#shes really good at making Extremely Effective Explosives So Volatile She's The Only One Who Can Reliably Hold Them

[mantisgodsdomain]

I'd like to hear about Marble and the exact context behind her... unfortunate demise.

Why, yes - we absolutely can!

Let's start with this: Marble is a Wasp Bomber, by game terms. She is very competent in making and employing explosive charges. She is, in fact, so competent at making and employing explosive charges that she is capable of producing bombs that can melt a hole in a kaiju. She was also banned from military service for collateral damage before the Wasp King turned up.

Wasp Kingdom military attitudes tend to, overwhelmingly, be shaped by the environment they live in - they border on deadlands, but more specifically Northern deadlands, where them being classified as Deadlands because of the sheer number of hazards to bug life that they have around there meaning that anything that isn't specifically adapted to the environment will be incapable of surviving well enough for any children it might produce to not end up Lesser.

There are monsters. The Wasp Military is, on a regular basis, pitted against a very large number of Beasts of all sorts, which means that having a decent supply of bugs capable of fighting them off is a necessity. Pretty much any wasp with capacity to serve is set to work as some part of fighting forces at some point, be it out in the field or repairing equipment for those who can be out in the field. Conscription is very much mandatory, and it is considered a deeply important role and a core part of a wasp's duty in the hive to, at one point or another, contribute to the fighting fitness of the Hive.

This demand - and the need for bugs associated, especially when the general danger of the territory will lead to wasp lives lost even on very standard patrols, goes to the point that the Wasp Kingdom will actively pull from demographics that most kingdoms prefer to either avoid or keep out of the line of fire - drones, kept out of the line of fire in nearly every other kingdom, are drafted just as often as workers, and the Wasp Kingdom is just about the only kingdom to actively welcome brood parasites and random out-of-kingdom bugs for the potential strategic advantages that they may offer.

With this established, Marble was been banned from active service the Wasp military forces after approximately two months of service due to her flagrant disrespect of safety procedure and astronomically high risk of friendly fire. She is, in fact, not actually allowed to do mechanical work without supervision, because not keeping track of what she's doing has an extremely high risk of her including improvements that, even while working as intended, are capable of maiming or killing their users if mishandled even slightly.

Even if Marble herself is capable of handling her inventions safely, for the most part, the Wasp Kingdom under Vanessa was entirely unwilling to take that risk. As such, she was banned from military service, as she was deemed unsuitable for just about any other potential role available to her and no one was really willing to put her within reach of any sort of potentially volatile equipment that absolutely anyone else might handle, and she spent a few years mostly just hanging around Defiant Root and making friends with the inhabitants of the Black Market.

Hoaxe put her back into military service after taking over the Wasp Kingdom.

Unfortunately, a Marble who is being actively mind controlled by someone who doesn't know shit about bomb safety and is simply setting her to whatever will be most effective offensively is even worse at safety than a Marble who is creating highly volatile explosives constructed with the assumption that whoever is using them Also has exactly as much knowledge of her own work as her.

She blew herself up. Badly.

Technically, it wasn't immediately lethal - the specific bomb that did it wasn't something that would instantly vaporize her like some of the other options! It was, instead, a crowd-control weapon, which released a fucking massive amount of heat energy and cooked everything in a hideously wide radius to cinders.

Technically, there are forms of treatment available to Bugaria that could keep her from straight-up dying to that, if they got to her in three minutes or so - mostly just Gold save crystal restoration or flat-out replacing most of her body with charmcraft, and definitely not without major damage to just about every organ in her body. Depending on the specific circumstances that she blows herself up in, it might even be survivable - it's possible for her to die even while handling the bomb properly due to things like "it has an effective range that can be measured in human-size metres" and "Hoaxe is not an effective strategist". However, this is a very remote chance, and most of the time she just dies badly.

[therewrites]

We Are Who We Are Overall Thoughts *spoilers*

This review will be discussing briefly some of the episodes so far, so SPOILERS

So I started watching the HBO original series, We Are Who We Are, and I am conflicted. When I initially watched it, the dialogue made it hard for me to enjoy it so I stopped. Then after a couple of weeks after its airing, I thought, what the hell? And this time, I was pleasantly surprised. I always maintain the belief that pilot episodes are either boring, messy, or just bad so I try to push past it in order to get to the good shit. The pilot for We Are Who We Are was...I’m not sure how to explain...different? It certainly wasn’t bad and it made an impression on me, but this show as a whole is hard to limit by just a few words. It’s really something that you should watch and experience yourself.

It was only after the first 3 episodes that I began to understand the tone and mood that Luca Guadagnino was trying to convey. A lot of the time, the dialogue is abrupt and choppy and can make no sense. It can be frustrating, especially when you have two characters that aren’t communicating effectively. But I think that was the point. Guadagnino is a very realistic director, he captures the most realistic elements in a film. A lot of the conversations between characters is meant to emulate real life. Like, what the hell do you say when a conversation becomes awkward? Well, nothing sometimes.

While Guadagnino’s typical cinematography may suggest whimsy, in WAWWA’s case the small structured and synthetic model of the military base is juxtaposed to the very concrete characters. When I started to view the show less as simply a televised airing of fictional characters and problems, and instead looked at them as people, I began to really enjoy it. 

Take the main character of Fraser, played by Jack Dylan Grazer. Fraser is meant to be seen as an extremely complex and troubled kid, but the difference between him and every other teen in a coming-of-age drama is that he isn’t polished. His drinking and drug habit isn’t framed as romantic or beautiful, in fact most of the time it’s portrayed as his weakness of sorts. In the first episode, Fraser has one of his mothers drive him home after getting pretty wasted and Luca graces us with a direct shot of him throwing up. And before that, Fraser is stumbling on a bridge when he drunkenly falls and cuts his face. Everything the character does is messy, uncoordinated, yet extremely real and relatable. Hell, in one shot you can clearly see him do a Naruto run!

Caitlin/Harper is a character that I enjoyed watching, as well. Jordan Seamon did a fantastic job and I really connected with their character. Initially we see Caitlin as this mysterious girl, and in the pilot we are meant to assume that their relationship with Fraser is supposed to develop into a romantic one. This is not the case as it seems that Caitlin is trying to come to terms with who they are. The biggest shift in Caitlin’s character isn’t their friendship with Fraser but probably when they get their period. 

This was a moment that even I related to, even though I am cis when I first got my period I didn’t tell my mom until the day after. The possible confusion and shift in their reality that Caitlin felt was only heightened with the conflict of their boyfriend wanting to be more physically intimate, and Fraser’s eventual discover of Harper. I would have like to see exactly why Fraser seemed drawn to Caitlin. I’m assuming viewers were supposed to think that Fraser is attracted to her, or something. But both Caitlin/Harper and Fraser are queer coded and their respective sexualities are alluded to not being straight. It would’ve made their standing as platonic friends more clear if this had been established stronger. 

