Diane Nguyen | BoJack Horseman (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
theoneblacksheep) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
doublestars2018-05-07 05:15 pm
theoneblacksheep) wrote in doublestars2018-05-07 05:15 pm
Entry tags:
Application for maskormenace
〈 PLAYER INFO 〉
NAME: Shurimon
AGE: 32
JOURNAL: N/A
IM / EMAIL: spdbridge03 [at] gmail
PLURK:![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
shurimon
RETURNING: Yes, I currently play Tina Belcher
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Diane Nguyen
CHARACTER AGE: 35
SERIES: Bojack Horseman
CHRONOLOGY: Season 4 episode 1, “See Mr. Peanutbutter Run”, before PB challenges Woodchuck to a ski race
CLASS: Hero
HOUSING: Randomly with roommates, and I am open to her living outside Heropa.
BACKGROUND: NOTE: All animals in the Bojack Horseman universe (even the ones raised for meat) are sentient and humanoid.
Diane Nguyen’s childhood was not a happy one. She grew up in Boston and her shy bookworm personality was a sharp contrast to her lazy sports-obsessed brothers, making her a target for bullying and abuse from them. Her father was an alcoholic and her mother believed Diane’s smarts made her think she was better than them. Eventually, Diane moved to Hollywood for a fresh start and to try and make a living off of her writing. She worked as a barista and a cater waiter for a long time, which is how she met and began dating her future husband, the happy-go-lucky labrador Mr. Peanutbutter (hereafter abbreviated as PB). Diane is eventually hired to ghostwrite the memoirs of BoJack Horseman. BoJack starred in a popular sitcom in the 90’s, but has yet to recapture that fame and spends most of his days getting drunk and watching reruns of his show Horsin’ Around. When the two meet, they have an earnest conversation about BoJack being unhappy with his life, and he agrees to let Diane help write his book. BoJack’s roommate Todd and agent Princess Carolyn soon join her social circle. The memoir writing hits several snags at first when BoJack is reluctant to talk about his pre fame life and his unstable drug-addicted former costar Sarah Lynn parties at his house for a few days, but soon Diane and BoJack begin to build trust, and he agrees to let her write about him truthfully, warts and all.
While meeting with BoJack’s publisher in New York, Diane gets the news that her dad has passed away. She’s reluctant to go back and when she does, she gets guilted into making the funeral arrangements when she finds to her horror that her family left her dad’s body in his armchair and covered him with bags of ice. She then storms out when her mom and brothers don’t even show up for the funeral. BoJack goes to find her at her old hideout at the town dump, reassuring her that she was right to want to get away from her awful family; Diane replies that part of her still just wants them to be proud of her. BoJack says that he feels like that’s a little stupid, and that the best part about living in LA is that nobody cares about your background, they just live in the now. Diane feels better after their talk, and the two head home.
At the airport, she’s greeted by PB, and she, BoJack, and PB decide to go out to dinner on their way home. However, at the restaurant, BoJack and PB begin competing for Diane’s attention and affection despite her obvious discomfort. It culminates in BoJack getting drunk on absinthe and stealing the “D” from the Hollywood sign. He admits to PB that he has a romantic interest in Diane, but PB makes him agree to not pursue her if he helps BoJack get rid of the D. Diane then unintentionally ends up in the spotlight when PB takes credit for stealing the D and says on national television that he did it for her. She gets overwhelmed by the cameras and reporters waiting for her and flees to BoJack’s house to work on their book. BoJack surprises her with an insightful comment that PB’s gesture means he doesn’t quite get her; if he did, he would have given her something more low-key and personal to show that he cares. However, when she returns home, she finds that PB made her an album of personal photos and emails he’d saved as an apology for the unwanted spotlight, seemingly proving BoJack wrong. Diane is surprised again when PB proposes to her, and when she says yes… PB reveals that he’d planned a party around the proposal, and Diane is once more left in a crowd she has no desire to be in. As this happens, BoJack leaves a rambling voicemail telling Diane how hard it is to have someone who is getting to know him so well, yet being around her makes him hate himself a little less.
Diane soon travels with BoJack to see Herb Kazzaz, his cancer-ridden ex best friend. Diane is curious to know why he never talks about Herb, and so the horse goes into their history together. Herb had been his mentor and created Horsin’ Around, but when he was outed as gay and kicked off the show, BoJack had the choice of continuing his path to stardom or standing up for his friend and likely ending his career before it could begin. BoJack chose to continue acting and his actions caused a permanent rift between the two. The visit predictably starts out awkward, and ends with Herb telling BoJack that he is a coward and refusing to accept his apology for abandoning him. On the drive home, BoJack and Diane pull off to the side of the road and get out of the car for a breather; Diane meekly offers to leave the argument with Herb out of the book, but BoJack says it’s OK to tell the whole truth… then suddenly kisses her. The two of them get back in the car and babble about how they are just friends, but a spooked Diane soon leaves to walk the rest of the way home.
When Diane next meets with BoJack, she tells him she believes she has enough material to finish her manuscript. When he asks if he’ll still see her around, she wonders why he had to make things weird before leaving. She admits to PB later on that she also feels overwhelmed by the idea of spending a year planning a big, elaborate wedding. He replies that he would be OK doing something smaller and local, which is a big relief to her. BoJack realizes he’s in love with Diane and his jealous efforts to sabotage Diane and PB’s relationship over the next few days end up backfiring and driving the two closer together; they choose to get married that very weekend. At the wedding ceremony, Diane admits that she doesn’t know for sure if she’s doing the right thing, but then says that she realized sometimes, you need to admit you don’t have all the answers and just take a leap of faith.
