river, little river (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
river_danced) wrote2019-04-27 02:08 am
river_danced) wrote2019-04-27 02:08 am
info/application
Name: Molly
Contact Info: aim/plurk/gmail at marvelousmith
Character Name: River Tam
Canon: Firefly/Serenity
Canon Point: post-movie
Background/History: firefly, serenity, river
Personality: It’s hard to know where to start with River. When lucid, she’s sweet and playful. She plays tag with her friend Kaylee, draws and colors, and listens to gossip about boys. But in less favorable circumstances, she’s cryptic, blunt, and even violent. She throws packs of medical equipment around, explains how the crew would freeze to death in space before asphyxiating, and slashes a crewmate across the chest with a butcher knife.
These opposing traits exist in her mainly due to the medical and psychological experimentations she underwent as a teenager. Her brother, Simon, recalls how she acted before the experiments: hyperintelligent and hypertalented – to the point of being “more than gifted…she was a gift”; sometimes “a real brat” but still dearly loved by him and their parents. His descriptions – as well as several flashbacks that are scattered throughout the series – indicate that the friendly and sweet personality is the original.
Unfortunately, the experiments performed on her by the government – which included at least one partial lobotomy – left her scarred and unstable. It is unclear what the experimenters’ purposes were, but it seems that they were turning River Tam into an assassin. They conditioned her into responding to certain codes, both visual and aural; at least one exists to trigger her into “mindless killing” mode (as seen in the movie, when she incapacitates an entire bar’s worth of people), and one to “put her to sleep” (which stops her from hurting her captain in said bar). They took her natural intuitiveness and attempted to expand upon it – perhaps to the point of her becoming “psychic”. There are times when it does seem that she can read minds, knowing things that she couldn’t have known before; at other times she’s just hypersensitive, reading everything about a person from their voice, their body, their inflections. What is certain about her intuitiveness is that she can’t control it. The partial lobotomy – which removed her amygdala, the part of the brain that controls emotions – left her unable to filter or hold things back; as a result, “she feels everything. She can’t not”. Although it would be inaccurate to say that she always explains herself (she definitely doesn’t, and when she does it’s often cryptic and layered), she does have trouble knowing when to say things and when to keep quiet. (For example, at one point she and Simon are kidnapped by a town of old-fashioned folk, who come to believe that River is a “witch” and must be burnt. The pastor/village elder reacts kindly to her at first – perhaps this is just a misunderstanding, and she is simply a strange little girl. Unfortunately, River reads him and reveals that he gained his position of power by murdering his predecessor, “proving” that she’s a “witch” and causing him to proceed with the witch-burning.)
Her unstable moods sometime leave her morbid, such as when she decides to lay down on a (filled) coffin; childish, such as when she refuses to give Shepherd Book his Bible back; or generally inappropriate, such as when she calmly watches Kaylee and Simon consummating their relationship in the engine room.
Despite all of this, in her saner moments she reveals that she cares greatly for Simon and the rest of the crew. She is aware that her brother gave up everything he had to save her, and feels guilty for it (“You gave up everything you had to find me. You found me broken. It's hard for you.”). As aforementioned, she can be very nice and “pleasant enough” to be around; it all depends on her mood.
While it is tempting to think that River has always been a lost, oblivious little girl, she has repeatedly stated – both before and after Miranda – that she understands that there is something wrong with her. It's clear that she doesn't always realize when/that her behavior is abnormal or inappropriate, and during the series she cannot articulate what made her this way (even in Leaves on the Wind she admits that she didn't know about Miranda before being triggered, and that there are more secrets “locked away” in her head), but she is aware of it. During the show it is something that frightens and upsets her, and that she feels guilty about concerning Simon's sacrifices for her; after Miranda, she seems to have more stability and a firmer grip on herself. She does firmly tell Simon that she's “never going to be normal”, but remains coherent and cognizant, and is able to calmly and easily relate to the girl they rescue from the Academy, comforting her with the knowledge that she will, eventually, heal. (An interesting thing to tell her, since, as aforementioned, River doesn't think of herself as normal – but she clearly feels more normal than she did before.)
Although the violence she has rained down on friends and strangers may seem to suggest otherwise, River actually cares often for others, and will put herself into harm's way for her crew mates and even for her former peers at the Academy. She is most clearly motivated to care for Simon - she attempts to turn himself in so that he (and the others) can live "normal" lives, and, in the movie, declares that it is "her turn" to take care of him and rushes headfirst into a mob of rabid space cannibal rapists to get him the medical supplies he needs - but she looks out for the other crew members as well. Most recently, she discovered that other young people were still trapped in the Academy, and made it her mission to try and rescue them (despite the fact that she did not seem to know any of them by name, and that it meant going physically into the Academy herself). She is also very affectionate sometimes, cuddling with Zoe in the comic and possibly with Inara during the show, and saying that she misses Jayne (and Book and Wash) when Zoe asks. Mentions of Simon's skills as a doctor indicate that she admires him for being able to help others.