I definitely think the writer could have devoted more time to giving certain characters proper conversations. It would’ve given more development to certain characters and better context for things. However even without that, there is a lot that the audience is showed that can’t be told through dialogue. The power struggle between Sarah and Richard being one. So far, there hasn’t been any explanation as to why they have a such a volatile relationship other than Richard being a homophobe. 

Through deeper inspection, I was able to interpret it as: Richard may heavily resent the fact the Sarah was promoted to Colonel and not him. It is never made clear who has the better credentials, Sarah or Richard, but assuming that she was the one promoted it is a safe guess. This may be highlighted by the fact that Sarah is a women, and also gay. Even before episode 7, it was clear that Richard did not respect her authority. I also interpreted it as Richard being upset that and openly gay women was promoted instead of him, a black man. 

Of course this is just based on my own personal knowledge of how the U.S. military can be towards people of color and LGBTQ+. Regardless, the competitive tension between two parents is palpable without needing dialogue to explain.  

When conflict happens, I can kind of figure out which characters are going to react and which one’s will stay silent. I think the show is trying to accomplish a drastically realistic and raw series. It took me while to adjust to it, but by maybe the 2nd or 3rd episode, it starts to grow on you. Despite not liking a good majority of the characters, I was very surprised by how invested I was in them. 

Like, Danny is my least favorite character because he displays very abusive and explosive tendencies, and doesn’t seem to care about the world around him. However, getting glimpses into his character and seeing how Richard ignores him for Caitlin/Harper, his suicidal thoughts, and how he is trying to reclaim his cultural and religious background makes me empathize with him. 

Even though I hate his character, I can see that he is struggling. I appreciate the way that this show freely shows dark skinned black boys dealing with mental health issues, and personal development. Rarely are issues like suicide talked about in the black community, so seeing Danny talk about it and Craig offering(admittedly poor)comfort was touching. This is a general vibe that I get from nearly all the characters on WAWWA. I also appreciated the how Danny is actively trying to convert to Islam. In shows, rarely is Islam ever portrayed in a positive manner. Especially when female characters are shown to be struggling with their religion, Islam is shown as this barrier that prevents them from living life. Hopefully it goes without saying that the “taking off the hijab” as a way to show that a female character is “liberated” is overplayed and does not offer any respect to the countless Muslim women who choose to wear hijabs. 

Now I think the pacing of some of the storylines could have been handled a bit more gracefully. Like how we jump from Fraser and Harper being kind of enemies(not really but you know what I mean), to just them hanging out in Richard’s boat was jarring. I would have at least liked to see the scene of them talking on the rocks at the beach. It would’ve given more insight on Caitlin/Harper’s character and also on Fraser too. Also how quickly Maggie and Lu(Jennifer but I love the name Lubaba, it’s my aunt’s name)jump into a physical affair. I just would have liked to see a build up of tension between all these characters but I don’t think this entirely ruins the plot. 

I was very iffy when I learned that the show would be focusing on trans identity and gender and sexuality, but not actually hire a trans male actor. I was afraid that the show would completely botch the experiences of being transgender, and honestly I don’t have the authority to speak on whether or not this affects the quality of the show. I am cisgender, and only can empathize with this particular situation as much as I can. But I would like to hear to the opinion of someone who is trans and elaborate on the ways that they did/didn’t like Jordan Kristine Seamón’s portrayal. 

Now at the time I’m writing this, the season finale has yet to come out. But I’d also like to briefly discuss the most recent episode and how it developed Jonathan and Fraser’s relationship. I was VERY worried that Guadagnino was going to take their relationship in the direction of inappropriate. While nearly all the depictions of Jonathan and his actions have been trough Fraser’s pov, it didn’t stop me from side-eyeing some of the interactions they shared. Of course after it was mentioned that Jonathan was supposed to be in his late 20s, nearing 30 I was immediately uncomfortable with the very flirty behavior he exhibited. 

So when the scene of Fraser going up to his apartment after Craig’s death, I was very on edge. If Guadagnino had gone the extra mile to show an even larger age gap then I would’ve been pissed. While I enjoyed Call Me By Your Name, the implication that sexual relationships between barely legal teenagers and adults well into their 20s was sensual is something that I see as very weird now that I’m older. So seeing Jonathan as the object of Fraser’s affections made me extremely warry. 

And honestly, I’m still surprised that the scene even happened in its entirety. I’m sure that Jack was not in any danger of being exploited but there were definitely points while watching I thought, what the fuck is going on? I was very worried that it would escalate, but I was happy to see that Fraser was the one who stopped it from going further.  It made sense to me that this scene took so many liberties to be as graphic as possible without being too graphic, in order to show why a situation like that would be scary and confusing for Fraser. It wasn’t lost to me that Marta and Jonathan were the one’s initiating all the sexual advances. They held all the power in that scenario, even more so because Fraser is younger and has the tendencies to not make the best decisions. Though it seemed that Fraser was trying, he knew that the situation was fucked up.

I’d like to hear what JDG felt and thought doing this scene. What was his character’s thought process?

I’ve seen a lot of people compare the show heavily to CMBYN, which is fine. Besides certain cinematic parallels that people pointed out, I don’t see the clear comparison. CMBYN is more of a love story and it’s more polished than WAWWA. Now when I say tat, I don’t mean it as a negative. Rather, We Are Who We is obviously more devoted to realism and its characters. I appreciate the inclusion of more LGBTQ+ people and black main characters with development, something that CMBYN lacked. And for some people who didn’t like the show based solely on the fact that it wasn’t a CMBYN tv show, I suggest just going into it with no expectations and enjoy the mess. 

And I’d also like to take a moment to commend Jack Dylan Grazer for his job in We Are Who We Are. All of the main cast are amazing actors and actresses and did a really good job bringing their characters to life. Though, I had always associated JDG with supporting roles that, while highlighted his acting talent, only put him in a one-dimensional light. As good as It 2017 was, JDG’s role of Eddie is only meant to be seen as a comic relief. In WAWWA, I was able to forget that he was teen actor, Jack Dylan Grazer, and really see him as Fraser. It’s worth mentioning that in a GQ interview, Grazer also mentioned how this role made him reevaluate is approach to acting. 

And after reading an interview he did with a Interview Germany, with him saying he spent months in Italy reading the script and trying to perfectly craft this character, I was immensely impressed. I hope that he knows that all his hard work payed off and made a really dynamic and interesting character. I really hope that in the future JDG continues with more mature or multi-dimensional roles because he displayed that he has the talent to do so. Him being so young makes me optimistic in knowing that he is definitely going places in his career. I also hope that there will be a season 2 of WAWWA because despite having hour long episodes, the show still felt way too short. There is a lot about Fraser’s character, and all the others’ characters, that I want more information and analysis on.