When she and BoJack take a chance to catch up later, she confesses she’s nervous for him to read the finished book. He assures her that he believes it will be wonderful; she merely asks him to keep an open mind and reminds him that it’s still a work in progress. When he finishes he is less than pleased, since Diane kept her promise to write about him honestly, and he feels that he comes off as a big asshole. Diane replies that she believes she wrote him as being troubled but ultimately sympathetic, and that his flaws help the audience relate to him. BoJack angrily tells her to start over. Diane, believing she did the right thing, gets part of the book published on Buzzfeed where it quickly goes viral. BoJack is furious, and Diane tries to pacify him by pointing to all the positive comments it’s gotten. Unconvinced, BoJack insults Diane, making her storm out. His plan to rewrite the book himself with the help of Todd, Sarah Lynn, and many illegal prescription drugs predictably goes wrong. After an intense drug trip, BoJack confronts Diane at a public ghostwriters’ panel and begs her to tell him that he’s a good person. Her silence in response tells him everything.
Diane’s book ends up being released to great popular and critical acclaim, but she does not speak to BoJack for several months. She unexpectedly gets a new opportunity from famed philanthropist Sebastian St. Clair, who was impressed by her book and wants her to travel around the world with him and document his exploits caring for people in war-torn countries. PB is unenthused by the idea, but Diane tells him she wants to do something important and help change the world. She decides to take some time to think about it before committing. Meanwhile, BoJack is leveraging his regained popularity in order to start up his long-desired dream project, a biopic of his hero, the famed race horse Secretariat. As Diane prepares to leave the country, she gets an offer from Princess Carolyn to consult on the Secretariat film, seeing as how she wrote a biography about him. Diane is hesitant, but PC points out that earning a little money will help her later if she does decide to travel. When Diane tells BoJack they’ll be working together on the movie, she admits that she had no idea what to say to him those months ago when he asked if he was a good person deep down, and she feels like she’s not done much to accomplish her goal of changing the world with her writing.
Secretariat going into production doesn’t help lighten things, as Diane’s only job on set ends up being warning people not to trip over a loose cord. PB gets on Diane’s bad side when he throws her a big surprise party for her birthday, irritating her so much she picks a fight with him over something minor in front of their guests. PB angrily says he threw the party for her, and Diane retorts that he did it to make himself look good, because he should know by now how much she hates crowds. She then accuses PB of trying to make her so happy at home that she changes her mind about going overseas, and, hurt, he points out that he has good reasons to be worried about her living in a war zone. Diane then bursts out that she’s not happy, feeling like she has no purpose and is afraid she’ll be discontent for the rest of her life if she doesn’t make a drastic change. She tells PB that she loves him, but she wouldn’t be content settling for doing the same thing over and over for the rest of their days together. PB is still worried, especially because he is out of work himself and doesn’t do much all day until she comes home, but he agrees to be supportive of her choice.
When the production of Secretariat is put on hold, Diane goes on a book promoting tour with BoJack and Princess Carolyn. Diane unintentionally ignites a firestorm when she mentions how the beloved TV star Hank Hippopopalus has been accused of sexual misconduct in the past, and PB begs her to try and let it go. Diane says she will try, but Hank’s fans hound her at every turn, angering her so much she decides to keep pushing forward. She pitches the idea of an expose to the magazine Manatee Fair, but finds that none of Hank’s accusers are willing to talk. She is then cornered by Hank himself, who warns her to drop the issue or she risks dragging down everyone around her, pointing out that he’s a beloved celebrity while she is a nobody and thus unlikely to change anything. Manatee Fair also changes their mind and declines to publish her story. Even BoJack, while he believes that Hank is a sleaze, tells Diane that she has no chance of winning. When she gets home to PB, she is deflated further when he tells her how hard it’s been to read all of the graphic death threats she’s been getting in the mail. He makes a stray comment that she might be safer going to war-torn Cordovia, and Diane agrees, since she clearly can’t make much of a difference back home; PB adds that some time apart might be good for them. On her way out of the country, the knife is twisted in further when she sees Hank on the national news and sees that all he has to do is say he did nothing wrong, and the public accepts that and moves on to the next story like it never happened.
Once in Cordovia, Diane finds that it’s nothing like she’d hoped- namely, Sebastian St. Clair turns out to be a blowhard who cares more about her making him look good and attracting donations for his charities than her helping sick and orphaned children like she wanted. She has enough when a little boy she’d been bonding with is killed and goes back to L.A., only to find herself unable to tell PB the truth when he tells her over the phone how proud he is of her. She goes to crash at BoJack’s house, not knowing what else to do. Diane soon begins to overstay her welcome, not doing much except sitting around in her pajamas and getting drunk, and it becomes more and more difficult for her to tell the truth when she finds out her husband has been bragging to everyone about her supposed good works. When BoJack goes to confront her and ask how long she’s planning to stay, Diane laments that she wasn’t the driven person she thought she was. She replies that she’d like nothing more than go home, but she can’t face the prospect of having to tell PB that she’s been lying to him and that she’s not a hero. She calls PB to tell him she loves him, but that she’ll be out of contact for a while, and BoJack runs away from his responsibilities to see an old friend in New Mexico. When he returns two months later, Diane is still there. She’s then approached by Princess Carolyn, who’s starting her own agency and wants to give Diane a job writing tweets for celebrities. The prospect of work seems to snap her out of her funk. When Diane meets with one of her clients in a restaurant, she runs into a shocked PB, who tells her he misses her and asks her to come home- and she finally agrees. Meanwhile, Secretariat was finished by using a computer model of BoJack and is released to critical acclaim.
