Embry is a representation of Post-Traumatic Stress in Children
I remember that Arcadekitten stated in an ask me anything on her Instagram that Embry was inspired by a Psych lecture, which led me to think about what sort of things may have inspired the character themselves. After looking it up, one of the closest things that could be equivocated to Embry's situation is Post-Traumatic Stress, as quite a few symptoms match up fairly well:
- Feeling Depressed or Grouchy / Losing interest in things they used to enjoy: Embry repeatedly expresses a lack of interest in previously enjoyed activities (such as painting and gardening), which is a very notable symptom of depression itself.
- Being more aggressive than before, even violent/ Feeling nervous, jittery, or alert and watchful: Embry, despite appearing not particularly aggressive in most situations or in flashbacks, reacts physically and aggressively to events such as Dr. D Light suggesting they go down into the basement. You could also express this with Embry's general distaste to Dr. D Light actually appearing at all. Embry also expresses a set of repeated paranoid tendencies, and never seems quite 'at ease' throughout the entirety of the game.
- Nightmares and sleep problems / Having flashbacks: Embry, repeatedly throughout the course of the game, experiences nightmares reliving past events.
- Worrying about dying at a young age: Embry fully and wholeheartedly believes that they will die if they do not feed the monster, which is an unusual thing for a child to worry about in general.
- Staying away from certain places or situations that bring back memories: Embry simply refuses, even when directed to by the player, to enter their Parent's room or the Dining Room. Perhaps in both cases because these places remind them of their parents.
- Loss of Touch with Reality / Reliving the event over and over in thought or in play: While Embry's age is never quite specified, it appears that Embry themselves has lost a lot of touch with reality even for their own age, wholeheartedly believing that a 'monster' is living in their basement and killed their parents. The entirety of the belief of the monster may be a coping mechanism, preventing themselves from facing the actual realities of their situation, they concoct a fantastical scenario in order to repeatedly 'feed' both themselves and the probably-not-real monster in their basement.
Even events such as the monster 'talking' to them in broad daylight can be attributed to this, as in some cases auditory hallucinations have been linked to Post-Traumatic Stress.
