasn’t watered it in over a year

wearer of funky socks. his favorites are either the ones that say "I love my job ha ha just kidding" or the custom ones Yosano got him as a gag gift one year for white elephant at the office christmas party (they have Kunikida’s rage face on them)

really sad that, despite his criminal record being scrubbed clean, he is still banned from driving in the nation of Japan for the rest of his life because he wants a Ford Explorer so bad

PROFOUNDLY SOUND KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY

he’s fluent in Japanese and English, proficient in French and Italian, and learning Russian

I think he also enjoys learning math/researching random shit/reading anything he can in his free time when he feels up to it. he never received a formal education and his IQ is through the roof—his yearning for academia is almost like an itch he has to scratch every once in a while. also, he just likes knowing things

he never learned how to ride a bike. wahhhh wahh

BPD king. look at him. my beautiful princess with a disorder. I doubt he’s diagnosed but he strongly suspects it seeing as he’s so self-aware; if not borderline, he just assumes he has severe PTSD. either way, he really won’t do anything other than what he already knows about how to manage it

along the same lines—he’s been a functional alcoholic since an alarmingly young age (I’m talking 16-17). I think it probably got a lot worse post-defection when he was underground, but he hardly had to function then anyway; he gets somewhat better after joining the Agency but still has a dependence, it’s just not severe enough to debilitate him

has a bin of art supplies in his apartment. he only ever pulls them out once every few months, but he rather enjoys painting and wouldn’t mind getting better at it

master at darts. don’t take him to a bar where there’s a dartboard. he will stand in front of it all night and obliterate everyone who challenges him

insatiable sweet tooth. he especially loves anything maple, butter pecan, or butterscotch he’s a grandpa

UPDATE.1

I love to headcanon that he has a glass eye!!! and that the bandages around his head in the dark era were some legitimate injury. he likes to pop it out as a party trick/to weird Kunikida out

he feeds the stray cats and kittens that linger around the ADA dorms. he probably spends some of his grocery money on the fancy wet canned food and leaves it out with a big plastic bowl of water. sometimes sits and watches them eat and likes to give them little scratches if they trust him enough to come rub up on his legs. they’re sort of to him as the orphans were to Odasaku, and it makes him feel closer to his deceased friend

on the note of grocery shopping—he only goes when Atsushi or Kunikida drag him along. keeps his list relatively the same from trip to trip: canned crab, cigarettes, bandages, a few cases of beer, sake, instant ramen, ice cream (particularly butter pecan), paper towels, and 3-in-1 shampoo when he needs it. Kunikida forces vegetables upon him (“put it in the ramen so you don’t die of heart disease”) but they almost always end up rotting to mush in his fridge. he steals his toilet paper from the ADA bathrooms/supply closets or bothers Atsushi and Kyoka for spare rolls when he’s out

religiously orders drinks from the cafe on his way in and out of work. on mornings he usually gets a latte with plenty of sugar and some sort of flavor; in the evenings he probably gets an iced flavored tea to mix or chase his sake with when he gets home

always has a pocket knife on him. probably one he got in his mafia days, or, it’s at least a habit/security he picked up from then

takes a lot of night walks. he doesn’t sleep well, so I think he probably wanders out tipsy with his pack of cigarettes in the wee hours of the morning and scuttles around to tire himself out

UPDATE.2

two words: medical trauma. I know some people get iffy when it comes to speculation about what Mori did/didn’t/may/may not have subjected him too as a young teenager (and believe me I have a lot of thoughts) but I definitely headcanon that Dazai was used as a little bit of a lab rat/sedated and coerced to some degree when it came to turning him into a killing machine. as a result, he’s got a fear of medical settings. after his surgery during the cannibalism arc? I know he got that phone back and was like “Tanizaki get me out of here right neow”

I think sweet little old ladies probably love him and he loves them too. always feels like he strikes up the best small talk with them. will help load groceries into their cars for them. he gets all smiley and stuff when they call him “sweetheart” “honey” “dear” or remark how handsome he is and about his hypothetical girlfriend must be so lucky

he can throw knives with pinpoint accuracy from a pretty impressive distance. he’s a little less accurate with his handgun at long range/with moving targets but HE’S GETTING BETTER

has like a 3.5 ft vertical jump at his best. like why are you a detective when the Lakers need a center

UPDATE.3

lowkey a god at shoulder massages? he’ll meander behind Kunikida at the office and rub his shoulders like a boxing coach trying to warm up his athlete mostly to try to piss him off but Kunikida totally just melts into it after smacking his hands away a couple times. does the same thing to Atsushi but Atsushi just starts fucking purring and almost passes out