BoJack soon goes on a press tour, aiming for an Oscar nomination, and Diane manages his social media presence. She and PB also begin getting help with their marriage from a therapist. When she and BoJack are returning home from a mixer one day, she admits she’s been avoiding him. She says the two of them are too much alike and bring out the worst in each other, so perhaps it’s for the best that they stay professional. When BoJack is upset by that, Diane apologizes and says she hated the person she was when she was hiding from her problems at his house and doesn’t want to go back to that.
At their next couples therapy session, PB happily talks about himself, but Diane is more reticent and admits she has trouble putting feelings into words, and the therapist asks her to work on that. Later, she frets about this to PB, but he assures her that it’s a process and she can still learn. Diane speculates that her unhappy upbringing may have contributed to her reluctance to speak about her feelings. Diane is then pressured into taking drugs at a client’s party and breaks her wrist when she has a sudden rush of affection for her husband and tries to carry PB to bed. At the hospital, Diane worries that once the drugs wear off, she’s going to become closed off and they’ll just fight again, so PB suggests they go to his boyhood home on the Labrador Peninsula for the New Year. Diane is enthusiastic about the idea... then receives quite a shock when the doctor informs her that she is pregnant.
Both she and PB aren’t pleased with this turn of events, since they agreed long ago they didn’t want kids. PB promises to support her whatever her decision is, and they both agree that the best course of action is for her to get an abortion. This process ends up being anything but smooth when she accidentally tweets about it as the pop superstar Sextina Aquafina. Princess Carolyn is livid, as her agency is barely treading water and losing a client like Sextina could sink them. However, Sextina is pleased to learn that she’s being seen as a brave feminist icon and decides to spin it into furthering her career. Diane is appalled when Sextina writes a song about terminating her fetus and decides to broadcast her “abortion” on live TV. Diane comes up with the idea to rat her out, but PB gently suggests that may not be wise. She is further deflated when another woman in the waiting room at the abortion clinic says Sextina’s music makes her feel empowered and makes the prospect of abortion seem less scary. The live abortion also ends up being educational and tasteful, much to Diane’s surprise. Diane confesses to Princess Carolyn afterward that, while she’s glad she did what she did, she also just feels old, like she should be ready for kids.
Diane and PB end up taking their trip to the Labrador Peninsula, where they’re greeted by PB’s equally boisterous brother, Captain Peanutbutter. However, Diane is troubled when Captain PB shows himself to have a very bleak and negative outlook whenever they speak to each other alone. She tries to convince PB to talk to his brother, as something is clearly bothering him, but PB doesn’t think it’s a big deal. When she presses him, this seems to touch a nerve, as PB snaps at her that just because her family was awful and full of drama doesn’t mean that his should be, then apologizes and goes to talk to his brother himself. Captain PB confesses that he’s sick with a twisted spleen, and while his prognosis is good, he’s still scared, as he has young children of his own. When PB climbs back into bed later, Diane comforts her worried husband. When they get back from their visit, Diane finds that her job has been axed due to budget problems; however, she holds no ill will and thanks Princess Carolyn for the opportunity.
After BoJack receives his much-desired Oscar nomination for Secretariat, Diane goes to see how her friend is taking the news, to find that he’s drunk and avoiding his feelings. He tells Diane she used to be cool and cared about things; she rants that she’s tired of standing up for what she believes in only to be ostracized and socially punished for doing so. BoJack says that attitude is not like her and accuses her of thinking she’s better than everyone; Diane retorts that an Oscar win will not fix his problems, but this time, there will be nobody left to pick up the pieces when he inevitably falls apart again, and walks away. Things get worse when it turns out that the Oscar nomination was a mistake. BoJack and Sarah Lynn go on a long drug- and alcohol-fueled bender, and BoJack decides to try making amends to everyone he’s hurt. The two of them break into Diane and PB’s house, and Diane graciously offers to let them sleep it off in the guest room, but BoJack and Sarah Lynn flee and end up breaking Diane’s newly-healed wrist again. Sarah Lynn later dies of an overdose, and after her funeral, Diane has softened toward BoJack enough to check on him. BoJack laments that he feels like it was his fault Sarah Lynn turned out the way she did, and that he feels like nobody he’s met is better off for having known him. Diane tells him that isn’t true, and confesses that she was a fan of Horsin’ Around as a kid, because for half an hour every week she could pretend the characters were her family and escape her miserable life. BoJack tells her she’s too good to just be writing tweets for celebrities to make a living. He also wishes they hadn’t grown apart after she moved out of his house, and says she can’t not be a part of his life.
When she and PB go on a double date with Princess Carolyn and her new boyfriend Ralph, PC gets Diane a new job writing for a feminist blog owned by Ralph’s sister Stefani. Stefani turns out to be a fan of Diane’s writing and thought her attempts to expose Hank Hippopopalus were badass, exciting Diane about the prospect of working for her website. Stefani then asks if she would be able to write negative articles about PB should he do something problematic, considering he’s a public figure and influences people, but Diane’s response isn’t made clear. When she and PB toast her success, PB’s ex wife, Katrina, shows up and entices him to run for governor.