[gumnut-logic]

Plus One Tracy

Title: Plus One Tracy

Author: Gumnut

20 - 21 Jan 2020

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015

Rating: Teen

Summary: So which Tracy is right for you?

Word count: 2404

Spoilers & warnings: None.

Author's note: Well, this went in a direction I didn’t expect, but really I should be used to that now. I hope you enjoy it anyway. :D And bonus! I actually finished something :D

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

 If you should choose a plus one Tracy there are a number of things to be considered. Height, interest level, eye colour and mood are all important factors.

Height because these boys come in the ridiculous. If you want to kiss a Tracy you may need heels.

Interest level varies and as you will see further on, is rather more important than any of the other factors.

Eye colour is because they come in a variety of shades. It also helps if you colour coordinate.

Mood...well, trust me, you don’t want the wrong mood. Tracys can be volatile and dangerous if not maintained correctly. Also, if you happen upon one of the wilder ones, things can get scary.

So which Tracy is right for you?

Let’s start with the youngest.

Alan is sandy haired which is great for beach outings, though you might want to take the sunscreen or he will come back in various shades of red. Height is not an issue as he doesn’t have much. Flats are good for this situation, which is excellent since heels suck on the beach.

His interests generally involve lots of activity, so you’ll want to let him loose in wide open spaces. He will also chatter a lot, so be aware of this in public. To keep him quiet a small investment in a game console will work wonders.

Be very aware that combining Alan with one of his brothers, particularly Gordon, has been known to create havoc. Investing in Gordon along with Alan does have some advantages, particularly at the beach since Alan’s attempts at surfing often require a water rescue and Gordon is highly trained for such a situation.

Why Alan is incapable of surfing is a mystery as he is considered very capable at surfing in space. Like the issues his brother John must tackle, gravity may be the culprit.

As with all Tracys, his manners are excellent and he presents well in all social situations, with the exception of the Gordon factor. If Gordon is involved, all bets are off.

Also, boredom can be an issue and if left to himself, such boredom reveals that Gordon’s lifetime influence has left its imprint and the youngest Tracy will self-instigate pranks if left by himself for too long. So make sure you provide adequate stimulation and attention.

Of all the Tracys, Alan’s moods are the most manageable. He does not tend to go to extremes, though there have been some instances of extensive pouting when he is not allowed to do what he wants to. It is suspected that this is due to the Scott influence. Often this can be mitigated by hugging and extensive coddling. All Tracys respond well to such actions, but as Alan is the youngest, he has been subjected to this the most. Obvious suspects include both Scott and Virgil. Rumour has it that Gordon hugs often devolve into tackles and rolling on the floor. Please be aware of this as the youngest Tracy may take advantage of the opportunity to emulate his older brother.

Ultimately, though, Alan Tracy is a good choice for the lover of the outdoors and those who don’t mind a little quiet time. Bonus factors include the option to go into space, an excellent knowledge of our Solar System, particularly good reflexes and an untapped genius level of thought underneath his obsession with video games. Generally cheerful and attentive, Alan Tracy is definitely a good investment.

Now, if you’re into more watersports you may want to consider the next oldest Tracy.

Gordon Tracy is the water specialist. Compact and slim, this Tracy fits into a variety of marine vehicles and can be deployed in freshwater as well.

More of a strawberry blonde than his younger brother, and with russet brown eyes rather than blue, he can be somewhat reminiscent of a small terrier with a comparable risk to the furniture.

Gordon is the prankster of the family. From blue dye to itching powder to the classic kick me sign on your back he has done it all. This may be useful if you possess an arch-nemesis in society, however, in the majority Gordon prefers humour rather than vengeance.

Having said that, Gordon is one of only two Tracys with military experience. He possesses a uniform that can be flaunted for the formal occasion where his International Rescue wetsuit is not applicable. Associated military skills, including excellent marksmanship, may be useful in various social situations.

His interests lie in all things marine. You may be gifted the occasional crab or shellfish. This is a sign of friendship and trust. Note that caring for these gifts is mandatory, even the sea slugs, snails and worms. You may want to make it clear that marine organisms are not welcome at the dinner table unless they are part of the menu.

One advantage of Gordon Tracy is his smiles. He is a generally happy man and loves to share that happiness. Virgil has theorised that the pranks are one of his methods to do just that. Unfortunately, his brothers rarely see the humour in the super glue in their underwear.

As noted above, combining Gordon with his younger brother will lower his intellectual age by about half. Combining him with his other brothers, however, does provide for some interesting effects. If you add Scott Tracy to Gordon, there is usually one of two results. The first can be quite explosive as rebellion against the older Tracy can be spectacular, however, if combined at just the right point, the brothers’ shared military history can create an awesome synergy. At this point, should you want to take over a small country with just the determination present, you have a good chance of success.

On the other hand, combining Gordon with Virgil Tracy prompts him to prank and his older brother to uncharacteristically mirror the tendency. Gordon will bring out the humour in the heavy lifter and hijinks often ensue. However, it should also be noted that the two brothers do possess an somewhat extraordinary bond and despite their differences, make an excellent team.

One very useful if the prank requires heavy lifting.

Yes, Gordon Tracy is an excellent choice. It should be noted however that one of high society’s prominent figures may be interested in taking this Tracy off the market. Be aware that she is not to be trifled with, so if you are determined that Gordon is the Tracy for you, you may have to defend that position.

Violently.

If the quiet lifestyle is more your thing, you may wish to upgrade to John Tracy. ‘Up’ is the keyword here as he resides twenty-two thousand miles up, in orbit, in fact. Yes, John is the original space Tracy. Fully adapted to the cold and dark beyond our atmosphere, he does indeed adore the quiet life.

However, before we tempt you any further, it should be noted that John is the only Tracy brother who is a parent. A single parent at that. Inadvertent though her existence is, Eos is recognised as John’s daughter and she presents a number of unique challenges, the least of which is what she will do to your bank accounts if you upset her. Yes, if you are looking for bankruptcy, offending Eos is a fantastic way to achieve your goal.

In summary, don’t piss off the kid.

Having said that, should she approve of your existence, Eos is quite capable of enhancing that existence should she so choose. In any case, John’s daughter is a great conversationalist, even if she has locked you in the bathroom.

John himself sports arguably the most stunning eyes of all the five brothers. Alan, please be quite and Scott, sit down.

A unique pair of turquoise irises that contrast exquisitely with his copper hair makes for a stunning date to have on your arm. The only downside is that arm may need to be handcuffed to yours if you intend on going anywhere involving more than six people at a time.