Unlike her brother, she doesn't seem to have a hard time adjusting to the much less comfortable lifestyle of Serenity's crew, and though she has some sense of morality, she does not make much comment on the illegal activities of the crew (and of herself, sometimes).
She has a penchant for whimsy and fantasy and is perhaps more fascinated by the universe than her brother is. The depths of outer space, viewed from a suit while clinging to Serenity's hull, bring a big smile to her face (while Simon appears absolutely terrified), and she spends some time observing some cattle they are dropping off as a job, apparently musing about the state of their minds and souls. When the crew suddenly comes upon a huge amount of money, they each discuss how they would ideally use it; River envisions some sort of Alice-in-Wonderland world with clothed animals, dragons and fairies, and a huge poofy dress. This trait is shown to be a consistent part of her personality, rather than a result of the Alliance's partial lobotomy, in flashbacks where she makes up games to play with Simon (involving dinosaurs). On her good days, she still teases (Simon does recall that she has always been a bit bratty) and jokes.
Aside from caring for the crew, and perhaps helping the others stuck in the Academy, River may not have many other motivations. She likely believes that the Alliance should be punished for what they've done to her and others, but she does not seem fueled by revenge as one might assume she would be. Serenity, and her new-found family, are what's important to her.
Abilities/Powers: River's powers are somewhat difficult to describe; the short story is, she's a psychic assassin trained in being ridiculously fast and calculating. She appears to be able to read minds, sometimes in a more subtle way - seeing what people are feeling by observing them very closely, and having enough empathy to get some of that emotion in herself - and sometimes in a more mysterious way - knowing the pasts of the people around her, even when there is no conventional way for her to possess such knowledge. Her empathetic telepathy/psychometry probably has something to do with the missing parts of her brain. Her great power is tempered by the fact that she cannot control it.
Simon also mentions in his exposition for River that “Everything she did, music, math, theoretical physics -- even-even dance -- there was nothing that didn't come as naturally to her as breathing does to us.” Since her time at the Academy, River has developed her almost surreal grace for both dancing and more deadly combat situations. She is able to incapacitate an entire bar after being triggered by a secret code broadcasted by the government, and also seems fairly proficient with a variety of weapons, including guns and axes. She speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, Esperanto, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and Russian.
Contact Info: aim/plurk/gmail at marvelousmith
Character Name: River Tam
Canon: Firefly/Serenity
Canon Point: post-movie
Background/History: firefly, serenity, river
Personality: It’s hard to know where to start with River. When lucid, she’s sweet and playful. She plays tag with her friend Kaylee, draws and colors, and listens to gossip about boys. But in less favorable circumstances, she’s cryptic, blunt, and even violent. She throws packs of medical equipment around, explains how the crew would freeze to death in space before asphyxiating, and slashes a crewmate across the chest with a butcher knife.
These opposing traits exist in her mainly due to the medical and psychological experimentations she underwent as a teenager. Her brother, Simon, recalls how she acted before the experiments: hyperintelligent and hypertalented – to the point of being “more than gifted…she was a gift”; sometimes “a real brat” but still dearly loved by him and their parents. His descriptions – as well as several flashbacks that are scattered throughout the series – indicate that the friendly and sweet personality is the original.
Unfortunately, the experiments performed on her by the government – which included at least one partial lobotomy – left her scarred and unstable. It is unclear what the experimenters’ purposes were, but it seems that they were turning River Tam into an assassin. They conditioned her into responding to certain codes, both visual and aural; at least one exists to trigger her into “mindless killing” mode (as seen in the movie, when she incapacitates an entire bar’s worth of people), and one to “put her to sleep” (which stops her from hurting her captain in said bar). They took her natural intuitiveness and attempted to expand upon it – perhaps to the point of her becoming “psychic”. There are times when it does seem that she can read minds, knowing things that she couldn’t have known before; at other times she’s just hypersensitive, reading everything about a person from their voice, their body, their inflections. What is certain about her intuitiveness is that she can’t control it. The partial lobotomy – which removed her amygdala, the part of the brain that controls emotions – left her unable to filter or hold things back; as a result, “she feels everything. She can’t not”. Although it would be inaccurate to say that she always explains herself (she definitely doesn’t, and when she does it’s often cryptic and layered), she does have trouble knowing when to say things and when to keep quiet. (For example, at one point she and Simon are kidnapped by a town of old-fashioned folk, who come to believe that River is a “witch” and must be burnt. The pastor/village elder reacts kindly to her at first – perhaps this is just a misunderstanding, and she is simply a strange little girl. Unfortunately, River reads him and reveals that he gained his position of power by murdering his predecessor, “proving” that she’s a “witch” and causing him to proceed with the witch-burning.)