In the months afterwards, PB’s campaign to officially run for governorship heats up; Diane tries her best to be supportive even though it’s taking up all of his time and her house is crowded with strangers. Her job at GirlCroosh is going fairly well, though she’s far from the most successful blogger. She’s also worried about BoJack, who had a nervous breakdown on a TV set and has been completely out of communication since.
PERSONALITY:
Diane Nguyen is a generally nice and well-meaning person who is desperately searching for a purpose in life. She is full of contrasts, the biggest one being that she wishes to change the world and stand up for the marginalized, but her shyness and dislike of attention means that she would feel uncomfortable with the spotlight that comes with it.
Diane is socially awkward at the best of times, and she feels very uncomfortable and anxious in big parties and crowds. Considering that her husband, some of her closest friends, and many of her clients are big names in Hollywood, this causes tension in her relationships more than once. This awkwardness stems in large part from her childhood experiences. She was the only female child in her family. Already shy and bookish, her brothers saw her as an easy target for bullying and were fond of pulling cruel pranks on her, taunting her when she would get upset, and even filming the worst of it so they could throw it in her face later on. Thus, she began to withdraw on herself as a defense mechanism and has trouble socializing, and can babble and embarrass herself the first time she meets a new person.
Because of the above abuse in her home life, Diane can be eager to please to a fault when someone is kind to her, and has trouble speaking up when she’s unhappy to her loved ones. This shines through most often in her interactions with her husband, Mr. Peanutbutter. The two of them have opposite personalities and sometimes aren’t on the same wavelength with regard to their thoughts, desires, and hopes for the future. Their marriage started off with both of them having doubts about whether they were making the right choice and deciding to push through with it anyway, and they have problems throughout because of it. PB has a tendency to make big, public, lavish gestures to declare his love for her, and while he does mean well, he doesn’t quite seem to grasp how unhappy this truly makes Diane. The fact that she does love him and does know he’s trying to make her happy and feel loved means she pushes down her negative feelings; when they come to a boiling point, she tends to snap and has made a scene in front of their friends more than once. Her bad habit of becoming single-minded when she gets focused on an issue means communication with her husband can fall by the wayside, as well. She has a tendency to disappear and forget to tell him where she is at times, and can forget to consider how it will impact PB when making decisions about her life.
Diane has many social issues she feels passionate about and has a strong desire to change the world and do something meaningful. She’s afraid of being stuck in ruts and doing the same thing over and over for the rest of her life. However, she lacks the money, social capital, and opportunities to do much of anything she considers meaningful and impactful, and many times, when an opportunity does come along, it backfires. She can sink into a depression when this makes her feel like she is all talk and no action, and her tendency to avoid or run away from her problems makes it difficult for her to recover. Diane can also become stubbornly focused on an issue and isn’t able to recognize when she should stop pushing, such as when she ended up on national TV to speak about beloved star Hank Hippopopalus’ past alleged sexual misconduct. She could not let it go, even when everyone around her told her that while Hank may have been in the wrong, she lacked the influence to change minds and risked dragging her loved ones down with her. She gradually becomes disillusioned with her ideals, realizing that the world may not care about what she has to say.
However, Diane’s gentler approach to life isn’t all bad. It’s made her a good listener- a good trait to have when one is a ghostwriter- and she has a knack for getting people to open up to her about difficult topics. Once she is comfortable around a person, her caring nature means she will go out of her way to help when she can, and is willing to overlook a friend or loved one’s worst moments in order to provide an ear or some advice. She’s not too proud to admit when she’s wrong and apologize, even when it does take her time to get to that point. Despite her and PB’s problems, she’s never been tempted to stray and wants to work through their issues together. Though she feels insecure at times, her friends perceive her as being in control, and Todd once tells her he admires her because she always seems to know what to do. Diane has a strong work ethic and does whatever job she ends up with to the best of her ability, even if she’s dissatisfied with her lot in life. Her writing has also drawn critical praise, even if it doesn’t get as much attention as the celebrity-focused puff pieces her friends and colleagues write.
POWER: Diane has no superpowers in canon, so these are the ones I am proposing for her:
Anthro Transformation: All of the animals in Diane’s world are anthropomorphic, so she would have the power to transform into anthro versions of animals herself. To avoid confusion, however, she would not be able to make herself look like any of her canonmates, and she would not be able to change into other humans, either. She would still have a human mind and intellect, but would retain any enhanced senses the animal body gives her. This transformation would happen at will.
Instant Booze: The ability to change any liquid into alcohol at will. However, she would not be able to change it back into its original form.
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:
The Top 10 Most Naughty Uses Of ImPort Powers! Number 7 may shock you- LITERALLY!
Good to know clickbait articles are still a thing here and that I’m going to be lucky enough to be writing them. But is it normal for natives to have such over the top reactions to anything and everything to do with imPorts? Because I’ve been getting a lot of praise and more than a few invasive questions about my city’s ambassador after writing a piece about him. I lived in Hollywood so I know a few things about celebrity culture, but this is a bit ridiculous.
Also, does using your powers ever get any easier? As amusing as it was to turn into a goldfish in the shower this morning, I’m not sure I’d want that happening every day.