I was talking about this with Kal a second ago—but I think he and Ranpo love acting so gay at the office also to piss Kunikida off. they also ask him if they can be allowed to go outside and play

cigarette of choice is a Marlboro Black. I think someone has said/alluded to this before but I can’t remember who. if you’re reading this you’re right

on top of his overflowing piles of iron supplements, I think he also has an unreasonable amount of reusable water bottles. reason being Kunikida again because I just know Dazai doesn’t drink enough water and Kunikida’s always buying him a fancy new cup to try to keep him enthusiastic about being hydrated. it doesn’t work but his favorite one to date is his orange hydroflask (sometimes he brings a vodka soda to work in it. Kunikida is thrilled until he realizes his partner is tipsy) (Kunikida wishes he could fire him)

on that note—other than sake, I think his liquor of choice is vodka. I do not think dark liquor agrees with him but ultimately he will drink whatever gets him drunk. and so ensue the Sunday scaries (and the every other day scaries)

[stupidlittlespirit]

may you grace us with your opinions on brat!ford ?

[pixeltwix]

-Emma May Hc Rambles

Now because I actually don’t have anything prepared to post for today (sleep sounded better than late night sketching) I decided to just ramble about lil misc facts about my ver of Emma May Dixon :) nothing crazy plot wise, simply just things that I haven’t mentioned before or made dedicated posts to yet

I always envisioned Emma May with a very specific southern accent, and it took a random shuffle of my Spotify to realize she sounds like Dolly Parton!! It was either this or Luanne from King of the Hill which also sounded close to what I imagined, but as far as voice claims go, my ver of Em sounds like Dolly :D

She has bpd and ptsd. The latter I don’t feel needs much explanation as that comes from the cult bg, but the bpd comes from her fathers side of the family and has been an active part of her for as long as she can remember

Considering the time period though her mood swings and times of anger were always just chalked up to ‘womens hysteria’ and the like, which only proved to frustrate her more

She admittedly does have a bit of a temper, but nothing ever harmful to the people she cares about, she more so has adapted to take things out on herself. Ie pulling her hair, digging her nails into her arms, or biting her knuckles. Anything to ground her into reality to try and calm herself down

Ultimately though once she runs away from home she was fortunate to be surrounded by people who came to understand her. Be it Stan understanding in his own way and showing her his own copes, Ford keeping her distracted with mindless rambling, her uncle or Carla just giving her space to breathe, or Fiddleford understanding mental plights and just becoming a person of comfort for her- she thankfully has people who care

She used to date Ford back in high school

This didn’t really start until senior year when the pressure was on for both of them, but it was nothing crazy and honestly something both of them did cause ‘well ig if I could date anyone it���d probably be you’

From Carla saying ‘Em, it’s a safe bet’, to Stan saying it’ll be Ford‘s only chance to ‘get the girl’ they both conceded and gave it a try

They broke up just before Ford’s first semester at Backupsmore upon mutual ground, both confessing they only ever really liked the other as a friend, but otherwise ‘hey if we don’t meet anyone by the time we’re 30 then let’s get married for the benefits’

But of course Em meets Fiddleford and the rest is history as we know it

She’s a smoker and it’s a main part of the reason why she never kicked Fiddleford for his own chewing tobacco habits

She stopped mostly a bit into dating Fidds because smoking for her was mainly a stress relief, so with him as something more calming she saw the need for it less and less, but the second she knows she could potentially be getting pregnant in their relationship she quits

She picks it up briefly again around the late 80s, but otherwise is completely done with it as a coping mechanism before the 90s

She had a crush on Stan when they were kids (and honestly she still kinda did for a little while after that as well)

She always saw her feelings as something unrealistic and Stan as unattainable though as once she finally planned on saying something he saved Carla at the movies and that relationship began (which the irony here is Em also discovered she liked girls through her friendship with Carla)

But her underlining feelings that simmered beneath friendship is what motivated her to take him in after he was kicked out of his home, it’s why she kept sending him money for so long, and it’s why she bought and kept an issue of ‘Hunky Drifters Catalogue’ that had Stan in it. Something she forgets she has until she unpacking in Palo Alto and damn near has a heart attack

She also reminds me of Captain Amelia from Treasure Planet, but alas I could only put six

But anywho I hOPE this makes sense??