Her unstable moods sometime leave her morbid, such as when she decides to lay down on a (filled) coffin; childish, such as when she refuses to give Shepherd Book his Bible back; or generally inappropriate, such as when she calmly watches Kaylee and Simon consummating their relationship in the engine room.
Despite all of this, in her saner moments she reveals that she cares greatly for Simon and the rest of the crew. She is aware that her brother gave up everything he had to save her, and feels guilty for it (“You gave up everything you had to find me. You found me broken. It's hard for you.”). As aforementioned, she can be very nice and “pleasant enough” to be around; it all depends on her mood.
While it is tempting to think that River has always been a lost, oblivious little girl, she has repeatedly stated – both before and after Miranda – that she understands that there is something wrong with her. It's clear that she doesn't always realize when/that her behavior is abnormal or inappropriate, and during the series she cannot articulate what made her this way (even in Leaves on the Wind she admits that she didn't know about Miranda before being triggered, and that there are more secrets “locked away” in her head), but she is aware of it. During the show it is something that frightens and upsets her, and that she feels guilty about concerning Simon's sacrifices for her; after Miranda, she seems to have more stability and a firmer grip on herself. She does firmly tell Simon that she's “never going to be normal”, but remains coherent and cognizant, and is able to calmly and easily relate to the girl they rescue from the Academy, comforting her with the knowledge that she will, eventually, heal. (An interesting thing to tell her, since, as aforementioned, River doesn't think of herself as normal – but she clearly feels more normal than she did before.)
Although the violence she has rained down on friends and strangers may seem to suggest otherwise, River actually cares often for others, and will put herself into harm's way for her crew mates and even for her former peers at the Academy. She is most clearly motivated to care for Simon - she attempts to turn himself in so that he (and the others) can live "normal" lives, and, in the movie, declares that it is "her turn" to take care of him and rushes headfirst into a mob of rabid space cannibal rapists to get him the medical supplies he needs - but she looks out for the other crew members as well. Most recently, she discovered that other young people were still trapped in the Academy, and made it her mission to try and rescue them (despite the fact that she did not seem to know any of them by name, and that it meant going physically into the Academy herself). She is also very affectionate sometimes, cuddling with Zoe in the comic and possibly with Inara during the show, and saying that she misses Jayne (and Book and Wash) when Zoe asks. Mentions of Simon's skills as a doctor indicate that she admires him for being able to help others.
Unlike her brother, she doesn't seem to have a hard time adjusting to the much less comfortable lifestyle of Serenity's crew, and though she has some sense of morality, she does not make much comment on the illegal activities of the crew (and of herself, sometimes).
She has a penchant for whimsy and fantasy and is perhaps more fascinated by the universe than her brother is. The depths of outer space, viewed from a suit while clinging to Serenity's hull, bring a big smile to her face (while Simon appears absolutely terrified), and she spends some time observing some cattle they are dropping off as a job, apparently musing about the state of their minds and souls. When the crew suddenly comes upon a huge amount of money, they each discuss how they would ideally use it; River envisions some sort of Alice-in-Wonderland world with clothed animals, dragons and fairies, and a huge poofy dress. This trait is shown to be a consistent part of her personality, rather than a result of the Alliance's partial lobotomy, in flashbacks where she makes up games to play with Simon (involving dinosaurs). On her good days, she still teases (Simon does recall that she has always been a bit bratty) and jokes.
Aside from caring for the crew, and perhaps helping the others stuck in the Academy, River may not have many other motivations. She likely believes that the Alliance should be punished for what they've done to her and others, but she does not seem fueled by revenge as one might assume she would be. Serenity, and her new-found family, are what's important to her.
Abilities/Powers: River's powers are somewhat difficult to describe; the short story is, she's a psychic assassin trained in being ridiculously fast and calculating. She appears to be able to read minds, sometimes in a more subtle way - seeing what people are feeling by observing them very closely, and having enough empathy to get some of that emotion in herself - and sometimes in a more mysterious way - knowing the pasts of the people around her, even when there is no conventional way for her to possess such knowledge. Her empathetic telepathy/psychometry probably has something to do with the missing parts of her brain. Her great power is tempered by the fact that she cannot control it.
Simon also mentions in his exposition for River that “Everything she did, music, math, theoretical physics -- even-even dance -- there was nothing that didn't come as naturally to her as breathing does to us.” Since her time at the Academy, River has developed her almost surreal grace for both dancing and more deadly combat situations. She is able to incapacitate an entire bar after being triggered by a secret code broadcasted by the government, and also seems fairly proficient with a variety of weapons, including guns and axes. She speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, Esperanto, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and Russian.