Our space Tracy is not a social being. Despite communication as a profession, John Tracy has been heard to wish to only speak to others from space. This may include you. Please keep your phone charged at all times.

It should also be noted that if your phone battery is dead and John wishes to contact you, he may hack an appliance as mundane as your toaster. Communicating via the temperature controls in the shower has been reported. Virgil was not impressed.

John is one of the taller Tracys. Unlike Scott, however, heels may not be needed as ninety-five percent of the time John is in space, so if you are planning to get to know him, you’re going to be in space too. Just float up to look him in those gorgeous eyes.

A fan of spaceball and Star Trek, John is your traditional loveable geek. Be aware that his neighbour knows this and you may want to lock all the airlocks in case she comes knocking for a cup of sugar.

John is definitely a good investment and comes with a space station to boot. You will be able to spend many hours stargazing both at the universe and those irises.

If you feel you would prefer a more earthbound personality, you may want to consider the Tracy capable of moving that earth, in more ways than one.

Virgil Tracy is the biggest brother. Not the tallest, but those shoulders can deadlift all of his brothers with ease. You like muscles, Virgil is your Tracy.

Not to say that the other Tracy brothers lack muscles, the five boys are all very well defined. Virgil was just built for heavy lifting. You want your plus one to carry you anywhere, Virgil is your man.

Crowned with the darkest hair of all the brothers, Virgil’s eyes are chocolate brown, great for subtle and moody expressions. This is an important factor when you consider that he is the artist in the family. Skilled in both the visual and musical arts, the second eldest brother has the tools to serenade until you swoon.

Which makes his muscles useful again when he has to lug you off the floor.

Virgil is a full qualified engineer and comes complete with all the virtues of a home handyman. Capable of replacing tap washers or overhauling your fusion reactor, Virgil is happy tinkering and repairing whatever is needed.

He is the calmest of the brothers. However, early mornings are not appreciated in any way. If you need Virgil for a breakfast outing you will need copious amounts of coffee to get more than a sour grunt out of the man. In fact, breakfast outings are not recommended at all and you may want to invest in his older brother Scott if you need the early morning option.

In his position as second eldest, Virgil has extensive mothering experience. This is useful if you are high maintenance. This Tracy has the medical skills to both bandage and kiss boo-boos better.

Be warned he has been known to remove food smudges from faces with his finger and his own saliva. Keeping your face clean to prevent this embarrassment is highly recommended.

Virgil Tracy is an excellent investment if you are looking for an all-round nice guy. He comes complete with a range of accessories including wrenches, paint brushes and a honkin’ great green machine with which you may have to compete with for his attention...amongst other things.

If nice isn’t enough (and green is not your colour) and you’d prefer the rakishly handsome, daredevil, Jim Kirk kind of guy, then you might as well go straight to the top and get yourself a Scott Tracy. Built for speed, flirt and for swooping you off your feet, Scott will tick all the boxes of all people at your party.

Suave with a devilish smile, this Tracy knows how to work a room. The eldest of the brothers, Scott knows how to give commands and make sure they are followed. You may even find yourself caught in his thrall as sapphire blue eyes and chestnut hair, tinged with the grey of authority, lend their persuasion well to his cause.

This Tracy is built for speed and at Mach 20 there is no faster. Combined with his strategic mind and his terrible determination, this is a man who knows how to get where he wants to go and fast.

He is one hell of a ride.

Just be aware that should you piss him off, he may run you over, then back up and toast you with his afterburners, because big brother Scott has a temper. It is especially advisable not to injure or offend one of his younger brothers or any member of his family for that.

You won’t like him when he’s angry.

Ultimately though, beneath the commander and the bravado, Scott has a soft marshmallow centre...protected viciously by his brother Virgil. Remember those muscles? You don’t want to go there, trust me.

But treat big brother right and you become part of that family and he will defend you to the death.

Military option fully included.

It should be noted that Scott Tracy does not come as a single man. Alan will be coming with him because despite being eighteen, Scott isn’t ready to let the apron strings drop just yet. Also there are three other brothers to consider, and a grandmother. Scott Tracy comes as a total family package.

Bet you didn’t see that coming behind that suave and sultry smile, did you?

No?

Too bad.

Because really you can’t have one Tracy without the others. Despite the apparent simplicity of five billionaire brothers and their heroic lifestyles, these five are one tight knit group. You will never quite have a plus one, it will be more of a plus five.

And I have yet to mention your main obstacle.

You like the youngest Tracys with their sunshine smiles, or Virgil with his soft heart, John with his tender attempts at conversation, or even Scott as he stares at you with that worried frown on his face? Never forget what is standing between them and you.

Me.

Think twice before you commit.

Because none of the havoc the boys can cause can be compared to what I can offer you.

Remember that.

 Very sincerely,

Kayo Kyrano

International Rescue Security

And your worst nightmare.

-o-o-o-

[nomunun]

can you rec kirubaku fics?? ily btw

of course!! i’ll just make a lil list with my all time favs (•̀ᴗ•́)و

One Step Closer by @tusslee​ (Rated M)

“Hope flickers pitifully beside the fire of determination inside of him. Whatever it takes, he decides, he’ll prove them all wrong.

Injured in a car accident, Bakugou Katsuki has to learn a new way of life as he slowly, but surely recovers with the (unwanted) help from his physical therapist, Kirishima Eijirou.”

-(i think it’s save to say that this one is definitely in my top 3. i cried so much while reading it so you better buckle up for a wild, emotional ride)

the rest is under the cut (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

2 A.M by cityboys (Rated T)

“Caught between cities, phone calls and shifts he didn’t sign up for, Katsuki finds that he doesn’t travel light as well as he thought.“

heart stains on the carpet by cityboys (Rated T)

“"She’s saying we’re dating,“ Katsuki says, trying to put as much disgust into the word as possible. “Me. Willingly being around your freeloading ass—”“Ah.” Katsuki is definitely developing a special kind of intuition for when Kirishima’s about to dish out bullshit—because he feels it now, watching the guy do that thing where he shrugs and smiles in an attempt to appear innocent. “Katsuki’s a little shy about this sort of thing, you know, and we weren’t going to say anything.“For effect, he ends with an apologetic smile.

Summer that year brings Kirishima Eijirou to Katsuki’s front door.“

-(fake/pretend relationship babyyyyy!)

ghosts beneath ink wash stars by cityboys (Rated T)

“Eijirou’s evolution from Bakugou’s delivery boy to kind of, possibly, someone to come home to.“

-(everything from cityboys is so beautifully written so they all share a spot in my top 3)

the fool’s rush by @chonideno​ (Rated T)

“Settling down with each other is naturally what comes after being dorm neighbors for years. It’s time to navigate through adulthood together, to live the daily grind of being pro-heroes, to learn more than they thought they’d like to know about each other, about themselves.