For me it’s like, the intense drive and determination paired with the sass and capabilities of a temper when people don’t take them seriously energy that feels so Emma May core. That and they all have a special someone eventually that they’d live and die for wether they want to admit it or not

Anywho if you read this far, thank you for listening to my nonsense

[gravity-falls-headcanons]

man stan and ford really are a matching set huh

(ridiculous amount of mental illness headcanons incoming. also don't take this too seriously)

"I'm ADHD" "And I'm autism" the nerodivergency brothers

"I'm BPD" "And I'm NPD" the cluster b brothers

"I'm depression" "and I'm anxiety" the mental illness brothers

"I'm bipolar II" "and I'm bipolar I" the bipolar brothers

"I'm c-PTSD" "i am also c-PTSD" the c-PTSD brothers

.

[je-suis-applebread]

You know those "im npd im bpd 🔥personality disorder brothers🔥/ im adhd im autism 🔥neurodivergent brothers🔥" pics with Stan and Ford??

Okay so

One of those but with Fiddleford, Stanford and Bill going "im gaslight im gatekeep and im girlboss 🔥"we can't fix each other" polycule🔥" inspired by one interaction i had

[fordtato]

I just finished watching your Ford video, I loved it ! I usually don't take so long to watch videos like that but uni has been kicking my ass and I wanted to make sure I could really listen to what you were saying instead of just putting it on in the background. I went in a little apprehensive because of the "NPD?" in the thumbnail, and was mentally preparing myself for some weapons-grade oof-dom, but I think you handled it well. (1/4)

Personally, as someone who has BPD and is close to many ppw/NPD, I think Ford is good NPD representation. His reliance on outside validation, ego compensating for massive insecurity, massively idolizing those he looks up to and that idolization vanishing in an *instant* when they don't match his beliefs about them (this can be an NPD thing!), fantasies of fame and fortune, identity disturbance (defining himself as one thing and one thing only), (2/?)

all that coupled with his history of a rocky relationship with self-definition and conditional praise from authority figures screams NPD to me. This isn't all in the DSM, but it's def part of living with NPD. And I think it's a good thing! Like you mentioned, the fact he has these traits and still gets a happy ending is wonderful. To me, such an NPD-coded character still being shown to love his family, to do what's right, to make amends, shows that these disorders don't make us monsters. (3/?)

The fact that his NPD traits have a clear origin shows how so often cluster B personality disorders are born of fear, trauma, and regrets (not always, but a lot of the time). People think cluster Bs are just born "evil," so the fact we can essentially see the evolution of Ford's traumagenic NPD is something I rather like. (4/?)

You don't have to agree with the headcanon. I just wanted to share something from the perspective of someone with a cluster B disorder who also knows many ppw/NPD, since in the video you mentioned a lack of those voices. It's not just egotypicals making these headcanons, we like them too ! (5/5, sorry abt all the asks!)

----------------

Thanks for weighing in! No problem about all the asks, it's an interesting read (and sorry about the late response!)

I will say that (also speaking as someone with BPD), I still don't quite think the headcanon is one of mine, but I am glad that other ppl with cluster B disorders resonate with it (though, of course, I do know that there are a couple of ppl with NPD that I know who dislike the way the headcanon is discussed or who disagree with it - yada yada no community is a monolith and all that).

That part of my video was very difficult to write, but I am glad that I did alright with the subject matter.

To reiterate for people who might not have seen the video, my issue with the NPD headcanon is not so much the headcanon itself and whether or not it applies to Ford, but the ways that some people discuss how and if it applies. There are so many posts and comments by people (who may or may not have cluster B disorders - no way to know), saying things like "Ford doesn't care about others and acts selfishly and only uses others as tools - I headcanon him as having NPD and lacking empathy for this reason" and it veers into ableism really quickly. In the video, I compare it to 2015-era headcanons that Ford would be abusive to Dipper and Mabel because he is "paranoid" and thinks they're working with Bill, a headcanon that also veers into considering those with mental illness as being inherently dangerous. I think headcanoning Ford as having any mental illness or condition is fine, but people need to be careful in the ways they talk about it, because (in the context of the Stan Wars we saw in 2015-16), it can quickly veer into the territory of leveraging the symptoms of mental illness to win fandom wars or to characterize our blorbos, and we often don't consider where that leaves REAL people with these conditions.

I explain this all better in the video then I am here, in an off-the-cuff response to an ask, but hopefully that summarizes my feelings clearly.