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE: TDM Thread
FINAL NOTES: N/A
NAME: Shurimon
AGE: 32
JOURNAL: N/A
IM / EMAIL: spdbridge03 [at] gmail
PLURK:
RETURNING: Yes, I currently play Tina Belcher
〈 CHARACTER INFO 〉
CHARACTER NAME: Diane Nguyen
CHARACTER AGE: 35
SERIES: Bojack Horseman
CHRONOLOGY: Season 4 episode 1, “See Mr. Peanutbutter Run”, before PB challenges Woodchuck to a ski race
CLASS: Hero
HOUSING: Randomly with roommates, and I am open to her living outside Heropa.
BACKGROUND: NOTE: All animals in the Bojack Horseman universe (even the ones raised for meat) are sentient and humanoid.
Diane Nguyen’s childhood was not a happy one. She grew up in Boston and her shy bookworm personality was a sharp contrast to her lazy sports-obsessed brothers, making her a target for bullying and abuse from them. Her father was an alcoholic and her mother believed Diane’s smarts made her think she was better than them. Eventually, Diane moved to Hollywood for a fresh start and to try and make a living off of her writing. She worked as a barista and a cater waiter for a long time, which is how she met and began dating her future husband, the happy-go-lucky labrador Mr. Peanutbutter (hereafter abbreviated as PB). Diane is eventually hired to ghostwrite the memoirs of BoJack Horseman. BoJack starred in a popular sitcom in the 90’s, but has yet to recapture that fame and spends most of his days getting drunk and watching reruns of his show Horsin’ Around. When the two meet, they have an earnest conversation about BoJack being unhappy with his life, and he agrees to let Diane help write his book. BoJack’s roommate Todd and agent Princess Carolyn soon join her social circle. The memoir writing hits several snags at first when BoJack is reluctant to talk about his pre fame life and his unstable drug-addicted former costar Sarah Lynn parties at his house for a few days, but soon Diane and BoJack begin to build trust, and he agrees to let her write about him truthfully, warts and all.
While meeting with BoJack’s publisher in New York, Diane gets the news that her dad has passed away. She’s reluctant to go back and when she does, she gets guilted into making the funeral arrangements when she finds to her horror that her family left her dad’s body in his armchair and covered him with bags of ice. She then storms out when her mom and brothers don’t even show up for the funeral. BoJack goes to find her at her old hideout at the town dump, reassuring her that she was right to want to get away from her awful family; Diane replies that part of her still just wants them to be proud of her. BoJack says that he feels like that’s a little stupid, and that the best part about living in LA is that nobody cares about your background, they just live in the now. Diane feels better after their talk, and the two head home.
At the airport, she’s greeted by PB, and she, BoJack, and PB decide to go out to dinner on their way home. However, at the restaurant, BoJack and PB begin competing for Diane’s attention and affection despite her obvious discomfort. It culminates in BoJack getting drunk on absinthe and stealing the “D” from the Hollywood sign. He admits to PB that he has a romantic interest in Diane, but PB makes him agree to not pursue her if he helps BoJack get rid of the D. Diane then unintentionally ends up in the spotlight when PB takes credit for stealing the D and says on national television that he did it for her. She gets overwhelmed by the cameras and reporters waiting for her and flees to BoJack’s house to work on their book. BoJack surprises her with an insightful comment that PB’s gesture means he doesn’t quite get her; if he did, he would have given her something more low-key and personal to show that he cares. However, when she returns home, she finds that PB made her an album of personal photos and emails he’d saved as an apology for the unwanted spotlight, seemingly proving BoJack wrong. Diane is surprised again when PB proposes to her, and when she says yes… PB reveals that he’d planned a party around the proposal, and Diane is once more left in a crowd she has no desire to be in. As this happens, BoJack leaves a rambling voicemail telling Diane how hard it is to have someone who is getting to know him so well, yet being around her makes him hate himself a little less.
Diane soon travels with BoJack to see Herb Kazzaz, his cancer-ridden ex best friend. Diane is curious to know why he never talks about Herb, and so the horse goes into their history together. Herb had been his mentor and created Horsin’ Around, but when he was outed as gay and kicked off the show, BoJack had the choice of continuing his path to stardom or standing up for his friend and likely ending his career before it could begin. BoJack chose to continue acting and his actions caused a permanent rift between the two. The visit predictably starts out awkward, and ends with Herb telling BoJack that he is a coward and refusing to accept his apology for abandoning him. On the drive home, BoJack and Diane pull off to the side of the road and get out of the car for a breather; Diane meekly offers to leave the argument with Herb out of the book, but BoJack says it’s OK to tell the whole truth… then suddenly kisses her. The two of them get back in the car and babble about how they are just friends, but a spooked Diane soon leaves to walk the rest of the way home.
When Diane next meets with BoJack, she tells him she believes she has enough material to finish her manuscript. When he asks if he’ll still see her around, she wonders why he had to make things weird before leaving. She admits to PB later on that she also feels overwhelmed by the idea of spending a year planning a big, elaborate wedding. He replies that he would be OK doing something smaller and local, which is a big relief to her. BoJack realizes he’s in love with Diane and his jealous efforts to sabotage Diane and PB’s relationship over the next few days end up backfiring and driving the two closer together; they choose to get married that very weekend. At the wedding ceremony, Diane admits that she doesn’t know for sure if she’s doing the right thing, but then says that she realized sometimes, you need to admit you don’t have all the answers and just take a leap of faith.
