Board Thread:Episode Discussion/@comment-4141313-20190119003858/@comment-4141313-20190123214313

HotSwappableGaming wrote: Alhazad2003 wrote:

BlizzardDragon wrote:

PSTD is not uniform, nor is it solely to cower and fear. To assume so is frankly insulting to those with real PTSD. Some will have flashbacks, some will break down, some will fly into a berserker rage, and some will be so numbed they lose all emotion. It is not the same for each person. Likewise for Yang, as her PTSD has manifested as fear, nerves, and anger. None of which was crippling due to working with Tai to some extent, and pushing herself to fight despite it affecting her. You both have managed to miss my point, completely. I chose my wording VERY deliberately. I didn't say 'Why does she have PTSD?' or 'Her PTSD isn't realistic...' I said "You don't give a character severe PTSD"

So let me arrive at the point: You don't GIVE a character a debilitating syndrome and NOT have it actually effect them as a weakness. Or if you do then it's just a waste of time. Why show us so many scene's of Yang freaking the fuck out when she thinks she sees Adam just to have her not go through anything like that when she actually sees him? It's a poor writing decision. The ONLY remedy at this point is she still has the shakes and nightmares. If this is it then it was a COMPLETE waste of writing potential. Hence my other deliberate word choice of calling the episode not awful, but disappointing. Then you missed my entire point.

PTSD isn't automatically a weakness. Its why I brought up the Goblin Slayer.

Goblin Slayer has PTSD, and can't think about anything but killing Goblins. If it doesn't involve Goblins, he doesn't care about it.

However, his PTSD didn't make him weaker. If anything, suffering it is what drove him to become the Goblin Slayer, a Silver Ranked Adventure and absolute monster on the battlefield.

His PTSD didn't affect his fighting, it affected his mind. He's noted numerous times to act more like a monster than a human, and multiple characters worry it will lead to his death if he isn't helped.

Yang getting PTSD doesn't automatically mean it was a Weakness she got. Her gaining PTSD was meant to serve as a Wakeup Call.

Compare Yang Volumes 1-3 to Yang Volumes 4-6 in both fighting style and personality.

Fighting Style, Yang in Volume 1-3 was absolutely ''reckless. ''She over relied on her semblance, charged in head-first without a plan, and didn't block or dodge attacks. It was this kind of mentality that lead to her charging at Adam and losing her arm, and before that what Emerald and Mercury were able to exploit along with her temper to further Cinder's plans.

Volumes 4-6, Yang is a lot more tactical. She doesn't simply tank hits, actually bothering to dodge and block, uses feint attacks instead of charging head on constantly, and has only used her Semblance ''once. ''

Personality, Yang in V1-3 was cheerful, stubborn, temperamental, and served almost like a surrogate mother for the group. She had a go with the flow kinda demeanor for alot of the story.

Volumes 4-6, Yang is more morose, tries to act calmer but gives into her temper, and isn't willing to go with the flow, rather will push against the flow if she thinks its necessary.

PTSD is not synonomous with weakness. PTSD is, in a narrative structure, a tool meant for development. You can develop it as a weakness, but you can just as easily develop it as a strength.

For a weakness, use Trunks' issues regarding the Androids in DBZ. He was so traumatized by the death of his mentor Gohan at the hands of Future 17 & 18, he charged in recklessly rather than wait to go back in time, and nearly died at their hands due to being too weak. After going back in the past and seeing them reactivated, his lost his temper and blew up Gero's lab in an attempt to kill them, than charged at them again when 18 beat Vegeta, being trounced about by them the entire time.

Trunks' PTSD from the androids is an example of gaining development from a weakness. Trunks' PTSD blinded him with rage, and only after training with Vegeta in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber for a year did he gain the strength to end the terrors of his time. When he fought them in a rematch, he didn't rush in, he didn't let them direct the fight, rather he directed the flow of the fight and kept his calm the entire time.

The same goes for Yang. Yang's PTSD is a result of Adam taking her arm, and that was a result of her reckless demeanor. Thanks to some training from Tai and trying to sort out some of her issues, she is not the same reckless person she once was. Still temperamental, but not reckless. Yang used her PTSD to get stronger by correcting her past mistakes.

Just look at their fight last episode. The only hit Yang tanked was the last one Adam sent out, she blocked, dodged, and used feints, and didn't even rely solely on her fists.

So, just because she got PTSD doesn't mean it would be a weakness. To make it a weakness would have been worse for her character since she would have simply froze up when facing Adam then, which would allow him to kill her. Her PTSD was meant to be a hurdle for her to overcome.