[theallianceofcelestials]

Ik you said you didn't watch EAPS but i can't help but think what SEA cast would think knowing EAPS Eclipse has like 4 ghost kids now😭

Andrew, Andy&Jake(EAPS Stitchwraith) and Charlie(in the Puppet body)

I dunno if you saw that memey thing where person was complaining about BPD and an older Korean gentleman reassured them and the end of it is like: mmm gramdaughter, that's KC. His child-in-denial has kids, so now he's a granddad. (also I legit tried searching that post up but can't find it, so sorry)

SEA Eclipse would be weirded out by the whole having kids idea. He doesn't like being near kids, makes him uncomfortable. He can do fun uncle but not dad. He'd respect Canon Eclipse stepping up with the dead children, but it couldn't be him.

Sun is slightly worried about the whole dead part and the whole has magic part, but he'd be encouraging. In his words, he already helped the world's second biggest moron raise multiple children, he can help a socially awkward dude out too! He'd throw himself entirely into being a grunkle, though he'd assure the kids he's not like Grunkle Stan nor like Grunkle Ford, cuz he won't endanger them.

Moon would also utilise the same strategy he did with KC's kids, meaning he mostly keeps his distance and helps when he can. He'd avoid Andrew, Andy, Jake and Charlie more though, because of the whole dead kid thing. He's greatly discomforted by that, and it brings up bad memories

Bloodmoon would try their best, but would be very unsure. They don't know what to do. Rusty could be convinced to go shopping with Charlie and Ballora, or do any other more stereotipical girly activities with them, but Bloody doesn't like it. Makes him feel uncomfortable. So while you may find Rusty with wobbly makeup on, Bloody is hiding somewhere.

Solar Flare would be very catious, because it doesn't want to hurt any of these children more. It's aware it's also not the friendliest looking, so it wouldn't mind if the children avoided him. He'd be happy to hang out with them if they wanted to though, and be more than willing to game

Lunar, while mildly concerned, would just try to tease Canon Eclipse over being a dad. Not neccessarily realising he's making stuff awkward. He'd be absolutely cool with any activity the kids wanted to do, especially down for gaming together.

So on a whole, the family respects the decision to take in these lost, sassy children, and would try helping out, and thus attempt a "more normal and healthier" bonding attempt as Eclipse calls it, instead of just telling Canon Eclipse he's family now, so congrats.

And I'll also expand on the grandpa thing with KC, he'd not cave to the puppy eyes that easily, but he'd be easy to convince to make the children treats, help them with stuff and play with them however they want to. He'd also offer to teach them about magic, because it's a useful skill to have

Canon Eclipse would probably not be happy the SCPs are bothering him with this too now. He's doing fine on his own, thanks

[plan3t-m0r0n]

Im BORED so have some random headcanons

(Tw for suicidal thoughts/attemps) (no actual suicide) (also alot of other stuff)

Dipper

-Aroace

-Trans, he/him

-only class he’s failing is gym

-kept a diary about his feelings when he was crushing on wendy (Mabel read all of it)

-Autistic

-Has glasses, forgets to wear them

-Spends alot of his time at the library to escape his parents fighting

Mabel

-Pansexual

-Demi girl, She/They

-Her teachers and classmates call her stupid for not understanding lessons

-Invites Pacifica to ALL of her sleepovers

-ADHD and Dyslexic

-Loves dramatic romcoms, but secretly prefers horror

-After their parents divorce, her and Dipper were sent to live with their grunkles permanently

Stanley

-Gay

-Trans, He/him

-Was sent to the principals office multiple times because of his grades

-Considered running away before he was kicked out

-Constantly smoking behind the mystery shack/in his room

-ADHD and dyslexic

-Taught Mabel boxing

BONUS: Almost killed himself a few weeks after losing Ford in the portal

Ford

-Asexual demiromantic

-Trans, He/him

-When he didn’t want to box, Stanley posed as him so their father wouldn’t get upset

-had an emo phase (so did Stanley)

-Autistic, BPD, schizophrenic

-Thought about calling Stanley when working on the portal, but Bill gaslighted him into not doing it

Bill Cipher

-Pansexual

-Nonbinary, They/Them

-Vented to Pyronica after the break up argument with Ford

-Ate a bunch of (live) shrimp. Turned pink.

-Actually insane

-Their favorite food is (live) axolotl / human

Wendy

-Bisexual

-Trans, She/They

-crushing on Tambry

-Stanley taught her how to shoplift (and box)

-very minor schizophrenia

-Cut her hair extremely short when she got older

Soos

-Bisexual

-Cis, he/him

-Discord mod (the good kind)

-Loves coloring

-ADHD

-just a silly guy

[thereareeyesinsidethetrees]

headcanon that ford has npd and bpd and aspd and avpd and is a good person and loves his family and is having such a good time sailing with his brother and he’s just happy stan was able to get his memories back and that everyone made it through the end of the world and he loves the happy ending they all collectively got