For characters with psychic or mind-reading abilities, here's an overview of what they might see when they peep into her head!
Remember to check out her opt-in/opt-out post! ( content warnings: child abuse, human experimentation, torture, murder/death )
notably, her mind is not a straightforward "landscape" if you will. there's both physical and mental scarring on her brain, so her overall mindstate will be dark, confusing, non-linear, and illogical. it might be like walking through Escher's Relativity with horror movie lighting and monsters around each corner!
her memories are not very clear either, so I would ask that they cannot find many details about what happened to her at the Academy. she isn't really sure herself, it comes in confusing flashes
what they can easily find out is that:
she was 14 when she went to the Academy willingly, and this was a government sponsored program
they tortured her both physically and psychologically ( along with other "students" ) until she was rescued by her brother Simon less than one year ago
they are now hiding from the government ( the Alliance or Liánméng ) on the spaceship Serenity
the "feeling" they'll get from her psychic powers is that they are powerful and wildly out of control, constantly "on" and reaching for everything/everyone in a wide radius, and absorbing an inordinate amount of information at once
the "feeling" they'll get from her mentally/emotionally is a constant state of overwhelm and confusion, with no form of emotional self-regulation, persistent feelings of fear and paranoia, and a childlike mentality of being very curious, very smart, and still not fully understanding things or knowing what is/isn't real
there will be a lot of monsters ( human and mythical ) and dead bodies in varying states of decay in her thoughts; it's difficult to tell what's a nightmare or a memory
they may also see the impression of hospital facilities, blank, empty cells ( more like an asylum than a prison ), doctors and orderlies in white masks, and uniformed soldiers stomping around
brief flashes of reavers ( from 0:55-1:20 as an example but not the scene itself, which hasn't happened by her canon point yet )
All of this is free game! She has no mental blockers to prevent people from reading her, but unless they have an ability to hide themselves, she will probably be able to tell that they're there in her head. If you have any questions or ideas for how to play around with this, please do let me know!
river's mental state
Remember to check out her opt-in/opt-out post! ( content warnings: child abuse, human experimentation, torture, murder/death )
- notably, her mind is not a straightforward "landscape" if you will. there's both physical and mental scarring on her brain, so her overall mindstate will be dark, confusing, non-linear, and illogical. it might be like walking through Escher's Relativity with horror movie lighting and monsters around each corner!
- her memories are not very clear either, so I would ask that they cannot find many details about what happened to her at the Academy. she isn't really sure herself, it comes in confusing flashes
- what they can easily find out is that:
- she was 14 when she went to the Academy willingly, and this was a government sponsored program
- they tortured her both physically and psychologically ( along with other "students" ) until she was rescued by her brother Simon less than one year ago
- they are now hiding from the government ( the Alliance or Liánméng ) on the spaceship Serenity
- the "feeling" they'll get from her psychic powers is that they are powerful and wildly out of control, constantly "on" and reaching for everything/everyone in a wide radius, and absorbing an inordinate amount of information at once
- the "feeling" they'll get from her mentally/emotionally is a constant state of overwhelm and confusion, with no form of emotional self-regulation, persistent feelings of fear and paranoia, and a childlike mentality of being very curious, very smart, and still not fully understanding things or knowing what is/isn't real
- there will be a lot of monsters ( human and mythical ) and dead bodies in varying states of decay in her thoughts; it's difficult to tell what's a nightmare or a memory
- they may also see the impression of hospital facilities, blank, empty cells ( more like an asylum than a prison ), doctors and orderlies in white masks, and uniformed soldiers stomping around
- some good clips to reference:
- the academy's experiments ( from 1:40-3:10 )
- visions/hallucinations ( more specifically this part )
- brief flashes of reavers ( from 0:55-1:20 as an example but not the scene itself, which hasn't happened by her canon point yet )
All of this is free game! She has no mental blockers to prevent people from reading her, but unless they have an ability to hide themselves, she will probably be able to tell that they're there in her head. If you have any questions or ideas for how to play around with this, please do let me know!