Or how Bakugou and Kirishima find a way to call each other “home” and struggle with the realization that once all their bills are on auto-pay, the only thing they still have to deal with is this pit full of feelings they have ignored for too long.”

-(this one hits really close to home and i love it a lot!)

cotton candy hands by @chonideno​ (Rated T)

“Studying to become a hero requires knowing how to take care of yourself. Sometimes you might need help on the way so if your crush offers to do your hair for you or to give you a well-deserved back rub, it’d be stupid to say no.

A series of soft vignettes in which a love-struck Kirishima and a touch-starved Bakugou care for each other and it’s definitely not making their hearts jump through hoops, they’re never this close to kissing, no, they’re totally best friends bro“

-(after a while you’ll just start yelling at the screen for them to just kiss already lmao)

but i’ve got an angry heart by @newamsterdame​ (Rated T)

“He’s about to open his door to go to the shared bathroom on this floor when he notices the scrap of paper that’s been pushed under his door. It’s a salmon-colored flashcard, the type that’s sold in 500-packs with multiple colors. Bakugou stoops to retrieve it, frowning at the message he finds written on it.

Hey neighbor, welcome to the house! I heard you knocking things around, yesterday, and I think you maybe punched a wall? Anyway, the landlady gets pissy if you put holes in the wall, but I have a punching bag! You can come over and use it, or I can move it into the hall, if you want!

There’s only one other bedroom on the fourth floor. Now, Bakugou crosses the hall to the bedroom on the right side, slamming the post-it note against the door.

Fuck off and die, it reads.

Bakugou Katsuki is not going to jeopardize his future a second time, and that means staying away from anyone who gets too close. Kirishima Eijirou has never learned how not to be close to someone. Of course, they end up as next-door neighbors.”

-(one of a view fics i re-read a couple times bcuz it’s just that good!)

quote love unquote by @newamsterdame​ (Rated T)

“Sero nods. “It’s the chance of a lifetime, really,” he says. “We want you to date Bakugou, for the sake of his reputation with the press. Some public appearances, a few ‘candid’ photos. For at least a couple of months.”

“Bakugou sent you to ask me to date him?” Kirishima asks, baffled.“

Of course not. We, his people, are asking you to date him. He’s going to have to get on board, if he wants his career to survive. And in the bargain, Riot will get all sorts of publicity, because their lyricist will be dating one of the industry’s hottest stars. A win for everyone.”

When Kirishima Eijirou’s band hits the big time, he’s not prepared for his newfound fame. He’s even less prepared to meet the actor he’s been crushing on for years, or to start dating him as a publicity stunt. The closer Kirishima gets to Bakugou Katsuki, the more he realizes he’s in over his head. But it’s hard to stop, once his heart is in it.“

-(still ongoing but trust me it’s worth it! that fake/pretend celebrity au we all need)

Perihelion by @tauontauoff​ (Rated T)

“Bakugou was a comet, blazing out of reach. Kirishima knew he was stupidly lucky that his furious trajectory went by close enough that his fingertips got to graze the cowl of fire. It was enough.

During Christmas Class 1A and 1B spend a laid-back week learning about extreme environment hero work in the Alps. Kirishima was used to keeping part of his feelings for Bakugou hidden, and had every intention of keeping it that way, but things don’t always go according to plan.”

Six Page Spread by @indigonow (Rated E - there’s no smut yet though)

“They’re 22 and Bakugou’s finally gotten control over his public image. Think more…"bad boy” and less “explosive asshole”.

Kirishima is weak (though he always has been).

Bakugou is never going to be a “nice guy”, but he’s managed to stop people from thinking he’s a villain. This is my take on the trials and tribulations of (Kirishima) being in love with said not-nice-guy in a world where heroes are always in the public eye and nothing’s ever simple.”

-(also ongoing but oh boy its worth the wait)

Indisputable by @indigonow​ (Rated M)

“He strains, he yearns for praise, for compliments, for recognition. All he wants is the positive attention, and he blooms under it like a flower turned to face the sun. With encouragement he is the best, and without it he’ll push himself without regard for anything around him until he’s there again at the forefront of people’s minds. He’ll force them to acknowledge him if he has to, because he can’t live without it.

Bakugou has struggled all his life to be number one, and he’s cracking to pieces every moment that he isn’t.“

-(ongoing. also a personal fav bcuz so far it’s the only one where mitsuki isn’t portrayed as a Good Mom™ but rather it addresses her abusive behaviour towards bakugou and i appreciate it a lot)

No Decision by @clairesail​ (Rated E)

“Kirishima Eijirou’s a newly contracted fighter for Japan’s major Mixed Martial Arts promotion and Bakugou Katsuki’s its volatile middleweight champion. But when the two men meet in a chance encounter and discover Kirishima can’t be knocked out by the champ’s famous elite strikes, it sparks a rivalry and fascination between them that can’t be settled in the cage.“

-(that’s the fic that originally got me into MMA)

The Lost Continent by cattchi and paglykos (Rated E)

“Kirishima Eijirou is from a noble family of pirate exterminators.Bakugou Katsuki is rising as one of the most fearsome pirates on the seas.

When a trade goes awry, Kirishima finds himself cast among Bakugou’s crew, having to learn the ropes and the sea as they chase after All Might’s infamous hidden treasure.”

-(still ongoing pirate au!!! also fair warning: this fic has a lot of smut. it’s all skippable without missing anything of the main plot tho so even if you dont like smut i highly recommend it bcuz the story itself is amazing!!)

like the first day of summer vacation by @hellsuga​ (Rated T)

“Bakugou prepared for this. He prepared for flipped canoes and snotty children, skinned knees and spiders in cabins. He prepared for a summer of complete and utter bullshit.

Bakugou did not prepare for Kirishima Eijirou.”

-(summer camp au, still ongoing)

[fantroll-purgatory]

@time-is-still-a-waste

(This is gonna be fun! I’m sorry if she seems boring though!)

She’s definitely not boring! Themeatically a tiny bit of a mess, but this blog’s got a broom and a dustpan, so we’ll sweep her right into line. From reading through the profile, different things I noticed you mention were optimism, fire/fireworks/explosives, baking, painting, carnivals, phoenixes and therefore implicitly rebirth, a soothing nature and desire to help others… 

When you list them all out like that and realize you don’t have a connecting force, it can quickly get a little cluttered-seeming, right? 

Well, I have a connecting force. One that’s going to seem like goofily obvious. She should be An Actual Circus Clown. Like not just a fun juggalo ex-cult member but someone who truly believes in the humanesque Principle Of Clownery. 

