i understand that not everyone knows this, but i would really like the loki fandom to be a little more aware that psychiatry is institutionally biased against people with npd, and this bias is particularly magnified in social media and pop psych for sensationalist, commercial reasons. even the npd diagnostic criteria are Not Great (especially the short version - there is an expanded version!), and even if they were perfect, the understanding of the disorder you get just by reading a checklist is not a whole, rounded picture.
npd is (at least very, very often) a trauma disorder. people with npd having very low self-worth and self-destructive tendencies is incredibly common. npd is not "abuser disorder" or "evil disorder", it's just another mental illness, and honestly, any disorder can be framed in a demonising way if you try. (depressed people are scary because they're obsessed with death! adhd people are scary because they have no control of their emotions or impulses! etc.) i have yet to see a "debunking" of loki being "a narcissist" that gets past this popular, biased surface level.
here and here are two posts explaining how stigma can distort common descriptions of npd symptoms, and here is an unofficial suggested revision of the npd diagnostic criteria written by someone with the disorder to focus on the patient's experiences, and not on how others view them.
loki cannot "too good" to have npd, because having npd does not make you a bad person. reading loki as having npd is not inherently demonising or victim-blaming. and if a specific person's npd loki reading really is doing that, then the fundamental problem is not that they're biased against loki, a fictional character - it's that they're biased against a very vulnerable, stigmatised and real group of mentally ill people.
now that we've dealt with all that - DOES loki have npd?
personally, i go back and forth on whether i think he fully qualifies for the disorder, but as i interpret him, he absolutely does show many traits of npd, such as the following:
perfectionism and fluctuating, fragile self-esteem. he has to be best, because if he isn't the best that would mean he's the absolute worst, worthless, monstrous, unlovable, etc. even when he is succeeding in his goals then maybe he's somehow the best and the worst at once, and almost anything could bring him crashing down again.
constant comparison of himself to others, leading to insecurity, jealousy, bitterness, paranoia...
basing his feelings of safety/security on his connections to people he sees as powerful and/or admirable, and basing his self-esteem on their approval, to the point where he becomes dependent or defines himself by them.
desperately, sometimes destructively, acting out for attention - whether showing off (begging for approval) or picking fights (demanding it.)
experiencing loneliness, shame and guilt easily and extremely intensely, making him hypersensitive to criticism and the possibility of rejection or abandonment - which can provoke a fight/flight/freeze/fawn response.
defensive/paranoid distortion in his analysis of others' feelings - focusing intently on what they think of him (do you love me, hate me, want to hurt me?) while less aware of their own feelings (eg, he can be fairly insensitive to thor's own capacity to be hurt). (in loki, as in many real people, this seems to have originated as a defence mechanism against being manipulated, and from having to walk on eggshells in a toxic family where *everyone* has more social power than him.)
a deep-rooted fear of being manipulated or controlled, which leads to a very strong need to feel in control of himself.
a deep-rooted fear of emotional vulnerability which makes him very reluctant to express his emotions, and when he does, it's often either a calculated tactical decision (so he can tell himself he's still in control), or the result of an emotional breakdown because he just can't keep up the mask any longer.
a paranoid view of the world in which everyone always wants to control him, and controlling power imbalances are an inherent feature of all relationships ("freedom is life's great lie"...), leading him to try to "defensively" manipulate and control others. (this is the ugliest symptom on this list, but it's also arguably the least textbook npd - something this literal and pronounced might be better characterised as ptsd's "distorted understanding of own trauma"/"change of fundamental beliefs" symptoms.)
obviously everyone has a right to their own reading and headcanon, and of course you can reject any reading at all based on simply Not Vibing with it. this isn't the Mandatory NPD Loki post, just me trying to encourage you to consider the possibility. there's a lot here! it's a very plausible reading!
(and honestly, why stop there? you might also note that thor, who grew up in the same toxic household, display a fair number of these symptoms too...)
[this post is meant to be informative and to give people a little insight into an alternative perspective on npd to the dominant pop psych one. i'm happy to answer questions, but if you want to "debate" me or approach this as "discourse", please don't.]