When she and BoJack take a chance to catch up later, she confesses she’s nervous for him to read the finished book. He assures her that he believes it will be wonderful; she merely asks him to keep an open mind and reminds him that it’s still a work in progress. When he finishes he is less than pleased, since Diane kept her promise to write about him honestly, and he feels that he comes off as a big asshole. Diane replies that she believes she wrote him as being troubled but ultimately sympathetic, and that his flaws help the audience relate to him. BoJack angrily tells her to start over. Diane, believing she did the right thing, gets part of the book published on Buzzfeed where it quickly goes viral. BoJack is furious, and Diane tries to pacify him by pointing to all the positive comments it’s gotten. Unconvinced, BoJack insults Diane, making her storm out. His plan to rewrite the book himself with the help of Todd, Sarah Lynn, and many illegal prescription drugs predictably goes wrong. After an intense drug trip, BoJack confronts Diane at a public ghostwriters’ panel and begs her to tell him that he’s a good person. Her silence in response tells him everything.
Diane’s book ends up being released to great popular and critical acclaim, but she does not speak to BoJack for several months. She unexpectedly gets a new opportunity from famed philanthropist Sebastian St. Clair, who was impressed by her book and wants her to travel around the world with him and document his exploits caring for people in war-torn countries. PB is unenthused by the idea, but Diane tells him she wants to do something important and help change the world. She decides to take some time to think about it before committing. Meanwhile, BoJack is leveraging his regained popularity in order to start up his long-desired dream project, a biopic of his hero, the famed race horse Secretariat. As Diane prepares to leave the country, she gets an offer from Princess Carolyn to consult on the Secretariat film, seeing as how she wrote a biography about him. Diane is hesitant, but PC points out that earning a little money will help her later if she does decide to travel. When Diane tells BoJack they’ll be working together on the movie, she admits that she had no idea what to say to him those months ago when he asked if he was a good person deep down, and she feels like she’s not done much to accomplish her goal of changing the world with her writing.
Secretariat going into production doesn’t help lighten things, as Diane’s only job on set ends up being warning people not to trip over a loose cord. PB gets on Diane’s bad side when he throws her a big surprise party for her birthday, irritating her so much she picks a fight with him over something minor in front of their guests. PB angrily says he threw the party for her, and Diane retorts that he did it to make himself look good, because he should know by now how much she hates crowds. She then accuses PB of trying to make her so happy at home that she changes her mind about going overseas, and, hurt, he points out that he has good reasons to be worried about her living in a war zone. Diane then bursts out that she’s not happy, feeling like she has no purpose and is afraid she’ll be discontent for the rest of her life if she doesn’t make a drastic change. She tells PB that she loves him, but she wouldn’t be content settling for doing the same thing over and over for the rest of their days together. PB is still worried, especially because he is out of work himself and doesn’t do much all day until she comes home, but he agrees to be supportive of her choice.
When the production of Secretariat is put on hold, Diane goes on a book promoting tour with BoJack and Princess Carolyn. Diane unintentionally ignites a firestorm when she mentions how the beloved TV star Hank Hippopopalus has been accused of sexual misconduct in the past, and PB begs her to try and let it go. Diane says she will try, but Hank’s fans hound her at every turn, angering her so much she decides to keep pushing forward. She pitches the idea of an expose to the magazine Manatee Fair, but finds that none of Hank’s accusers are willing to talk. She is then cornered by Hank himself, who warns her to drop the issue or she risks dragging down everyone around her, pointing out that he’s a beloved celebrity while she is a nobody and thus unlikely to change anything. Manatee Fair also changes their mind and declines to publish her story. Even BoJack, while he believes that Hank is a sleaze, tells Diane that she has no chance of winning. When she gets home to PB, she is deflated further when he tells her how hard it’s been to read all of the graphic death threats she’s been getting in the mail. He makes a stray comment that she might be safer going to war-torn Cordovia, and Diane agrees, since she clearly can’t make much of a difference back home; PB adds that some time apart might be good for them. On her way out of the country, the knife is twisted in further when she sees Hank on the national news and sees that all he has to do is say he did nothing wrong, and the public accepts that and moves on to the next story like it never happened.
Once in Cordovia, Diane finds that it’s nothing like she’d hoped- namely, Sebastian St. Clair turns out to be a blowhard who cares more about her making him look good and attracting donations for his charities than her helping sick and orphaned children like she wanted. She has enough when a little boy she’d been bonding with is killed and goes back to L.A., only to find herself unable to tell PB the truth when he tells her over the phone how proud he is of her. She goes to crash at BoJack’s house, not knowing what else to do. Diane soon begins to overstay her welcome, not doing much except sitting around in her pajamas and getting drunk, and it becomes more and more difficult for her to tell the truth when she finds out her husband has been bragging to everyone about her supposed good works. When BoJack goes to confront her and ask how long she’s planning to stay, Diane laments that she wasn’t the driven person she thought she was. She replies that she’d like nothing more than go home, but she can’t face the prospect of having to tell PB that she’s been lying to him and that she’s not a hero. She calls PB to tell him she loves him, but that she’ll be out of contact for a while, and BoJack runs away from his responsibilities to see an old friend in New Mexico. When he returns two months later, Diane is still there. She’s then approached by Princess Carolyn, who’s starting her own agency and wants to give Diane a job writing tweets for celebrities. The prospect of work seems to snap her out of her funk. When Diane meets with one of her clients in a restaurant, she runs into a shocked PB, who tells her he misses her and asks her to come home- and she finally agrees. Meanwhile, Secretariat was finished by using a computer model of BoJack and is released to critical acclaim.