It jives with her optimism and desire to help others because she just wants to make ‘em see the sunny side, she just wants to make ‘em see the funny side! She wants to make ‘em laugh until they cry with- okay I’m done making this carebears joke no one will understand. 

Fire easily works for a circus performer, paintings and carnivals obviously work, and rebirth? Well, just take one look at Pennywise.

So now that we’ve got that idea locked in here, we can begin!

Universe: Alternia!

Name: Raizna Ashraz. 

“Raizna” was made to sound similar to the word “Raising”, which always seemed to fit her, due to her baking themes (Raising agents), and her optimistic personality (Raising spirits)! Ashraz, simply means “A bundle of torches”, which fits with the fire theme she shares with her Moirail.

I liked the Ra sound and the justification behind the first name, so I wanted to keep it, but I want to do you one better, themeatically. How about Ramkin Ashraz? 

Ramkin comes from Ramekin, a small ceramic bowl often used to bake souffles, which, as anyone knows, tend to Rise in the oven. But sometimes they can get too hot and deflate. So, y’know. A fun fact is that etymologically it can be read to mean “little battering ram.” 

Age: 8 sweeps, close to 9

Story!: Raizna never really had much luck, with things that happened to her. Being quite unusual for her caste, she (due to no fault of her own, might I add), ended up living with a rustblood, who would later become her moirail. These two, often team up, to set things on fire, but mostly just like fireworks. Preferring to be passive, she tries to hide her own nature, to try and keep her friends safe, to various degrees of success, often baking, and painting to keep up this appearance. When things just started to seem good for the troll, the meteors began falling. This time? She is refusing to think of them as the end. If it would take fighting to survive, then fighting she would do.

I don’t know what the circumstances are, but maybe I can make some recommendations based on the circus clown suggestion I made? She could’ve been a performer for a higher-ranking purple. Then she ditched the church and is here to party with a pal and try to reform himself into someone happier and more pleasant to be around. Getting her anger under control is hard when it was something so accepted as part of a wider cultural persona, but… Baking helps!

Strife Specibus: Bakingkind. (Formerly, Clubkind)

Raizna’s whole theme, was based around baking, and art. So, with a little bit of help, she worked out ways to weaponize her own baked treats.. if only mostly for the aesthetic. She has a set of various pies, filled with explosives, weights and sharp shards of glass, so whoever gets hit with them, gets a nasty (and hopefully explosive) surprise. However, if those aren’t available, she will use a rolling pin, and quite gladly bash people around the face with it.

She could still have a clubkind specibus, since she uses rolling pins as a bludgeon. I think it’s nice for her to keep it on hand. Then she can also utilize, like, juggling torches to whack with.

Fetch Modus: Painting.

Raizna, always finds painting relaxing and loves doing it whenever she can! So, whenever she goes to take something out her modus, she has to paint an image of whatever she wants to get out. The worse she paints it, the worse the condition the item comes out in.

Blood colour: Purple

Raizna, is somewhat of a classic Purpleblood, although she tries her hardest to hide it… to a degree. She still wears her self designed paint with pride. She’s ambitious, stubborn, and a bit emotionally messed up, often hiding her own disappointment with dry and self depreciating humour. However, she is still quite.. volatile, becoming extremely violent when people she cares about are threatened. 

Symbol and meaning: Being both Rage, Prospit and Purple, she’s-

TRUE CAPRICORN- THE CAPRICOUS

Honestly I think she might be better off as 

CAPRINIUS- THE CREDULOUS. 

But we’ll talk about that in a minute.

Trolltag: candiedCarnival [CC]

Candied, is used to reflect her sweet themes, and also to tie in with her sweet personality. It could also reflect her tendency to sugar coat things, that are going on in the world. Carnival, reflects the truth of herself, but also occasionally the fun of them, being places of joy and laughter, things she strives on making people feel.

how about conffectionateCarny, conffectionate is a portmanteau of confection and affectionate, which is a clever way to combine the idea of carnivalous cakes with the idea of her being a sweet person. Carny’s fairly straightforward, but it puts a singular person identifier on it instead of implying she’s the Whole carnival.

Quirk: Raizna isz szuper cheerful! Szo szhe talks with a ton of exclamation marks!  Szhe likes adding letters when szhe talks to fit with her name! It’s not like szhe’s bragging or anything! Szhe just likes how it szounds! :} 

I gotta be honest, I can’t tell where the sz comes from. She had z’s in her original names I guess? But certainly no sz’s. 

What if instead, she replaces her o’s with  °‘s? It’s a good reference to her baking interest as well as the theme of fire and heat. Maybe replace P with п? It’s derived from the greek letter Pi, which is a sly reference to Pie! And the letter name means ‘peaceful state’, which implies her interest in making things nice. 

Ex: Cheer uп, buttercuп! °r I’ll have t° thr°w a пie in y°ur face!

Special Abilities (if any): Raizna, if perhaps only by sheer nature, is ridiculously resilient . It’s incredibly hard to hurt her properly, or at least. Keep her down. But, if that isn’t counted, she’s just really good at calming people down. It’s like her words have something soothing about them. She does, however have a tendency to get increasing annoyed when doing this, almost like she’s taking their pain, or anger and keeping it for herself.

Now, this isn’t… Purpleblood abilities manifest as a way to keep the lowbloods down. That’s what it’s supposed to be. So maybe you could alter this to be something she really hates having? Something like hideous laughter, maybe? She can use her abilities to make people absolutely lose it with uncontrollable laughter. Maybe she’s trying to work on blunting the effect, somehow? Like making it so that she can make people giggle a little but, but having to suppress the power like that has a negative effect that makes her irritable and headachey?

Ancestor: The Vandal [Aleyna Ashraz, Witch of Rage]

Caught in a war and several rebellions, Aleyna was right at home. Rebelling against her own kind, She’d paint messages of rebellion along the walls of the nobles, with blood that she could find, her own, if necessary. 

Quickly gaining fame as a rebel, she kept this image up, stirring up rebellions with her works, and sending messages of danger to those who ruled. This did however, end up with assassins, coming to find for her, only to be led on a wild goose chase. Any of those, that did find her returned back home, scared, although they couldn’t quite describe why.

When the law eventually caught up, she didn’t surrender, and was taken away. What happened to her, was unknown.

Raizna was always interested in her Ancestor, respecting her for speaking up about what she thought was right, in a non-violent way. She often hopes that she had survived, and one day, Raizna hopes that she could do something just as cool.

Ancestors need 8 letter titles! How about The Graphein instead? It’s a Greek word that means To Write and is an etymological root for Graffiti. It still implies the same writing on the walls that you desired, but fits the lettering rules.