27 notes
·
View notes
NPD based Ena Shinonome edits
Image one: An edit of Ena from Project Sekai, she is standing infront of a geometric based pattern on a pastel background. To her right is a faded black heart with the black, orange, yellow and purple gradient NPD flag inside.
All the other images are the same but they're different colors. The second one is dark orange, third is muted yellow and the final/fourth one is a muted pruple.
7 notes
·
View notes
Rainbow Dash headcanon edits!
Rainbow Dash is a Genderqueer, Xenogender individual who is a Grey-AroAce, Ambiamorus, Lesbian! They use they/he/she/bolts/storms/wonders/feathers/flashes pronouns! They are in a romantic relationship with Twilight and Applejack, and a QPR with Fluttershy(ex-girlfriend), Rarity, and Pinkie Pie!
Neurodivergent Headcanons:
-Autistic. Very Autism. Much Autism
-ADHD, mixed presentation subtype!
-Narcissistic Personality Disorder
-Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(in my AU/Re-Write, Dash experienced a *lot* of ableism, emotional abuse, and bullying due to being audhd, and that's how their NPD developed as a way to cope with the trauma)
-Depression(I'm not sure what kind he would have, but she definitely experiences those episodes when experiencing an NPD crash)
We love the spicy neurodivergent lesbian here
Next up: Rarity
2 notes
·
View notes
Fyodor has NPD and ASPD
"For the NPD: He has narcissus flowers in the season 4 opening as part of his flower bouquet, combined with his general attitude it makes sense. As for the ASPD... I forget it's not canon ngl. Anyway, self projection."
Image ID: A manga transparent of Fyodor infront of the NPD flag by npdsafe
The second image is of the same transparent infront of the ASPD and NPD combo flag by obnebulant-mogai
The final image is of the same transparent infront of the ASPD flag by npdsafe
13 notes
·
View notes
since the cluster b community has been identifying with hazbin characters i thought i’d share some hcs about vox & velvette ♡
i personally see vox as being narcissistic and histrionic. even his appearance could relate to this with the sense of him always putting on a show, literally. he’s performative and exaggerated and determined to remain at the top of the hierarchy and reinforce his status — shown by him constantly bringing out new inventions & feeling the need to compete with alastor.
even his fixation on alastor is related to npd, with him feeling threatened by al who is very similar to him (and npd coded too), so desperately needing to prove his superiority, or even that they are on equal footing. i know i experience this competitiveness with some other pwnpd that deep down i feel could almost be equal, which means they’re more threatening.
he also clearly hopes to provoke a reaction by streaming a live diss track all over hell, both from alastor and the public. his behaviour is rooted in maintaining status and fuelling his ego which despite the outwardly projected confidence is clearly unstable — his reaction at the end of stayed gone shows this.
he can’t stand not being involved and literally tries to inject himself into the hotel situation with pentious but ends up failing.
with velvette i can see her as being antisocial and narcissistic. i like the theories i’ve seen about her being a social media influencer when she was alive and perhaps even leading to someone’s death via online bullying, without really thinking about the effects of her actions on others. she clearly disrespects authority as shown by her behaviour in the overlord meeting, as well as being impulsive (quick to jump to starting a war with heaven after finding the exorcist head). her idea to fight with heaven also shows she doesn’t comprehend the reality of the damage it could do to both her own life and others in hell.
respectless is a great example of multiple npd traits: she displays feelings of high importance (referring to herself as the backbone of the vees), superiority (“i could eat you lot for breakfast”) and disregard for authority (her statements to zestial & carmilla who are a lot older). could also be taken as reckless behaviour since presumably(?) zestial is a lot more powerful, and she’s straight up insulting him.
this is just brief but i have a Lot more thoughts about both of them as well as alastor, so if anyone’s interested i’ll post more about it. and feel free to ask me questions relating to it<3
narc abuse believers dni this is for the cluster bs
48 notes
·
View notes