#to not develop PTSD compared to the soldiers in the same unit who didn't do it

[ungrateful-cyborg-moved]

What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express? (A'idan) and Does your OC have any illnesses or disorders? How do they handle it? (Aïcha)

A'idan is incredibly lucky in the way his family and friends listen to him when he vocalizes his feelings and don't mock him or belittle him for them. He's never had to internalize them to the point of not even recognizing what's what, and his parents helped him figuring them out when he was younger so, especially for an autistic guy, he's pretty good at recognizing what he's feeling.

Knowing what to do with it on the other end... I thin the one he tends to express the least and process the most slowly is sadness, if it's intense enough. Mostly because he's so out of character for him to feel sad that he's really not used to express it and doesn't want to burden others with it. He might open up to a few people, like his boyfriend and parents, but that's probably it. Idk when it became sort of his brand in his mind, but A'idan cares a lot about being perceived as overall happy.

Well, for it to be an illness, it'd have to get in the way of her life, otherwise it's just an appropriate coping mechanisms. And she has many. That are appropriate. In good parts because she keeps finding troubles to fix.

...

Ok. More seriously though, I'm no doctor so there might be something I didn't think of that could apply but I don't really see her having a mental illness or disorder. It's not to say that she went through nothing that left scars, that she doesn't have the occasional stress dream or nightmare or that she's never stressed or sad. It just hasn't turned into something more serious because she has an amazing support system (her father, the Scions, Inge, her many other friends all around the globe) and she feels secure in her place in the world.

The worst of her life happened before she became the WoL (or one of the WoLs but she's happy to take the lead publicly). Everything since she's became an adventurer was because she wanted to atone for her crimes through helping people (and also because she needed money but she tried the gladiator career and could have continued, if it was just about money).

After the Bloody Banquet, she decided to stop keeping everything to herself. And by the time she reached the end of Endwalker, she was at peace with most of what she's been through.

At this point, however, the difficult part is the return to normal. The peace and quiet. That feels overwhelming because it's at odd with how she's spent her entire adult life. She's 36 now. And she finally can choose to leave a peaceful life—even though Emet's words weren't lost on her—and she just doesn't know if that's something she even wants.

And since I intend on forcing her to stay put for some time while Inge carries on as the only WoL from 7.0 and onward, we'll see how well she deals with it. But if (and when, most likely) she chooses to go back to adventuring and saving people, it'll be a real choice this time, unburdened by guilt and poverty.

TL;DR: Idk but I don't think so. If she's mentally ill in some way, it has yet to show.

Thanks for the ask, @confusedtia!