Lusus: Her lusus, is a weird combination, of a phoenix and a cat, that she affectionately calls her Birdmum and loves dearly. Raizna often takes food both caught and made to her lusus, as an attempt to return the favour of being brought up by her. Often being very defensive of Raizna, Birdmum often has to guard their hive, meaning she isn’t around very much. They have a mutually caring relationship, and if anything happened to her lusus, Raizna doesn’t know what she’d do.

Purple lusii need to be creatures that cross the land-sea barrier, so Bird Cat doesn’t really satisfy that requirement. Hmm… How about a phoenix turtle instead? Half phoenix, half turtle. It could have feathers on its wings, long tail feathers instead of the short turtle tail. This is because turtles are known to be long-living, so it fits the immortal theme alright. It’s also a sly reference to The Phoenix and the Turtle, which is about a lot of things but The Death Of An Ideal is one of the core themes and it fits well with the hope switch I’ve given to her.

Personality: Raizna is obnoxiously cheerful. Or at least, that’s what most people think. She often goes out of her way, to make people happy, either by feeding away their woes, listening to them, or calming them down with soft words. Often doing things out of her own kindness, many people are drawn to her for aid. She does, have a fondness for helping people, and will often go out of her way to do tasks for people, even if that means beating the hell out of somebody who hurt one of her friends, or stealing. Normally quite calm, she’s often cheerful, always fighting with her own dark urges. When she’s angry, or if her own nature takes over, she can be brutal, murderous and cunning, all the things she often hates about herself. With a deep hatred of lies, and lying, she’s incredibly honest, to the point of being brutally honest sometimes. However, at the top of everything, she puts others first, with very little care for herself.

I really like this base for her personality, like a LOT. I think you should pull some of the clowniness I’ve suggested, though. Maybe have her crack jokes for her friends, or do little performances. Maybe she’s willing to sacrifice her dignity to make her pals laugh. Maybe she’s always willing to throw a pie in her own face to get a giggle. She wants to be a good friend, and she tries to keep up under wraps with these jokes, maybe sometimes with pranks? Just trying to vent it out in any way possible. 

The rest of the stuff is really good. Give her a STRONG conviction for honesty, helping people, and doing what’s right. Because convictions are very important with hope-aligned players.

Interests: Baking, Painting, Writing, FLARP (to a degree. She doesn’t play much anymore), Sociology, Fire and “Magic” .

Maybe she plays FLARP but she likes to change the F to mean Funny. Funny Live Action Role Play. You know those people in MMOs who are like high level and terrifying and you’re so scared they’re going to kill your weak little level 1 character? and then they roll up and hand you like 4000 silver for literally no reason and tell you to go buy a horse? That could be her. 

You should add a general clowniness here. If she used to use clubs, she probably knows how to juggle! Maybe she could like fire spitting as well. And some pranks! Harmless fun! Fire crackers and noise makers and confetti poppers!

Appearence: Raizna, has never been one to draw attention to herself.  She keeps her long curly hair, that’s practically impossible to brush loose. You could probably find a plushie or two in there, if you tried hard enough. Often wearing a plain black shirt, and fluffy black pyjama trousers, she often seems like a mess, to the annoyance of a few of her friends. Quite.. disturbingly, she’s often covered in bright colours, from her painting. However, some lowbloods mistake the paint, for being the blood of people she’s killed, causing uneeded fear. 

At all times, she wears her makeup, flame like patterns coating her eyes, and brim of her nose. Streaking down from her lips, are swirls of white and red that stand out against her skin. She virtually never takes off the makeup, and just puts more on each day, without washing the previous day’s makeup off. To keep with her messy theme, she wears soft slippers everywhere. I mean. Literally everywhere. Even when dressed up formally.

She seems cute! I’ll see how I can communicate this in sprite form.

Title: Thief Of Rage.

I’ve always had her, as quite a soothing character, so I figured somebody who stole peoples negative emotions, could be quite a good idea, which is why I originally started with a thief. I couldn’t decide on if I should make her a heart, or rage player. 

I eventually decided on rage, and although I don’t think the go to version of the aspect particularly fits her. She can be selfish in a way, so I suppose it still fits! 

I think that she’s in a kind of good place, theoretically, as a person. So I think maybe Rogue of Hope might be a good title for her. 

She’s someone who cares a lot about others, who has a strong sense of justice and what is right and what needs to be done, and she’s not afraid to do it for others. AND she moves the anger around via her powers. She passively moves hope and positivity and potential onto others, lightening their moods, while actively taking on rage, which she turns into a weapon.

Land: The Land of Fire and Fear.

Raizna’s hive was just destined to be something fiery. I mean, with a phoenix for a lusus that was just fate wasn’t it. She just wasn’t quite expecting it to be on an active volcano. So when she eventually left her hive, and got hit by the freezing cold winds, she decided immediately. Nope. Don’t like cold. Cold things are bad.

So she ran inside again. Like a coward. That was, until said volcano erupted, lava burning away and melting the ice that covered her land. Just her luck. Right? 

However, despite all that destruction.. there was something beautiful about the whole ideal. As fire and lava ran across the land that was home, she soon decided one thing.

Maybe destruction can be pretty.

I see what you’re going for here, fire that’s pretty, but… I want to try to push that idea further than just lava flowing over the ground. How about…

Land of Glass and Paraffin, a land where leaping balls of flaming accelerant jump across the land, melting down the glassed surface, creating beautiful swirls, an ever-shifting pattern, molten-hot and deadly, but so wonderfully beautiful you can’t look away. There is always potential for something new, something beautiful, in the mutating surface. But she also has to find hope for the consorts, who live on a molten nightmare planet.

Dream Planet: Prospit.

Raizna, is a Prospit dreamer to a point. She’s optimistic, bubbly and cheerful! However, she does hold some of Derse’s dissatisfaction towards the world, simply due to just how wrong she finds everything. Following what some people do.. would just be lying to herself. Fate, however she does believe in. Fate, and Miracles.

Design: 

Horns: I wanted to make them look like the new symbol I gave her. So very curly, fun, and huge. 

Hair: I made it a big curly mess just like you suggested. I tried to make the curls come off a lot of larger round shapes, mostly because I wanted to summon the image of a clown wig at least tangentially. 

Eyes: Because I liked my own joke too much, I wanted to base her eyes just slightly off of Funshine bear from Journey to Joke-a-lot. And to make her just a little goofy looking, because that was kind of my goal for the whole design, I made her almost cross-eyed. 

Mouth: I wanted her to have big scary teeth to hint at her more dangerous nature. 

