i've never been good at writing intros to posts and that isn't gonna change today, esp since only a handful of people are probably gonna read this. i am making this post for me, because this is something i noticed and i wanna talk about it. leave it to me to make a detailed post about a character from a movie from three years ago.
rody has pstd! let's talk about it
[ID: A screenshot from MHA: World Heroes' Mission. Rody is pointing at Deku, winking. Deku looks annoyed. End ID.]
to preface this:
i am not a professional 👍 i have ptsd 👍
analyzing characters is fun for me! this is how i am interpreting rody with what i know about him from the little media he's been in + some additional speculation. feel free to incorporate this into your belief system. or not! all that i ask is that you bear with me.
now, before i get into it (preface...2!):
everyone knows about fight or flight, right? well, did you know that there are actually 5 trauma responses? fight, flight, freeze, fawn, and flop. (there may be more, but these are the ones that have the most information on them.)
fight and flight are the body's primary responses to a bad situation. freeze, fawn, and flop are more complex responses that happen when the first two aren't available. little self-explanatory, but for the sake of infodumping:
freeze: the body is in a state of hyperarousal. the muscles are tight and ready for action but is ultimately paralyzed. think of a deer in headlights.
fawn/befriend/submit: this response involves complying/befriending the aggressor; people-pleasing in an effort to remain safe. this is more common in cases of abuse.
flop/shutdown/collapse: the body is in a state of hypoarousal, aka its shutting down; muscles go slack, brain stops receiving sensory info. this can often result in fainting. you know how some people faint when they see blood? or when they're on a rollercoaster? yeah, it's this.
it's important to have this context. as a matter of fact, you probably already know where i'm going with this:
rody faints when deku is climbing up the bridge. of course, right? he had reached such a heightened level of fear that, when his brain realized it couldn't trigger one of the other four responses, he just... flopped. why bring this up? well, and i think this is easy to miss, but rody didn't pass out once. he actually passed out twice.
when they first reached the train, it appears that, in their brief moment of safety, rody had collapsed.
[ID: Deku picks up Rody to shield him from Beros's oncoming arrow attack. End ID.]
[ID: Deku is carrying Rody, swinging under the bridge in an effort to evade Beros's attacks. At the end, Rody appears as though he is coming to. End ID.]
up until this point, rody had been freaking out during their escape from the police. for him to have no initial response to being physically moved by deku... hell, he looks like he's just coming to. if we're going based off of the dub, he even yells "what's happening?!" simply put: he shut down and, more specifically, he shut down in what had been perceived as a moment of respite.
the reason i point this out is because, while we don't choose our trauma responses, there are events that can impact what they can be.
so... what is the purpose of the flop response?
quoting from an article here, but it's thought to help people in three different ways: to reduce the mental impact of the circumstances, to cause a physical disconnect (thus experiencing the trauma less directly), and to prevent additional assault.
the point i'm trying to make here is, well...
[ID: A flashback showing Rody protecting his siblings. A villain strikes him with a pipe. End ID.]
rody's been assaulted! and this is only one instance that we know of. we don't fully know what he's had to go through when providing for his siblings, but there is no doubt that there have been negative repercussions on his mentality.
did you notice how he startles easily?
[ID: Rody puts his hand on Deku's shoulder, scaring him. His response startles Rody, causing him to flinch backwards. End ID.]
[ID: Bakugou suddenly appears behind Rody, causing him to jump. He flinches back, turning to face him. Pino is also startled, flying to sit over on his other shoulder. End ID.]
with ptsd, some people can develop an exaggerated startle response. this happens when your nervous system gets stuck in survival mode. your brain is hypervigilant; any sudden sound or movement that you don't expect can make you feel like you're in danger and your body has to be ready to react in a given moment.
look at the difference between how deku and rody flinch. deku has a standard flinch, but rody violently flinches, almost as though he's been struck. do you see how he moves his head? his arms? how, after both instances, he's starting to sweat? yeah 👍
continuing along this line of thinking, let's talk about rody's attempted betrayal.
[ID: Rody being approached by the oni villain. He braces himself for the attack, clutching at his head. End ID.]
i feel like most people, when cornered and under the imminent threat of being attacked, try to block it or defend from it in some way. rody... didn't do that. as a matter of fact, it looks like he's trying to hide.
[ID: Deku runs towards Rody, shielding him from an arrow. Rody panics and turns away. End ID.]
additionally, in this scene, rody is apologizing. in this moment, he sincerely believed that deku was going to hurt him for his betrayal. instead of trying to run, he just... froze. braced himself again. i know he was very scared, but, despite deku having just saved him, seeing his fear at being approached... psychologically, there's something else going on here.
i think rody had been re-traumatized.
again, we only have that one flashback regarding a violent encounter with villains, but i genuinely have reason to believe that it wasn't a one-off scenario. the only reason rody tried to fight was to defend his siblings. they are his reason for continuing forward. but... what if there were times when they weren't there? and he had to face the villains by himself?
... yeah. i think that's why he responded the specific way that he did. his life was actively in danger, yes, but how many times had he been in that position? pleading, trying to garner sympathy about his siblings, wanting to be let go? i think the severity of his psychological distress in that instant is what caused him to try and hide rather than attempt to minimize any incoming damage.
as for feeling threatened by deku, that can be easily explained, too. rody talked quite a bit about betrayal, it seemed like a very natural thing to talk about. he's probably had to betray some villains and gotten hurt for it. honestly, you could probably argue that this contributed to his confusion regarding deku protecting him instead.
similarly with starting posts, i am also very bad at ending them 👍
tldr; rody soul has ptsd as a result of his encounters with villains after his father's disappearance. this has given him an exaggerated startle response as well as both a freeze/collapse response in times where his life is threatened. who knows what other symptoms he may have! what we can say for sure is that this kid needs therapy.
if you read all this, thanks! i hope you enjoyed me dissecting him like a bug.
Not so dynamic but ,, hey here’s at least I got a drawing of this guy done !!! My ringmaster man ,, dude - info under cut bc I’m gon ramble I know it
His name is , supposedly , Ambrosius Solomon Ravendale - but prefers to call himself the Astonishing Ambrosius, owner of the Astonishing Ambrosius’ Circus of Awe - a man who, after coming accross an acursed amulet, gained the ability to hypnotize and control the mind of whoever he pleased ... at the expense of the memories he’s had of his life before then - and supposedly his decency
He hypnotized every single member of his circus - and that’s the ony reason why they work for him, sadly (for him . Not for the people or any morally decent person) his workers are prone to mentally breaking free and escaping quite a bit ...
Luckily for him - he’s a charismatic fucker too, and can usually charm someone into trusting him before having to resort to hypnosis ... which makes him oddly talented in the charisma department - seeing as he never takes off the damn mask ... (Probably just self concious , seeing as he’s older ,,, if you consider ‘nearing 40′ to be older)
He seems p Me Brand bc tht was the point - friends on another sites were making amalgamation OCs where they combined all the traits that make up Their Brand of OCs/aesthetics into one character ,,, and my brand is sleazy yet charismatic hypnotic ringmaster , who’da tunk it