BoJack soon goes on a press tour, aiming for an Oscar nomination, and Diane manages his social media presence. She and PB also begin getting help with their marriage from a therapist. When she and BoJack are returning home from a mixer one day, she admits she’s been avoiding him. She says the two of them are too much alike and bring out the worst in each other, so perhaps it’s for the best that they stay professional. When BoJack is upset by that, Diane apologizes and says she hated the person she was when she was hiding from her problems at his house and doesn’t want to go back to that.
At their next couples therapy session, PB happily talks about himself, but Diane is more reticent and admits she has trouble putting feelings into words, and the therapist asks her to work on that. Later, she frets about this to PB, but he assures her that it’s a process and she can still learn. Diane speculates that her unhappy upbringing may have contributed to her reluctance to speak about her feelings. Diane is then pressured into taking drugs at a client’s party and breaks her wrist when she has a sudden rush of affection for her husband and tries to carry PB to bed. At the hospital, Diane worries that once the drugs wear off, she’s going to become closed off and they’ll just fight again, so PB suggests they go to his boyhood home on the Labrador Peninsula for the New Year. Diane is enthusiastic about the idea... then receives quite a shock when the doctor informs her that she is pregnant.
Both she and PB aren’t pleased with this turn of events, since they agreed long ago they didn’t want kids. PB promises to support her whatever her decision is, and they both agree that the best course of action is for her to get an abortion. This process ends up being anything but smooth when she accidentally tweets about it as the pop superstar Sextina Aquafina. Princess Carolyn is livid, as her agency is barely treading water and losing a client like Sextina could sink them. However, Sextina is pleased to learn that she’s being seen as a brave feminist icon and decides to spin it into furthering her career. Diane is appalled when Sextina writes a song about terminating her fetus and decides to broadcast her “abortion” on live TV. Diane comes up with the idea to rat her out, but PB gently suggests that may not be wise. She is further deflated when another woman in the waiting room at the abortion clinic says Sextina’s music makes her feel empowered and makes the prospect of abortion seem less scary. The live abortion also ends up being educational and tasteful, much to Diane’s surprise. Diane confesses to Princess Carolyn afterward that, while she’s glad she did what she did, she also just feels old, like she should be ready for kids.
Diane and PB end up taking their trip to the Labrador Peninsula, where they’re greeted by PB’s equally boisterous brother, Captain Peanutbutter. However, Diane is troubled when Captain PB shows himself to have a very bleak and negative outlook whenever they speak to each other alone. She tries to convince PB to talk to his brother, as something is clearly bothering him, but PB doesn’t think it’s a big deal. When she presses him, this seems to touch a nerve, as PB snaps at her that just because her family was awful and full of drama doesn’t mean that his should be, then apologizes and goes to talk to his brother himself. Captain PB confesses that he’s sick with a twisted spleen, and while his prognosis is good, he’s still scared, as he has young children of his own. When PB climbs back into bed later, Diane comforts her worried husband. When they get back from their visit, Diane finds that her job has been axed due to budget problems; however, she holds no ill will and thanks Princess Carolyn for the opportunity.
After BoJack receives his much-desired Oscar nomination for Secretariat, Diane goes to see how her friend is taking the news, to find that he’s drunk and avoiding his feelings. He tells Diane she used to be cool and cared about things; she rants that she’s tired of standing up for what she believes in only to be ostracized and socially punished for doing so. BoJack says that attitude is not like her and accuses her of thinking she’s better than everyone; Diane retorts that an Oscar win will not fix his problems, but this time, there will be nobody left to pick up the pieces when he inevitably falls apart again, and walks away. Things get worse when it turns out that the Oscar nomination was a mistake. BoJack and Sarah Lynn go on a long drug- and alcohol-fueled bender, and BoJack decides to try making amends to everyone he’s hurt. The two of them break into Diane and PB’s house, and Diane graciously offers to let them sleep it off in the guest room, but BoJack and Sarah Lynn flee and end up breaking Diane’s newly-healed wrist again. Sarah Lynn later dies of an overdose, and after her funeral, Diane has softened toward BoJack enough to check on him. BoJack laments that he feels like it was his fault Sarah Lynn turned out the way she did, and that he feels like nobody he’s met is better off for having known him. Diane tells him that isn’t true, and confesses that she was a fan of Horsin’ Around as a kid, because for half an hour every week she could pretend the characters were her family and escape her miserable life. BoJack tells her she’s too good to just be writing tweets for celebrities to make a living. He also wishes they hadn’t grown apart after she moved out of his house, and says she can’t not be a part of his life.
When she and PB go on a double date with Princess Carolyn and her new boyfriend Ralph, PC gets Diane a new job writing for a feminist blog owned by Ralph’s sister Stefani. Stefani turns out to be a fan of Diane’s writing and thought her attempts to expose Hank Hippopopalus were badass, exciting Diane about the prospect of working for her website. Stefani then asks if she would be able to write negative articles about PB should he do something problematic, considering he’s a public figure and influences people, but Diane’s response isn’t made clear. When she and PB toast her success, PB’s ex wife, Katrina, shows up and entices him to run for governor.