Makeup: I utilized red for some flamey eye makeup, some lines down the face, and the outer part of some cheek dots. I used yellow for her lips and the inner part of the cheek dots to try to bring a bright cheeriness, to hit on some more fire-themed colors, and to make her look goofy, once again. 

Shirt: I made the shirt slipping off one shoulder, to aid her messy image. I also like how it bunched the collar of the shirt, because now it’s vaguely reminiscent of a clown frill. I only added a few splotches of blood because her design was already busy color-wise and I didn’t want to overwhelm it. 

Pants: I made some loose pajama pants from Karkat’s pants and edited them to be purple. I wanted to carry the yellow down here, too, so she gets stripey pants! 

Slippers: They’re just edited from a fan-troll spritesheet to be in her purple color-family. 

She’s a really cute character! Thank you for sharing!

-CD

[uncloseted]

do you think Hannah could of been borderline?

I know a lot of people with borderline personality disorder really related to Hannah and her actions in the show, and I can definitely see why people would read her that way, but I don’t think she is (and I think borderline is often mischaracterized on the internet in general).  I will say I think it’s also difficult to diagnose her because while we see a lot of her thoughts on how people have wronged her, we rarely see her reflect on herself or her internal narrative.  Her tapes serve a purpose, and so what we see on them isn’t necessarily the whole truth of her experience, especially if you take her to be an unreliable narrator.  

Part of my hesitation in diagnosing her with borderline is that I don’t really like personality disorder diagnoses for people under 18, especially if they’re still in high school (which can be a topic for another time if you guys are interested).  But I also think that while her actions and reactions to people are intense and sometimes seem disproportionate, she doesn’t meet other criteria for borderline.  Ignoring the age issue, let’s look at the DSM-4 criteria for borderline (I couldn’t find the DSM-5 criteria anywhere, but they’re pretty similar) and how Hannah lines up against it.  This is going to be a long one so my thoughts are under the cut.

1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.

People with Borderline Personality Disorder often experience intense fears of abandonment, which can have a serious effect on their self-image and behavior, as well as their ability to maintain relationships.

Hannah doesn’t seem to struggle with being afraid of being abandoned.  She loses a lot of friends over the course of the show, but I think she views those friendships ending as being appropriate given the situation (which is usually that someone has wronged her/they got into a fight).  We don’t see her taking frantic efforts to avoid a person leaving her or it affecting her self esteem- she seems more likely to say “it’s their fault we’re not friends” than “it’s my fault and I’m a bad person”.

2. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.

One of the most marked traits of people suffering from BPD is unstable relationships. They will jump from one relationship to another, never really settling down. Sometimes they will put their partner on a pedestal, almost to the point of worshipping them. If something goes wrong, they will demonize the other person. They lack perspective on situations – people are either very good or very bad. These same behaviors apply to all relationships, not just romantic relationships.

This is an interesting one because a lot of her relationships change over the course of the show, but I wouldn’t call them unstable or say that it’s beyond the realm of normal high school experience.  She holds down a friendship with Alex and Jessica at the beginning of the school year, for example, and she’s pretty consistently friends with Clay.  She does, however, seem to have the idealization/devaluation dichotomy, where she sees her new friends as being perfect until they get into a fight, at which point they’re terrible and it’s all their fault.  So I think she has a bit of this one, but doesn’t entirely meet it.

3. Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.

People with Borderline Personality Disorder will often experiment with lifestyles and switch jobs, never quite figuring out who they really are and what they want to do in life.

This one is hard for two reasons.  1) we never see Hannah’s internal monologue and so we can’t determine whether or not her self-image is stable, and 2) she’s a teenager, and most teenagers have some sort of instability when it comes to self image.  Her self esteem seems pretty good in the beginning of the series (until traumatic things start happening to her), and I would say that she’s pretty consistent in her value system, her way of interacting with people, and her interests, so I don’t think she fulfills this one.

4. Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging.

Such self-damaging behaviors include eating disorders, substance abuse, gambling, and promiscuity. People with BPD often engage in several impulsive behaviors.

Hannah is a hard pass on this one right up until she attempts suicide.  We never see her do drugs, she doesn’t really drink (except for that one party), she doesn’t gamble, she’s not promiscuous, she doesn’t spend money erratically, she doesn’t have an eating disorder, etc.

5. Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, threats, or self-mutilating behavior.

People with BPD often struggle with suicidal thoughts and ideations, as well as suicide attempts. They also frequently engage in self-harmful behaviors in an attempt to make themselves feel better emotionally.

“Self-mutilating behavior has no suicidal intent behind it, but is used to punish themselves, to get some relief from emotional pain, or to manipulate others,” says Cincinnati-based psychologist Nikki Instone, Ph.D. “This behavior, like cutting, brings relief via distracting from emotional pain with physical pain, brings an endorphin rush, and feels like something they can manage, since they struggle to manage emotions.”

As far as I remember, we never get an indication that Hannah self-harms or threatens suicide without the intention of attempting it.  Even when she is suicidal, she finds it difficult to tell others she’s struggling and doesn’t do it in a way that suggests it’s a “cry for help”. 

6. Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days).

“People with BPD do not have good stress management skills,” Instone explains. “They are very sensitive to their surroundings, causing an emotional roller coaster ride.”

This one is Hannah for sure.  She’s very sensitive and has intense emotions that are seemingly out of proportion to what she experiences.

7. Chronic feelings of emptiness.

Because people with Borderline Personality Disorder can feel empty and alone, they may use relationships to fill the “void” in their life.

I think she talks about feelings of emptiness at some point, so we can count this one as a symptom for her.

8. Inappropriate anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights).

People with BPD are always facing an internal conflict that can often result in displays of anger.  “The two extremes are most apparent in relationships, where they vacillate between loving and hating others. In a matter of moments, someone can make a comment that the person with BPD interprets as derogatory, critical, or hurtful in some manner. Their mood then follows this interpretation to an extreme, resulting in fighting, yelling, attacking back, or falling into deep despair,” says Instone.

“Because they are so reactive to their environment and so sensitive to what they think others think of them, their mood changes several times throughout the day. It can change more rapidly if the situation is volatile, unstable, or confusing.”

This one is also Hannah.  She gets angry easily and at things that don’t seem like a “big deal”, and her reactions are often explosive.

9. Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms.

When people with Borderline Personality Disorder find themselves in a very stressful situation that they have an intense reaction to but can’t resolve, they may exhibit symptoms of paranoia as a way to cope. They may also dissociate in order to escape intense emotional pain.

“When they fall into paranoia or dissociation, it is a temporary reaction to a period of high stress,” Instone says.

I wouldn’t say Hannah is paranoid or thinks that people are out to get her, and she doesn’t have dissociative episodes.

So at most, I think she could fit four criteria.  The cutoff for diagnosis is at least 5 of the above.