Hey so like on the shiro/keith clip we see how keith tries to convince shiro to give Black another go but shiro flinches & cuts keith off about it & i totally know this is him burying his insecurities under the rug. Since you’re someone who’s had experiences with ppl under similar struggles as shiro i wanted to ask, what does it take for them to finally open up about it? They don’t HAVE to experience a meltdown, or do they? I’m scared for shiro & just wanna picture how he can begin healing
He’s gonna be fine, it’s a kids show haha (i say nervously..)
And it really depends on the person and the situation, I dun think a meltdown is necessary, but I think you kinda feel like this is where Shiro is going haha, because you can see that he’s not really ok, but he keeps putting more and more on himself ignoring that the foundation he builds it all on is not really stable. So it just feels like it’s a matter of time until it all comes crushing down on him.
It would be awesome if he voluntarily talks about it with someone.. but does anyone see that happening?
I dunno, in my personal experience at least, the guys who kinda try to “push” their way through the trauma and go on as if nothing changed, usually end up messing up something so bad at some point, they can no longer deny that whatever happened really affected them. Like I think it usually required something really extreme for them to admit “ok maybe I’m not fine”. (not like it helps, most of the time they will still continue running away from it all in any way they can think of, maybe even more that before, you dun exactly “heal” from PTSD, you just have to learn to live with it in a healthy way..)
With Shiro tho it’s kinda difficult to say what of his behavior is a psychological thing because his mental state is finally catching up to him, or if he’s just under the influence of something. Because the Galra had done something to him and his brain and he had alot of purple quintessence exposure.
And because we dunno much about his past, it’s also kinda hard to say where exactly alot of the things come from.
Also not sure how far they gonna go into the whole PTSD thing.. Sven always had that theme kinda, so I hope they do keep it and expand it even more. Because I LOVED Sven’s breakdown in DOTU, one of my fav scenes, and I really want them to do that with Shiro.
I want them to show Shiro being weak and broken and for him to understand that It’s ok to feel like that sometimes.
Cuz like see, right now what they mostly show is how strong Shiro is, and how he’s always in control of everything, and how he’s this perfect leader and can overcome anything and is always there for his team. You know.. he’s the “space dad”.
And this is kinda exactly the image you alot of time struggle to break for soldiers with PTSD that are sure that this is the way they have to be.
Like the show doesn’t really makes his struggle really explicit so far. It’s hinted at, but it doesn’t seem like a big deal, so I dunno, to me atleast it makes it seem like it’s kinda easy to do what everyone thinks Shiro is doing. Kinda like “oh bad flashback! nm lets just act as usual after that”
I think that doesn’t exactly paints the most perfect picture of what it’s like living with PTSD. Maybe even does the opposite, because that’s exactly what alot of guys with PTSD inspire to be like, exactly like what Shiro is trying to project, only not many actually manage to really do that.
Because realistically that’s not how it usually works. realistically most of the time they just end up feeling shitty for always feeling like they are failing to live up to that “perfect soldier” example. because they are constantly scared, they feel lost, they don’t believe in themselves, feel powerless, insecure, broken, hopeless. but because they have this “I need to be strong, I gotta be a good soldier, I gotta be there for my team” hammered into their brain, they just try to ignore all those feelings and bury them deep inside. And they don’t get help and end up in very bad places.
Like, Shiro once said something like “you can’t focus on what went wrong , you gotta think how to make things right” and you see this is kinda how he usually operates.
Which is definitely the right idea! only I think very few people (specially very empathetic people like Shiro) can do that so easily after going through something really traumatic. In most cases all those things that went wrong that they try not to focus on and ignore, catch up to them. flashbacks, nightmares, triggers. you really can’t run away from it no matter how much you try, you gotta like face the thing head on, fully accept it, and only from there fight to make it into a better place.
And Shiro is definitely trying to run away from what happened to him. like “nope can't focus on that” but like he’s gotta focus on that for a bit, because it will never stop chasing him and will just try to get in his way more and more.
So I dunno, I want them to first show Shiro making bad mistakes because of his PTSD, and ruining relationships, and for them to show Shiro being weak, Shiro not knowing what do, Shiro crying, Shiro letting people help him instead of always trying to help other people. And then show him as a great leader.
Because without that part, I think many people will just see this perfect “space dad” , someone who looks really strong and isn’t that affected by what happened to him or that he very easily gets over it and pulls himself together for the greater cause or something. And I feel like most soldiers with PTSD really want to be that guy, but again, it rarely actually works like that…
So I dunno, I might have a very different perspective on this whole thing, but like I hope that if they do go for PTSD there with Shiro, that they would REALLY go there. Because I think Shiro failing and Shiro being broken and Shiro getting help is an important thing to show before they try to establish him as a great leader. (and I dun feel like the stuff we have seen so far is enough)
But anyway, because this is a kid show with happy ends for everyone, it all has to work out for the best, so nothing to worry about, it probably won’t end for Shiro how alot of times it sadly ends for soldiers with PTSD
(Also making people with PTSD open up about it is a hard task, most of the time you get flushed like Sendak if you ever try to imply something might be wrong with them haha, I can understand why Keith kinda always treads around it there)