In the months afterwards, PB’s campaign to officially run for governorship heats up; Diane tries her best to be supportive even though it’s taking up all of his time and her house is crowded with strangers. Her job at GirlCroosh is going fairly well, though she’s far from the most successful blogger. She’s also worried about BoJack, who had a nervous breakdown on a TV set and has been completely out of communication since.
PERSONALITY:
Diane Nguyen is a generally nice and well-meaning person who is desperately searching for a purpose in life. She is full of contrasts, the biggest one being that she wishes to change the world and stand up for the marginalized, but her shyness and dislike of attention means that she would feel uncomfortable with the spotlight that comes with it.
Diane is socially awkward at the best of times, and she feels very uncomfortable and anxious in big parties and crowds. Considering that her husband, some of her closest friends, and many of her clients are big names in Hollywood, this causes tension in her relationships more than once. This awkwardness stems in large part from her childhood experiences. She was the only female child in her family. Already shy and bookish, her brothers saw her as an easy target for bullying and were fond of pulling cruel pranks on her, taunting her when she would get upset, and even filming the worst of it so they could throw it in her face later on. Thus, she began to withdraw on herself as a defense mechanism and has trouble socializing, and can babble and embarrass herself the first time she meets a new person.
Because of the above abuse in her home life, Diane can be eager to please to a fault when someone is kind to her, and has trouble speaking up when she’s unhappy to her loved ones. This shines through most often in her interactions with her husband, Mr. Peanutbutter. The two of them have opposite personalities and sometimes aren’t on the same wavelength with regard to their thoughts, desires, and hopes for the future. Their marriage started off with both of them having doubts about whether they were making the right choice and deciding to push through with it anyway, and they have problems throughout because of it. PB has a tendency to make big, public, lavish gestures to declare his love for her, and while he does mean well, he doesn’t quite seem to grasp how unhappy this truly makes Diane. The fact that she does love him and does know he’s trying to make her happy and feel loved means she pushes down her negative feelings; when they come to a boiling point, she tends to snap and has made a scene in front of their friends more than once. Her bad habit of becoming single-minded when she gets focused on an issue means communication with her husband can fall by the wayside, as well. She has a tendency to disappear and forget to tell him where she is at times, and can forget to consider how it will impact PB when making decisions about her life.
Diane has many social issues she feels passionate about and has a strong desire to change the world and do something meaningful. She’s afraid of being stuck in ruts and doing the same thing over and over for the rest of her life. However, she lacks the money, social capital, and opportunities to do much of anything she considers meaningful and impactful, and many times, when an opportunity does come along, it backfires. She can sink into a depression when this makes her feel like she is all talk and no action, and her tendency to avoid or run away from her problems makes it difficult for her to recover. Diane can also become stubbornly focused on an issue and isn’t able to recognize when she should stop pushing, such as when she ended up on national TV to speak about beloved star Hank Hippopopalus’ past alleged sexual misconduct. She could not let it go, even when everyone around her told her that while Hank may have been in the wrong, she lacked the influence to change minds and risked dragging her loved ones down with her. She gradually becomes disillusioned with her ideals, realizing that the world may not care about what she has to say.
However, Diane’s gentler approach to life isn’t all bad. It’s made her a good listener- a good trait to have when one is a ghostwriter- and she has a knack for getting people to open up to her about difficult topics. Once she is comfortable around a person, her caring nature means she will go out of her way to help when she can, and is willing to overlook a friend or loved one’s worst moments in order to provide an ear or some advice. She’s not too proud to admit when she’s wrong and apologize, even when it does take her time to get to that point. Despite her and PB’s problems, she’s never been tempted to stray and wants to work through their issues together. Though she feels insecure at times, her friends perceive her as being in control, and Todd once tells her he admires her because she always seems to know what to do. Diane has a strong work ethic and does whatever job she ends up with to the best of her ability, even if she’s dissatisfied with her lot in life. Her writing has also drawn critical praise, even if it doesn’t get as much attention as the celebrity-focused puff pieces her friends and colleagues write.
POWER: Diane has no superpowers in canon, so these are the ones I am proposing for her:
Anthro Transformation: All of the animals in Diane’s world are anthropomorphic, so she would have the power to transform into anthro versions of animals herself. To avoid confusion, however, she would not be able to make herself look like any of her canonmates, and she would not be able to change into other humans, either. She would still have a human mind and intellect, but would retain any enhanced senses the animal body gives her. This transformation would happen at will.
Instant Booze: The ability to change any liquid into alcohol at will. However, she would not be able to change it back into its original form.
〈 CHARACTER SAMPLES 〉
COMMUNITY POST (VOICE) SAMPLE:
The Top 10 Most Naughty Uses Of ImPort Powers! Number 7 may shock you- LITERALLY!
Good to know clickbait articles are still a thing here and that I’m going to be lucky enough to be writing them. But is it normal for natives to have such over the top reactions to anything and everything to do with imPorts? Because I’ve been getting a lot of praise and more than a few invasive questions about my city’s ambassador after writing a piece about him. I lived in Hollywood so I know a few things about celebrity culture, but this is a bit ridiculous.
Also, does using your powers ever get any easier? As amusing as it was to turn into a goldfish in the shower this morning, I’m not sure I’d want that happening every day.
LOGS POST (PROSE) SAMPLE: TDM Thread
FINAL NOTES: N/A